We do not have to guess, the Bible says HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD.
Sometimes we hear people talking about someone who has live a godly life, say, “I do not believe he/she has a enemy on this earth”. It is nice to have something like this said about us, but there is not one ounce of truth to it. Why?
Because:
1. If you live in sin you are going to offend someone and make some enemies
2. The Bible says that if we live a godly life we are going to make some enemies
• In 2 Tim. 3:12, we read, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Listen you do not suffer persecutions unless you have some enemies who are persecuting you.
• The Lord Himself said in John 15:20-21, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, THEY WILL ALSO PERSECUTE YOU; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.””
Listen, the apostles, disciples, and Christ Himself Who was perfect, could not live on this sinful world without having enemies.
You see, the only way you can keep from having enemies is to compromise your convictions.
Illus: This is why some of the movie stars are so popular. Their philosophy in life, and their lifestyle says to the general public; “DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, that is the way I live my life.”
They refuse to draw any lines in the sand and say everything on this side is sin, and everything on the other side is not sin. But when you start drawing lines in the sand, there are going to be some folks who oppose you, and despise you for the stand you take.
Illus: Christians who take a stand are like some of the godly parents we know. They have no problem with little “Mr. Know It All”, as long as they let him have it his way. But once they start to say to him, “No, that is not pleasing to the Lord, and you can not do that”, guess who all of a sudden starts treating his parents like they are his worst enemies?
You see the Bible does not teach that Christ did not have any enemies. He had so many that they eventually crucified Him! However, the Bible does say HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD.
And Luke said, in verse 39 of our text, “And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem…”
In other words, the disciples saw Him day after day GOING ABOUT DOING GOOD. They saw the evil crowd-
• That lied about Him
• That plotted against Him
• That hated and despised Him
But the Bible said HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD.
You see, when we give:
• Evil for Evil
• Insult for Insult
• Lie for Lie
• Gossip for Gossip
We are no better off than others who are doing such things. But when we can rise above the acts of evil people, we are showing that we are better than they are.
The Bible teaches that Christ, who was hated and despised while He walked on this earth, WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD. AND LISTEN, HE DID NOT HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS STUFF!
A lot of folks had better be thankful that I am not God! If I was ALMIGHTY GOD, with His unlimited power, they would be in trouble for sure.
Illus: If I had the power the Lord Jesus had, and someone told a lie about me, I might cause their lips to grow together one night while they slept. And when they woke up, I would be in their face saying, “How do you like that?”
But they did all these thing to Christ. They lied about Him, they gossiped about Him, and the Bible says, “HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD!”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Let me show you two things about the life of Christ. We preach so much about His miracles, prayers, teachings and etc., but let us look at WHAT IT MEANS when it says HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD.
I. HOW DID HE GO ABOUT DOING GOOD?
A. HE USED HIS RESOURCES
If I were to ask you the question, “Who is the richest person who has ever lived?”, what would your answer be?
• Some would name an entertainer like Elvis Pressley
• Some would name a financier like John D. Rockefeller
• Some would name a politician like the John F. Kennedy
• Some would name an athlete like Michael Jordan
• Some would name a movie producer like Howard Hughes
• Some would name a businessman like Bill Gates
While these people have made amounts of money that are hard for us to comprehend, they are not the richest.
Illus: Each year, Forbes Magazine lists the 50 richest people on the face of the earth.
But you can take all the wealthy people and combine all their wealth, and it would not be a drop in the bucket when compared to the wealth of Christ.
I mention this to only show you the humility of Christ. With ALL HIS POWER TO DEFEND HIMSELF, and all the RICHES HE POSSESSED, the Bible says HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD.
HOW DID HE GO ABOUT DOING GOOD?
He was concerned when the multitude was hungry. Suppose He had the attitude that some have today; WHAT’S MINE IS MINE!
Some have such tremendous wealth, and they could do so much good, but they hoard everything they can for themselves.
Illus: Vice President Al Gore, who is worth millions, was embarrassed when it was released on national television in 1999, that he only gave a few hundred dollars to charity.
The Lord owns everything, but He does not take the attitude, “WHAT’S YOUR IS MINE AND WHAT’S MINE IS MINE”, that some take.
He is the richest person who ever walked on this earth, and the Bible says, HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD. He used His talents and resources to help people. We can see this in the Book of Mark.
Look at Mark 6:34-44. We read, “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”
The Bible says when Christ saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion. In fact, He was so moved with compassion that He came to the conclusion, “These people are hungry and I can do something about it”, and HE DID!
He used His TALENTS and RESOURCES to go about doing good.
B. HE USED HIS TIME
One of the greatest gifts you can give someone is your time.
Illus: Why? Because we all are allotted only so many days on this earth, and when we give someone our time, we are giving them our life.
The Lord was here on earth for approximately thirty two years. He gave His every waking hour to the multitudes. The Lord used His time to help people in need. In Matthew we see Him doing this very thing.
Look at Matthew 20:29-34. We read, “And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.”
The Bible said that as they departed from Jericho, “A great multitude followed him.”
Now I want to say something, and I hope it will not be taken wrong. The Lord has never been impressed with a large crowd. Large crowds impress us mortals, but they do not impress the Lord. You see, a crowd of people can come together for many reasons. Sometimes they come together out of ignorance.
Illus: Years ago, a rumor circulated that the best place you could eat as you traveled, was where truck drivers ate. So when people traveled and saw a lot of trucks at a restaurant, they figured that must be a good place to eat.
LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING. HAVE YOU EVER GONE INTO ONE OF THESE PLACES WHERE TRUCK DRIVERS EAT?
You look around, and immediately wonder if a health inspector lives within five hundred miles, and if they have ever inspected the place.
Most of the time:
• The place is dirty
• The dishes are dirty, cracked or chipped
• The employees look like they slept in their clothes
• The “redneck” waitress comes up to you and says, “Hi Honey! What can I do for you?” You do not know if she wants to take your order, or if she is propositioning you.
Now they usually have a crowd of folks in these places, but it makes you wonder why they are there.
The Lord had multitudes following Him, but notice in our text, the thing that caught His attention was not the multitude, but two blind men crying out, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.”
Listen, those two blind men got His attention. He did not say, “Fellows, you see how popular I am, I have some autographs I need to go sign. I would like to help you, but I do not have time for you right now.”
The Bible said HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD. He made time for them and their needs. The Bible tells us that the disciples noticed how He used HIS RESOURCES and HIS TIME to help people.
This is HOW HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD, but let us very briefly look at-
II. WHY DID HE GO ABOUT DOING GOOD?
Let’s look at two things:
A. HIS CONCERN
As you read through the New Testament, you see that the Bible revealed His CONCERN for the needs of people. He did not just say HE CARED, HE REALLY CARED!
In the Book of Mark, we see His love for people. Look at Mark 5:25-34. We read, “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
Again, we see the Lord surrounded by the multitudes, but there was one desperate woman there. She had been abused by doctors, and the Bible says she was steadily getting worse.
She had faith that the Lord Jesus loved Her enough, that if she could but touch the hem of His garment she would be made whole. She pushed and she shoved. Listen, when a woman gets desperate, watch out!
Illus: A preacher had a sister that worked for the store called “Tuesday Morning.” She was the manager of that store, and she told her brother he needed to come on a certain day because they had a big sale. He did go, and when he arrived he saw a line of women three hundred or four hundred feet long, waiting for the doors to be open. These were the nicest ladies that you have ever met, until someone said, “The door is open”, and all of a sudden the smiles were wiped off their faces, and they started pushing and shoving everyone that got in front of them. They literally shoved the preacher for three or four hundred feet. Once he got inside, it looked like an ant bed that someone had stepped on. They were grabbing carts and stuffing them full as fast as they could. His sister saw him over in the corner, and she worked her way over to him. She said, “What do you think of this?” He took a look at them pushing and shoving and said, “There is not a lady in the whole store!” She laughed and said, “It is like this every time we have a sale.”
This little lady was desperate, and she did her share of shoving and pushing, and she finally got close enough to Him that she could touch the hem of His garment, and the Bible says Christ said, “Who touched my clothes?” And the disciples said, “…. Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”
The Lord did not say what they said. That is, He did not say, “Who touched me?” He said, “Who touched my clothes?” The reason I mention that is because that was her faith. In verse 28, she said, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”
She did touch his clothes, and she was healed because she loved the Lord so much that she believed if she touched Him, she would be made whole. But He was concerned for her. He wanted her to confess she was the one who touched His clothes. He is Omniscient, He already knew who had touched Him.
He went about DOING GOOD BECAUSE HE WAS CONCERNED. But He went about doing good for another reason, look at-
B. HIS COMPASSION
As you read through the New Testament, over and over again you see that HE HAD COMPASSION ON THE MULTITUDES.
Illus: One of the most compassionate places in the world is the Intensive Care waiting room in the hospitals. You see the people there are all suffering, and you hear questions such as:
• Will my wife make it Doc?
• Will my child be able to see again?
Illus: Hugh Duncan said, "The intensive care waiting room is different from any other place in the world. And the people who wait are different. They can't do enough for each other. No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father first, a black man second. The garbage man loves his wife as much as the university professor loves his, and everyone understands this. Each person pulls for everyone else.”
"In the intensive care waiting room…everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about." ( Boise, Idaho. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 1. )
As Christians, we need to learn this valuable lesson.
The Lord Jesus stood on a hillside and saw the people below, and in Matthew 23:37, the Bible says He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
Conclusion:
Listen, we will never live our life having everyone liking us. The Lord was perfect and He could not do that, nor can we. But we can follow His example and GO ABOUT DOING GOOD. HE GAVE US THE EXAMPLE TO GO ABOUT DOING GOOD, even though He was greatly despised by the multitudes.
I. HOW DID HE GO ABOUT DOING GOOD?
A. HE USED HIS RESOURCES
B. HE USED HIS TIME
II. WHY DID HE GO ABOUT DOING GOOD?
A. HIS CONCERN
B. HIS COMPASSION
