Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
26, 2015
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Luke was a doctor and a travelling companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was in prison.
In writing his book, Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel
of Mark, as well as extensive eyewitness accounts.
Jesus’ ministry has begun, and the people have been amazed not just at the
things He’s been teaching, but the things He’s been doing.
We are in Luke’s record of one of Jesus’ first extensive teachings.
In Matthew, much of this teaching is in what we call the “Sermon on the
Mount”.
Luke has shown us that Jesus taught those same principles in different
places at different times.
Some of the material is even in
different order.
We could call this message the “Sermon on the Plain” because this is a
different time and Jesus isn’t on a mountain.
6:39-45 Blind leaders
:39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will
they not both fall into the ditch?
:39 can – dunamai
– to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and
resources; to be capable, strong and powerful
:39 blind – tuphlos
– blind; mentally blind
:39 lead – hodegeo
– to be a guide, lead on one’s way, to guide; to be a guide or a teacher;
to give guidance to
:39 ditch – bothunos
– a pit, ditch
:39 Can the blind lead the blind?
Sometimes even sighted people have a hard time leading the blind.
Jesus wasn’t actually talking about people who are visually impaired, but
people who are mentally insensitive to the truth.
One time Jesus and His disciples were criticized by the Pharisees because
the disciples were eating food with hands that hadn’t had the proper ritual
cleansing. He responded,
(Matthew 15:7–14
NKJV) —7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘These people
draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain
they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” 10 When He had
called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 Not what
goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this
defiles a man.” 12
Then
His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were
offended when they heard this saying?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has
not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind
leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
(or a gorilla pen)
Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees was because they were only concerned with
the outward obedience of the commandments instead of dealing with their hearts.
God wants outward obedience from us, but He wants our first priority to be
our hearts.
:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly
trained will be like his teacher.
:40 A disciple is not above his teacher
disciple – mathetes
– a learner, pupil, disciple
teacher – didaskalos
– a teacher
perfectly trained – katartizo
– to render, i.e. to fit, sound, complete; to mend (what has been broken or
rent), to repair; to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust
If Jesus has been talking about the spiritually blind spiritual leaders in
Israel, then He is warning the people to pay attention to which religious
leaders they learn from or they might end up in a ditch.
Lesson
Who’s your teacher?
If I were to ask those of you in this room who your spiritual teacher is,
some of you might be tempted to point to me.
Other people might tend to point to their pastor, or a leader in their
church.
I understand that in a sense I am a teacher, a pastor-teacher.
Yet the lesson here is that you better be careful about just how much you
are learning from me.
I’m only going to take you so far in life.
Jesus, on the other hand, can take you much farther.
I know that in one sense it is hard to learn from Jesus without a human guy
helping to guide you.
And I know that there are some kooky people in this world that come up with
all sorts of strange ideas and doctrines because they claim that Jesus is the
only one they listen to.
Yet the truth is, you need have it settled in your heart that you must obey
Jesus and learn from Him above all others.
Sometimes that means that God will use a human teacher
like me, or another person to help you learn.
But you also need to recognize that I have my limitations,
and I am going to let you down every once in a while.
Human teachers are going to have flaws.
Bob Coy was a pastor that many of us enjoyed listening
to. He had a great way of explaining the
Scriptures that not only made you laugh at times, but also made you take God’s
Word seriously.
And then Bob was caught having had an affair.
If Bob Coy was your ultimate teacher, you would have been
devastated.
Pastor Chuck was about the best pastor I could think
of. Many of us still want to be just
like Chuck.
For some of us, we always wondered what we’d do when Chuck
died. So many counted on Chuck for so
much.
But now that Chuck’s gone, we are learning that the same
Jesus that Chuck depended on is the same Jesus that we can depend on.
So who’s your teacher?
I will try to be the best pastor and best example I can be, but you also
need to be careful that you are learning to trust the same Jesus that I am
trusting and learn go hear from and obey the same Jesus that I try to hear from
and obey.
:41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not
perceive the plank in your own eye?
:41 look at – blepo
– to see, discern, of the bodily eye; metaph. to see with the mind’s eye
:41 speck – karphos
– a dry stalk or twig, a straw; chaff.
Splinter.
:41 perceive – katanoeo
– to perceive, remark, observe, understand; to consider attentively, fix
one’s eyes or mind upon
:41 plank – dokos
– a beam (something that holds things up).
Think of a 4x4.
:42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck
that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is
in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then
you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
:42 remove – ekballo – to
cast out, drive out; with notion of violence; to draw out with force, tear out
I get the idea of ripping the splinter out of the other person’s
eye.
The same word is used all three times, both for ripping the splinter out of
the other person’s eye as well as ripping the plank out of your own eye.
:42 hypocrite – hupokrites –
one who answers, an interpreter; an actor, stage player, pretender, hypocrite
And that’s what we are when we criticize others without looking at
ourselves first.
:42 see clearly – diablepo
– to look through, penetrate by vision; to look fixedly, stare straight
before one; to see clearly
:43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good
fruit.
:43 good – kalos
– beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious,
useful, suitable, commendable, admirable; beautiful to look at, shapely,
magnificent; good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore
well adapted to its ends
:43 bear – poieo
– to make; to do
:43 bad – sapros
– rotten, putrefied; corrupted by one and no longer fit for use, worn out;
of poor quality, bad, unfit for use, worthless
:44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather
figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
:44 thorns – akantha
– thorn, bramble
:44 gather – sullego
– to gather up; to collect in order to carry off
:44 figs – sukon
– a fig, the ripe fruit of a fig tree
:44 bramble bush – batos
– a thorn or bramble bush
:44 do they gather – trugao
– to gather in ripe fruits; to gather the harvest or vintage
:44 grapes – staphule
– grapes, bunch of grapes
:44 known by its own fruit
If you want to harvest figs, you look into a fig tree orchard, not at a thorn
bush.
If you want to harvest grapes, you go to a grapevine, not a bramble bush.
You can tell what kind of a tree or bush it is by what kind of fruit (if
any) it produces.
When we first moved into our current house, we had some kind of a citrus
tree in our backyard, but we didn’t know for sure what it produces until the
day came that it began to produce Meyer lemons.
:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and
an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of
the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
:45 good – agathos
– of good constitution or nature; useful, good, pleasant, agreeable,
joyful, happy; excellent, distinguished; upright, honorable
:45 treasure – thesauros
– the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up
:45 brings forth – prophero
– to bring forth
:45 evil – poneros
– of a bad nature or condition; in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad
:45 out of the abundance of the heart
Just as you can tell what kind of a tree or bush something is from its
“fruit”, you can tell what’s in a person’s heart by what comes out of their
mouth.
abundance – perisseuma
– abundance, in which one delights; of that which fills the heart
It may not be what comes out of a
person’s mouth one time – anyone can put up a false front for awhile.
It’s what consistently comes out of
their mouth, from the things that “fill” their heart, the things that their
heart delights in.
Lesson
Self-examination
Jesus talked about pulling the “plank” out of your own eye before you
attempt to take a splinter out of another person’s eye.
But are you even aware of what’s in your own eye? Or heart?
My pastor (Mark Bove from Calvary Anaheim) used to say that your heart is
like a cup that’s full of something. If
you get bumped, the stuff that splashes out is what’s inside the cup.
Sometimes the things that come out of the cup when we get bumped are words.
As you go through life, it’s those times that you get
“bumped” that you find out what’s in your heart. You have to listen to your “words”
When Jesus talked about trees and fruit in Matthew (7:15-20), He was
talking about judging other people by the fruit in their lives.
(Matthew 7:15–20 NKJV) —15 “Beware of
false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears
bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot
bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire. 20 Therefore by their
fruits you will know them.
But here the context seems to be about judging the fruit in OUR lives.
What kinds of things does your life produce?
How do others perceive you when they start observing your attitude
and the kind of life you live?
Video: OneTimeBlind – Wash My Feet
I want everyone to hold up their index finger. Now point it at me.
When we criticize others, we are pointing our finger at them.
But notice how many fingers are pointing back at yourself.
Are you willing to look in the mirror and judge yourself first?
6:46-49 Two Foundations
:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I
say?
:46 Lord, Lord
Lord – kurios – he to whom
a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord
We really don’t understand this title “Lord” as Americans.
We are the nation that was formed when we rebelled against the King of
England.
We tend to live by the motto, “You ain’t the boss of me”.
And yet many of us claim that Jesus is now our Lord.
We need to be careful that we don’t use that term lightly, but that we think
about what we’re saying.
To be honest, we all serve
someone. We all have a “lord”.
For some of us, we live our lives
according to what brings us pleasure.
For others of us, we live our lives
based on what we are afraid of the most.
Jesus wants us to learn what life
is like when He becomes the ultimate authority in our lives.
You can’t call Him
“Lord” if you don’t do what He says.
:47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show
you whom he is like:
:48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation
on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that
house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
:48 building – oikodomeo
– to build a house, erect a building
:48 house – oikia
– a house
:48 dug – skapto
– to dig
This is a word used 3x in NT, all
in Luke
:48 deep – bathuno
– ‘the deep’ sea (the ‘high seas’);
to make deep
:48 laid – tithemi
– to set, put, place; to place or lay
:48 foundation – themelios
– laid down as a foundation, the foundation (of a building, wall, city)
:48 rock – petra
– a rock, cliff or ledge; a projecting rock, crag, rocky ground
:48 flood – plemmura
– a flood, whether of sea or of a river
:48 beat vehemently against – prosregnumi
– to break against, break by dashing against
:48 shake – saleuo
– a motion produced by winds, storms, waves, etc; to agitate or shake; to
cause to totter
:48 founded – themelioo
– to lay the foundation, to found; to make stable, establish
:49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the
earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and
immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
:49 ruin – rhegma
– that which has been broken or rent asunder; fall, ruin
This is from the same root word as
the word “beat vehemently”.
:48 laid the foundation on the rock
One way of looking at this parable of Jesus is to think of it in terms of
the “storms” that we will face in life.
Lesson
Storm Watch
The storms are indeed coming. This from last week’s news…
Jesus didn’t say “If a flood comes”, but “when the flood arose”.
I’m not making predictions concerning California’s weather.
We will all go through floods, through storms.
It could be the loss of your job.
It could be the loss of a loved one either by death or a
broken relationship.
It could be the loss of your health.
Living well in this life is not a matter of avoiding the storms, but
learning to survive them.
How you survive those difficult times is related to what you are building
into your life.
Illustration
Remember the old story of the “Three Little Pigs”? The first pig wanted to spend his time
playing rather than building, so he built his house out of straw. The Big Bad Wolf came and huffed and puffed
and blew in the house. The second pig,
well you remember the story…
Video: Three Little Pigs
What a great story. If you don’t do your “work”, how are
you going to survive when the wolf attacks?
Jesus wasn’t talking about pigs and wolves, but about storms and builders.
How you choose to build will affect how you will survive.
What could the “house” represent?
Your life – your goals in life, what you do with your
life.
Your family – how you choose your spouse, how you handle
your marriage, how you raise your kids.
Jesus has challenged His listeners to understand what it means to call Him
“Lord”.
In Jesus’ story, the two builders both started off with the same potential.
They both “heard” the teaching of Jesus.
How the builders fared in the storm depended on what they did with that
potential.
One person obeyed what Jesus said (like the man who built
on the rock), while the other person didn’t obey (like the man who built on the
sand).
Lesson
The benefits of Lordship
When it comes to discussing the “Lordship” of Jesus in our lives, some of
us tend to groan a little inside.
All we can think of is how hard it is, or that all of our “fun” is going to
go away.
The truth is, there are HUGE benefits in learning to live in obedience to
Jesus.
It starts with believing in Jesus.
(John 6:28–29 NKJV)
—28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the
works of God?” 29
Jesus
answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him
whom He sent.”
Jesus said,
(John
3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus came to this earth to be a sacrifice.
He came to die for our sins. He
came to pay the penalty for our sins.
The way you get His payment applied to your account is by
believing in Him.
Open your heart to Jesus and believe. That’s the first step of “obedience” to
Jesus.
What’s the benefit of believing?
Everlasting life.
It continues with obeying Him.
(James 1:21–25 NLT)
—21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly
accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save
your souls. 22 But don’t
just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only
fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing
at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you
look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says
and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Believing in Jesus might get you into heaven, but you are
going to have plenty of storms in this life through which you will not do well.
What’s the benefit of obedience?
God will bless you for it (Jam. 1:25)
Another word for “blessing” is “happiness”.
Jesus said,
(John 14:21 NKJV) He who has
My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will
be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
What’s the blessing for obeying God?
Greater intimacy with God.
Jesus will “manifest” or “reveal” Himself in a greater way.
Lesson
Teacher and Lord
We started off the morning talking about Jesus being our “teacher”.
Sometimes the things He’s teaching us don’t make sense.
You don’t understand the difficult times you’re going through or the things
that you believe Jesus is asking you to do.
Things don’t make sense.
But when Jesus is leading you, there’s a reason for everything.
In the movie “Karate Kid”, the kid “Daniel-son” finally convinces Mr.
Miyagi to teach him karate. But the
things Mr. Miyagi taught him didn’t seem like Karate.
Video: Karate Kid – Wax On Wax Off
It seemed like Mr. Miyagi was just using Daniel as his personal servant, making
him wash and wax the cars, sanding his floor, or painting the fence.
But Daniel reluctantly did what his “master” asked him.
And one day it all came together.
Video: Karate
Kid – The Lessons all come together.
You may not understand all that Jesus is commanding you to do, but if He is
your Lord, you will learn to do what He says.
Some people think that learning to
live in obedience to Jesus is a form of legalism and is the antithesis of
living a life controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Nothing could be farther from the
truth.
When we learn to yield our lives to
the Holy Spirit, He gives us the power to live in obedience to Jesus.
Paul lays out an argument in the
book of Romans about the choice we face in living either by the flesh or by the
Spirit.
(Romans 8:3–4 NLT) —3 The law of
Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So
God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the
bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control
over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be
fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead
follow the Spirit.
When we learn to
walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to die to our sinful, fleshly
desires, and to live lives of obedience to God.
Lordship and obedience
You can’t call Him “Lord” if you
don’t obey what He says.
No man can serve two masters
There’s no room for picking and
choosing what ought to be obeyed.
Some people like
to “cherry pick” the parts of the Bible that they like, and that’s what they’re
going to obey.
We like the idea
of loving other people.
We don’t like the
warnings about immorality.
We like the
promises of God’s blessings.
We don’t like the
warnings about greed.