Whethering The Storm's of Life- Part #1

This is Andy Thomas from the Masculine Journey Podcast where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network.

The following is part one of a two-part program. Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill? Do you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations?

I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living.

For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. Ourself entitled tonight's message, weathering the storms of life. We're going to be looking at Luke chapter 6, specifically verses 46 through 49.

I want to do a kind of a brief overview of chapter 6 just because that you know you guys have been we've been dealing with chapter 6 really for the last two weeks. So in Luke chapter 6, we find Jesus is standing it says on a level place and delivered a very important message to a large crowd of disciples. And the text says there was a great crowd of people from all over Judea from Jerusalem and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and it says to be healed of all their diseases. The text goes on to say that Jesus looked at his disciples and he began to teach what the what a lot of theologians call the greatest sermon that's ever been preached in the history of the world. Here in Luke is called the Sermon on the Plain. Luke is just this is you know there's some theologians call it this to distinguish it from the Sermon on the Mount which is the corresponding passage in Matthew chapter 5 chapters 5 through 7. Other theologians believe and I don't know which one is correct it doesn't really matter that Jesus was it's the same mountain he just moved to a level place on the mountain and that so these two sermons are basically the same but I will say this Matthew gives you you know two whole three whole chapters so it's given us a lot more information than Luke does. But regardless of where it took place the message is essentially the same except Matthew provides us more information. So what's the underlying message of this incredible sermon?

Well I would point you to two themes that I see running through it. First this whole sermon the Sermon on the Mount the Sermon on the Plain they both have to do with the attitude and disposition of a person's heart. He's dealing with our character. Remember the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at what?

At the heart. So the second thing that I see running through this is that Jesus is teaching all these disciples all these people that are there who've gathered they who've come to him if they truly want to be one of his followers that they must not only hear what he says but they must do what he says. In other words man if you want to really be a follower of Jesus it's just like oh him we sing trust and obey trust and obey. You've got to trust him.

And how do you show you trust him? By obeying his word. And so if you want to be one of his followers man first of all you have to you have to come to him.

Second you have to not hear what he says but you have to understand it and I'm going to explain that more in a minute. And third then then you walk with him daily in obedience. And listen man that's the only way that you're not going to be prepared to face all these storms in life whether they be moral or physical or financial or marital or you know business related. Jesus wants you to be prepared for the storm and he promises to be with you in the boat when you go through it.

Now follow with me now we're going to pick up with verse 20 and I'm not going to read these verses but I'm going to summarize them in Luke chapter 6 verses 20 through 26. We've all established that he's talking about the heart. Well here he addresses the inward disposition of your heart okay in my heart. He says blessed are you who are poor Matthew adds in spirit.

That's really a reference to your heart your soul. Blessed are you who hunger and then Matthew adds and thirst for righteousness. And blessed are you listen men when when when when other people out there hate you when they exclude you when they insult you when they reject you and sometimes they will persecute you.

Because of what? Because of the Son of Man it says. Jesus is saying that he wants us to follow him and to do this men. The kind of man that he's looking for is a man or woman who has a heart like the one described in these two sermons. These are the kind of people who are willing really really to to turn away from the pull of the world and follow Jesus and moreover in following him what he's saying he's warning that you will likely face in some cases poverty you'll be poor. God is not promising like Joel Osteen to come to Jesus and you're going to get start getting checks in the mail. He's not saying that today's your best life now.

Really? What world is he living in? He's saying that if you follow him truly and the more you follow him the more these things will be true about you. The more you will face poverty, the more you will face hunger, the more you will be rejected and ridiculed and maybe even persecuted. I heard Ann Lotz one time say if you if you're not being persecuted for Christ I wonder what kind of witness you are.

Boy that got me right in the back. But listen you know what he says if these things all happen to you because of the name of Jesus then he says you will be greatly blessed. Why? Because he says your reward is not here on earth. It's waiting for you in heaven. And I've already told you before I'm not gonna go off on this tonight but you can't take it with you but you can do what?

Send it on ahead. So he but then he so he switches from those who have a heart that God's looking for to the kind of heart that will never choose God. And he gives a stern warning. He says woe to you who are rich. Woe to you who are well fed. Woe to you who laugh. Well woe to you excuse me woe to you who laugh.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you. Why is he giving this warning? He's warning us this because he knows that the riches and the pleasures and the accolades of this world will all collapse and amount to nothing when the final storm of life approaches which is what?

Death. So those who are willing to continue to listen and heed Christ's advice in verses 27 through 26 excuse me 27 through 36 he speaks about the attitude that we have toward others. He begins by saying love those who love you. Is that what he says? What does he say? Love your enemies and sometimes your enemies be the people who live where?

In your own house. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.

It's just easy to love someone who loves you. Do you remember Jesus's attitude when he hung on the cross and the religious leaders and many of the people who were perhaps at eye level with him because I think they hung them a little bit lower on purpose so that you could go by and spit on them and curse them and mock them and ridicule them and that's exactly what the Pharisees were doing. Dare him to come off the cross if he was truly the son of man. You know what Jesus said to his heavenly father?

Father forgive them for they know not what they do. See he's setting an example for us. We're to be generous to those in need. We're to be merciful to everyone. Has God ever extended mercy to you?

He has to me. So we're supposed to extend that same mercy to those around us. And this is to be our attitude even to people that we consider our enemies. So then he comes to verses 37 through 45 and here Jesus addresses the attitude of the heart.

Catch this now. Toward ourselves. He wants to take it. He wants to look into the mirror. And he begins by saying do not judge. But what he means by that is do not judge hypocritically. See this concept of that do not judge has been the most mistaught misunderstood concept in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you not to judge unless you pull something out of context. But if you look at the context usually the chapter or particularly look at the whole Bible the exact opposite is true.

I want you to understand this. Christians are to make judgments about really everybody and everything. In other words we must make discernment about all the issues of life that how to deal with everything with all the situation we face every day. And so in every day what Jesus is telling us in order to be a wise man to do what to live according to God's Word we have to make judgment calls. Let me give you a few examples from the Bible. First Corinthians 2 15 says the spiritual man he's just first Corinthians chapters 1 and 2 is talking about the wisdom that God wants to impart to us. And then if you're a spiritual man if you're filled with the Holy Spirit he says the spiritual man makes judgments about all things. Matthew 7 15 in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is talking he's warning making a warning about religious leaders who are impersonating someone they're not.

They're literally wolves in sheep's clothing. He says watch out for false prophets. Well how do we know how are we to know who is false and who's not if we don't judge somebody? So how do we judge them? How do we discern? By their fruit.

By what they say and what they do. Which defers that we must make a judgment call about them. Do y'all follow that? And it's not you're being judgmental you're making a wise discernment so you know who to follow for example. And what happens if you have a great friend of yours who gets caught in some sin and you love him? Are you supposed to judge him hypocritically?

No. Galatians 6 1 1 through 4 tells us exactly what to do. Brothers.

Who's this addressed to? Christians. If someone is caught in a sin you who are spiritual should restore him but do so how?

Gently. In Galatians this one verse is telling us that we have to make three judgments. First you have to discern who's a true brother who's not. Second then you have to discern if what they're doing well first you have to discern what is sin and if your brother or friend is actually committing that sin. And then you have to look inward and examine your own heart to see if you are struggling with that same sin.

And if you are what should you do? Remove the log the plank from your eye so you can see the speck in your brother to go help him to go help him remove his. And the way you remove the log in your own eye is first of all you confess it to God. And if you've done damage to some relationship you confess it to that person. The Bible says confess your sins one to another. And then you can go to your brother in love and say hey man you know what I know what you're doing.

I struggle with the same thing. I've confessed it to the Lord. I confess it to you. But you've got to get this out of your life friend because I love you and it's going to destroy your life. Does that sound like I'm being judgmental? Does it sound like I'm being loving? Do I have to make some judgment calls? Do I take risk when I go do that?

Yes. But is saving a friend from a struggle worth risk? I hope if you guys catch me in something that you'll come and confront me because I know you'll do it because you love me. I've had that happen before. Now look at verses 42 and 43. How can you say to your brother, brother let me take the speck out of your eye when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite.

First take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Who's the devil? Who's telling us to do this? Jesus.

He loves everyone in the world. But love according to 1 Corinthians 13, 8 or 6 it is rejoices in what? The truth. And that's why so many people are not being set free from their struggles because a lot of the men and women in the pulpit are preaching the truth. Have you ever heard me say that?

I know it's a broken record. But see this is how to believe or to judge others from a heart of compassion and love and mercy. And the goal men is always restoration, redemption, healthy Christian living. See we're like a band of brothers and we're all marching towards where? Heaven if you're in Christ. And if one of us falls down if when they were when they were rushing the shores of Iwo Jima and one of their comrades fell down what would they do?

Leave them there. They'd pick him up and then when if he fell down somebody would pick him up and that's what we do with each other. We pick each other up and then we we march towards heaven as with our arms locked with each other. Onward Christian soldiers. And finally we're to be judgers of fruit.

Did you hear that? Fruit tasters. So what does this mean? It means we're to observe with our eyes and our ears what people say and do particularly if the one we are observing is a preacher or teacher of God's word. Why is it so important when it comes to preachers and teachers?

Someone like me. Because I claim to be a representative of God and I believe I am. Not because you know I'm more qualified than anyone else.

I'm the least qualified. But I believe God's called me to do this and I want to make sure that I represent Him truthfully. And you need to make sure that everybody you're listening to on the radio, in church, at a Bible study, at a particularly when you go to college and you're in a religion class, you want to make sure that that person is teaching you the truth.

And so how do you do that? You take God's word and you compare it to what they're saying. You listen to every word that comes out of my mouth, every word that comes out of anyone's mouth who claims to be a teacher or preacher and you make sure that it lines up point by point, word for word, with the Word of God.

I see some of you got your Bibles open. That's the way you should be listening. Listening, comparing. Does it line up?

Great. If it doesn't, there's a problem. Find a true teacher of the Word of God for out of the overflow, listen, of his heart, his mouth speaks. Y'all hear that? What's in a man's heart? It's in a man's heart.

It's going to come up and you can judge what people are saying. Now to the message that I really want to end with tonight. I've entitled it, that's how to weather the storms of life and I want you to, I want us to really focus on our remaining time on verses 46 through 49. This is a passage that in my book is subtitled, Why the Wise and Foolish Builders.

So the question I want you to think about tonight, which builder are you? Look at verse 46. Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?

I will show you what he is like, again this is Jesus speaking, who comes to me and hears my word and puts him into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came the torrent struck like a flood that and the torrent struck that house, but it could not shake it. Why? Because it was well built. But then he goes on to warn, but the one who hears my words and plenty of people are hearing the words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

The moment the torrent struck that house it collapsed and this destruction was complete. Sunday afternoon I was at the Carolina Ale House on Glenwood Avenue. We were, Jim Briggs and I were gathering there to meet with about 15 of the guys from NC State. These are fraternity guys. I can relate to them. I was one of them. They come every Monday here at this church and meet with us for about an hour. It is amazing to me. We had about 20 show up yesterday and they are just hungry for the word of God. Amazing.

I wish I had been like that when I was in college. But we would meet at the Carolina Ale House because we were headed to see the Hurricanes match, which was at five o'clock. Well, I got a phone call while I was standing there from a lady by the name of Lois Ann. The phone rang about 3 45 and Lois Ann is the niece of a very special woman in my life who has been preparing and was preparing at this very moment the inner heaven. Her name, you've heard me talk about it before, is Maggie Grimes. Lois Ann was calling to inform me that they were transferring her from Vidant Hospital in Greenville to hospice there.

So I told the guys I was gonna have to leave. I just want to tell you a little bit about my Maggie. The year I was born was 1954 when Maggie entered my world. She was only 26 years old at the time. A black woman that my father hired to help my mother with some of the household responsibilities like raising me and my two sisters, Catherine and Joan. Maggie came from a very humble situation in life. She was one of eight children born during a time when racism was still very much a part of life as it still is today, but it was certainly much much more visible then. At the time I remember the Bethel Clinic.

We had three doctors. I don't know if you got some of you guys remember this. On the left side, colored people.

On the right side, white people. Now I have to be honest with you. I didn't understand it at the time. I just thought well gosh that's just the way the world is.

Well this is the world. You know the schools were segregated still and churches have always been segregated. Well this is the environment in which Maggie grew up and now she was coming to work in a white man's house. I had no idea until years later, until years later, looking back, what a blessing she would be to me, my mother, my father, my sisters, for the rest of my life.

I left that old house and I drove to my house around 4 30. Got my bible and headed to say goodbye to my second mother who'd been so good to me for the past nearly 68 years. Do you know what I observed about Maggie throughout her life as it intertwined with mine?

I never once, first of all she was a woman of great faith and she founded her life on her rock Jesus and his word and she was a true servant. I didn't think of her as a servant although she was there and she was, y'all got to tell you, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, country style pork tenderloin, homemade rolls, homemade plum jelly. My boys are so envious of what I came home to dinner for every afternoon and the first thing I do go to the stove and start tasting, Maggie would wish me away with her little thing, you can't eat that now.

I said yes ma'am. Maggie faced many many trials in her life from racism to poverty to barrenness as a wife to a husband who left her and and to really many very serious health issues particularly over the last seven years. In 2014 Maggie learned that she had tongue cancer and I went with her to meet with the doctor and her niece Lois Ann and the doctor had a diagram of her tongue up there and said you know we're really we'll probably have to remove part of it and he drew a circle on there of what he's going to remove and it was like 80 percent of her tongue and she had that surgery. So for the last seven years Maggie has been unable to swallow and speech was very difficult and because she couldn't swallow she has not been able to eat so they've had to feed her through her stomach in her tube but listen not once, not once ma'am have I ever heard her complain?

I would have complained endlessly and not once I thought back have I ever heard Maggie in all those 68 years ever say a bad word about anybody in the white neighborhood the black neighborhood about anybody. She was just a wonderful woman and because she had no children of her own my two sisters I became her children. I became her son and she became my second mother and what a great mother she was. I've tried during the last seven years of her life to visit her as often as I could. My sisters have done the same thing as well as my boys and my grandchildren and Catherine's children and grandchildren, Joan's son and Maggie thinks of all of us as part of her family. She thinks of my sons as her sons or her grandsons and my grandchildren as her grandchildren.

How are my boys doing? She'd ask I got five grandsons and a daughter are they doing great Maggie they love you and they would stop by from time to time and visit her. Maggie lives in a very simple home in the black section of Bethel which you know some of these eastern town towns are still you know segregated and it was my privilege then to go to that house which was not much and sitting in her home with her and every time I went with her you know what she was doing she'd be sitting in the corner of that den in her chair she'd greet me with a huge smile when I've come through the door and right to her left she would have her bible and I said Maggie what do you do with all your time because she eventually was just sitting there couldn't eat. She said I pray for you guys and I read my bible I spend time with my Savior. I could go on about Maggie forever but let me just say this Maggie was prepared for every storm in life that came to her including the one she was facing this past Sunday evening the final storm of her life the final page of her life death which for the Christian the bible says it doesn't refer to us departing this life as death but as falling asleep and I watched Maggie start to fall asleep Sunday night how was she so prepared you might ask I can tell you guys it's very simple she built her life on her solid rock Jesus Christ and she made a solid foundation for her life by living according to the preaching excuse me to the precepts the commandments and what the bible says she lived her life according to what it says in other words she trusted Jesus and obeyed his word and that's really the recipe if you want to have a blessed life and you want to be to make it through the storms of life so what can we learn not only from God's word but also from this life of a of a godly woman well we should learn that we man we've got to trust and obey like she did like those disciples were forced to do when Jesus come the storm so in verses 46 to 49 as Jesus concludes this powerful message to his disciples he offers three simple stages men and women that we all have to pass through if we want to follow his example in Maggie's example to have a solid foundation first about his stage one guys we must come to who Jesus we must not only hear what Jesus says but we we've got to understand what he says and finally not only must we hear and understand but we must do what he says it's really that simple and yet it's so difficult do you know why we have a world telling us to do the exact opposite commercials magazines the media live for life now grab all the gusto you can even preachers live your best life now that's not what Jesus is here's what he says look at verse 26 now follow with me we're gonna look at these verses carefully verse 26 says Jesus says to his disciples now why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I say many people call Jesus Lord Lord they do it every Sunday when they attend church however not many people who attend church actually do what they say they believe how do I know because I'm listening and what I hear what they say and I I watch what they do you see somebody in church on Sunday and on the gospel says you send gd every other hope every other hope you got to be kidding me something's not lining up there being a Christian is not about being religious but about having a dynamic alive relationship with Jesus Christ you've been listening to finding purpose with pastor Russ Andrews glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living you can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to finding purpose on facebook pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local men to study God's word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m in downtown Raleigh find out more at findingpurpose.net this is the truth network