Following the King

Luke chapter 6 verses 37 to 49.

Luke 6:37–49

He also told them a parable.

Can a blind man lead a blind man?

Will they not both fall into a pit?

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.

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

How can you say to your brother,

Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye.

When you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye, you hypocrite.

First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit.

For each tree is known by its own fruit.

For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

The good person, out of the good treasure of his heart, produces good.

And the evil person, out of his evil treasure, produces evil.

For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

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

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like.

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

And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

This is God's authoritative word.

Heavenly Father, we come to you now wanting to hear from you.

Lord, apart from the humility that Christ exemplified for us, we cannot rightly hear this message.

To peel back our self-righteousness, our pride.

To humble ourselves.

To follow you, who alone is the true teacher.

That can lead us to eternal life and salvation.

So won't you please lead us, speak to us through your word.

Humble us and help us to believe and obey.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Last week we studied the core of Jesus' ethical teaching.

And the command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

And the command even to love our enemies.

And do good even to those who hate us and who do no good to us.

And in today's passage, Jesus concludes teaching by really calling for self-examination.

That are we true followers of Christ or not?

What do true followers of Christ look like?

And the main point of this passage is that we should follow Christ,

who is the good teacher that saves us from our sins.

And we'll just go through the sections.

Forgiveness of Christ, follower of Christ, fruit of Christ,

and the foundation of Christ that Jesus talks about in turn.

And in the first section that I'm covering, verses 37 to 38,

I read it last week because it's actually really part of last week's passage that I read.

It fits better in that context.

But because the sermon was getting too long, I didn't preach that.

So I'm just going to tack this on to the last week's message if I can and go with the rest of it.

Because in the preceding passage, Jesus taught us to love our enemies and do good even to those who are evil

because we're imitating our heavenly Father.

And verse 36 ended by saying,

And so 37 and 38 are really continuing that thought, explaining what being merciful looks like.

And Jesus explains that command to be merciful by giving two further negative commands

and two positive commands that go with that.

So he says,

Judge not, and you will not be judged.

Condemn not, and you will not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and it will be given to you.

This is a favorite verse that non-Christians like to quote two Christians.

Maybe you've had this quoted to you before.

Didn't Jesus teach you not to judge?

Stop telling me that what I'm doing is sinful.

You're so judgmental.

However, the command not to judge here does not mean that we cannot form any kind of moral judgments.

If you believe in any kind of morality, you have to form moral judgments in order to function in society, right?

You have to be able to say that some things are morally right while other things are morally wrong.

That kind of judgment is fundamental to and necessary for anyone who has a conscience.

So the command to judge not does not mean that you shouldn't form any moral judgments.

If that were the case, there would be no rule of law, no courts, no church discipline,

which blatantly contradicts the teaching of Scripture from other places.

So the command to judge not is rather more helpfully explained by the parallel phrase in verse 37.

Condemn not.

There's nothing wrong with calling sin a sin,

as long as that moral judgment is shared with love

and an earnest desire that that person would repent from his or her sin

and turn to God for forgiveness.

But when we judge, not inviting them toward God's mercy,

but instead shunning them with condemnation,

we're disobeying Jesus' command.

If we're self-righteous, if instead of mourning over people's sins,

we are gloating over their sins

and eagerly pointing the finger of condemnation toward them,

then we're disobeying Jesus' command.

So in that case, we're placing ourselves in the seat of God's judgment

where only He deserves to sit.

And if we presume to sit on God's judgment seat by condemning others,

God Himself says that He will condemn us.

The assumed subject of the passive verbs in verses 37 and 38 is God.

Judge not, and you will not be judged by God.

Condemn not, and you will not be condemned by God.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven by God.

Give, and it will be given to you by God.

This is what Greek grammarians call the divine passive.

It assumes that God's the one who's acting and working in us and doing these things.

And earlier in verse 31, Jesus commanded us,

As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

And so here in verses 37 and 38, God promised that as we do to others, He will do to us.

This does not mean that we are saved by our good works.

Salvation is a gift from God.

We are saved by God.

We are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

But those who are saved do good works.

You guys see the difference?

And because those who are saved do good works,

our good works become the basis for God's judgment in the end.

We are saved by grace, but judged by our works.

This is why we are commanded in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32,

Ephesians 4:32

to forgive one another as God in Christ forgave you.

It's because God has already forgiven us.

We are to forgive one another.

And God's forgiveness is the basis for our forgiveness.

And for this reason, when we don't forgive one another,

God will judge us as unforgiven people.

We will not receive His forgiveness on the day of judgment.

That's the meaning of condemn not, and you will not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

And because forgiveness involves bearing the pain

and really the cost of that person's offense against you,

it's naturally connected to the idea of giving.

And verse 38 says,

Give, and it will be given to you.

In the same way that we generously offer forgiveness to those who wrong us,

we are to give generously of our finances as well.

And Jesus promises this to those who are generous.

He says,

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together,

running over will be put into your lap.

For with the measure you use,

it will be measured back to you.

This is an illustration from kind of farming and commerce of agricultural goods.

For example, when selling corn kernels in this day and age,

they would really pour a measure into a container.

And they would shake it up to make sure that it occupies all this,

there's no empty space in the container.

And they would press it down to make sure that there is no extra room.

They'll pour some more, then they shall get some more.

And then they'll literally, in order to give a full measure,

keep on top of it so that it's overflowing,

and then pour that into someone's lap

to ensure that they are not getting deprived or cheated in any way.

So that's a way a very generous seller would pour,

lavish this thing that they're getting from them.

And that's what God promises.

If you give generously, if you give to others,

I will pour back to you in good measure,

pressed down, shaken together, running over onto your lap.

And then for with the measure you use,

it will be measured back to you.

And this is consistent with the way God has taught us throughout Scripture.

In Proverbs 11, 24 to 25,

It says,

To give to those who don't do evil to us,

and to lend to those,

give to those who have no way of returning the favor in any way.

Because the reason, the basis for this is that God will reward us.

If you give to poor who cannot repay you,

God will reward you for that.

And so entrusting ourselves to God's repayment

is what enables us to give selflessly and sacrificially in this life,

without expecting anything in return.

And so then that tells us that the key to Christian generosity

is not wealth,

but faith in God's generosity.

We give not out of the abundance of wealth,

but out of the abundance of faith

that God, who is generous, will give.

That's the first point.

And the second point,

we see what it means to be the follower of Christ,

the forgiveness of Christ.

It goes with last week's passage.

And here, Jesus really is concluding

His main ethical teaching,

and starting in verse 39,

He calls His followers to self-examination,

and He exhorts them to respond to His teaching

by following Him and obeying His commands.

So He begins in verse 39.

He also told them a parable.

Can a blind man lead a blind man?

Will they not both fall into a pit?

So Jesus uses two illustrations here

to make the point that His hearers should follow Him.

First illustration is one of a blind man, right?

Following a blind man.

And of course, it's absurd for a blind man

to try to lead another blind man.

And Jesus uses this picture to warn His disciples

that they should be careful whom they follow.

Because following someone who is spiritually blind

will lead them to fall into a pit.

And as I mentioned last week,

Jesus' teaching here is directed primarily

at His disciples.

But there is a larger crowd,

those who are around Him,

that are not His disciples,

which includes probably His critics,

the Pharisees and the scribes as well.

They're part of the great multitude of the people

who are not His disciples.

And especially because Jesus' teaching

was preceded by,

His sermon on the plain

was preceded by His confrontation with the Pharisees.

It's hard to ignore the fact

that Jesus has the Pharisees in mind

in the background as He says this.

And in Matthew 15, 14,

actually Jesus explicitly calls out the Pharisees

as blind guides.

So He says,

If the blind lead the blind,

both will fall into a pit.

And Jesus makes a follow-up point in verse 40.

A disciple is not above his teacher,

but everyone, when he is fully trained,

will be like his teacher.

In the ancient world,

the teacher-disciple-student relationship

was much more personal and intimate

than it is now.

Nowadays, there's a lot more self-study, right?

Because there's an abundance of books

and other digital resources

that we can access so readily available.

But in the ancient world,

they didn't have that,

so the students follow their teachers around everywhere,

and they would watch them

and learn from their example,

and they would learn through oral instruction primarily,

if the teacher is teaching them

in what they say to them.

And so given that background,

Jesus is teaching His disciples

that the teacher sets the upper limit,

the ceiling of what the disciples can learn

and become.

And so because of that,

they should be all the more thoughtful and careful

about whom they choose to follow as their teacher.

The implication.

The implication, of course,

is that they should not follow blind guides

like the Pharisees,

but that they should follow Him

and seek to become more like Him.

So who would you say are the people in your life

that you follow?

Who are the teachers in your life?

The one you tend to rely on for guidance in life.

Maybe it's a college professor,

a pastor, or a community group leader,

an author,

a YouTube personality?

Whoever it might be,

you should make sure that your teacher

is following Christ.

Because you're going to end up where he or she is.

And if you are someone that others look up to and follow,

then you should make sure that you are not blind

and that you are faithfully following Christ.

As Robert Murray Mishane,

he's a 19th century Scottish pastor,

he once famously said this,

the greatest need of my people

is my own holiness.

Your followers will become like you.

That's a sobering thought

that should make any aspiring leader tremble.

Makes me tremble.

Continuing the theme of spiritual sight,

Jesus says in verses 41 to 42,

Why do you see the speck

that is in your brother's eye,

but do not notice the log

that is in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother,

Brother, let me take out the speck

that is in your eye.

When you yourself do not see the log

that is in your own eye,

you hypocrite.

First, take the log out of your own eye

and then you will see clearly

to take out the speck

that is in your brother's eye.

The word log refers to

one of the main beams of a house.

When you're building a house,

like that cross beam

that goes through the entire structure.

And speck refers to a small flake of wood,

something like sawdust maybe

that you've seen before.

And so imagine two construction workers

building a house together

and one of them has the cross beam

of the house sticking out of his eye.

Obviously, that's not even possible.

He'd be dead, right?

But just imagine the scene.

And this is supposed to be funny.

And he looks at his co-worker

who has a little sawdust in his eye

and he looks to him and says,

Hey, man, hey,

you have sawdust in your eye.

Come here.

Let me get that out for you.

It's ridiculous, right?

It's Jesus using a humorous illustration

to expose our prideful human tendency

to be hyper-aware of the shortcomings

and sins of other people

but unaware of our own shortcomings and sins.

That's a natural human sinful tendency.

Jesus calls this man with the log in his eye

a hypocrite,

which in the Greek means actor or pretender.

The man is a pretender

because if he were really serious

about dealing with sin,

he would have dealt with his own sin,

own graver sins,

before confronting his brother.

But instead, consciously or not,

he pretends to be concerned

for the holiness of his brother

when he is really primarily concerned

with elevating himself above his brother.

It's so easy to fall into this kind of hypocrisy, isn't it?

A boss at work berates an employee

for a small mistake that he made,

pointing out the fact that he has no attention to detail

and that he is incompetent

and wasting his time and pay.

But as he does this,

he fails to see that his self-righteousness,

unrighteousness, prideful judgment,

excessive anger, and harsh speech

are far bigger problems

than his employees' lack of attention to detail.

A wife seems lonely and depressed

and asks her husband to stay home one evening

to spend time with her

instead of going out to the work social.

The husband responds by trying to remove

the speck from her eye,

giving a sanctimonious lecture

on how much he sacrifices for her,

telling her callously

that she just needs to be more joyful in the Lord,

and finally accusing her of being selfish

and needy.

But as he does this,

the husband fails to see

the log in his own eye,

that because of his daily evening ritual

of sports watching and video gaming,

and because of his weekly weekend ritual

of golf outings with his buddies,

that he has hardly nourished and cherished his wife

as the Bible calls him to,

and his selfishness and neglect of his wife

are far greater faults before the eyes of God

than his wife's despondency.

He's like an ophthalmologist

trying to perform a delicate eye surgery

while he himself has a golf ball-sized cataract

in his eyes

that prevents him from seeing clearly.

Now, all this to say,

this doesn't mean that,

as Christians,

we can never bring correction

to a fellow believer.

Colossians 3.16 tells us,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

teaching and admonishing one another

in all wisdom.

We're commanded,

every single believer,

to admonish one another,

to speak the truth in love to one another.

The Bible commands this.

But it does mean

that we should examine ourselves

and acknowledge our own faults

and confess our own sins

before confronting someone else.

Our own shortcomings and sins

can blind us from seeing other people's

shortcomings and sins clearly.

So what are some logs in your life?

Of course, the trouble is that

for some of us,

we have had these logs

lodged in our eyes for so long,

it's hard for us to see it.

Lorraine Quig,

who was an FBI

counterintelligence operative,

an undercover agent for 25 years,

knows something about deception.

And she writes in her book

that the most difficult kind of deception

to uncover

is actually self-deception.

She says,

we've carefully,

she says here,

we tell ourselves

we want to know the truth,

but we're very selective

about the kind of truth we seek.

About others?

Yes.

And usually about world events

and situations that impact us directly.

But we are less receptive

to revelations about ourselves.

We've carefully packaged ourselves

to look and act

in a manner that ensures success

in the world.

Our ego has dressed us up

for so long

that many of us

don't even know

how to begin

to peel back

the layers of illusion,

to expose cold,

hard facts

about ourselves.

That's why we need help.

So take time this week

to ask a trusted Christian brother

or sister

to help you identify

any logs

in your life

that you're

oblivious to

but it's obvious

to others.

The existence of logs

in our eyes

necessitates

mutual admonishment

among church members.

But before admonishing

one another,

we should examine

ourselves.

That's the call.

And having spoken

of the blind,

leading the blind,

and a man whose sight

is obscured by a log

trying to help another man

with a speck in his eye,

Jesus explains

the need for self-examination

further in verses 43 to 45.

This is where he talks

about the fruit

of Christ.

We know that this passage

is a further explanation

of the preceding verses

because it begins

with the word for.

He says,

For,

no good tree

bears bad fruit,

nor again does a bad tree

bear good fruit.

For each tree

is known by its own fruit.

For figs are not gathered

from thorn bushes,

nor are grapes

picked from a bramble bush.

The good person

out of the good treasure

of his heart

produces good.

And the evil person

out of his evil treasure

produces evil.

For out of the abundance

of the heart

his mouth speaks.

Once again,

the theme

is self-examination.

This time,

Jesus begins

with the very simple

observation

that a good tree

cannot bear bad fruit,

and that a bad tree

cannot bear good fruit.

This is an impossibility.

A good tree

cannot bear bad fruit.

Likewise,

thorn bushes

don't produce figs,

nor do bramble bushes

produce grapes.

Figs are a delicious,

nutritious fruit

that grow in the Middle East,

and of course,

you wouldn't expect

to find that

among the thorn bushes.

And the bramble bush,

likewise,

has prickles and thorns,

and its leaves

are serrated.

You can get cut

by the leaves as well.

So it might make

a good alternative

for a barbed wire,

but you're not going

to find any grapes

growing on them,

and this is

the obvious observation.

But from this,

Jesus makes

the insightful

spiritual observation

that the good person

out of the good treasure

of his heart

produces good,

and the evil person

out of his evil treasure

produces evil,

for out of the abundance

of the heart

his mouth speaks.

There are several things

that are very interesting

about this,

about verse 45.

First,

Jesus doesn't use

the same absolute

formulation

that he used

in his illustrations.

Notice that Jesus

doesn't say

the good person

does not

or cannot

produce evil.

He does not say

the evil person

does not

or cannot

produce good.

Instead,

Jesus rewards it

in a general

positive formulation.

He says,

the good person

out of the good

treasure of his heart

produces good,

and the evil person

out of his evil treasure

produces evil.

This is a general truth.

It's not that

this is what

is generally true

of good people

and good evil people,

that you can tell

by their fruit

what they do

in their lives.

We saw earlier

that Jesus called

his disciples

to do good

even to their enemies.

So the same idea

here of doing good

refers to doing

something that's

morally good,

something good works,

what we might call

good works.

And so he makes

the point,

it's not that a good

person can never

do any wrong,

but that there's

a consistency there

and a pattern there

that a good person

does good things.

Because what the person

does flows out

from the treasure

of his heart.

This is an extremely

important principle

because our actions

and speech

are not caused

by our circumstances

or our environment,

but by our hearts.

it's our sinful

human tendency

to blame others.

And so we say,

well, if my roommates

weren't so lazy

and incompetent,

then I wouldn't be

so frustrated and angry.

It's tempting

to think that way,

but the sinful anger

comes from

your own heart.

If only I made

more money,

then I wouldn't be

so greedy

and stingy.

It's tempting

to think that way,

but greed

comes from

your own heart.

The circumstances

provide the context

for your behavior,

but they are not

the cost.

After a concrete floor

is laid

in a building,

on a building,

sometimes engineers

do a load test

to investigate

its structural integrity.

If there's not

enough compressive

strength in the concrete,

it will crack

under the weight.

And when concrete

fails in this way,

the cause of the failure

is not the weight,

but the concrete's

lack of structural integrity.

It was already

defective,

and the weight

merely exposed

that defect.

And that's the same

thing here.

This calls for

honest self-evaluation.

We should look

around ourselves,

look at the fruit

of our lives,

in our families,

in our church,

in our workplaces.

Am I bearing

good fruit

or bad fruit?

Because the fruit

we produce

outwardly reflects

what's inside

our hearts.

While this is true

generally of all

behaviors,

Jesus has a

particular emphasis,

focus in this passage

on our speech.

He concludes

verse 45.

This is the second

surprising thing

about this verse.

For out of the

abundance of the

heart,

his mouth speaks.

The heart is

the fountain

of the mouth.

What comes out

of the mouth

comes up

from the heart.

This focus

on speech

connects this passage

back to verses

39 to 42,

where Jesus

mentioned a teacher

who misleads

his disciple

and a man

who brings

misguided correction

to his brother.

There's a particular

warning here

to those who

aspire to teach

others,

those who speak

a lot.

For out of the

abundance,

the overflow

of the heart,

your mouth speaks.

So we are to

guard our hearts,

guard your inner

life,

guard what you

love and cherish

in your heart,

and make sure

that you examine

the fruit of any

teacher you acquire

for yourself.

who then

is the teacher

that we should

follow?

That's the main

point that Jesus

has been getting

at all this time,

and he makes it

explicit in verses

46 to 49,

when he talks

about the foundation

of Christ.

He says in verses

46 to 47,

why do you call

me Lord,

Lord,

and not do

what I tell you?

Everyone who

comes to me

and hears my

words and does

them,

I will show

you what he

is like.

What's the point

of calling Jesus

Lord,

or Master,

Teacher,

or God,

if you don't

do what he

tells you?

The repetition

of the word

Lord is emphatic,

and it kind of

almost suggests

this kind of

insincere

servility.

It's someone

who is fawning

over Jesus.

Oh, Lord,

Lord,

teach us.

Lord,

Lord,

lead us.

Lord,

Lord,

speak to us.

But it's all

a show.

It's a hypocrisy.

Because they

don't do

what he

says.

Earlier in

chapter,

earlier in

this chapter,

Luke 6,

Luke 6:18

verse 18,

before Jesus

began the

sermon,

we are told

that a great

multitude of

people came

to hear him.

The word

come and

word hear,

these two

words are

repeated in

verse 47,

as Jesus

brings this

sermon to a

close.

But he adds

a third word,

a new word.

He says,

everyone who

comes to

me and

hears my

words and

does them,

I will show

you what he

is like.

It's,

yes,

they've come

to hear him,

but coming

is not

enough.

Hearing is

not enough.

You must

do what

Jesus has

taught you

to do.

As

Christians,

we love to

pray for

discernment and

guidance in

our lives,

don't we?

I'm the same

way.

And it's good

and right

that we

desire to

figure out

what God's

will is for

us so we

can follow

him.

But for

every decision

where his

will is not

perfectly clear

and we need

to exercise

discernment and

wisdom and

prayer,

for every one

of those,

there are

hundreds of

decisions where

God's will

is perfectly

clear and

revealed to

us in

his word,

the

scriptures.

believers.

You might

not know what

your long-term

career is

supposed to

be,

but you do

know this

from Colossians

3.23,

that whatever

you do,

work heartily

as for the

Lord and

not for

men.

You might

not know

exactly who

you're supposed

to marry,

but you do

know this.

2 Corinthians

6.14 says,

do not be

unequally yoked

with unbelievers.

1 Thessalonians

4.3 says,

abstain from

sexual immorality.

You know

these things

which refers

to any

sexual immorality

outside of

marriage.

You want

to know

more of

God's will

in your

life.

Are you

obeying

what you

already know

about God's

will in

your life?

We always

want God

to speak to

us,

but if God

were to

speak right

now in

an audible

way,

would you

obey Him?

Because God

has spoken

to us.

through Jesus

Christ.

And God's

word has

been recorded

and preserved

for us

in this

book.

Maybe

there's a

lack of

clarity

in our

lives

regarding

God's

will

because

there's

a lack

of

obedience

in our

lives

regarding

what God

has already

revealed.

God's

need for

obedience

is the

point of

the

illustration

that Jesus

uses in

verses 48

to 49.

He is like

a man

building a

house

who dug

deep and

laid the

foundation

on the

rock

and when

a flood

arose,

the stream

broke

against the

house

and could

not shake

it

because it

had been

well built.

But the

one who

hears

and does

not do

them is

like a

man who

built a

house on

the ground

without a

foundation.

When the

stream broke

against it,

immediately it

fell and

the ruin of

that house

was great.

The person

who obeys

Jesus'

teaching is

building a

house on

the rock,

on a

foundation,

which will

withstand the

floods that

rise up

against it.

But the

person who

disobeys

Jesus'

teaching is

building a

house without

a foundation,

just on

the dirt,

which will

collapse

immediately

into great

ruin when

the judgment

of God's

flood comes.

This image

is an

allusion to

Ezekiel

13,

9-14,

where God

denounces the

false prophets

of Israel.

He says this

to the false

prophets,

My hand

will be

against the

prophets who

see false

visions and

who give

lying divinations.

They shall

not be in

the council

of my

people,

nor be

enrolled in

the register

of the

house of

Israel,

nor shall

they enter

the land

of Israel,

and you

shall know

that I

am the

Lord God,

precisely

because they

have misled

my people,

saying,

Peace,

when there

is no

peace,

and because

when the

people build

a wall,

these prophets

smear it

with whitewash,

say to those

who smear it

with whitewash,

that it shall

fall.

There will

be a

deluge of

rain,

and you,

O great

hailstones,

will fall,

and a stormy

wind break out,

and when the

wall falls,

will it not

be said to

you,

where is the

coating with

which you

smeared it?

Therefore,

thus says the

Lord God,

I will make

a stormy

wind break

out in my

wrath,

and there

shall be a

deluge of

rain in my

anger,

and great

hailstones in

wrath to make

a full end,

and I will

break down the

wall that you

have smeared

with whitewash,

and bring it

down to the

ground,

so that its

foundation will

be laid bare.

God's judgment

was at hand

against sinful

Israel,

but the false

prophets of

Israel were

giving them

false assurances,

proclaiming peace

when there is no

peace in sight,

and by doing

that,

they were

basically smearing

whitewash on a

wall that was

about to crumble.

Instead of fixing

the cracks on the

wall,

they masked it

with whitewash,

and pretended like

everything was

okay,

and God

promised to

send a flood

of rain that

will tear down

the wall and

expose their

hypocrisy.

Jesus making a

similar point.

If we hear

Jesus,

but don't obey

him,

we are whitewashing

our walls that

are crumbling

down.

We're building a

house without a

foundation.

We're pretending

that obedience

doesn't matter.

We're pretending

that our sins

are not serious,

and Jesus warns

us,

if you do that,

the house of your

life will fall

into great ruin

on that day

of judgment.

Our sins

are grave,

and they have

eternal consequences.

You must repent

and turn to Jesus

for salvation.

You must turn

to him in faith,

cling to him,

and follow him

in obedience.

This is an

urgent and

desperate

situation.

exactly a month

ago,

a mining

dam

in

Burmadino,

Brazil,

collapsed due

to structural

failure.

And the New York

Times posted a

frightening video

of the incident.

I don't know if

you guys have

seen it.

It's like a

tidal wave

of mud.

The collapse

released 11.7

million cubic

meters of

toxic mud

and buried

more than

150 people

alive.

And this

sent a

chilling fear

throughout Brazil's

mining heartland

because there

are 87 other

dams like this

one,

which is held

up by little

more than

sand and

silt.

83 of those

87 dams have

been rated by the

Brazilian government

as equally

vulnerable or

worse.

This

highlights the

mortal danger

of building a

house on dirt

without a

foundation.

And it's a

good illustration

of the

eternal danger

of refusing to

follow Christ.

The situation

for sinners

is far

more

precarious

than

that of

the

Brazilian

residents

living

right near

those

dams.

Let me

ask you,

are you a

good person?

Jesus said

earlier in

verse 45,

the good

person out of

the good

treasure of

his heart

produces

good.

Are you a

good person?

That's a

trick question.

Christian

ethicist

Louis Smedes

wrote a

brilliantly

titled book

called

A Pretty

Good

Person,

pointing out

the fact

that most

people in

this world

see themselves

as a

pretty good

person.

But this

is the

most dangerous

delusion

that the

devil has

ever duped

humanity

with.

Because

later in

Luke 18,

18-19,

a self-righteous

ruler asks

Jesus,

good teacher,

what must

I do to

inherit eternal

life?

And Jesus

replies,

why do you

call me

good?

No one

is good

except God

alone.

Jesus is not

denying that

he is good.

He is good

because he

is the

Son of God,

the second

person of

the Trinity.

But Jesus

is challenging

the rich

young rulers

shallow

understanding

of moral

goodness.

As we

see later

in that

passage,

when the

ruler

claims to

have,

he claims

to have

kept all

the Ten

Commandments,

he thought

he was a

pretty good

person.

And he

thought that

he was

being

deferential

toward

Jesus

by calling

him good.

Hey,

I'm pretty

good.

Hey,

good teacher,

let's have

a conversation.

But Jesus

exposes the

man's deficient

understanding

of goodness.

You think

you're good?

there is

no human

being that

can rightly

claim to

be good.

No one is

good except

God alone

because every

single human

being has

rebelled

against God,

has sinned

against him,

and deserves

eternal punishment.

We're not

good people.

but the

good God

sent us

a good

teacher

to instruct

us in the

way of

salvation.

So are

you following

Jesus Christ?

Following

Jesus Christ

means we

follow him

to the

cross

where Jesus

out of his

love for us

in order to

save us

out of his

love and

obedience to

the Father,

he dies

to pay

the penalty

of our

sins.

Jesus was

good,

he was

perfectly

righteous,

yet he

met the

ruin and

calamity of

the cross

that should

have fallen

on us,

that we

deserved,

so that we

might be

spared from

the wrath

of God.

That's the

good news

of Jesus

Christ.

Do you

believe it?

have you

renounced

your sins

and have

you pledged

allegiance to

Christ the

King?

That's the

most important

question.

We should

follow Christ

who is a

good teacher

that saves

us from

our sins.

Take a

moment to

reflect on

that.

You can

close your

eyes if

you

prefer.

How is

the Lord

Jesus

calling you

to follow

him today?

Amen.