Leap Of Faith Series

“Leap of Faith”

Luke 6:46 – 7:10

A sermon for 6/13/21

Pastor John Bright - Harmony & Swansonville UMC

Luke 6 “46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 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. 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.”

I have heard these verses my whole life. I was taught the song at VBS and in Sunday School – with all the hand movements (the rains came down and the floods came up – DEMO)

In Matthew 7, we get this same parable. It calls the two men – wise and foolish – just like in the kid’s song I learned over 50 years ago. I have been trying to figure out if anybody ever explained what those men or those houses symbolized. The only thing I remember is being told that Jesus is the ROCK and we build on Him… but that is NOT the message here. Somewhere along the line I learned that God is ok if we just try to do what we read in the Bible and He won’t blame us if we can’t live up to His standards. Did you get that same thing coming up in the United Methodist Church?

Only now do I realize it was all a big lie – God gave us His Word to show us THE WAY, not a list of options. What do I tell you all the time? This Bible is what’s best for you and me. We can do that or not do that – it’s your choice and it’s my choice.

Those choices will have eternal consequences so we better choose wisely.

Do you call Him, Lord Lord?

“46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

This is how Matthew shares Jesus words of warning – Matthew 7 “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

All the Believers I know want to get to heaven and hear these words – “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” from Matthew 25. That’s what you want, right? These other words – “I never knew you, depart from me” should be the scariest phrase in the whole of God’s Word!

Last week I talked about two things that can’t both be true if they come out of your mouth. Now we are presented with two more. If you tell me Jesus is your Lord and Savior then you tell me you free to do whatever you want to do… which one is true because they can’t both be true. If you call Him Lord, you must be following the Bible’s teachings. If you do whatever you want, you are not saved.

So, how do you feel about being warned? It really IS NOT the same as being told what to do, but folks usually look at a warning the same way.

I would be letting everyone of you down if all I ever do is stand up in the pulpit and tell you how to be in peace. That has become the main message of the modern-day evangelist – you can have peace if you let God fill the hole in your heart. Then there is never any instruction in righteousness and the need for repentance. Listen to how Pastor Ray Comfort describes this:

“We have a blind man who’s tapping his way toward a 1,000-foot cliff. It’s about 20 feet in front of him. He’s unwittingly heading for destruction. Modern evangelism slides alongside him and says, “Hey, blind man, I got something for you. It’s real peace.” He says, “What do you mean?” He says, “Put these earphones on.” He hears a 10,000-voice choir singing “Amazing Grace.” The blind man smiles as he listens. He says, “Oh, that is giving me such peace. Thank you, modern evangelism.” Modern evangelism says, “God bless you, blind man,” and leaves him still heading for the path of destruction, still heading for a 1,000-foot cliff."