Luke 6:43-45
43 "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
There are many and varied uses of the word GOOD, but we can generally classify them in these 3 broad categories – in terms of its PURPOSE, its BENEFITS and with CHARACTER.
• When we say, “good job, good score” we refer to something that meets a certain standard; when we fulfil a certain benchmark, we say it’s good. It meets its intended purpose.
• When we say, “good deal” or “good weather” we may be thinking of the benefits; we had a good bargain, we had a great time because the weather was good.
• When we talk about a “good friend” we refer to his character; the qualities that we find in a person – he is someone who is dependable, someone you can count on to be there for you when in need, someone with a good heart.
There are some overlaps but generally we understand GOODNESS in these ways.
The Biblical emphasis is on CHARACTER (Luke 6:45), that will bring forth good purpose and benefits.
Clearly Paul uses the word GOODNESS in the Fruit of the Spirit to refer to a LIFE CHANGE.
• With reference to what he is contrasting it to – the WORKS of the flesh – then it is clear the word refers to the inner qualities of virtue, the goodness of a character, or his morality.
• Paul says we are made GOOD by God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. We find ourselves no longer doing the WORKS of the flesh but bearing the FRUIT of the Spirit.
• It’s is the fulfilment of the prophecy that God gave through Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
JESUS says in Luke 6:45: The good man brings good things out of the GOOD stored up in his heart.
• Goodness flows out of a GOOD HEART, and a good heart (a regenerated heart, a new heart) is a work of God.
(1) BEING GOOD IS A WORK OF GOD, therefore Focus on Christ
Isa 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”
When the rich young ruler came to Jesus with the question: “What must I do to get eternal life?”
• Jesus’ reply was: “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone.” (Luke 18:19)
• In saying this, Jesus was telling the young man that the reference point for goodness is God Himself. In fact, He is the only reference point!
He kept all the Commandments, no doubt. Most of the commandments were put in the negative – do not do this, and do not do that – and he kept them.
• But he failed to do what is right – love your neighbour as yourself. Jesus: “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor…” He was not able to do the GOOD thing.
Any human attempts at trying to be good will not suffice. It will ultimately be tainted by self-righteousness, self-interest, or self-glory.
• Keeping the Commandments cannot make the young man good (Luke 18). He needs to trust Christ.
• He needs to drop whatever he is hanging on to and follow Christ. But he could not. He wanted to work for his own righteousness.
• Jesus wanted him to change his life (and make him GOOD), but that wasn’t what he really wants. He wanted to pride himself in his own attainment of goodness.
That’s the fallacy of the Pharisees in Jesus’ times, thinking that by observing the laws they can be good enough to please God.
• We can only BE GOOD in Christ. Apart from Him, nothing in us can be truly good.
• Let Him dwell your heart and rule in your life. With Him inside, goodness can flow.
Focus on Christ. He is the GOOD that is stored up in your heart. He lives in your heart to enable you to do the works of God.
• Turn your life over to Him. Allow Him to have His way in your life and we will find His goodness flowing through us in ways that we do not expect.
(2) BEING GOOD IS MORE THAN DOING GOOD, watch your motives
Acting good is easy. Behaving good is easy. Being good is quite another story.
The young man looked good on the outside. He kept all the commandments. But the challenge given by Jesus exposed what was on the inside.
• The Lord says “good things” will come out of the “good stored up in our heart”.
• What we really need to focus on, is not to do many good deeds, but rather to cultivate a good heart.
• When you have a good heart, you will bring forth “good things”. But when you do good deeds, it does not always flow from a good heart. We can become hypocritical.
In the Bible, goodness is more than just good deeds; it has to do with good motives.
• Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.' 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt 5:28)
• Matt 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”
• 1 John 3:15 “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer…”
Focus on BEING GOOD. Examine your heart. Paul urges the Corinthians to do that each time they come for the communion (1 Cor 11:28).
• When you take care of your BEING good (walking in closeness with God), DOING good will come.
• The Holy Spirit transforms us to BE GOOD and will move us to DO GOOD.
(3) BEING GOOD IS NOT BEING NICE; speak the truth in love
God is a good God does not mean He will not judge. He is good does not mean He will not discipline and correct.
• Heb 12:5-10 “My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.”
So “How can a good God allow suffering?” is the wrong question to ask. Why not?
Trials and sufferings are tools in His sovereign hand. He uses them FOR OUR GOOD the bible says, and not AGAINST us.
• Biblical goodness is always, under every circumstance, beneficial.
• Therefore we find words like admonish, rebuke, correct and discipline, because there are times when these are the most wise and good thing to do.
• It is not easy, but sometimes the best thing we can do for a friend is to “speak the truth in love…” (Eph 4:15)
Conclusion:
Lk 6:45 “The good man brings good things out of the GOOD stored up in his heart.”
• God is looking for is this GOOD HEART. This is what we need to pay attention to, and cultivate.
Recently we’ve heard of talks about the education system in Singapore, how competitive our schools and even pre-schools have become.
• Academic achievement is really a concern of many and I’m afraid we may have over-rated it; with the result we value competence over virtue, intelligence over piety, academic success over morality, grades over character.
• There are no easy solutions, but this question helps me put things in perspective - Do I prefer to have a good-hearted but less-smart person, or an intelligent but cunning person as a friend?
• We want to be good, not just smart or intelligent.
The Fruit of the Spirit needs to be cultivated continually, like a farmer tending to his crops. We do not produce them once for all time.
• Meditate on the character of Christ and on His Word, and the Holy Spirit will cause us to bear good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness…
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church wrote:
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
