When John the Baptist was jailed by King Herod for condemning the king for immorality, John questioned whether his understanding of Jesus as the Messiah was wrong. In his dire situation, his faith began to falter.

Every believer can relate to John. In difficult circumstances, the faith that once seemed so strong when things were well can waver. We feel lost, not knowing what to do. God seems distant, and our faith feels completely defunct. (1Ki 19:4; Lk 24:21)

Jesus’ response? Blessed is he who does not take offense at me. To take offense at Jesus means that He is a stumbling block to you. Over time, it can result in doubt, disbelief, backsliding, and even apostasy. Difficult times will come. When they do, we need to remember four things to overcome taking offense at God.

1. Jesus is Lord.

Luke refers to Jesus as Lord. (v. 19) As Lord, Jesus can work in all circumstances. He is the risen Lord, who is trustworthy and able. Nothing- not even death- is bigger than Jesus Christ.

Why must we remember Jesus as Lord?
Remembering Jesus as Lord is a supernatural privilege. It is only by the Holy Spirit that we can recognize Him as Lord. (1Cor 12:3) Second, remembering Jesus as Lord is fundamental to the Christian life. Salvation begins with the lordship of Jesus. Finally, remembering Jesus as Lord is practical. He steers our lives, and although we may not know what God is doing, we know who He is, and it is enough for us.

When Jesus is your Lord, your life will be marked with continual confession of sins, unconditional trust in Christ, and relentless thanksgiving to Him.

2. Jesus works always.

At the time John’s disciples came to question Jesus, He was working. (v.21) Jesus unceasingly works for the elect. He works for good, and His work is always successful. (Phil 1:6)

How do you know God is always working?
Romans 8:28 says that God causes all things to work for good. Nothing can happen or exist if God did not work. In His Word and by prayer, we know that God works. He speaks to us in the Bible and works through our prayers as we seek Him and pray according to His will.

God works providentially. If you truly believe that God is behind all things, there is peace.

3. Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus is the ultimate Savior. (v. 22) The works He did were prophesied in the Old Testament as the works of the future Messiah (Is 61:1) Jesus healed people in dire conditions- those who were blind, lame, diseased, deaf, dead, and poor- conditions that reflect our sin nature. We were in a hopeless state, but Jesus healed and saved us. It is the work He continues to do today as the Messiah. (2Cor 1:8-10; 2Cor 12:9-10)

4. Jesus is good.

Jesus said the poor have the gospel preached to them. Without the gospel, there is nothing man can do about his sin. Jesus is the good news. He alone is good.

How can you taste God’s goodness?
It is only the poor who can receive the gospel and taste the goodness of God. The one who is spiritually bankrupt before the Lord receives His mercy and lovingkindness.

We live in a time where people depend on themselves, especially when it comes to their experiences. How someone feels is a greater reality than truth. Even in the church, there are those who believe their ‘spiritual’ experience rather than what the word of God says. This is wrong and we must have a right object of faith, which can only be Jesus Christ. Therefore, our experiences must be based on the truth of God’s word. Especially in difficult times, what we need most is Jesus Christ. So far we have learned Jesus’ providence, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is compassionate, and Jesus is omniscient.

Jesus is omnipotent
Human nature is to bully and take advantage of the weak. However Jesus shows mercy and kindness (Matthew 12:20). After telling the widow “Do not weep”, Jesus begins to work. He demonstrates His almighty power. He has power over death and death cannot resist Jesus at all. Death is the last enemy which claims victory over every person(Hebrews 9:27). No one can escape death. Many have tried but all have failed. Yet Jesus stops this funeral procession and puts his hand on the coffin. The boy’s death is already irreversible, it’s seemingly too late, all that’s left is to bury him. However the funeral procession halts. Death stops at Jesus. He is God and sovereignly holds life and death in His hand (Job 1:21, John 11:25). 

Jesus says to the young man ‘Arise’. What a blessed command! God raises the dead! (Psalm 16:10, John 5:25) The dead Lazarus also heard the voice of Jesus and came out of the tomb. He truly is omnipotent! How can this be? Because God is pure actuality. God never has a beginning nor an end but He is God and He has always been. God is existence and He is life and so all life comes from Him (Rev 1:8). Without Jesus, all are dead and in Jesus we are saved and alive. Jesus has no causality, but is the cause of all things as the Creator (John 1:1, 3). He is everlasting to everlasting.

Arise
In that unexpected moment when the funeral procession is halted, Jesus gives the command ‘Arise!’. The tense is for the man to arise immediately. It wasn’t a command for later. It is like when God said ‘Let there be light’ at creation (Genesis 1:3, Hebrews 11:3). Christians experience a similar moment in our baptism. Jesus says ‘Arise’ as we come out of the water (Colossians 2:12). The dead sinner awakens as a redeemed child of God.

Salvation is a gift from GodJesus is the only one who gives the gift of salvation. “Jesus gave him back to his mother”. Not only does he do the miracle work of raising the dead but Jesus finishes the work by giving the son back to his mother. He presents the gift himself. In our difficult times, we meet Jesus in His word. We don’t meet anyone else, we meet Jesus, the only one who can help us and comfort us. 
Jesus is the only wayIf Scripture is correct about man’s fallen condition then the only possible solution is Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not the only way, then the Bible is wrong and man does not need saving. The Bible explains man’s sinfulness and fallen condition together with God’s salvation in the perfect God-man Jesus Christ (John 5:39). These two truths cannot be separated in the Bible. The Bible is true about both or neither. 

Jesus is the Messiah
Death is everywhere. Over 100,000 people die everyday. The good news is, God has sent his Son as our salvation. Jesus is the Messiah. In Luke 7:16, it says “Fear gripped them all”. Imagine being there and witnessing this miracle. A guy who was obviously dead was raised to life by the man in front of you. You would be both amazed and scared. In verse 16, they gave the only response based on the only conclusions they could come to. That Jesus is a prophet or God visiting His people. However, Jesus is not just a prophet but the Prophet (Acts 3:22). What He says God says. The people wrongly thought Jesus might be someone like Moses or Elijah. They also thought it might be God visiting them (Matthew 1:21-23). But they failed to make the final connection which is: Jesus is the Messiah. Because if Jesus is the Messiah, if He is God, then He must be worshiped (Philippians 2:10-11). 

Conclusion
Do you worship Jesus? To worship Jesus means He is above all in all circumstances. You submit yourself to Him and His word in everything. We must fear God in our worship (Isaiah 6:5). If there is no reverence, then there is no humility, no faith and no worship. ‘The fear of God is the soul of godliness’ – John Murray. If we have a holy fear of Jesus, then we truly know who He is and worship Him. What is the result of knowing Jesus and worshiping Him? “And this report about Him spread throughout Judea and in all the surrounding region.” (Luke 7:17)

Why must we consider Jesus alone? In part 1, we learned it is because Jesus is providential and Jesus is Lord. By His sovereignty, Jesus headed toward the small village of Nain and provided what the widow needed. In that moment, Luke calls Jesus ‘Lord’. Jesus must be confessed as Lord for us to be saved (Romans 10:9). He is the living Lord who has conquered sin and death. He is truly God and Lord above all things. Nothing happens without his permission. These are two of the reasons why salvation belongs to Jesus alone.

Jesus is full of compassion – “He felt compassion for her” Luke 7:13.
Jesus is truly compassionate. In fact, He is love (1 John 4:16). The Savior was not mechanical or robotic in his miracle work but His actions were a result of a genuine and visceral compassion towards the widow. His love is full of kindness and goodness. He knows what we go through and feels it deeply. Our days are full of trials and trouble and we fail many times, yet Jesus is always compassionate towards us. See how He wept for Lazarus (John 11:35). Still today, He continually pours out His mercy from His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:15). He already knows your sins, that you are wretched sinners, vile and unclean, yet kindly invited to the mercy seat. What compassion and kindness! Mark 1:40-41.

How does Jesus show compassion to us now? Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit who does the same things He does (John 14:26). We often forget that the Holy Spirit is here with us, within us. The Holy Spirit who is God also (Ephesians 1:13). Also Jesus also still intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). Jesus even prayed for His enemies, how much more does He pray for you (Matthew 5:44)? Love and compassion are always accompanied with prayer.

You must be humble to know the compassion of Jesus. It requires an honest humility that admits we are absolutely worthless before Jesus. A humility that realizes we cannot do nothing on our own but we need Jesus (Luke 15:18-19). The prodigal son confessed and was willing to be a slave, and the Father showed compassion (Luke 15:20-22). When we humble ourselves and beg for mercy, we avail ourselves to the wonderful compassion of our Father.

Jesus knows everything (omniscient)
The Lord says to the widow “Do not weep”. A strange response considering His compassion and Her situation. The widow was weeping loudly for she had lost her only son. She was now alone. Jesus saying “Do not weep” is saying He knows everything and He knows what to do. Jesus is omniscient. He knew everything about the widow and her situation. Jesus knows everything past, present and future. He spoke in His foreknowledge, not harshly or spitefully, but out of His goodness. His commands are love and holiness to us. The coming year will also have its hardships. Society will get more sinful and more illogical. More unbiblical ideas will continue to gain popularity. We don’t know how bad it will be but God knows.

Why does the omniscience of Jesus matter?
– Jesus knows us individually. His knowledge is a person to person knowledge. His knowledge is not just facts about us but relational. Like Jesus knew and treated Apostle Paul, He also deals with us individually.
– Jesus knows everything about everything. He is Lord of all. Jesus is not just Lord on Sundays and He is not just Lord of the church but Lord of all. From nature, to nations, to money, to health to all peoples, to all existence, He is Lord. This Lord of all walks with you. So bring all your matters to Him, He is Lord of those too (Daniel 3:25, Psalms 23:4-6).
– Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. To be honest, we don’t know ourselves very well. We can’t even watch our own backs. We need someone to do that for us. In our extremely limited knowledge, how can we face an unknown future? We must walk with Jesus by faith (Hebrews 11:1-3,8). Jesus knows you perfectly, what you will face and what you need. Have faith in Him.

Jesus is full of compassion and knows all things. He is the Lord of all and provides what we need. We must trust in Jesus. He is the only one who is trustworthy.

We live in a world where people believe in many other gods and religions with each religion claiming to be the truth, yet somehow inclusive. In contrast, Jesus said he was the truth and there was no other way to the Father except through him. In today’s text, with those present at the funeral service of a widow’s only son, we witness Jesus stopping death in its track by raising up the dead son back to life. Jesus shows love and wisdom in caring for the widow by restoring her only son to her. In the bigger picture, Jesus is sovereignly providential. Jesus helps.

Webster Dictionary 1828 defines providence as “Effected by the providence of God; referable to divine providence; proceeding from divine direction or superintendence; as the providential contrivance of things; a providential escape from danger.” How much are we indebted to God’s unceasing providential care!

After leaving Capernaum, Jesus, his disciples and the large crowd went to the city called Nain soon afterward (v 11). This city was small and insignificant – about 26 miles from Capernaum. Through divine providence, Jesus intentionally headed towards Nain as he planned to meet the widow and the recently deceased son. Jesus is the only one that is able to provide the very thing the widow needed – the power to raise the dead. He cared for her need and had compassion for her. Jesus knew this because he continuously works and prays for others (Ro. 8:34). He also provides every good thing and perfect gift (Jas. 1:17). In other words, Jesus provides every common and special grace. From raising the dead (physical) to our saving sinners (spiritual), God provides through Jesus Christ in his love and care for the lost. And it is God who causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Ro. 8:28). God’s providence is perfectly demonstrated on the cross as Jesus provided the perfect sacrifice to be the propitiation for our sins.

Luke describes God’s providence through Jesus’ resurrection power in this text. And it is no small thing that Luke refers to Jesus as Lord (v 13). Jesus is Lord and God. Christ, in his human nature, accomplished perfect obedience, has won salvation for us, and has been given universal dominion as a reward. Luke’s thorough investigation into Jesus’ lordship was based on overwhelming evidence – the raising up of the widow’s dead son being one of many. To believe and be saved, we must believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus is Yahweh. Without Jesus’ providence, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5).

We must accept Jesus as our objective salvation because he is sovereignly providential in His lordship.

Oftentimes we mistakenly associate intricate theological knowledge with great faith. The centurion didn’t have access to a library of books to learn systematic theology. He had only heard of Jesus, yet he knew exactly who Jesus is with real and genuine faith. Jesus was astonished and amazed, meaning Jesus was pleased by His faith. There is no reason for Jesus to be surprised by anything since he is God who is omniscient. Yet how wonderful to know that a plain and sincere faith is the faith that our Savior desires.

How do we know that the centurion’s faith was genuine? In verse 2, it says he was highly regarded by the elders. The centurion’s faith was a working faith, that was not just in word but in good deeds. For example, he built their synagogue. Socially the Jews and Gentiles could not mix, the Jews despised the Gentiles, let alone respect them. While the Jews looked down on foreigners there was also anti-semitism spreading among the Romans. So this Roman commander had no reason to be kind to the Jews. Despite the social climate, this centurion was different because he was transformed by his faith (Luke 6:27-29, James 2:18). His faith was working especially in this situation of need and trouble by humbly turning to Jesus for the healing of his slave.

The Jewish elders say the centurion is worthy because he helped them build the synagogue (Luke 7:4). Contrarily, the centurion says he is not worthy. This is what makes the centurion so special. He is a man of humility. He knows he is not worthy of Jesus Christ. Faith and humility are always interconnected. In other words, pride makes faith impossible (Luke 18:13). Those who are humble, realize their sinfulness and ask for forgiveness. Graciously, God always answers repentance right away with forgiveness. We are all not worthy and should have faith in Jesus with humility (Luke 7:44-45).

The key to obtaining humility is to listen to the words of Jesus. At the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3, Luke 6:20). Without this, we cannot move forward in our faith. Humility is realizing we are nothing before almighty God. God is superior to us in all aspects and we desperately need Him. Jesus himself is the perfect example of humility who gave up everything in obedience to God the Father. So humility makes faith possible and until we are humble our faith is not practical and only until then God is pleased.

Sometimes, in our pride, we attempt to handle our problems on our own. This is the opposite of faith. Unless we are humble can we understand that only Jesus is Lord and faithfully turn to Him (Luke 8:23-24). The centurion, based on his own position, addresses Jesus as Lord because He understands the authority that Jesus has over all things (Philippians 2:9-10). When we are humble, we worship Jesus as Lord and God (Luke 5:8, Luke 24:52). We also trust in Him, His power, and goodness (Romans 8:28). When we trust in our Lord, we can have peace and joy in the face of all our problems. Because who is greater than our Lord? What problem is greater than our Lord? Nothing. So we can smile in any trial because Jesus is Lord. This is our obedience and sanctification and our Christlikeness.

The humble see Jesus as Creator (Luke 7:7). When God spoke, the universe was made. The centurion knew Jesus could heal just by speaking because he knew Jesus is the Creator. Jesus can make something out of nothing. He is the source of all things. We need this understanding. This doctrine must be more than knowledge but true understanding through humility. Why else would our prayers be answered except for the fact that Jesus is the Creator? Our own words are powerless if Jesus were not behind them.

Lastly, the humble understand that Jesus has all authority (Luke 7:8). In the hierarchy of this world, the centurion places Jesus above everything, even above nature, angels, demons, and disease (Matthew 28:18, Matthew 8:27). Jesus never had to ask permission from anyone or anything. There is nothing in this universe that Jesus must adhere to or abide by. He stands alone at the top, even death cannot resist his authority. When he commands the dead Lazarus to come out, even death cannot resist a single moment. When we are humble then we experience the blessed authority of Jesus over all things in our life.

Life is full of difficulties. Many of us are overwhelmed and tired. Look at Noah, God told Noah to build a giant ark. How many of us would complain that it is too difficult. Yet by faith, Noah did it (Hebrews 11:7). When we are humble, we see that God is able and put our faith in Him. Humility amplifies our knowledge of God and produces a faith that pleases God.

The immediate context is following the completion of the Sermon on the Mount, which included topics covering the kingdom of God and love. Afterward, Jesus went to Capernaum, which is located in northern Galilee. This city was the home base of his ministry for about two and half years. It was here Jesus when he was met with Jewish elders and friends a centurion had sent after hearing about Jesus and all that he was teaching. The centurion’s faith caused Jesus to marvel at it.

Why did Jesus marvel at this man’s faith? First, we need to look more into the centurion’s background as a Gentile is related to the overall them of the Gospel of Luke as it pertains to reaching the Gentiles. The one thing we know for sure is this man’s title as a centurion. “Centurion connects to the word century which connects to the number 100.  Technically they had a hundred men under them, although that number was flexible and many had more and some had less… Not only could they lead by command, they could lead by example because that’s really how you lead in life and death situations.  Not only that, they could follow orders.  They were the soldier’s soldier” (John MacArthur).

And another person to consider is the centurion’s slave that was dying, whom the centurion highly regarded. According to the historian, Josephus, oftentimes slaves were hired and mentored by the master. This slave was about to die and the centurion heard about Jesus and sent the Jewish elders to ask him to save him (v 3).  Just as everyone comes to faith by hearing the word of God and the gospel, the centurion also demonstrates living by faith after hearing about Jesus. And it was this act of obedience through faith brought on by hearing Jesus is stunned.

What does it mean by hearing? There’s a key difference between hearing the voice of God that leads to obedience vs merely listening without understanding (1 Cor. 2:14; Matt. 13:23; Jn. 10:3). Thus, when Jesus often spoke in parables to the crowd, only those that had true saving faith were able to hear and obey, whereas the rest heard and remained in their unbelief. In other words, what hearing truly means is to hear by faith and obey. Elisabeth Elliot once said, “we must quit bending the word to suit our situation. It is we who must be bent to the word.”

People whose hearts are dull cannot hear (Matt. 13:15). They cannot see or understand the pure spiritual principles of the gospel (Albert Barnes). Sin is what ultimately makes the heart dull. The kind of man God looks for is the opposite – the contrite in spirit (Is. 66:2).

How can we hear and improve our hearing?

• Read and meditate on the Bible every day. Christians know it is not most important to fill our stomachs, but rather to fill out spiritual hungry first and foremost.
• Pray throughout the week. We pray for ourselves and others (esp. pastors/leaders).
• Confession of sins daily
• Reduce media intake
• Not forsaking assembling together. Prioritizing the church is vital.
• Worship God with all our hearts. Passion and Scripture go hand in hand in worship.

Why is it so important to hear the word of God? Judas Iscariot heard so many words of Jesus, but he often disobeyed because of his sin and unbelief. In contrast, the Apostle Peter remembered the word of Christ and wept in repentance (Matt. 26:34, 75). As a result, he regained strength as he lived a life of repentance and faithful obedience to the Lord. This is what it means by hearing. Similarly, the centurion heard by faith and also applied it in his life through obedience.

Church discipline is a serious topic for the church. It is necessary though unpleasant. God disciplines us in our own personal lives and also has means of discipline in the church. Although we might not want to talk about it, discipline is still part of the gospel and God loves the church so He disciplines the sinner for the church’s sake.

Matthew 18:15-18 is Jesus’ strategy for dealing with tough situations – a sinning brother or sister. We also desire to deal with discipline purely from the word of God and not based on our personal feelings or emotions. God disciplines the sinner, we are merely the means God uses as we obey His word.

Some context for church discipline:

1. God is love and God is just. Often when it comes to a sinning brother we only apply love. We misapply Matthew 18:12 and think only positivity must be shown for the lost sheep. But God is also just and it is because he loves as well as just He wants to discipline His church.
2. Discipline is under discipleship. Discipleship has two sides, one which is instructional (formal) and the other is corrective. We normally instruct and teach but there are times when correction is necessary. Jesus corrects and disciplines out of love for the church (Hebrews 12:6).
3. When someone is in sin we should not be quiet but speak out in love. Church discipline is not excommunication. Excommunication is only the final step if there is no repentance. God is constantly disciplining, using his rod and staff lovingly like a shepherd leading sheep (Psalm 23).
4. Church discipline begins with the gospel. The gospel is not just for the moment of conversion but it should be continually conveyed to every believer every day. It is because the gospel is powerful and can change a person. The gospel must continually grow in our lives. Through the gospel working in our hearts we deny ourselves and follow Jesus Christ. The gospel message, its sanctifying power and call to repentance is the starting point of church discipline.
5. The basis of church discipline comes from the authority of Scripture. Discipline is not determined by a person’s rights or authoritative position but because the Bible dictates. 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 says if a person is in sin then there can be no true fellowship. They might attend worship but no true fellowship. Hence the term excommunicated which means no communion. The Bible says it is the process of discipline that restores fellowship in the church. Christian’s are a new creature in Christ and serve as ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, 20). This role applies to one another. When a brother is in sin then we must speak God’s word and be the voice of Christ to our fellow brother or sister, like Peter correcting Simon (Acts 8:20-23).
6. Jesus is the head of the church (Matthew 16:18-19) and he gives the church the power to say who belongs to the church (Matthew 18:18). For the New Testament church, we are here to preach the gospel, baptize those who repent, remember the Lord’s supper and lastly practice self discipline. We are not just here to receive new believers but to love and keep current believers and call out those who are disobedient (3 John 1:9). The apostles practiced a lot of church discipline, especially in the Corinthian church

What is biblical church membership?

Church membership doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you are saved but it does mean you are regarded as such. A true member of the church has repented and trusted in Jesus Christ. They confess Jesus Christ and call upon the name of the Lord wherever they are and wherever they go (1 Corinthians 1:2). Simply, a true Christian is a true member of Christ’s church. Church membership pertains to a local church. Biblical local church membership is like a covenant with its blessing and responsibilities. Membership includes accountability to Jesus, the leadership of the church, and to its fellow members.

A Christian is to be the salt and light of the earth. Yes, we are not perfect but we are pursuing sanctification. We strive, struggle, repent and pray to the Lord to be saltier and shine more brightly. Yet the reason why the church is called hypocritical these days is that we have failed and we have not held accountable those who are disobedient and unfaithful. This is why we need discipline. Jesus says, ‘If your brother sins, go show them their sin in private’. This doesn’t mean every single little sin. However, we want our fellow brethren to follow and represent Christ rightly.

When a believer is in sin for a long time, they are not following or representing Christ rightly. A person’s absence from the church is an example. They might have left for another church but that is not an excuse from the covenant of membership. There are only a few reasons to leave a church and break membership, the main reason being a false gospel and false doctrine. The church is different from the world and its organizations, the church is easy to enter but difficult to leave.

This is the purpose of church discipline: to restore and show love (Matthew 18:15). Church discipline repairs the fellowship, keeps its members in the flock, and sanctifies the church. The process of church discipline is a compassionate warning to show a fellow brother or sister their sin and to call them to repentance. No one loves to be shown their sin so the process of discipline is unpleasant but the result is wonderful. The goal is to bring them back to Christ! Jesus gave his life for the disobedient Christian and so in His love, Jesus tells the church to discipline the sinner so that they may be restored to Him (Ephesians 5:25, 1 Corinthians 13:6). Though unpleasant, discipline must be carried out with valor, courage, kindness, and compassion.

If the person refuses to repent or reconcile; they claim they found another church. What can we do? We must do what the Lord commands. We must excommunicate with the hope that the person would eventually be restored (1 Corinthians 5:5). Always, the hope through discipline is repentance and reconciliation. While church discipline is necessary, our prayer is that we love one another and encourage one another to live faithfully for the Lord, so that church discipline might not be necessary (Galatians 6:1).

The Sermon on the Mount by Jesus focuses on man’s heart. It is the heart that matters to God. Another important thing Jesus addresses is self-deception. Jesus concludes his sermon as he admonishes his followers warning against self-deception. Those that practice self-deception fail to live in obedience to Christ and lack good fruit. Disobedience is the natural man’s practice that produces bad fruit.

What is biblical obedience and the benefits that bear fruit in the believer’s life? What biblical obedience is not is mere talk and claiming, which is disobedience. Those in verse 46 that call Jesus “Lord, Lord” fall into this category of seemingly Christian, but having lived a life of disobedience. In the immediate context, Jesus is speaking in the present tense, which indicates some that were in the crowd fell into this category. The Bible often tells of hypocrites and self-deceived people that are close to Christ in knowledge, but not truly knowing and believe in Christ (1 Jn. 2:19).

Anyone can fall into self-deception. Some of the ways people can fall are as follows.

• Those that refuse to practice self-examination, especially meditation through the Word and the Spirit
• Busybodies due to many activities
  • Keeping ourselves occupied in so many good works is not an indicator of being saved
  • Some balance out good works versus living a worldly life
• Look down on some scriptural principles
  • Example: culture pressing down on the church to prevent certain topics of discussion and at worst softening the gospel message
• Dealing with the Lord with lesser importance
  • God desires the believer’s heart. Whatever else we try to offer (often considered our best in our own eyes) is not what God truly wants.
  • How do we know we have given heart to the Lord? Matt. 22:37

Those that are not self-deceived possess genuine faith which produces obedience. The obedient man demonstrates their action based on the Word. And the start of an obedient life hinges on true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. What Jesus implies in the text is that everyone builds their house (i.e., building their religious life), and by digging deeper implying true repentance (Luke 13:8). It is by repentance we believe and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, without repentance, obedience is not possible. This is the only way to avoid becoming like those that say, “Lord, Lord” whom Jesus never knew when divine judgment comes.

The rain and flood will come to all; that is, death and God’s divine judgment. The only thing that will allow one to stand and fall is if one possesses genuine faith or if one remains in unbelief. The illustration given by Jesus paints a stark contrast between believers and unbelievers. Believers have built their life on the solid foundation of Christ that will withstand the flood of death and judgment. Whereas unbelievers have self-deceivingly built their life on no foundation that will come to ruin at the flood of death and judgment.

As death and judgment come to both the obedient and disobedient, the only flood insurance anyone needs is obedience brought by true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We live in some strange times. The good times we experienced just a few years ago are gone due to Covid-19. I believe we are living in the end times, meaning ever since Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, we have been living in the end times. One sign of the end times is found in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, where many will fall away from the faith and follow the teachings of demons through false teachers. We see this happening now. Many false teachers attract people with a shiny superficial gospel. Their end is the dark pit and they have no hope.

In Luke 6, Jesus continues to reveal the truth about false teachers. He begins to address their character. A person’s character matters and one is able to identify a false teacher by their character. Jesus knew that false teachers would be a constant threat to the true church so he warns us of false teachers. Jesus says that a false teacher is a hypocrite and wicked. No matter how hard they try, they cannot hide who they are.

Firstly, false teachers are hypocrites. Jesus calls them hypocrites who have a log in their own eye trying to take a speck out of another’s. Imagine having a large beam of wood in your eye while pretending you are fine. How ridiculous it is, yet that is what false teachers are. A hypocrite is an actor, someone who has two faces. They are living under a feigned character. Alexander Souter says a hypocrite is one who “outwardly plays the part of a religious man to perfection, but is inwardly alien to the spirit of true religion”. The false teachers, the Pharisees were full of self-righteousness with no sign of repentance (Luke 18:11-12). The log in their eye is their remaining guilt and worldly desires, blinding them to their own sin. A true believer would repent humbly, ashamed before Holy God, crying out for mercy (Luke 18:13).

Hypocrisy is not only full of self-righteousness but also self-deception. The hypocrite creates their own reality where even though they are wrong, they think they are right. In Matthew 7:22, the crowd thought they knew Jesus and thought they did many great things in Jesus’ name but they are deceived. Jesus doesn’t know them at all. They think that their dramatic faith healings and flashy performances bring them near to Christ. They will defend their experiences vehemently. Yet they are dead wrong.

Hypocritical false teachers are also man-pleasers. They say what people want to hear. They prey like wolves on those who want to hear a soft truth (2 Tim 4:3). That’s what Jesus means by the speck. The false teacher will tell you about a small little problem you have to not offend you. Soft truth makes hearts hard but hard truth makes soft hearts.

Also never listen to a preacher that claims God told them audibly or directly. The Bible is sufficient and all that God has wanted to say is written in it (Jeremiah 14:14). “If private revelation agrees with scriptures, they are needless; and if they disagree, they are false.” – John Owen.

We cannot measure the godliness of a man based on signs and wonders because we are not saved by miracles. A sinner is saved only by the hearing of the gospel (Romans 10:17). False teachers will focus on presentation and neglect the weighty doctrines (Matthew 23:23). The people need to hear of sin, hell, and repentance for there to be significance of His love on the cross and the hope of resurrection. Kenneth Copeland and Steve Furtick spit lies about Jesus and their churches are huge and wealthy, but they are not saved.

False teachers have wicked character and bear bad fruit. Jesus says a bad tree cannot produce bad 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.” A true believer would be humble, righteous, and sacrificial like the Beatitudes. They would bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But the false teachers are known by their fruit. They are worldly, they seek fame and fortune. They cannot bear Biblical fruit no matter how hard they try or how much they try to pretend because they are not truly saved.

Ultimately, God is the one who knows you by your fruit and will judge you by what you bear. Jesus in the end will say to all hypocrites, ‘I never knew you’ (Matthew 7:23). The question is, what fruit do you bear? You should know what sort of tree you are by your fruit. Are you a good tree which bears good fruit? Are you truly saved by God’s grace and sincerely obey His word or are you falsely being religious? Don’t expect your false deeds to stand up in the final court (Rev 20:10).

The false teacher nor their followers are actually saved, yet they pretend they are. They are evil, their hearts are evil and they treasure what is evil (Genesis 6:5). This is all they can be because they are not regenerate. This is an extreme danger to the true church (Matthew 7:15). False teachings like CRT are invading good churches and causing disunity, disruption, distraction, and harm against brothers and sisters. The only defense we have is God’s word. We must cling to the Bible. All believers must emulate the Bereans, be noble-minded and search the Scriptures to test what we hear and learn. Then we can prevent ourselves from being hypocrites and we protect ourselves and our churches from false teachers and their wickedness.

It is the true gospel of Jesus Christ versus all other false gospels that all of us face in this world.  And it is the false teacher that leads people to hell by preaching and teaching a false gospel. The late great theologian, Francis Schaeffer, succinctly stated the reality of this spiritual warfare as follows:

“Make no mistake. We as Bible-believing evangelical Christians are locked in a battle. This is not a friendly gentleman’s discussion. It is a life and death conflict between the spiritual hosts of wickedness and those who claim the name of Christ. It is a conflict on the level of ideas between two fundamentally opposed views of truth and reality.”

Today’s passage shows that every student, after being fully trained, will be like their teachers and teach a fatalistic gospel. Countless times we see warnings of this is Scripture. Hosea echoes the same truth (4:9). Apostle Paul’s example prior to believing having been under Gamaliel echoed the teachings of Judaism before becoming a Christian. There is a myriad of examples in today’s false religions such as Mormonism that teach about Jesus and other biblical terms but falsely.

False teachers that preach Jesus present a false Jesus. But those that truly follow the biblical Jesus will demonstrate “righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9b) and “whatever is true, what is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable” (Phil. 4:8). Therefore, we need to ask who our teacher is. Is it the Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit himself (Gal. 1:11-12)? Is the gospel what transforms and continues to be the central teaching or is it something else? Who do you look up to everyday? The Jesus of the Bible or a false Jesus presented by false teachers?

Jesus warns believers not to be misled by false teachers. If the Lord himself has not called or sent them, they will teach falsehood in God’s name by the deception of their own minds (Jer. 14:14). Today, there are many false teachers, and they all have one thing in common: self-interest.

How can we identify false teachers? False teachers can be put into the following categories and these signs should warn the believer: heretics/cults, charlatan, prophets (modern day self-proclaimed), abuser, ear-tickler (Jer. 6:14), speculator (try to decode the Bible), new age politician, and more.

In order to grow in our love, faith, and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, it is imperative to master the word of God through careful study and meditation, possess a discerning ear, and risk our lives for the sake of truth no matter the cost.