Why Do You Call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and Not Do What I Tell You?

Let's open up our Bibles to Luke 6.46. One thing we know for certain on this night when America holds its breath about who's going to be its next president, there is one who is Lord and he's taken a seat on the throne of his father David, and he is going to rule over Jacob and he is going to reign forever and forever. And they call him Lord, Lord of lords. Luke 6.46, probably most of you are familiar with this verse, but let's think about it.

Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Now, is that obvious to everybody? What's going on in this verse? Why do you call me Lord, Lord? Well, that's interesting, Lord, Lord, we don't talk like that. We don't say Kevin, Kevin, or Glenn, Glenn. Lord, Lord.

Why do you call me Lord, Lord? What do you think? Anybody know? Anybody have any insights into that kind of addressing of people, that kind of usage? Obviously the original here would be in Greek. Obviously, Jesus is growing up in a Hebrew context, which is very much influenced by Rome. But this 2,000 years ago in the Near East, what's the significance to talking like this? Lord, Lord.

What does he mean? Emphatic? I mean, you do have that idea of repetition. And by the way, can you think of any place else where you get a double repetition? I mean, you can probably think of other places where we even get that same repetition, Lord, Lord. I mean, where's another common place that shows up? Matthew 7. Can you think of anywhere else where somebody is being addressed and their name is said twice? Martha, Martha.

Now, do we talk like that? Is that the same? Do you get the sense that's the same? If somebody says, Lord, Lord. If somebody says, Martha, Martha. Do you get the sense that it's implying the same kind of stress? Like, I could imagine myself saying to my wife, Ruby, Ruby.

See, I say we don't address Kevin, Kevin, Kevin. But in the right nuance of language, saying it with a little bit different inflection, saying it with different emphasis, depending on the context. If Kevin said something and it seemed like Kevin was speaking in a naive fashion, or he was speaking in a way where he should really know, he's coming across as though he doesn't know if you said Kevin, Kevin.

Now see, that we can understand. That would not be foreign. But what do you think here? I mean, Martha, Martha.

Familiarity? Yeah, I mean, it does seem that way. Put it in the context of the text that it's in. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things I say? You have to put it together with not doing the things that I say.

In other words, he's stressing that you speak in a certain way, but your actions don't reflect what your lips say. Or you think about the other places where it's used. Where else does the Lord, Lord come at us? We heard Matthew 7. How's it used? Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord.

And then it's used again, right? How's it used the second time? In that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord. Now, maybe there's an emphasis there. Obviously, many will say to me in that day, what day? Judgment Day.

And what's happening to them? They're being cast away. I mean, this is kind of a frantic, emphatic, Lord, Lord! Can you think of anywhere else where the Lord, Lord is used? James there, he said kind of back to intimacy, like Martha, Martha familiarity. I didn't think of Lord, Martha, Jesus on the cross.

He said Eli, Eli. My God, my God. Two times in a row.

Why do you forsake Me? Tim, I mean, emphasis like that we understand. And what there is is whether we want to connect it to somebody implying by the way they talk, there's a familiarity, there's an intimacy, there's some kind of emphasis. That's what it seems like.

That with your mouth, you are actually acknowledging Me as Lord in a way that is just more than just kind of passing. You are actually speaking to Me in a way that more than just slightly seems verbally at least to be recognizing My Lordship. You call Me Lord, and you do it with a fair degree of significance.

You do it more than just in passing. You do it more than just lightly. Maybe you do it repetitiously and not do what I tell you.

It's a very simple concept. It just totally... we were talking about somebody was bringing up Jeff Peterson's message from Sunday. He was dealing with Charles Stanley's book.

This text just blows that whole idea of you can be a true Christian and just live any way you want. If you just had one moment in your life where you believed, and now you can live any way you want. This text just blows it right out of the water.

Because if you couple this with Matthew 7, you see, just this by itself, why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Well, the thing is that the very same parable that he ends up with over in Matthew 7, he ends up with here. And he doesn't simply say it's okay. It's not, you know, why do you do it? I wish you wouldn't do it, but after all, it'll turn out okay with you if that's what you do.

That's not what he's saying. He is basically saying here that if you say one thing, but you don't actually... if you say something with your lips that seems to say that you're acknowledging Me, we get people in the church all the time like this. The word Lord comes off their lip.

They read Scripture. They sing the songs. They speak to other Christians.

They speak the Christian lingo. And so the word Lord comes off their lips with a fair degree of familiarity. More than the lost guy out there, you get people in the church and it's coming off their lips.

But what's the problem? You look at their life. What Jesus is saying is this, it's right you call Me Lord. I am Lord.

But because I am Lord, that means I have a right to tell you what to do. And if you call Me Lord and don't do what I tell you to do, you basically are denying what you say by your lips with your life. You're denying it.

And He doesn't say, oh, but in the end, it's eternal security and if you believed once, it's all okay, so don't worry about it. See, He doesn't go there. Basically where He goes is to a parable where He makes it crystal clear.

Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like. You see, this has everything to do with his lordship. He's like a man building a house who dug deep, laid the foundation on the rock, and when a flood arose, a stream broke against the house, could not shake it because it had been well built.

This is a man's religion. Well built. What does it look like? He believes on the Lord.

He calls Him Lord. He believes He is Lord. And that belief doesn't just come off of his lips.

It's reflected in a life. But the one who hears, and see, this is the person in v. 46. He hears and does not do them.

He even admits Christ is Lord, but then he lives contrary to what he seems to say by his lips. He doesn't do what Jesus says. The one who hears Jesus Christ and does not do what Christ as Lord says, this man is like the man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

And the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of the house was great. Like you say, when we compare this to Matthew 7, what we see is, Matthew 7 parks all this in the context of Judgment Day. So we see exactly what Stormy's talking about.

So, let's think for a second. Can you think of any other places in Scripture that make that connection between being a genuine child of God and what Jesus says, or what the Word says? The absolute necessity of a life that conforms to Christ's commandments, or Christ's Word, or the Word of God, or the Scriptures, if indeed we are genuinely Christians. Can you think of other verses? Now this is one.

This is certainly one. Why do you call me Lord, Lord? And let that ring in your own ears. Think with me.

You can change it a bit. You call me Lord, Lord. I do.

I call Him Lord. I acknowledge Him as Lord. I pray to Him as Lord.

That name comes off my lips all the time now that I'm saved. And I'm sure many of you in this room would say the same. That name comes off your lips.

But now ask yourself, do you live in light of that? Do you really believe it? See, that's the issue. If you say it, you're seeming to indicate you believe it. But the real proof, Jesus is saying, of whether you believe He's Lord, isn't by good talk.

It's by the walk. And so, where are we at in that? I mean, where are we at? Lord. But how am I in tune to that Word? How is it impacting my life right now? I mean, today, even thinking about this, I remember, many of you may remember, that Matt Haney preached.

More than once, I remember him telling the story. I forget where he got it from. Maybe it was a Ravenhill story that he came across.

But you may remember that the guy was in the service and the preacher began to preach and he didn't get very far in the message. This guy got up and went out. He was preaching a series of meetings.

And the next night, the guy began preaching. The guy got up and walked out. Third night, he began preaching.

The guy got up and walked out. And finally, the guy said to him, you know, what's going on with you? And he said, you know, you would start preaching and I'd be convicted of something that I needed to take care of in my life and I figured there's no reason to sit here any longer. I need to go take care of that.

And I always remember that. Because to my reckoning, that was a true story. Does the Word of God impact us like that still? Can you think of other verses where we get that kind of emphasis that the Word of God is not just a matter of hearing? James 1. Yeah, let's look at that one.

James 1.22 would be a very... James 1.22 says, but be doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. That's the same truth. These people that build their house on the sand, they're deceiving themselves because they're building.

They're those people in Matthew 7. They did many, many works in His name. They're deceiving their own selves. But what does Jesus call those people there in Matthew 7? Workers of lawlessness, which means they were living their life without any conformity to the spoken, expressed will of God.

Now, in times past, God spoke to us by way of the prophets, but in these last days, God has spoken to us by way of His Son. It's His Son who has come to give us the expressed will of God. Can anybody think of any other verses that seem to reflect this truth? 1 John 2.4 Whoever says, I know Him... Now, this is interesting because it's again, some of these compare hearing to doing, and some of these compare saying to doing.

Like, you call me Lord, Lord, you don't do what I say. Here, the familiarity is I know Him, but then you don't keep His commandments. Whoever says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him.

Can I give you one that is definitely open for discussion and debate at another time, but a text that I personally believe expresses exactly the same truth, and when taken in context, I think you can see that I'm speaking the truth. And I'm speaking namely of Romans 2.13. Look at it. I know that there are some theological voices out there that basically would say that there are actually no doers of the law.

And so, this is basically saying like the Old Testament commandments do this and live. I don't believe at all that that's what is being said here. I believe that what we have here is exactly the same thing that is being spoken about.

Let's put this in context. Verse 13. Notice verse 6. God is going to render to each one according to His works.

I want you to see what's actually in context here. It's the judgment. And we're being judged according to our works.

It's not talking about justification. This is not speaking about an imputed righteousness apart from our works. It's not speaking about that.

Notice what it's speaking about. It's speaking about judgment day and the fact that we're going to be judged according to our works. To those who by patience... It's not talking about just those who rest in Christ by faith.

You see, faith always works through love and that's the issue. Judgment day is always based on works. Why? Because works show whether the faith was true or not.

And basically, what you see here is that. Patience and well-doing. They're seeking for glory, honor, immortality.

And to those people who are seeking that, it gives eternal life. Those who are self-seeking do not obey the truth, obey unrighteousness. There's wrath and fury.

Tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil. The Jew first, also the Greek. Glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good.

The Jew first, and also the Greek. They do good. You see, he's not speaking hypothetically about somebody could get to heaven if they kept the law perfectly.

That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about the righteous life of true Christians. God shows no partiality.

And see, verse 12. It starts with a conjunction. He's not changing topic here.

He's not going in a different direction. All who have sinned without the law, also perish without the law. Anyways, you get to verse 13.

It's not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. And I believe that's the same way. Scripture uses that term justified in that way concerning Judgment Day.

Think of our words. The words that we speak. What does Scripture say about how we're going to be justified by our words? Can you think, what is it, Matthew 12? Basically, we're told that.

We're going to be justified by our words. What you find in Matthew 25 is although the term justified's not there, it's clearly we are justified by our works when we come to stand before God on Judgment Day. Because the books are opened and it's our works that are examined and it's on that basis that we are justified or condemned.

We're not speaking about the imputed merits of Christ. Obviously, we recognize the doctrine of justification, the importance of that, but this appears to be in the context of people who are actually keeping the law. In fact, if you continue to go down through Romans 2 and you get to the end, you see that he actually begins to talk about the nature of a true Jew and what true circumcision is.

And in verse 26, he says, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Again, he's not being hypothetical. He actually is going to tell us here he's speaking about a true Jew. One who is a true Jew inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the heart.

And so, he's speaking very practically through these verses. But anyway, another place I was thinking of, look at John 8. John 8.31. If you go back to 8.30, Jesus has been speaking here. And it says, as He was saying these things, many believed in Him.

But He doesn't take that, you know, people can believe that He's Lord. So much so, they call Him Lord, Lord. But see, He goes further.

He says this, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples. To abide in His Word? It means to stay there, to live in them. They characterize your life.

It's only then that you prove to truly be His disciple and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So we see this reality. Now listen, why do you call Me Lord, Lord and not do the things I say? Jesus is our Redeemer.

He's our Savior. He's our sacrifice. But Jesus is our Teacher, our Master, our Rabbi.

He's our Lord. And He came to teach us, to instruct us, to command us. And I want to ask you this, I want you to tell me, think about Jesus' words.

The words that He spoke to us. Why do you call Me Lord, Lord and do not do the things I say? Okay, let's think about the things He says. Think about the things He says.

What's He implying? That the things He says are things that we have a responsibility to do. And that as true Christians, one of the chief characteristics is how we respond to what He says. It has impact.

It has power. It used to not. We used to be at enmity with God and the commandments of God were something that we chafed against.

But the true characteristic of the Christian is that our lives become impacted by what He says. We don't live any longer as though those things don't matter. As though I can just blow those off.

They hold weight. They hold sway. But I want to ask you this, the things I say, think about that.

The things I say. What things did He say? In all the things that Jesus taught us and He expects us to conform our lives to, what things did He speak to broadly? In our lives, what did Jesus speak to? And what did He tell us about? What did He command us about? What did He give us instruction about? Direction about? What did He say to us? In what areas of life? I want to be specific. General, but generally specific.

Sin. Yeah. Now, if you're going to say it, you've got to be able to tell me what He said about it.

He said to forsake sin. How did He say that? Now think about this. He told different people, go and sin no more.

Does He tell us that? Would He tell those people that? And that doesn't apply to us? Or does that apply to us? I mean, you would hardly think that it's something He's requiring of them and not of us. How do you read that when He says that to people? Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing happen to you. How do you read that? What do you make out of that? Is that the way He talks to Christians? Is that the way He talks to lost people? Is that the way He talks to somebody who's just healed but may not be regenerated? Is that His word to everybody? I'll tell you my personal thought on that is that it's basically like what He says in Luke 6. Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say? In other words, go forth and do the things I say.

And the things I say never include sin. You depart from sin. If you say you know Him, you keep His commandments.

That doesn't mean that we don't have an advocate with the Father, and if we do sin, there's not... I think the idea there when He talks about going forth and sinning no more is much like John speaks. How does John speak? It sounds very dogmatic. It sounds very absolute when it comes to sin.

I'm talking about 1 John. See, in our ESV, it talks about practicing sin, but if you go back and you read the King James Version, it's like, what? Right? It's like if you're born of God, you don't commit sin. And you read that and it's, what? Well, the ESV puts practice sin, and I think we all feel really comfortable with that because the reality is 1 John is the very letter where John concedes that if we do fall into sin, it's not a hopeless situation.

There's a place for confession and we have an advocate. But I think what he's doing is he's basically pressing these people to a characterization of life. Why? Well, think with me.

He speaks in that great Sermon on the Mount. He starts it out by talking about the character of the people that make up His kingdom. And he ends it up with basically parallel passage to what we're finding here in Luke 6. And he ends it up with that parable about building the house on a rock versus the sand.

And not everybody that says to me, Lord, Lord, is going to inherit the kingdom? Those that do the will of my Father? Even there, those that do the will of my Father. Well, do they do the will of the Father all the time? I think the thing that's very encouraging about Scripture, several things, very encouraging, if you think about those disciples, John 17 is very encouraging. They have kept Your Word.

I look at these guys. Look, you might think, oh, boy, if he said that 24 hours after Pentecost when these guys are shining, glowing, they've got the flames of fire on their heads and they've spoken and 3,000 are saved, and you think, oh, the church is so glorious and Peter's been transformed. No, Jesus says this right before Peter denies Him.

After these guys have been arguing about who's going to be the greatest. And He says they've kept Your Word. And then when you come to that 11th chapter of Hebrews and you read about by faith, by faith, by faith, and if you go back and look at the accounts of some of these people, they had a lot of blemishes in their life.

What's so encouraging is our sin is under the blood. And you get these different accounts. Yes, it's true.

God's people have their sins revealed in Scripture. But you get these certain accounts where it says, no, God just covers them over. But okay, so He speaks to sin in our life.

That's real broad. What else does He speak to? Our possessions. He speaks to our money.

He speaks to how we give. What else does He speak to? Our relations. He speaks to what your relationship's going to be like.

I mean, Luke 9, you've got these two very specific incidents of apparently young men who want to be His disciples and one wants to go home and say goodbye. One wants to go home and bury his father. He talks about He didn't come to bring peace, but a sword.

And He's talking very specifically about the family. He talks there in Matthew 10 about loving. In Luke 14, loving mother or father, husband or wife, son or dog.

He talks about our relationships. He talks about the necessity of loving Him more than anybody else. What else does He speak to? Well, I think about Matthew 15.

He speaks about the fact that He expects that we would honor our parents. Even though there's going to be a sword in the family, He speaks as though He would have us honor our parents. What else does He speak to? He talks about prayer.

The Lord teaches us to pray. And He did. You think even in the Sermon on the Mount, He talks about prayer.

He doesn't want us like the hypocrites. He talks about even some of the basic makeup of what's important in prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. He's giving us aspects of what He considers to be essential components of prayer.

He talks about how to do it. He talks about the importunity of it. He talks about the promise.

Think about the promises that are given us concerning prayer in John 14, 15, and 16. Some great, if you abide in Me and My Word abides in you. Now that comes back to this, right? If My Word abides in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.

He talks about the fact that He wouldn't need to ask the Father for us because the Father loves us. He talks about praying in His name. He talks about praying so that the Father be glorified in the Son.

He talks about praying that our joy be full. What else does He speak to in our life? Loving others? He definitely speaks about love. He speaks about loving the brethren.

He speaks about loving our enemies. He speaks about giving and lending. He speaks about not being like lost people who love their relatives, but actually loving those who are unrighteous and unthankful.

What else does He speak to? Acknowledging Him before men. Yeah, how we identify Him in the face of the public, in the face of family, in the face of the onlooking world. How do we speak for Him? Do we own Him? Do we declare Him? What else does He speak to? Great commission.

He told us what one of the key responsibilities of the church is going to be. And commands us to go. Promises us He'll be with us.

What else does He speak to? Forgiveness. That's a huge thing. Right there in the prayer where He's teaching us how to pray.

He's teaching us to forgive men their trespasses as we forgive. He's teaching us to ask that our trespasses be forgiven us even as we forgive those who trespass against us. And of course, you remember Matthew 18.

You have the parable there. Matthew 18's so often known for how we deal with sin in the church, but there you have that parable about the necessity to forgive. Keep oneself unstained from the world.

What text specifically do you have in mind? I'm thinking about Jesus' specific words. I obviously know James and Paul. We don't want to downplay those guys, but let's try to think of where He specifically spoke to.

Fasting. He spoke not only to prayer, He spoke to fasting. How you do it.

Not like the hypocrites do it. He wants us to wash our faces. In other words, He wants us to have a private walk with the Lord, with the Father.

It's just between us and Him. What else did He speak to? Abiding. Abiding in Him.

How so? He definitely spoke to the different responses that would be had to the Gospel. He takes us behind the scenes. He shows us the Kingdom.

He shows us the outworking. He shows us the devil sowing seed in the midst of all the wheat. He shows us these pictures.

He takes us behind the veil, so to speak, and He shows us what is unfolding. He shows us that not everybody that starts out real finishes well. He shows us that there are pleasures and entanglements and thorns in this world that cause us to not become fruitful.

He speaks to our words, does He not? Matthew 12. We are going to stand and have to give an account for every idle word we've spoken. He speaks to marriage.

He says don't let man separate what God has joined together. He speaks to lust. He says gouge out eyes and chop off hands.

He speaks to life. I mean, what we give our lives to, He speaks about seeking first the Kingdom. He speaks to the heart.

How often did He deal with the heart? The heart is not with me. The heart, where the treasure is, that is where the heart is. He speaks to what's going on inside a man.

Don't be a hypocrite. Don't act like the hypocrites. Your righteousness needs to exceed that of the hypocrites.

That is all external. He's looking for the reality. He goes inside.

He gives us those beatitudes. And He says this is what characterizes My Kingdom, My people. What are they like? Blessed are the poor in spirit.

What's next? What does He say next? In the beatitudes. Blessed are the mourners. Blessed are the meek.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. He goes inside. And He says you're salt and you're light.

He speaks to persecution. Blessed are the persecuted for His name's sake, for the Gospel's sake. What else does He speak to? He speaks to the Holy Spirit.

Promises concerning the Holy Spirit. The promised Holy Spirit. The Comforter's coming.

He's not going to leave us orphans. What else did He speak to? He spoke to how the world's going to treat us. And He spoke to them about the fact that they're going to be put out of the synagogues and people are going to kill them thinking that they're doing God's service.

What else did He speak to? Judgment. Well, He does. He gives us those pictures of judgment.

And what it's going to be like on that day. Repeated parables concerning the Word of God. Concerning the judgment.

And what it's like. Picture after picture. You've got this net.

You've got pictures of these servants. You've got pictures of when the king takes his seat and all the nations are gathered together. He gives us all these pictures and these parables and these accounts where He shows this great coming day of judgment.

Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy. And these are on the outside.

What were they saying? Did they say, Lord, Lord, thereto? And He said, we ate and drank in your streets. What else did He speak to? Oh, He warned that. He warned, you don't know when I'm coming.

He warned that we need to be ready all the time. He warned that if you're the servant who gets lazy and you begin to slack off, He's going to come and He's going to catch you. He's going to come like a thief.

And He's going to catch you unawares. And He said, what I say to you, I say to all, you watch. Be watchful.

Be ready. Listen, Jonathan Edwards, when he was putting together his whole list of the things that he wanted to make certain that he gave himself to in his life, when he talks about not wanting to do anything that he would not want to do if he knew that Christ was going to return in one hour from now or 24 hours from now, listen, he wasn't the one that invented that kind of thing. He was the one that told his people, you need to be ready.

And you need to live like I can come anytime because the reality is you don't know when I'm coming. What else did he address? The Lord's Supper. He definitely introduced that to us and he said that we are to do that until He comes.

We're to do that in remembrance of Him. He definitely spoke to that. What else does he speak to? The what? He did speak to rewards.

How so? He spoke about laying up treasure in heaven. Think! Think! Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say? What does he say? Chop off hands. Cut off feet.

Honor your parents. Love Me more than your parents. Love Me more than husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, sons or daughters.

Store up treasure in heaven. Don't lay up your treasure here. He spoke to having dinners.

Don't take the chief seat. Take the least seat and get moved up. When you have a dinner, don't invite all your family and friends.

Invite those who can't pay you back. He spoke to money. A widow comes along and throws in her last two coins.

She put in more than all the rest. He watched people give. He was standing there watching the way people give.

He watched how people took seats. He watched people. He watched how people spoke.

He said, speaking to some, he said, you can't speak well. Why? Because again, it comes back to the heart. The heart shows where your treasure is.

Well, where your treasure is shows the matter of the heart. What your words say show what's going on in the heart. What basically is coming on on the outside is an expression of the heart.

Jesus said, why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do? How much are we being impressed by what He says to do? Listen, He speaks to so many different aspects of our life. Possessions. Luke 12, He tells us to sell your possessions and give to the poor.

He took the towel, He girded Himself, and He washed their feet. And He said, I've given you an example. He spoke to fear.

Fear not. Or I'll tell you who to fear. Fear not them, fear Him.

Don't fear those who can kill the body. Fear Him who can throw you into hell. Really? As children of God, that's what we should fear? That's what Jesus said to fear? That's a fearful thing.

And a lot of people, according to Matthew 7, are going to be thrown into hell who don't think God would throw them into hell. But see, it comes back to this very thing. How much are Jesus' words impacting your life? You know what? A lot of people like to explain those words away.

They're going to explain them away and they're going to wake up into hell one day. I'm not saying that all the things that Jesus said don't have to be thought about in how they impact our life. Look, when Jesus says when you have a dinner, don't invite these folks, invite these folks.

Does that mean that I can never invite my family? Well, even Jesus, when He went to dinners, He went to a wedding with His disciples. He attended dinners with His disciples. We don't see where He specifically... I mean, He's going to throw one in the end and He's going to have all of His people there.

You see times when undoubtedly where He and His disciples were fed at the house of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. And we need to recognize that if we're going to love our parents, we certainly aren't going to keep them away at Thanksgiving or whatever. But who are you going to invite over at Thanksgiving? The reality is Jesus' words should be impacting our lives.

What are you doing with your money? Do His words impact your life? What are you doing with your possessions? Do His words impact your life? Have you ever sold anything so that you could give to those in need? Do His words impact your life? Is there some way to wash feet today? Is that impacting your life? We should be asking ourselves. We should not just be going along through life not wanting to proactively sin. Scripture isn't just about what we don't do.

Scripture is so much... If you think about Matthew 25, when Jesus gets to separating the nations, He doesn't look to those on His right and say, guys, I'm so glad you didn't steal. I'm so glad you didn't commit adultery with the lady down the street. I'm so glad that you didn't... That's not what He does.

He says, I was hungry and you fed Me. See, we need to be proactive. Christ's commandments are not, by and large, what you don't do.

Yes, there is some of that. Undoubtedly. But so much of His commands are... you think about the commands concerning the Gospel, the Great Commission.

You think about the commands concerning salt and light. What we're told is we're to do our works. Good works before the onlooking world to the glory of our Father.

We're to seek first the Kingdom. We're to lay up treasure in Heaven. We're to live lives not just where we're constantly trying to not do.

That's not the life we're called to. It's okay, how can I wash feet today? Even though culturally, okay, that's not a thing. We don't walk around in bare feet and sandals on dusty roads.

We don't typically have dirt floors in our house. Our feet stay relatively clean. But the whole idea was that was a menial task that a slave would have done.

And our Lord did it. And He said, I'm leaving you an example. So, you call Me, Lord, Lord.

Do You do what I say? I gave You instruction that encompasses a life. He who doesn't forsake all that he has is not worthy of Me. He can't be My disciple.

He who loves somebody else more than Me, he can't be My disciple. He who doesn't take up his cross daily and die, can't be My disciple. I mean, are we dying? Think about it.

What's dying? Dying isn't physical death there. What is dying? It could lead to that, but dying is basically, it's when my wants, wishes, agendas, goals come face-to-face with those that I know that He wants from me. That's where we die.

Where we lay down our own ambitions and where there's a submission to His will. And see, so often, brethren, so often we want mystical leadership. We can feel like, oh Lord, we want You to tell us what to do over here.

I'll tell you, if we would concern ourselves with the myriad of things that He has spoken to and we would apply ourselves there, we would be well on our way to doing the will of God. So often we want God to subjectively lead us or point us or guide us. And the reality is, Jesus says, He doesn't say, get frozen, get locked up, because you don't have some kind of mysterious, subjective leadership.

He basically speaks very plainly, repeatedly about His commandments, His Word, about what He's speaking, about the fact He's Lord. Why do you not do what I say? So, the whole point of tonight is, think about what He says. Why do you not do them? Okay, let's be about them.

Let's do them. Let's proactively set ourselves about striving to do it. So many people like to sit back and argue, oh, Luke 6, what a place to say, oh, but I don't know what this means.

Luke 6, verse 27, I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. Well, what does that mean? Does that mean I be like the Amish and let the people come in my house and steal all my furniture? Does that mean that I let the people come in and rape my wife if that's what they want to do? From one who takes away... So often people get into arguments about these things where they're so concerned about what they don't mean.

Why? Because they just feel like these things are almost absurd. Give to everyone who begs from you. And from one who takes away your goods, do not demand them back.

Really? Don't demand them back? Somebody takes away my goods? What? I shouldn't call the police on the thief? As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Love your enemies. Do good and lend expecting nothing in return.

Your reward will be great. Oh yeah, we could spend all day long arguing about what it doesn't mean, what it doesn't mean, what it doesn't mean. You know, there's a lot of people who want to argue about what it doesn't mean who don't do anything that even resembles it.

The best thing to do is to be striving to reach further and further and further. And as we're willing to delve into these, we can pray, Father, if there are boundaries, if there are exceptions, if like Scripture often does speak extremely dogmatic, when there's obviously times when we have to apply wisdom and other biblical principles, Lord, if there is a time, kind of like the guy, there is a time when there are certain people who are not willing to work that they shouldn't eat. And so, if you've got a brother who's not willing to work, and he asks, there's a time when somebody asks for something that you shouldn't give something because it's actually more loving.

There is a place to let love dictate. But usually people don't want to argue about these things because they're trying to figure out how to love more. They typically want to argue about these things because they're stingy covetous and they want excuses for continuing to be so.

If Jesus said, love your enemies, then you know what? We as people ought to be thinking about the people that we're persecuted most by, that create the greatest difficulties in our life, and we ought to be actively praying for them. We ought to be actively seeking to do good for them. We ought to be actively... Doesn't that reflect what the truth is here? Rather than getting in our debates about what it doesn't mean, we should, in all these things, we ought to hear Him.

Because listen, He's Lord. He's wise. He's given us the things that are going to make us like Him and that are going to please the Father.

He's given us the standard of righteousness. And so, we ought to be venturing out. Here Thanksgiving is coming, the holidays are coming up.

Listen, even in the church, whether you want to observe Thanksgiving or observe Christmas or observe New Year's, you know this, it's typically a time when people get together, family and friends get together, and especially if we're to do good especially to the household of God, but to all people, we really need to be thinking, here's a time when, especially those who are single, it can be a real time of loneliness. But see, a lot of you are single. Last thing you want to do is say, oh, woe is me.

You know, I need other people to love me. But you ought to be just as proactive in figuring out how to be creative in ways to love other people. It can be so easy to say, you know, oh, well, I'm the guy or I'm the girl that's in the position that really needs other people to reach out to me.

You ought to be in a position where you're seeking to reach out to others. That doesn't mean that other people should not be in turn seeking to reach out, but there's all manner of opportunity. Look, the truth is that, like the Lighters just sent me a link to a documentary that they did on the Dutch underground during World War II and the 120,000 or so.

What's that? It was about 100,000 Jews and then 100,000 of the underground. So it was 200,000 who were killed. And I watched this documentary last night.

There's so much evil in this world. There's so much hate in this world. There's so much cruelty in this world.

And here you have Jesus telling us, don't lay up treasure in Heaven. Sell your possessions. Give.

Love. Love those who hate. Do good.

Bless. Don't curse. Go into this world.

Be light. Don't deny Me. Love Me more than anything else.

Honor your parents, yes. Endure the sword. Endure to the end.

But you go out in this world and you love like I loved you. Resemble your Father. He's merciful to the unjust and to the unthankful.

You go imitate that. You imitate Him that in this dark world, in this domain of Satan out here, you go out and be light. You go out and take the Gospel.

You go out and reach the nations. The last thing we want to do is hide that candlestick under a bushel basket. Our time is short.

We are the light. We are the salt. There's nobody else that is.

There's nobody else that has the transformed hearts. There's nobody else that has Christ being inscribed into the very nature and fabric of their being than us. There's nobody else who calls Him Lord and then follows what He does and what He says but us.

There's nobody else who's empowered to do that, empowered by His Spirit to do that but us. And He expects us not to shrug off His words. He expects us to take His words as the most important guiding light for our life.

That's obvious. Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord? And do not do the things I say. I just want to impress upon us that just laying our lives on the altar, that's really what it's all about.

We use that kind of figure of being in submission or being in subjection to Him. This is what it comes down to. Does His Word hold sway in my life? And we should be often in the Gospels and we should be hearing those words and we should never read over them in some careless fashion without actually hearing them.

I mean, when you read those Gospels, I'm not saying, look, obviously, Paul is just as much the Word of God. All of Scripture is equally inspired. I'm not calling out his words in any special way.

Other than this, you recognize that the epistles basically draw off the truth that we have in those four Gospels. Those four Gospels are the life of Christ set before us. We hear from His own voice, our Lord giving us His words.

We ought to be often there in one of those Gospels. We need to be hearing those words. We need to be testing our lives by them all the time.

Coming back, confessing where we fall short, asking for grace, and really being like the guy that came to the services, the preacher began to preach and he got up and he went out. I mean, when we go to reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, we ought to read and there ought to be ever-increasing conformity. And if something's not right, it ought to stop us in our tracks.

And we ought to deal with it. Every time we're reading in the Word of God, our lives, we should be reading so as to see God's glory, to see our Lord Jesus Christ. We should read so that we can believe.

But we should read for the sake of conformity to the standard that's being set before us and where my life is. None of our lives are perfectly where they ought to be in conformity to this Word. Okay, brethren, let's pray.

We do call You, Lord, Lord. And I trust that many in this room do Your will. Lord, we hear what You tell us.

We hear what You say. Lord, I pray that we would truly have ears to hear, grace to help. I think of the KJV rendering there in the Song of Solomon, and Lord, draw us and we will run after Thee.

Lord, You gave much promise. You promised that You wouldn't leave us orphans. You promised You'd come to us.

Lord, I pray, help us, convict us, give us ears to hear. Lord, we pray that the Word would resound in our ears, tug at our hearts, work in our consciences, be ever a guide, move us, impact us, bend us, provoke us to greater and greater good works. Lord, may it be like a great gust of wind, like a tidal surge in the water.

May it pull. May it draw. May it move.

May it be like the things that You say, like a sword, like a hammer, living. Lord, I pray that it would be like the thunder and like a still, small voice, but however it comes, that Lord, it would sway us. It would cause reaction.

It would cause conformity. Lord, we pray that we would see this increasingly. I pray in Christ's name, Amen.