Facing Realities

A message from Luke 6:43-49 by Phil Rogers 12/08/07

To listen to Phil's message click here mp3

Jesus was always direct; he always told it as it was. He was never concerned about offending people, never gave any spin or political correctness. He always spoke the truth however unpalatable it was to hear. In this passage Jesus faces us all up with the important reality: “What is in your heart?”

The State of our Hearts 43-45
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognised by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn-bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
The tree is a picture of our hearts and our character. Fruit is a picture of the words and actions produced by our hearts. “Out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks.” What is inside us will inevitably come out. It will show itself in the words we say and the way we react and behave. Most of the time we are able to control our words and actions. We put on a face. Jesus says to the ‘log person’ “You hypocrite” or play-actor. Greek actors wore masks. The person who shows great concern for others, yet has glaring faults of his own is a play-actor. So often we wear a mask, but when things happen that put us under pressure, our mask falls off and we say or do things that are just ungodly and wrong!

Play-acting is like hanging plastic figs on our prickly branches and artificial grapes on our thorns which to the casual observer all looks OK. But when we let people get close, they can see our grapes are artifical and our figs plastic. So we can protect our ‘front’ by never letting others get too close. If our hearts are prickly or bitter or sour, our real fruit is not pleasant to others. So we avoid talking or doing anything so no-one will notice what we are really like; only when we step out and get involved, the true nature of our heart is exposed and whatever we have got ‘stored up’ in our hearts comes pouring out!

We all know our own hearts. We all know when we put on a mask and so do those closest to us. 98% of children who do not follow their parent’s faith gave the reason as hypocrisy. They see our smiles when we are at church and hear our angry outbursts at home, they hear the lovely things we say to our church friends and hear the harsh words we say to our husband or wife or to them. In particular they will pick up when we criticise, judge and condemn others. They will pick up on our lack of forgiveness, holding grudges and our lack of generosity. When we are out with other people, but have no time for them, they think. “What a hypocrite my mum/dad is, if that is what following Jesus is all about, then I don’t want anything to do with it!”

This is why the most important issue for any one of us is not, what can I do for God, what are my gifts, how can I serve the church, but what is the state of my heart? If our hearts are not right, it is like having a stonking great log in our eye, but Jesus says FIRST cast the log out of your own eye then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. We can do something about this and we must. Make our heart and our character a matter of top priority. “Change my heart, O God,” Ps 139:23-24,
Ps 51:1-13. If we will desperately seek the Lord to change our hearts, then we come to a place where we can “teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You”. The greatest hindrance to evangelism is lack of purity, godliness and holiness. The pursuit of true holiness and godliness is our greatest need.

Doing what Jesus says. 46-49
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I say? I’ll show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Here, in this familiar story of the wise and the foolish men (Matt 7), the Lord gives three practical steps.
1. Coming to the Lord 2. Hearing his words 3. Putting them into practice.

1. Coming to the Lord
The Lord invites us to come to him. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. John 7:37 How do we come to Jesus Christ? By taking a deliberate action, finding somewhere quiet, getting on our knees, going out for a walk in the woods. “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” This is where things always begin. If we don’t make time, the noise and business of life crowds it out completely.

2. Hearing his words
Prayer is not just talking to God or asking him for things, it is engaging in two way communication. It is useful to have a Bible handy whenever we come to the Lord. Scriptures will often come to mind, even a reference that we have no idea what it says. The Lord speaks to us and it a matter of listening carefully and really hearing what he says. The Lord also speaks through preaching and through prophecy and we do need to listen what he is saying to us. “Let the Word of Christ live in you..”

3. Putting them into practice.
It is basically about doing what he says to us. The Lord speaks into many areas of our lives. But doing what he says is not so easy. It often helps if we talk it through with others who can hold us accountable and help us practically. (We must not let well meaning friends dissuade us with worldly wisdom and undermine what God is saying to us. But find those who will help us implement what we need to do.) This is why we have a Word time in our groups to respond to what God said to us on Sundays and why I often say, “pray with each other about this”. Sharing & praying are two important steps in being “do-ers of the word and not just hearers.’ But just as important as coming to Jesus is being filled with his Spirit that gives us the power to do what he says to us. “Go on being filled..” >> praise, thanksgiving, joy, peace, love, patience, kindness etc..