Part 2 

Introduction: I know I have used this phrase in the last couple messages but I Oliver Green had it right when he called this passage “The Holy Spirit’s fruit basket”.  When you review these in your mind, you find them to be orderly.  In fact, all of that the Lord does is orderly.  This is one reason why the modern day tongue movement is incorrect.  It is chaos instead of the orderliness of our Lord.    1^st Corinthians 14:40

“Let all things be done decently and in order.”

      Even though I have never been in a tongue speaking service, I know from all of the reading and interviewing that I have done on that subject that is far from orderliness.  So how is this concept of orderliness seen in the fruit of the Spirit?  You can illustrate it with a diamond with nine sides.  Each side of the diamond has a different refraction but it is still the same diamond.  The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit but nine different aspects.  Another element of this is that there are nine aspects broken down into groups of three.  The number of three is the number of the trinity in the Bible.  Each group of three shows the three ways that the fruit is reflected.  It is reflected upward, outward and upward.  Some people mistake fervency for spirituality.  There are many fervent religions in the world.  They can work up a crowd into frenzy.  One of the men of the church several years ago was a Marine stationed in Somalia.  He had his squad out on a night patrol.  They ran across from a distance a group of men who were playing their drums in a religious ceremony.  This man decided it would be interesting to watch for a while.  They worked themselves up with the same drumbeat.  He said that they watched for a while and then he looked at his watch and three hours had passed.  They were still at it.  It seemed to be “spiritual” but in reality it was nothing less than religious fervency.

      What the Lord wants in us is spiritual fruit and not a bunch of religious nuts!  It is wise to remember that this fruit only grows in the garden of obedience. 

      Last time we looked at two parts of this virtue of the fruit of the Spirit.  We saw the placement of the fruit.  We only can get this goodness from the Lord.  When you think of the goodness of the Lord, you can see these great spiritual truths of the Lord in regards to the goodness of the Lord.

1. The Goodness of God is abundant. Exodus 34:6

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth”

      The goodness of God is a theme that we find over and over again in the book of Psalms.

                                    Psalm 25:8  

“Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.”

                                    Psalm 33:5 

“He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.”

                                    Psalm 34:8 

“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”

                                    Psalm 119:68

“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.”

                                    Psalm 145:7 

“They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.”

2. The goodness of God is great. Psalm 31:19

“Oh 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!”

      The 31^st Psalm has lots of problems seen in the life of David.  But this verse shows how great a find in such a joyful sentence in connection with so much sorrow in the previous verses.  Truly his life is a life of faith it was a miracle.   When faith led David to his God, she set him singing at once.

3. The goodness of God is enduring. Psalm 52:1

“Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.”

      Here you find the contrast between a wicked man and the goodness of God.  The boasting of the evil of this man that David is writing this Psalm shows that the goodness of the Lord is enduring event.  This whole Psalm is great for teaching and preaching but it will take away from the subject of the goodness of God today except the enduring of His goodness.

4. The goodness of God is universal. Psalm 145:9

            “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”

      You cannot show anywhere where you cannot find the goodness of God.  Even sin shows the goodness of God in providing salvation for us and saving us from the same.  This does not justify sin.  God is good to all. 

      The goodness of the Lord was placed in our hearts when He saved us.  He is making us a new creature.  Just like that caterpillar is nothing but a worm with legs until he comes out of the cocoon and is a new creature.

      Secondly we saw the purpose of the virtue of goodness is not for us but for others to be able to glorify our Father that is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

      Today I want to explore this virtue of goodness further. 

III. THE PUTTING FORTH OF GOODNESS

                  A. Goodness is produced by walking in the Spirit.

                             Galatians 5:16

                        “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

                              It is seen in several ways.

                        1. It is our work of soul winning. 

                                                Matthew 5:16

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

      We don’t witness to people about the grace of God for our glory but that people will see the goodness of the Lord and get saved.  It is the Holy Spirit working in us to do the good that we should be doing.

                        2. It is our work of service for the Lord.

                                                Galatians 6:10

“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

      How many men are we supposed to do good?  The answer is found in that verse of scripture- “unto all men”.  When the Holy Spirit prompts you to do some act of service for someone, don’t put it off.  You may never get another opportunity to do so.

                  B. Goodness is produced by the Word of God into our lives.

                                                Micah 6:8

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

      One of the failures of the modern feel good religion that is so popular in this day and time is that feelings are placed above the Word of God.  Nothing is more important than the Word of God. Psalm 138:2

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”

                        Psalm 119:105

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

      Have you ever noticed in your reading and study of the Word of God that it seems to be pointing out some sin at that you have problems?  Why is that?  It is the Lord using His Word trying produce goodness in your life so He can be seen high and lifted up.

      We must never trust our feelings.  Our feelings are untrustworthy.  Feelings are changeable where the Word of God is unchangeable.

                  C. Goodness is promoted by godly fellowship.

                                                Hebrews 10:24-25

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

      We have taken the word “provoke” in today’s society in a somewhat different sense.  It has as the meaning to offend, to irritate, and to incense.  But in the Biblical sense, it means to arouse, to excite, to call into action.  That is the meaning of provoke in Hebrews chapter ten.  When there is love in the church and I mean agape love, you will find the good works in the church.  That is a great reason not to miss church services.  You may miss an opportunity to be a blessing to a fellow believer.  By missing church services, you may miss the opportunity for the Lord to speak your heart in helping a fellow believer. 

      But this is one of the truths of the Bible that is better caught than taught.  People learn from the example of others more than they will ever learn from the preaching and teaching most of the time.  Teaching and preaching may spark the interest in acts of goodness but when a believer actually sees this in action, they see the Bible in show leather.

                  D. Goodness is to be preserved. Titus 3:8

“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”

      We are in a constant maintenance mode when it comes to good works.  I don’t say this to be a braggart.  My wife and I have tried to show goodness to people our entire married life.  But we have been burnt many times or one misstep on our part or should I say my part most of the time will erase all the goodness we may have done folks.  We did not do them so people can say “what a good people you are” but we have tried to practice Matthew 5:16.  (“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”)

      But we know that we must constantly maintain and preserve good works.  It will be profitable some day.  It may not be in our lifetime but in God’s time.   

IV. THE PORTRAY OF GOODNESS

                                                Acts 9:36-41

“Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.  And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.  And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.”

      Here is a saved woman.  We know this the phrase “a certain disciple”.  She is portrayed as a woman full good works and alms deeds.  She helped people.  In fact by our passage you could call her a Proverbs 31 woman.  She had made clothes for widows.  She must have made a great impact on her community.  Here is a real testimony of what goodness is seen in a life.  In fact, this testimony is in our Bibles.  God keeps good records.  He sees each acts of goodness and keeps a record.  We are not supposed to do so.  It is our job so to speak to do good for His honor and glory. 

      The place that Dorcas lived is the place that Jonah fled to get away from God’s call to preach to the Gentiles and this is the place where Peter is going to get God’s call to preach unto the Gentiles. That is a real contrast.

      There was no government aid for widows.  It has been our responsibility as churches to help the widows that are widows indeed.  This woman was a shining portray of the goodness of God shining forth to a world who needs to see it. 

Conclusion: Is the goodness of the Lord being seen in us?  Too many times we are like the two men who found the half dead Jewish man who was robbed on the road to Jericho.  The priest was a type of religion.  Religion does not want to really help those who are in true need. 

      The Levite is a type of the Law.  It is also dead, not able or willing to help.  The law is a schoolmaster to lead us to the Saviour to cause us to see our true sinfulness and not a way of life.  The law's strict requirements should show people that it is impossible to live a life under the Law.

      We ought to be seen as the Good Samaritan that is willing to do good for people and leave the credit up to the Lord.  At times people take advantage of us.  But people’s praise is not the praise that we are to seek but the words of our Lord “well done, thou good and faithful servant”. 

      No of the good that we do is produced within our own efforts but the work of the Holy Spirit in us.  Thank God, He is still working on you and me.