Now, we'll open our Bibles at Galatians chapter 6, please, Galatians 6. And we come today to verse number 10 in our study here as we draw toward the end of this epistle. With the Word open before us, we will bow in prayer and let us seek God's face for His help and His blessing to rest upon the Word and upon our consideration of it. bow together in prayer. Our gracious God and our Father in heaven, we draw near to Thee and we thank Thee for the Word that is before us. We rejoice that Thou hast given Thy truth to us, that we might have it, that in it we might be taught and that we might learn of Thee. We pray, O Lord, this day that this will be the case, that the Holy Spirit will brood o'er the gathering, that He will come with power, that He will Take the word of truth and He will bind it upon our souls and He will speak graciously and powerfully to us. Hear as we ask of Thee and give that help that we need and we shall give Thee the glory in the Savior's name and for the Savior's sake. Amen. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10 where Paul says, as we have therefore opportunity Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Now, as far as this passage is concerned, this verse forms the conclusion to a paragraph that begins in verse 6. Therefore, this text brings to a close a line of thought that the Apostle Paul wishes to get across to the Lord's people. That line of thought is the matter of the Lord's people having the responsibility and indeed the obligation to be burden bearers in the life and in the witness of the church of Jesus Christ, within the company of the redeemed. There are many needs and there are many burdens of various kinds. And it is incumbent upon all believers within the family of God to enter into the vital ministry of bearing one another's burdens. Now in the 10th verse here, this same line of thought is in view. And as we look at the verse, we notice here these words, let us do good. You'll see immediately the connection with verse 9, where it says, let us not be weary in well-doing. This verse that we considered last week. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." Paul speaks there of well-doing, and therefore there's a clear connection between that and what we have here, let us do good, here in verse 10. There's a connection as well, of course, with what we have in the entire passage that leads up to these verses where The apostle reminds the Lord's people to sow to the spirit and not to the flesh. And now he essentially does the same thing. He emphasizes this same responsibility upon God's people, that of doing good, that of seeking to be those who will shoulder responsibility in a sinful world and do good unto all men, especially they who are of the household of faith. Notice here right away that The Lord's people are on this earth for a purpose. God's people are a people who have the will of the Lord spelled out for them in a very clear way in this verse, where we have these words, let us do good. That is a command. It is therefore revealing to us what the will of the Lord is for each one of us, a command given to God's people summing up In a very concise way, the purpose of the Lord in ever having saved you, in ever having you as one of His own, He has you in the church, He has you on the earth in order to do good. Let us do good, the Lord says to us. The word for do means to work. Read it that way, let us work good. That's how we could read it as well in the original verse, or in the original text, I should say. The word that's translated, do, and it also means work, is a word that signifies putting your entire energy into the work of the Lord, into this matter of doing good. The original word is the word that gives us, in our English language, words like energy and energize. In fact, the original Greek word is pronounced very, very similarly. And therefore, it's a word that has to do with energy and signifies labor and toil. It indicates that the Lord's work deserves the very best that the child of God is enabled to muster and to perform for His God and His Savior. Now from this verb, to do or to work, We have other words in the New Testament that bear out the idea of doing your best, of laboring faithfully. Indeed, one of those other words is the word laborer. Another one is the word workman. We think of the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 9, the closing verses of that chapter, where He instructs His people in this way. He says, Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers. into His harvest. And there in those closing verses of Matthew chapter 9, the Lord shows us that there is no place for slothful and lazy individuals in the work of God and in the service of Jesus Christ. He says, pray that there will be laborers thus forth. Go through the Word of God. That's a very simple exercise. And notice throughout the Bible that any man that God ever took and used was a man who was known for industry or hard work in his previous sphere of employment. That is why when, for example, a presbytery examination board which we have examines young men for the ministry. They take into account what their work was before. They actually will make investigation and find out, well, were they hardworking? Could they carry a job? Could they work with other people? Because if they can't do those things in everyday life, they certainly are not fit for God's work. God's work has no place for slothful men, but for men who will labor and who will serve. The same word It sounds a bit like work, man, as I say. And you think of that great verse, 2 Timothy 2, verse 15, where the apostle says to Timothy, study to show thyself. approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." And there the Lord is showing Timothy, as a minister of the gospel, that when it comes to the matter of preparing for the sermon, if you want to put it that way, he has got to labor, he has got to study. He says, you're a workman, Timothy, in the area of study, and you must labor with all your might and with all your soul. and put your heart into it. That is, may I say, not to speak of myself, but to speak generally of ministers. That is the greatest part of a minister's work. It is to study. Nothing is more important than that. And, of course, along with that there's prayer. That's what the apostles said in Acts chapter 6, we will give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. So God uses these terms to show us what this is all about where He says, let us do good and to enforce upon our souls the necessity for God's people to be laborers and workmen in that which is good. The Bible reveals to us that there are laborers who are evil or who labor in evil. And I just want to draw the contrast right here. In Luke 13 and verse 27, the Lord speaks there of workers of iniquity, laborers in iniquity, laborers in unrighteousness. How striking that is! He underlines that there are men in this world whose only objective is to promote iniquity, who actually labor to that end. who will go to the utmost of their human powers to promote evil, to spread wickedness. They are laborers in unrighteousness. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3, the apostle Paul warns us of deceitful workers. And he uses there the very same word that is indicative of expending every ounce of energy in order to deceive the multitude. deceitful workers. And Philippians 3 verse 2, just to make it even more clear, there the apostle tells God's people to beware of evil workers. And once more it's this same word that comes from this verb, to work, to labor, to do. Evil workers, beware of them, because their whole goal, their whole objective is to spread forth that which is wicked and ungodly. in this world. So the child of God should spare nothing with regard to the matter of doing good. He should spare nothing with regard to this command that is set before us here. We are shown here that the work of the Lord is to receive our greatest level of labor and toil. To put it very simply, our tax sets before us one of the marks of a genuine child of God, and that is of doing good in a fallen and in a sinful world. Let us do good, the Lord says. Doing good in a sinful world. That is the subject that this verse presents to our minds for our attention. First of all, the significance of doing good. Because it is important that we understand what these words signify, let us do good. And I am sure that you would recognize right away that these words are significant of spiritual and godly things first and foremost, because there is no other way really of truly doing good, of being doers of good in a lasting fashion among men. Therefore, the good that's in view here has reference to that which is good for the soul. that which will bring blessing to the hearts of men. It is therefore good of a spiritual nature and a spiritual kind that we have here in this particular perspective that the Apostle Paul is setting before us of our service for the Lord when he says, Let us do good. Paul here is speaking of laboring in a manner that will benefit humanity in a spiritual fashion. Let me say to you as a child of God, that should be, and I emphasize it again, that should be the only reason for which you live. That's just how important it is. You should be saying to yourself, Lord, give me the grace to do good, to do good to all men, and especially to those of the household of faith. Lord, imprint that in my heart and make that the reason for my breathing, for my living, for my entire existence, that I may do men good spiritually above every other way. Let me say this to you, that doing good spiritually is the result of having received spiritual good. This word, good, that's used in our text is the same word as is back in verse 6, which we looked at a few weeks ago. And it says in verse 6, Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Now, in looking at that verse, you may remember, I trust you remember, we noticed that the reference is essentially to the Gospel. That's what's meant by the term good things. Indeed, when we look at verse 10 and look at it carefully, It can be read this way, let us work good things. It's exactly the same word. And therefore, comparing verse 6 and verse 10, it's very obvious that in verse 6 where Paul says, we are to communicate to those who teach us in all good things, that the reference there is to the gospel. We followed that out. We proved that clearly from many Scriptures. And therefore, what Paul is saying is this. As you have received good for your own soul through the good things that have been taught you and have been brought home to you by the Holy Spirit, therefore you are to do good, and therefore that proves the thought I'm bringing to you here. Doing good in a sinful world is a result of receiving spiritual good yourself. You see, a man can't really do good until first of all he has received what enables him to do good. Turn over to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Now look at verses 34 and 35. The latter part of verse 34 and the first words of verse 35. Matthew chapter 12. Very interesting words we have here. And you'll see immediately the close connection. Matthew 12, 35. It says in that verse at the close of the verse, Sorry, verse 34, "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Then it says, "...a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth," listen, "...good things." Now there is the same word. This word that we have noticed already in Galatians 6, verse 6, and now in Galatians 6, verse 10, where he says, "...let us do good, let us do good things to people." Here is the very same word, and how interesting the thoughts are here in Matthew chapter 12, because we're being shown at the end of verse 34 this principle, that it is out of what the heart has in it, what the heart contains and what the heart itself has experienced, that it speaks or it acts as well. Look at verse 34 once more, "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Now that's a very telling thing, because that tells you right away, that shows you right away when you listen to people talk, it tells you what's in their hearts. "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." That is true for sinners and believers both. And then the Lord goes on to say in verse 35, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things. Now the word abundance in verse 34 is a word that denotes the idea of something that is very voluminous. In other words, it's a fullness. And therefore, he's talking about a heart in which there is a fullness with regard to knowledge and experience. And then in verse 35, he speaks of the good man bringing forth good things out of the good treasure of the heart. A good man is a man who is a child of God. The Bible says, there is none good, no, not one. So what does the Lord mean when He talks about a good man? Well, you think of Joseph of Arimathea. The Bible says he was a good man. And a day little later in the will of the Lord, we'll look at Barnabas. And the Bible says the same about Barnabas. He was a good man. Why were they good men? Because grace made them good. Because out of the natural heart of man there can only come evil things. Therefore, if out of any man's heart there comes forth good things, it's because the man himself is a good man. And the Lord is talking to us here very plainly, isn't He? He says, "...or a good man out of the good treasure." The word treasure means an accumulated treasure. It's a treasure that has been laid up within the soul. And out of that treasure of good things, the good man brings forth good things. It's very obvious, isn't it, what the Lord is saying here. Whatever has entered into your heart by way of the gospel, the things of God, the good things of God, what you have experienced, what you've tasted, what you've come to know, it's out of that abundance, out of that treasure, that then you are able to do good in this world. So that's the point I'm making. Doing good spiritually is the result of having received spiritual good yourself. God has blessed you with good things. I mean spiritually. He therefore has put into you that which you are able to take and give to others. Look at John 6 for an illustration of this. John chapter 6 and verse 11. We have the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. John chapter 6. Turn there please and look at it with me. What we see here happening on that day whenever the Lord wrought that miracle, John 6 and verse 11 is the verse I want you to notice with me right here. It says, Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed it to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. Now notice here that the Lord Himself didn't go to the people. He supplied the good things, if you will. He multiplied the fish and the loaves, and then He gave them to the disciples, and it was the disciples who received these good things from Christ, and then they took them to the people. There's a beautiful illustration of what I am saying. God has fed your soul with the bread of life. What are you to do with it? You're to take it, and you're to give it to others. Because as I've been saying, this is the real essence of doing good in this world. It is to give the good things of God, the gospel, the work, the blessings of the gospel to the world around, to men who are in need. It is the great work of dispensing the seed, as we saw last week, of preaching the Word, of talking about Christ, of making Him known. And here we're shown that we can only do good when we have received good. Let me put it to you this way very, very plainly. No man is of any good to this world except a man who's saved. I know the world would count that very arrogant, but it is not arrogance. It is the truth. No man can do good in this world really and truly unless he is first of all a saved man, because we do good out of having received spiritual good. Let me also say to you today that doing good spiritually is to portray likeness to God. Turn to Psalm 119 and verse 68, and there you have a marvelous statement about our Lord. Psalm 119 and the verse number 68. And in that verse we have this statement about the Lord Himself. It says there, Thou art good and doest good. Consider those words carefully. Thou art good and doest good. In those words, in that statement, there is both an attribute and then there's an action. It says, Thou art good. Speaking of the Lord, the Lord is good. Oh, how good He is! But the goodness of God is one of His great attributes. And then you have the action. Thou art good and doest good. Why does God do good? Because God is good. The goodness of God is that quality, that attribute of His that belongs to His very being. And let me say this to you. Everything that God does is good. Even when God judges men and sweeps them away to destruction, that is good, because God does not do evil. You see, you will hear many a time the critics saying, and maybe some of you heard it this week, Radio Ulster, the fire Noma, and your man Nolan, Why does God do these things? See, man always wants to blame God. My dear friend, God is good, and God does only that which is good. Now, here's the point. When the Bible speaks of the goodness of God, it is speaking of the great quality of His being by which He displays His love, His grace, His mercy, and His long-suffering toward men. Turn now to Psalm 107 verse 1. Psalm 107 and the verse number 1. It says, "...O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good." Then it says immediately, "...for His mercy endureth forever." Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. Then it tells us of something that flows out of the goodness of God. His mercy endureth forever. This is the introduction to this great psalm. The whole way through Psalm 107, there's a focusing in on the proof of the fact that God is good and God is merciful. Look with me at a few of the verses. Look at verse 8 of this psalm. It says, O that men would praise the Lord, for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men." And you'll find that expression in verse 15 and in verse 21 and in verse 31. Every verse that I just mentioned, all of them contain these same words, that men should praise the Lord for His goodness. and for His wonderful works for the children of men. So we find here therefore that God is good and God does good and the way in which He does good is that He is merciful. That is God's main way of showing that He is good when He shows His mercy and His grace and His love unto men in all their sin and all their need. This Psalm 107 is a marvelous study of the goodness of God and especially that the quality of mercy that is one of the features of His goodness. Read the Psalms sometime. See how it falls into different sections. And see how there's this exclamation at the end of every section, O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. So God is good. Therefore, doing good spiritually on the part of His people is for them to portray a likeness to the Lord. I want you to go now to Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2 and the verse number 5. Here we have a story well known to the Lord's people. Look at it with me. Mark chapter 2, the verse number 5. Let's observe the words carefully that we have here. It's the story of the man who was palsied. He was brought by his friends to where the Lord was. And notice what it says. Mark 2, verse 5. When Jesus saw their face, He said unto the sake of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, the Lord saw the faith of the four men who brought their friend to Him. And the first thing the Lord did, and the point is, He did it upon seeing their faith. The first thing He did for that man was to forgive his sins. He did not heal his body then. Rather, first and foremost, He saved his soul. He forgave his sins. And there you have an illustration of this very point, that when God moves and Christ works, the best thing that a man can receive is the forgiveness of his sins. Even far and beyond the needs of his body, his soul has a greater need. And the Lord shows it here. He saw their faith. He forgave the man's sins. first and foremost. You and I are taught, therefore, that these men did good. They did good in this world because they brought a person to the Lord, and their chief objective was to have that man saved. I want to emphasize that. You see, many times this is preached, that they came to the Lord with their friend because their great goal was to have him healed. But it wasn't. Their first objective was to have the man saved. His sins forgiven, because the Lord, as I emphasized, He saw their faith and He said immediately, Thy sins be forgiven thee. Do you see that, brethren and sisters? You see, this illustrates the point I'm making here today, that this matter of doing good is a spiritual thing. It is the greatest work that the child of God can do, that the believer can do. It is out of the abundance of our own hearts that we are to do good. It's out of what we have received in ourselves by the gospel that we do good to other men. It's to be like God. Here we have God. Here we have Christ. The first thing they do. is save the soul, forgive sins. Let us follow that pattern. Let us take that to heart today. Our first objective, men and women, is not to cater for the physical needs of men and women, it's to cater for their souls. And the Lord shows it here so clearly. And you see, doing good is a deterrent to evil in this world. Go with me now to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5. Here we have another way in which we see this whole idea of doing good. We're looking here at the significance of doing good. It is to do good to men spiritually, and out of our own experience we do it, and in likeness to God we do it. And the point is, this is the only way to be a deterrent to evil in the world. It is to do good to men in the fashion that we are seeing here today. So Matthew 5, look at verses 13 and 14. ye are the salt of the earth." Then verse 14, ye are the light of the world. Now, the sense of those words is this. Literally, the Lord says in verse 13, ye and ye only are the light of the world, or the salt of the earth. Ye and ye only are the light of the world, verse 14. That's the strength of the language of Christ. And therefore, the Lord is telling us here that the only people in this world who can really do good to this world are His own people. He says, Ye and ye only are the salt of the earth. Ye and ye only are the light of the world. What is He saying? Well, what does light do? Light dispels darkness. That's its quality. At the very beginning, as we read in Genesis chapter 1, it tells us the earth was without form and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep. And the very first thing the Lord said in the great fiat of creation was this, Let there be light. And light was, and darkness was driven back, because light is a deterrent to darkness. Light conquers darkness. Light drives it away. Light overcomes it. And therefore when the Lord says to His people, ye and ye only are the light of the world, what's He saying to them? He's saying it's only you who can really do good in this world by being the light of this world. And that's a line of thought, of course, that could be broadened and lengthened out interminably almost, because there's so much about it in the New Testament. The Lord says to His people through Paul in Ephesians, Ye who once were darkness are now light in the Lord. He says through the Philippians that we are to shine in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation over and over again. Indeed, God keeps talking about shining and let your light be displayed. What about John the Baptist? He was a burning and a shining light. And men rejoiced in his ministry. the salt of the earth, taking that particular metaphor. The Lord says, ye and ye only are the salt of the earth. What is salt's great purpose? It is to deal with corruption. It is to prevent it from taking hold upon the meat. The olden days, that's how they preserved their meat, as you well know. They salted it. and thereby they preserve the meat. And God is speaking to us here today and He's telling Christians that the only people in this world who can really do good are those who are His, the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And my dear friend, that's the only way in which sin And it's every form, it's every shape, it's every power can be checked and driven back and dealt with. It is when the church is what she is called to be. It's when the believer is living as God has designed us to live. Because the Lord says to us, let us do good. We're seeing the significance of that, what it means Let me ask you therefore, my friend, are you fulfilling the Lord's Word here? Just taking the metaphors of salt and light, are you fulfilling what God intends you to be? I know, of course, it's not one of us as a child of God who can be this in the most excellent sense, the fullest sense. But is it your desire, is it your goal every day to shine for Christ out of your own experience of the gospel? This is the marvelous thing I want you to get a hold of right here before I move on. You have the potential to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth because of what God has done for your own soul. You have the potential. Therefore live up to your potential. Let me put it to you this way, another very simple, plain way. Be what and who you are in Christ. Live out who you are in Christ. Let other men see this. Let them notice who you are. Let them hear it. Let them see it. Let them observe it. May they regard your words, your actions, everything about you as a great display of the fact that you're here in this world to do good. So there's the significance of it. But then there's the secret of doing good. Turn back to Galatians 6, please. Because how are we going to carry out this command in the light of our own weaknesses and limitations? Well, yes, we have the good things of the gospel in us. We have Christ in us. We have the potential As I have been saying, we have the gospel in our hearts, but what will enable us in a sinful and hostile world to do good as Paul exhorts us here? Well, thank God the church is not left without the enablement. Just as she's not left without the potential, she's not left without that which will enable her to do this. You see, the whole passage here that we're looking at stretches away back into chapter 5. So go back into chapter 5 and look at verse 16. It says, "...walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Verse 18, "...be led of the Spirit." And I trust you'll remember verse 25 that we looked at so closely, "...let us also walk in line with the Spirit." Remember the meaning of the word walk there? To walk in line. So here you have it. And then chapter 6 and verse 8 talks about sowing to the Spirit. That is, attending to the things of the Spirit. What is the Lord showing us here? He's showing us the secret of doing good. And the secret is we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And as we walk in the Spirit and are led by the Spirit and sold to the Spirit, that's how we are unable to do good to men. That's how we are unable to bring out of our own hearts the good things that we have received and set them forth before others. In Nehemiah chapter 9, if you'll turn there, you will find that one of the titles of the Holy Spirit is this, the Good Spirit. Nehemiah chapter 9 and look at verse 20. It says, Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water in their thirst, and so on. But notice that particular title, thy good spirit. That title shows to us the nature of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God And therefore, just as God the Father is good, and just as God the Son is good by nature, I mean, it's an essential quality that they have in all the fullness and unlimited extent of it, so also does the Holy Spirit have this attribute. He is the Good Spirit. That means that the Holy Spirit is the epitome of all that is good and the opposite of all that is not good. Oh, my friend, the Holy Spirit is good. He's good only. That means the Holy Spirit is not harsh or cruel or vindictive or spiteful. Those things are not found in the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost is good only. Now, what I'm showing you is this. where the Holy Spirit dwells, then He enables people to do good. Turn to Acts now, the book of Acts chapter 11. Acts 11 and the verse number 24. I referred to this man Barnabas a little while ago. I come now to look at him with you in this reference, Acts 11 verse 24. It says, For he was a good man. And then it says immediately, "...and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and much people was added unto the Lord." He was a good man, and he was full of the Holy Ghost. What a clear connection of thoughts you have here. Barnabas was a good man because he was a Spirit-filled man. And therefore, Barnabas did good in the world in which he lived. And you have it in these words. much people was added unto the Lord. Let me tell you, friend, there's the greatest form of doing good in a world in which we live. The world in which we live, it is to see people be brought unto the Lord. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever, as a professing Christian, been instrumental in some way or another of bringing a soul to Christ. I don't mean maybe at all sitting down, as we say, counseling the person and leading that individual to trust in the Lord, but I'm talking about the whole area of the work of God's people in which there are so many features that you and I can be involved in to see people added to the Lord, because that is the chief good that God's people should do. And of course, as I say, there are many ways of doing it, but notice it here. He was a good man because he was full of the Holy Spirit, and he saw many people add it to the Lord. The name Barnabas is an interesting name, as you perhaps know already. It means son of consolation. Back in Acts 4, 36, you find him there for the first time in Scripture, this man Barnabas. And the apostles gave him that name Barnabas. You see, his name formerly was Joses. But he was given the name Barnabas because the apostles noticed something about Barnabas. That is that he was indeed a very good man. And they gave him a name that means the son of consolation. Now that word consolation, is the very same word just about as the title for the Holy Spirit, Comforter, in John 14 verse 16. I will send you another Comforter. The word consolation is the same word basically. What does that mean? It means that Barnabas was a son of the Comforter. He was a man who was born of the Holy Spirit. Little wonder then that he was a man who was called a good man, because he had the Comforter within his soul, and he was full of the Comforter, and because he was full of the Comforter, oh, what an effort he made to do good, every way he possibly could. As you look at his life and his witness and his ministry in the book of Acts, I haven't time to take you to everything you could look at about Barnabas, but there are some outstanding things. about Barnabas. Acts 9, verse 27. Notice it. It says, But Barnabas took him. Acts 9, 27. He took who? He took Saul of Tarsus. Brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way and so on. Here's an occasion when everybody wants nothing to do with Saul. He's just a new convert. But even in Jerusalem at this point, they don't believe that much about him. But Barnabas did. Barnabas took him. Barnabas stood up for him. Why did he do that? Because Barnabas was a good man. And to put it this way, he was prepared to give Paul a chance or so. And he was proved to be right. And then you have the occasion when He stood up for John Mark over in Acts chapter 15. It says in verse 37, Barnabas determined to take with them John whose surname was Mark and Paul didn't agree. This is most interesting because the man whom Barnabas helped, that is Paul or Saul as he was then, he's not prepared here to entertain the idea of having John Mark on this missionary journey. He says, There's always been a debate on this. Who was right? Was it Barnabas or Paul? Who was right about John Mark? Well, from one perspective, you can say that they were both right because Saul or Paul feels, well, he didn't prove himself. He needs to prove himself first. So, he wants to wait. No, he's not going on this journey. He needs to prove himself. He let us down before. Barnabas, this man, this good man, he says, no, I believe he should go. And the sad thing is in this story, Barnabas and Saul divided over John Mark and their opinions over John Mark. But you see, later on, in fact, almost immediately, Barnabas was proved to be right and Paul was proved to be wrong. insofar as the fact that immediately John Mark shows that he is indeed a man who has got what it takes. Oh yes, he had failed, but Barnabas had a place for him, and Barnabas took him, and later on the apostle Paul wrote and he said, bring John Mark. He's profitable to me for the ministry. I'm simply pointing out to you what the Holy Ghost records for us with this man Barnabas. A good man who was willing to do good to others in this old sinful world. But you know, the greatest example of all is Christ. Go with me to Acts 10 verse 38. As we deal here with the secret of doing good, it is men filled with the Spirit. We've seen this about Barnabas, a man full of the Holy Ghost, a good man full of the Spirit. What great things he did therefore. And then Acts 10 verse 38. One of the most marvelous statements about the ministry of our Lord. He says there, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. And then immediately you read these words, who went about doing good. Now there is the very same language. Let us do good. The Apostle Paul says, here we have the greatest example of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Spirit, anointed by God, and you will know that took place at His baptism. So there is the anointing here. He's anointed by the Spirit, but there's also the action that flows out of that. Notice this, brethren and sisters, a man who's full of the Holy Ghost will go about. That means he will be on the move for God. It takes me back to the original early remarks that I made in my introduction. God never uses lazy people. And furthermore, when men are full of the Holy Ghost, they won't be lazy. I'm talking here about our Lord, and I use these terms guardedly and advisedly, but I am showing you the principles. anointed by the Holy Spirit. And the immediate result is, it tells us here, who went about doing good. And notice this, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. What a marvelous statement. God was with Christ because the Holy Ghost was on Him. And He went about and He did good. And the chief objective of His doing good was to heal people who were oppressed of the devil. And what we're shown here therefore is this, that the infilling of the Holy Spirit will defeat the devil. That good men full of the Holy Ghost will exercise a ministry that will impact the powers of darkness and deliver sinners from their oppression and their sin and the binding chains that are around them. I ask you today to consider very carefully What are you doing in this world? What is your reason for living? What's your objective in your profession of Christianity? Is it to go about doing good? Is it? Because, my friend, if it isn't, then you would need to search your heart and look at your soul and see what the dominating desire of your life really is. Is it to acquire for yourself glory, prestige, power, the applause of men? Is it to go around doing everything that you can to hinder other believers or stand in the way of the unsaved because your whole attitude is wrong and your whole outlook is wrong? This is a very heart-searching thing because we are either in this world doing good or we're not doing good. And we are being shown today That the significance of doing good is to spread Christ, the knowledge of Christ, in every way we possibly can. And in that way we are like our Heavenly Father, and we are like our Savior. And we see the pattern of other men in Scripture, and therefore we are being what God wants us to be. And the only way to accomplish that is to be filled with the Spirit of God. To live in the Spirit, led by the Spirit, walk in line by the Spirit. You'll never do good to this world otherwise. That means that every child of God here today, and I include myself, we would do well, brothers and sisters, to get down before God and cry to God to deliver us from lies that are unfruitful. from all our own ways, all of the domination of the old flesh and the carnal nature that prevents us from being what God wants us to be. Let us do good unto all men, especially they of the household of faith. In the will of the Lord, I believe, and I say it that way until it's clear in my own heart. I will be coming back to this verse next week. Because I haven't really touched on the sphere of doing good. Doing good unto all men, especially they of the household of faith. Doing good in a sinful world, are you? Are you? Or are you just drifting along? aimlessly, carnally, pleasing yourself. Oh, my dear friend, may the Lord come today and may He make us what He wants us to be. Let us bow together in prayer. May the Lord write His Word upon our hearts, upon our souls. Take His truth for His own glory and use it and every believer's life. Father in heaven, we pray that the blessed Holy Spirit will take the things of Christ and show them to us. Lord, we pray this day that Thou wilt work in us this likeness to Thee, to Thy Son, even to the Holy Spirit Himself. And O God and Father, make us a people who are good for this world. a people who will benefit sinners and will be a blessing to saints. O Lord, come and deliver us from self, the old nature, from all our own carnal, fleshly ways. And O Lord, we pray that Thou wilt revive our hearts and draw us closer to Thy side. Hear and answer prayer. Go with us now. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with every Christian both this day and then forevermore. In the Savior's name we pray. Amen.