Withhold Not Good
The sermon emphasizes the importance of being zealous of good works, doing good generously and speedily, and making doing good a constant habit in order to please God and bring joy to others.
Mary Wilder Tileston preaches on the importance of not withholding good from those who deserve it when it is within our power to help. She emphasizes the need to be proactive in doing good, seeking opportunities to help others, being generous, prompt, and consistent in our acts of kindness. Tileston encourages a mindset of joy and willingness in doing good, treating our neighbors as we would ourselves, and finding fulfillment in pleasing God through our actions.
Text
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
PROVERBS 3:27,28
DO not only take occasions of doing good when they are thrust upon you; but study how to do all the good you can, as those "that are zealous of good works." Zeal of good works will make you plot and contrive for them; consult and ask advice for them; it will make you glad when you meet with a hopeful opportunity; it will make you do it largely, and not sparingly, and by the halves; it will make you do it speedily, without unwilling backwardness and delay; it will make you do it constantly to your lives' end. It will make you labor in it as your trade, and not consent that others do good at your charge. It will make you glad, when good is done, and not to grudge at what it cost you. In a word, it will make your neighbors to be to you as yourselves, and the pleasing of God to be above yourselves, and therefore to be as glad to do good as to receive it.
RICHARD BAXTER
Sermon Outline
- Do not withhold good from those who deserve it
- Be zealous of good works
- Do good generously and speedily
- Make doing good a constant habit
- Labor in doing good as your trade
- Do not rely on others to do good for you
- Be glad when opportunities arise
Key Quotes
“Do not only take occasions of doing good when they are thrust upon you; but study how to do all the good you can, as those 'that are zealous of good works.'” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“It will make your neighbors to be to you as yourselves, and the pleasing of God to be above yourselves, and therefore to be as glad to do good as to receive it.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- Make a conscious effort to seek opportunities to do good for others and be enthusiastic about it.
- Be willing to give freely and generously without expecting anything in return.
- Labor in doing good as your trade and make it a constant habit in your life.