"And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are so grateful that you could be here with us today. I trust that you are as excited to return of our study of the Gospel of Luke as much as I am, and that it has significantly impacted your walk with our Lord as much as it has mine. Jesus' unparalleled teaching has continue to transform billions of lives today, just as it has for more than two thousand years.As followers of Christ, we are each called to guides others, but we must first be able to see clearly ourselves. I am convinced there is a large percentage of people, who regularly attend weekly church services, they come week after week, carrying Bible and notebook in hand, they sit and listen to the sermons, taking notes, jotting down the key points, they faithfully attend Bible study and attend small fellowship groups, they pile up all this information, yet tragically, there's no application of divine truth, frankly, it's heartbreaking for to me to imagine, that we are producing an entire generation of spiritually dead people, who are simply masquerading as Christians, they are only playing church. Oh sure, they may talk about spiritual things all the time, even quoting chapter and verse from memory but their hearts are far from God in terms of obedience.
I have a number of preachers who have given a variety of interpretations for these axioms with great difficulty, calling them ambiguous paradox's, saying it is virtually impossible to explain why Jesus would connect them together in a way that makes sense, which frankly I believe is rather amazing, when their meanings and relationship to one another is abundantly clear. They key to this profound portion of Scripture is found in the next illustration in verse 46, "Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"
I believe it's evident that Jesus is illustrating understanding the importance of following the wrong spiritual leader and the disconnect between words and actions. I believe the point He is making is that unqualified leaders are unfit to lead God’s people since they cannot fully understand or properly interpret God’s Word. The Pharisees, renowned for their extensive knowledge of the law, they should have been teaching and instructing the people in the ways of God, instead, they were preoccupied with the ceremonial and man-made ritualistic concerns of the law, unnecessarily burdening the people with secondary matters that were of lesser importance.
Jesus is stating, you have to make a choice, indicating that you better choose wisely, pointing out the realism of making the wrong decision, because the consequences are devastating and eternal. And, in verse 47, He illustrates this when He gives a stark contradiction, following "I will show you whom he is like." We could summarize by saying its a lesson in the importance of discernment, the impact of judgment and the very telling evidence of the fruit produced by our own hearts. It doesn't matter how much a person talks about loving God, it doesn't matter how much a person talks about their commitment to studying Scripture, if there is no clear evidence. Without evidence of application, it's simply storing up information. Learning, in and of itself cannot determine the spiritual condition of a person's heart.
Then, as today, there were large numbers of people who are drawn to Jesus, who are captivated by His teaching, fascinated by the unprecedented profundity with which He spoke, undeniably an authority that they had never heard before, He had an unquestionable wisdom that set Him apart from the established religious leaders of the day. Multitudes of people came from all over the place, as thousands gathered around Him to watch in wonder and amazement as He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and restored the lame, they marveled about His ability to demonstrate His power of both the physical and spiritual worlds, creating food seemingly out of thin air, feeding thousands upon thousands of men, women and children, with only the lunch of one young boy and casting out demons, His loving and compassionate nature and willingness to forgive resonated with many of whom did not necessarily identify as religious, or committed to following Him.
To one degree or another, Jesus preached the same message throughout His earthly ministry and frankly, it's the same message I offer you today, beware of religious imposters, teachers who profess to know God, who claim to speak the Truth on His behalf, but clearly do not, and are leading you further and further away from Him and anchor yourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Jesus calls to discernment, reminding us to be vigilant, persistent in looking beneath the superficial exterior, diligent in paying close attention to potential threats or signs of danger that they're preaching a Gospel that differentiates from Scripture, diverges even slightly from the true Word of God, saying you will know them by the fruits.
There are certain none negotiables in being a church, being a true follower of Christ that people everywhere seem to be confused about, I believe Christians need to understand. Christ's Church and His people are commanded to stand in stark contrast to everything this fallen world represents. The Church and God's people are commanded to stand in stark contrast to everything this fallen world represents. I believe the church is tragically suffering from an identity crisis in who we are, it what we're supposed to be and more importantly, Who the Head of the Church is. Borrowing from the words of the beloved Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6,, "What has a believer in common with an unbeliever?"
In Matthew 16, the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." I want to be very clear about something, man was created for the glory of God, not the other way around. We have the privilege, we have the responsibility, we have an obligation to worship the One True Living God and we are commanded to do that on His terms, not our own. consequences. However, due to the fallenness of humanity, and natural bent of man's heart, drawing him away from God, he will worship just about everything and everyone else, except for God. In fact, he'll run in the opposite direction. In Romans 3:10-12, Paul explains why, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." There is none who seeks for God, in fact, they'll run in the opposite direction.
Deuteronomy 6 commands that, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." You need to realize that if anyone fails to worship God, or worships any other god, if anyone fails to revere God for who He is, the One True God of the Bible, we're not talking about personal salvation, but a national recognition, there will be severe consequences, it is inevitable. If you turn away from God, you can expect the wrath of God to come upon you, whether you are an individual or on a national scale. If you're wondering where I'm going with all of this, its really pretty simple, any political candidate or government that becomes indifferent to God and ignores the clear commands in His Word, attempting to separate Him from His people and His church, makes a very tragic mistake that if not reversed, will ultimately lead that nation's own destruction.
Never is the depth of the depravity of man more apparent than when he is presented with the Truth of God and rejects it. Living in the world today, it's obvious to me, and I hope to all of you, there are two competing kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of Light, one belongs to Satan and the other belongs to God. Every person on the planet lives in one of these two spiritual realms, while living in one physical world. True believers are those who become a new creation, alive in Christ and dead to sin, which by the way doesn't mean their sinless, but they do sin less, while those who are spiritually dead, who remain unconverted, remain deep in their sin, regardless of their profession of faith.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for Your Word, we are so grateful for the consistency of Your Word. Help us to examine our lives honestly, and if there is any thought pattern, attitude, any deed that displeases you, any unconfessed sin not dealt with, bring it before us and convict us to the point of true repentance, wash us and make us clean. Grant us the courage and boldness to proclaim the Truth so that sinners may see their true spiritual condition, and fall to the their knees, crying out, "Lord, save me!," pleading for grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. We ask and pray this in Christ's Name for Your glory.
Amen
Today's Message: The Kingdom Call to Discernment
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn them to the Gospel of Luke chapter 6. Luke 6:39-45. I trust that you will follow along with me as I read, to set the text in our minds, while we open up our hearts and listen for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us today.
"And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
From a biblical standpoint, I do not believe there is any way for me to over emphasize the danger of following the wrong spiritual leader, the Bible is filled with literally hundreds of warnings about true and false; false teachers and false disciples, and false religion. In Matthew 7, Jesus issued a dire warning, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." The Bible even talks about the importance of false , those who profess to follow Jesus Christ, who may think they are saved, but they're not, to whom He will declare to them, "‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" It doesn't matter that you believe in Jesus, if it's the wrong Jesus, you're damned. Believing in the wrong Jesus is just as deadly as not believing in Him at all. Yet, thousands, if not millions of people around the world, who regularly sit in some sort of religious environment, whether its a church, a cathedral, a mosque, or some other religious setting, feeling safe from Hell, when in reality, that's exactly where they're headed. Divine Judgment awaits because they're following the wrong teacher. That is exactly what Jesus is confronting in our text today, as He attacks the religious leader of Judaism in an act of compassion.
Let's look at verse 39, "And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?" This is a simple yet very powerful statement, it's absolutely clear that what Jesus is saying here, He's pointing out the danger of following the wrong spiritual leader, it doesn't matter whether it's Mohammed, Buddha, Vishnu, James White, Joseph Smith, or Rod Parsley, T.D. Jakes, Mike Todd or the myriads of other charismatic leaders, the result is deadly. It's still the same message today as it was over two thousand years ago, "You must make a choice. You're either going to follow Me, the One Who truly sees with clarity, Who will guide you toward a closer relationship with God, or you're going to follow those who say they know the Truth, that they know the way into God's Kingdom but do not, and you'll both end up in the pit!"
In those days, blindness was a major problem, there were blind people everywhere, there were also a lot of craggy hills with deep crevasses and rocky precipices, there were abandoned wells either dried up or unsuccessful, they would have understood that a blind person leading another blind person posed a tremendous danger. Blindness is often used as a metaphor to depict various dimensions of being unseeing of the truth to underscore the lack of insight or awareness of those who are bereft of the truth, as well as a state of being oblivious, uninformed or a resistant to accept uncomfortable truths.
Verse 40, "A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher." Here, Jesus is referring to the religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, and those who follow them. If you're following the wrong teacher, all you can know know is what you're taught, you can never get past their error, you can't know more than he knows unless you follow another teacher. If you knew more than you're teacher, then, you'd the teacher, right? So, if you follow the wrong teacher, who doesn't know the Truth, who is wrong about the Gospel, you're going to be just like him, never receiving the salvation necessary to enter into heaven. Hosea 4:9,, "And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds."
The point is, choose to follow the one you most want to be like, because that's the best you'll ever be. All over the world, millions of people are following spiritual leaders who don’t know the Truth, because it "tickles their ears," it's what they want to hear, rather than what the need to hear, the Truth. Tragically, they’ll be judged, right along with the false teachers whom they trusted. If your following a teacher who is Satan-inspired, teaching well-crafted messages of deceit, your soul is in grave danger. 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."
Verse 41, "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" And who said Jesus didn't have humor? This is a satirical way of calling the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! How can a false teacher possibly guide anyone else in the Truth when they're unable to see the damning error in their own life? Much like Matthew 23, when He prescribed the eight damning woes on them, saying "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Or "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness."
Who will you trust, the world or the One True Living God? Joshua 24:15, says "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Self- righteous is the sin Jesus repeatedly condemned the Pharisees for, spiritual blindness prevents you from seeing your true spiritual condition by putting a log in your eye.
Verse 42, "Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye." What a scathing indictment! The Pharisees were self-righteous religious phonies, were so busy looking for minor infractions of the rules in others, keeping the people in spiritual bondage, they failed to recognize their own need for grace, forgiveness, and a Savior. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, cannot only see clearly what's in your eye, but also your heart. Only He can fix the both.
Verse 43, "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit." Jesus is pointing out, the nature of the tree will determines what kind of fruit one can expect from it, a bad tree can only produce bad fruit because the tree itself is bad. It's same principal when applied to people, what comes out of a person's mouth depends on what is inside their heart. That's why I keep saying it is essential to carefully examine our own hearts, our lives will naturally produce what's inside, self-reformation isn't enough, you must be born again. Which I believe explains the negativity qualities of bitterness, anger and hateful rhetoric we're witnessing today, revealing the true condition of their sin stained hearts. Only when we remain connected to Christ, the True Vine, will our spiritual roots be nourished to help us flourish, and the Vine Dresser, Who prunes away the elements that hinder our spiritual growth, allowing our lives to abundantly produce the fruits of the spirit; which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (cf. Galatians 5:22-23)
Verse 44, "For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush." I believe that with this very simple but profound analogy, Jesus is inviting us carefully reflect on and evaluate the integrity and character of our lives, an unfailing indication of the true health of a man's heart. The unredeemed world loves liberal Christians, whose lives are just as miserably wretched and sinfully grotesque as theirs are, which seems inconceivable to me, so they can quickly highlight the hypocrisy embedded in their lives, while claiming to follow Christ. What is even more shocking to me, is that they no longer even try to hide this discrepancy, instead, they blatantly flaunt it before the watching world as some strange spectacle, as if it were a badge of honor, I believe that should serve as a stark warning of caution for the rest of us! What do your words and actions reveal about the kind of spiritual influences you are allowing to impact your life? If your life resembles the world more than the Savior you profess to follow, it should act as an alarm, alerting you to the potential danger of such a lifestyle.
Finally, that brings us to verse 45, "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." At first glance, this statement may seem simplistic, yet I believe it holds a profound, far deeper significance as to the true nature of our hearts and the types of fruits that they bear, distinguishing whether our acts of benevolence reveal a temporary facade of kindness, covering up a corrupt heart, consumed by ill-will and wickedness or a deep-seated, enduring quality that authentically defines our character which can be seen in our everyday lives. Just as a mirror reflects our physical image, the Word of God reveals the true condition of our hearts. The words we utter, the deeds we perform, are all an accurate reflection of what our hearts harbor within, a treasure chest of goodness or evil.
Scripture is clear, the world is full of false Christians, Satan is consistently sowing tares among the wheat, what's in your heart is what will inevitably come out. It is
interesting to me that there aren't any false Buddhists, Hindu's or Muslims, evidence that Satan doesn't need to falsify false religion
my prayer your hearts will manifest love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness, evidence of a regenerate heart the Lord has transformed rather than immorality, impurity, sensuality, and jealousy, outbursts of anger, or a longing for material wealth, an indication of a heart that represents He has not intervened. Counterfeit Christians always appear to be representing heaven, when in reality they represent Hell, having no true relationship with Christ.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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