What Is Good?

Introduction

Well, we’re so glad you’re here this morning. We have several visitors this morning, which isn’t unusual for us. And so I’d like to do just a little bit of a commercial for our visitors and even our locals, because sometimes our locals don’t participate in what the city of Orlando has to offer. So I want to tell you about a place, and you’ve already heard of it. Everybody’s heard of this place that you can go to while you’re in Orlando. That’s a lot of fun, has a lot to offer. It’s a big place. Now it does, here’s the bad news: it does require a pass to be able to get in. You have to pay to be able to get into this place. But here’s my favorite thing about it.

Not that it’s big, it requires a lot of walking, and there’s a lot to see and do there. But one of my favorite things about this particular Orlando location is that at certain times when you go there, they have these, I guess, booths we’ll call them set up where they have different food offerings that you can eat. And you can go around in these different booths and just eat what they different offering, and you can just fill up just by eating at those different booths. And of course, I’m talking about Sam’s Club. A little hint for you husbands and boyfriends, that’s a cheap date on the weekend. You can just fill up by going through those different sampling stations there. And Deedra and I were doing that not too long ago, and one of the offerings, one of the samplings was little pieces of pizza.

And Deedra took the little sampling of pizza, and she just said it was delicious. In fact, she even said it was some of the best pizza she’d ever had. And she insisted that I try it because she said it was so good, but I absolutely refuse because the sign said that well, what I read the sign to say is that this wasn’t real pizza. Because in the place of traditional crust, this crust was made with cauliflower. And if you don’t know this about me, cauliflower should be outlawed. I do not like cauliflower. The only thing worse than cauliflower is cauliflower pretending to be something else that it’s not. But Deedra just insisted. She says, No, it’s really good. In fact, she said it doesn’t even taste like cauliflower.

Which I said, you know what doesn’t taste like cauliflower? Pizza crust. You know, we all have different ideas about what’s good. What’s good to you may not be what’s good to me. And that’s kind of okay. We all get to define in those areas, we get to define what we think is good. And so this morning I want to talk to you about good, and we’re going to ask the question: what is good? And maybe in this arena, not talking about Sam’s Club Pizza, but in talking about what’s God’s will for our life, we’re not just going to talk about what is good, but maybe a more important question to ask and answer is who gets to say what is good. And I think you already know that answer, don’t you?

I want to take your mind back to two episodes in the Old Testament. Two episodes of disobedience in the Old Testament. Maybe the two most seminal and memorable episodes of disobedience in the Old Testament. They both take place early on in the book of Genesis. In Genesis chapter 2, the text will tell us that, or excuse me, the Genesis chapter 3, the text will tell us that Eve saw the tree, the tree that contained the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and she saw that fruit, and she saw that it was good. And so she took it and she ate it. Because to her it was good. A few chapters over in Genesis chapter 6, explaining God’s judgment in the flood, very similar. In fact, some of the language is identical.

It will say the sons of God looked upon the daughters of men. In my translation, it says, and saw that they were beautiful. It’s actually the same word for good. Saw that they were beautiful and married them. And that angered God. Eve saw the fruit and said it was good. Those men saw those women and said they were beautiful. They looked good. And they married them. And so here’s our questions as we begin the lesson. Was that tree in the garden good? Yes. Was the fruit good for food? In Eve’s eye it was. But God had said no. In Genesis chapter 6, were those women good? Were they beautiful? I assume their estimation was right, and they probably were beautiful. But in God’s eyes, were they marriage material?

1. Some Good Things Aren’t Always Good

No. And so in both of those cases that affected this world tremendously in judgment. We have conflicting ideas of what is good. Man saw something and thought it was good and acted accordingly. But in both cases, God said, That’s not good. And so this morning I’d like for us to examine that and make an application, actually, three applications in our lives, and let’s talk about what is good, and again to couch that question in who gets to say what is good. The first observation we want to make in this area of good, what is good and who gets to say what is good, is that some good things aren’t always good. Now let’s see if we can explain that. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13.

Let’s make an application. We can make an application to several subjects, but this morning we’re going to make it to a delicate subject, the subject of sexual relationships. And the Hebrew writer will do that in Hebrews chapter 13, where he says, marriage, marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled. I don’t have to get indelicate this morning to tell you what that euphemism of the bed is talking about. In fact, this is where we get the expression or the euphemism of the marriage bed. And so he’s talking about that those relationships, those activities within marriage are good.

In fact, we could go further than that. They’re not just allowed by God, they are not just condoned by God, they are encouraged and created and invented by God. But that’s not all Hebrews 13, verse 4 says. If there was any need for clarification of what the word bed as a euphemism meant, it’s cleared up when he discusses the negative. But fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. There’s a good activity within certain parameters that the inspired writer says, under other parameters outside of what God has proscribed and ordained is not good. So some good things aren’t always good. God has said it’s good here, it’s not good there. To further define this, and really just the words that he talks about here, fornicators and adulterers. The word fornicator or fornication is the broadest term.

In fact, your translation may say sexual immorality. Any sexual act outside of what he talked about earlier in the verse, the marriage bed, could be described as fornication. And the person engaging in it would be a fornicator. And so he says, premarital sex.

Activity.

That’s what we sometimes call as extramarital sex. Someone outside of that marriage that he says is honorable and that bed is undefiled. Some other bed is defiled. And can I get on my soapbox for just a little bit here?

2. Use God’s Judgment Rather Than Our Own

We as Christians can sometimes be naive. And that’s sometimes it’s okay. But we get shocked when the world wants to change definitions. To change the definition of what is a marriage by legal term. And of course, I’m talking about same-sex marriage, or changes the definition of what it means to be a woman or a man, and we seem shocked by that. Now, should we be upset by that? Yes. Should we be shocked by that? No. Because man’s been changing definitions in this area forever. Adultery, fornication, what sexual relations are allowed, they’ve been changing those definitions as long as there’s been definition. And so some good things aren’t always good. And again, it’s God who gets to say that. Now the next observation that we’ll make follows, I believe, naturally from our discussion is that when it comes to deciding what is good, we must use God’s judgment rather than our own.

Deedra thought that cauliflower fake pizza was good. That was not my judgment. We must use God’s judgment rather than our own. Do you remember the story that it happened in the life of Christ of the rich young ruler that comes to Jesus? And he says, Good teacher, tell me what I must do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus, before answering the question, makes what to us is kind of a curious statement. He says, Why do you call me good? There is but one who is good, and that’s he who is in heaven. God is good. He’s the only one who is good. Now some would argue that what Jesus was saying there is that therefore I am God because I am that good teacher. But he’s declaring that God is good.

In fact, he says he’s the only good, and I believe what we can argue from that is he’s the only one who gets to say what is good. Eve, if we could have been there, we talked about in our Lord’s Supper talk going back in history. If we could go back in history, we would say to Eve, Eve, only God gets to say what fruit is good. We would go back to Genesis chapter 6 and to those men, we would say, No, only God gets to say who is good in regard to who you can take in marriage. We’ve got to use God’s judgment rather than our own.

Who gets to decide? Who gets to decide what we do in our worship? What would be a good act of worship?

Really, that’s not the question, is it? What would be a good thing to do in our worship service? Really, the question is, who gets to decide that? Who gets to say what is good? And the obvious answer is God. What’s a good work that the church can be engaged in? Again, that’s a good question. But the real question is, who gets to define good? Who gets to say what’s good? And we echo the words of Jesus. There is but one who is good. And that’s God. And so we limit ourselves, maybe that’s not the best word to use, but but I don’t know a better one. We limit ourselves in our worship, in our work, not because we think those are the only good works, but because that’s what our good father has said we must do.

He, Jesus, is the head of the body.

And so we use his judgment and not our own. You remember the story back in 2 Kings chapter 5 of Naaman the leper? We remember him not because he was the commander of the Syrian army, we remember him because he had that dreaded disease of leprosy. And you remember the arc of that story that he finds out that there is one who can heal him miraculously of leprosy. And he goes, and he didn’t get the message that he thought he was going to get. He thought somebody would come out there and do some big show of things, but Elijah the prophet, the messenger of God, just sends a messenger out there and says, Here’s what you want you to go do. And Naaman just gets upset, in fact, wants to storm off in a huff and says, those famous or infamous words, behold, I thought.

I thought. I thought this was what we would ought to do. It doesn’t matter what you thought, Naaman. Do you have the cure for leprosy? Do you have the power of God? The answer to either one of those is yes, then what you think matters in this equation. But since the answer to both of those is a resounding absolutely no, then you don’t get a vote. Here’s what God said to do. And it doesn’t matter whether we understand God’s will, plan or directive. And I’ll take it an uncomfortable step further. It doesn’t matter if we agree with God’s will, plan, or directive. Our role is simply to submit. Because God said, This is what I want.

3. Even Good Things May Become Bad If We Misuse Them

And by its very definition, that makes it good. Because God is good. And so we submit to His will. Because He has the power. What’s good? Here’s another danger we need to avoid. That even good things may become bad if we misuse them. Oh, there’s dozens of illustrations that we could talk about, aren’t there? As the locals here know, my time with you is short, and so I’ve got to cram in more of my boring Alabama stories. But where I grew up going to church, the Beulah Church of Christ on old Highway 31. It really doesn’t even have a town. Longview, Fine Month, rural Coleman County. My earliest memories were the white clapboard building there, and we had a baptistry, but it was an outdoor baptistry across the road.

It was just really a cement hole in the ground. And we had restrooms, but they were also across the road, and we had his and hers outhouses. And also across the road, and I’m just now making that connection, maybe well fertilized, was a pear tree in Mr. Penn’s woods and pasture. And us boys, after church services, would do what boys did. We would run off and we would go out there in a certain spring, summer of the year, when that pear tree was laden down with pears, we would go and we would eat our field. Because it was lunchtime when church is over. We would eat our fill of pears. Now, I didn’t Google it, but I would think most nutritionists and doctors would say pears are pretty good, healthy thing.

But they’re not when you eat about two dozen of them, and they’re not fully ripe. Because I can remember many a bellya of eating too many of those green pears. And so we can make the argument sometimes too much of a good thing is not good. But even just a good thing improperly used isn’t necessarily good. There’s really more, but two for our sake of time, I want to talk about this morning. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 15, and let’s think about the case of the Pharisees. Jesus will condemn the Pharisees not for being good, but for taking something that was good and making it not good. Before we read the condemnation from the mouth of Jesus, let’s talk about what they would do. And I’m going to argue that what they were doing in a sense was not just okay, it was good.

One thing the Pharisees would do, they would build a fence. That’s the language that they would use. And here’s what the Pharisees would do. Let’s say that this little ledge here was the commandment was the law of God. And the Pharisees, in their attempt to be careful, would actually say, Well, I don’t want to draw the line there. I’m going to back up and I’m going to put a fence here. Further back from God’s law. Because that’s safer. And I’m going to argue that in its context and properly applied, that that’s probably a good thing. Now let’s apply that to our modern day living. And this is going to blow your mind because this is the opposite of the way we usually apply, at least man’s laws.

But let’s talk about the unwritten rule when it comes to the posted speed limit. If the posted speed limit is 65, what do you know? What’s the unwritten rule? You get five miles over that, don’t you? You get five, don’t you? No, you get five, they’ll they’ll give you five miles over that. Until they don’t. Here’s the wiser rule. Because your speedometer may not be accurate, or it may not line up with the radar detector, the radar device that that police officer is using. So why not go five miles under? Set your speed control at 60 instead of 65. No speeding tickets. Free advice from your preacher this morning. Set it at 60, your speedometers off by a see, that’s what the Pharisees were doing. The law says 65.

I’m gonna set my crews at 60. That’s safer. Now, is that good? Yes. That’s good. Here’s where it became not good. In fact, scripture’s gonna tell us it became bad, became evil, is that they did two things with that good. Number one is they took their line and put it on an equal plane with God’s line, and made that the law.

One person’s also the lawmaker, and that’s God. So that was actually blasphemy and saying I’m the same as God. I can make a law. So that’s the first mistake they made. Is now I’m saying 60’s the speed limit. And I get mad at you because you’re driving 65 when I’m saying the speed limit is 60. Well, the state has said it’s 65. The second thing is, not only have I made it law, now I’m imposing that law on you and making those demands, not just of myself, which again, that’s okay. You drive whatever speed you want, as long as it’s under the limit. And so to those people, Jesus would say this. Are you in Matthew 15? You may already know where I’m going. Verse 7, beginning.

Hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

In vain they worship me. Their teachings are merely human rules. What Jesus has says is you’ve made that fence, which I would argue, as long as it’s your own personal fence, that’s fine. But you’ve made it the law of God.

And that’s not your job, that’s God’s job. That was part of the problem that Paul addressed in Romans chapter 13, 14, and 15. Go with me to Romans 14. The issue in Romans 14 wasn’t the speed limit. The issue in Romans chapter 14 was the specific issue was the idea of eating of meats. Some had decided that they would not eat meat. Now, this is a different vegetarian issue than we might have today. It wasn’t a health issue. It had nothing to do with I don’t want to see a cow die. Their issue had to do with animals were involved in animal sacrifice. And so I don’t want to be involved in idol worship. And so I’m going to draw a fence here. This animal may have been involved in that, and so I don’t want to be involved in those feasts of idol sacrifice.

And so I’m just not going to eat any animal, just in case. And Paul’s going to make the inspired argument, that’s fine. You don’t have to eat those meats. That’s fine. The problem is you imposing that on someone else. Imposing your opinion, your fence on someone else. And so he says Romans 14, beginning at verse 1, receive one who is weak in the faith, not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. And so the guy who’s put up the fence is the weak one. And he says, but you you, it’s okay, you receive that person. Let not him who eats dispute, despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats.

Now skip down to verse 6. Here’s the point. He who observes the day, and he takes it further than eating of meats to the observance of certain holidays. He who observes the day observes to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he who does not eat to the Lord, to the Lord he does not eat, and he gives thanks. Either one’s okay, he said, because it’s just your opinion. And so let the one do what he’s doing and let the other one do what he’s doing, because God’s not made a law, and so don’t you make that law.

In verse 3, the end of verse 3, he says of this one who has a different opinion than you. He says, For God has received him. Don’t you keep him out, because God has received him. Who are you, verse 4? Who are you to judge another’s servant? They’re not your servant to bow to your whim and wishes. They’re God’s servant. Verse 10 but why do you judge your brother? They’re not your adversary, they’re not your enemy, they’re your brother. Verse 15, how are they described? Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Christ died for that one, and you’re going to destroy them. And then finally, verse 20 do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. I think very intentionally, the Holy Spirit uses language there to help us to understand who and what we’re talking about.

Conclusion

And how we can take something that’s otherwise good and make it not good. So what is good? Well, it’s not cauliflower pizza. And it’s not anything in regard to the work and the worship of the church and to my own personal life that’s not allowed by God. And it’s not even something that’s allowed by God in my own personal life when I begin to impose that upon you. If God, the only good lawmaker, has not imposed it upon you.

And that is God. And we worship Him and Him alone. And so, what must I do in order to be saved? I could offer you my opinion. I could tell you what I think you ought to do, but since I cannot dispense life, eternal or otherwise, and I cannot give salvation, it would be meaningless. And so we again, as we always do, we turn to the word. What does God say? God tells us that we believe in him when we’re willingly confess that faith before mankind. We repent of our sins. We turn our back on sin and Satan and we turn to walk toward God. And we submit to baptism. Why? Because I think it’s a good work. Because God said it was good. And we live faithful in him because God is good all the time.

Can you do that this morning? Follow that good God by following his good commandments this morning. And we help you as together we stand and as we sing.