Back to Galatians 5 and I'll read those familiar verses 22 and 23 Galatians 5 and 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such There is no law Our Father, we do thank you for the grand privilege of singing praises to the Lord Jesus. And now we also thank you for the equally grand privilege of hearing from the Lord Jesus in and through his word. And so we pray that the spirit of Christ would open up our ears, that we might hear, believe, and understand that which the Spirit is saying to us, his beloved church. Grant it, Father, we pray. For Jesus' sake we ask, amen. Well, we come this week to goodness, the sixth of nine fruit of the Spirit. This, as we'll see, is a very big and most obvious concept, because Christians have been made good, they now bear the fruit of goodness. And so the fruit of goodness implies these three things, and these are gonna be our three heads. A Christian is good. This refers to nature. Has goodness. This refers to character. And does goodness. That, of course, refers to activity. So first, a Christian is good. Secondly, a Christian has goodness. And thirdly, does goodness. He is, has, and does. Goodness. Notice first, a Christian is good. By this I mean the first thing the Holy Ghost does is to change us from being a bad tree to becoming a good tree. Jesus said, either make the tree good, Matthew 12 and 33, and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. By nature, brethren, we're all bad truths. And by grace, we become good truths. This happens, of course, by way of regeneration. Now, you know that the scripture uses a variety of imageries to describe this work of regeneration. Sometimes it's called a new birth, other times a new creation, sometimes a spiritual resurrection. We're all by nature born bad, and we are by grace reborn good. By nature we're made bad, and by grace we're remade good. Thus we can refer to regeneration as God's work, his good work, of making bad sinners good, or of changing bad trees into good trees that they might bear good fruit. Now, what I want to do is to look at this subject of regeneration very quickly under a couple of headings. Notice, first of all, its author is good. And then secondly, we'll see its purpose is good, and its pattern is good. It's the good work of God, the Holy Spirit, in making bad sinners good. This is absolutely essential, brethren, if any one of us is ever to bear the fruit of goodness. The tree has to first be made good. First, its author is good. And by this, of course, I refer to God, and in particular, the Holy Spirit, who is at times in the scriptures described as the Good Spirit, Nehemiah 920, Psalm 143, 10. Now let me say in passing that as all of the works of God are joint works of the Trinity, there's a sense in which the entire Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, is the author of regeneration. And thus, we can find scriptures in the Bible, texts in the Bible, that describe the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as the author of regeneration. And yet, there's another sense in which we can attribute a particular work to a particular person in the Trinity. And the scriptures, of course, everywhere most usually attribute the work of regeneration to the Holy Spirit of Christ. For example, Jesus said in John 3, 5, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And so just as God created all things in six literal days, so he recreates man good in regeneration. Think of these words again back in Genesis 1, verse 31. Then God saw everything that he made, and indeed it was very good, so the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Everything God made in six days, man especially, were good. This includes, of course, all the things that he made in the first five days as well as the sixth day. Everything about man, the pinnacle of God's creative work, was good, his thinking was good, his affections were good, his actions were good. He was good, he had goodness, and he did goodness. Because God is good, he can only make good things. Everything God is and thus does is always and only good. Arthur Ping said, all that emanates from God, His decrees, His creation, His laws, His providences, cannot be otherwise than good. And so, what's true in the first creation, in that God makes things good, is also true with respect to the second or new creation, He remakes man good. He made man good in the original creation. Man made man bad in his fall. And in regeneration, God is making all things new. Just as he made man good originally in the first creation, he's remaking man good in his new creation. or his work of regeneration, okay? So the first reason why I say that God's work of regeneration is his good work in making bad people good is because the author of regeneration is good, namely the Holy Spirit. Secondly, his purpose is good. By this I mean the purpose of regeneration is to recreate us in the image or likeness of God. God himself is good. And thus all of those born again by the Holy Spirit are reborn into the image and likeness of God. It's very similar to the original creation. If you remember, God made man in his image and or likeness. And thus in regeneration he remakes man in his image and or likeness. We're reborn as sons of God and thus now bear his image as we're partakers to use Peter's language, of the divine nature. Listen to a couple of texts. How about Colossians 3.9. You have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man. Now watch how he describes the new man. Who's renewed, i.e. recreated, remade, renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Or else Ephesians 4, you've put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. In other words, because we're made by God in the first creation and remade by God in the second creation, we now bear his image. The image that we lost because of the fall is regained in the new creation or regeneration. We've been recreated in the image and likeness of God, and brethren, this image or likeness, again, according to Ephesians 4 and 24, is in true righteousness and holiness. Or perhaps we can simply say, as I've said, while we're born bad, we are reborn good. Now this, of course, doesn't mean that we're reborn perfectly good, but in regeneration, man is graciously and generally made good. We know from Romans 7 and verse 18, and sadly from our own experience, that there's yet something in us bad. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. There's something in us, our remaining corruption, that's bad. evil remains within us. But simply because evil remains within us, it doesn't deny that because of the new birth, we've been made good. And even that statement argues that. There's nothing good in my flesh, in that remaining principle of corruption. But brethren, if our remaining principle of corruption remains bad, then of necessity, the new man is created good. The new man is created into the image and likeness of God, holy, knowledgeable, and righteous. Listen to the old Baptist commentator, Robert Haldane. As we are continually and prominently to maintain that there is naturally nothing good in men, We ought, likewise, to give equal prominence to the fact that all believers, being born of God and made new creatures, work the works of God, and in their minds possess those dispositions which are produced by the Spirit through the truth. In our flesh, yes, there's nothing good, but from the work of the Spirit on our hearts, we may be full of goodness. Now he's getting that phrase from Romans 15, and I wanna come to that phrase here in a little bit. Just keep in mind, brethren, that while we're born bad, we're reborn good, generally speaking. Yes, there's still bad in us as Christians, we all know that. But nevertheless, generally speaking, the new man bears the image and likeness of God, and brethren, God is good. And if God is good, then his children are good. That's the premise, all right? So first of all, we see the author of Regeneration's good, the purpose of it, that is to become partakers of the divine nature. And then thirdly, its pattern is good. And by pattern, I specifically refer to Christ, whose image we're being conformed into. Now think of these words, familiar to you, no doubt, Romans 8. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that we might be the firstborn among many brethren. So by this I understand Christ as a glorified and perfected man is the pattern into which we're all being conformed. And thus, in the resurrection, we will possess a perfectly sinless soul, as Jesus had, and a glorified, deathless body, as Jesus had. This is the image, it's the goal, it's the pattern into which we're off. being conformed. In other words, when we become Christians, brethren, in regeneration, we not only bear the image of God, but we also are being conformed into the image of Christ, who is the sinless and perfect man. He's the template. He's the pattern into which we all are being conformed. Now there's a text in, Or a statement by Jesus made in the Gospels in a particular mark 10 and 18 that may seem to contradict this If you remember Jesus said to the young rich ruler, why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God Well first our Savior here isn't denying that he's God and He's simply stressing the fact that only God is essentially and unchangeably good. If you remember, the young rich ruler asked him or spoke to him initially as the good teacher, good teacher. And so the point is, Jesus knows that this young man is self-righteous. And we know that because a little bit later, he would confess foolishly that he's kept the law since his youth up. The point is, is Jesus is wanting to show him that he hasn't kept the law. So the point is, is that the young rich ruler is basically saying, look, good teacher, you're good, I'm good, we're all kind of good. Jesus is saying, no, no, no, no, you need to realize that you're not good. No man is essentially and unchangeably good, only God is good in that sense. He's not denying the fact, brethren, that he is God. He's simply saying to him, to confront him in his self-righteousness, that man natively isn't good, i.e., you're not good. And secondly, our Savior isn't denying that we're made good by regeneration. He's not denying that there are good people in the world by grace. Otherwise, he'd be contradicting what he said elsewhere when he said, make the tree good and his fruit will be good. Wait a minute, Jesus, there's none good. There's none good natively. There's nobody natively or essentially or unchangeably good save God. Thus, we can speak of Christ as possessing a twofold goodness. First, his divine nature is good, and that is essentially perfectly and unchangeably good. He's God. But we can also speak of his human nature as being good, and that is free from sin and filled with every virtue or grace. And so it's that perfect human nature, sinless, and filled with every virtue and grace, that's the pattern into which we're being conformed. Brethren, he, Christ, was and is good natively, essentially, unchangeably, in his divine nature. But he also possesses what we might call a created good. Because remember, his human nature was created. He's the uncreated, created Savior. He's uncreated because he's the creator of everything. He's God. And yet he's created in that his human nature came from Mary. It was sinless. And the Holy Spirit indwelt it without measure and fructified it or filled it with fruit. without measure, and so he's the perfect pattern into which we all are being conformed. And this is why I say that regeneration is the good work of God in making bad sinners good. Why? Because the author of it's good, the good spirit. The purpose of it's good, partaking of the good nature of God in bearing his image. And thirdly, being conformed into the image and likeness that One who was both good because he's God and good because he's sinless myth All right now that brings me then secondly to the fact that a Christian has goodness so don't don't forget the first point Christians have been made good or Christians are good but they also have goodness. That is because a Christian's been made good, he or she now has good desires, thoughts, and longings within their heart. We can say there's now goodness within. Or there's the longings and desires to love and to do goodness. And here we come a little bit closer to what I think Paul means by this fruit of goodness. It's a disposition of goodness within the soul of a Christian to love God and his fellow man. The easiest way perhaps to describe it is to use again the word goodwill, an attitude of benevolence or goodness towards others. Fundamentally, by goodness is meant that disposition of saints that possesses goodwill for others. A Christian is not only good, or because a Christian is good, he has goodness. There's goodness in his heart. I know, brethren, this might sound contrary to the way in which we think of ourselves, because there's so much badness left in us. But we're gonna see that it's the clear teaching of the sacred and holy scriptures. Because Christians have been made good, they now possess good. This, of course, again, these two points have to be brought together. Because we've been made good, there's now goodness within. For example, think of two very different fields. The first is a field in the spring that smells like manure. The second field is filled with beautiful flowers that give off a pleasant scent. Perhaps we can say a field of wild roses. By nature, our hearts are like the field of manure, which necessarily gives off a bad scent because it's a field filled with manure. So the condition of the field obviously relates to the odor or the smell of the field. But by grace, our hearts, not perfectly, but generally, become a field of roses, which necessarily give off a scent of goodness. or a scent of good as opposed to evil. Perhaps another way of saying it would be by goodness is meant the desires and the longings of the soul. The heart is changed and thus its disposition is changed, its longings and desires have been changed. And brethren, this imagery, this analogy that I gave you is found in the book of the Song of Solomon. where the church collectively and individual Christians personally are described as gardens with all manner of fresh and beautiful, sweet-smelling scents that arise from their souls. Now here, I wanna turn you to that text I referenced in Romans 15. And notice verse 14. So by nature, Christians are a field of manure. And by grace, they become a field of wild, sweet-smelling flowers. Now it's not until we die and go to heaven will our soil be perfectly pure. All manure at that point will be removed. There's a little bit left in all of us. But nevertheless, I'm speaking generally and broadly. Christians have been made good, and thus they are good and have goodness. Romans 15, and notice verse 14. Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Now notice how Paul says he's confident of them, that they're Christians. This is basically what he's saying. And as Christians, he says there's two things true of them that enables them to counsel, admonish one another. What is needed or necessary to be a good counselor? Do you have to have a degree? Maybe certified? Maybe seminarian trained? Maybe you have to read 10 books by Jay Adams. Well, that might help you. Brethren, here's the two indispensable necessities to be a counselor. One, apt to admonish. You have to be full of goodness and filled with all knowledge. Now let's go through those very quickly. Full of goodness. That is, they were filled with goodwill toward each other. They had a brotherly love and kindness toward the brethren. They desired to do good, and in particular, toward others. And how is this good manifested in counseling, in admonishing? It's obviously true, isn't it, that if you have a heart full of goodness, or if you have a heart that's filled with goodwill towards your brethren, it's gonna show itself in a variety of ways. Basically, it shows itself in ways to better them or to do them good. Adhere to admonish them, to counsel them. Admonish means to encourage. It can take upon itself a more sterner rebuke, but it really just means to encourage, to counsel, to help, to assist. Why is it that we, or keep in mind, this is our third point, in doing good. Why is it that we wanna do good, admonish, help, assistance, assistant, and counsel each other, assist and counsel each other? Why is it? Because we have goodness. Our hearts are full of goodness. Our hearts are filled with goodwill toward our brethren, and that shows itself in actions, as we'll see here under the third point. Filled with all knowledge, that is, are filled with the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures sufficient to help one another. They were apt or able to admonish one another. This is what's needed to be an effective counselor. You have to be full of goodness and you have to have a knowledge of scripture. Thus, I want to suggest that a Christian now has goodness within as the result of these two closely related facts. One, the good spirit has taken up residency within their hearts. That is, the Holy Spirit not only recreates us or births us anew in regeneration, but he actually takes up residence within our hearts, causing us, enabling us to desire to obey God. Perhaps we can say the good spirit breathes upon our spirit, enabling us to love and or desire goodness. Go back to that text in Romans 15 and 14. Why or how were these Christians filled with all goodness? Well, because they had a new heart. They were regenerated, which now bore the image of God and was being conformed into the image of Christ. But brethren, the Holy Spirit didn't just create them anew and then leave them. No, he creates them anew and takes up residence within them. He doesn't just form us like a little snowball and push us down the mountain. He forms us into a snowball and he himself walks us down the mountain. He's at work in us. Remember how Paul put it in Philippians 2. He's at work in you to cause you to want to do right and to do right. Work out your own salvation and fear and trembling. Philippians 2, 11. Four, God is at work in you, causing you both to will and to do according to what? His good pleasure. You find the same thing, if you remember back in Galatians, Chapter five and verse 17. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary one to another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. There's something in us hindering us. I've already spoken about that. There's a little manure left. There is a principle of evil in all of us. We get it, I get it. It's bad, it's not good, it's wretched, it's wicked, and it's evil. It's called the flesh. And the flesh desires things contrary to the Holy Spirit of God. So the imagery is this, the Holy Spirit is in us and the Holy Spirit has holy desires. Perhaps we could say the Holy Spirit has good desires and the flesh has bad desires. But notice how Paul puts it, he puts it as if the Holy Spirit and our flesh are in opposition one to another. The inference being that the Holy Spirit is the one infusing, nudging, and perhaps rolling our soul down the hill. He's the one that's prompting us. He's the one that's nudging us. He's the one that's indwelling us and causing us to act and to do according to his will. So our spirit, our spirit, it wants to do good. And the reason why it wants to do good is because the Holy Spirit, the good spirit's in us, prompting us to do good. Brother, stop and think about it. It's grace from the beginning to the end. Think of the Romans. They're full of goodness. Their hearts are filled with good desires toward God and the brethren. That's a Christian. Their hearts are filled with good desires toward God and the brethren. But where do these good desires come from? Ultimately, the Holy Spirit's breathing upon our spirits. The Good Spirit writes, he not only takes up residence, but he also writes the good law upon our hearts. Hebrews 8.10, I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts. What does it mean when it says that the Holy Spirit writes the law upon our hearts? Well, by law, he's evidently referring to the Ten Commandments that in the Old Testament were written on tablets of stone. The contrast here is that the New Testament, or the New Covenant, is a salvific covenant. That is, everybody who's truly in it is saved and thus has the Holy Ghost. Indwelling them Paul said if you don't have the spirit, you're not his you're not a covenant member if you don't have the spirit And if you have the spirit he writes the law of God upon the tablets of your flesh Upon your heart What does it mean to have the law written upon our hearts? It means two things We understand the law, and we love the law. See, this is how the Holy Spirit produces goodness in us. He's hands-on, brother. He comes into our hearts, and he indwells as the good spirit, and he writes the good law upon our hearts, and thus Paul actually speaks of the law in Romans 7 as holy, just, and good. So the good spirit takes up residence in our hearts and he writes the good law upon our good hearts, new hearts. Brethren, you do understand that a Christian person does have a new heart and thus a good heart. They are good hearted, not by nature, but by grace. So the Holy Spirit changes our bad heart to a good heart. He indwells us and he writes that law upon the heart. That means he enables us to have he enables our hearts to produce this sweet aroma as the field filled with wild flowers I've quoted already from Romans 7 look at where you Turn there if you want, but it's a small text and familiar to you verse 22 for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man He delighted Why does Paul delight in the law in the inner man? Because the inner man is now what? Good. And the Holy Ghost dwells there. And he comes with the law, and he writes it on the heart. He gives us a love for the law, the good law, the deca law. And so we find, That is the Holy Spirit who takes up residence within our hearts, and he writes a law upon our hearts, and thus he fills us, again, to borrow the language of Romans 15, 14, he fills us with all goodness. Brethren, I really do believe that sometimes we can misunderstand or misinterpret what the scripture says about us. You cannot overstate how bad we are by nature. It's impossible. In that illustration of a field of manure, that doesn't even get close to the truth. But neither should we forgo the fact, as bad as we are by nature, God makes us good by grace. And then he fills us with his spirit. He writes his law upon our hearts that we might be full of goodness. We are good. We have goodness. Thirdly, we do good things. And so here we learn that the spirit not only recreates us, indwells us, but he also enables us to do good works. See brother, I think we when we think of this fruit of goodness we go here and we ought to get here, but we get here not Forgoing the other points The first thing is is that we're made good and the Holy Spirit fills us with our good desires Our longings Back in Romans 7 he wanted he willed he desired to what? Do good obey the law. And here's why, because he loved the law, because the law was written in his heart. And as a result of this, now we do good things because a Christian's heart's been made good. There now dwells goodness in him, and thus it erupts in good deeds. We can say good deeds or works are the expression of goodness. They are in themselves good, works, but they're the expression, the outworking of goodness that fills our hearts. The inevitable outworking of goodwill for others. This is true of God, of course, in perfection. Psalm 119.68, listen to what David said. You are good and do good. The reason God does good, brethren, is because he is good. And Jesus again said something similar of man in Matthew 12 and 33. Make the tree good and its fruit will be good. Make the tree good. The tree has to be changed. The Holy Spirit has to take up residence. He has to write the law in our hearts. And when that happens, inevitably, without fail, we will do good deeds. Thus, by good works or deeds, I mean works that come from a good heart, conform to a good standard, and are done for a good purpose. And I wanna go through those in a second, in turn here in a second. Works that come from a good heart, just go back and see, brethren, that I'm basically just continuing all that I've said. I'm presupposing all that we've learned. Works that come from a good heart, conform to a good standard, and are done for a good purpose. So good works or deeds have, as we'll see, relation to both tables of the law. With respect to God and our neighbor. These are good works. Going to church is a good work. Reading your Bible is a good work. Praying is a good work. Counseling others is a good work helping aiding assisting the poor. These are good works brother These are all good works or deeds which are expressions of the fact that we're filled with goodness because we've been made good Now, let me go through them quickly first. It must come from a good heart Now I've said before that the tree first must be made good if the fruit is to be good Native man doesn't do anything good. We can say the best deeds of an unchanged or unregenerate soul is but a glorified sin. His best righteousness is as filthy rags. Romans eight, or Romans three. They have all turned aside, they've together become unprofitable. There's none who does good. No, not one. Paul, there's not one that does good, not natively. This is what Jesus was teaching the young rich ruler. There's none natively, essentially, unchangeably good, but God. And here Paul is saying there's no, he's not denying again, because Paul spoke about good works more than anybody. He's not denying the fact that we bear good fruit or we do good deeds as Christians. He's simply saying we don't do any good deeds by nature. Unchanged. Rather than very simply put, he's only reiterating what Jesus said. A bad tree produces bad fruit. Period. A bad tree produces good, bad fruit. Yeah, it's true. Not all of this food is equally bad. We do affirm, and I'm gonna quote here in a little bit from our confession that states this. We do believe that native, unsaved, unregenerate man can do some things better than other things. We believe that he can do what we might call civil good. He might do things that are good for society. He can donate money to good causes. He can be a surgeon and do good things. He can be a veterinarian and help dogs and cats. These are good deeds if you put them in quotation marks. but they're not good deeds in the full or strict sense of that phrase. In fact, we read in the Proverbs that even the plowing of the wicked is sin. Well, plowing a field's not a bad thing. It's more sinful for him to be lazy and not to plow his field. It's a good thing in one sense that he plows this field and provides for his home, but the problem is this deed, this work, this activity doesn't originate from a new heart. And so while it's more criminal for him not to plow, strictly speaking, even his plowing is but a glorified or polished up sin. Brethren, it's a good thing for a man to provide for his wife, for a mother to care and provide for her child. It's a good thing for a citizen to obey the laws of the land. These are good things, not bad things, but strictly speaking, they're just, perhaps we can say, bad good things. Because nothing's good that doesn't proceed from new and changed heart It must secondly conform to a good standard Don't misunderstand me not everything done by a Christian is good. It must align with God's holy standard again, Romans 7 the law is holy and that is the whole 10 commandments is holy. And then he goes on to speak about the commandment, that is the ninth commandment, is holy, just, and good. The whole law is holy, just, and good, and the particulars of it are holy, just, and good. For example, if a professing Christian sought to justify the sin of abortion, no reason can make that a good word. Why? Because it violates the law. It violates the sixth commandment. You shall not murder. Christians sin. And whatever they do contrary to the law is sin. Only what aligns to the law is good. So every thought, every word, every deed that aligns to the law of God is good. That comes forth from a new heart. But any thought, any word, or any deed that doesn't align or harmonize the law of God is a bad word. It's a sin. There's still evil in us, and thus we still sin. So not everything we do, not everything we think, not everything we say is good, but as long as it aligns to the law, and thirdly, is done for a good purpose. For work to be done, it has to be done for the good of others and the glory of God. Even if a Christian did something that's good, if they did it for a bad reason, that is not a good work. Let's say they did something to be seen by men and to get the glory of man and the praise of man. They could be a Christian, what they did was right, it harmonizes with the law, but it wasn't done for a good end. John Calhoun, who was a marrow man that would come in the next century, in the 19th century, said, works cannot be accounted good except our chief or ultimate end in doing them be the glory of God in Christ as our God. And so, brethren, this is why no unregenerate person can do a good deed. Because their works do not proceed from a new heart, Their work isn't done by faith. It doesn't conform ultimately to the law because the law also regulates our thoughts and motives, not just our outward actions, and nothing they do is for the glory of God in Christ. But brethren, let me put it this way. Conversely, every thought, word, and deed that proceeds out of a new heart by faith in conformity to the law of God, for the good of others and the glory of God in Christ is a good deed. And this is why the Bible tells us all over the place that God rejoices, yea, delights in the good works of his people. Now obviously, brethren, I hope I don't have to clarify this, Nothing we do is good enough to make us right with God. Only the good works of Jesus can make us right with God. But it's because we're right with God that deeds that flow out of a good heart by faith in conformity to the law and for the good of others and the glory of God are in fact good deeds. They're the expression of goodness on the inside that's the result of a good nature, a good heart. I mentioned our confession. Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands and of good use both to themselves and others, yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith, nor are done in a right manner according to the word, nor to a right end, the glory of God, they are therefore sinful. cannot please God nor make a man meet to receive grace from him and Yet our confession says there the neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing to God Again, go back to the man not plowing his field. He's inside getting drunk Well, he's more displeasing to God he's more sinful and heinous to God than his neighbor who's not a Christian, but at least he's plowing this field and But the point being is none of it, none of it's good except it proceeds from a heart purified by faith in performing to the law and for the good of others in the glory of God. All right, let me close with some observations quickly. Five broad and brief observations or responses, proper responses in light of what we've learned. Let us first of all lament our present culture which caused good evil and evil good. Isaiah 5 and 20, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Brethren, if there was ever an accurate description of our present age, especially this country, it would be this, they call evil good and good evil. The reason people hate evil, hate good and rejoice in evil is because they hate God and his law that defines good. Why is it that native man, all men by nature, but especially our present culture, why is it that man by nature hates good and rejoices in evil? Because he hates God and his law, and he loves everything contrary to it. In fact, there's a sense in which we live in a culture, brethren, that increasingly despises anything that even resembles good. And not only that, it praises everything that resembles evil. It's actually turned morality on its very head. Let us lament, in the first place, the tragedy. that we presently reside, all men have always resided in cultures, but we increasingly reside in a culture that calls good evil and evil good. Secondly, let us cherish those who by nature were bad, but by grace are now good. There's a lot of evil in our world, and there's a lot of evil in our country. But brethren, if you're looking rightly, there's still a whole lot of good. Now this was brought back to my attention when we were recently on vacation. And we're there in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, beautiful. Spending days on the beaches in the Virgin Islands, beautiful. But brethren, what is the Caribbean Sea, the Virgin Islands, in comparison to a natively bad person, who by grace has been made a good person, who is now full of all goodness and does good deeds? Let me suggest to you that there's nothing better, nothing more beautiful than a Christian person. Do you remember how Jesus put it in Psalm 16, when he spoke of the saints on earth as the excellent ones? Maybe we could say the good ones. I mentioned last week that in a culture that's becoming more and more rude or less and less kind, how wonderful it is to have the grace or the fruit of kindness to cause us to stick up. But brother, stop and think about it in a culture that's increasingly being characterized by a love for that which is evil and despising that which is good. What a wonderful privilege it is for us as Christians to bear the fruit of goodness. Remember what I said earlier, brother, this isn't in any way placing the focus upon ourselves because it's all grace that's made us good from the root to the fruit. He's changed our hearts, he comes to dwell us, he writes a law on them, he breathes in us, he works in us, he enables us to will and to do according to his good pleasure. All of it, brethren, is to the end that he gets the glory and the praise and none of it's given to us. I think if we were to think rightly, we could hopefully look at each other a little differently. It's not that we look at each other with two blind eyes. We know there's a bunch of problems in our hearts and in our homes. But I think it would be right for us to perhaps look upon each other at least with one blind eye. and say, you know what? This person has remaining corruption in their hearts. But this person also, by God's grace, has been made good, possesses good, and does good. Let us come to Christ thirdly by faith to be remade or recreated as good. We're all natively in need of regeneration. Every one of us, irrespective of who you are. Our children need to be born again. They're not exceptions. We sometimes say to our children, you have to be good. And that's right. They need to obey the law. We've already said, even if they're not Christians, it's better to plow the field than not. Our children should be taught to be good. But listen to this, they also need to be taught that they're not good. And it's not just doing good that makes them good. They have to be made good to do good. They have to be born from above. They have to be indwelt by the spirit. They have to have the law in their hearts if they're going to bear the fruit of good. And thus our children should be taught, yes, be good, obey your parents, love your sisters and brothers, but they also have to be taught, you know what, by nature there's none good save one. So you say, but how would one of our children know that they're doing good deeds as good treats? Because sometimes, if not oftentimes, our children become Christians very young, and there may not be a particular time where they can point to to say that they transitioned from being a bad to a good tree. Well, let me just ask your child this. Are the works that you do, the obedience that you render towards your parents, and the love and deference that you show towards your siblings, Are these things done out of faith in God? Are they in harmony to the law of God that you love? And are they done for the good of others and the glory of God? Young person, I don't care how young you are. You may not be able to articulate it just like that, but stop and think. If that's basically why you do the things you do, then that's evidence you're a good tree. Are the deeds that you do, the fruit that you bear, the result of having a new heart? Are they in conformity to the law that you love because you love God and your Savior? And are they done for the good of others and ultimately the glory of God in Christ out of gratitude for the salvation that he so freely and fully wrought for you on the cross? Well, my Christian friend, if that's true, my young Christian friend, if that's true, then that's evidence that you're a good tree. You have to become a good tree before you bear the fruit of a good tree. It's simple, isn't it? You think about it. And how do you become a good tree? Well, you have to be made one. And that starts with, first of all, knowing that you're bad. Brother, it's not wrong, in fact, it's right. It's very like Jesus to tell our children they're bad by nature. You're very, very naughty by nature. And in Christ, you can and will be made good. And not just an external good, but one that starts on the inside. Let us imitate our Savior, fourthly, whose life was characterized by doing good. Acts 10 and 38, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Remember, I've spoken about how Jesus was and is two natures in one person. And so here we have reference made to his human nature. The Holy Spirit indwelt his human nature in full and enabled him to bear the fruit of goodness perfectly. Remember what we've said already, that all the fruit of the Spirit is evidence in Jesus' heart and life in perfection. So here he is going about the pages of the Gospels, doing good, Why? Because his heart was filled with goodwill. Brother, if there was ever a heart filled with goodness, it was Jesus's. His heart was full of goodness. And because it was full of goodness, he went about doing good. The text says, for God was with him. The Holy Ghost was empowering him. The Holy Ghost was fructifying him, enabling him to bear fruit. I'm so thankful that we have a church filled with good men. And good women. And good boys and girls. Just keep in mind how I use that term, good. We can say gospelly good. Graciously good. But brethren, there's ne'er one of us here as good as Jesus. Now we're being conformed into his image. And one day we will be sinless and we'll have a deathless body and we'll live with him on the new heavens and earth without end. But remember the imagery that I used before. Until then, tragically and unfortunately, there's still a little manure left in the field. Finally, let us praise God for his unchanging goodness. Remember what we've said in previous studies, that these fruit are perfectly and fully found in Jesus' human nature, as he had the spirit without measure, but they're also perfections in God. Brethren, I trust it goes without saying, as Jesus said, there's none good but God. God never changes. People change, cultures change, but God stays the same. God is good. Essentially good, perfectly good, unchangeably good. And thus, he never changes with respect to his purposes or his promises. Oh, we see the goodness of God displayed in Christ. In a most full and beautiful way. We see it in us. In small measure, but we see it. And all of this is the consequence or the product. Of the goodness of God. that he alone essentially, perfectly, and unchangeably possesses. I think a good text to leave us with is Psalm 34. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen.