Be Merciful Part 3 Luke 6:36-49

You got your Bibles with you, and I hope you do.

We're in the Gospel of Luke, chapter six.

Luke chapter six, beginning in verse thirty-six.

Luke chapter six, beginning in verse thirty-six.

I'll be reading.

If you would uh just stand, please, in honor of reading God's word.

Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge and you will not be judged, and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

Pardon and you will be pardoned.

Give and it will be given to you.

They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, for by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

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 every one, 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 of the out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, and 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.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for how you speak, and I pray, Lord, that we would listen for your glory and for our good.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

We have um wait a minute, wait a minute.

Uh kids, come on up here.

We're gonna do the we're gonna do the dismissal.

We've got the kingdom kids before you go too far.

And we've got a hope we have the slide.

Do we have the slide?

We wanted to we wanted to be sure that the kids going to children's church is not a separate ministry, it is a part of who we are as the body of Christ.

And we wanted I wanted you to read this with me out loud.

Uh this is our prayer and our hope for the kids.

So if you you read along with me, please.

Lord, we ask you to bless our children and those who are ministering to them today.

May they know Jesus, love people, and impact the world.

The Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Amen and amen.

Thank you, John.

You bet, thank you.

It's a good looking group.

I think they're gonna have more fun than we are, but don't get jealous, that's okay.

We are going to finish up the Sermon on the Plane this morning.

And if you've got your Bibles and um hope you haven't, please tell me you haven't put them away because we just started.

But if you're looking there in Luke chapter six, what I wanted to do is I kind of wanted to put all of this together.

We have been going through the Gospel of Luke uh as we have uh through the year.

It is September, and we are just about to finish chapter six.

So you do the math, and Jesus will be back long before we finish the Gospel of Luke, and that's okay.

Um but we we're we're doing well.

Well, I wanted to I wanted to go through this with you uh this one last time to kind of put it together.

And I'm gonna be I'm gonna be transparent with you for a moment.

Uh this is this is hard uh because of what Jesus is teaching.

Um it's not it's not that he's giving us something um that we can't understand or that we can't appreciate or enjoy or love.

Uh it's hard because you can't read passages like this and just say, whatever.

Uh you can't let the word of God be the mirror that looks at your heart and examines you like a spotlight, like a like a criminal under the big lights and the interrogation, investigation, and think to yourself, well, you know, it's just it's just words.

It doesn't really matter.

It matters very much.

And I'm I my prayer, both for myself as well as for us as a church, is that we go through passages like this and we don't just think to ourselves, well, that was nice.

What a sweet sermon.

That was so good.

I bet I bet I bet they they got a great offering.

I bet you they just patted them on the back as they were leaving.

I'm praying that the word of God speaks to the children of God by the Spirit of God today, that uh he does his work as only he can for his glory as we're um examining as we're reading this.

All right, so if you got the you got the sermon on the plane, you you look in chapter six, this is a parallel, I believe, to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew.

We can debate that.

There's a lot of conversation, it doesn't really matter.

We're in chapter six of Luke.

Here we go.

You go back up to verse 20, this is where the the sermon begins.

He's looking to his disciples, he's talking to Christians, he's talking to those who accept him and follow him, and and Lord willing, that's who we are as the people of God.

Um, I hope that that's who you are.

But what he's trying to do and what he is going to do is he's going to illustrate how we can have this false sense of security when we just go through the motions or we just act spiritual.

That's not a relationship with God, that's not being transformed.

There is something that happens, it is it is supernatural, it is a metamorphosis.

The Bible talks about it, how we're we're made conformed, how we're being conformed, all that's happening in the body of Christ.

But what I wanted to do is I wanted to give you the punchline uh at the very at the very beginning.

I don't know if you're the kind of person when you read a mystery novel, you want to be honest with me for just a second?

Um, do you read the last chapter before you finish the book?

Okay, I'm not seeing, I'm seeing a few guilty.

Some of you are smiling, like, yeah, that's fine.

It's not, you're cheating.

Okay, that's not that doesn't matter.

Anyway, all right, so you do what you do whatever you want.

I'm not I'm not gonna judge you.

Yeah, I am gonna judge you, but I'm about to ask forgiveness for it, because we're gonna get into Luke chapter six.

But what he's doing here, what I want to do is I want to give you the punchline.

Because he gets to the end, the conclusion, the climax of this sermon, and I referred to it a number of weeks ago, and I want to do it one more time.

I want to show you where where we're headed, because everything we're about to talk about lands on what he's going to say here.

So if you go to the very end of the chapter, Luke chapter 6, in verse 46, after he said all that he has said and we've talked about all that he has talked about, here's the question.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?

I mean, that honestly, that's enough.

That I mean, we could stop there.

I won't, you know, I won't.

I don't I don't know why I say I will, I won't.

But that's it.

Why do we why do we give lip service?

Why do we go through the motions?

Why do we act spiritual, religious, sanctified, holy, self-righteous?

Why do we act like we've got all of the answers when he's asking right here in verse 46, why do you call me Lord, Lord, you do not do what I what I say.

Everyone who comes to me, and this this is what he's going to do, he uses a lot of word pictures, and I love how he does this.

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like.

He's like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock.

And when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.

So Jesus, in the only way that Jesus can do in word pictures, he's saying, You've got these two houses, you've got these two buildings, these two structures, these two homes, and they look exactly the same.

They look just identical, except there's something going on underneath that you don't see until it's too late.

You don't realize until it's already past time.

I know it amazes me.

We we think that, especially when we talk to non-Christians or we go out into the world, we think, well, God is a loving, forgiving God who he is, and we think to ourselves, well, he'll give me a chance to ask forgiveness of my sins and be saved and go to heaven once I'm standing before him in judgment.

No, no, he won't, because the Bible doesn't say that.

It's one of those where we think it's we can do whatever we want and we can create the rules and we can make it up as we go along.

And it's all my truth is my truth, your truth is your truth, and the relativity and all that that's involved in that.

But you come to passages like this, and and Jesus is very specifically saying, you may look, once again, he's speaking to his believers, and he's warning the unbelievers who think they're believers.

He's saying, you may look the same, you may talk the same, you may, you may have the same type of attitudes and and reflections, and you may go through the same motions.

And looking at you side by side with true, sincere believers, there may not look like there'd be any difference whatsoever until you get to the foundation.

And when the storm comes, they're built on the cornerstone.

Jesus.

You're not.

They've got a rock, they've got a foundation, they've got a solid ground, they're standing on the promises, and you're not.

John Calvin said this years ago, and I love the way he he put this.

He says, sometimes a storm or crisis or calamity betrays what manner of person we are.

For true piety is not fully distinguished from its counterfeit until it comes to trial.

The foundation is unseen by the world, but once the storm comes, once the crisis comes, once the calamity comes, that's whenever it's exposed.

And once again, this is the most loving thing that he could do for us today.

This is the most loving way to present the truth to us.

If you have a cough in your throat and you you it persists, and you take you take the cough drops and you you go through the motions of of taking the cough syrup and the cold medicine, and you go week after week after week, and the cough continues, and you just can't seem to get rid of that cough.

And eventually you go to the doctor, and the doctor is sitting there looking at the tests, and he he's realizes you've got a much more serious, a more serious condition than just a sore throat, but he doesn't want to hurt your feelings.

So he says, just take more cough drops.

He doesn't he doesn't want to get in your your business.

He doesn't he doesn't want you to feel bad when you leave his office.

So let's just take some more medicine and everything will be fine.

When he knows, sitting behind his desk, that if treatment doesn't happen immediately, you are in dire straits.

You are going to die.

Do you think it's loving of Jesus to say I'd rather protect your feelings and let you go to hell?

Versus This is truth.

The foundation and the only way is Jesus.

The only way is Jesus.

So let's go back to the middle of the passage where we started this morning.

Luke chapter 6, verse 36, which I believe is a fulcrum, is a kind of a key verse within this passage.

Luke 6:36

It's why this the name of the series is Be Merciful.

He says, Be merciful just as your father is merciful.

Be merciful just as your father is merciful.

Now we've got to be very clear, and and I've got to be sure that you're hearing what I'm saying, and this is all we're all on the same page.

He's going to go through, and I'm going to go through rather quickly, I'm going to summarize the sermon, and he's going to go through how that looks, what that looks like with your attitude towards circumstances and trouble, your relationship with other people, your relationship with God, your self-identity, understanding who you are in the eyes of God.

All of that's going to be included in this sermon.

I'm telling you, it's a good sermon.

And as he's doing this, the temptation is going to be well, okay, all I've got to do then, all I've got to do is have a good attitude and I'll be saved.

All I've got to do is love my enemies and I'll be okay.

All I've got to do is give to the poor and everything's going to be great.

All I've got to do is forgive other people, and then I'm going to be okay.

I'm going to go to heaven when I die.

That's not what he is saying.

He's saying, and that's why we started with the end first, he's saying your relationship with me is what dictates going to heaven or hell, what dictates whether your heart is pure or corrupt.

Your relationship with me is what starts this.

And when you start that relationship, when you have that identity, then things are going to start changing because you're going to start looking like your heavenly father.

Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.

It isn't, let me try really hard to act religious and look good and be spiritual.

It is very much come to Jesus.

And when you come to Jesus, he changes you.

The Bible says born again.

Talks about being a new creature, a new life, dead in your sin and alive to Christ.

When he does all of that, you start to imitate, look like, live like him.

We're not there.

It's not perfect on this side of glory, but you get closer and closer, being conformed into his image.

And as that is happening, he's saying, these are the character traits, these are the marks, this is what it's going to look like.

You're not going to look like the world around you.

So what he does in verse 20, starting back, and I'm just summarizing, we're going to go through this quick, as he's talking about how we reflect the Father's mercy.

What he does here in verse 20 is he starts talking about how they the blessed and the and the cursed, blessed are those who don't go the way the world goes.

Blessed are those who value the things that God values.

You're poor in the world, but you're rich in heaven.

You're hungry in the world, but you're you're going to be satisfied in heaven.

You're going to be hated by the world because the world doesn't like hearing how evil they are and how they're living in the dark, but you're going to be blessed in heaven.

And as he's going through all of that, it's the identity or understanding that your attitude is God focused toward God and not toward the world.

But then he's going to continue and just kind of go through quickly in verse 27.

He says, But I say to you who hear, love your enemies.

This is radical.

Do good to those who hate you.

You've got to be kidding me.

I thought we were supposed to eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

I thought if somebody was mean to me, I could be mean to them.

I thought I had rights.

I thought I could I could treat people.

They cut me off in traffic.

I think I have the right to cut them off twice because they initiated, and it's all fair in love and war.

I thought we could do that, right?

He says, no, no, no, wait a minute.

When you follow me, you're made new in me, something's changing.

Love your enemies, verse 27.

Do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you.

Pray for those who mistreat you.

You're supposed to pray for these people?

Lord, you don't know how bad they are.

Lord, I've lived with this spouse.

I'm not this is not personal.

Okay.

This is an example.

Lord, I've lived with this spouse for so many years.

They're just badgering, badgering, badgering.

Lord, I've lived with this child, spoiled, rotten, and it's mine.

Well, how am I supposed to, Lord?

What Lord, this boss, you have no idea how bad this boss is.

He doesn't give except exceptions, he's saying, as we love other people, verse 27, he says, I love your enemies, not just your friends, love your enemies.

And your love toward your enemies is not dependent on their love towards you.

Whoa, wait a minute.

I thought we were supposed to just love the lovable.

I thought we were supposed to get along with those who like to get along.

He says, No.

Be merciful as your father is merciful.

God loves us even when, especially when, all the time when we are unlovable.

And he says that's the same type of mercy we're supposed to give toward others.

You see the golden rule in verse 31, treat others the same way you want them to treat you in verse 35.

In case we didn't get it the first time, he's going to say it again: Love your enemies and do good and lend.

Expect nothing in return.

And your reward will be great, and you will be sons.

You see what he's doing?

Be merciful as your father is merciful.

We're still on the family resemblance, looking like your parent.

You will be sons of the Most High, for He Himself is kind.

He himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

You can't manufacture this.

You can't say, Well, I'm going to try real hard to be real nice.

If your foundation is not Jesus Christ, this is physically, spiritually, emotionally impossible.

He's not giving you this to frustrate you, exasperate you, make you feel bad about yourself.

This is very much him lovingly saying, You got a problem, and until you come to me for the solution, all of this is going to be nonsense to you.

But once you come, once you listen, once you hear, something amazing starts to happen.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32

Notice the the wording.

Our attitudes, our actions, our loving our enemies, how we are to treat other people, all of that is not based upon our perceptions or our identity or who we think we are or what we should do.

It all starts with as God in Christ, verse 32 in Ephesians chapter 4, as God in Christ has also forgiven you.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

We love because he first loved us.

We forgive because he first forgave us.

We are merciful because he is merciful first.

So here's the beauty of the gospel.

You and I are not creating a religion.

We're not trying to do the best we can with what we got.

You and I come to the Lord and we say, Lord, you first.

And he says, I've been waiting.

I'm going to give you a new heart, no longer stone but now flesh, no longer cold but now warm, no longer, no longer dead, but now alive.

And when he gives us that new heart, he shows us himself first.

He shows us how he is loving toward those who are his enemies.

He shows us how he is forgiving to those who don't deserve forgiveness, which is why it's forgiveness.

He's showing us how to be merciful to those who are in need of mercy but don't deserve it.

See, this this is what he's doing.

This is what he's about.

And it the the the transparency and the permanence of what he is about.

Verse 37.

Luke chapter 6, verse 37.

Luke 6:37

Do not judge and you will not be judged, and do not condemn and you will not be condemned.

Pardon, and you will you will be pardoned.

What I want to do this morning, just briefly, as we're reviewing this sermon, I just want to give you these two main ideas.

We are to reflect the Father's mercy, and where we are to reflect the Father's grace.

You can't be merciful towards someone else until you understand his mercy towards you first.

And you can't be sincerely, truly merciful graceful, full of grace towards someone else until you receive that grace.

And I was thinking about this.

There's a story in the Gospel of Matthew of the unmerciful or the ungrateful servant, and how he was forgiven an exorbitant amount of money.

And then as soon as he was released from his debt, he found another servant who owed him just a few dollars, and he tortured or threatened to torture him and throw him into prison because he didn't understand the gift, he didn't understand the giver, he didn't understand what he received, and he there was a disconnect between the mercy of the master versus how he treated other people.

What Jesus is doing here in the Sermon on the Plain, he's saying, I'm not asking you to be merciful just in your own strength, in your own wisdom, in your own way.

I want you to know the mercy of God.

I want you to know the grace of God.

I want you to know what this is all about.

So let's look a little deeper into this.

Go back to verse 37.

He says, Do not judge and you will not be judged.

Do not condemn and you will not be condemned.

Pardon and you will be pardoned.

We talked about this last week, but let me just review real quick.

He's not talking about justice.

He's not talking about discernment.

He's not talking about whether or not good or evil or having court or understanding that someone needs to be convicted of a crime they've committed.

None of that is what he's talking about.

It's not the silliness where we say, well, I have no right to judge you.

I have no right to call you guilty because of a crime you've committed because the Bible says do not judge.

That's not the judgment he's talking about here.

He's not talking about not having a critical in the positive sense sense of understanding right from wrong, of understanding what is what is clear, what is true, what is good.

We have to have that discernment.

We have to have that understanding.

What he's talking about here, and they they use this long English word that to be honest, I wasn't really sure what it meant, and so I had to look it up.

So you have no Right to judge me for not knowing the word.

Well, yeah, you do.

Anyway, here we go.

Sin seriousness.

And it comes from the word censor, C-E-N-S-O-R, and then I sness.

So the word, and the silly thing is it's English.

Why do they use English words we don't know anyway?

Anyway, so anyway, what it is talking about is a critical, negative, condemning, fault-finding attitude where you're blind to your own need, you're blind to your own need, and you are very aware of what's wrong with everybody else.

You walk around with uh with uh the attitude that you have done nothing wrong, no faults, no problems, you minimize your issues, and you maximize everyone else.

That's the judge not, and you will not be judged.

He continues with condemn, do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

But I want to be clear the beauty of what he's referring to, what he's talking about, how he's helping us this morning, is the fact that he's going to go through these word pictures of those who are blind, who don't understand, false leaders, believing that they can see when they really can't see, but they don't understand that they're judgmental, self-righteous, they're hypocrites, versus truly following him.

So let's keep going and show you what I mean.

In verse 38, Luke chapter 6, verse 36 38, he says, Give, and it will be given to you.

Luke 6:36

They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.

So what he's doing, and I love the way he's giving this to us, he's saying, and it's kind of a way of saying this is what God does.

This is the freedom of God.

So you go back up to verse 37, and he finishes with pardon and you will be pardoned, or forgive and you will be forgiven.

And then in verse 38, give and it will be given to you.

Once again, it's because of the mercy and the grace of God, and he's saying, Let me give you a demonstration of how this works.

You could have a cut off, stymied, short-sighted, myopic view of yourself and think everyone else is so bad and you're so good.

Or you can be real.

You can be a man or woman of integrity, and you can admit the fact that you are in a sinner in need of a savior like everyone else, and that only by the mercy of God and the grace of God that you are going to be forgiven and have new life in Jesus Christ.

And when that happens, you're going to put aside that judgmental, condescending sinceriousness that you should not be about.

And you're going to realize that as you forgive, you are demonstrating, replicating, reflecting the forgiveness that God has given to you.

You're forgiven a little bit, he is forgiving you greatly.

You're forgiving someone who's truly guilty, but you are forgiven because you're more guilty than they will ever be.

And you understand your need for that.

The giving, verse 37.

Reflecting upon verse 38, reflecting on how God is so generous and so overwhelming and so giving in his relationship with us that it should reflect in how we treat other people.

So this this is where he's going with this, and I want to I want to bring these word pitchers to you to understand why he's giving them to us.

Scoot down to one of the last word pitchers in verse 41.

Luke chapter 6, verse 41.

Luke 6:41

He says, 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.

Look at what he's doing.

You reflect the Father's grace and mercy.

You understand that what we do is because of him.

But now you receive the Father's correction.

The correction isn't to make us just feel bad, so somehow we think that we've accomplished something just because we feel guilty or shame.

It's the correction of the doctor sitting across the table, and he has the diagnosis, he has the cure, and what God, in his love and his patience, and his grace and his mercy toward us, he says, I understand that you've got these issues.

Let me show you how this is going to work.

And he begins, let's scoot back up to verse 39.

He begins with these word pictures, these parables.

In verse 39, he says, 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?

Now let's just think about that for a sec.

What's that got to do with the Sermon on the Plain?

What's that got to do with loving your enemies and understanding blessings and cursings and all that he's been talking about, being merciful and graceful and trusting God in the midst of everything?

What he's referring to, because in other parts of the gospels, he calls the Pharisees blind guides.

What he's saying is, if you claim that you are a follower of me and you don't see this, you're not a follower of me.

If you claim that you've got all of the answers and that you can be righteous and religious and obey the law, and that's all you need without forgiveness of sin, you're blind.

And what's worse is you're going to lead other people who are just as blind as you are into the pit.

They're going to fall down, you're going to fall down, it's not going to do you and them any good.

So how do you know if you're blind or not?

Well, come back to what we just read.

You spend more time focused on other people's problems than dealing with your own.

You you focus on how everybody else is not living up to your expectations.

That's blind.

That's not mercy, that's not grace.

That's not that's not being sensitive to the Lord and forgiving as Christ has forgiven you.

This is this is so much more important and so much more significant than just get along, just be friendly to each other.

It's talking about your heart toward other people in your relationships.

You got a spouse, you've got a child, you've got a sibling, you've got a coworker, you've got a fellow student, and when they do or say or act in certain ways that makes you feel and do terrible things, how are you allowing them to change you?

Is it possible that there's something being exposed inside of you in the heart of hearts?

That God is as a correction, as a discipline, as a loving diagnosis, saying, You're not building your life on my cornerstone.

You're not you're not doing it my way.

Okay, that's the first word pitcher.

Then he keeps going in verse 40 and he gives us another one.

A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher.

So if you decide to go to the way of legalism, if you decide to go the way of self-righteousness, if you decide to follow in the in the Pharisees' tendencies and systems and programs, you're not going to get any better than that.

You don't get to switch sides, you don't get to say, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna follow the law and make every make sure everyone does what I want them to do, and then whenever it's all said and done, then I'll follow Jesus.

No, no, no.

You follow Jesus.

You're not gonna get any further.

That's what he's talking about in verse 40.

You're not gonna get any further than the Pharisees.

Now come back to the verse we just read.

Verse 41.

Why do you look at that the speck?

And the word in the in the original language is the same word for twig, small piece of wood, very insignificant, the the the things that you you sweep up or you clean up after you've done some wood projects.

Why do you look at that speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Once again, speaking to blind, to those who think they see, but they really don't see.

Think they understand, but they really don't understand.

And so he uses in his grace and his mercy and his love for you and for me, he uses these word pictures, and he's saying, Do you understand what's happening here?

In verse 41, you have this log, this beam, this telephone pole, this it's the same word for a supporting beam in a in a house or a building.

You've got this big thing sticking out of your face, and you're walking around with this big thing sticking out of your face, and the people around you have a little twig, and you walk over and you whop them upside the head because you're trying to get to their twig, and they're like, What are you doing?

Take care of the log before you deal with my twig.

Now understand, back to the judgmental attitude and condescending and censoriousness and all of that.

He's not saying we don't help each other out, we don't bear one another's burdens, we don't expose, um, we don't confess, we don't, we don't go to one-on-one for sin and church discipline.

He's not negating any of that.

He's saying the first thing you do is you get that log out of your own eye, you get that blindness out of your own eye.

Have you ever been in a social situation where you've been walking around like in a party and you got the you got the people gathering around, you go, I'm not a party guy, so I'm using I'm using the example.

I don't go do it.

But anyway, you're walking around and you go with a party, and you're you're walking around and you see someone who you you know but you don't know really well, and they come out of the bathroom and there's a smudge or something dropping that doesn't, or there's something stuck in there and they're in there.

You're thinking, okay, do I say something or do I do do I just let it go?

And you know, you know that other people are gonna see this too, and you're like, I don't, I don't wanna, but I don't want to embarrass them, but they're gonna be embarrassed.

And if you don't say something, as soon as they see a mirror again, they're gonna be they're gonna be humiliated.

Okay, am I the only one this has happened to?

You all look at me like, wow, Byron, where do you hang out?

I'm telling you, this happens.

Now, how cruel is it for us to to just pretend there's nothing wrong?

That's uh Jesus is saying, you've got to get that log out.

And honestly, if Jesus didn't show us and didn't tell us, we wouldn't know it.

We would think we're self-righteous.

We would, that's by definition, that's what that means.

You think you're righteous on your own.

You think you got it figured out.

You you don't you think your face looks great, and then the mirror comes along and you say, Oh, I got that broccoli stuck right in the middle of my teeth, and it doesn't look too good.

Okay, was that too crude?

Y'all look at me like I did something wrong.

You and I, we have to we have to be honest.

There's this there's this this persona, maybe, that we try to to put off that we got it all figured out?

Show of hands, perfection in the room, anyone, anyone, anyone?

No, not not in and of ourselves.

That we are we are a hotbed of mess of of hearts that that are so so prone to wander.

We we have so many issues that this side of glory that God is working in us and through us, but we have no right to say that we've got it all figured out and no one else does.

And we definitely don't have the right to walk around and say that we we've got all the right answers and everyone else is wrong until they follow me.

That's not what this is.

That's not what we we can't do.

That's so as Jesus is talking about this this log and this speck, he can he says in verse 42, how or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the speck that is in your own eye when you yourself do not see.

See, that's back to the blind.

You don't see the log that is in your own eye.

I've heard it said that people don't come to church because there's a bunch of hypocrites.

Well, it's true.

There are, and we are, but you've got to be careful because coming to the body of Christ, coming to him humbly, is admitting that we need him.

And if we spend more time pushing other people away or c or claiming what's wrong with them, and less time dealing with the log in our own eye, then yeah, we are hypocrites.

But what if, what if, by the grace of God and the mercy of God, what if we spent less time focused on other people's issues and spent more time dealing with our issues with our Lord so that we could be instruments of his grace and his mercy toward other people.

That's the sermon.

That's the foundation, that's what he's after.

So he has these word pictures, and there's a few more.

Let me go over them just for a moment.

And all of them are talking about the same thing.

I love how he's doing this.

He continues in verse 43.

He says, For there's no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

Back to the blind and the scene, to those who are built on the rock versus those who are built on the sand, those who are wise versus those who are foolish.

He's saying, You can't you can't use that whole whole excuse, rationalization, where you see somebody do something wrong and you say, Well, they have a good heart.

No, they don't.

Because the point is you can't get good fruit out of bad bad and bad fruit out of good.

The tree has integrity and it produces the fruit of which it has been created to produce.

Not just the tree, uh, verse 44, 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.

But then one more word pitcher before he finishes with the last big one.

He says, 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.

You can't fabricate this.

You can't prime the pump, you can't make believe, you can't you can't fake it till you make it.

Your heart is either with Jesus or it's not.

You either are on the solid rock, the cornerstone, or you are not.

You're not you're not basing your faith upon your actions, but your faith produces fruit.

You're not saying that I do all these perfect things so that I'll go to heaven when I die.

You're saying, Lord, help me, I am a sinner, have mercy on me.

He's gonna have the story just a few chapters later about the tax collector and the and the Pharisee.

Lord, have mercy on me as sinner.

If you and I come to Jesus that way, if you and I humble ourselves before him, if we're honest with ourselves, if we let him do some serious eye surgery and show us the truth.

Oh, I gotta tell you the freedom in that.

I I gotta tell you the liberty in that.

I shouldn't.

Yeah, I should.

Yeah, I will.

I started.

Here we go.

A few weeks ago I was having an issue with another brother in Christ, doesn't go to this church.

And I was, it was starting to really, it was really starting to get to me.

It was affecting my mood, my attitude.

I wish I could stand up here and tell you I've got this sermon down, Pat.

I do not.

And I I've had to study this scripture while I'm going through this anyway.

Great.

And it just hit me.

I don't, I know, I know this is truth.

The thought as I was reading the verses, do you think maybe your brother needs grace and mercy as much as you do?

And I asked forgiveness, and it was like the floodgates of heaven just opened up.

And I started looking at him in a way I hadn't looked at him before.

Now, he still does stuff wrong, and I still do stuff wrong.

We still mess up.

But the freedom, folks, the the joy of knowing we're all sinners saved by grace, in need of his mercy, in need of his grace.

Understanding how that impacts us, how that changes us.

Just spending a few minutes, be honest.

Take some time before your Lord and let Him tell you the truth.

That's what this sermon is about.

There's a few verses, and I'm I'm not going to belabor it, but I wanted to just hit these real quick.

They're just quick examples.

Take me two seconds, I'll just read them to you.

Check it out.

I had the acronym that came to mind as I was I was studying this.

Have you heard that think before?

T-H-I-N-K?

Is it true?

Is it helpful?

Is it inspiring?

Is it necessary?

Is it kind?

And there's biblical precedent for these, and I won't belabor it, but I just wanted to show you a few of them.

Let no unwholesome word, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who are here.

Ephesians 4:29

Did you see what he's doing?

Speaking the truth in love.

Says this unwholesome words, as they come out, you stop that and you start breathing grace.

That's literally what it means to those who hear.

Folks, we we need some logs taken out, and we think that we can say whatever we want, however we want to say it, and we'll use the excuse.

Well, I was only telling the truth.

No, you were being a dweeb, and you use truth as a cover for how you felt towards someone else.

I'm sorry if that's a little frank, I apologize.

Come back to the verse.

We guard our mouth so that when we speak to another another person, we want grace for them.

We want to build them up.

We want them to draw closer to Jesus instead of get madder and get hurt and offended.

We want Jesus for them.

We want to be merciful as Father is merciful.

We want to be graceful as God is graceful.

One other verse, 1 Peter.

I thought about this one too, and there's more, but these are the two I wanted to give to you.

1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10.

1 Peter 4:10

As each one has received a special gift, employed in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

You and I are on mission.

We're secret agents, not so secret, but we're agents of grace.

That you and I get to be stewards of God's grace in our lives, and then we get to be that recipient and that giver of grace in other people's lives.

The grace doesn't originate with us, just like the love doesn't and the mercy doesn't.

But what he's saying in 1 Peter chapter 4 is as you are in the body of Christ and you're living this faith, something happens where you get to be the instrument where God's grace moves in other people's lives.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

And you get to stand back and say, what by the grace of God?

Exactly.

It's because he's working, he's doing what only he could do for his glory.

Now, once again, remember the difference between a foolish builder and a wise builder.

Remember the difference between foundation on the rock versus foundation on the sand.

The only difference, it isn't how they looked.

They both need repair.

They both need work.

But the primary significant difference is the fact that one is built upon the rock of Jesus Christ and the other is not.

One has a foundation that allows the mercy and grace of God to flow into their life.

So in times of trouble, in times of crisis, when enemies attack, they have the love of God flowing through them toward other people.

It's not calling evil good, it's not pretending bad things don't happen.

It's all, it's none of that.

It's saying, by the grace of God, I get to walk with him, and as I'm walking with him, I get to live my life of faith toward others.

One last verse.

Colossians chapter 2, verse 6.

Colossians 2:6

It says, Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.

Just in case you're not hearing it, I'm about done, I promise.

As you have received, how did you receive Jesus Christ?

Faith and repentance.

How did you receive Jesus Christ?

By the mercy of God, by the grace of God.

How did you receive Jesus Christ?

Not in your own works, not in your own efforts, not your own strength, not on your own wisdom, not in your own power.

How did you receive Jesus Christ?

You received him by his working in you for his glory.

So he says in verse 6, so walk in him.

So live like that.

So continue, continue living by repentance and faith.

Continue depending upon his love and his grace and his mercy.

And I love what he does in verse 7.

He's saying, having been firmly rooted, here's the foundation idea again.

Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Establishing your faith and overflowing with gratitude.

Too blessed to be stressed.

Realizing the grace of God that's coming towards you and how he wants us to be gracious, loving, merciful toward other people.

You know, it's a funny thing what we do.

How we we treat other people and act toward other people.

So let me let me let me finish with this.

We have a tendency, and it's not universal, it's not 100% of the time, but we have a tendency, we have a tendency to be very patient and generous and gracious with ourselves, and very critical and short-tempered and impatient with other people.

There was a book a number of years ago uh called Umoffendable, and he gave a great illustration.

I love how he put this.

He said, I I go to this uh this gym to work out every morning, and the parking lot has a funny way of getting in and getting out of.

And so as I'm leaving the parking lot, as I'm leaving the parking lot, I'm right there at the stop sign, and it's hard to maneuver to turn the right way and to do it the way I'm supposed to do it, and and I make a mistake.

I I accidentally go when I should have stopped and somebody honks at me, and I I am I feel so bad, and I just I'm so sorry.

And I wish I could tell them it wasn't on purpose, it was an accident, and the day goes on.

And he says, if that was it, that would be enough.

A few weeks later, he's driving by, driving by where he works out.

He's not in the parking lot, he's actually on the street outside of the parking lot, and in his words, this silly man pulls out in front of me like he's never been driving his whole life.

What's wrong with this guy?

Then it hits him.

I was that guy, and I'm a lot more patient with me making the mistake than someone else.

When you follow Jesus Christ, you get the log out of your own eye.

And all of that grace, warranted or not, that you've been trying to put on yourself, why don't you spread it out a little bit?

Why don't you start seeing people through gospel-colored glasses?

Why don't you let God be the judge?

Let God give the verdict?

Why don't you let God be God?

And why don't you and I just let's just show up for duty.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, I thank you that we get to spend a few minutes reflecting on your words.

I thank you that you're merciful, that you're gracious, that you are forgiving, that you are giving.

I thank you that you give in ways we can't even begin to understand or imagine.

And Lord, right now, over the next few moments, I pray for our hearts toward you and toward other people.

Where we have been judgmental, critical, condescending, Lord, would you grant forgiveness?

Where we have condemned, and we've had a condemning attitude, and stifled the grace of God flowing through our life.

Would you forgive us?

Lord, would you open our eyes to who you are, to what you do, and how you bless.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Would you stand with me, please?

I want to I want to tell you over the next few moments, we're going to have a time of prayer to dismiss.

I'm going to have Pastor Adam come forward and close us in prayer, but after he has finished in prayer, some of the pastors, deacons will stay down here if you want to spend some time in prayer, if you want to spend some time with your Lord.

We are done here when everybody's done here.

So you spend you spend time as you feel the need.

Heard God's word preached this morning.

So thankful for the grace that He bestows upon us.

Let's have a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for this message, Lord.

We thank you for your mercy and your grace.

For not giving us what we do deserve and giving us so much that we don't deserve.

The way it's been extended to us.

We've been so wonderfully forgiven of so great a list of things.

Help us in the same way to show grace and mercy.

Be with us now as we go our separate ways, Lord.

Amen.