Sermon #37 Luke
Sermons
Title: Three Great Dangers
Text: Luke
6:39-45
Subject: Spiritual Dangers
Date: Sunday
Evening – September 17, 2000
Tape # V-99b
Readings: Office: Buddy Daugherty Auditorium:
James Jordan
Introduction:
(Luke 6:39-45)
"And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind?
shall they not both fall into the ditch?
{40} The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect
shall be as his master. {41} And why
beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? {42} Either
how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in
thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt
thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. {43} For a good tree bringeth not forth
corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {44} For every tree is known by his own
fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they
grapes. {45} A good man out of the
good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man
out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of
the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."
In these seven verses, our Lord Jesus Christ gives a very
sobering, instructive parable, a parable by which he warns all who have ears to
hear of three great dangers. Here are three great, spiritual
dangers which we must strive to avoid, lest we perish forever.
·
The Danger of Following False Prophets.
·
The Danger of Self-righteousness and Hypocrisy.
·
The Danger of a Deceived Heart.
By these three great snares
Satan has carried many to hell. Let us not be numbered among them.
I.
First, the Son of God warns us of the great danger of following false prophets (vv.
39-40).
(Luke 6:39-40)
"And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind?
shall they not both fall into the ditch?
{40} The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect
shall be as his master."[1]
These two verses are to be understood together. They cannot
be separated. Our Lord is telling us plainly that those who follow false prophets
shall perish with them in hell. If you follow a blind man, you cannot be
walking in the light, and both of you will fall into hell. If you follow
Christ, if he who is perfect is your Master, you shall at last be made perfect
with him.
While he walked on the earth, our Lord warned us of the
great danger of false prophets and false religion more frequently than anything
else. The greatest dangers we face, the greatest dangers our children and
grandchildren face in this world are not pimps, pushers, and pornography
(horrible as those things are). Oh, no. Our greatest dangers are false prophets
and false religion. If the vices of the world have slain thousands, the
pretended virtues of false religion have slain tens of thousands.
This is what our Lord teaches us in these two verses. – If we hear and follow false prophets, we
will go to hell with them. If your teacher is in error, you will be in
error. If the man who leads you is blind, you are blind. If you follow your
blind guide, when he falls into the ditch, so will you.
We constantly endeavor to avoid obvious facts. Pretending
to be more kind, gracious, and loving than God, we try to convince ourselves
that men and women may worship at the altar of free will and still believe free
grace, that they may follow blind guides though they themselves see, that they
may be involved in the practice of false religion and yet know the true God;
but those things simply cannot be. Children
of the Light walk in the light. Christ’s sheep will not follow the voice
of a stranger.
(Matthew 7:13-15)
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: {14} Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it. {15} Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves."
(2 Corinthians 11:2-3) "For I am jealous over you with godly
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. {3} But I fear, lest by any means, as
the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
(1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) "Prove all things; hold fast that which
is good. {22} Abstain from all
appearance of evil."
(1 John 4:1-3)
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. {2} Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:
Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: {3} And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have
heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."
·
Christ is The Door. Every other door is the door to destruction.
·
Christ is The Way. Every other way is the way to hell.
·
Christ is The Truth. Everything else is Satan’s lie.
·
Christ is The Life. Everything else is death.
·
Christ is The Altar. Every other altar is idolatry.
·
Christ is The Atonement. Every other attempt to make up with God is a
denial of his atonement.
·
Christ is Salvation (Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification,
Redemption). Every thing added to him is damnation.
Beware of false prophets, who would take you away from the
simplicity that is in Christ. If you care for your soul, if you care for the
souls of your sons and daughters, beware of following false prophets. If you
do, you will follow them to hell.
(Revelation 18:4)
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues."
II.
Second, in verses 41 and 42, our Master warns us of the great danger of
self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
(Luke 6:41-42)
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but
perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? {42} Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me
pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of
thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in
thy brother's eye."
Self-righteousness and hypocrisy always go together. It is
impossible to have one without the other. Nothing is more natural to man or
more obnoxious to God than self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
(Isaiah 65:3-5)
"A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that
sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; {4} Which remain among the graves, and
lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; {5} Which say, Stand by thyself, come
not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."
I would rather stand before God Almighty in the day of
judgment charged with any crime than self-righteousness.
·
Self-righteous people justify themselves and condemn others.—Those who
are made righteous in Christ condemn themselves and justify others.
·
The self-righteous find splinters in the eyes of others and ignore the
two-by-fours in their own eyes. – Those who acknowledge and confess their sins
before God struggle constantly with the two-by-fours in their own eyes and are
not able to see the splinters in the eyes of others.
·
Self-righteous hypocrites boast of their attainments. – Believing
sinners grieve over their failures.
·
Self-righteous hypocrites think themselves strong and superior to
others. – God’s saints know themselves weak and inferior to their brethren.
·
Self-righteous people, hypocrites,
go about to establish righteousness. – Believers look to Christ for
righteousness (Rom. 10:1-4).
III.
Now,
look at verses 43-45. Here, our Lord warns us of the great danger of a
deceived heart.
(Luke 6:43-45)
"For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {44}
For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. {45} A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth
speaketh."
·
It does not matter how good your religion looks on the outside, “the Lord looketh on the heart.”
·
It does not matter how much you impress men, or yourself for that
matter, with what you say and do, “the
Lord looketh on the heart.”
·
It does not matter how sound your doctrine is, “the Lord looketh on the heart.”
·
It does not matter how precisely you keep the ordinances, “the Lord looketh on the heart.”
·
It does not matter how much money you give, how many chapters you read,
how much Scripture you memorize, how much you pray, or how often you attend
church, “the Lord looketh on the heart.”
God wants our hearts. God demands our hearts. The root of
the matter is the heart. “My son, give me
thine heart.” If the heart is right, the fruit is good, no matter how bad
it looks to men. If the heart is evil, the fruit is evil, no matter how good it
looks to men.
Perhaps the best way for us to understand the meaning of
our Lord’s words here is hear another parable (Luke 18:9-14).
(Luke 18:9-14)
"And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others: {10} Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee,
and the other a publican. {11} The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not
as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. {12} I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess. {13} And the publican,
standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. {14} I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be
abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Application:
1.
Beware of following false
prophets. – God, keep me from the influence of false prophets.
2.
Beware of self-righteousness
and hypocrisy. – God, save us from self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
3.
Beware of a deceived heart.
– God, deliver me from a deceitful, deceived heart.
[1] “Christ, in this last clause, seems to design his own disciples, who, when perfect in knowledge, which is not to be expected in this state, unless in a comparative sense, will be like himself.” – John Gill