The Lord's Good People

Q: What does the Bible say about being good?

The Bible states that none are good but God, and true goodness comes from the grace of God. In the sermon, it is emphasized that, according to Scripture, only God is inherently good. Romans 7:18 highlights that 'in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,' reminding us of our sinful nature. Genuine goodness is not found in ourselves but is imparted to us through God's grace and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The transformation that comes through faith in Christ imparts a new nature that longs for righteousness, making us good by grace rather than by our own efforts.

Q: How do we know salvation by grace is true?

Salvation by grace is evidenced in the transformed lives of believers who do good works out of a heart changed by Christ. The sermon affirms that while we are not saved by our good works, true faith will produce good works as a natural response to God's grace. Believers, as seen in Matthew 25, reflect their salvation through acts of kindness and love, indicating the indwelling of Christ. The Apostle Paul in Acts 11 describes Barnabas as 'a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and faith,' illustrating that genuine conversion results in a life that expresses the love of Christ through good actions. This aligns with the reformed doctrine that emphasizes both the necessity of grace and the evidence of faith in a believer's life.

Q: Why is generosity important for Christians?

Generosity is important as it reflects the character of God and the transformation He works in believers’ hearts. Generosity is highlighted in the sermon as a significant aspect of the Christian walk, stemming from the understanding that all blessings are provided by God. In 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Paul instructs rich believers to be generous and ready to distribute good works, showing that true wealth includes sharing God's blessings with others. This act of giving exemplifies Christ's love and fulfills the call to love our neighbors. By being generous, we participate in God's redemptive work, demonstrating our gratitude for His immeasurable gifts and the grace we've received through faith in Christ.

And it's a very important message.
It needs to be preached. It needs to be heard. It needs
to be carefully, very prayerfully considered. Now more than once I've heard
this statement. I heard it again last week, which
prompted this message. But more than once I've heard
this statement from people who do not worship God, who do not identify with the
gospel of God's grace, who do not identify with the Lord's
people, who at this moment at home watching their television,
not worshiping God, haven't all day today, haven't given a dime
or a nickel or a quarter to support the missionaries, are not identified
with God's people in any way. who do not support either with
their identification, presence, or gifts the gospel ministry.
I hear them say this. And as I said, I heard this just
a couple of weeks ago. Well, I'll tell you this. I'm
as good as those people down at 13th Street Baptist Church.
Have you ever heard that? I'm as good as they are. How do you respond to this? Usually the response is all wrong. It's usually all wrong. Usually the response carries
with it a half-truth. This is the way the average person,
grace believer, responds. Well, I know you are. You're
as good as anybody down there. We don't claim to be good. That's
the way people respond. And it gives that person a false
security. He is not as good as the people
down here. Not by a long shot. And I'm going
to show you that. And when you respond that way,
when you say, well, we don't claim to be good. You are as
good. The only difference between you and me is that God chose
me and I believe on. That better not be the only difference
between you and Him. There's a well out of difference
between you and Him. In every way. And so that's not
the way to respond. It's all wrong because it's a
half-truth. Now, we know this. Let me establish
this. Number one, we know there's none
good but God. I don't have any trouble with
that. Do you? There's none good but God. There was a young man
who came to our Lord once, a so-called moral man, a clean liver, a man who was quite
wealthy and quite religious, and he bowed to the Lord and
said he worshipped him, and he said, good master, good master. And the Lord said to him, why
do you call me good? There's none good but God. What
is Christ just saying to him? He said, if I'm not God, I'm
not good. If you don't recognize me as
God, then don't call me good. There's none actually good in
himself, essentially, perfectly, but God. Isn't that right? That's
what he's saying to this young man. There's none essentially
good but God. God is holy. Holy and reverent
is His name. And we know this, that in our
flesh dwelleth no good thing. We're aware of that. Turn with
me to the book of Romans for a moment. Let me go back to Romans
a minute. Romans chapter 7. Now, Paul recognized
this. Paul never called himself good. He said here in Romans chapter
7, listen to this, Romans chapter 7 beginning with verse 18. I
know that in me, now watch, he clarifies this, that is in my
flesh. That is in my flesh. dwelleth
no good thing. If Christ dwells in me, someone
good dwells in me. Isn't that right? He says in
my flesh, essentially, by nature of myself, no good thing dwells
in me. I don't claim to be good by nature,
by birth. No good thing dwelleth in me.
To will is present with me. How to perform that which is
good, perfect, this is God good, I find not. For the good that
I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that which I would
not, if I do that I would not. It's no more I that do it, it's
sin that dwells in me. I find in a law that when I would
do good, evil is present with me. I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, the regenerated man, the renewed man. The renewed
man delights in the law of God. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members, O wretched man that
I am." This is a man with two natures, flesh and spirit. This is a man talking about an
inward conflict and an inward battle. He is a good man by regeneration. He is a sinful man by nature. There's a conflict going on.
There's a battle going on. That old man is still an old
man. That new man is a new man. That
old man has those passions and desires and temperament of the
flesh, and that new man has the desires after holiness, righteousness,
and he longs to be perfect, holy. Somebody asked Spurgeon one time,
he said, if God would give you anything you wanted, anything
you wanted in all the world, What would you ask for? Oh, he
said, I'd ask for absolute perfect holiness. I want to be like Christ. That's the ambition of a child
of God. So this is what he's saying here,
in verse 24, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, with the flesh, The law of sin. The law of sin. Did you notice that scripture
that Chuck read a moment ago in Luke
6? Go back and look at that again. Go back and look at it again. And we know there's none good
but God. We know that in our flesh dwelleth no good thing.
By nature, there's no goodness in us. But we know this. that
when the Lord Jesus gave us life and came in to dwell, he gave
us, imparted unto us, a holy nature, a righteous nature, a
nature that longs to be like Christ. And he calls it a good
man. Now listen to Luke 6, 45. A good man, a good man out of
the good treasure of his heart, Now he's not good by birth, he's
not good by nature, he's good by grace. He's good because God
made him good. He's a good man. And out of the
good treasure of his heart. What's that? That's the new heart.
God said I'll take the stony heart out and give you a heart
of flesh. Out of the good man, out of the
good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. And an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for
out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Our Lord
said, Let your light so shine before men that they may see
your what? Your good works. Your what? Your good works. And glorify
your Father which is in heaven. Now, turn back to my text. I'm
going to be preaching tonight in a moment from 1 Timothy chapter
6. Turn back there a moment. And
this is the command of the Apostle Paul. And one reason maybe, someone
mentioned that they read this and wondered where I was going
to come from in this. And I'll tell you the reason
why you may have missed what I saw in the text. It's because
most people do on this 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 17. Verse 17, we don't take this
to ourselves, but Timothy's talking, Paul's talking to us here, he's
talking to believers. Paul's writing to Timothy back
in verse 13, Thomas C. verse 13, I give thee charge,
Timothy, in the sight of God. I'm talking to you, Timothy.
I give you charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things,
and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed
a good confession, that you keep this commandment. without spot,
unrebukable under the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Timothy,
I charge you. Now in verse 17, he's charging
every believer here that's rich in this world. You say, well,
that's not me. Yes, that is you too. There wasn't a whole lot
of them back in this day rich, but some of them were. You know,
usually when we read that, charge them that are rich in this world,
we think, well, that's those people, you know, out there in
the world, got diamonds and automobiles and land and houses. No, we're
rich in this world. There are very few people rich
as we are. My soul, we have all the nice
clothing and nice houses and So you're sitting out there and
you've got fine homes, you've got two or three bathrooms in
your home, you've got two cars in your garage, you've got your
children are healthy and they've got plenty to wear, you've got
a good job, you've got a good income, you've got Social Security,
you've got a little savings in the bank, you go out to eat,
the women, you push a button and wash your clothes, you push
a button and dry them, you push a button and wash your dishes,
you're rich! In this world, you're educated,
You're well thought of. You're rich in this world. We
are. And He's talking to us here. Charge them that are rich in
this world that they be not high-minded, proud. Sometimes riches lead
to pride. Do you know that? Oh yeah, I
believe this is talking to nearly every one of us here. We're well
off. We're exceedingly blessed with
material goods. We have prosperity, we have health,
and this is prone to produce pride. And just like Paul over
here in verse 13 tells his preacher, I charge you Timothy, I charge
you who quicken it before God and before the Lord Jesus Christ,
that you keep this commandment. I charge you. Now he's talking
to every one of us. Because we are rich in this world
and prosperous, I charge you, tell them, don't you be high-minded.
Sometimes when you're well off as we are, we're prone to be
a little proud. Honors come our way. Acclaim
comes our way. We're promoted where we work.
We get a little higher. That doesn't mean a man's not
saved. He knows the Lord. Tell him to be careful now. Prosperity
leads to pride. Even Solomon knew that. He said,
Lord, keep me from riches, lest I forget thee. Keep me from poverty,
lest I steal. Give me what's convenient. I
tell you, there's a great danger to being healthy, prosperous,
to having plenty. Sometimes when we're well off,
we're prone to neglect prayer. We're prone to neglect worship.
When we're well off, we're prone to look down on the fellow that's
not quite as well off as we are. Sometimes when we're well off,
we're prone to forget where it came from. Sometimes when we're well off,
we're prone to forget that all of this will one day pass away. Every bit of it will pass away.
So that's what he says here. Charge every one of them. in
the church that are well off, that are prosperous, that are
rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, and don't
trust in these uncertain, unstable riches. But in the living God,
trust Him. You know, if riches increase,
don't put your confidence in them. But trust the living God. Only
a believer can do that. This is a believer he's talking
to. Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. What? Those
that are rich in this world. That's you and me. We're rich
in this world. Who made us rich? God made us
rich. I tell you, we're rich in this
family we have here. We're rich in material things,
in blessings. God has richly blessed us with
spiritual blessings, with physical blessings, with material blessings. And then verse 18, I charge them,
and that's what I'm doing here tonight. You charge them that
they be not proud or trust in these things, but in the living
God who gave us these things, and that they do good. do good. That they be rich also in good
works. That they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, and willing to communicate. Laying up in
store for themselves. The same people he's talking
to in verse 17, he's talking to in verse 19. Charge them that
are prosperous in this world. Verse 19, laying up in store
for themselves. a good foundation against the
time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. So, my answer to this person,
man, woman, or whomever, who makes the statement, I'm as good
as the folks down there at the church. And in this case, he
singled out 13th Street Baptist Church. I'm as good as the people
in 13th Street Baptist Church. I answered, no sir, you are not. No sir, you are not. not by a
long shot. And I can tell you this, what
our Lord said to the people of that day when He was on this
earth, He said to them, the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment
against you because they're greater than Jonah's head. And He said
the queen of Sheba, the queen of the south, who came to see
the riches of Solomon, will rise up in judgment against you because
they're greater than Solomon's head. And the people at the church
of whom you say, I'm as good as they are, they're going to
rise up in judgment against you today. Because they made themselves,
they came to hear his gospel and received it and believed
it and walked in it. So, good as they are? No, sir,
you are not. You might tell them that. And
if you tell them that, you're telling the truth. You're not
as good as they are. Now, let me show you that. Do
you come and bring your family to the house of God? Say this
to the people who make this statement. I'm as good as they are. Do you
come and bring your family to the house of God in worship and
praise and thanksgiving on the Lord's day? No? They do. Do you witness to your neighbors
and friends? Is your life a witness? by your
identification with the things of God. Do your neighbors look
out the window on Sunday morning and see you getting your family
together in the car and driving down to the house of God? No,
they do. Do you help support the preachers
of the gospel in your area? No, they do. If everybody in the community
were like you, there wouldn't be any church in the community. Do you send the gospel by tapes
and books and TV and radio and by missionaries around the world
to the sheep of God that they might hear the gospel? You don't?
Well, you're not good as they are, they do. Isn't that right? Do you help the people of God
when they're in sickness? Do you rush to their aid when
they're in trouble? Do you write them a check when
they're in want? Do you do all that you can to
relieve their suffering and lift them when they're in trouble?
You don't? Well, those people are 13 straight then. Do you
drive to Lexington on your off day and spend all day long working
on a church building so the people in Lexington can hear the gospel?
You don't? They do. Good as they are. As good as they are. Don't ever look at him and say
you're right. He's not right. He's wrong. And
he's hiding in a false refuge of doctrinal damnation. He's resting in a false refuge
of Calvinism or whatever ism that a man can hold to and not
live for the glory of God. Do you encourage other people
and exhort them and fellowship with them in the things of God
so that they're helped along the road? In other words, today
you've come together as a family and you've encouraged one another
and you've helped one another and you've greeted one another
and you've prayed for one another and somebody's been helped along
the road through a trial or a difficulty or a sorrow or an emotional upheaval
because you've exhorted one another daily. Do you do that? Ask this man or woman. No, I
don't. They do. They do. You see, the people of God don't
claim to be good. I want to show you something
over here in Matthew 25. In fact, it embarrasses them
when you say they're good. They don't claim to be good in
themselves. They claim to be righteous in
Christ. They claim to be good in Christ.
But the people of God, and they do not do what they do to be
accepted of God. They're accepted in the Beloved.
Their righteousness is in Christ. They know that. But they do these
things because they want to do them, because they love to do
them, because God has given them a heart that desires to do these
things. Look at Matthew 25. This is the
Lord Jesus Himself speaking here. He says, when the Son of Man
shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him
shall be gathered all nations. And He's going to separate them
one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
He's going to set the sheep on His right hand and the goats
on His left. And then shall the King say to them on His right
hand, Come ye blessed of my Father." Now they are blessed of the Father
in that, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
We're blessed of the Father. He chose us. And the Father not
only chose us, He sent Christ to this earth to be our righteousness
and by His blood to redeem us. And the Father blessed us in
that one day By His Spirit, He regenerated and called us unto
Himself, and saved us by His grace. Salvation is all of God.
And of God are we in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So, you've been
blessed of my Father. Come ye blessed of my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. You didn't earn it. You didn't
merit it. You don't deserve it. It's prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. It was purchased for
you by the righteousness and blood of Christ. It was given
to you as a free gift. That's right. But, watch this,
I was hungry and you gave me meat. Now that's not limited only to
physical meat. Some of you, well all of us,
were hungry this morning. We came here to be fed and we
were fed. We were fed in Sunday school class and fed in here.
We've been fed tonight. I was hungry and you gave me
meat. You fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me
a drink. I was thirsty for a friend. I was thirsty for a warm handshake. I was thirsty for someone to
encourage me. I was thirsty to hear the Word
of God. I was thirsty for the water of life. I was thirsty.
He gave me a drink. And that works both. That works
spiritually and physically. I was thirsty and He gave me
a drink. I was a stranger. And He took me in. We're all
strangers. Peter called us strangers, didn't
he? God called us from all these different walks of life. We're
strangers. You took me in. You took me in
for Christ's sake. You took me in and loved me.
You took me not into your building only, but into your heart. into
your friendship, into your family, into your embrace. Like you said
tonight, Frank, you and Janet going through this little difficulty,
but oh, they took you in. They took you in. And they walk up and they hurt
when you hurt, and they rejoice when you rejoice. They took you
in. There's a whole lot of difference
in being taken in than being taken. Isn't that right? You took me in. You took me in. You see what he's saying here?
I was naked and you clothed me. I was naked in my sins and God
with the gospel preached right here in this place clothed me.
I was naked in a lot of ways and I've been clothed. I've been
naked in my errors and I've been forgiven. Even you forgive one
another, and you forgive me, and we forgive each other. Naked
and you clothed me. You see, love covers a multitude
of sins. It covers. It hides an infirmity. That's right. Naked and you clothed
me. You didn't tell on me. You prayed for me. You see what
I'm saying? You're naked and you're clothed. This is not just putting
clothes on a naked down on the street. This reaches in every
area of our daily existence. I was naked and you clothed me.
You overlooked my infirmities and my failures. No, you clothed
me with love and you clothed me with your protective fellowship. You clothed me. I was sick and
you visited me. I was in prison. He came to me. In prison, first I was in prison
to the law. Cursed by the law. In bondage
to the law. He came to me with the gospel.
God set me free. I was in bondage to my... You
know, here's another thing. We help one another. In attitude. I've watched a lot of you here.
You've watched me too, I know. You can say the same to me that
I'm saying to you. But I've watched some of you get sweeter. in attitude,
in temperament, in consideration. You see, we're in prison. We're in prison sometimes to
personality traits that aren't good. We're in prison to attitude
that's not good. We're in prison by a selfishness
or a self-centeredness or whatever. Whatever has a grip on you imprisons
you, doesn't it? And this gospel sets you free.
You know the Son, you'll be free. Sometimes it takes a while to
set a man free. Become a better brother, a kinder
brother, a more understanding brother, a brother that reaches
out. I was in prison, you came to
me, and in verse 37, then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when did we see you hungry? Our Lord said, if I was hungry,
I wouldn't ask you. Isn't that what He said? And fed you. When did we see
you thirsty? There's only one time He ever
set our thirst. And you know how we responded,
don't you? With vinegar. When did we see you a stranger
that took you in? No, He took us in. We didn't
take Him in. naked and clothed you, or saw
you sick in prison, came to you in a king, shall answer and say
to them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you've done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, you've done it to me."
There's those good people. There's the Lord's good people.
And they're not going to stop doing it either. They're going
to keep doing it. And they're going to ask Him
to enable them to do it more. Lord, bless me that I might be
a blessing. Teach me that I might teach another. Help me that I might be a helper.
Fill me that I might overflow. Give and it shall be given to
you. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. It's more blessed to
give than to receive. I tell you, in God's grace, By
God's grace, an individual who knows that grace will be brought
to the place where he'd rather give a gift any day than receive
one. And I know some boys and girls
are going to say, ooh, I don't see. That preacher's gone clear
up the deep end now. No, wait a minute now. Give me
a try. See if this is not so. There'll
come a time when your heart will enjoy much more giving than receiving. That's great, that's a good man. You've done it to me. All right, let me read one other
scripture and I'll quit. Acts chapter 11. I've been helped as I've thought about
this, and I thought maybe it might help you. Do you see what
I'm saying? I know we want to witness to people and we want
to do it in such a way that we won't give anybody even the slightest
idea that we believe a man's saved by good works. I know better
than that. You do too. But I tell you, a
man's not saved without them. That's right. He's not saved
without them. It's like I contend this. We're not saved by praying. But
we're not saved unless we do. Isn't that right? It's the grace of God that saves.
But I guarantee you this, every man whom He calls will call on
Him. And a person who does not pray
doesn't know God. And if there's not kindness and
forgiveness and grace and a righteous walk, then there's not, the Lord's
not present there. And I close with this scripture
over here in Acts chapter 11. Listen to this. Acts 11 verse
22. Then tidings of these things
came into the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem. And so
they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch,
who when he came and had seen the grace of God, this is Barnabas,
Saul's sidekick, When he came and had seen the grace of God,
was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they
would cleave unto the Lord, for he was a good man." Who? Barnabas was a good man. Don't
be afraid to use that term. And I know theologically it has to be used in its context,
but he, by the grace of God, is a good man. A good man. Read on. "...and full of the
Holy Ghost and faith, and much people was added unto the Lord."
He's a good man. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I know you do. And I think you can rightly handle
it, rightly divide the Word of Truth. But let's not give anybody
cause to even believe for a moment that he can be saved by the grace
of God and not manifest graciousness in his life. Can't do it. If Christ the Lord lives in here,
then the fruit of Christ and the love of Christ and the beauty
of Christ will be seen out here. Not infallible by any means. But like Barnard said to that
dear person, if you really know the Lord, sooner or later, it's
going to leak out on you. all that might come with the
senate

The Lord's Good People

What does the Bible say about being good?

How do we know salvation by grace is true?

Why is generosity important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Lord's Good People

What does the Bible say about being good?

How do we know salvation by grace is true?

Why is generosity important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book