Full of Goodness

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our [email protected], dot. We would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media, so be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Now. Enjoy the message. [00:00:24] Speaker B: Well, good morning and welcome to the 6th installment of our fruitful series. I want to start off today. I'm making a confession. Okay, brace yourselves. I love fruit. I do. I unashamedly, I'm confessing it to you today. I love fruit. Always have. Are there any fruit fans in the house today? Anybody love fruit? Especially in the summer, right? It's hot, you're in need of refreshment, and nothing can really satisfy like taking a bite of a ripe, delicious, sweet peace of fruit. I've always loved fruit, and I think you can trace it back to my childhood. I was introduced to fruit at a very young age. In fact, I remember my parents always made sure that our house, our pantry, our refrigerator was always stocked with copious amounts of fruit for my sister and I to indulge in. And as I think about some of my favorite fruit to eat from when I was a kid, it is as follows in this order. Fruit loops. Fruit rolled up, strawberry pop tarts. Anybody else have a steady diet of that kind of fruit when you were a child? Right? That was me. Now, you don't need me to tell you that there's no real fruit in those fruit items. It doesn't matter that it says real fruit on the outside. There's no real fruit on the inside. It might say fruit flavored, but it's not fruit filled. And I've come to appreciate as a grown up now, and I've been able to discern the difference between real fruit and fake fruit. And what I have concluded is I don't want the fake stuff. I don't want the manufactured, artificial, taste good going in, taste bad coming out type of fruit. I want the real stuff. And that includes literal fruit as well as, come on, spiritual fruit. Can I get an amen? That's really what this series is about. It's about us looking at what real fruit actually is. And we've been looking at Galatians, chapter five. This is the 6th week now, and in that passage we see Paul, how he's describing the fruit of the spirit. What that means is it's the character that the spirit of God uniquely produces in the life of a believer, of a person who has chosen to turn away from sin, turn to their savior Jesus, and then daily devote themselves to following in his footsteps by yielding willingly to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. That's whenever we can produce fruit. You might think about it this way, and if you're taking notes, this will be the first time you can jot something down, and then later on, you'll have some other things. But here's what I want you to take away from the very outset today. It's this. When we yield to the spirit, the spirit yields fruit in us. When I yield to the spirit of God, the spirit of God then does what only he can do, and that's to yield or produce fruit in me. What kind of fruit are we talking about? I'm talking about the good stuff, the God stuff. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, which we'll emphasize a little bit more today. Gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. I want more of that fruit in my life. I'm tired of the phony fake stuff. I want the real fruit. It reminds me of a story. There are these two brothers, young brothers, and they're best of friends, but they tend to get into trouble from time to time. Now, you have to understand, they lived in a two story house, and their room was on the second floor, and they had a window by which, on the other side, there was a large tree. And they loved going out of the window, climbing up and down the tree, especially whenever they got into trouble. See, their parents would send them up to their rooms, and then, unbeknownst to mom and dad, they would then open the window, climb down the tree, play, go back up the tree, in through the window, into their room, and without their parents even. Even knowing it. Well, unfortunately for them, they overheard a conversation that their dad was having with their mom, and the dad said something to the effect of, you know what? It's time for me just to cut that tree down. Just cut it down. It's dead. It's not producing fruit anymore, so I'm gonna get rid of it. And of course, the boys are like, what? Like, that would foil our plan. Like, how are we gonna escape punishment if they cut down the tree? And so they conspired together, and they conceived a brilliant plan. They went to hobby lobby, and they bought some fake apples, and they duct taped those fake apples to the tree. Like, surely that will convince dad the tree's not dead. It's actually very much alive. And so the dad sees the tree, and he's not fooled by it, knows exactly the planets afoot here. And so he then conspires with his wife. And he and she, they go up onto the landing of the stairs and knowing their sons have a proclivity to eavesdrop. If you have kids, you know exactly. They're always listening, even when they're playing video games, even when they're dancing, even when they're playing, they're always tuning into what we're saying. And so they knew that. So they go into the landing and they understand the boys are probably listening in. And so the dad says to his wife, he says, it's a miracle. It's a miracle. That tree was dead and now it's alive again. It was barren and now it's bearing there's fruit on this tree. And the mom plays along, she says, oh, my goodness. Well, tell me more about this miracle. And he goes, look, this is actually the miracle of all miracles because there's fruit on this tree. There's dozens and dozens of pieces of fruit on this tree. And not only that, the greatest of all the miracles is that this fruit is. They're apples. There's apples on this tree and it's an orange tree. And the boys are like, ah, we put apples on an orange tree. As if the duct tape didn't give it away. I found that a lot of people, Christians included, that we're very intent on presenting fruit to the world to try to convince people that we have things going right, that we are at a place spiritually that we may not be, when in reality we're just duct taping stuff, fake fruit to our lives. It's pretentious, it's fake. Its image control is exhausting. And the reasons why it's exhausting is we are trying to produce, put out what only God can put in, and it's a never ending cycle. So the question then is, well, how do we actually produce good fruit? How do we have lives that are fruitful? And that really has been the key question that we have been attempting to answer all series long. Now, what I realize is it's the summer, and because this is the 6th week, it's possible that this is your first time back since you went on summer break. Welcome back. We're glad you're here. Maybe you've kind of been hit or miss. Things have, you know, summers are busy. And so what I don't want you to do is I don't want you to miss the forest through the trees. And so I'm gonna spend a considerable amount of time this morning, resetting and recentering this conversation. So that way we're all on the same page about what it looks like for us to have a fruitful life. And then toward the very end, I'm gonna really hone in on goodness. Cause that is actually my assignment that I've been given today, is to unpack, what does it look like for us to experience the goodness of God? And by the way, God produces fruit in our lives, not only to feed us, but to feed other people. And so how can we experience the goodness for ourselves and express the goodness so that when people taste and see the Lord is working our lives, they say it's good and not sour. It's sweet and not sour. And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at this passage and read it in its entirety in Galatians, beginning in verse 16, and it'll be up on the screen. So here's what we find. This is the apostle Paul. He says to the church in Galatia, so I say that the whole or let the Holy Spirit guide your lives, then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants. And the spirit gives us desires. They're the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces, they're constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But, and I love how one pastor said one time, he goes, man, christians, they have big butts. They have big butts. I was dead, but now I'm alive. I was lost, but now I'm found. I used to be a, but now I'm a slave to righteousness. Paul says, but when you are directed by the spirit, what then? Now you're no longer under obligation to the law of Moses. Okay, let's stop just for a second. Let's unpack this a little bit. What Paul's saying is that for us to have a fruit filled life, we have to come into agreement with God. We have to align our lives with the will of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And here's why. It has to be a deliberate, conscientious turning away from sin and turning to the spirit. It's because we are born with a default nature. It's called a sin nature. The Bible oftentimes would define it as the flesh, not your skin. It's this innate proclivity, longing, desire tendency trajectory to do the exact opposite of what God would have us do. We're born with it. David said in psalm 51 five, he says, I was born into iniquity. So when is it exactly that we become sinners? Immediately at conception. It's baked in. We are a sinner who is born with that nature. Now, if you're a parent, there is an argument to be made that we don't actually become sinners until we turn two. I've had two two year olds. They're older now, but we still see some of that expressing itself today. I mean, isn't it so funny? As a two year old? It's like we were just cuddling, like, just a moment ago, and now you're shouting at me. You're saying no, and you're throwing your food. It seems like you take great pleasure in embarrassing me at restaurants, and matter of fact, you're stealing from me. I saw you do it, and you took it, and I called you out on. I said, hey, what's that in your hand? You went like this as if I don't know what's behind your back. And then I say, what's behind your back? And then you continue the deception, and you turn. You see, we're all born with this sin nature. If sin is a sickness, we've all caught it. Sin is not something that we're taught. No one taught that. Who taught the two year old to do those things? That would be a terrible time to nudge your husband. Don't do that. Who taught? Nobody taught the toddler to do that. The toddler went from little cherub to little chump, not because they learned it, but because it's interwoven into the very fabric of who they are, of who we are. We're all born with this. In nature, it is caught. We've all come down with a sickness. We all have it. And it's that reason why we have to, with a concerted effort, we have to recognize where we are, see where God wants us to be, and then allow the Holy Spirit to bridge the gap between the two. Here's what you need to know. A non Christian, of which I used to be one, a non Christian doesn't know anything other than the flesh. Whatever your feelings say to do, do it. Follow your heart. Gratify your flesh. Indulge yourself. That's all that they. That's all that they know. Follow your impulses, and this can be very dangerous. Listen to what Paul describes in terms of the danger, the results of us giving ourselves over to our fleshly desires. Here's what Paul says in verse 19. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature. The results are very clear. Oh, I love that. I love that. While there may be some questions that we have of God that are ambiguous, that are unknown, God is very clear with the main things. He's very clear. This is one of the things that God is very clear about in scripture. It is clear. Here's what happens when you follow your sinful nature. Sexual immorality, that's a greek word, pornea, which. That's where we get the word pornography. Sexual immorality, porneia, that is, it's all encompassing. It describes all forms of sexual sin. Impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like this. Let me tell you again, Paul says, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. So those are the works of the flesh. The results are in. It's very clear. That's what happens whenever we give ourselves over to our sinful nature as opposed to yielding to the Holy Spirit. Now, what I need you to understand is that is not a comprehensive list. It's just a sampling. If the Lord were to describe every single result of us following our fleshly desires, it would be pages and pages and pages and chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters and chapters, because there's so many different ways that sin can manifest in our lives. And here's what I also want you to understand, is that, like, nobody wakes up one day and says, life goals. That's what I want my life to be like. I've never met anybody who woke up and said, you know what? After I drop off the kids today, I think I'm just gonna scroll and scroll and scroll on Facebook until I get really jealous. And then, you know what? I'm gonna go have a bite to eat for lunch. After that, I'm gonna dabble a little sorcery, and then before bedtime, I'm gonna have an outburst of anger out of everybody and just, like, ruin my family. Nobody wakes up. It says that nobody has, at the top of their New Year's resolutions, to be addicted to alcohol or to have a hostile attitude where no one wants to be around you. Nobody has that as their ambition. And yet there are scores and scores and scores and more of people whose lives are defined by them and confined to them. You see the spiritual enemy, the devil, who is very real, and he has his cohorts, the demonic forces. They will never show you this list. Never. They don't want you to see that because they know if you and I will contemplate those possible calamitous results by us giving ourselves over to our feelings, letting our feelings be our guide by doing what makes us happy, he knows that we probably will look for a different way and that way is God's way. There's only two ways. There's my way and there's yahweh. That's God's way. There's only two ways. There's only two ways. And the devil he wants to shroud keep hidden the results. He just says, no, no no, look at me. No, no. Look at me. Look at me. Look at this temptation. Doesn't this look good? It will feel good. And btw, it will instantaneous gratification, gratifying the flesh. In the short term it does feel good or no one would do it. But he never shows you the long term suffering. He'll never show you the depression. He'll never show you the brokenness. He'll never show you the destructive nature that it takes on your family. He'll never show you your tarnished reputation. He'll never show you the guilt and the shame that by the way, once you say yes to the temptation that the enemy puts in your path, once you say yes and you start to experience the results, then the one who said this is good for you, he'll then on the back end say, I can't believe you did that. He'll then pile on shame and guilt. The enemy doesn't want us to see this list, but we can't be naive to his schemes. These are the results when we give ourselves over to our fleshly desires. Sin, it writes checks that it can't cash. It promises freedom, delivers bondage. It takes you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and makes you pay a price you're not able to pay. There's got to be a different way. There's got to be a different way. And there is. It's the way of following God's spirit. But before we get there, let me go back here to verse 21 because I really want to make sure that there's no confusion here. Here's what Paul said, verse 21. Let me tell you again, I say, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now this verse, if taught incorrectly, can strike fear in a lot of believers. In other words, it can cause genuinely regenerated God loving but imperfect people. To question whether or not they're saved or to think that they can lose their salvation. But let me help you understand the distinction Paul's making here. He's saying, anyone who's living, that is to say, practicing those types of things without any remorse, no conviction, you're just kind of living according to your own desires. You never sense the check of the Holy Spirit. What Paul's saying is, you don't have the spirit. You don't have the spirit. You need the spirit. And again, that does not mean that christians won't ever stumble. Oh, yes, we will. Proverbs says, a righteous man may fall seven times, but he gets back. In other words, there's always contrition that follows a sinful decision in the life of a believer, that if there's just no check in your spirit, it means you probably don't have the spirit. But we're going to make mistakes. And Paul even describes it in romans seven. He said, look, there's a battle between my flesh and the spirit of God in me. And the battle is this, that the things I do, I don't want to do and the things I ought to do, I seem to not be able to do them out of my own volition. Here's what he's saying. He's going, look, this is real. My flesh is weak and temptation is strong. And while you and I may not have the same temptations, we all face it in its various forms. And what I love about Paul is Paul's honest. He's honest. He says, look, this is a struggle of mine, and I need help. God, holy spirit, please search me and know me. Reveal in me the ways that grieve your heart. Because I want to be. I want to obey. I want to yield to you, Lord, because I can't do it. The enemy, on the other hand, he wants you to stay quiet about it. Hide it. Don't tell anybody. He wants you to be like that two year old. What? What sin? What? Where is it? He wants it to be like Adam and Eve, where they break God's. They violate God's law. What do they do? They go and hideous. And then they try to conceal themselves with twigs. And we're just a little more sophisticated than Adam and Eve, aren't we? And how we try to hide it. And Paul says, no, be honest. Make sure you have safe people that you're honest with, because some people can't handle it. Some people don't know how to help you, but you got to be honest. James 516 says, therefore, pray for one another. Confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed. So Paul says there's a better way. Followers of Jesus, if you've stumbled and you will be honest about it, confess it to the Lord. He'll cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Confess it to somebody who is in your corner, who loves you, who holds you accountable, who will help you. Why? So you can be restored. Have the hope and the healing of God restored to your life. That's what he wants us to do. So how can we experience the fruit of the spirit of Goddess yielding ourselves to his voice, to his leading and denying the very real fleshly temptations that are ever present in our lives? You might think about this way. Whichever one you feed will win. Whichever one we feed will win. If we feed the flesh, we see the results. As Paul describes, if we feed the spirit by being obedient, by being sensitive to his promptings and his leadings, then we're going to experience the fruit that only he can produce. Otherwise, we're fooling ourselves and we're just duct taping fake fruit in our lives to impress people. But God sees right through that. He knows the innermost parts of our being. So what about the fruit that he produces when we give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit? Here's what Paul says in verse 22. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against these things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to cross and crucify them there. Since we are living by the spirit, let us also follow the spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Real quick. I should have said this a moment ago, but I want help. You understand here he says, since we live by the spirit, let's also walk by the spirit. Notice those are two different experiences. There's live by the spirit. That is, whenever you turn from sin, turn to Jesus. You open up your heart fully to him. Jesus, I've sinned. I believe you are the son of God who died for me. Rose again. Come into my heart. Have your way in me. I will follow you. Boom. You receive salvation instantaneously. The Holy Spirit moves in. Old you is evicted. New you is here to stay. Because of the regenerated power of the Holy Spirit, it happens in an instant. Salvation instantaneously. Walking by the Spirit, that's sanctification. Salvation happens instantaneously. Sanctification is more like on the installment plan. Little by little, over time, the holy Spirit begins to mold us and shape us, to conform us into the image of his son when we daily crucify our flesh. Like Paul said in Galatians 220, I've crucified, I've been crucified with Christ. So it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me then will produce, or God will produce that fruit in us by the power of his Holy Spirit. As far as the Holy Spirit is concerned, the Holy Spirit is not an it. Holy Spirit is not a force. The Holy Spirit is not yoda or karma. The Holy Spirit is a person. He's the third person in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is as much God as the father and the Son Jesus. They are co equal in their deity. The Holy Spirit is a very real person with, with, with a will, with desires. He is for you. He wants you to be in relationship with him. He wants intimacy with, with us. He's a person. He's not an it. He wants to produce fruit in us. Now, notice it's fruit, not fruits. Have you ever heard someone say, the fruits of the spirit? The fruits of the spirit? Well, it's not fruits, it's fruit. It's singular, not plural. Now you might think, well, what's the big deal about that? Well, can I, can I just contend for a minute that's actually a really big deal, that it's the fruit of the spirit, not the fruits of the spirit. You know, if you've ever had a fruit bowl and if you're like me, you know exactly what you're going in for. There's all kinds of fruit. Let's say there's nine, nine different fruit options in there. And I go straight for the strawberries and the pineapple. Let the kids have the grapes. Like I want the strawberries, I want the watermelon and the pineapple. That's what I want. And I'm selective, hear me? I'm selective about which fruits I want. The fruit of the spirit is less like a fruit bowl and more like a fruit roll up. You get all the flavors in one. Here's why that's important, because if we see this as nine distinct, unique character traits the holy produces in us, then what, what we're susceptible to doing is keying in on one of them. Well, let's say self control. You go, boy, I need some more self control. Anybody else need some self control? Okay, I need some self control, right? And you go, man. My life is just, it's a mess. And so I, I I need to get a handle on this. And so what I am going to do is I'm gonna wake up before my motivation, and I am gonna start working out five days a week, and I am gonna radically change my diet, and then I am gonna be more efficient with my time. And what end up happening is I'll probably become a little bit more disciplined, and that can be a good thing. But if I'm locking in on it because I selectively think I need that one, then what ends up happening is my wife or a loved one comes to me and says, hey, you're looking good. Things look good on the outside. And, yes, you were disciplined. You are motivated. But can I tell you, you've become a little self absorbed. You're kind of neglecting your family. Your priorities have kind of got a little out of whack. And now what I do is I go, ah, I was just focusing on self control. Now I need to, like, leave that. Now I gotta focus on love to give the people that I care about the most the love and attention and energy that I need. And so what ends up happening is it's now whack a mole. You know that game at Chuck E. Cheese, the casino for kids? You're like, self control. I need some love now. I need some peace. I need some joy. And it's just one at a time. No, no, no, no. And then if you also get that self control, you know what ends up happening is we start wearing it like a badge of honor. Like, look what I did, and we receive the glory for it. It's not nine individual traits. It's not a fruit ball. It's a fruit roll up. It's that God wants us to have all of them simultaneously, not by the work we do, but by the work he does. It's not about what I put out. It's about what he puts in. If it's about me, it's fake. If it's what he's doing. Oh, it's real. It's real. And I have to work so hard. This is not a works based system we have. It's a grace based system that God is faithful and good to me even when I fall short. Now, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have discipline and be devoted. Oh, we should, we should. But that should not usurp. That should not trump us being still and knowing God and resting in his presence and allowing God to do by the power of his spirit, what only he can do. And that is what produce good fruit. That's what he wants to do. Now that we've established that context, we all understand how the fruit of the spirit is producing our lives. Let's pivot to goodness. Let's pivot to goodness for the last few minutes we have together, and I'm gonna give you very practical things. Like this is just super simple and practical when it comes to the goodness of God. Okay, we're gonna taste the flavor of goodness. Let's start here. If you've been in church for any period of time, almost at any church, perhaps you've heard someone on the platform, maybe a worship leader, maybe it's a pastor, that they shout something to the congregation and they expect that there's something reciprocated. Let's see if this works. Ready? God is good and all the time, but is he really? I mean, I believe he is. As Christians, that's like, kind of core to our doctrine, is that God is good. He is good. He's always good without fail. He's too good to fail. I like how David said it in psalm 119. He said, God, you are good and you only do good. Teach me your decrees. God is good and he only does good. But how do we know the goodness of God when we don't feel it? Whenever you lose your job, whenever you're broken, whenever you're accused of something you didn't do, whenever you're feeling depressed or anxious, whenever something's going wrong with one of your kids, is God still good in those times? Can we say that with confidence? You know, I think that one of the primary objections to Christianity that I hear is the idea that God is good, because they usually pose this objection in the form of a question. It looks like this. It says, if God is real and God is good, then why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? And that's fair. That's a fair question. It's a question I've wrestled with from time to time, and it's not one that we have the time to unpack today. Although I can say there are valid theological responses, philosophical, too, that I do believe adequately, not fully, but adequately address that question. I don't have time to go into it today, but if you're interested in apologetics, I'll just make a recommendation for you. Look into cross examined Frank [email protected] or you can look cross examine on YouTube, and you can find that. Here's what I know. I know that most of the time when people ask that question, is God good? It's hard for me to believe that because there's so much pain and suffering in the world, can God really be good? What they're not looking for is a tidy theological response. They're not. They're not looking for a philosopher or a theologian. They're looking for a friend. It's likely the scenario for them that they have walked through something very dark or living it today. Maybe they've experienced some form of suffering or loss or trauma, and what they're really looking for is some. For some comfort and some kindness. That being said, if I was having a one on one conversation with an individual who's asking that question, that's what I'm given. I'm giving a listening ear. I'm offering comfort. I'm offering kindness. I'm asking a lot of questions. But since I'm not having a one on one conversation and I'm talking to hundreds of people, I can say unequivocally, with great confidence, that God is good and God only does good. And maybe the best way I can share God's goodness with you is to tell you a story that Jesus told. And it's the story of the Good Samaritan. And many of you probably are familiar with this story. And so I won't go through all the ins and outs, but I just want to give you a quick summary. Basically, there's this teacher of the law. He's essentially a professor at, you know, seminary, at a seminary college. So he studies the scriptures day and day and night, and he posed a question to Jesus, and it wasn't because he's really interested in the answer. He was really trying to catch Jesus in a trap and discredit Jesus. And so he says, what must I do in order to inherit eternal life? That's the wrong premise. That religion's about do relationship is about done. That's where people get it wrong. Becoming a Christian is not about what you do. It's about what he did. What must I do, Jesus, to inherit eternal life? He's trying to. He's setting himself up also to be able to lay out his credentials. Look at all that I've done. Look at all that I do. Surely I will be able to garner favor from God and be able to go to heaven. And Jesus, he then says, well, you know, what does moses say? And the guy says, well, you love God. Love your neighbor. And Jesus is like, gotcha. Because nobody does that perfectly. Nobody loves God, loves their neighborhood perfectly. Only Jesus does. So Jesus, to try to communicate that message, he holds up a mirror to him, proverbially and tells him a story. He says, okay, I want you to understand that there's a samaritan, and I want to share the story with you. Very quickly. He says, jesus replied with a story. Verse 30, Luke ten. A jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, left him half for dead beside the road. By chance, a priest came along like, this is the. The number one most likely person to stop and help this guy. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by a temple assistant. That's a Levi, basically a worship leader. He walked over and looked at him lying there, and he also passed by on the other side. Here's these two men that both by nationality and by profession, are obligated to stop and help their fellow jew, who's in desperate need, but they don't, and I'm sure they had a million reasons why. I've been at work, you know, a long time today, and, you know, my family needs me. And by the way, if I stop and help this guy, maybe I will experience the same fate as them. And then who's going to serve God in the temple? Like, I'm too important to, you know, to possibly be taken out. And so they just continue to pass on by. And then Jesus, he inserts a plot twist that shocked, shocked this religious teacher and his disciples, by the way, because he inserts a samaritan as the hero in the story. Here's what he says. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. What then he goes over to him and the Samaritan, he soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them up. Then he put the man on his donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. What you have to understand is the rivalry between Samaritans and Jews. I mean, it was hot. I mean, this isn't cowboys and eagles and longhorns and sooners, although now this is, like, way worse. This rivalry is intense. There was actually a prayer that ordinary jewish men would include in their prayers that went something like this. God, I'm so thankful there will be no Samaritans in the resurrection. Like, that's hate. God, don't let them in. The. Well, they'll let me in, but don't let them in. Like, this is hatred. And yet Jesus, he inserts this samaritan as the hero. Look, this story was not told by Jesus to motivate us to become good samaritans. Although that might be an application, that's not the interpretation. It's not so that we stop and assist stranded motorists more often and that we give more to the poor. And if we find a wallet in the parking lot, we quickly turn it in without entertaining the idea of seeing what's inside. Like, that's not what he's saying. That's not what he's saying. What he's saying is I want you to see and understand and respond to the gospel. Hear me. Here's what Jesus is saying. You are the man lying dead in the gutter. I am the good Samaritan. You are dead in your sin, in desperate need of a savior. I'm the good samaritan. I'm the one that came from a foreign land, that I invaded, that I stepped down from the donkey. I stepped down from heaven with wine in one hand, with oil in the other. The wine representing my blood that would be shed for you on a cross. The oil representing the anointing of the Holy spirit we poured out unto you so you can experience newness of life. And what did I do? I got down and I bandaged you up and I put you upright and I breathed life into your lungs and I took you to the end, which is the church, so the church could continue the work to build you up until my return. And then in turn, you guys will do the exact same thing for people that I rescue from the dominion of darkness and transfer into my glorious kingdom. Is anybody glad that Jesus is good and he is king? Come on, somebody. Look, if all God ever did, I mean, think about it. If all God ever did was to put on flesh, become one of us, live the life we were intended to live, died the death we deserve, defeated sin and death, so that we could overcome, be saved, forgiven, have eternal life, would that be enough for us to call him good? Well, when you put it that way, he is. And that's not even all he's done. It's the most important thing he's done. He does so many, so many wonderful things for us. If you're taking notes, the first thing, and I'm gonna go through these, receive God's goodness. Not earn it, not work for it, receive it. God is so good and gracious that he freely gives salvation. It costs him everything. Costs us nothing. In fact, it's a slap in the face if we try to add something to the grace of God. He freely gives salvation. Have you received it? Will you receive it. When's a good time? Right now. Right now? To open up your heart to Jesus. Turn away from sin. Deny your flesh. Turn to Jesus. The one who loves you, the one who created you in his image, the one who died for you. Receive his goodness by faith. Number two, remember God's goodness. We all suffer from spiritual amnesia. It affects everybody. You think about the Israelites, for example. They cried out to God for 400 years that he would deliver them from slavery in Egypt. And God responded. And he sends Moses, and he convinces Pharaoh to let a couple million people go toward a promised land. And on their way out, God compels pharaoh to give them gold and precious metals and silver and all this stuff. In other words, the Israelites, they're in need of help. They cry out to God. God hears their cry. He then fills their heart and then fills their hands as they're moving toward the promised land. And not too long after, they face some adversity, you know what they do? They go, where's God? We want to go back to slavery. Like, really? You really? You have that short of a memory about how good God is now. I don't want to be too hard on the Israelites, because we do it, too, don't we? We forget. We forget. We pray. God, send me a spouse. God, send me a spouse. He sends us a spouse. We're so happy. We're so thankful. God, you're good. You're so good. And then we realize our spouse doesn't squeeze the toothpaste from the back, but from the front, which is uncivilized. It's barbaric. I understand. And they snore really loud, and they start to irritate us. And they don't live up to our expectations because it's really about me. I mean, marriage is about me anyways. And so now what used to be a very good thing? He who finds a wife finds a good thing. Now we see it as a bad thing. And now we want out. Have we not forgotten the goodness of God? How it was good, the job you prayed for, you landed. You're so thankful. I have the dignity of work again. I can pay my bills. Thank you, Jesus. You are so good. You never fail. And then until my boss starts to get on my nerves and I start getting complacent and take for granted what used to be very good. And now I only focus on the negative instead of accentuating the positive. We all suffer from spiritual amnesia, which is why we need to daily remember the goodness of God. Maybe you get your notes app out maybe you get just an old fashioned pen and paper and just have this discipline daily. What are you thankful for? Just write it down. Maybe you start with two, maybe you go to ten, maybe you go to 20 before you realize you're going, oh my word. God, I'm not only thankful for the miraculous, I'm thankful for the mundane. Mondays are pretty mundane. God, you're good. You gave me another Monday. I'm gonna thank you. What has God done that's good for you? Is it your health? Is it resources? Is it? You have a home to live in. You have friendship, you have shoes, you have food. Sometimes we gotta be preschoolers and just God, thank you for my food. Why? Because the best way, the best way to experience the goodness of God is gratitude. Gratitude is the gateway to God's goodness. If we lose gratitude, pessimism and pride sets in. Pride says, well, I did this, I built my business. Sweat of my brow, work of my hands. Who gave you your brow? In your hands. Pride says I. And you forget about God, you start taking the credit for it instead of giving God the glory and the credit for it. Pessimism is whenever we start saying, well, it's never going to be better just this way. It is for the rest of my life. You know the best way to combat pride and pessimism? Praise. I'm out of time. But David, you want to read it in psalm 103, he just says, let me never forget. Let me never forget the good things you do. You heal my diseases, you crown me with righteousness. Oh God, you are good. Wait for remember God's goodness. And lastly, reflect God's goodness. Receive it, Jesus, you are mine because you chose me. Now I'm just receiving your grace. I remember daily, God, you're still good. I have things to be thankful for. And even if you did nothing else for me, God, the fact that you died for me and raised to life and transferred me from the dominion of darkness into your glorious kingdom, God, that's enough for me. And then you can reflect and reflect the goodness of God. You don't have to work hard. Moses went up to Mount Sinai, spent 40 days and 40 nights with the Lord. He came back down and he had flashlight face. He's just shining the glory of God. He'd wear a veil, it was so bright. People were like, put a veil on. You know why it wasn't? Because he goes, shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. Shine bright. He didn't do that. He just, the Bible says, he talked with God. He spent time with God and is a natural byproduct of him living a spirit guided life. He now is reflecting the goodness of God. If we spend time with the Lord every day, we ask the Holy Spirit, you're a person. You're real. You're with me. What are areas of my life that I need you to clean up? Yes, Lord. I will do that. Lord, guide me daily. When we do that, we don't have to work so hard. We'll just shine. We'll reflect his goodness. Where are you today? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? Is it receive his goodness? Is it maybe you're up a creek without a paddle. You remember. Remember his goodness? Maybe it's a reminder to spend time in the presence of God so we can be reflectors of his glory. Lord, we love you and thank you. You are good and you do good. Even when we don't see it, we receive it. We believe it. Father, I pray for everyone in this room today, wherever they may be, is that they need to receive your goodness. Is that they need to remember that you're good or reflect the goodness as a byproduct of us staying close to you, Lord, I just pray that we would all recommit to be good listeners, good yielders to your spirit who is very much alive and active in us. Father, anyone in this room who does not know Jesus, that they would open up their heart and receive freely you give. We can freely receive Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Lord, produce fruit in us in Jesus name. Amen. [00:44:25] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.