Luke 6:39-45

Luke 6:39-45

1. We learn the great danger of listening to false religious teachers.
2. We learn that those who reprove the sins of others should strive to be of blameless life.
3. We learn that there is only one satisfactory test of a man's religious character.

"With the Bible in our hands, and the promise of guidance from the Holy Spirit to all who seek it, we shall be without excuse if our souls are led astray. The blindness of ministers is no excuse for the darkness of the people."

"The passage is a solemn warning not to contradict by our lives, what we have said with our lips. The office of the preacher will never command attention unless he practices what he preaches. Episcopal ordination, university degrees, high-sounding titles, a loud profession of doctrinal purity, will never procure respect for a minister's sermon, if his congregation sees him cleaving to ungodly habits."

"Let it be a settled principle again in our religion, that when a man's general conversation is ungodly, his heart is graceless and unconverted. Let us not give way to the vulgar notion, that no one can know anything of the state of another's heart, and that although men are living wickedly, they have got good hearts at the bottom."

Questions:

1. Do we test all we hear, like the Thessalonians, through the Scriptures and with the help of the Holy Spirit? Is it normal practice for us to pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance?

2. How important is it to us that our lives match our words? Are we quick to examine our lives first before we examine the lives of others?

3. Ryles final questions are good to consider: What fruits are we bringing forth in our lives? Are they, or are they not, fruits of the Spirit? What kind of evidence do our words supply as to the state of our hearts? Do we talk like men whose hearts are "right in the sight of God?"