The Incredible Power of Unhypocrisy Part 2 (Luke 6:43-49 July 26, 2009)

Transcription

1 The Incredible Power of Unhypocrisy Part 2 (Luke 6:43-49 July 26, 2009) Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: The moment you were born the countdown to the final exam of your life began. The day will come when every man and woman the great and the small will be gathered together before the Lord. You and I will be there. There will be no excuses and the result of this exam will not be open to debate. The One overseeing this exam knows everything about you. Every thought, every action, every motive. There is no escape. At the Lord s command the books will be opened. The books contain the record of our lives. And there laid bare with breathtaking accuracy will be the record of who we are and what we have done whether we truly loved Christ and bore the fruit of a disciple or not. And every man, woman and child from every age will hear one of two responses. 1

2 Well done good and faithful servant or I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. From the throne of judgment you will enter heaven or be thrown into hell. This is the one exam no one can afford to fail. For those gathered here this morning who name the name of Christ the Day of Judgment should hold no concerns. And yet, I have been a pastor long enough to know that many sitting right here worry about that day. Some worry unnecessarily. They love Christ and their lives are hid in Christ and no one can snatch them out of His hand. But some here this morning have good cause to worry. With good reason they will fear as their name is read what does it say? devoted disciple or deceived disciple? The difference is heaven and hell. While the Great White Throne is the final exam Jesus gives us a number of pre-tests trial exams if you will. Heather is in Grade 12 and will soon sit the QCS exam but in the leadup they have a number of trial exams to see how they are doing what areas they are weak in what they need to change. In the same way Jesus gives those who call themselves Christians a number of tests ways to tell if you are a true disciple or not. He does this out of love because today if you don t do well on His exam you can ask for His help to change. On the final day it is too late. Jesus and the Apostles understood our hearts. There are some who want to be saved but they also want the world. They are serving two masters. They give a bit of themselves to Jesus and keep the rest for their own pleasure and in so doing they deceive themselves. They live half-hearted Christian lives whispering to themselves I may not be the greatest Christian in history but I am a Christian. Jesus wants us to know if they do not change now then as the books are opened when it is too late then they know the truth I was deceived I am not His. Jesus and the Apostles want us to deal with our hearts before the Day of Judgment. Read the Gospels read Acts read the epistles read Revelation. Have you ever stopped to consider how many times those who claim to follow Jesus are asked to really examine their hearts as to whether they are truly saved? 2

3 I did a study this week and was stunned how often this subject is addressed. Matthew 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Read the gospels how often do the crowds want to follow Jesus and He turns to them and says to be My disciple you have to take up your cross lay down your life or you can t be My disciple? He tells them you have to eat My body, drink My cup. And the crowds melt away. You have rich young rulers willing to give up so much to follow Jesus but not everything. You have would-be disciples who want to join Jesus but the cost is too much. You cannot serve two masters you cannot have the world and Christ. Jesus speaks of the end times the final judgment huge crowds of those who all think they belong to Him and then He divides them into the sheep and the goats. He says to the sheep Well done good and faithful servant. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then he says to the goats, Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Parables of judgment one taken one left. The faithful manager and the unfaithful manager. It is impossible to miss this recurring theme in the teaching of Jesus. In Acts this theme of deceived disciples occurs again and again. You have Ananias and Sapphira who were willing to sell land and give much of it to the Lord but they lied and were killed by the Holy Spirit before all. You have deceived disciples like Simon the Magician. Think of Paul s letters. He keeps speaking of so-called brothers. He tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. He outlines the fruits of the Spirit and the fruits of the flesh as guides to examine ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 Paul says: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 3

4 Paul repeatedly warns us judgment is coming make sure you are in Christ. There are passages like Hebrews 10:26-27: For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. In the letters of John and Peter and Jude we have descriptions of what the life of a true disciple looks like. They say that they do this so that we can know that we have eternal life so we can make our calling and election sure. Then in Revelation we have the letters to the seven churches. To the church at Ephesus: I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. To the church in Laodicea: I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. These are just a sample a small sample of the number of times those who claim to follow Jesus are called to challenge the integrity of their faith to take the exam today while there is still time. The reason this theme occurs again and again and again is twofold. First, it is so easy to deceive ourselves as to the true state of our heart. Because we do a few things for Jesus we whisper to ourselves its OK you have flaws but you are saved. Second, this topic is addressed so often because it is a matter of heaven and hell. It is not life and death it is far more important it is eternal life of eternal death. There is no more important subject to deal with. Jesus doesn t want anyone to go through life deceived about their salvation so He provides tests of the reality of our faith. One of the great tests is found in the Sermon on the Plain. As we have seen, the sermon tells us that: 4

5 A true child of God bears fruit by living for eternity not for this world. He paints pictures of what your life will look like if you are truly one of His disciples. And in these final verses Jesus gives two tests of the reality of our salvation. He asks us: Is your fruit good? Is your foundation good? First: Is your fruit good? Luke 6:43-45 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 thornbushes, 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. 5

6 The truth of this image is self-evident. The fruit tells us about the health of the tree. If a tree is fundamentally sound it will produce good fruit. If you have a healthy apple tree it will bear good apples. And the converse is also true. If a tree has good fruit on it then you can be assured that the tree is fundamentally sound. If you find a tree with good apples on it then the tree itself is fundamentally sound. And: The fruit tells us about the nature of the tree. If a tree bears figs you know it is a fig tree not a thornbush. If a tree has brambles don t be fooled that it is a grape vine. A transformed heart produces good fruit. A disciple of Jesus will bear Christlike fruit. A worldly man will bear worldly fruit. A heart that is still evil produces evil fruit. His mouth and life give away the fact that at his core he is still evil. By their fruits you will know them. A transformed life bears good fruit and that is a powerful witness to the world. Don t get me wrong. Jesus is not saying that non-christians never have good fruit or that Christians never bear bad fruit. What He is saying is that the quality and quantity of fruit in the life of a Christian is different than that in the life of a non-christian. A Christian lives his or her life in a way that is beyond the scope of how they could live by their own power. Don Carson tells a story about when he was a new student at McGill University in Montreal. He and another student started a Bible Study for those interested in Christianity and before long it was full. At that time he wasn t sure how to answer some of the questions that his non Christian friends would ask, so he decided to take them to see one of the graduate students Dave Ward who was known for his bold witness on campus but was also known for being pretty direct and lacking a little in the area of tact. 6

7 Don organised the meeting and Dave made coffee and then turned to the first man OK why have you come? And the young man said: Well, here at McGill I think we should be broad minded. I want to learn about Buddhism and Islam and Christianity. I would like you to teach me about Christianity. And Dave turned to him and said: I m sorry, I am very busy, I m a graduate student and I don t have time to talk with you. And Don began to worry and wonder what he had done bringing them there. Dave did go on to say, Look I can recommend some books for you to read but I just don t have time to take about religion. If you are really serious then come and talk to me. He then turned to the second student and asked, So why did you come here? This student said: I don t come from a Christian home like you describe but it is a good home, a moral home where I was taught about right and wrong. My parents don t curse. They are honest and faithful. They have integrity and truth. You could leave a $1,000 dollars on the table and they wouldn t touch it. So I just don t see what Christianity has to offer me. Why should I become a Christian? I don t see any difference between you and my parents. Dave looked at him and looked at him and looked at him. Finally, after a long time he said Watch me! Watch me. Come and live with me. I have an extra bed, I ll pay for your food. You watch me. Watch what I do when I get up. Watch how I spend my day. Watch how I talk and spend my money and the way I interact with people. Watch my habits, watch my relationships. See what Jesus does in my life. And then at the end of two months you tell me being a Christian makes no difference. Jesus makes a huge difference in a man s life. That student didn t move in but he did begin to follow Dave around, and he did get converted and his girlfriend was converted and today they are medical missionaries overseas. The fruit in Dave s life was beyond the ordinary fruit of a relatively good person. His life was different to the good lives of this man s parents. His life testified to the transforming power of God. Brothers and sisters. Let me summarise these verses. 7

8 Out there are people the world looks at as being good. The nice Mormon. The devout Muslim. The philanthropist. If Jesus Christ is in you you will live in a way that transcends the nice Mormon and the devout Muslim. You will live unnatural lives unhypocritical lives. You will not live for wealth. You will love enemies. You will lay down your life for Christ. You will live for eternity and not tomorrow. This transcends the fruit of the world. If all you are is no different than a good Mormon loving your family and friends keeping your nose clean working hard then the warning bells should be going off. You are to be salt and light unlike anything the world sees. Jesus appears and everyone says He is so different to the Scribes and Pharisees. He loves Samaritans and Gentiles and sinners and women. The early church turned the world upside down. They sold all to give to those in need. They willingly suffered persecution and death. Their lives testified to the power of God. In our age sign miracles are rare. God does not often part seas or heal the blind. But have no doubt he still performs miracles. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. And such were some of you. When the Spirit of God takes hold of a life He transforms it. The man given to the idolatry of wealth becomes a generous giver. The homosexual turns from that sin. The alcoholic sobers up. These are miracles every bit as stunning every bit as humanly impossible as the parting of the Red Sea. And these fruits show the world the power of Christ and they speak to our heart about the power of Christ within. 8

9 If someone says they are a Christian but their life is a mess lust and pornography and greed and laziness and lying then we have to ask what the tree inside is like. If someone says they are a Christian but there is no different than a good Buddhist then we have to ask what the tree inside is like. So Jesus asks you this morning what is your life like? What fruit are you bearing? Is your fruit extraordinary a testimony to the power of Christ or not? It is so easy to deceive ourselves. We live a bit better lives than many we go to church we give a bit but there is nothing extraordinary about how we live. We don t sacrifice money and ambition and leisure time and career for the kingdom. We are not seeking first His Kingdom. So are we His? If a neighbour followed you around morning to night would your fruit convince them of the reality of God and the power of Christ to change lives? What is the quality of your fruit? If the power of Christ is not in you if you don t like the results you get from this pretest beware! How many times do we hear testimonies I thought I was saved but I wasn t. All too often I have to deal with people who believed they were Christians but finally something happens to take off the mask and what is revealed is someone who has lived for years in their own strength. The deceived disciple can live for many years from his own human strength mustering up a bit of fruit. But finally something happens to show his real heart. A temptation, a test pushes him over the edge. Maybe it is the attractive female colleague on the business trip who says come back to my room. Maybe it is a disaster medical, family, financial and it washes away the mask. Maybe you finally get sick of living a lie and just turn to the world. And your fruit is displayed for all to see. Just this week I was talking with a friend about someone we have known for years whose life has moved far from Christ. 9

10 In retrospect, the signs were there for years. A love for worldly things. A cooling of the heart for the things of the Lord. The fruit was going off for all the world to see. Look at this fruit. You look at this picture and you can taste it and smell it. This is good fruit. Nothing better! This is rotten fruit. You can smell this fruit too and there is no way you would ever want to taste it. This fruit makes you sick. What fruit do you have? This is not an idle question. In Matthew 25 when Jesus divides the sheep who hear Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world from the goats who hear, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. What is the basis of the division? Fruit! The sheep fed the hungry gave drink to the thirsty clothed the naked and visited the sick and those in prison. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 Paul says: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. The basis of the judgment is our fruit in this life. Don t misunderstand this. You are not saved by bearing fruit. It is because you are saved because Jesus is in you that the sign of your salvation is fruit. So I ask you. If we cut you open if we get to the heart of your being what fruit do you have? If the fruit is good sweet to the taste Lord bless you well done good and faithful servant. If the fruit is off you have a decision. Repent draw close to Christ abide in Him and He will cause you to bear good fruit. Or you get saved truly turn to Him once and for all. 10

11 Or else you can wait for the Day of Judgment when all will be laid bare. I really don t recommend this option. There is a second test of the reality of our salvation: Is your foundation good? Luke 6:46-49: 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. Again the picture is clear. Jesus speaks a man who wants to build a house by a river. The easy thing to do is to simply build the house on the sand by the banks. Much harder is to dig down through the sand till you get to the foundation of rock and build your house on that foundation. In calm times both houses seem fine. It is only when the storms come that you find the wisdom of building on rock. The storms come the waters rise and the house on the rock stands firm. But, the house on the sand is destroyed. 11

12 The house is our life and the foundation is the Word of God. But, notice that it is not knowing the Word or God but doing the Word of God. There is a world of different between knowing it is wrong to gossip and choosing to refrain from gossip. It is obeying the Word of Jesus putting it into practice that builds our life on the foundation of rock and shows we are His disciple. Jesus asks: Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Brothers and sisters I would suggest that almost every time you sit down and open the Bible to have a quiet time or walk into this church to hear a sermon you encounter something from the Word of God that pricks you. A sin to deal with, a habit to work on, a good deed to do, money to give, a discipline to practice. When you are pricked by the Word then you have a choice walk away and do nothing or modify your life to make it in line with the teaching of Christ. Listen to James 1:22-25: Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James is here drawing a picture for us of two types of people. One group he labels hearers. The word is used of those whose ears hear the words but they don t interact with the mind and heart. You get on a plane the hostess stands up and says please pay attention for the safety instructions. We go back to our books and laptops and ipods. The words go in but nothing registers. James pictures this type of person as one who glances at his face in a mirror. Then as soon as he walks away, he forgets what he had just looked at. 12

13 Hearers are those who glance at the Word of God, or the words go into their ears but as soon as they walk away it is just as if they never read or heard the Word at all. It does not change their lives. It does not bear fruit. For too many of us we hear the Word but it never sinks in and changes our lives. We read the passages we might even be able to recite the passage but we don t do the passage. In contrast, James speaks of another man who looks intently. This is the word that is used when something is examined closely. And having examined it he acts on it. It changes his life. To drive this home and to make it a little personal, I tallied up a few figures. With the morning and evening service, I have preached or heard close to 100 sermons. I attended many homegroup studies. Then there were all of the extras church camp, homegroup camps, youth groups. I probably listened to 100 plus sermons on MP3s and watched quite a few videos. I read twenty or more good Christian books. Read a number of blogs and articles online. I memorised many verses of Scripture. All that plus devotional times in the Word of God. One way or another I have been inundated with the Scriptures. But, I asked myself this question What has changed in my life? In the last twelve months, how has everything I have been exposed to changed my life? What things have I applied that has made a tangible difference in my life? What sins have I stopped? What ministry have I attempted? How has my perception of the Lord changed? How have I become more Christlike? Believe me, if I applied 1% of the things I have heard this year I would be changed drastically. When I preach the Word I look out and heads nod pens write mouths say Amen. And I think praise the Lord. But, too often we are great at putting on masks. Of telling ourselves and others we are doing fine. How was your week Bob? Great and yours? You doing alright in the Lord Bob? Doing fine thanks. But it is only when the storms of life arrive that the reality of our faith is found out. Psalm 1 says: 13

14 Blessed is the man who is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. A tree by the stream sends those roots down deep and when the drought comes it does not whither and when the storm comes it stands firm. If you hear the Word and it does not change your life this shows that you are not truly His and when the storms of life come you do not have His strength to stand. This is the test of the foundation. Are you applying the Word are you being changed by the Word. For about the last month or so I barely want to open my s for want of hearing of someone else with cancer or illness or trouble. Ted, Sunny s Mum, Wendy and Alina s cousin, Andy, Meeya, Russell Matthews. But here is the encouraging part. You get the s that say though he slay me, yet will I praise Him. The s of faith and professing the Lord s goodness. The storms came the day of testing came and those who heard His Word and obeyed it built their lives on the rock and stood firm. This is a hard passage to preach on and to listen to. I doubt there is a person here who does not feel inadequate. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said we have to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. When you read through this passage truth is in our own strength we can t do this. Our fruit won t be good and our foundation won t be good. We read this and know that we fail and fail miserably. We can t do it. The Sermon on the Plain is meant to be like the Law it is meant to show us our need of a Saviour and to drive us to Christ. What happens next in Luke is that we come to miracles of incredible power. Jesus does the impossible. We can t live up to the standard. On the last day no one could stand. But what Jesus says is ask Me let Me live in you and I will work a miracle and enable you to live supernatural lives. I will make you extraordinary. So if you take the pre-test and don t like the answer don t give up. Get on your knees and ask Him to change you from within. And He delights to answer that prayer. 14

15 This doesn t mean perfection. Even the best of Christians are mediocre. But it does mean He makes us salt and light who testify to a watching world. 15