Whose Teaching Do You Follow?

Amen, let's pray together. Father we thank you for today You are so good to us We thank you lord for the hope that we can have in jesus christ our lord We thank you lord that it's through your spirit your power That enables us to live for the glory and honor of god and we pray that today as we study your word You open our hearts and our minds our eyes that we might see glorious things out of your law And then father we might be able to Understand what those people there on the hillside in galilee would have heard as jesus spoke the words in luke chapter 6 They would come to grips With the reality of where they stood with jesus christ that we too would understand where we stand With our lord that we might honor and glorify your name We pray in jesus name.

Amen Amen Back in 1997 We did a series entitled how to choose a church from that series. We developed a little booklet entitled How to choose a church and we give it to all those who visit our church because we want them to understand The essential principles in choosing the right church Now in this series in this booklet, we said these words the most important decision You will ever make this side of eternity is what church you attend You choose the wrong church You will never hear the truth of jesus christ our lord faith cometh by hearing hearing by the word of god The church you choose Will determine the teaching You follow If you don't hear the truth You will follow false teaching and so The decision you make as a leader of your home determines the spiritual health of your home As you go to church Because if the word of god is not preached Spiritually You will suffer If the word of god is not taught spiritually You will die And so the decision you make about what church you attend Is the most important decision you will ever make And so it's imperative that you choose the right church So that you hear the truth of the gospel Let me illustrate it for you this way We live in a society That is under the constant threat of terrorism Since 9 11 There are no safe places In america There are no safe places in the world The places that we thought were safe whether they were airports or buses or bus stations or trains or our workplace Are not safe any longer We live under the threat of what might take place next not knowing when it's going to happen And as a result of that a lot of people live in the realm of fear and Anxiety if you live in the nation of israel, you live under that fear and anxiety all the time In fact when we were there this past march, there was a terrorist bombing in one of the schools a quote safe place from terrorism To remind us once again that really truly there are no safe places in the world From those who want to enact their terrorist threats upon the lives of innocent people and so Because we realize that there are no safe places.

There are no safe people either Think about it this way july 2007 the bombings that took place in london happened by people who were fathers mothers wives and physicians in local hospitals They were people that most of us would trust They were people that for the most part were trustworthy people So there truly are no safe arenas nor are there safe people any longer For we never know what's going to happen next in the realm of terrorism Well, the analogy to that Is that there's something worse? than those who are physical terrorists They are spiritual terrorists Who live and lurk in the shadows?

Of what we would call safe places those spiritual terrorists live in our churches They live in our synagogues our chapels our cathedrals our mosques and our schools Places that for the most part people would deem safe are filled with spiritual Terrorists And they are the kind of people who masquerade as preachers Theologians popes teachers cardinals bishops elders priests clerics and rabbis their whole desire Is to make people feel safe in their presence To make them feel safe in that arena in which they live out their spiritual terrorism And they then become the most dangerous people in the world And why is that Simply because they kill people's souls So that when they die They are eternally separated from god We take all kinds of precautions When it comes to physical terrorism We purchase gas masks We develop security systems and security checkpoints to make sure that we are safe in certain surroundings and in certain arenas But what kind of precautions do we take against spiritual and religious terrorism?

How do we guard our hearts and our minds and our souls from being destroyed for eternity? It's one thing to die physically It's a whole new ball game to die spiritually and be eternally separated from god forever And so when we think about the judgment that christ talks about That happens as a result of people Who are led away From god who are led away into falsehood The kind of people Who preach or give what we would call a a spiritual or religious anthrax people All over the world today Are sitting in buildings such as you are sitting in And they are breathing in spiritual anthrax and they don't even know it They are taking in falsehood They are listening to lies and they are believing them and they will die Separated from god Because they followed the wrong teaching They went to the wrong church They didn't hear the truth as god once it presented And as they breathe in that spiritual anthrax the tragedy is they think they're getting a spiritual boost They think that they are getting that which they need in all reality It's going to lead them to hell and not to heaven and they don't even know it And that is far worse than it far worse than any physical terror ask terrorist ask task at I got it.

It's coming. It's coming Terrorist act that could ever be felt And so we we need to understand all that because that's the topic of jesus's sermon in this section in luke chapter 6 He wants to make sure that you follow the right teaching or follow better yet the right teacher Because if you follow the wrong one And you listen to his lies And you are swept away in his deceit Then you will die separated from god And you will spend eternity Separated from the lord of the universe Let me read to you what jesus says in luke chapter 6 verse number 39 down through verse number 45 And he also spoke a parable to them A blind man cannot guide a blind man.

Can he will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Or 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 there is no good tree Which produces bad fruit nor on the other hand a bad tree which produces good fruit For each tree is known by its own fruit for men do not gather figs from thorns nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth What is good and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil?

For his mouth speaks from that which fills His heart Now reading that you say well, what does that have to do with spiritual terrorism? What does it have to do with what you just introduced to us? Well, it's simply this What christ is saying? Is that you must choose Who you follow you must either choose me or choose your present religious establishment You can't have it both ways We know that because in verse number 46 he says and why do you call me lord lord and do not do what I say? See it comes down to this You must do what I say if you do what I say if you listen to my words and do what I say You're going to be like the wise man who built his house on the rock for when judgment comes he'll stand But if you listen to what I say and choose not to do What I say you will be like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand and when that same judgment comes The same judgment that came upon the guy who built his house on the rock When that judgment comes you will fall And how great will be that fall?

You see the issue in luke chapter 6 Is who truly is a follower of christ? Who truly is a disciple of the lord jesus christ? See we we have to understand the word disciple and I think that we have misunderstood that word in modern-day christianity And as we go through the gospel of luke we'll come to a clearer understanding of what it means A disciple is simply a learner a follower a disciple doesn't mean that you're a christian A disciple the word mathetes simply means follower student Learner, that's all it means.

That's it Now You can be a follower and learner and student of christ and not be a christian Because in luke 6 he is speaking to a multitude of disciples Some of them are curious Some of them are committed to following him some are fascinated with him others are faithful to him Some believe him and understand him and some are ignorant And don't understand him, but they claim to be a follower of christ. They claim to be a student of christ They claim to be a learner of christ, but it does not mean that they are truly born again You need to understand that because there have been so many books written that are wrong about discipleship It's very clear in the bible that you can be a disciple And not be a christian if you are a true christian, you are a true disciple of the lord.

Jesus christ You are a true learner from him. You are a true follower of him because you've committed your life to him Christ wants these people to understand that that's why he begins with helping them understand true christianity And then he moves to help them understand true love because every true believer repents from iniquity and every true believer loves Supernaturally, those are two characteristics of every believer If you don't experience those two things You've got to go back and see whether or not you are truly a follower of christ a true believer in the lord Jesus christ you must repent from all iniquity and you must love Supernaturally, you can't love in the natural way because children sinners do that We talked about that the last couple of weeks right sinners love naturally Believers love supernaturally.

They love those who don't love them. They love their enemies They pray for those who who persecute them. They bless those who curse them. They they Do good to those who mistreat them. That's what believers do unbelievers. Don't do that believers do And so christ is saying this is who a true believer is This is who a true disciple is you need to understand this all this multitude hearing this on the hillside Needs to come to grips with where they stand with christ And we tell you over and over again because you need to understand that christ is an evangelist He wants people to be saved from their sin He wants them to know for certain whether or not they're christians that they are true followers of him.

He's not interested in boosting people's morale That's not what he does It doesn't give you a good feel good sermon to make you feel better when you when you leave the hillside of galilee He gives you a sermon that convicts you of your sin and determines whether or not you are standing with christ or apart from him Because he doesn't want anybody to be deceived He wants everybody to know the truth So now he comes to the third section of a sermon.

He says Listen, this sermon is about repenting from iniquity loving supernaturally and following deity That's what it's about you either follow me Or you follow somebody else so he gives four parables four axioms four truisms four analogies That help you understand the danger of following the wrong teacher following the right teacher He says you're going to either follow me Or you're going to follow somebody else If you follow them, this is what's going to happen If you follow me This is what's going to happen Let me give you the four analogies Explain them to you Then we'll be done Okay number one Verse 39 He also spoke a parable to them a blind man cannot guide a blind man.

Can he will they not both fall into? a pit Four analogies analogy number one deals with their destination Analogy number two deals with their instruction Analogy number three deals with their Affectation great word.

I'll explain to you when we get there And analogy number four deals with their production Not number one their destination listen carefully their destination Is deadly Their destination is deadly He speaks to them in a parable He gives them an analogy He gives them what is called an axiom an axiom is that which is a statement that needs no proof because it's self-evident He says this a blind man cannot guide a blind man.

Can he Will they not both fall into a pit Think about it You ever watch a blind man lead a blind man What happens? chaos all kinds of problems He can't lead Anybody because he's blind I got a friend of mine. He comes to second service.

His name is bob ferris. I've known bob for 20 years Bob is as blind as a bat Love the man dearly. He loves the lord. He can see clearly because he understands christ But when he comes to church someone has to lead him here because he's blind. You don't see bob leading anybody to church Because he can't see They know how to get here But someone leads him because he's blind And you see now picture a blind man leading bob someplace. They're not going to go anywhere They're going to fall into a ditch now in israel many pits many trenches many open ditches There there there is a great water shortage in israel has been for years They they dig lots of wells lots of those wells are open trenches that people could fall into a blind man A blind man leads to disaster.

It leads to death. It leads to that which is disastrous right Because where do you go? How do you know where to go? Well when someone is blind Spiritually and doesn't know the truth They will always lead you to a place of death not life They can't lead you to a place of life. They can't get you there If they don't believe that jesus is the only way that jesus is the only way to god that jesus is the truth That jesus is the life then they can't give you life truth or the way to god right It's as simple as that It's not hard to figure out Christ doesn't try to speak in ways that we we don't understand.

It can't comprehend. It's it's pretty obvious A blind man can't lead a blind man. Can he? It doesn't take a five beta kappa to figure that one out Because they're going to end up in a ditch. They're going to end up in a pit the pit ultimately spiritually will be hell Need to come to grips with the fact of who's teaching you follow you got to choose carefully who leads you around If you choose wrong You will die You will die a horrible death. You'll die a painful death Choose wisely Choose wisely because you follow the christ the king the lord of the universe You won't die You have life Blindness in the old testament Speaks of those who are void of truth Speaks of those who have no spiritual insight you can read about in isaiah 29 10 isaiah 44 18 Uh jeremiah 5 verse number 21 psalm 82 5 records it this way psalm 82 5 says this They do not know Nor do they understand They walk about in darkness All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

It speaks of those who are blind Spiritually they walk about in darkness. They have no spiritual truth. They do not understand that and jesus In this context is referring to spiritual leaders. How do we know that? Well turn over to matthew chapter 15 In matthew chapter 15 It says this In verse number 10 and after he called the multitude him to him he said to them hear and understand Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man but what proceeds out of the mouth this defiles the man verse 12 Then the disciples came and said to him Do you know that the pharisees are offended when they heard?

the statement See one thing about christ. He offended everybody Who lived in error? If you were committed to truth, you were always offended by what jesus said always He became a great stumbling block for you because you wanted to live in error and he presented truth He exposed your sin. You didn't like that and the pharisees were always offended at jesus and so jesus says Every plant which my heavenly father did not plant shall be rooted up His heavenly father did not did not plant those false teachers Then in verse number 14 Let them alone They are blind guides of the blind and if a blind man guides a blind man both will fall into a pit So christ is speaking about the religious establishment And those who do not know the truth who have no spiritual insight and those who don't can't lead you Into a deeper knowledge of god.

They can't lead you to god because they are far from god They can only lead you further and further away from god because they are the blind leading the blind Listen to the words of jesus over in matthew chapter 23 23 chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23 is the last public sermon of our lord And it's an absolute Incredible testimony as to how it is. He absolutely Obliterated the religious establishment that was before him He always listen jesus always spoke against religion Religion Jesus never spoke for religion.

He spoke against religion Because religion is a works-based system that denies the grace and the mercy of god So he always spoke against the religious system of the day because it was a works-based system And those who led in that system were always offended because he constantly presented the truth against their error-filled lives They hated him because of it And jesus says in chapter 23 verse number 13 But woe to you scribes and pharisees hypocrites because You shut off the kingdom of heaven from men For you do not enter in yourselves Nor do you allow those who are entering to go in?

Woe to you scribes and pharisees Woe to you leaders why because you shut off god's kingdom to yourself because you want nothing to do with grace And faith and forgiveness you shut it off and as you shut it off to yourself You lead those who follow you Further away because you close the door to them as well You present falsehood to them verse 15 woe to you scribes and pharisees hypocrites because you travel about on sea and land to make one Proselyte you go all over looking for those who will emulate you and follow you He says and when he becomes one you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourself All you do is lead people away from god don't lead them to god and what you do is make them twice As much a son of hell as yourself.

You're leading people to destruction. You're damning the souls of men Christ spoke Against him in verse 16. He says woe to you blind guides over in verse number 24 you blind guides who Strain Out a net and swallow a camel. He says in verse 26 You blind pharisees first clean the inside of the cup of the dish so that the outside of it may become clean Also, he calls them blind guides because that's what they were So christ is saying in luke chapter 6 listen very simply this the destination of the false teacher Is always deadly You got to choose who you follow if you follow them you'll die you'll fall into a pit you'll be destroyed if you follow me You'll live because I am the way the truth and the life jesus said in john 8 12.

I am the light of the world If if you're blind you need to have the light and I will show you the light luke 4 So that uh, the sermon in the synagogue in nazareth. He came to declare what sight to the blind? He came to give sight to those who cannot see That's what jesus does a false teacher Can't do that They can't give sight to the blind because they themselves are blind and because they are they can only lead a blind person into a pit that pit Is hell So number one analogy number one is their destination It is deadly analogy number two is their instruction is incomplete and inadequate their instruction is incomplete and inadequate It says this In verse number 40 a pupil is not above his teacher And everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his Teacher this is a famous saying of our lord.

He said it in matthew 10 24. John 13 16. John 15 20 He said it many times when the disciple is fully trained cartar tizzo, which means To a point of completion. He will be just like his teacher well if your teacher Doesn't know the truth If your teacher doesn't know the way If your teacher doesn't know god when you are fully trained You won't know the truth. You won't know the way and you won't know god So be careful who you follow be careful who's teaching you follow because you can only go as far as your teacher You can't go any further than that.

It was jose who said like people like priests I mean we challenge our leaders all the time. You can't take your people any further than you yourself have gone And so when you're following a false teacher The best you can be Is like him And if he doesn't know the truth, he doesn't know god. He doesn't seek after god and follow god If he can't lead you to god, you'll never get to god Because you'll only go as far as he is And if he's separated from god, you'll never see god When a disciple or a pupil is fully trained a learner is fully trained.

He'll be just like his teacher Where your teacher stops? You stop Unless of course you go on to another teacher You'll never advance you can't ever know more than your teacher knows in the days of jesus rabbis Uh and others would would take people around them with wherever they went They didn't you know They didn't sit down and write books and have all these books available to people and and have classroom studies They would take people and walk them through the avenues of life And they would use those avenues as teaching times And jesus is saying that as you go through life and as you are being trained by your teacher You will only get as far as your teacher goes.

That's it If you go beyond your teacher you become the teacher they become the follower But think about it as a pupil as a learner you begin to emulate your teacher for example Okay, we send our kids off to school, right? You send your kids off to school and they are with that teacher eight hours a day Eight hours a day And they are learning from that person. They're learning their values. They're they're learning their their their Their morality they're they're learning what that teacher believes is important eight hours a day They maybe have activities at the school.

They might play sports then they come home You you have a quick dinner and and watch a little bit tv you're with them for maybe an hour and they go to bed Next day to get up there After school eight hours a day So the majority of their day they are being influenced. They are being Inputted with those of a system that is ungodly and worldly and separated from god And they begin to glop on to what that teacher is training them We noticed this when we interview people here for jobs at the church They go to a great college then they go off to a liberal seminary And they come back with a whole different theology than when they graduated from college.

Why is that? Because when a disciple is fully trained he will be just like His teacher I didn't say that Jesus said it Right. Jesus said it. I didn't say it And that's what happens. We begin to emulate those who teach us and the more we're with them the more like them we will what? be If they're a false teacher a false teacher Then we know that the only thing they can teach us Is falsehood There might be some good moral standards that they might have and that they might be able to teach you but moral standards damn your soul They don't give you eternal life, right?

We know that only christ gives eternal life. We know that only jesus can infuse you with the truth And so christ is saying be careful who you follow be careful who your teacher is why because if they're a false teacher If they're a blind guide if they are a pharisee Then their teaching their instruction will always be inadequate. It will always be incomplete Why because it will never take you far enough It will never take you to the place where you need to be that is to a place of repentance To a place where you come to grips with your sin to a place where you come to grips with eternity to a place where you understand that Salvation comes through christ alone They'll never get you there because they themselves are not there and they can't take you any further than they themselves Already are that makes sense That's why jesus says be careful who you follow In other words be careful what church you go to You go to the wrong church You might end up in a pit You might end up in a deadly pit because the destination Of spiritual terrorists is hell the instruction of spiritual Terrorists is always incomplete and inadequate Because it never leads you to a point of repentance You got people following joseph smith.

You got people following l. Ron hubbard. You got people following Uh muhammad you got people following all these different people you got them involved in um these aberrant theology uh avenues you got them involved in all kinds of cults and isms and buddhism and hinduism and islam and all these places and Millions of people are following Into a pit It's the blind leading the blind It's those who when they instruct you Might give you some moral standards might give you some good good isms, but in reality You will end up Dead and your trespasses and sin See jesus is concerned about who's teaching you follow See, we need to be concerned about that.

See we are more concerned about physical terrorism than we are about spiritual terrorists in the church See Folks you're gonna die whether you're blown up in a plane Or you're shot by somebody or you die of a heart attack. You're gonna die. What difference does it make how you go? You're gonna go But if you go not knowing the truth Oh big difference Big difference because you you go into eternity into a christless eternity That's where you got to be careful that's where you have to understand what jesus is saying be careful who's teaching you follow If you're following somebody listen carefully if you're following somebody Who doesn't believe that salvation comes by grace alone through christ alone?

Through faith alone You're in trouble Because that's the only way to heaven Is by grace through faith in jesus christ our lord, but if you follow somebody who says You are saved by grace through faith after it is all you can do you're in trouble That's mormon theology And all you will end up in is hell. It's the blind leading the blind If you go to a church That says in their dogma He who believes that salvation comes By grace through faith in christ alone. Let him be anathema, which is a roman catholic church, by the way You're in trouble The roman catholic church teaches that that's the dogma of catholicism So if you go to the catholic church, you're not going to hear the truth You will not hear the truth You will hear falsehood You need to know what the bible says Be careful what church you go to be careful who's teaching you follow because their destination is always deadly Because their instruction is always inadequate and incomplete And number three a third analogy Their affectation is abominable Affectation good word.

It's a word that means To show to pretend as if to impress someone else They're hypocrites Their affectation is abominable. Listen to what christ says Or how can you say?

Oh, i'm, sorry verse number 41 and why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye? But not notice the log that is in your own eye Or 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 clearly see to take out the speck that is in your brother's Eye now, this is almost cartoonish As he presents this he says You you have you have this speck that's in your eye this speck is called a Carfoss It's it's not a speck of sand.

It's like a wood chip If you've had a wood chip in your eye, it's really kind of painful, isn't it? Okay, so you have this guy who has this carfoss in his eye and he comes to you in this in this hypocritical Atmosphere that says oh I I see you have a problem. Let me let me see how I can handle that problem but Because he has a dacos in his eye, which is the main beam in a building He's coming to you with this huge beam in his eye extending Yards He can't get to you Because he because he's got this big beam in his eye sticking out You can imagine if you were a cartoonish trying to draw this you got this guy with a little speck or a little little Wood chip in his eyes trying to get it out and this whole guy with this big beam is coming at him Saying well, you got a problem.

Let me see if I can help you, but he can't help He can't help because the dacos in his eye the beam in his eye is his self-righteous His self-styled virtue that says I don't need forgiveness.

I don't need grace. I don't need mercy I can make it to heaven. I can do it the way I need to do it and god will be pleased and because that's his Theology, that's what he believes. He can't see your issue. He can't deal with your sin. He can't help you He can't help you at all First of all, he can't get to you because of that self-righteous dacos That's in his eye that beam that separates him from you He can't get to you and if he was able to get to you The only way he can is to remove that beam that self-righteous virtue That damns a soul And he can't get there Because false religion can't fix itself It can't They appear to be good.

They appear to be compassionate, but they can't restrain their own flesh False teaching cannot restrain its own flesh. How do we know that? 2nd peter chapter 2 verse number 19 false teachers promising freedom While they themselves are slaves of corruption For by what a man is overcome by this he is enslaved False teachers can't restrain their own flesh because they are enslaved to that corruption And while they come to you and offer freedom They can't give you freedom because they themselves are not free.

They themselves are enslaved to their own sin They can't rid themselves Of the flesh they can't restrain their own corruption Christ would say something similar in matthew 7 verses 3 to 5 When he records these words He says and why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye?

But not but do not notice the log that is in your own eye. Oh, how can you say to your brother? Let me take the speck out of your eye and behold the log is in your own eye You hypocrite first take the log out of your own eye And then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye You can't see the sin in him because you are so blinded by your own self-righteous Virtue You can't see it So you gotta take that that that log has got to be removed from your own eye in order for you to help your brother False teachers hide their wickedness They hide it It's their character their phonies their actors.

That's why christ calls them hypocrites They they they want to impress people with with their outward behavior and christ says, you know what?

You can't fool me You can't That's why their affectation is so abominable. Why because you see they can't help you. They can't As much as that religious environment may want to help you They can't help you because they can't deal with the issue of sin In your life because only jesus can do that. And if they don't preach jesus and don't preach the truth, they can't help you That's what jesus does. He deals with people's sin He saves them from their sin so they can experience his life say So christ would would speak vehemently against him christ Again, matthew 23.

He says this is his last sermon to the religious establishment verse 13 hypocrites verse 14 hypocrites verse 15 hypocrites verse 23 hypocrites verse 25 hypocrites verse 27 hypocrites verse 28 you're full of hypocrisy That's all you are You pretend to be something you're not And all the while you have this beam in your own eye this self-righteous beam that that renders you absolutely incapable of helping anybody spiritually The problem is they don't even know it They have no idea You know just because somebody's got a the word reverend before his name that means nothing nothing Just because someone holds a spiritual office.

It means nothing Nothing just because somebody holds a title. It means absolutely nothing to god The only thing that matters is if someone has had their sin dealt with by god been forgiven of their sin So that they can help others understand how they too can be forgiven of their sin because in all reality That's the only thing that matters Is what will you do with christ because christ is the one who paid for your sin? That's the only thing that matters So christ is saying look you need to follow me Because if you follow them if you breathe in that spiritual anthrax if you continue to digest it Your destination will be deadly.

Why because their instruction is incomplete. Why is that? It's because their Affectation is abominable. They are hypocrites from the core. They do not live the truth They cannot live the truth. Therefore.

They will never give you the truth And then he says fourth analogy these words Verse 43 for there is no good tree which produces bad fruit nor on the other hand a bad tree which produces good fruit For each tree is known by its own fruit For men do not gather figs from thorns nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush the good man Out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth. What is good? And the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth. What is evil For his mouth speaks from that which fills the heart Their production Is perilous Polluted poison and perverse Because all they can do is produce evil They can't produce good They can't because god's not in their life You know, we talk about the unbeliever why that's they're such a good person really no, they're not they're evil They're evil people Why because the bible says there is how many good?

Okay, so Are you gonna do what the bible says or are you just gonna go by what you see? The bible says there's none good, but oh, there's such a good person No, they're evil They're evil Like all of us are evil Until christ the king Saves us from our sin and but for the grace of god There go we Right, and so we realize that christ is saying something very simple.

Look a bad tree produces what bad fruit Because it's their nature to produce that which is evil Apples trees produce apples. They don't produce anything else but apples Orange trees produce orange trees grape bushes produce grapes. That's all they produce Because that's inherent to their nature Well, if you're a false teacher the only thing at best that you can produce is falsehood Because that's who you are You're evil to the core That's why he says these words He says in verse 45 the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good Well, wait a minute.

I thought there were no good men. Oh, no, listen carefully Ezekiel 34 jeremiah 31. How does god give you a clean and good heart? Through his blood right? He cleanses that heart He creates a new heart in you. He gives you a new heart that gives you new life And out of the new heart that has new life there can spring forth a treasure that is good But if the evil man Remains evil then their heart which is evil only produces that which is evil Why because out of the abundance of the heart? The mouth speaks what's on the heart in the heart comes out where?

Right here. That's why we know the clearest indicator of your spiritual condition is how you speak Let me hear you speak for a day and i'll tell you where you stand with god Jesus said that he said very simply these words For his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart Your mouth will tell us where you stand with god It will Because the clean heart the good heart speaks forth that which is good and clean Remember when peter denied the lord And he began to curse and swear And the conclusion was oh, we must be mistaken.

Oh, he must not be the galilean because the follower of christ doesn't Speak like that He convinced them by saying words that were evil that were perverse You see and so we come to the conclusion that these people produce only that which is Polluted that which is perverse that which is perilous to your soul. Why it's only that which is evil They can't give you that which is good and christ says be careful who you follow whose teaching do you listen to?

Because now next week he will say well on the next day or the next phrase but for us is next week. He says listen If you hear my words You follow them You will stand in the day of judgment But if you choose to follow your false teachers You choose to follow anybody who doesn't speak the truth Well, you got the man that built his house upon the sand When that judgment comes you will fall you will not stand And then he says and how great will be that fall, you know why he says that I want to say come back next week and i'll tell you but He says that because that fall is so great because when it finally happens you are so Taken unawares because you thought for certain That what you heard was true And it was false And when on the day of reckoning you stood before god he said I'm, sorry I don't know you the utter Devastation is so great Christ says and oh how great will be that fall because you died Thinking you were going to heaven and you ended up in hell Who's teaching Do you follow let's pray Father thank you for your word the truth.

It's there You are so clear About your word and what it says You are the truth You are the lights You are the way you are the king You are everything And I pray if there be one here today That does not follow your word They would be convicted of their sin Come to a place of repentance And follow jesus christ as lord and savior In jesus name we pray. Amen