Good Morning Hope Hill! It’s Father‘s day and I want to give a special shout out to the fathers in the house today! I think we all know that Father’s day isn‘t quite as big a deal as Mother’s Day but we make due. We’re going to take a quick detour from our regularly scheduled series and preach a simple sermon this morning that will get us that much closer to the delicious potluck.

Matthew 19:16–17 NIV

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

This morning, I'd like to preach from the subject, as the Holy Spirit shall guide:

God is Good

Sometimes I believe we look at life like on big Chuck-E-Cheese.

My parents hated Chuck-E-Cheese growing up. Every birthday I wanted a party at Chuck-E-Cheese and I guess it got old quick but I remember that there was just nothing like having an arm full of tickets.

Y’all remember tickets don’t you?

You would play your games and every time you finished a game it would spit out tickets. Back in the day (well back in my day at least) they would take all of your tickets and they would weigh them. And based on the weight, the staff member would give you a little receipt and tell you how many tickets you had earned that day. So this one particular day I worked really hard and I played all of the games I could and racked up all of the tickets I possible could and I went to the ticket counter and got my total. The staff member looked really impressed and I had to have had a giant goofy grin on my face because he said “you don’t even need to worry about this little pitiful toys in the glass down here you can pick from the wall! And oh my brothers and sister my eye was on the ultimate prize. That brand new Super Nintendo sitting on the top shelf. And so I looked at the price, and it read 100,000 tickets. And I looked down at your little receipt. And saw that I only had a mere 1,000 tickets.

Put a pin right there for me and I’ll get back to that

We find ourselves in our text this morning in the midst of what I like to call a ‘Jesus teaching spree.’ Jesus starts off in Chapter 19 teaching some deceptive Pharisees about marriage and divorce. He teaches the disciples about how not only is marriage a gift and a calling but celibacy as well. He then blesses the little children and teaches His disciples not to rebuke them because such is the kingdom of God.

And now we are here and Jesus is confronted by a rich young ruler. And in determining this cost of living we first must recognize that

God is good.

It doesn’t get much more simple than that

Verse 16 says And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? You see you can’t read this passage too fast or you’ll miss a crucial detail. The young man in this scripture refers to Jesus as “Good Master” or in some translations simply “Master.” And while this was a sign of respect and perhaps even an acknowledgement of Jesus’ vast knowledge of the scriptures and his awesome preaching and teachings as a Rabbi, the young man’s use of the title master was no more significant than him calling Jesus a mere teacher. It’s kind of like when preachers get together and all of a sudden everyone is Doc. There’s nothing wrong with it no one means anything by it as a matter of fact it’s a term of endearment, and even a sign of respect, but oh my brothers and sister, this rich young ruler was not talking to a mere preacher. He either didn’t realize or didn’t acknowledge that He was talking to what he was talking about.

Jesus, in John 4:6 says that “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” He wasn’t just talking to a teacher of the Word. No Jesus is the Word! And John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God".

· This was the same God who the Bible says, in the beginning created the heavens and the earth.

· He was talking to the God who looked over nothingness and decided to create the cosmos.

· The God who separated the light from the darkness and called the light day and the darkness night.

· The God who took his hands and scooped out the oceans.

· The same God, who took a filthy pile of dust and breathed his divine breath into it to created man in his own image

Ok I’ll get a little closer to you

· The same God that woke you up this morning

· The same God that put clothes on my back

· Shoes on my feet.

· A raggedy car to drive.

Tell somebody he was talking to God.

Secondly, when determining the cost of living we have to be aware that

God is good.

Matthew 19:16–17 NIV

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

At Pine Bloom Pastor Hadley did a series of sermons that was unofficially themed the isness of God. We explored the very foundation of our faith by examining what God is to all of us on a daily basis. Psalms 23 tells us that God is our Sheppard. Psalms 46 tells is that God is our refuge. And so briefly I want to make my case today as to why God is Good. This young ruler is trying to figure out what he can do in order to receive eternal life. He so desperately wants to know what deed is so great that he can guarantee his spot in heaven. What act can he commit that will give him an express pass through the pearly gates? How many tickets does he need to buy his car?

Doesn’t that sound like us sometimes?

We run through the doors of the church and we play the various games in our respective places, all the while keeping count of all the spiritual tickets that we rack up. I hate to say it but some of us won’t lift a finger unless we get some kind of acknowledgement. Some of us have to have our names on the program or we won’t be a part of it. Some of us have to be front and center just so we can see how many tickets you have.

But is there anybody here who knows that there aren’t enough tickets in the world that can buy your way into heaven? Spiritual or otherwise. If you do a good deed, congratulations, that’s what you’re supposed to do. If you are serving your church and God’s people, then congratulations that’s what the Word commands because

Ephesians 4:32 NIV

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

John 13:34 NIV

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

This morning I need to hear from the saints who will serve the Lord, not for recognition but just because God said so.

If they never call my name I’m still gonna serve the Lord

If no one ever acknowledges me, I’m still gonna usher

If no one sees me, I’m still gonna tithe.

If no one hears me I’m still gonna sing.

If no one says Amen I’m still gonna preach.

Not for recognition, not for a ticket but Because God said so!

So Jesus told the man first of all, why are you calling me Good? In other words, you recognize me as a mere human so let’s talk about this thing human to human, why are you calling me Good? No no brother no one is good except for God. No one is perfect except for the Father. You see the beautiful thing about God is that he never changes. Lets not take that small word for granted. Yeah God is good. That’s good news because that means whatever state you find yourself in, He’s still good.

· Wherever you find yourself on your life’s journey, he’s still good.

· When you’re large and in charge he’s good

· When you’re broke busted and disgusted he’s still good

· When you paid your bills and you still got money left over God is good

· When you got more month than money he’s still good

· When your children have lost their whole mind

· Or when your daughter is valedictorian, getting scholarship after scholarship

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God is Good!

So finally Jesus says there’s only one who is Good and that is God. But if you want to enter life, if you want to enter eternity, just keep the commandments.

And my final point for tonight (If you haven’t been keeping up) is that

God is Good.

This young man asked Jesus what may seem to you and I like a ridiculous question, and in return Jesus responds with what may seem like a ridiculous answer, but don't miss the ministry in this message. Jesus tells him, "keep the commandments and you can have eternity." and we know the rest of the story right? The young ruler asks Jesus, Which commands are you talking about? And Jesus recites a few of the commandments and he says "that’s nothing I've kept those commandments since my youth, what else you got?" In other words, here are my tickets! But how many tickets do I need for the big prize Jesus?

So Jesus tells him, "if you want to be perfect, sell everything you got, give it all to the poor and follow me." And the Bible says that when the young man heard this, he walked away with his head held down, sorrowful for he had great wealth.

Listen, The bottom line here is that there is nothing you can do to be perfect enough for heaven. There aren't enough tickets in the world that will make you worthy. There is no single commandment you can uphold that will give you God's grace. God granted each and every one of us with His grace not because of how many tickets you have but simply because he loves us and because He is good. God so loved this world that he gave his only begotten son. The same son that hung bled and died on Calvary’s cross.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.