 Luke chapter six, Luke chapter six, let's begin reading together here in Luke chapter six at verse 39. I'll read verses 39 through verse 45, and we'll get into our study. Luke chapter six, beginning at verse 39, reading to verse 45, Luke writes, and he spoke a parable to them. Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye. For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit, for every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Now as we begin here at verse 39, now I want you to note with me that he says, Luke says that he spoke a parable to them. And the word parable is something I wanna speak to you about for just a moment because that's what he's given actually, is a parable, they're receiving a parable. The parable, or the word parable is a story. It's a story in which nature and history of God's kingdom is figuratively portrayed. It's been said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The word literally means to place one thing beside another for comparison. And what he's doing is he's giving them a parable. Now God revealed truth to us by his creation and he uses it to illustrate spiritual insight. In other words, God will use that which is familiar to communicate to us that which is unfamiliar. God will use stories that take place on earth so that we can connect with those things, but those stories are intended to communicate to us something that we're really not familiar with yet and that's things about heaven. And so God can use nature to communicate his ways to man as Jesus does so when he uses parables. In Psalm 19 verse one, the Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his handiwork. And so you can actually use the creation of God to illustrate something heavenly and that's what Jesus Christ is doing. It points to God because every house is built by some man but he who built all things is God. And so you can use the parable, you can use an earthly story to illustrate heavenly things because we connect with earth and can understand something about heaven by doing so. So Jesus uses parables in his teaching in order that he might share insights into the kingdom of God. There are purposes in the parables and one thing about a parable is it's intended to both conceal as well as reveal. A parable is intended to conceal as well as reveal. Now how do we know that? Well in Matthew chapter 13 verses 10 through 13, Jesus says this. Matthew tells us the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been given. For whoever has to him more will be given and he will have abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand. In other words, a lazy listener is not gonna exert any energy or anything that is necessary to understand what Jesus says. And so to them it's gonna be concealed because they don't really care. If it's not plain to them they're not interested. That's why Proverbs 25 2 says it is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. And so bottom line is the same message that Jesus Christ gives for the person who is hungry, that message will draw them to be satisfied in him. But the person who's not interested in the Lord and things of God, they're too lazy to think about it. They're not really interested in thus heaven's glory is hidden from them. Interestingly enough about a third of Jesus's recorded teachings came through parables. They're called mirrors and windows because we can see ourselves in them and they help us to see life through them. And they reveal truth concerning his kingdom. They illustrate doctrine and develop our understanding of spiritual things. This particular parable that we see here verse 39 is intended to condemn religious hypocrisy and it's to illustrate its eternal effect on people. This parable actually is referring to a religious group during the time of Christ called the Pharisees. You can see in Matthew chapter 15 verses 12 through 14 how his disciples came and said to him, do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? But he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly father is not planted will be uprooted, let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind and if the blind leads the blind both will fall into a ditch. And so Jesus's words offended the Pharisees and the Pharisees were jealous. They were jealous for their place and their position in the nation of Israel, small in number, powerful in influence, they did not like losing their following. And so Jesus gives a warning and is actually speaking concerning them when he speaks here in verse 39 and is also speaking concerning just simple religious hypocrisy. These Pharisees were called the blind leaders with blind followers. And unfortunately because they were living as hypocrites, hypocrites generally will lead others but they lead them to a fall. That's why in Matthew 23, 15, Jesus said, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you travel land and sea to win one proselyte and when he's won you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourself. In this parable Jesus is illustrating that spiritually blind people, the Pharisees, lead other people astray. And so if a blind man leads another blind man neither one of them will see the pit that's in front of them. So physically this is a picture of two men walking in a field and both falling into a hole that was dug and filled with water, a hole that was used to provide water for animals. But spiritually this pit that he's speaking about represents hell because that's where the spiritually blind will end up. That's why in Matthew 23, 13, Jesus said, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, you neither go in yourselves nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. And so Jesus is speaking here and saying the blind if they lead the blind will lead them straight into destruction. Pharisees, you are religious hypocrites. As religious hypocrites you don't see the truth. Because you have a hunger and a desire for power and position and prestige in this nation you're not willing to hear the things that God has spoken through me Jesus would be saying. And because of that I have to warn people about you because as if they're walking out there in a field and as they're walking in the field and they're blind, a blind man being led by another blind man as they're walking to the field and they're blind they both walk into the pit that they can't find. You have the one person who is supposedly the leader who is blind but he's leading the other man who is blind and so two blind men cannot see what's right in front of them. They're stumbling physically but spiritually and eternally they're gonna be lost and therefore beware of the hypocrisy, beware of false teachers and that's where Jesus is speaking about. When he goes on to verse 40 he says a disciple is not above his teacher but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. So a disciple, a disciple's a learner. A disciple is somebody who's voluntarily submitted to the instruction of a mentor or a teacher. And what the disciple desires is his teacher's wisdom as well as his teacher's character. So a true disciple's great desire is to become like his instructor. And so Jesus would teach us that if you want to be great in the kingdom of God then you use him as the example and Jesus various times would point himself out in that way. John 13, 15, Jesus says there I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you and so if you wanna be great, if you wanna be somebody who's used by God you use the example of Jesus Christ. John told us in 1st John 2, 6 he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked and so we use Jesus Christ in the life that he lived as an example of what we would like to aspire to what we would like to be like. I would like to be like the Lord Jesus Christ and so you read the gospel and you see his love, you see his compassion, you see his knowledge of the word of God, you see the various things that he does that he would encourage us to do and all in you use that as your example. In Matthew 11 Jesus said it this way in verse 29 he said take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I am gentle and lowly and hard and you will find rest for your souls. So a disciple is not above his teacher. You never outgrow your teacher. A disciple especially in areas of moral conduct and knowledge of the word of God simply has a great desire to be like his teacher. You know I have a teacher in my life that in many ways I have asked the Lord to help me to one day be like and that's my pastor Chuck, pastor Chuck Smith who's been in my life a tremendous influence. First time I ran across my own pastor when I was 20 years old and he was 43. He was 43 years old. He's about to celebrate his 80th birthday. So but the first time I ran across pastor Chuck he had some hair and I can still remember him when I was 20 and I remember looking at him like he was just that old man up there talking to us because he was 43 years old. He was the age of my father and I can remember as I would be seated there at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa back in 1970. I first encountered him in 1970 and sat under him as a Christian in January of 71. I can still remember as I went there to Calvary Chapel that small chapel there that they used to have before they had the tent and before they built the church that they now occupy. They used to have a small church that they occupied there and I can still remember going there and I can remember sitting there as a young man on the ground and listening to the Bible studies with hundreds of other kids who were 18, 19, 20, 21 years old and I can still remember looking up there and seeing this man speak to us and like I said I thought he was kind of an old guy and all but he sure knew a lot about God. Well, 37 years, almost 37 years later all those years of following the Lord and serving the Lord and teaching and all have only caused me in my own heart to say I would like to have that kind of ministry as I grow older. I spoke to him on one occasion and I said to him actually he had brought it up we were talking about retirement and this is when he was gonna turn 65. So it was 15 years ago and I remember talking to him one time and I said, so Chuck you're looking to retire and he said, well, yeah, I'm thinking about it and all because he had announced it at a pastors conference and we were speaking a little bit at breakfast and I said, so you're thinking of retiring and he goes, well, I'm considering it and so 10 years later or more I was talking to him and I said, Chuck you were supposed to retire about 10, 11 years ago. What happened? He says, well, you know, one of the things I've discovered that is that in ministry, the older you get as you serve the Lord the more you have to offer other people. He said, the world declares that you should retire at 65 but in ministry you're just starting. He said, and so no, the Lord has given me strength and desire and I wanna continue until he takes me home and I suspect that this is gonna be a man is gonna be an example of one who continues on in ministry and until one day, like Jerry Falwell recently will just hear that Pastor Chuck is not dead he's just gone home and I think that something like that may very well happen in him and so he's been a great example to me. I want to be a minister like that. I was talking just today to one of our staff guys, Mike Callahan and I said, you know, I'm not too far away from what people call retirement nine more years and I'm 65. You know, actually eight years, well nine years and one month or two, I'll be 65 years old. I said, but you know what? And I just, I couldn't see myself retiring. I said, I'm looking at Pastor Chuck as an example. I said, and I think that I'm probably gonna just continue on until nobody comes to church anymore to hear me. I'll have at least one person that'll be Marie. She has to, has to come but I know she won't give any offerings and so we'll have to stop, you know. But you know, when you think about it, a disciple's not above his teacher, he never outgrows the teacher if the teacher continues growing. He never outgrows him and so the best thing that a disciple could have in his heart or her heart is a desire to be like that mentor, that teacher, that one that they're attached to over a lifetime to learn the ways of God through and so Jesus is making it very clear there that we ought to live a life that is like his. Verses 41 and 42, continue. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye. When you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye, hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye. Now when he says speck and when he speaks of a plank that word speck is a Greek word that means a twig or a splinter and that word plank is a beam that was used to support the roof of a building. It's like I see something in you and so I walk up to you and I say excuse me, let me remove that problem from your life and I begin to reach over but I've got this two by four that's in my head and I'm slamming everybody around as I'm walking up to you. That's the picture that Jesus is giving here, slam, slam, slam. Let me get to you and bang, bang. I'm hitting you with mine and the funny thing about this is he's speaking about self-righteous judgment because self-righteous judgment when I think I'm better than you, well that self-righteous judgment ultimately boomerangs. I ultimately will pay a price. It comes back to me. There's an interesting scripture I memorized it many years ago. It's Romans chapter 14 verse four and the question is asked who are you to judge someone else's servant to his own mastery stands or falls and he will stand for the Lord is able to make him to stand. Who are you to judge another man's servant? Who are you? He said God is able to make him stand and to his own master he's accountable. You know the bottom line is is that God hasn't called us to be gospel gestopos running around trying to make sure everybody does exactly what we think they're supposed to do in order to be actually serving the Lord Jesus Christ. So in matters of just normal everyday affairs we do have a responsibility to concern ourselves for one another absolutely. I do have a responsibility to care about you. There's no doubt about that even when Cain was being spoken to by God concerning his brother he asks the question am I my brother's keeper? Well the answer to that question was absolutely. Of course you are. Yes you have the responsibility to care for your brother. What kind of question is that? Yes you do. Of course you do. You are your brother's keeper but you are not your brother's judge. Now my brother has if he has some problems well the first thing I better do is look at my own soul. The first thing I had to do is look at my own heart. Who am I to bring a word of correction to you if I'm not doing right myself? You know when I was a young man and boy that was a while ago when I was a young man and we used to talk concerning not trusting anybody over the age of 30 and all and the establishment that we were in opposition to and this and that. We basically wanted to live lives that were free of people monitoring us but at the same time I came to realize that if somebody actually does love me they're gonna be concerned for me but they're not gonna approach me with a self righteous judgmental way. All of us at least one time in our life as believers have probably experienced it where somebody has brought a word to us of correction that perhaps wasn't done in the right spirit and though the word may have been true their attitude put us off so much that we didn't even wanna hear what they were saying. You know there's a couple things I've learned about that one as I tried to do my best to hear what's being said regardless of how it's being packaged because what's being said may very well be true and even if the person is saying it in a way that is hurtful or perhaps prideful or mean spirited what I have to do is I have to take that to the Lord and say Lord two things I'd like to ask of you one is it true and two would you kill them for me in Jesus' name? I mean you know I've learned to pray with great faith in that way but the bottom line is is it true because if it is true I ask Lord that you would work in my life so that I can correct this but I have found that if somebody brings a word of correction with a spirit of gentleness and meagerness that I am more prone to listen to what they have to say and that's biblical Galatians chapter six verse one says brothers if someone is caught in sin you who are spiritual should restore him gently but watch yourself or you also may be tempted you know considering yourself let's you also be tempted you watch over your own self you know we provoke one another to love and good works we consider one another and provoke one another to love and good works according to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 and we do have a responsibility to do that but we're provoking one another encouraging one another to love and to a life that reflects that and I've discovered that if you cling to the Lord Jesus Christ if you hold fast to him and love him your life is gonna change simply because you're with him spending time with him clinging tightly to him and so self-righteous judgment when I'm looking at somebody and I'm thinking oh they shouldn't do this and they should do that self-righteous judgment is something that will always boomerang it's been said it is a vital moment of truth when a man discovers that what he condemns most vehemently in others is that to which he himself is prone and I think that that's true our sins never look so bad as when we see them being practiced by somebody else and so it's important for us to first consider ourselves and then if we need to bring a word of correction we do so in love Jesus isn't saying that we are not to bring encouragement and exhortation to brothers and sisters and the Lord who may need that but he is saying is don't be self-righteous and don't be placing yourself above them as if you don't stumble and fall yourself because that's pride and therefore God will not bless us for that if I correct in love and I consider myself I'm really flowing with the spirit verse 43 for a good tree does not bear bad fruit nor does a bad tree bear good fruit for every tree is known by its own fruit for men do not gather figs from thorns nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush and so Jesus is still speaking of blind guides and is still speaking concerning the fruit of their efforts and other words hypocritical teachers who actually bring you into error and so he's basically saying you're gonna know the false teacher by their fruit now fruit trees are intended to produce fruit that can be eaten and to sustain life and the reason for its existence is for the well-being of others so we ask the question can thorn bushes produce figs and can brambles produce grapes now a fruit tree is judged by what it produces not how it looks and so the one who is speaking for God is to be judged if you will discerned by his life as well as his words does that person have fruit does that person have an evidence that he's got a relationship with God does that person bring me closer to the Lord when they speak now if somebody comes and shares with me and says look I've got a word from the Lord for you or I've got a Bible study I'd like you to be part of or whatever and if I sit under that do I walk away from that saying I know more about the Lord than I did before and as I've gotten to see this person in action I've seen that this person is sincere and this person actually is trying to do what he is saying you know it's a difficult thing by the way to be consistent I have to admit and confess that to you openly when our church was very very young maybe two maybe three years old I had somebody who had come and visited the church and all and began to attend for a short time and approached me and said to me listen I've got a sister who needs some help could you give her a call and I said well give me her number and I'll try and call her up and it was one of those things that I allowed myself to get overwhelmed by other things that I was doing and I put that phone number on the side of my desk and I didn't call her for a while and then one day it was like within a week no more than a week and a few days I made the call to her to see if I could talk to her and connect with her and couldn't get through to her and I put that phone number on the side of the desk and didn't try again and he approaches me and says to me did you call my sister you didn't call her did you and I said I did but I wasn't able to connect with her and he got so mad and so hurt with me and said well you said that you would connect with her and you didn't do it and I remember very well how he was hurt by that and it was at that point when I began to realize I apologized of course to him I said I'm so sorry I did try to make the call I wasn't able to connect I'm sorry I should have continued to do so until I connected and forgive me but he was so hurt and angry at me he left the church and I didn't see him for years and then we were in Ontario at that time then we moved over here and it was in the early 90s and he came walking up to me after a church service and he looks at me and he says I remember you I was invited to come to this church here you know and but I remember you and I looked at him and I remembered him too and I said and I remember you well nice lecture that you gave today but in essence was saying but I know you're still a hypocrite because you don't do the things that you say and you wanna know something I learned some pretty strong lessons through that experience and that's why sometimes people after service will approach me and will say to me pastor can you do this and that's why I'll be up front and honest with you and I'll say no I can't I wanna be honest with you some people can't handle that some can some can't and some can I had a lady approach me 20 some years ago now after a Bible study and she said pastor will you go out for dinner with my husband and me and I said no and she says well we wanna get to know you and I said you won't like me when you get to know me but if you'd like to get to know me come to church I talk an awful lot and you'll get to know all kinds of things about me and you know and I thought oh lord let's see what happens she's gonna get hurt feelings I'm sure but you know they become very dear friends of ours over the years and their kids are like her own kids now but she was willing to hear that from me and I learned a long time ago just be honest because people can normally handle an honest rejection then an attempt to pretend that I'd like to call but won't they can normally accept that and that's why I'm that way with you and some of you know that some of you have approached me after a service and said can you do this and I'll smile at you and I'll say no no but thank you for the invitation I do appreciate it I really do but I can't but there are people here who have been brought on staff who can do that for you and that's the reason they're on staff and if you'd like I can make every arrangement for you to have them meet with you or to do whatever is necessary but I'm afraid that I can't do that because I realized a long time ago that you just have to be honest and real with people and most people can accept that some can't but most can and sometimes they'll say well I'm gonna leave this church and I'll say well bless God you know there are some nice churches all over the place and I'm sure you'll find one that'll meet your needs and you know that's just the truth and so I think what we really need to do is we need to try and live a life that is consistent with our words and that's what Jesus is teaching here he's saying listen if you've got somebody who's teaching you something does he try to live up to what he's teaching his words and his works have to match they have to match in Matthew chapter 15 verses seven through nine Jesus said this he said 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 so any person speaking God's message will evidence good fruit in attitude and action and that's because they're abiding in Jesus Christ and producing evidences of salvation Romans 622 says now having been set free from sin having become slaves of God you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life now no matter how healthy the tree appears if it is unhealthy it can only produce bad fruit and so Jesus is simply saying you need discernment you need to know how to discern what is true and what is error and so we have methodologies in which we can do that one is we have the Holy Spirit who has been given to us and the Holy Spirit can give to you within your heart a sense of this doesn't sense right I really believe there's a discernment and you find in 1 Corinthians 12 that there's a discernment a gift of discernment that God gives to you and even new believers can be protected by the working of the Holy Spirit within them and I've had that happen in my own life I remember I was in a Christian more than just a few weeks you know at the most and I was at my parents home I was still living there at that time and there was a knock on the door and I was a long hair and all and I remember walking up to the door and opening the door to two Jehovah's Witnesses and I was wearing a Japanese robe and I had long hair and granny glasses and bushy sideburns and I was barefooted and I'm looking at these two women and they got kind of scared when they saw me I have to confess and so I said hi how can I help you I was brand new Christian how can I help you they said well we're you know Jehovah's Christian Witnesses and we're out here going through the neighborhood sharing about Jesus Christ I didn't know anything about Jehovah's Witnesses other than my grandmother was a Jehovah's Witness but I never spoke to her concerning what she believed in all of that I was a brand new Christian I made an assumption that they must believe in the same God I did I didn't know whether they did or didn't I assumed that and I remember them speaking to me and as they began to share and I'm a brand new Christian maybe a month or so old in the Lord knew very little I just started going to Bible study just started reading the Bible but as they were speaking to me I remember smiling at them with that big old dopey Jesus people grin that we used to have you know just a freak looking at them with this big old smile and as I was looking at her I said you know what I don't think I agree with what you're saying but you know what that's cool and they didn't know what to do I didn't know how to tell them what I did believe I just knew that what they were saying was wrong and later on as a Christian later on I started reading their material I started seeing some of the things that they believed I bought a book called Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin and I read the 110 pages or so on on Jehovah's Witnesses and I said well they believe this and they believe that I didn't know that this is all new to me but the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit had put a check in my spirit there's something wrong with what they're saying and so you have the Holy Spirit who does it 1 Thessalonians 5 19 through 21 says do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies test all things hold fast what is good now how do you test that you test that to the word of God you test it through God's word does it line up with scripture and one of the things I know and we've just begun speaking about this in 1 Timothy I was sharing this with you just this Sunday those who were with us this Sunday morning I was saying one of the things you can see concerning fruit is how has it lived out in that person's life and in 1 Timothy 1 5 Paul had said the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart a good conscience and from sincere faith these are evidences there's a love about them there's a loving spirit and they've got a purity in their life and they've got a love and freedom in Jesus Christ and so you can see that and so he's saying listen there are those who are blind leaders of the blind don't follow their ways look at their fruit again we're not judges but we are fruit inspectors and we can check out the fruit and notice verse 45 a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks this is one of the most basic principles you find in Scripture what you are inside will be revealed by the way you speak the heart when he speaks concerning the good treasure of the heart the heart represents the center of a person's will and thought life it is also the expression of a person's character and so that which fills your heart will overflow through your speech he speaks about the good treasure that word treasure is where we get the word the source from it's a treasury or a receptacle in which valuables are kept and so your heart is a storehouse and it holds or contains your thoughts your ambitions, your loves, your attitudes and your loyalties and what you value ultimately comes out in what you say so be careful that you speak that which is true that which is glorifying to God let no unprofitable word come out of your mouth but that which is good for the use of edification that you may minister grace to the hearer Paul said in Ephesians 4 and that's how it works Proverbs 4.23 says keep your heart with all diligence for out of it springs the issues of life and so Jesus is just making it very clear listen, a good person is gonna say good things that are true concerning God and evil person is gonna distort those things because out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks I've seen that to be true in many ways I have had people approach me and share with me and say things to me that they know my wife's name and they'll know my kid's names and they know that I have a grandson and all of that and they'll walk up I mean I've had strangers approach me and talk to me people that I don't know my face and they'll say I know you by your voice I'll give you an example just this last week Marie and I on Saturday my wife and I took my daughter Anna out for and Joseph my son Joseph out for a late lunch and we went to a local restaurant and while we were there we were just sitting at the table and our server comes up and introduces himself and says hello and gives us his name and so I looked at him and I said hello, how are you? And he looks at me and he smiles and he goes, are you Pastor David? And I smiled at him and I said, does that mean I get a free meal? No, I said I said, yes I am he says, you know, I listen to you on the radio and I can tell by your voice and it just trips me out that people, do you know well I could go into story after story with this it is just so amazing how this happens but he says, I heard your voice I hear your voice and they can talk to me about things and so I said, well this is my son Joseph and this is my daughter Anna because he's obviously heard their name because I have spoken it out in my Bible studies I give my kids names out and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. You know, if we're having a simple conversation an unguarded one meaning if I were speaking to someone who didn't know I was a pastor I can tell you within 15 minutes what they are excited about in life I can tell you that just by what comes out of the mouth just the things that they say I can tell you that I was test driving a car and as I'm test driving the car this was a couple years, about a year ago it was for my son Joseph we were actually with Joseph and I was sitting in the front seat and Joseph is in the back and the guy who's selling the car is driving to get us off the lot and as we're driving he's just using profanity just speaking and all of that and as he's cussing I'm just smiling at him because I've used worse words than he was using so I'm smiling at him and he says, oh by the way what do you do? I said, I'm a pastor I pastor just down the street Man, all of a sudden he's oh I go to Calvary Chapel too I said, oh really? Not mine, baby. Not mine but as we're you go to Rawls, I know but within five minutes and then all of a sudden you know he's got sanctified you know, speech you know, all of a sudden he's, well praise the Lord you know, I just love God you're not sure you do sure you do, you know of course you do within five minutes you can pick up what really causes a person join his life it doesn't take that long to get to know somebody why? because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and that's what Jesus is saying and that's absolutely of course true he moves on into verse 46 but why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them I will show you whom he is like he is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock and when the flood arose the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it for it was founded on the rock but he who has heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation against which the stream beat vehemently and immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great so as we look at this what we're seeing here is Jesus is making it very clear in verse 46 that calling him Lord is much more than just simply saying the word Lord notice how he says that this one of the scriptures that has spoken my heart for many years now why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say the first time I heard anybody even quote that scripture I'd read it of course before but I was a freshman at Biola back in 73 and I heard a taped excerpt from Pastor John MacArthur and he read the scripture and he read it in such a way that it was easy to memorize instantly why do you call me a Lord Lord and do not the things which I say what a powerful question what a powerful question how can you say that I am your Lord and we don't understand that of course we live in a democratic society republic really and we're used to voice in our own opinions and all and saying well I'll obey this if I want to I won't obey that if I don't it's just the law et cetera et cetera but if I live during the time of Christ and I spoke concerning a person being my Lord there was an awful lot more going on than me simply mouthing a word when I called him my Lord I was basically saying that I owed him my life and he has a power of life and death in my life and so when Jesus asked the question why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say why is it that it's so easy to mouth out that you think that I'm your Lord why do you say I'm your Lord but obedience is not to be found in your behavior Lordship is revealed by surrendering to him following him living for him Jesus in John 14 15 said if you love me keep my commandments and that's how it's demonstrated guys that's how Christianity is demonstrated we live in a time when there's quite a number of people sad to say who say one thing and do another and it absolutely undermines the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ there have been times when I have and I am ashamed to admit it when I've wished sometimes that people who profess to be Christians sometimes the ones that I've encountered who are doing evil even as they were witnessing there have been times when I have thought it would be better if you just didn't say anything than to say the things that you're saying to this person right now and living the way that you are it would be better for you not to bring shame on the name of Jesus Christ than for you to be saying oh I love the Lord but you live it in the way that you are clean up your life because when you are saying oh I love Jesus and you're out there doing exactly what the world does you bring shame to your father's name and I've done that you know I don't stand as one who is guiltless in this I've done that and it's because I've done that the Lord has taught me this one he's taught me this one lesson why do you call me Lord and don't do the things that I say why? why do you say that you love me when you're not obedient to me why do you do that? how can you do that? I mean it would be like my wife Marie on our wedding day when the pastor said will you love and honor your husband and all and my wife saying sure I will on Sundays and maybe once in a while on a Wednesday but the rest of the week's mine to do what I want with it I'll give him my heart and my soul and all that I am but he can have that once a week and six days a week I'm going to go out with other guys what's wrong with that? now me I'm one of these jealous husbands they say no listen honey it's all or nothing I'm not going to marry you for a one hour a week relationship I want to have a relationship with you every day I want to be that one man in your life that consumes your thoughts I want to be that person that you think of and still thrill over 30 some years later that's who I want to be I don't want to be a part time person in your life where you care for me once in a while but you like others now I'm a human being and I'm an evil one on top of that but it makes sense to me that if I'm going to commit myself in marriage to somebody it better be a seven day a week 24 hour a day kind of relationship or what's the point of getting married well when I got saved the Lord began to try to teach me the same lesson why do you call me a Lord Lord and do not the things that I say why do you say that you love me but the things that are difficult or perhaps will require some sacrifice on your part are the things that you say well I'll look at that some other time or I must be misreading this passage here you know surely it can't be seen that I need to do that no we need to understand that Lordship is revealed by surrendering surrendering him daily following him living for him on a day to day basis and so he's speaking concerning this in this parable now notice the two people in the parable these two people encounter the same trials same trials but the difference is one house is built on a rock and the other is built on something that cannot hold it hold the building it's on shaky ground one thing that I know about is that as believers we're not insulated against hard times we're not insulated against tragedies and trials we're not immune from the pain of life the one thing I do know is that when I'm out of control God is in control I know that and I know that disciples remain faithful especially in the hard times the Psalmist in Psalm 119 verse 71 said it's good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn your statutes it's good for me that I have gone through the pressures and the pains of life so that I can learn that you are faithful to your promises it's good for me that I've gone through these trials and hurts and the tribulations and the various afflictions that I've gone through because it has drawn me closer to you and I've seen that your word is true because you have said to me I will never leave you I will never forsake you I was sharing with my staff yesterday in a staff meeting and I said one of the things that we have to be careful in ministry is not to rescue people from situations that God has allowed them to get in so that he might teach them that he's got over all of their situations so many times I wanna bail somebody out before they learn the lesson that God wants to teach them and sometimes I have to take my hands off and allow them to die to whatever it is so that they might live into Jesus Christ it's like that woman who was with her son and her son was a little guy hadn't learned to swim yet and as he was walking they were walking near the edge of a lake and as they were walking near the edge of the lake she knew this one area was shallow and he could step in it and it would only go up to his knees and all and he could cool himself off and so it was a warm summer day and they step into the lake there and she sits down and she's got her feet in the water while her little boy is there and he's playing but she didn't realize that there was a sinkhole there she didn't know that and as he was playing he stepped into the sinkhole she could not swim and as he began to thrash he began to fall away or pull away from the side there and there was no way she could reach him and she begins in panic to begin to scream because she knows that she jumps in she's going to die along with him and she doesn't know what to do and as she begins to cry here comes a man and the man comes walking by as this boy is thrashing and the boy is a big enough boy to cause some problems and so he stands there and the woman starts screaming and says you've got to help my son he can't swim and the man says to her nothing he just stands with his arms folded and she watches him as he doesn't move and she begins to scream to him and she says you've got to help him he's drowning, you've got to help him I can't swim and he doesn't say a word until finally the boy begins to sink under the water and the man steps in and goes into that sinkhole pulls the young guy out and puts him up there on the shore there and he comes too and then everything is calmed down and the woman says to him why didn't you go in why did you wait he said as long as that kid had strength he would have dragged me down with him and drowned both of us he said I could not save him until he realized until I saw that he had no strength to save himself and when I saw he had no strength to save himself I could step in and save him and you know what the Lord will allow us the thrash and thrash and thrash and whatever situation we're in until we finally die and say I can't do this and I've discovered that I've discovered that the Lord will step in and take care of me when I realize that I need his help I go through trials like anybody else but it's the afflictions that have taught me to trust in him to hold fast to his word to know that God is true and that's what the Romans says let God be true in every man a liar God speaks the words of truth he gave us his word he gave us his Holy Spirit he's given us his love and he gives us his help and support so yes we go through hard times there's no doubt about that but a true disciple a true disciple not only hears and agrees in theory but a true disciple hears and does because hearing and doing once again is evidence of true faith in Jesus Christ in Luke 11 verses 27 and 28 Luke writes it happened as he spoke these things that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast which nursed you but he said more than that blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it now non-Christians obviously do not build their lives on the sure foundation of God's word and because they don't when trials and storms hit they're devastated Jesus speaks concerning a structure that falls and the fall he says to us is very great it's a very great fall their foundation is built on human philosophy and the philosophies of the world can't secure them that's why the psalmist said in Psalm 5611 in God I have put my trust I will not be afraid what can man do unto me when you put your trust in that which cannot save you you will always end up empty always so Jesus is saying a house built on the rock is a house that is built on trust in God's word and so when attacks come we're safe because our foundation is strong and it is deep believers build their lives on a strong foundation of Jesus Christ in his word that's what the psalmist said in Psalm 11989 when he said forever oh Lord your word is settled in heaven Luke 21 33 says heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away you see in verse 49 he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built his house on the earth built on his house on the earth and it just didn't have a foundation those who do not have a relationship with the Lord suffer greatly not simply in this life but in time to come because ultimately they experience eternal separation because that's what is the result of not building your life on God's word the fall or the ruin of that house is great there's a song called American dream some of you perhaps have heard it I have the lyrics to it because I think it goes along with this very well and let me read the lyrics to you it speaks concerning building a life on something that is shaky building a life on that which cannot last all work no play may have made Jack a dull boy but all work no God has left Jack with a lost soul but he's moving on full steam he's chasing the American dream and he's gonna give his family finer things not this time son I have no time to waste maybe tomorrow we'll have time to play and then he slips into his new BMW and drives farther and farther and farther away because he works all day and tries to sleep at night he says things will get better better in time so he works and he builds with his own two hands and he pours all he has in a castle made with sand but the wind and the rain are coming crashing in time will tell just how long his kingdom stands his kingdom stands while his American dream is beginning to seem more and more like a nightmare with every passing day daddy can you come to my game oh baby please don't work late another wasted weekend and they're slipping away because he works all day and lies awake at night he tells them things are getting better just take a little more time he works and builds with his own two hands and he pours all he has in a castle made with sand but the wind and rain are coming crashing in time will tell just how long his kingdom stands his kingdom stands he used to say whoever dies with the most toys wins but if he loses his soul what has he gained in the end I'll take a shack on a rock over a castle in the sand now he works all day and cries alone at night it's not getting any better it looks like he's running out of time because he worked and he built with his own two hands and he poured all he had in a castle made with sand but the wind and the rain are coming crashing in time will tell just how long his kingdom stands his kingdom stands all they really wanted was you all they really wanted was you you build your life on sinking sand and it crashes all around you and that's what Jesus said he said you build your life on that which does not last and when the pressures come it crashes all around you and we can climb into our new car we can hide in our nice home or we can run to that office that we find so much solace in and so much of our identity in and we lose our family and we lose everything that matters and we lose everything that matters and ultimately we even lose our own self and one day we wake up and we say I wonder how I got here how did I get so far away how did it begin and how did I end up here how did I end up doing these things Jesus said it's because you heard but you did not do it's because you called me Lord, Lord but you would not do the things that I said and as a result you pay the price may God help us not to pay the price