Real Life Community Church Sermons

Fruit | Part 7 | Goodness

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What truly defines goodness, and how can we align our lives with this profound concept? Explore the intersection of biblical teachings and ancient philosophies as we promise to unravel the essence of goodness from both scriptural and philosophical perspectives. We start with the virtues of love, joy, and peace as presented in Galatians, emphasizing the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, before examining Jesus' challenging encounter with the wealthy ruler in Luke 18. Pastor Chris contrasts ideas of goodness from ancient philosophers and modern ideas with how the Bible explains goodness. 

Journey with us as we unearth the biblical standard of goodness through the lens of Jesus' interaction with the rich man, highlighting the necessity of a heart aligned with God’s commandments over mere actions. We confront the inherent human struggle to meet divine standards, advocating for a transformed heart that relies on Christ’s sacrifice. By drawing parallels with literature like "Lord of the Flies," we underscore that true goodness is less about self-improvement and more about redemption. Discover practical ways to walk in goodness by evaluating our thoughts and actions against God's standards and leaning on the Holy Spirit for strength.

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Speaker 1:

The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May.

Speaker 2:

Alright. So Galatians, we're going to start with Galatians 5, 22 and 23 and we're all going to read this one together and then I'm going to give you the actual verse that we're going to be part of the message today. Right, all right. So everybody say but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Awesome, very good, all right. So now turn with me to Luke 18, and we'll go through 18, through verse 30.

Speaker 2:

And the word of the Lord says and a ruler asked him, talking about Jesus, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and honor your father and mother. And he said All these things I have kept from my youth.

Speaker 2:

When Jesus heard this, he said to him one thing you still lack Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God, for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And Peter said see, we have left our homes and followed you. And he said to them truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife, or brothers, or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come. And I just noticed that there's a verse 27 missing from my notes and I can't skip over it because it's so good, it's one of the most important verses of all right.

Speaker 2:

All right, let me go back. So, jumping back to 26,. And those who heard it said then who can be saved? And Jesus said but what is impossible with man is possible with God. Amen, isn't that awesome. Sorry, I mixed that up. I hope that's okay. No, you're good. All right, maybe the Lord wanted us.

Speaker 3:

Sorry, I mixed that up. I hope that's okay. All right, maybe the Lord wants us to focus on that at the end there. So nothing is impossible with the Lord, amen. How many appreciate Bob Stamper and Christy, and he has done a tremendous job. And you know what I appreciate people who, when they're not up in the limelight, they still can participate out there. And so Bob is a genuine worshiper and lover of our great God. So thank you so much for being here today. Good to see you. You may be seated, and if you would stand for my first point I'm just joking Too bad, too bad, oh man.

Speaker 3:

Well, we are in a series where we're studying the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians, chapter 5, as we just read, the fruit of the Spirit, these are what we call the communicable attributes of God. In other words, these are characteristics, virtues of the Lord, jesus Christ that, by His grace, he imparts to us when we are saved. Isn't that great? And so what Paul says in Galatians, chapter 5, he doesn't say try to get the fruit of the Spirit. What's he say? Walk by the Spirit. Do you know? Right now, if you are a Christian, you have the love of Christ within you. You have the peace of Christ within you, the joy of Christ within you. You have the patience of Christ within you, the kindness of Christ within you. What we've got to do is allow the Holy Spirit to develop our character by walking by the Spirit. That's what this is about. This is about allowing the Holy Spirit to develop our character Day by day. You and I ought to be looking more and more like the Lord Jesus, christ, amen.

Speaker 3:

So I want to begin this morning. I want you to think about a question. Just ponder this for a minute. What does it mean to be a good person? Like we hear this a lot. I'll have people say to me you've got to meet so-and-so. He's a really good person. Oh, I'm glad so-and-so is coming to our church because she's a really good person. What do we mean by that? What's interesting when you look closely at this idea of goodness?

Speaker 3:

Because different churches and religions and individuals throughout history have often disagreed, or let's say differed in their understanding of what it means to be good. So let's look at the ancient philosophy of goodness, some of these philosophers of old. So you have Plato, who said that goodness is linked to knowledge and enlightenment. The Stoics believed that goodness was based on an individual's response to trying circumstances. So if you were a person who could handle tragedy in your life, then you were considered in some sense to be a good person. The Epicureans they were very hedonistic people, and so they believed that goodness was about achieving a balanced life, maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. So if you found that balance, you were good. Confucius believed that goodness was connected to moral character and social harmony. So there was differing views of goodness in the ancient world. But what about now? I would suggest that even in our modern Christian culture, there are varying degrees or varying ideas of what it means to be good.

Speaker 3:

Let me just give you a very relevant and present example. Anybody know we've got an election coming up. Have you seen this anywhere? Heard about it, extra, extra, read, all about it? All right, breaking news.

Speaker 3:

So there's something, believe it or not, that we agree on as Americans, all of us, all the sane ones at least. Here it is we want a good president. True, everybody in here wants it. Does anybody recognize our country's not in the best shape? And so we all say we want a good president. And so you think, great, we agree.

Speaker 3:

The problem is that we have differing views on what a good president would look like. So let me just give. I've realized that this is more nuanced than I'm going to present it, but let me just give you two kind of polar opposite views of what it means to have a good president, what that would look like. So there are some on one side who would say, oh well, a good president would look something like this A good president would stand up for the rights of the unborn, no question. A good president would secure our borders. A good president would uphold the free market, bolster capitalism, if you will. A good president would secure our constitutional rights, such as the freedom of speech, the right to bear arms. A good president would uphold the sanctity of marriage, and we could go on and on. But then there are others who genuinely believe in our world, in our country, that a good president would be almost opposite of those things. So on the other side, to them a good president would be someone who champions a woman's right over her own body, above the very lives of the unborn. To them, a good president would be someone who would make it as easy as possible for immigrants to come within our borders. There are people, believe it or not today, who believe that a good president would destroy capitalism and move us to a place of a structure somewhat like socialism, or perhaps even communism. There are some who believe that a good president would actually reinterpret the Constitution, allowing the government to control our speech and limit our right to bear arms.

Speaker 3:

My point is simply this there is no consensus on the idea of goodness. Is that true? That begs the question. Should we get to decide what is good? Let me ask it like this Is it good to define our own idea of goodness? Let me ask it like this Is it good to define our own idea of goodness? You know, if there were no God, if there were no transcendent being, then we would have no other choice but to define goodness for ourselves. This would, though, by the way, make the idea of goodness elusive. Goodness could never be grounded in truth.

Speaker 3:

Martin Luther King made this argument, and you can read those later. You can look up his letters from Birmingham jail, and he called on equality and to be treated like a human being based on a higher morality. If there's no God, you can't say that anything is objectively right or wrong. It's just a consensus. But he said because there is a God. He calls on that God to be treated rightly and fairly and justly, and so on and so forth. You know, if there were no God, we could never be dogmatic on what is right or wrong. You could never say objectively this is wrong, this is right. And I would just argue that if that were the case, that would breed chaos.

Speaker 3:

But think the Lord. There is a God and he is alive and well and he is sovereign. And the book of Galatians tells us this, that Paul tells us that goodness is a fruit of the spirit, which implies that you and I are to walk in goodness. And would it not be frustrating if the Lord told us to quote unquote be good to walk in goodness, but he didn't give us any idea as to what that means? It would be frustrating, but the Lord is so gracious, isn't he? The Lord has revealed to us in his word his standard of goodness and he shows us how to live as genuinely good people. And so I love Psalm 25, verse 8. I think we have it on the screen Good and upright is the Lord. Can anybody say amen to that? Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, watch this he instructs sinners in their way. God is good and he instructs us in goodness.

Speaker 3:

So today, let me just ask you I assume that most of you would like to be good people yes, well, we're going to look at what the Lord says true goodness is and how we can walk in that goodness. So what is God's standard of goodness? Since it's not subjective, this idea of goodness, what is God's standard? Well, in our text today you have this rich young ruler who approaches Jesus and he calls him what Good teacher. And then he asked Jesus something, assuming, like most people, that eternal life can be earned. What's he asked Jesus, what good deed? Matthew draws it out a little more in his gospel what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life? That's a question many people are asking how can I be good enough, lord, for you to let me in your kingdom? It's a common question.

Speaker 3:

Well, jesus' initial response to this man reveals two truths about the goodness that God is speaking about. It gives us two realities about what goodness really is. Look at verse 19. Jesus asked the man why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Now, that's a curious answer, is it not? I want to be very clear here. Jesus is not denying His deity, so don't read into that something that's not there. He is not calling His own character into question. Here's what he's doing. The question has a what would you say rhetorical function, and he asked this question to anticipate the rest of the conversation, and what we're going to find out through this response is that this man has no understanding of what goodness really is, and so the first truth that we see here about goodness is this God is the chief and only example of goodness.

Speaker 3:

In the Old Testament, I mean, the word good, in different forms, is used over and over and over again, and, generally speaking, it is talking about God, because God alone is good. The Jews understood this. Psalm 34, 8, let me just give you a few examples. The psalmist invites us to see and enjoy and you know, taste the goodness of the Lord. He says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. Psalm 1199, 68,.

Speaker 3:

Talking about the Lord, you are good and do good. Teach me your statutes, listen to me. God doesn't just do good things, but he is good. He is good Through and through. 1 Chronicles 16, 34,. We know this one oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good and His mercy endureth forever. I want King James on you right there, baby, just have it. Here's the point. God is the chief example of goodness. God alone, the triune. God is just. God alone is righteous. You and I are not God alone. Listen to this. God is just. God alone is righteous. You and I are not God alone. Listen to this. God is eternal. God has never, ever, ever, made a bad decision. Yes, think about that. He has never made a bad choice. He is good. We're going to sing this in just a moment. He is perfect in all His ways. Those aren't just some cute little words, it's true. It's what the Bible teaches.

Speaker 3:

So you ever feel kind of down about yourself and think, man, I'm just not living like I should be. And so if you want to feel good, what do you do? You just look at the person sitting beside you this morning. You go, well, they're not quite as good as me. I'm feeling pretty good about myself now. So if you want to feel good, compare yourself to another human being. But if you want an accurate view of how good you really are, compare yourself to God.

Speaker 3:

So first, we see God is the example of goodness. Secondly, we see this this is an even more shocking response that Jesus gives. So remember what the rich man asked what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now, you and I I mean, we have the whole of the New Testament. What would we expect Jesus' answer to be Something like this oh, you can't earn it. Oh, you can never be good enough. Just repent and believe in me. Listen to what Jesus replies. Verse 21, jesus said, or excuse me, no, no, no, no. Verse 20, you know the commandments Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. Has that got your wheels turning this morning a little bit? Jesus simply affirms that eternal life could only be earned by meeting God's standard of goodness. And what is the standard? What does Jesus quote here? The Ten Commandments.

Speaker 3:

So you remember in the Old Testament, the world was in disarray and God calls a people to himself. He rescues them out of Egypt. This is Abraham's family. That become the Israelites, and he brings them through the desert. And when he does, he says I'm going to be your God, you're going to be my people. And his aim is that he has many goals for them, but he wants them to display his goodness in the world, back into the world. And what does he give them at Mount Sinai? He gives Moses what? The law, the commandments.

Speaker 3:

And so Jesus here. He says here's God's standard of goodness. He said you know what he says to this lawyer if you want eternal life, he doesn't say listen, just try to be good. No, he says there's a standard of goodness and it's the law of God. There's a standard of goodness and it's the law of God. That's the standard of goodness. So God is the example of goodness and his law is the measure or the standard of goodness. That's what we see.

Speaker 3:

And let me just make a point here. Friends, we don't get to define goodness. We don't get to decide what is pleasing to the Lord and what is not. He has given us His Word. So I don't care if you like nine out of the ten commands, you don't get to disobey one of them and obey the rest. We don't get to decide, like our culture expects us to, what is good and what is evil. I don't care what the culture says about sexual ethics and this transgender stuff and all of this. I don't care what they say is progressive and right.

Speaker 3:

The Bible says in the book of Isaiah woe to you who call evil good and good evil. What God calls evil is never going to be good, and what God calls good is never going to be evil. His law is unchanging. The standard of goodness will not change. God alone is good and he defines goodness Amen. So this brings us to the next question Is God's standard of goodness achievable? Well, the rich man thinks so. Listen to what he says, verse 21. He says he's like happy jesus. Listen, I've kept all these commands from my youth, so he thinks I'm in. He believes that he's a good person, good enough to inherit eternal life.

Speaker 3:

Do you know that the vast majority of people in the world believe themselves to be good people? There's a recent study of 2,000 US residents Listen to this. 81% of people said that they believe that humankind is inherently good. What world do they live in? Are they sleeping all day, or what? 75% of them asserted that they are one of the good ones, that they are fundamentally good and I love this last piece. Listen to this. Are fundamentally good and I love this last piece. Listen to this. 46% of those surveys admitted to believing that they are better people than anyone else they know. Which seems to be a bit arrogant, self-righteous and prideful, which just might negate the goodness, was a famous preacher who on national television said 99.9% of people are good. Well, jesus would disagree, the Bible would disagree. And we see this from page three in our Bibles, all the way through the end.

Speaker 3:

Look at Jesus' response to the man. When Jesus heard this, he said to the ruler one thing you still lack. Another curious response here Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. And when he heard these things he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Another clarification here Jesus is not suggesting that we can purchase eternal life. It's not the point here.

Speaker 3:

You know what Jesus is doing. It's kind of cryptic. He's alluding to the first commandment. What is the first commandment? You shall have what no other gods before me. Jesus is showing the man. The man says, oh, I've kept the law, I've kept it. Jesus says, oh, one thing, go, sell everything you have. And the man walks away sad. Here's what Jesus is doing. It's brilliant. He's showing that the man is breaking the first and chief command Because his God is not God. His God is what it's money.

Speaker 3:

When Jesus quotes the Ten Commandments here, he doesn't quote all ten. Isn't that interesting? He focuses on the visible elements of the law of god. But what jesus does now listen, he reveals the sin of the heart. The ruler has a heart problem. You may not look on the outside and say, oh man, this man worshipped his money like. He may not be bowing down to his material possessions, but in his heart it's his God, it's what he's chasing, it's his treasure.

Speaker 3:

The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart, and here's what this teaches us about God's standard of goodness. Goodness must not only be expressed, but it must be possessed. God wants us to do good deeds, but a good deed is not going to help you meet the standard if you don't have a good heart. God wants our goodness, our expressions of goodness, to flow from hearts that treasure the Lord Christ above all things. So let me just give you the definition from Galatians, chapter 5, the definition of this word goodness. It literally means uprightness of heart and life. This is why you can't just earn your way outward. Goodness isn't enough. So I'm going to give you this is my definition of goodness.

Speaker 3:

Goodness is thinking, acting and working in ways that are in line with God's standard of goodness and flow from a transformed heart. Let's look at it one more time. Goodness is thinking, acting and working in ways that are in alignment with God's standard of goodness and flow from a transformed heart. So let's go back to the question Can God's goodness be achieved, god's standard of goodness be achieved by human beings? No, no. So now we come to this tension Because Paul tells us we need to have this goodness within us, but we see here we can't achieve that goodness. So what's happening here? Well, jesus, you remember, he told the man. He said Sell all that you have. And then he said something else Come or turn, he says, and follow Me. Come or turn, he says and follow me. The way that you and I can possess and walk in God's standard of goodness is not by earning it and trying to do better, but it's by repenting, turning from our sin and following the Lord Jesus Christ.

Speaker 3:

The idea of goodness in the Bible is closely related to this idea of what we call righteousness. Second corinthians 5 21 says for our sake, god made him jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of god, and and so you could say as well that we in Christ can become the goodness of God. It is through Jesus that we become good, because it is through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ that our badness has been dealt with. And the Bible says in Christ we are new creations and we know from Galatians 5 that we're still wrestling, you know, with that old, wicked heart. But we are now indwelt by the Spirit of God and we have been given not a goodness of our own but the goodness of Christ. We are to learn to walk in that goodness. How do we do that?

Speaker 3:

If you are going to be if you're a quote unquote good person, you've got to first and foremost and this is painful but you've got to come to terms with your own wickedness. As I mentioned earlier, most people, at least in our culture, believe themselves to be fundamentally good. There's a great danger in that, because if you think you are fundamentally good, you will not see your need for a Savior. You are not fundamentally good. Here's Tim Keller's summation of the Gospel you are more wicked than you ever dare dreamed, but more loved in Christ than you could ever dare hope. That second part is not going to mean much to you if you don't get the first part. Christ's love and His sacrifice for you won't mean as much if you think you deserved it. I mean, I know some people need it, but I'm pretty good. The easiest place to preach for me and I've done it often, many times years ago, was in the prison, because I did not have to convince inmates of the wickedness of their own hearts generally. But it's hard to minister to religious folks who grew up in you know, kind of middle class, nice, kind families. You too, if that's you, you are wicked beyond your wildest dreams, your wildest dreams, apart from Christ.

Speaker 3:

Any of you ever read the classic book Lord of the Flies? I think they made it into a movie as well Anybody, a few of you. So just to give you a quick summary, the book is about a group of upper class British children and they're fleeing Europe. They're on a plane and they end up their plane crashes on an island and these are like well-mannered, you know, quote-unquote good boys. Well, these seemingly good children, when they are on this island stranded, they quickly descend into violence and brutality. They become hungry for power and they begin acting like absolute savages, and the plot illustrates this that the darkness and benevolence lies deep within each of us. We've just learned to kind of conform and color in the lines and play by the rules, but put yourself in the right situation. Some of us dealt with this during COVID.

Speaker 3:

Anybody, things that you thought you had dealt with, things you thought you would never do or say, like during COVID, the stress it just brought some things out. This is why CS Lewis rightly said we don't need improvement, we need redemption. We do not need improvement, we need redemption. There's something in our heart that has to happen, and so I want to ask you, christians today Are you walking in goodness? Are you walking in the fruit of goodness?

Speaker 3:

So let me just give you three questions to evaluate. Number one ask yourself this question Do my thoughts, actions and good deeds align with God's standard of goodness, like you may think? Okay, yeah, I'm good, but are you obeying the Word? Number two does my goodness bring glory to God? See, the Pharisees did some really good things, but their goodness brought praise to themselves. They were after the applause of men. When people see your good deeds and your character, do they honor you or do they honor god? Do you point them beyond yourself to the lord. Remember what jesus said in matthew, chapter 5 let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and do what Glorify their God, who is in heaven.

Speaker 3:

Third question is my goodness dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit? See, as believers, sometimes we forget that God's standard of goodness cannot be worked up on our own. God's standard of goodness cannot be worked up on our own. If we're going to meet God's standard of goodness, we've got to yield ourselves to Christ and depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. And how do you know if you're doing that? Well, do you pray regularly? Do you read your Bible regularly? Do you faithfully come to church? Because if not, what you're really saying is Lord, I can do this on my own. I'll call you if I need you. Ooh, that's good, right there. If God reveals areas in your life this morning that do not align with God's standard of goodness, I just ask you to do a couple of things. Number one confess your sin first to the Lord, and then the Bible tells us to confess our sins one to another. And so find a trusted brother or sister who can hold you accountable and confess your sin, say oh, I want to meet God's measure of goodness and pray and ask the Lord to help you. So that would be. The second thing is to repent, turn from it and pursue God's standard of goodness.

Speaker 3:

In closing today, I just want to point something out. You know, as Christians we are often in this day and age, we're often accused of being exclusive, kind of elitist right. Have you heard this? You guys are just a bunch of snobs and judgmental and this, this and this, and you're exclusive. You're like a country club and judgmental, and this, this and this, and you're exclusive. You're like a country club. That could not be further from the truth.

Speaker 3:

Listen to this. Do you know that Christianity is the only truly inclusive religion out there? Every other religion? Here's what it says. They have different ideas, but here's what they share. If you want salvation whatever it says they have different ideas, but here's what they share. If you want salvation, whatever it is they're offering. You know heaven or eternal life or some transcendental state or enlightenment, whatever it is they're offering.

Speaker 3:

They say you do, you follow these rules or you practice these things. You do A, b, c, 1, 2, 3, x, y, z, and then you can be saved. Now, what's the problem with that? Do you see it? That's exclusive, because what that means is only the most moral and ethical and disciplined people could be saved. Do you know what Christianity alone says? It says actually none of you can earn this, none of you can be good enough, and what that does is Christ's cross has done this, he has leveled the playing field. All you who are burdened and heavy laden, come to me and I'll give you rest. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Christianity alone says this no matter where you've been, no matter what you've done, you can be saved, not because of what you can do, but because of what he has done. Amen.

Speaker 3:

If you're here today and you don't know the Lord, jesus Christ, you're listening online and you know, maybe, about Christ, but you go. You know what? I'm in a pretty bad state right now. I've got to clean my life up a little bit, then maybe God will accept me into His kingdom. That's what the rich young ruler thought. Then maybe God will accept me into His kingdom. That's what the rich young ruler thought. But Jesus blows that out of the water. He says no, he invites you to come as you are, because you could never clean yourself up enough to be accepted by God. You come to Him, he'll clean you up, amen.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening. If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you have questions about our church, you can email us at info at myrealchurchorg. Real Life Community Church is located at 335 Glendon Avenue in Richmond, Kentucky. We invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 1045 am or Wednesday at 7 pm. Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.