Lovers of What Is Good

It's been about three weeks ago now, my last sermon. I gave it on prayers of the end-time church. And the purpose of that sermon, brethren, was to draw our focus and attention to who it is that we are as the people of God today, that we very much are living at the end of the age. We see the signs around us. We see what it is that has been proclaimed in Scripture that will unfold and continue to unfold in greater and greater drama up to the return of Jesus Christ.

And we can, in that sense, look around and you know that when the leaves change, you know fall is in the air. Christ said, when to the Pharisees, you can look at the sky and you can determine when a storm is coming. And so there are signs around us that we all ought to be able to see and understand then what our place is in that as the church of the end of the age. And the point of that message in part two was to help emphasize challenges the church would face both from within and outside the church, as well as what ought our prayers to be, how we ought to direct them as the people of God.

You and I find ourselves existing in an age and surrounded by a culture that is distancing itself further and further away from the principles of God with each passing day. Again, the Bible is prophesied it would occur and we see it playing out around us today at an ever increasing rate. And one of the bedrock themes of the Bible has always been that of good versus evil. From the point of Genesis, right, the very first chapter of Genesis, as you see, frankly, verse two, the earth became without form and void, as it is in the Hebrew, and God then, the recreation.

But as you come forward through the book of Genesis, you see this contest that then begins to emerge between right and wrong, good and evil, darkness and light. And, frankly, it's a contest that carries through all the way to the book of Revelation. And it's the world we live in today. And all throughout that narrative, what constitutes good is clearly defined. Go to God's word in the parameters of what constitutes good is there. You can know what good is. You can see it clearly. And, frankly, what constitutes evil is clearly defined as well. But, you see, we live in an age that is blurring the lines between what is truly good and what is truly evil.

And we live in a society, frankly, that has become, I would say, in many ways, confused about what true goodness really is. You and I must not be confused, brethren. In our entertainment world, I would say Hollywood, frankly, has a huge impact on our life. We would rather it not be, but how many hours a day do we invite through the television, the world around us, into our home?

And how many hours a day do we actually, shall we say, reinforce our understanding of good in God's Scripture? What's that ratio? But, you see, Hollywood and the productions that are rolled out, just consider how those have changed in recent decades. You know, the good guy used to be really good, right?

The superhero. And the villain used to be bad. And there was the clear delineation between the two, no blurring of lines. But you see, in our age often today, we have the superhero who's struggling with, shall we say, the inner demons, with the darkness inside that maybe even threatens to overcome the good that is in him. And as part of the story, oftentimes that's built in as maybe even the struggle that the good has, not to be overtaken by the evil or the, maybe the dark side that is a little bit, again, that contest within them. And we excuse it. We say, okay, you know, that is humanity, right?

That is the human condition. We all struggle to overcome and do what it is that is ultimately good. But again, in such portrayals, good is not quite as good as it used to be. And evil, well, might not be quite what we think it is either. Right? Maybe you just misunderstand.

Maybe evil just needs, you know, you need a little insight to know where it came from and why it is as it is. And then there's compassion and understanding. Those lines, so often now, are becoming blurred. And our society is increasing, taking what we as Christians would call good, because again, the parameters of it is in God's Word. God calls these things good, but our society takes them and it slaps disparaging labels on them. And that's the contest we're in each and every day in this world. God's biblical standard of right and wrong is often called intolerant. It's called judgmental.

You know, there's so many standards and values that we hold to today, and values of morality that our country, frankly, was founded on and has lived, according to for generations, good and biblical standards that are now, again, called backwards. Obsolete, non-applicable today. The patriarchal family structure is often called chauvinistic and repressive, stifling women and the potential of women.

Now, again, a relationship in terms of how God intended it would be holy, just, and good. But as God intended it, isn't what is held up as the model in the world today. Opposition to the murder of the unborn is called anti-choice and restricting of freedoms. These are all negative-sounding terms, again, that are slapped onto what we would call, in our standing, as good, which has come from God. Now, on the other side of the coin, an acceptance of all kinds of alternative views, lifestyles, is referred to as being open-minded, it's being tolerant, it is being understanding, very positive sounding terms.

Degrading of the roles of husbands and fathers in the traditional family is often done in the name of equality. Promiscuity and perversity of all kinds is celebrated, again, as personal freedoms and personal choices and self-expression. And the support for abortion is labeled as pro-choice. Again, all of those are very good-sounding words, right? They take what we would consider not to be positive and to label them in ways that sound positive, frankly, is the blurring, again, of the lines in the world in which we live between what is good and what is evil, what is light, what is darkness, what is of God and what is not.

But what does God say about such labels? Okay, what does he say about taking what he has called good and describing it in another way? Isaiah chapter 5, we're going to begin there today. Isaiah chapter 5, God gives a, frankly, warning, as well as his expression of what he thinks of all of this, to his people of Judah. Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 20, Judah themselves were called to live by a good standard which God has set forth, and yet now they're going after the gods and the nations around them, and they're caught up in idolatry and adulteries and various things that have compromised their good standing as people.

So you have this whole category of woes through the book of Isaiah, but Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 20 speak specifically to the point I'm making today. It says, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. You know, it's a reversal of what God said these things were to label it in another way. And God says, woe to those who do that. Woe is a warning. It's eventually basically saying, look out. Look out you who do these things. Look out you who describe what God designed to be good, and in your perversity call it as evil.

Light for darkness, darkness for light. And again, as go the words, so go the heart, so go the actions. They're all tied in together. And so if we're not careful, the same mindset can creep into the midst of the church of God as well. The blurring of the lines between good and evil, the outright reversal, what constitutes absolute and pure good, and absolute and pure evil or wrong.

God has set the standard in his word, and he has said it clearly. But you see, as goes the world, so kind of at a distance behind goes the church in many ways. And it's not like it's good enough to just keep your distance. You can keep your distance on the steady slide down along with the ways of the world. Indeed, the distinction between the church of God and the world, the gap should be widening.

More and more as we hold to the truth of God at the end of the age.

To consider good to be evil and evil to be good, and to act upon them as such is an abomination to God. And indeed, the Bible shows that the opposition to standing on good and not backing down, that opposition to your life and your convictions and your morals will only increase as the end of the age progresses. Notice the Apostle Paul's words to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1.

2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1. Paul gives us some insight, actually, into what the mindset will be of the age just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. And I think you'll see some familiar points. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1. Paul says, But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come, difficult times, stressful times, challenging times will come. It says, For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. It's describing so much of the current age we live in. But the point is it's going to continue to get worse. Verse 3, it says, Unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal. Notice despisers of good. Paul says, In the end times people would be despisers of good. They would look down at good, they would ridicule good, they would mock good. Frankly, they would go after those that would stand up for the good of the truth of God. Verse 4, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Okay, we say we are religious, we say we worship God, but we do something aside from what he laid out as the standard. Having a form of godliness, denying its power, and from such people, Paul says, turn away. He says, don't even associate with these people, don't keep company with them, because bad company corrupts good morals.

So what's the antidote to this mindset? If this is the age in which we live and the mindset is that those around us would be despisers of good, go after the good, what's the antidote then? What should our perspective be as the Church of God? Well, again, the Apostle Paul gives insight. Titus chapter 1.

Titus chapter 1, what for me prompted this study, actually this week, I was looking through what Paul lists here in the book of Titus as the qualifications for those who would serve in the ministry, qualifications of elders, and I was reading through that and and frankly the point that jumped out at me is what then sprang into this sermon. So Titus chapter 1, here he gives character qualities of one who would serve in the ministry of Jesus Christ, and what we're going to find in that is, again, the opposite, and for us the antidote to being despisers of what is good. Titus chapter 1 and verse 7, Paul says, for a bishop must be blameless, a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good. Okay, that's a dramatic contrast to those of the end of the age, a lover of what is good. Sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, and it goes on from there. But I want to focus in on the concept of a lover of what is good. You see, these qualifications for an elder, frankly, are the qualifications for all of us as a Christian, right? Someone who is to be ordained into that position would be someone who is living it as an example to the flock. They're apt to teach, but the point is this is what we're all to be developing in our Christian lives today, and a lover of what is good is a quality that Christ means to grant in growing measure to his whole church. You and I must be people who are lovers of what is good, and as we come to the end of the age and good is being despised and ridiculed and the definitions are being changed, you're going to get swept right along with it unless you are a lover of what is truly good.

Are you and I lovers of what is good? And that is the title for my sermon today, Lovers of What is Good. That is the antidote to despisers of good. The Greek here is actually kind of interesting. The word translated to this phrase, a lover of what is good is philigothos. It's spelled P-H-I-L-A-G-O-T-H-O-S, philigothos, and it literally means loving goodness. Somebody that sees good and they love it. Loving goodness, loving what is good, and it involves knowing what is good, and it's maintaining an intimate relationship with and rejoicing in what is good. Again, it's the opposite of how the Apostle Paul characterized the mindset of the last days in 2nd Timothy 3.3. That Greek word was aphiligathos, A-P-H-I-L-A-G-A-T-H-O-S, aphiligathos. So you have philigathos, which is what we are to be lovers of good, or you have aphiligathos, which is not loving good. And you see the dramatic contrast that stands between the two. And we see the difference between the Church of God and, frankly, where the rest of the world appears to be going at the end of the age.

Being despisers of what is good will lead mankind in two perilous times. That's what the Apostle Paul said, and indeed we see the impact and the consequence in our world today of those who would despise what is good. But you see the Church of God is to stand as the pillar and the ground of the truth, and the last bastion of good in the world that has gone astray. That's our calling. That's our direction. That is what we are to be motivated to do, as the people of God, if we indeed are lovers of what is good. So what does a lover of good look like? We want to spend a little time for the remainder of the message considering this point. What does a lover of good look like? What does it mean to be such? And what will our actions be if we are lovers of what is good? I want to identify three qualities that will be present in those who are lovers of what is good. And as we go through these, let's ask ourselves, do these apply to me personally? Do they apply in my, say, family as a whole? And do they apply among all of us collectively as the Church of God? Three qualities you could come up with so many more, but let's just start with these three. Three qualities of lovers of what is good. Quality number one, lovers of what is good will recognize that the source of all true goodness is God.

I mean, where do you get your definition of what is good?

Where do you find your standard for good? If you're going to stake your life on it, then you better be sure that indeed it is good. Lovers of what is good will recognize the source of all true goodness is God. In Psalm 119, verse 68, Psalm 119, verse 68, King David declared of God, you are good. And that's your nature, that's your character, it is who you are, you are good. And he also said, and you do good. As in, that's the work of his hands, that's what comes forth from his character. He says, you are good and you do good. And the fact that God is good means that he has no evil in him at all. You know, he's not a mixture, he's not, you know, like forget which soap it was now, 99.9 percent pure. Now, God is purely good through and through, and all that he does springs forth from his goodness. His actions are right and true, and the outcome of his actions as well, brethren, will always be good. As David said, you are good and you do good. That is the God we worship. James chapter 1, in verse 16 and 17, James highlights for us, again, the goodness of God and what comes forth from him. And you have to believe this. You have to be sold on this if you're going to grab hold of what is truly good, and you're going to stand firm on that principle to the end. James chapter 1 verse 16, James says, do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Why would he say, don't be deceived? Well, because people are going to try to say, well, who's to say that God owns the patent on what is good? Who's to say, this is good and not that? James says, don't lose your perspective here as the people of God. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

As God's people, we have to recognize absolutely that the source of goodness and true and pure good is God. The fact that goodness is consistent with who and what he is, and it's a description of his nature and his actions all through the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, the goodness of God is declared and is declared with clear parameters. There's no gray area, there's no blurring of the lines, while God is mostly good. Most of the time, that's not the standard, it is good unto eternity. In the book of Genesis, God described as good things he made during creation each day, and he said, and it was good. And the overall summarizing statement of the finality of creation is that it is very good. Psalm 107, verse 1, instructs us to give thanks to the Lord for he is good. He's worthy of our praise, of our worship, because of his loving kindness and goodness, and we praise him because of that. He's given us his law, he's given us his commandments. And as the apostle Paul says, those things are holy, just, and good. Romans chapter 7, in verse 12, holy, just, and good.

Everything that comes forth from God is good, and it produces good. Ultimately, God's goodness is seen in his plan to redeem all mankind from sin, sent his only begotten Son, that whoever believed in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. And he sent the message. The message of God through Christ is the gospel. It is the good news of the kingdom of God. It is the good news he's given the church to proclaim to a world today, where the news has, what, gone off the rails. We proclaim a message of good. It's the message of God. And ultimately, brethren, when we fall short in our obedience to him, it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. And so that goodness extends out in everything God does. It's his fingerprints are on everything that is truly and purely good, and we look to him for that standard. Sadly, much of the world around us doesn't want to accept God as the absolute authority on what is good. They've chosen from the beginning, right? Go back to the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil, and mankind made the decision for themselves. We will determine what is good, and we will evaluate that standard for ourselves. But it is that mankind heading down the path of despising those things of God which are truly good, you and I must not. We must have it clear in our mind, as the church at the end of the age, that God is good, and so is his purpose. O taste and see that the Lord is good is the challenge David throws down in Psalm 34 verse 8. Try it. Taste and see. Take the litmus test and live this way and see what the results in your life are if they are not blessing and goodness. And you see the Word of God working in your life. Give God the chance to prove himself to you and draw close to him in relationship, and you will experience the goodness of God for yourself. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. But again, it's a relationship. It's loving goodness, loving the source of that goodness. And anyone and anything we love, we will build a relationship, and we will fight to defend that relationship. And we will stand, frankly, proudly in the benefit and the fruit of that relationship. Additionally, you and I have the goodness of God sitting on our laps today, don't we? This is his inspired Word. This is the mind of God, the thought of God, the instructions for living according to goodness that he's had recorded for each and every one of us. Again, I read, or at least cited to you, the first half of Psalm 119 verse 68 that said, you are good and you do good. The second half, which I did not quote, says, David asks of God, teach me your statutes. He says, you are good, you do good, now teach me good. Teach me your laws, your ways, your statutes that I may live, that I may apply good to my life as well. Listen to Paul's admonition, again, to Timothy regarding the value of the Scriptures. Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 16.

Again, this is still part of identifying the true source of goodness. This is the standard of our lives. Second Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, Paul says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, again, theonustos in the Greek, God breathed, God literally by his spirit of inspiration to the prophets, to the apostles, to those recorded these words, these are what he has given for us. By inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Do you want to do good as God does? Do you want to know what good is, as God truly knows what good is? Well, it's defined in his Word. We read it and we study it and we absorb it, and then when we live it, good will be the outcome. Good will be, frankly, what the world around us will see. Some will appreciate it, some will not, but it is God who judges and it is God who we want to stand before and ultimately give account. We're not going to get the truth from the world, and Hollywood isn't going to bring it into your living room. We have to counter what it is that the world would present with the Word of God. This is the truth. We must live according to it each and every day. So that's point number one. Again, identifying quality was God is the true source of all goodness. Identifying quality number two, lovers of what is good will rejoice in seeing good practiced around them. They'll rejoice in seeing good practiced around them. In Romans chapter 12 verse 9, Paul says, let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, grab hold of good, live good, and never let it go, he says. It's actually a concept of being hypocritical if you say you love the good, but embrace anything else. There's something that's very satisfying about seeing good in action, and it encourages us and enlightens us when we hear of God's goodness impacting the lives of those around us. I like stories. I think probably we all do. We like to hear stories of how people were called by God into his truth. You know, what did God do to reach down into your life, into one day maybe wake you up and you say, I need to seek him? And what path did he bring you along to then open up his word and begin to live it? We like hearing those stories. We like sharing those stories.

So stories of goodness are encouraging to us, and we love to hear them. Darla, as we sit down with people and maybe meet a new couple at the feast or some activity, one of her initial questions she loves to ask is, how did you two meet? You know, what's the basis of your relationship? Where did you meet and how did you come to be where you are today? She loves to hear people's stories, and I would say for all of us, it is encouraging to consider the goodness of God and how he has impacted others around us. We love stories of good, not only in the church but outside. We love to see good happening in the world around us, in the community, and we want to support those things as God's people. Proverbs chapter 25 in verse 25 says, As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country. Right? It's refreshing to us. It livens us. That's why I like to bring you back accounts of what's taking place over Nigeria and Ghana when I go to visit because God's people are there, and the congregations are there, and you've supported them in so many wonderful ways. So a lot of times when I come back from my trip, I'll bring a slideshow, I bring pictures, I share stories, I convey people's names to you so you have a connection, and we rejoice in the goodness that is done. The church's charity, Good Works, the cubic's personal charity, LifeNets, has done an incredible amount of good around the world. They've built community centers, they've drilled wells in villages, they've scholarshiped young people onto education, they've not been able to afford in any other way, and again the results of those things have been good and blessing not only internally, right, as Mr. Wilson said, our growth must be outward, and we understand that Christ is bringing the kingdom of God as a blessing to the world, but we stand as a model for that kingdom today. So our work outward today needs to be a work of goodness and encouragement and hope as well. And so Lovers of Good will appreciate it when they witness acts of humility, acts of kindness, acts of selfishness, selfishlessness, right, acts of self-control, acts of literally intervening in ways that bring love and good to others. Darlanai this week had the opportunity to attend a service, and Selena was there too, and a number of our extended family at what I would label as a recovery church. It was Thursday night. It was out of notice for church. We were invited to attend a ceremony and a service at a recovery church because our nephew Casey has had a track record of successful recovery, and he was being honored actually with a 14 year sobriety presentation. So this was encouraging to the family, and we were invited to go, and there was a time in Casey's life, and he wouldn't mind my sharing this, where he was off the rails, and he was heading to destruction as a young man, and one day he woke up and he said, I have to turn my life around. And he checked into a program. He had been in and out of various programs, but he checked into a basically a facility that locks you down for I think it was about a month he was in there, and when he came out of that, he immersed himself and associated with a number of recovery churches in the region. And there are churches that run groups and programs that help to aid people coming out of alcohol addiction, drug addiction, and it's a support group, and it's a support system together. And so this is one of those churches, and he's been involved in a number of you know Casey, he's been involved in programs in a number of those churches over quite a number of years now.

And I would just say that for me to sit there and to observe the service, there was actually a portion of a worship service saying worship hymns, then there was a short message that was presented, and then they had people that got up and gave testimonials. Where did they come from? What in their life led to hitting rock bottom, and what was it then that helped to lift them up again?

Of course, God gets the credit through these programs. But to sit there and to listen and to consider and to see the awards that were given out that night, they had coins, generally what they hand out is coins, right? So they had a coin for one day. This is one day of sobriety for you, come you know get your coin, right? That's where it started. One day, six months, one year, five years, ten years. Again, for Casey, it was 14 years. And I would just have to say when I evaluated what was taking place, I said there's good being done here.

Good for these people, good in the community. You know, we would not necessarily maybe agree with all the doctrine in terms of some of the biblical standing that they teach, but let me just say there's a program of support to help people in ways that were good that frankly we're not equipped to offer in this church.

If somebody has a struggle and a problem, we will certainly seek to support them the way they need supported, but these are focus groups in that way. And I could hand them, write a booklet on the fundamental beliefs of the United Church of God. Well, that's a small sliver of the pie, but they need support and encouragement in a specified way. So I'll just say, I sat there and I said, you know, this is good and this is praiseworthy, and we should rejoice in seeing where there is good being done.

Again, sometimes the approaches may be a little differently than what we would take, and I would not say, for example, that it was the call to righteousness, but it was the call to recover in your life and move forward in a productive way. And I do believe that is that is pleasing and good. So again, we should rejoice in those things. I'm very proud of our nephew and the good he's done. He's sponsored people over the years since recovering himself, and he's actively involved. He's got a name around Spokane for all the years that he's been involved in this process and his success story.

But again, I hope we all rejoice to see good accomplished today and support it in whatever way, according to good conscience, we can. Amos chapter 5 and verse 14, back in then to the prophets. It's interesting to me how many of the prophets declare the goodness of God and indeed our focus.

Amos chapter 5 and verse 14 says, seek good, go after it. Okay, seek the good. It's not like you wake up every day and think, well, if I wander randomly through life, what's going to find me? No, you go after the good. You find the good and you grab hold. The message is seek good. Verse 14, not evil, that you may live. So the Lord God of hosts will be with you as you have spoken.

Verse 15, hate evil, love the good, establish justice in the gates. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. And so we seek to establish what is good, justice within the gates, wherever your gates may go.

Whatever circle of influence you have in the home, in the community, at work, seek justice, seek to do good, and make an impact in a positive way. The Apostle Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 5, 21, and 22. He says, test all things. Again, the litmus test. Does this measure up? Test all things, hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil.

And such individuals that do those things will seek after and find the good things that are happening around them. They'll grab hold of them, they will support them, they will rejoice in them. And in that expression, the character of God's goodness will shine through them as well.

Quality number three, final one we'll touch on today, quality number three, lovers of what is good will be involved in doing good and promoting good for themselves. Lovers of what is good will be involved in doing good and promoting good for themselves. In other words, they will be active participants in the good. You know, roll up the sleeves, get your hands dirty in a good way, go to work, uphold the good, be shining light in the world in which we live. It is said that a man's heart is revealed by what he loves. And so whatever man loves becomes his passion. It becomes the thing to which he ascribes then great value and from which he derives great pleasure and for which he will labor long and hard, he or she, you're going to go after and pursue and do what it is that is your heart's passion. And such will dominate his thoughts, motivations, and such will determine his priorities. What are our priorities as the Church of God? What do we love? I hope we love goodness and the goodness of God that will shine forth no matter what the world has to say about it because our desire and what we would pursue is what God has to say about it. And he says truly what is good. Micah chapter 6 and verse 8.

Micah chapter 6 and verse 8, if we're believers of these things, if we are lovers of these things, again it's going to get snatched out of your hands if you don't have a relationship with the good of God and truly love it. But if we do, we will be those promoting and doing good. Micah chapter 6 and verse 8 says, He has shown you, O man, what is good. God has shown you what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Loving good means that we're going to be practicing these things to the glory of God and that it will be not only his identity, it is our identity because we are his people and we have his spirit. If you want to go back to, in your mind, the source, right? If God is the source, his word is the source because it is his instruction, but he's also given us his Holy Spirit. And the fruit of that spirit, among other things, is goodness. So the nature of God in us dwelling by his spirit will lead us to act upon the goodness he has shown us. First Peter chapter 3 and verse 8, in this world you're going to love something. Let's love the things of God. First Peter chapter 3 and verse 8, finally all of you be of one mind having compassion for one another. Paul says, love as brothers, be tender-hearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling. You know, it's very easy when somebody wrongs you to say, I'm going to pay that back tenfold. Because, you know, they have it coming and then they're going to learn. That's our knee-jerk human reaction, but that's not what God's called us to. Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing. Knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. That is what we all want. Verse 10, for he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking to see. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Verse 13 says, and who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? This is our calling, brethren. This is our passion. And if we truly love these things and cling to what is good, then do it. What harm will come to you in the overall sense? There may be people who don't like it, people who oppose it, people who maybe can fire you from a job, people who can maybe inflict some harm upon you, but in the overall evaluation of this, God is the judge. Who can harm you? What can man do to me? Fear God. Live according to his goodness. Verse 13 again, who is he who will harm you if you follow become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Don't shy away from the answer. Don't hide from the good. Don't put the light under a basket.

Put it on the table where it gives light to the whole house. Verse 16, having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. You know, don't give them something justifiable to accuse you about. You do good, and when you are accused and mocked because of it, your conscience is clear, and you stand before God. And the ultimate judgment is His. Verse 17, for it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. Jesus Christ was our example, and Jesus Christ's outcome of resurrection unto eternal life. Frankly, will be ours as well, if we're willing to suffer for doing good, but do good anyway. That's the lesson. That's our calling. Despite the opposition, do good anyway. Be the people who are known for good, who shine the light of good, who stand for good in the world. Do good anyway. It is God's expectation of us. Romans chapter 12 in verse 9.

Romans chapter 12 verse 9, let love be without hypocrisy. Again, we're talking loving the goodness, so let's not be riding the fence on this, or graying the distinctive lines.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoice in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. That's the challenge, isn't it? And sometimes the struggle. Somebody wronged you unjustly.

God says, let me handle that. I will do it. And in the end, the outcome will still be good.

Verse 13, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil have regard for good things in the sight of all men. And if possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Paul says, beloved, do not avenge yourselves. Rather give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, do good anyway. Right? That's the instruction. If your enemy is hungry, they're your enemy. You got them where you want them, right? Do good anyway. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in doing so you will be heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. A reaction, again, to being wrong, having evil done against us, is to reply accordingly with overwhelming force, right? They have it coming, and we reply in like manner. God says, those aren't my people. And God says, you can overcome the evil with the good, because the source of the good is God.

It's a challenge when we're wrong when difficult things happen. I got an email about a month and a half ago from Henry Aikens in Ghana, regarding some members up in our Yeji congregation. You'll recall Yeji is up near central Ghana, our northernmost congregation, and they've had challenges. It's a violent area, and we've had church members assaulted in Yeji. Yeji is the place where we have the tractor program, right? A number of you and a number of others have helped to support. We had a fundraiser, and we purchased a tractor for the Yeji group, because most of them are farmers, and they work by hand. We're seeking to increase their production. They can hire out in the community. They can make income for themselves, and frankly, it benefits the church as well, ultimately. So this tractor was purchased. Donations were made. Donations for new tires. So new tires were put on. This tractor was brought into working order in very good condition. It was delivered to the brethren in Yeji. With the additional funds, they were looking around. They purchased the plow, disc, combo, but that's useful in a certain season. You need the harvester, and you need the trailer as well to bring in the crops and to haul them to market. They were looking around, and they found a harvester and a trailer that was for sale at a rate they could afford. They purchased it there on the outskirts of Yeji. One morning, three men of our church congregation climbed onto the tractor, and they went out, I think it was about two hours, out around by tractor speed, out around Yeji and out. They picked up the harvester, they loaded it in the trailer, and they're on their way back, and it's becoming dusky, getting towards nighttime. A gang of armed men stepped down on the road right in front of the tractor. They stopped the tractor. Again, they were armed. They made our members get off the tractor, lie on the ground, took their phones off of them, and under duress made them reveal their passcodes for their phone, for their electronic wallets. They emptied them out of their resources. They took their phones, they drained the oil out of the tractor on the ground, and they drove away. We thank God nobody was hurt, okay, but now you have this evil. And what's your response? I can tell you what my response felt like when I heard, but we're all a work in progress, right? But what is our response to those things? These guys got up, they dusted themselves off, they was alight across the field, hiked over there, was a house. Farmer and his family there put them up for the night, let them use the phone, and helped to get them on the way in the morning, and they were able to return home, and you know, things were well. I took some funds that had been donated, and I told Henry, replace their phones, try to set them back on their feet again. But you see, you don't overcome evil by reviling with more evil. God is the judge. God is righteous. And God says, vengeance is mine. I will repay. We have to be good with that, and we have to carry on and do good anyway. It is, brethren, what we've been called. Don't overcome evil with more evil. Overcome the evil with good. Let's conclude in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7.

Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7. I hope we're understanding that the good is coming, ultimately. When Jesus Christ returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Bible shows it will be a time of woe for this world. There will be a climactic battle at the end of the age to establish the kingdom of God, but the fact is, brethren, it is good and righteousness that is being ushered in. And the God that declares the end from the beginning has both the will and the power to bring it about for His good and for our good as well. Galatians chapter 6 and beginning in verse 7, Paul says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever a man sows that he will also reap. You know, that kind of brings maybe a little bit of comfort, but I got to say it brings a little fear. At least in my life, when I evaluate my life, I plead to God for His mercy because I don't want to reap everything that I've sown in this life. I do pray that I'm growing and I pray for God's mercy. Verse 8, for he who sows to his flesh will the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good. This world will try to grind you down. The challenges will seek to destroy your love for the good, but brethren, never ever ever grow weary while doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. It begins here, but it doesn't stay here. The growth isn't inward, it is outward, thank you, Mr. Wilson, to the world around us. Ultimately, it will encompass the entire world as the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea. What great goodness that will be! But until then, the message is, don't grow weary. Don't become discouraged, as the people of God do good anyway. Brethren, God is good. He is the source of all goodness in the world and why it may be falling out of fashion in the culture around us today. You and I cannot change that. We can only live our lives. God is good, and He's calling a people who express that same nature and that same character as well. When His kingdom comes, goodness will reign and there will be peace on earth. For good.