April 29, 2007
Morning Service
“Fruitful Living in a Barren World: Living a Life of Goodness”
Presented by Pastor Tim Pasma
Galatians 5.22
Would you take your Bibles and again turn to Galatians chapter 5? And again, we will read beginning in verse 16 of that chapter and reading to the end of that chapter as we look this week upon that virtue of the fruit of the Spirit called goodness.
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (v. 16-26)
Father, now we pray that You would be gracious and kind to us. That You would be good to us in reaching out and generously teaching us. Lord, not teaching us in the way that we would know more facts, but teaching us in a way that would move Your Spirit to work in us what Your Word calls us to be. We commit this time in Your Word to You, knowing that You can work in ways that we can not imagine. As the words of Your Word are heard, as the words of this sermon are heard, we know, Father, that You can work powerfully in our hearts. And so we ask that You would do that today. Bring to mind our own lives – the very specifics of how we’ve been this last week; these last months, these many years. Show us where we need to change. Show us, Father, what it means to be good, that we might honor You. And as we have just confessed, that we might be assured of our faith and give proof of our gratitude and win our neighbors. God, grant that, we pray now in these few minutes that we have in Your Word. In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
“Leave it to Beaver.” [laughter] Wasn’t that a great show? If I were to give you a one-question quiz about “Leave it to Beaver”, I’ll bet you all could get an A+.
One-question quiz on “Leave it to Beaver”. Multiple choice. All right? Easy. Easy. Here’s your question:
In the television program, “Leave it to Beaver”, who was the good boy? A: Eddie Haskell. Or B: Wally Cleaver? [laughter]
B! A+! Wally was the good kid. Eddie was the bad kid, right?
Why is that the right answer? Because Eddie was this kind of a snakey guy who was always deceptive. Who was always trying to get Wally to do something wrong. Who treated Beaver with disdain. Right?
While Wally followed the rules. Wally did what was expected of him.
Now, most people actually believe that that is the definition of goodness. That is, they identify good people by some particular set of rules they have. And if that person follows the rules, he’s either a good person or a bad person.
But as we’ve noted, goodness can never be produced by following a set of rules. Paul has argued all through this epistle that such laws – and even the law of God – could never produce anything like goodness. For someone to be good, nothing less than the powerful work of the Spirit of God is necessary to do a miraculous work in the hearts of depraved sinners.
So, today we want to come to an understanding of Spirit-produced goodness as opposed to Wally Cleaver’s style of goodness. Because I’m afraid most of us have Wally in mind and not what the Spirit intends.
So let’s seek this day to understand what this Spirit-empowered, Spirit-produced goodness is like.
We need to understand what God means by “goodness”. Now, this word is hard to distinguish from “kindness”, which was the virtue of the fruit that we saw last week. You might say that kindness and goodness are identical twins. That is, they look almost exactly alike, except that – like twins – they are two different people. They are different. So kindness and goodness look almost exactly alike – but they’re really two different concepts.
Remember that kindness is that good, generous, mild spirit that is expressed no matter how someone treats you. Goodness, on the other hand, is that generosity in action. It is the practical side of kindness. Goodness involves activity. It is the hands of kindness reaching out.
You might say the twins’ names are Attitude and Action. You know how people are always giving twins – you know, they always start with the same letter…
All right, so the twins’ names are Attitude and Action. Kindness is a generous attitude. Goodness is a generous action.
Now, if you want to understand the meaning of goodness, like any word, we need to see how it is used. That’s how you understand what something means. We see how it’s used.
So let’s go, first of all, to a passage where this word goodness is used of God. We find this in Nehemiah chapter 9. Nehemiah chapter 9 – now, Nehemiah 9, to get the context here, is a great prayer of confession to God.
And by the way, some of you may even have questions in your mind. Let me just say this as you’re turning there. “Why do we, as a congregation, confess our sin? Isn’t that kind of Catholic?” And I say, “No. That’s Biblical.” Here it is in Nehemiah 9 – you have a congregational prayer much longer than the ones that we have. It goes on for about three pages!
This is a congregational prayer. This is not where someone says, “God, I have sinned.” It is, “God, we have sinned. The whole nation has sinned.” Every one of them, as a corporate entity, has to confess their sin. The whole nation confesses its sin through the mouth of one person, but it’s the whole nation that comes before God. And they’re confessing their sin in the light of – let’s get back on track here – in the light of God’s goodness to them.
And so we find this – and we’re not going to read the whole prayer, of course. But when we come to chapter 9, verse 25, we read as they recount the history of the goodness of God to them in the confession of this sin – they say:
“’They captured’” that is, the nation captured, “’fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.’”
They reveled in Your goodness. What is that goodness? Well, that goodness is all these great things that God has given them. The fortified cities, the fertile land, the houses filled with good things, the wells that are dug, the vineyards, the olive groves, the fruit trees – their food. This is God’s generosity. This is God’s goodness to them.
Verse 34, same chapter:
“’Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.’” (v. 34-35)
What is goodness here? Here, God’s goodness is certainly His generosity in giving them all these good things. Goodness here is identified with the generous actions of God towards His people.
The generous actions of God towards His people. It is God reaching out and helping by providing. He is kind to them; and so, then, He is good to them. This marvelous generosity of giving to them more than they needed. Not giving them what they deserved, but giving to them more than they needed.
The word is used of a congregation – the Thessalonian congregation in particular—so turn now to the New Testament to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And here – again, in the context of a prayer – the Apostle Paul, writing to these people on 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 11, says:
“With this in mind,” that is, that they are God’s people, that they will be vindicated some day, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (v. 11-12)
We pray for you, what? “That by God’s power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.” Here is a prayer that God will fulfill every desire for goodness. Again, the idea of reaching out.
These people desired to do good. To have these acts prompted by their faith. And thus, the Apostle Paul is praying that God would give His power so that they would continue to reach out in goodness and good deeds to those around them.
It is used of people who want to help other people. In fact, it is one of the qualifications for counseling found in Romans chapter 15, verse 14. Romans chapter 15, verse 14. As the Apostle Paul comes to the end of this epistle and he’s telling them what he knows about them, he says:
“I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are” here we are “full of goodness, complete in knowledge and” thus “competent to instruct” or to counsel “one another.”
He says, “Full of goodness.” In order to counsel, you reach out to help. If you’re going to instruct one another, if you’re going to help one another – the word has the idea of helping by word of mouth – if you’re going to help one another, you need to be full of goodness. Rather than ridiculing or despising or looking down your nose at one who needs help -- rather, you reach out to help.
Here is Janie. She’s part of the congregation. She’s struggling. She’s trying to be godly in a very difficult marriage. How do you respond to her?
Well, you respond first with kindness. You see that your heart goes out to her. And then you are full of goodness. You don’t just have the desire to help – it tears your heart out to see her struggle – but you reach out to help her. That’s goodness – it’s reaching out to do something concrete. Instead of turning away from her, you turn toward her and reach out in order to help her in this very difficult time of her life.
One more use, we find in Romans chapter 5, verse 7 – where the Apostle Paul compares a just man with a good man. Okay? Interesting comparison here, that helps us understand exactly what this idea of goodness is. Romans chapter 5, verse 7 – very familiar verse:
“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous” or a just “man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.”
Here, he compares a righteous or a just man with a good man. A just man – a righteous man – a just man does everything by the book. Okay? He does everything by the book.
You need $1200 desperately. You desperately need $1200, so you go to the bank. And you sit down with the loan officer. And as you’re sitting there, you see that he works really hard for you. I mean, he’s calling people. He’s walking to other desks and talking to people. You see him going through these manuals and looking and writing things down. He works real hard. It’s obvious he’s working hard for you.
And then he comes to you and he says, “Look. I’ve done my best. I’ve turned over every stone in this banking company – and I can get you $400. That’s all the bank allows. Under current regulations, that is the very best I can do for you.”
Are you thankful to him? Well, certainly you are. He’s done everything he can. By the book. But he says to you, “Under the current regulations, that’s the best I can do for you. I wish I could do more, but that’s the very best I can do for you.”
That man is a just man. He’s a just man, right?
Now, a good man goes beyond the book and gives you what you need. So you go over to Bill Gates. And Bill Gates looks at you and says, “Look. I know you can only get $400, and that’s all that anyone is willing to risk. But I’ll give you the whole $1200.” Okay?
That’s a good man.
A just man gives what you deserve. A good man gives you what you need. You see the difference? Now, these are just illustrations. I’m not trying to say to you that Bill Gates is a good man! But at least you see the difference.
A just man – that is terrific that there are just people, right? They do everything they can. They do everything they can by the rules – and “here’s what we can do for you”.
But a good man – a good man gives you what you need. All right?
So, goodness is this open-handed kindliness which issues in practical generosity. It’s an open-handed kindliness that issues in practical generosity. This is what the Spirit of God produces in the people of God. Not just a kindness, but kindness now taking the next step and reaching out with practical generosity.
Well, then, if we understand goodness, we need to understand what opposes goodness. Let’s turn back to our passage again in Galatians 5. Again, we need to see this. There are the obvious works of the flesh. Verse 19.
What is the opposite of goodness? Well, we could look at all of these things and see that all of them are in some way or other the opposite of goodness.
“…sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition…” and so forth. (v. 19-21)
All of them, in one way or another, are not flowing out of the kind spirit that issues in practical generosity. None of those are – so there’s the obvious work of the flesh. Those are those actions that flow out of them.
For example, if you look up at chapter 5, verse 15:
“If you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”
There’s no goodness there. They were giving in to the flesh at that point, and they were devouring and biting each other. Attacking others opposes goodness. Attacking others.
Now, look. Most of us don’t just go out and attack other people because, you know, we just are in attack mode today. Although some people do – they are that way. But a lot of times, someone needs correction – someone who’s hurt you – you want to correct them. Yeah, you want to correct them in a real interesting way. You want to correct them in a way that they won’t forget they’ve been corrected. Right?
In Ephesians 4.29 it says:
“Do not let any unwholesome” – do not let any cutting – “words come out of your mouth, but only those which help others and minister grace to them.”
Even when people are unkind to us, and we need to pray and correct them, we go into attack mode, don’t we? Even then, we need to be good to them. Even though someone has sinned against me, I need to help them. I don’t need to go into attack mode – I need to be good to them.
The attitude often times is, “They need this, and I’m going to teach him a lesson.” That’s not goodness. Not with that kind of an attitude.
Goodness looks out and says, “Yeah, this person hurt me, but this person needs help.”
You know, that is sadly so foreign to our thinking. We don’t see people who hurt us and sin against us as people who need help, do we? We see them as people who need to learn their lesson. We can be very – if you will – just. And not very good.
Another thing that opposed goodness is delighting in the misfortune of others. So we don’t go into attack mode, but when something happens… You see that, for example, in the Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 17. Proverbs 17, verse 5:
“He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.”
Rather than reaching out, we are glad when disaster overtakes an opponent. An enemy. Someone who’s done us wrong. That’s not goodness. That’s not goodness.
If you really want to see something that opposes goodness, turn to Luke, chapter 5. You know what else opposes goodness? Self-righteousness opposes goodness.
Look over at Luke chapter 5. What a marvelous picture of goodness and it’s opposite, self-righteousness. Luke chapter 5, beginning in verse 27:
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.”
You know what? We look at tax collectors and so on, but do you know what’s really going on? Let’s read it this way:
“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of sexual predators and others were eating with them.”
That’d give you more of an idea of what the Pharisees were looking at. The lowest of the low. Okay?
“Pastor, that’s too shocking! Jesus wouldn’t do that!” I beg to differ with you. He would eat with them.
“But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and “sinners”?’
“Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” (v.27-32)
Here is goodness and its opposite – self-righteousness. “They don’t deserve it, Jesus. They ought to get what they deserve.”
And Jesus says, “No. I’m going to give them what they need. They need a Physician. They don’t need a Judge.”
Here, you see goodness to sinners. Don’t lose sight of this. Goodness is seen, in particular, when it is expressed to sinners.
Yes, it’s difficult to be good to those with whom we are together in the family of believers. But God calls us to more extraordinary things – goodness to sinners. That is Holy Spirit-produced goodness.
Don’t be deceived by artificial fruit or counterfeits to goodness, either. You recall in Acts chapter 4 and Acts chapter 5 how – because of the situation and these mass conversions to the faith – how many now needed help and the brothers and sisters were selling – they were selling all their possessions and taking the money and giving it to the Apostles and the Apostles were distributing it to those who had need. You remember that?
And you remember this one couple that are singled out, who sold their property for this much and they came to the Apostles and they didn’t give all of it, but some of it, but they said “Here is all of it”. And how God struck them dead?
Now, He didn’t strike them dead because they didn’t sell all of their property. God didn’t require that. He struck them dead because they were hypocrites!
They wanted a particular reputation. They kept back part of it and said, “Here’s all of it.” They lied.
An artificial fruit that we might look at is public generosity. That is, generosity for the purpose of publicity and not goodness. That’s hypocrisy, that’s not goodness.
We might call another artificial fruit reciprocal generosity. I’m generous to you, because you’ve been good to me. All right?
Look at Matthew 5. And again, there are two passages in the Bible that I look at with awe and wonder. One is Luke chapter 6, beginning in verse 27 – and the other is Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 through 48.
I was in a particularly difficult situation this week with a particular young person. You don’t know this person. And he was railing against his parents and telling me how terrible they were.
I said, “I want you to pick up the Bible sitting in front of you, there. And I want you to look at Matthew 5. I want you to look at Matthew 5, verses 43 through 48. Would you read those verses? Would you read that for me?”
And he read it. And threw the Bible on the table and he said, “That’s impossible.”
[chuckles] “That’s right,” I said. “That’s right. That’s what Jesus calls us to do.”
Well, what are we talking about here? We’re talking about this reciprocal generosity. Let’s just drop down to verse 46 in the context of loving your enemy:
“’If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (v. 46-48)
Reciprocal generosity is not goodness. “I’m good to you, because you’re good to me!” Well, then, that’s not goodness. Let’s call it “scratching one another’s back.” Let’s say, “I like doing good things to people who do good things for me.” But let’s not call it goodness.
No, no. No, Spirit-produced goodness goes beyond just giving to people who give back. It’s giving to people who might never give back. Being generous to people who might never give back.
Matthew 5. Luke 6. These two passages are so radical that we always want to try to find loopholes. I think there are times when we need to just say, “Stop trying to find loopholes and just do it! Just do it!”
Another counterfeit to goodness is words with no action. Words with no action. Matthew 23. Jesus talks to the Pharisees here, and He says to them:
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ‘the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.’” (v. 1-4)
The Pharisees were in the habit of telling people, “This is the good life. You want the good life? You want a life for your good? Then you do all these intricate things in obedience to God’s law. You follow every one of these devices that we have come up with in order to obey the law of God. Then you’ll be good.”
Well, you know that’s false – but even in that, they wouldn’t even lift a finger to help anybody live that so-called good life.
Words without action. Telling people how great it is, but not helping them. That’s not goodness, either.
You see, goodness reaches out and helps. It helps.
Well, of course in all these sermons, you know there’s three points, don’t you? In every one of these, there’s always three points. And the last one is always the same.
Understand how the Spirit produces that in us. What is the means of grace that the Spirit uses to produce goodness in us?
I will say this again, and you may get tired of hearing it, but I believe it is the key. We must always look – where? To the cross. We must always look to the cross.
You might be tempted to say, “Well, it’s time to get to work and put on goodness.” And in one sense you are right. Because 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 15 says:
“See to it that nobody returns evil for evil, but rather always seek ways of doing good to one another and to all people.”
Yes, put on goodness.
But here, we’re talking about not just doing it, but motivation. The only thing that will sustain you, the only thing that will at heart produce it in you is if you live hard – “abide hard by the cross”, as Spurgeon put it.
It must be motivated by grace. It is the only thing that can sustain this kind of goodness in your life. It is the cross of Jesus Christ.
Oh, I’m so convinced of this. As we sang that song, “Depths of Mercy”, that picture in the second verse of Jesus standing before God and presenting His wounds… When I don’t want to do good, that’s where I need to look. So that I can see that I am not condemned. I am free to do good! I’m no longer enslaved to my passions!
And I need to look to the cross because that is the ultimate expression of God’s goodness! The ultimate expression of a practical generosity reaching out. Titus chapter 2, verses 11 and 12:
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us” What does? Grace. It is grace that teaches us “to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and” it is grace that teaches us “to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age”.
It is grace that will sustain you. It is grace that will produce this goodness. No law can ever do it. No formula will ever do it. It must be motivated by the grace of God. I am convinced that God loves me in Christ. Only then will I reach out to help people who will never pay me back.
If you want goodness, then remember how God was good to you in Christ when He rescued you. That is goodness.
Second, pray for goodness. Pray for it. You remember in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 11, when the Apostle Paul wrote:
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
Pray for it. Plead with God. Ask the Spirit to produce this in you. We need often times to come to God and just – alone – prostrated before God, say, “Oh, God! I’m so tight-fisted! I’m so tight-fisted – Oh, God, open my hands. Show me Jesus! Produce goodness in me!”
You’ve got to ask God for it. You’ve got to pray. You’ve got to plead.
By the way, that is what I think Jesus meant in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Whatever you ask” – you know? “Ask. Seek. Knock.” That’s what He’s talking about.
He’s not saying, “Ask and seek and knock and I’ll give you a new car.” He’s saying, “Ask and seek and pound on the doors that God would make you the person He wants you to be. Pray for it.”
Pray for it.
Third – 1 Peter 4.19. 1 Peter 4.19 says something about this. It’s a little different word. It’s a compound word of the word that we’re looking at, but essentially it’s the same thing. 1 Peter 4.19:
“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and” what? “continue to do good.”
He’s writing to Christians who are suffering. He’s writing to Christians who are being beaten by their masters. He’s writing to women whose husbands care nothing for them, who are very insensitive and cruel to them. He’s writing to people who are suffering under a government that hates their faith.
And he says to them: “You must continue to do good.” Even in the midst of suffering, you do not get a pink slip that says, “Oh yeah, by the way, you’re suffering too much. You don’t have to do good any more. That’s just too much pressure. No, right now, you just take it easy. Don’t do good.”
That’s not what he says! He says, “Continue to do good”. But how? By trusting yourself to your faithful Creator. You entrust yourself to Him. He is the One that will be faithful to you. He is the One that will be faithful in His judgment.
In fact, he’s really echoing what he has already said in this book – in chapter 2, where we see the ultimate example of One Who trusted Himself to God in the midst of suffering. Jesus Himself. Chapter 2, verse 20. It says this:
“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called…”
To this you were called – to what? To suffer unjustly. You were called to that,
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
“’He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (v. 20-23)
Jesus went through abuse. How? By entrusting Himself to a Judge that judges rightly. Thus, you can continue to do good, no matter what the circumstances – if you entrust yourself to God.
Fourth. If you want goodness produced in you, seize opportunities for goodness when they are presented to you. Galatians, chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6, 9 and 10.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
Seize opportunities as they are presented. Isn’t that what he says in verse 10?
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good…”
How does the Spirit produce goodness in you? He gives you opportunities! He gives you opportunities.
Now listen – I’m going to be very forthright with you. We Christians have a bad rap in the world, and some of it – you know – we ought to expect. But some of it is our own fault! We have a bad rap because we are more known of our hatred of sin than for our goodness to sinners!
They know where we stand! We march and we protest! But they don’t see us being good to them! Some of the bad rap we get, we deserve.
Let me tell you something. Let me ask you this question. Which shows the work of the Spirit better – campaigning for the Family Marriage Amendment, or sitting by the bedside of someone who’s dying of AIDS? We need to think about that.
When we have opportunities for goodness, we need to seize them! We need to seize them. That’s how the Spirit produces goodness in us. Look again at verse 9.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
If you want goodness in your life, then persevere. The Spirit produces goodness in your life as you persevere in seizing opportunities. As you persevere in doing good. There’s nothing magical about that, is there? You’ve just got to say – and again, pray – “Help me, Lord, I am growing weary. Help me to do good. Help me to persevere.”
Six. Again, same passage. Remember God’s promise.
Again, I say to you that the Spirit produces His fruit in us as we step out in faith. Faith is vital to this whole process. Faith in what? Faith in the promises of God. What is that promise?
“For at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Now, it’s interesting. He doesn’t tell us what that harvest is. But I think that harvest of goodness can be many things. We can’t imagine what that is. All right? Frankly, a lot of times we don’t know what it is, because we haven’t done it. We haven’t persevered.
But if we believe the promise of God, goodness will be produced in our life. What is that promise? If we don’t give up, we’ll reap a harvest.
Lastly – the last means of the Spirit producing this – and I think this is so important. Live for a cause greater than yourself. What is that cause? Philippians chapter 1, verse 20.
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
What’s the cause that’s greater than me? It’s that Jesus would be seen in me – no matter what.
You know, we don’t see goodness produced in our life because we are fighting against that incurable addiction to self. Because goodness requires sacrifice. Goodness requires time and energy. It may mean I say good-bye to my family for a period of time so that I can step out and help someone. It may mean I have to drag them along so they learn it too. That’s the harder one.
What’s the point? The point is, there’s a cause greater than me – it’s Christ! I want people to see Christ. That’s what I want more than anything in the world. Is that your desire?
Is that your desire?
This verse has – out of choice, I’d say – it has had tremendous influence on me. It is one that I refer to all the time. I remember when I began to ask the question – and it was counseling-related. I was reading some materials and Dave Powell has these x-ray questions, and one of the question was:
“What motivates you? What do you want written on your tombstone when you die?”
That struck me. And I started thinking about that. And I started asking myself the question: “What do I want people to say when I die?”
You know what I want them to say? “He showed Christ.” There is no cause greater than that – that people will see Jesus Christ in you. They will see what Jesus is when they watch you. And when that happens, you will see goodness in your life, because Jesus was goodness incarnate. Right?
And so, I’m not going to live for me. I’m going to live so that people will see Him. And if I have that attitude – if I live for that cause that’s greater than me – the Spirit will produce goodness in me.
So, my dear friends, God is not interested in producing sappy Wally Cleavers in this world. That’s not what it’s about. He, through the death of His Son, has purchased a people into whom He sends His Spirit to dwell and to work.
And these people – by that Spirit – will reach out to those who have no hope, who are poor, who are rejected, who are sinners. And He wants us – and He has given us His Spirit so that we would be kind to sinners with a kindness that reaches out to give not what they deserve – but what they need.
Let’s pray.
Our God, we can say that because of Your Spirit, this is true in our life, because this fruit is true of all those who are Yours. And yet, Father, we know that the fruit of the Spirit can grow. And for that, we plead with You. We plead with You that You would help us to use the means of grace -- from the look at the cross through prayer to the opportunities You give us, to all those things – that we would make use of those means so that we would grow in goodness. And, God, the people of this world would see that there is a people in this world who care and who reach out. And so, Father, I ask You – and beg You on behalf of Your people in this place – that Your Spirit would be at work in us to produce goodness. Grant that, we pray. We know that You are good, and that You have designed that that goodness would come from You and be a part of us. Grant this, we pray, for the sake of Your Son. And for His glory. And that the Spirit would be magnified in His work in our hearts. In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.