We started there, laid a foundation for it, then we started going through the nine fruit, but there's nine of them. And we picked it up on Sunday nights to try to go through each one of them individually because it is just something to understand. I trust you'll get a better understanding of what God produces. Again, emphasis on what God produces in us and how to have a relationship with upward, outward. Isn't it amazing that God gives you everything you need? Not just physically, but spiritually. He does not ask you to do anything outside of the realm that he gives you the ability to do it. And he places the spirit of God inside of you, and then the spirit of God will produce these fruits inside of you that you can have a relationship and how to deal. And the last three we've been dealing with were outward ones and how to handle people and each other and relationships. And we started out there with long suffering. And last week we did gentleness and then Ephesians chapter 5. I'm sorry, Galatians chapter 5. I said Ephesians, I think. Galatians chapter 5, verse 23, 22. But of the fruit of the Spirit is love. We went through that. Joy, we went through that. Peace, longsuffering. Last week we covered gentleness and tonight I would like to cover goodness. Goodness. Help me, Father Lord, help us tonight. Well, I pray you'll just give us a better understanding, Lord, of what you produce in us and the ability, Lord, that you give us to do anything good, to be good, to be good towards others, to be kind, Lord, and Lord, to be able to do the things you ask us to do. We certainly appreciate it, in Jesus' name, amen. So you have that word goodness, goodness. If you would, take your Bible, And go to Romans, go to 1 Thessalonians first. 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. There's nothing in my water, it's straight water. Just couldn't get the word out. One thing about coming to a Bible-believing church is we believe the Bible. And one thing when you come to a Bible-believing church, you learn things that you might not have learned other places, and that's exciting. It's exciting to let the Bible become alive to you. It's the greatest book there is. And some of you are just getting a little bit of a grasp, and maybe you feel like it's a little later in life to get the grasp, but at least you're getting the grasp. And then you're able to read some things and put some things in places and things like that, and you're like, ah, that makes a whole lot more sense. Doesn't it make sense to just let God say what God says and try to fit something in there that doesn't work? And then you end up in a mess. Well, one of the things that you realize in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and another teaching and doctrine you better understand is you're made up of three parts. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23. This is why we use the phrase, you're two-thirds saved. But let me just read the verse for you. The Bible says, in the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly. And I pray, God, your whole spirit Soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ So we all have a spirit We all have a soul and we all have a body take a Bible and go to Romans chapter 7 if you would please Romans chapter 7 because what you're getting here with the fruit of the spirit back here in Galatians chapter 5 is A lost person cannot produce what we're teaching, what you're getting out of Galatians chapter 5. Listen, a Christian out of fellowship with Jesus Christ does not produce what's Galatians chapter 5. It takes God to produce it. So where does God produce this from? Well, you just learned in 1 Thessalonians you got spirit, soul, and body. And we're all born with our soul. And I'm not going to teach everything tonight because I want to get to goodness tonight. But we in Colossians chapter 2, we talk about that spiritual circumcision that took place when you got saved. Your soul was cut away from your flesh. If you die with your soul connected to your flesh, your soul would go to hell. Why? Because it's connected to sin. Your flesh is full of sin. That's where the wickedness lies. That's where the evil lies. There's nothing good as we're going to come to that word goodness tonight. I'm leaning towards that, but there's nothing good, good, good in your flesh. All right. So what happens? I have you in Romans seven, but just jump back to Romans three first. Romans three. Let me start there might make a little better sense to work my way that way than this way. So what happens? You're born with a soul, with a spirit. You're born with a soul and you're born with the body. All right, you're born with your soul connected to your body, and then you're born with a spirit. And the Bible tells you in Ephesians that you're born with a dead spirit. But when did your spirit die? All right, because I'll show you. Look what he says here. Look at Romans chapter 3. Let me start with verse 9. What then? Are we better than they? No, and no wise, for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles. that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. So then how is it that you can do good, right? And the world perverts the word good. There is a perversion of the word goodness. There is a perversion of the word good. I'll get to that in a moment. But you're not born with goodness in you. You're not born a good person. You know, we will use the phrase, go to Romans chapter 7 now, if you would, please. Well, they're just a good person. They're just a good lady. They're just a good man. They're just a, well, according to the Bible, there is none good, no not one. You're not born good, you're born a sinner. If you kept reading in Romans chapter 4 you're going to see how God sees man and the wickedness of man what lies in your throat and those kind of things because What you're going to get in Galatians chapter 5 is not produced by you. It is only produced by God One of the attributes of God will get to tonight is God is good He's good. Just like God is love. God is good So one of the attributes of God that you get to have come forth from you When the Spirit of God fills you and he produces it is goodness But it's produced by God. Why look what happens in Romans Jeff. This will help you with your children, by the way This will let you understand when someone's able to get saved because the Bible says we're all sinners. There's no good. No, not one so what about babies and little children and And kids that don't understand the gospel don't understand good and evil. Listen, there's a difference between right and wrong and good and evil. Your little ones, one, two-year-olds, three-year-olds, they can understand right and wrong. They can understand don't do that. Yes, they can. That's why discipline is necessary for all children. Nowhere in that Bible does he make an excuse not to discipline any child. You, as a parent, are just to obey that book and do what the book says and let God handle the results of that. But your desire is to obey God. And when your children are one, two, three years of age and things like that, you say, don't touch the water. And they touch the water. They need discipline. Why? Because they can understand right and wrong. Now, they don't understand that to be good and evil yet. But they understand that to be right and wrong. Because what brings your attention to the good and evil is this book right here. Look what happens in Romans chapter in Romans chapter 7. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, you when you start reading that book you realize in Romans chapter 4 how evil I am It's not about right wrong. It's about good and evil and I'm not good. I'm evil and I need that evil taken care of and there was only one that was good and that's Jesus Christ and everything he did does is good I need his goodness and it's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance and So here in Romans chapter 7 when you're reading in Romans 7 look at verse 7 What shall we say then is the law sin God forbid they had not known sin But by the law for I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet. I But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, routed me all manner of coccupacence. For without the law, sin was dead." Without the law. Before you knew. Before you knew. Now, they can know right and wrong, all right? But before you know the law, now look at it in verse number nine, what Paul says. For I was alive without the law once. When were you alive without the law? Your little kids are alive that way right now. Why? They don't know good and evil yet. That's that age of accountability that you hear. That age where they're not born saved, but they're born safe. You might want to thank God for that, by the way. Thank God you're not a Calvinist tonight. Thank God you have a Bible that gives you answers for your children. So your children there, you say, well, when are they going to know? How will they know to get saved? A young lady got saved last week, right? You know what she recognized over time? She recognized more than just right and wrong. She began to recognize good and evil. And when you recognize, Paul says here, without the law, without the law, once, once, once, but when the commandment came, See, that spirit inside of you, that spirit inside of you, Ephesians says you're dead. You're dead. That's a dead spirit. You get born again. That spirit gets quickened, made alive, right? So when now you begin to understand that, hey, I'm evil, not just right and wrong, but evil, sin, I'm a sinner, then sin revived. And now you recognize, I got a spirit that needs to be born again. I need to be saved. You recognize that from Deuteronomy 139 there where he says now you recognize not just right and wrong, but you recognize there's none good No, not one. I'm evil. I need God's righteousness through his son Jesus Christ and Then then when you get born again now your spirit is made alive Thank God Your soul is cut away from your flesh. I So your sit your your your spirits alive your soul is clean your soul is pure your soul is detached from its flesh Thank God, it's blameless. It's ready for heaven the new man right there. Thank God for what he did in us and then we got this and Then you get Galatians chapter 5 where it talks about the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit and Your flesh cannot produce goodness. There's none good. No, not one and You can't produce goodness in your flesh, but God can produce goodness. So if you would, go back, if you would, to Galatians chapter 5. And let's take on the word goodness. Goodness. Do you realize, maybe you don't, but maybe you do, how often the word goodness is used? Oh my goodness. Right? Oh my gosh. You realize, I'll show you in a moment here, but the word good comes from the word God. There's no goodness without God. The only way good got brought into here is because of God. So there's no, well, you know, I'm born good. No, you're born a sinner. They're just a good person. Okay, there might be some good things they do, but you're not a good Person in the way that God is good See how people pervert good See, they'll try to pervert good to say why I'm good so I can go to heaven You base your goodness to God's goodness. You'll go to hell It takes the goodness of God it takes God getting in you for you to be good and to do good So goodness. Why is it one of the fruit of the Spirit is goodness? Well, it's connected to the word God. It's connected to a sacrificial giving. I'll show you some things about goodness here in a moment here. But I have you back in Galatians 5. Let me just read it, and then I'll go on again. He says again, longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness. There's no goodness in our flesh. Go back to Romans 3. I'll show it to you one more time. I know I just had you there, but go back. I'll let you see the verse. Read it at the end of the verse, I trust you underlined it. It says, there is none, there is none that doeth good. You might want to put in there Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa doeth good. Don't get her to heaven. She's as wicked as anyone ever born. If she's lost, she's as wicked as anybody has ever been lost. Well, she's just a good person. In your eyes, in my eyes, she might do good, but in God's eyes, she's not good. Get a hold of it tonight because you're gonna look well my neighbors. They're good people if they're lost or on the way to hell They need the goodness of God I'm just trying to get us to see whether just good people, you know, there's good people and there's bad people. No, they're saved and lost And then there's people filled with the spirit and there's people walking in the flesh And if you're filled with the spirit, then you could have a goodness produced in you But you do not produce that on your own God produces it Something only produced by God, but God's good Boy has the world ever perverted that right? Well, we're just good people You know, they're just good people, you know, they're sodomites they're good people. No, they're lost. That's they're not good people They're not good in the eyes of God Now I'm gonna show you God does good to all for all people. I The rain falls on the just and the unjust. There is something about that attribute of God, goodness, that he puts in us so we can go out in that world and show the goodness of God to people. Well, I'll tell you what, it is something. Good. It's in his nature. God is the only one who is good. God's goodness. Let's look at some of the things on God's goodness. Go to Psalm 31, if you would, please. Psalm 31. In order for you to understand maybe goodness in the Bible, and it's an attribute of God, and then it's something that only God produces, the Holy Spirit produces in you, then you might want to get an understanding of what goodness is. And our best example we have is God, because that's who he is. He's good. So what is God's goodness? Well, Psalm 31 to start with, please. Look at verse number nine. 19 sorry 19. Oh How great is thy goodness? Which thou has laid up for them that fear thee? Which thou has wrought for them that trust in thee before? Before the sons of men, you know what God's goodness is. It's great The goodness of God is great Well, I preach I don't know about the good You know what the goodness of God the goodness of God had enough mercy on you to wait for you to get saved He was leading you towards repentance I'm telling you the goodness of God is great Take your Bible if you would go to Exodus 34 Exodus 34 just showing you some things about the goodness what the goodness of God is according to the Bible Because the goodness that the Spirit of God produces in you is is only God's goodness It's something that you and I will have that's produced by God and that goodness is great Not only is it great God's goodness is not only great but look at Exodus 34 look at verse 6 and The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed This is what the Lord proclaimed about himself the Lord the Lord God Merciful and gracious. You know, if he says this about himself, don't you think we should say it about him? Hasn't he been merciful to you? Hasn't he been gracious to you? This is who he is. Merciful, gracious, long-suffering. And here it is. and abundant in goodness and truth. Go to Psalm 145, please. I'll give you another one after that, but go to Psalm 145. Let me show you something about that abundance. You know, he has infinite goodness. Sometimes our goodness, it doesn't last very long. I'm glad he has infinite goodness. I'm glad he has goodness towards me, even when I don't deserve goodness. I'm glad he has mercy towards me when I don't deserve mercy and grace towards me when I don't deserve grace. Long-suffering towards me when I don't deserve long-suffering. But his goodness. Psalm 145. I'll show you how abundant his grace is. Look at verse number one, please. He says, I will extol thee, my God, O King, and I will bless thy name forever and ever. Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty. and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts, and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious. Sounds a little bit like what you're reading in Exodus. And full of compassion, slow to anger. That's why the fruit of the spirit is produced by God. That's who he is. You can't produce it in your flesh, but he can produce it from the Spirit of God inside you and here's our verse verse 9 The Lord is good to all all That's kind of interesting isn't it take it by if you wouldn't go to Matthew chapter 5 I'll show you Just because he's good to all doesn't mean all men are saved See, some people will take the mercy of God and the goodness of God and show you here where the rain falls on the just and the unjust and says, well, there's no difference. You know, God's good to me. God's good to you. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't mistake that God being good to all is as your salvation. You know what God's goodness is to someone who's lost? He's leading them to repentance. God, you know you go to someone you witnessed home You know you witness on they said talk about that or you say well God's been good to me And then you're around a lost person. It was a well God's been good to me, too. What that's partially true God has been good to them. They're still alive They're still breathing. They still have the mercy of God the grace of God on them the rain falls on him He feeds them. He gives them their money. He is good to them But they need to receive his goodness See they don't get to heaven on their own goodness. I and being good, they get to heaven on the blood of Jesus Christ. So just because God is good to all, look at Matthew chapter 5. Look at verse 45. That ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven, for he maketh his son to rise on the... Didn't I just tell you about good and evil? Not right and wrong, evil and the good. Evil and the good. But the sun rises on the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust didn't tell you back Psalm 145 verse 9 that God is good to all Hey that Sun feels good to everybody That rain this afternoon was good to everybody the just and the unjust why God is good That's who he is Now I'll show you a balance to that which the world doesn't get because God hates sin. I But we'll get to that. Go, if you would, please, to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. So in your goodness, in your goodness, you know what you're to do? You're to show the goodness to all. You're the witness to the lost person out there. God cares about their soul. You should care about their soul. You know, your neighbor and those people there and all that out there, the goodness of God, he's good to all people. Yeah. Got well, you're wicked. It's this is a lost world out there. It is a wicked lost world out there But listen when the Spirit God's inside of you, there's a goodness that comes forth from you. It should be different Now you don't condone saying you hate sin like God hates sin, but you should be kind Goodness that's how if possible live peaceably among all men Goodness goodness produced in you by God look at Luke chapter 6 verse We're just talking about the abundant goodness of God. Luke chapter 6, verse number 35. But love ye your enemies. Well, that's hard. And do good. Love your enemies and do what? No, I don't know about you, but my flesh doesn't want to do that. But it's in the book. But God produces a goodness inside of you that love your enemies and do good. land hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and you shall be the children of the highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the Evil You know your kindness doesn't just stop here at the church house. It should extend out to the world You should be kind to them Amen amen. Amen. They're gonna listen to someone with some goodness more. They're gonna listen to someone that they hates them and It's the goodness of God inside of you that says look at the verse again read the end of it there he says again for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the Evil, I'm just telling you back there that fruit of spirit. He produces in us the ways that we can get along with people And sometimes you're gonna get along some unthankful people And it's the goodness of God that's going to let you get through that situation It's his goodness being produced in you to help you how to handle the situation Take your Bible, if you would, go to, I'll give you, well, I guess I got quite a few of them. Go to Psalm 107. Psalm 107. I hope you have your Bible tonight. Psalm 107. And if you don't, no problems. Psalm 107. Just talking about the goodness of God. It's abundant. I won't give you all of them. I'll give you just a few. Psalm 107. Look at verse eight. That men would praise the Lord for his goodness For his wonderful works to the children of men See what we like to do a lot of times is we try to put the the material blessings for the goodness of God Listen, don't mistake the material blessings because God blesses the lost too with material things Say that again to you the world gets material things and God allows them to have material things and Well, the goodness of God, I mean, look at the goodness of God. He gave me, no, the goodness of God is he saved your soul and gave you a relationship with him. Put the spirit of God inside you to produce things that he cannot produce in a lost person, he produces in you. If you put only the goodness of God on the things you have, you won't see the goodness of God. If you put the goodness of God on the person in you in Jesus Christ, then you understand something. Boy, the goodness of God. What a blessing it is. I have you in Psalm. Go to Psalm 52. I have a couple in Psalm, so I'll work my way backwards instead of taking you away from Psalm. Psalm 52. I'm just trying to get you to see God is good, the goodness of God. Why? Because the spirit of God produces a goodness in us. God shows his goodness and that's his attribute to us. God is good. It gives us the ability to how to treat people and how to respond to people. Psalm 52, verse number 1, please. Why boasts thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Aren't you glad his goodness endures? Aren't you glad it endures forever? Aren't you glad he never wears out? His patience don't wear out on us. You ever said my patience are wearing thin? My patient is about ready to wear out. I'm glad to goodness of God he doesn't just wear out on me. His goodness is there. He's good. His goodness is there. Appreciate it, Lord. Appreciate it. Psalm 32, 33. Psalm 33. I'll make this my last one for this point. Psalm 33. Look at verse 5, please. He loveth righteous. Remember, all on the thought of the abundance. It's back there in Exodus 34. God's goodness is abundant. Plenty of it. Plenty of it. You realize his goodness isn't just for America? See, that's where we place his goodness. Well, God's been so good to us in America. God's good to people in Africa, too. God's good to the people in the jungles, also. God's good to the whole world. It's an abundant goodness. See, we just place it on, well, look what we have. No, it's look at who you have. And anyone around the world that's saved has the same God you have, the same spirit you have, the same Savior you have, and the same goodness. That's a blessing. Why? Because I'm glad it doesn't just stop here. It goes around the world. That book is not in a, we Americanize that Bible way too much. We place ourselves in America in that Bible. That Bible's written for the whole world. Well, it's in English. Yeah, but it's for the whole world. For the whole world. Aren't you glad it's not just for here? So he says there in Psalm 33, 1. 30 33 5 sorry he loveth righteousness and judgment the earth the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord and that doesn't just mean the things you have that means his goodness. God is good good. Take a Bible if you would and go to Romans 15 please. Where would you be tonight without the goodness of God. Will you be in hell. If you died you'd be in hell without the goodness of God. why the goodness of God leads you to repentance. Romans 15, though, that's in Romans 15. You go to Romans 15, I'm gonna read it to you. I think it's in Romans 2.4, something like that, 2.4. Bible says, the goodness of God It's in Romans 2, 4. I'm reading the last part of it. Not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Just so you know where it's at. I keep quoting it there, but so you know where it's at. Romans 15, 14. And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of, what's the word? Goodness, goodness, goodness. How in the world can you be full of goodness? Well, the only way you get full of goodness and goodness comes out of you and produced in you is the Spirit of God produces in you when you're filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit. It's produced by God, not by your flesh. And isn't it something when it comes to that word goodness and what it produces in you and what it allows you to do? And that goodness will endure forever. God is good. And realizing to the thought there, go to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. Sometimes it's a little hard to kind of put together like just a straight this is goodness and preach right through it point by point. But you got to understand God is good. and then understand the goodness of God and how great it is, and how abundant it is, and how it endures forever, and how his goodness is to all people, and it's available to all, and it watches over all. And then it's a way to be kind, and it produces in you goodness, to be able to treat people with goodness, to be able to deal with people with the goodness of God. So when someone says, well, he's a good man or he's a good lady, you have the Bible in your mind thinking, you know what? That could be true, but the only reason that's true is because that lady or that man saved, and it's the goodness of God in them that lets them do anything good. Otherwise, it's a perverted good. You're trying to do something that's attributed to God only. And the world tries to pick that up and say, well, we're good people. We're just trying to do good. Isn't that what most charities are built upon? You know, we're just trying to do good things. Well, most people can't, well, you know, they're doing good things. Well, maybe to the extent they're helping somebody, but not the goodness of God things. There is a difference. God is good. And what God produces is a righteous goodness. And what the Spirit of God produces in you is a way to be pleasing to God with the goodness that's produced through you. And people will try to attribute that to all kinds of things. Psalm 25, look at verse 7. Here's where you get that phrase, for goodness sake. You ever said it? For goodness sake. Sometimes you might want to consider some of the things that come out our mouth. Oh my gosh. That's just a short word for God. It's just us trying to clean it up so we don't say God. I would just be real careful with some of the things that come out our mouth. some of the phrases we use. Why? Because look from Romans Psalm 25, look at verse 7. Remember not the sins, there you go, of my youth, nor my transgressions. According to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake. When you say for goodness sake, that's God. He's goodness. He's good. So you're just saying for God's sake. If you said it that way, you wouldn't say it. It would sound a little bit more blasphemous to you. So why just flippantly say, well, for goodness sake, stop doing that? No, no, no, no, no, no. Just say, you know what? For goodness sake, well, that's God. Why? Goodness is an attribute of God. God is good. Ephesians 4, if you would, please. Ephesians 4. You ever said, God has been good to me? We say that, don't we? Don't we say, God has been good to me? That's a true statement. But can I tell you that's not a complete statement? Because the Bible says he is good to you. He is good. He's good right now. Not has been. God is good. Well, you know why we say has been good? Because maybe we're going through some trouble, some problems, and things like that. And we're still in it. We're still going through it. And we're thinking, well, you know when God's good? God's good when he gets me out of this situation. No, God's good all the time. You know how you hear the phrase God is good, and people say God all the time? That's a true statement. Why? Because he is good. That's something to me. He's good. And when he's good, you know what it produces? It's not just that he's been good, but he is good. Everything about God is good. Think about this. Isn't he an almighty, all-powerful God? You think about if the devil had the power God had. Think what kind of damage the devil could do if he had no buffer. You realize God has no buffer? There's no one above God. Aren't you glad he's good? Aren't you glad he doesn't use his power for evil, it's for good? That's a blessing to me. Why? The God of this world will use his power for evil, to hurt, to destroy. The almighty, all-powerful God, he's good. He uses his power for good. and what produces in that goodness in us. How God produces goodness in us, and about goodness, and doing good, and being kind. Look in Ephesians 4, 32. You know the verse, I took you there. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. You know how you're kind? You know what kindness is produced? You know how that is? That's the goodness of God. Isn't God kind to you? Isn't God good to you? You know what God does for you? He allows you to be kind to people. Be kind. The Spirit of God will produce that goodness in you, which will allow that kindness to come out to one another. That's a blessing. You know how you get along with everyone around here and be kind to one another and things like that? It's not you and your flesh doing it. It's God and your spirit doing it. And that's a blessing. That's why we have a book. And we come together in the unity of that book and the unity of the faith. One Lord, one spirit. All that one, one, one. And it produces that spirit and that spirit of goodness that's produced in every one of you out there. And you know when you're off kilter. You know when it's your flesh. You know when you're irritated. You know when things bother you that shouldn't bother you. You know when you can't put away things. You know when the goodness of God is not being produced in you. You know what's behind your goodness? The motive. Motive. You know what the world has? They have a wrong motive for being good. You know what happens to you when the Spirit of God produces goodness? You have a right motive. It's to please Jesus Christ. It's to please the Lord. It's produced by Him. It's all about the motive behind why you're doing what you're doing, and the goodness that it is, and it's produced by God. Take your Bible and go to Romans 8, and I'll be done. Romans 8. When God produces, and only God can produce it, your flesh can't produce goodness. It's a fruit of the Spirit. He gives you longsuffering. We went through that with people. He told you, I'm going to produce a gentleness in you to how to conduct yourself with people. Outward relationships. And all those outward relationships, not only are they going to give you long suffering, not only am I going to produce a gentleness in you, but I'm going to produce a goodness. I'm going to produce a goodness because I'm good. You know, he could duplicate something he is. He's good. So that goodness he produces inside of you enables you to affect and have a relationship with other people on this earth and be pleasing to God in it. with his goodness. I will say this, though. God has a balance to his goodness. God's goodness is righteous. Well, you know what goodness is not? Goodness is not overlooking sin and condoning sin. I said the same thing about gentleness. I said the same thing about long suffering. That's not, and the same thing about love and those things there. It's not overlooking or having a gray area and just letting people get away with sin and stuff like that. That's not goodness. Because God's balance to be God is good as God hates in See his goodness is based in righteousness and the goodness he produces in you is based in righteousness Which makes you look out that world and say you know what? I hate what God hates It's sin is not good sin is evil Well, you just said the rain falls on the just and the unjust and the Sun rises on the evil and the good and the unthankful thing Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but that's just God's goodness leading them to repentance and If they die rejecting Jesus Christ, they go to hell, and God is still good. So there is a balance to that goodness. It's not, well, just overlook everything and everybody, and, you know, let's, well, you know, what their definition of good. No, the definition of good comes from that Bible. It defines good and evil. Defines what God said is good and what God says is evil and what God says is right what God says is wrong is Defined in there and there's where you get your balance Because God does hate evil He has an opposite to that goodness, but it's still done in the righteousness of his goodness. I think I have you in Romans 8 And here's where the goodness leads Romans 8 28 and we know that that all things work together for good, for good, for good, for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. You know, those are saved people. I'm telling you, the goodness of God is produced in saved, spirit-filled, spirit-led people. And you know what happens to those people there? God says all things work together for good, for good. Why? God is good. It's kind of a little overwhelming to me that God will produce a goodness in me like that, that I can have a goodness that I can be kind to people, treat people right, have an enduring goodness, have a goodness that I can attribute to all people, saved and lost. Why? There's just something about lost people out there sometimes. It'd be like, I don't even want to witness to that person. But you know what the goodness of God wants? He wants all men to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish. The just and the unjust. If rain falls on them, the gospel should go out to the whole world. Bible's just not for us here. We want the Bible to go out to all people. All people. Everyone. Especially the King James Bible. Well, you know, we're good because we know you're good because of God. Because of God. Anything you attribute to being good, well, he's a good man. You can read in that Bible, a good man, a good man. You realize your goodness only goes so far. Your goodness has an end. God's goodness has no end. That's a blessing. So you want your goodness to go on, then you have the goodness of God produced in you. Goodness of God has no limits. The goodness of God goes on the just and the unjust. He's good to all. To all. To all. You know, that would take care of all race problems. Just give me a microphone for about five minutes and put me in wherever those people stand. We could take care of all that. Why? God is good to all. Red and yellow, black and white. He's good to all. You know what we are? You know why we get along with any color, any race, anything? I don't like the word either, but you know why? Because of the goodness of God. You realize I'm nothing without Jesus Christ. I'm no good. I'm no good. That bothers people sometimes to say, well, I'm no good. Who are you to tell me I'm no good? I'm not the one telling us we're no good. The Bible tells us we're no good. Why? Because we all want to think in ourselves we're good people. Why do good things? That's why they give the money to the people on the corners. That's why all the charities, that's why they put the little puppy dogs on the thing there with the three legs and the little things and all that kind of stuff. Because they know people want to be good. People try to manufacture goodness. Manufactured goodness is not goodness. Spirit born goodness from the spirit of God inside of you is true goodness. And he tells you to have long suffering, gentleness, and goodness. And those are the things that he produces in us that we all, not only in this room, but when you go out these doors tonight, you take with you long suffering, gentleness, and goodness. And maybe tonight just thank God for the goodness of God. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you. Goodness. I don't know, Lord, you get in there, you try to look it up and find out, Lord, but it goes right back to who you are. God is good. And the goodness of God is great. And the goodness of God is abundant. And the goodness of God endures. And the good and God does good to all. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. The sun rises on the good and the evil. But if we do know one thing, our goodness will not get us to heaven. There's none good, no not one. We cannot produce that goodness, your goodness. But Lord, when we get saved and the Spirit of God gets in us, now there's the one inside us who can produce a fruit that we cannot produce called goodness. The way for us, Lord, to be in that realm, to do good, to be kind, to be benevolent to people, to have charity, All the things you tell us to do, Lord, and we read that Bible there and we read all that stuff. We're like, my goodness. But when we realize Lord soul, spirit, soul, body, and when the spirit of God fills us, you produce the ability to do those things. You give us the goodness. Lord, it certainly will separate us. Lord, we thank you. Maybe tonight we just kind of do a little search. Lord, are we treating people with goodness? Are we allowing the Spirit of God? Are we hindering the Spirit of God from reducing in us? Are we able to be kind even to the lost or to our enemies, people we struggle with? The Lord had enemies. He died for them. Boy, that's tough. Because Lord, sometimes we don't want to treat our enemies right, and we don't want to treat the lost the way you want us to do it. But Lord, if we allow you to produce in us what you'll produce, you'll give us the ability to have that goodness. Psalm says, surely goodness and mercy. Surely goodness. Thank God for goodness. Good. Good equals God. God is good. It's not a has been, it is an ism. Thank God that's who you are. And Lord, to live with that goodness and to know that goodness in your mercy and your grace, what a blessing tonight. It's a blessing to know God's good. There's a whole world out there, Lord, that thinks you're bad, that thinks you're evil. I'm glad I know the truth. That's a real blessing to me, Lord. Well, he allows the why no, no, no God is good boy that settles a lot and then you give us that book Lord that it's beyond our Comprehension why you would give us such a great book to read to know who you are And then to know you produce that in us to have that goodness towards others Appreciate it Lord Help us Lord You know, that's a good thought you can keep your eyes closed as she's playing I You know, the world thinks God is evil. The world thinks God has mistreated him. The world wonders why God allows bad things and all kinds of stuff and wars and all that kind of isn't a blessing to have a book to know God is good. He's not a bad God, he's a good God. He's never been a bad God to me, he's never been a bad God to you. Here's the thing, the God of this world is a bad God. You get the God of heaven as your God and you'll recognize God is good. He's willing to save anybody. That's a good God. And if you're saved, you have access right to the throne of God. That's a good God. Why do we deserve access? Why do we deserve anything? Because God is good and he helps us. Even when we don't deserve it, His goodness is there. You know He's been good to you when you didn't deserve it? You might want to thank Him for the times He's been good to you, times you might have wavered away and wondered away, got messed up in the world, messed up in sin, just messed up, but God was good. He gave you some time. Gave you some time to get back. That's a good God. That's a gracious God. That's a merciful God. You know, some of you are praying for your kids and your grandkids and your great grandkids. You know one of the great truths you get to stand on tonight? God is good. God is good. Lord, I appreciate your goodness. I appreciate the abundance of your goodness. I appreciate the greatness of your goodness. I appreciate the enduring of your goodness. You're willing to endure. Have some patience. I'm glad God's had patience with me. Might want to take that attribute there of God and recognize he produces that in you have some patience with people Well, my patience and patience hold on now God produces goodness he'll give you enough to withstand it Thank you Lord, what's the song number you got brother?