to the great multitude of people who had gathered to hear this miracle-working rabbi teach as never man taught before. The Lord Jesus says, and why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? What a heart-searching, serious question. for the Lord Jesus to set forth, especially among a large group of people who were earnestly claiming to be his disciples and made a sacrificial effort to listen to him in person. It is to such people that the Lord Jesus says, why do you say that I am your Lord with your mouth when you carelessly defy my commandments in your life? Why do you acknowledge my authority over you when you live however you please? Why do you come and listen to me preach about living in submission to the Father's will all while you shake your head in agreement to what I'm saying, but then you leave doing the opposite of what I said and what you amened in public? Christ's question is a fair question. It is a question that is meant to encourage people to think. It is a question that is designed to stir people to examine what they say and why they say it. The question is, to what practical purpose does calling me Lord do for you and others around you if you do not live as if I am your Lord? Why call yourself a Christian if you do not live in the manner that I teach? Let me get real specific here, asking the same question in a slightly different manner. The Lord Jesus is essentially asking this question. Why do you tell others that you are my disciple if you rarely consider what God's word says before you make a decision? Why do you claim to be a Christian if you are living in fornication or adultery? Why do you call Jesus Lord if your life is characterized by enslavement to drugs, alcohol, or pornography? Why do you claim to be born again if sports, politics, your family, your job, other people, and other things take precedence over me? Why do you profess to be God's child if you have no noticeable relationship with God's word, God's will, God's glory, God's work, God's people, and God's house? Why do you think yourself to be saved if you live no different than those who are lost? Why do you think that you're a Christian if you love the sinful things that the lost world loves? You mirror the unholy attitudes that the lost world displays. You dress immodestly like the world dresses. You watch the profane shows that unbelievers watch. You listen to the perverse music that ungodly people delight in. You talk no different than those who profess to be atheists. And quite frankly, when you look at your life and compare it to those who do not claim to be Christian, there is not much difference between them and you, except you make yourself feel bitter about yourself when you say, I believe in Jesus. This is the question that Jesus is asking in verse 46. The question is directed toward those who profess to be Jesus' disciples with their lips, who do not live as Jesus' disciple in the day-to-day activities of their life. What Jesus Christ says here assumes two things. First, it assumes that it is possible for someone to think that Jesus is their Lord when he is not. In fact, I would say that the text assumes that many people say such things. Many people casually say they are Christian without understanding what that means. And then Christ's statement also assumes that a true follower of Jesus Christ will strive to live their life by a certain God-given standard, namely the teachings of Christ's word. These are the two assumptions in the text. First, it assumes that it's possible for someone to say, I know the Lord, when they really don't. And it's possible for someone to say, I know the Lord, but they're not living in accordance to God's word. There's none of this modern day blasphemous notion that being a Christian is all about repeating some man-made sinner's prayer where you ask Jesus in your heart and then you go on living as you once did. There's none of this get your free ticket to heaven and get your free ticket out of hell offer that is binding forever even if you renounce the fundamentals of your faith later in life. And there is certainly not this absurd understanding that being a Christian is about faithfully going to church and knowing various facts about Jesus in your head. I haven't left our text. The Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the author and the finisher of the Christian faith says, a good tree is not capable of producing bad fruit over time, and a bad tree is not capable of producing good fruit over time. Whosoever, Jesus says, hears my words and does them. proves by his actions that he knows what it is to be a Christian. And whosoever hears my words and disobeys them proves by his actions that he does not know what it means to be Christian. Jesus is saying it's inconsistent to say, Jesus is my Lord, Jesus is my Lord, I love Jesus, I love Jesus, if you do not submit to Christ's teachings. It's contrary to call yourself Christian if you are not actively striving to know him, love him, and obey him through the means of his written word. And yet there are a great number of people today who ironically will cast this very teaching of Christ aside and say, that's extreme, that's judgmental, that doesn't apply to me. I don't agree with what Jesus says about that. How ironic. They claim to be Christian, but they want to cut this part out of their Bible. This leads me then to introduce the verbal objection that I want to expound upon in our time together this morning. As most of you know, over the last several months, we've been examining the various ideas that others believe and affirm to be true when you ask them if they have a particular faith or belief. Over the last 38 sermons, I have been seeking to expose those mental setbacks that keep others from earnestly examining where they stand with God, and if need be, seeking after the Lord through the claims of His word. And by and large, I would have to say that among the more popular responses that I hear from others when I enter into evangelistic conversations is the one that we are going to look at today. And the verbal response is, I'm a Christian, I just don't act like one. Have you heard that before? I'm a Christian, I just don't act like it. The conversations usually go something like this, in my desire to talk to others about their eternal soul, in my asking them what they believe about God, the Bible, and the person of Jesus Christ, in my pressing into their testimony of those who verbally claim to know the Lord. Many times, people will quickly brush off my questions and attempt to shut down my spiritual conversations by saying, I'm good, I'm saved. I'm a Christian. I know the Lord. I don't need to hear what you have to say. Sometimes people will unashamedly look me in the eye and proclaim, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe you have to live by a certain standard to demonstrate that you are. I accepted Jesus as my savior a long time ago, but my faith is more of a private faith. I don't wear my Christianity on my sleeve. Or how about this one? I know that I'm going to heaven. I know that I'm good with God. I'm just not a fanatical, church-going, Bible-thumping person. I believe in God, but I believe in the God who's an all accepting God. I believe love is love and God is love. I believe that he gets us. I believe that we are all sinners and nobody's perfect. I can remember a time in my life where I went to church, I heard a sermon on hell, I became afraid, so I walked the aisle, and I made a decision to be a Christian. I followed the Lord in believer's baptism, I went to church for a short time afterwards, and then 20, 30, 40 years, I backslid, and I became one of those, quote, carnal Christians, as the preachers claim today. I got saved and then I lived a life of sexual immorality. I got saved and I became a homosexual. I got saved and then I changed my gender. I became a Christian and then I became a drunk. I became a Christian and then I became a drug user. I became a Christian, and then I started breaking the law, and it led to me being incarcerated several times. I gave my life to Jesus, and then I married and divorced over and over and over again. And now that I think about it, since the time of my professed faith in Jesus Christ, nothing in my life really changed. I just became a Christian. I just, quote, gave my life to the Lord. Sadly, these are the verbal testimonies of most people who claim to be Christian today. Most people think that it's possible to religiously say, I am a Christian, all while they do not strive to walk in harmony with God's word. Take Ozzie Osborne, for example. Ozzy Osbourne, also known as the Prince of Darkness, a heavy metal icon who co-founded Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osbourne once said in an interview with The Guardian, quote, I'm a Christian. I was christened as a Christian. I used to go to Sunday school. I believe in God. I don't go to church, but I don't think you have to go to church to believe in God." Now let me clarify that Ozzie is correct in saying you don't have to go to church to believe in God. Nevertheless, from his point of view, merely departing from the Anglican church that he was baptized in doesn't automatically make him a genuine follower of Jesus Christ. Now, I do not mean to unkindly condemn this man, but holding up his profession of faith alongside of the life that he lived, as we look at the claims of Christ, I have some legitimate concerns that are biblically based. These are the facts about Ozzie's life. He was a self-proclaimed alcoholic and drug abuser for the majority of his life. He and his family were well-known for speaking profane words. Ozzy and his band members used occult and horror themes for their music and for their stage identity. His music style was anything but holy, godly, separate from the world, and God-glorifying. In fact, unlike some, quote, Christian rockers, he wasn't even trying to be a Christian artist. Now, there are rumors that suggest that perhaps two weeks before he died, he heard the gospel and affirmed personal faith in Jesus Christ, to which I say, I sure hope that that is true. But in the assessment of his lifestyle over the decades, in relation to his verbal profession that he was a Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ has something to say about this in Luke chapter six. Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things that I say? Why do you call me Lord when you are finding satisfaction in other gods, namely alcohol and drugs? Why do you call yourself a follower of the light when you are fascinated with darkness? Why do you claim that you are my child when you live contrary to my word? How can you call yourself a Christian if you have never been saved out of darkness? How can you call yourself Christian if you were never brought to the end of yourself, sorrowing over your sin before God, and seeing that the only hope of your salvation rests exclusively on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? You see, Ozzie, along with most professing Christians today, want to talk about belief in God and being a Christian, but in the sharing of their faith, they never mention anything that involves a transformative calling out of the world, a new understanding of what the message of the gospel is all about. There's nothing of a new love for the Lord Jesus Christ, a hatred for the sins that once characterized their life, a burning desire for the written word of God, an affection for God's people, and a longing to live a life that is well-pleasing to the Lord. It seems by simple observation that he, Ozzy Osbourne, along with many professing Christians today, have simply a pushing away from churchianity, but not an embracing of biblical Christianity. I fear that there are many among our nation who profess to know God with their lips, but their hearts are far from the Lord. They may be hearers of God's word, they go to church every week, but they're not doers of the word. When they are pressed about what they believe, they pretend to honor Christ by calling him Lord, but they demonstrate that they have absolutely no desire to do what he says. So enough with the foolish bumper stickers and the hats and the t-shirts, that proves nothing. I don't care if you have a t-shirt that says Jesus. Do you have a life that shows you know Jesus? I don't care if you have a fish sticker on the back of your car. What does a fish do for you? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? What do we say to those who belong to this group of people? What do we say to those who believe that they can be a Christian who have no desire to act like one? What do we say to those who believe that they can be a child of God and live like a child of Satan? What do we say to those who think that they truly, quote, got saved, but nothing after that time of their, quote, getting saved led to an ongoing hunger and thirst for righteousness? What do we say to those who go to church on Sunday to fulfill some religious duty and then they live like a heathen Monday through Saturday, year after year after year? Do we have an answer? Does the Bible say anything about this? Well, in the remainder of our time, I want to set before us several important preliminary statements about what Christ's statement in Luke 6 46 does not mean, followed by several objective truths regarding what Christ's statement does actually mean. Lest we take what Christ says out of context and misunderstand and misapply what he says, I think it is oh so needful to clarify several biblical realities. So first, What Christ does not mean when he says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? Well, he does not mean that his followers will be perfect or sinless. That's not what he's saying. This is sub point number one. Lest we think that being perfect is a requirement to be a Christian and go to heaven, I want to begin by assuring you that such a thought is not biblical. There is nothing in scripture that suggests that true Christian people will submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ flawlessly at all times. Case in point, Peter, one of Jesus's leading disciples. How many times did Peter fail the Lord in the span of three years? Oh, let me count the ways. How many times did Peter speak out of turn and argue with the Lord Jesus Christ? How many times did his faith falter? Well, was Peter not a Christian? Was Jesus not his Lord? I mean, it was Peter who said, when asked, who do you say that I am? Peter said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus says, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. Jesus is essentially saying the Holy Spirit has illuminated your understanding to know the truth about who I am. You are a Christian, Peter. And yet in the same context, it's Christ who says, get behind me, Satan. Because Peter says, oh, I'm gonna make sure, Jesus, that when they take you away, I'm gonna kill the enemies. I'll fight for you. Peter, no. Peter failed the Lord miserably at times. As I often say, the best of men are men at best. The just man falls seven times and he rises up again. Peter is in the same category of men as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samson, Solomon, David, and all true Christian people throughout the centuries. Those who are truly converted, those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ, still war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Romans chapter seven, they are with Paul in saying, the things that I don't want to do, I find myself doing. And the things that I know I should be doing, I don't do. And there's this war within my soul, the spirit and the flesh. That's the reality of every believer. But we are not being controlled by the old man. Sometimes the old man still rears its ugly head. So we need to understand that Jesus is not talking about perfection or sinlessness here. The second thing for us to take notice of from Christ's statement is the fact that Christ does not mean that being a Christian is about you performing good works for God in order to obtain or keep your faith. Did you hear what I said? Christ does not mean when he says, why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things that I say? He does not mean that being a Christian is about you performing a certain amount of good works for God to obtain or keep your faith. This is sub point number two. There are some people who wrongly think that you have to believe and behave to enter into the kingdom. There are some people who are persuaded that Jesus did His work on the cross in order for us to be saved, and then we must do our work in order to be saved. Some people believe that salvation is part God and part us. Yes, Jesus died, but I have to be baptized, I have to pray, I have to fast, I have to read my Bible, I have to evangelize, I have to reform from certain sins in order to secure my salvation, I have to prove the sincerity of my faith, I have to be a Christian by living according to a certain standard. The Bible makes it crystal clear. that being a Christian is about what Jesus Christ does for sinners, not about what lost sinners do for God by their good and religious deeds. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. John 3, 16, we looked at it last week. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. It does not say whosoever believes and behaves. Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saves us. Ephesians 2, 8, 9, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest you should pat yourself on the back saying, I did it. I made myself a Christian. Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified or declared righteous by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. Christ does not mean that his followers will be perfect or sinless. Christ does not mean that you have to perform good deeds to earn or keep your salvation. So this brings us to the question, well, what does Christ mean then in declaring, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? Well, three truths. Here's what Christ means. First, he means that all people who verbally profess the name of Jesus Christ need to carefully consider what they say before they say it. They need to carefully consider who Jesus Christ truly is. They need to carefully consider what the Bible says about being a Christian. This warning of Jesus applies to people who speak or say things about Jesus, but they really don't mean it. Can we call them cultural Christians? Those who grow up knowing how to talk the talk. They know how to speak Christianese. It's not that they believe that Jesus is a devil, It simply means they speak things superficially. I know God, I know Jesus, I know the Bible, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They say religious words, but with no heart, no spirit, no soul, no love for Christ backing their words. Over in chapter 14 of Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells his followers that they need to count the cost before they become his disciple. They need to consider what it means to surrender their life to the Lordship of Christ. And let me just say that there is a cost to follow Christ, and the cost is your life. The whole of your life, not part of your life. The cost is all of you. There's no compartmentalizing Christianity when Jesus is truly your Savior and Lord. There's no saying, well, Jesus can have this aspect of my life, but this aspect of my life is untouchable. No, that's not Christianity. Christianity is about being purchased by God whereby you become his slave. That's Bible language. He's your master, you're the slave, so it's your heart's desire to say, Lord, what do you want me to do? How do you want me to live? Rather than just sprinkling a little Jesus on your life and going on living as if you're Christian. This is the first thing Christ means when he says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? You haven't considered what it means to be a Christian. You haven't considered what it means to make me Lord. Jesus Christ desires that all who profess him verbally to carefully consider what they say before they say it. Because there are false Christs. There are false Gospels. There are those who call themselves Christian who do not submit themselves to biblical Christianity. Second, he means that the actions of our lives need to remain consistent with the profession of our lips. This is what Christ means when he says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? He is assuming that the actions of our lives will remain consistent with the profession of our lips. Now again, we are not saved by our good works. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But if you truly become a Christian, if God makes you into a new creation, the Bible makes it clear that we are saved unto good works. We are saved unto living for his honor and glory. And John says, if we say that we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. You see, the Bible assumes that if we are followers of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ will have preeminence over everything. Scripture says that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, old things are become new. So the question that Jesus is asking is, how can you claim to know God but not be changed by it? How can you claim to have an encounter with Jesus Christ, the risen Savior, and not be transformed? I like what evangelist Paul Washer says about this. He says, imagine if I came in late to this place, 10 minutes late, and you see no Pastor Casey around. And you're wondering, where's the preacher today? Why isn't he here? Five minutes turns to 10 minutes, and 10 minutes turns to 15, and 15 turns into 20, and it's time for the sermon to start, and here comes Pastor Casey walking in the door, and Pastor Casey says, I'm sorry for being late. You'll never understand what happened. I was along Highway 62. I had a flat tire. I was changing my tire. A lug nut went rolling into the highway. I was hit by a motor vehicle going 60 miles per hour, and now I'm here. I mean the car hit me going 60 miles per hour and I did several flips in the air and I tumbled and turned all over the highway and now I'm here. Now you would think one of two things. Either Pastor Casey has gone completely crazy or he's a liar. Because you cannot be hit by a car going 60 miles per hour not have any cuts, any bruises or anything to show that you've had an impact. A car has impacted you going 60 miles an hour. And yet some people want to say that they've met the God of heaven and earth, but there is no change. So what a car is more powerful than God. Can it be? Can it be that you've been saved out of this dark world of the bondage of Satan? And say, well, it wasn't any big epiphany or anything. What? That's not biblical Christianity. Just take the miracles of Christ, for example. Every miracle was a great change, and it led to great joy, and it led to other people around knowing that there was a change that took place. Again, we're not talking about sinlessness. We're not talking about perfection, but we are talking about a new life, a new life with new loves, new affections, new desires, and a new path. That's what we're talking about. And then during those times as a Christian, you fail and you run back to the world and you run back to your sin, there's something beating you up inside, it's called the Holy Spirit. You run back to the vomit that you used to desire and now it seems so distasteful and you're wondering why? Because you have a new master. You cannot successfully live in sin. And if you try to, God will discipline you because he loves you. But if God leaves you alone as you run back to the world, it only proves you were never his child in the first place. That's what Jesus is talking about here. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? And then the third reality that Jesus is speaking about in this statement is that he means that all of his Christian, all of his true children, will have a personal, living, catch it, relationship with his word. You cannot separate Jesus Christ from his written word. He is the word. We know him through the word. There's none of this, I'm a Christian, but I don't know anything about this book. And I don't care to know anything about this book. I've been a Christian for 40 years, okay, quote me two verses. Well, I can't. You can't? And again, it's not about quoting verses, but you can't? You claim to know Christ for 40 years, but you don't know what the book says? That's inconsistent. It's impossible to love Jesus and despise what he says. John 4. Or 14, John 14, 23 through 24, Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me. John 10, 27, my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. Because this is sheep food, and wherever the food is, that's where the sheep go. True Christians will hunger for the Word. They will hunger to hear what God says through His Word. They will delight to do the Father's will over their own will. The Word will become their meat, their water, their spiritual sustenance, their source of comfort, their source of hope, their source of joy, and a light in their darkness. How can someone claim to be a Christian and not love the word that God gives. The word that supposedly brought them faith in the first place. Because the Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. You've been birthed again, Peter says, by the living word of God. How can you despise that which brought you to Christ? Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? So what do we say to those who say, I'm a Christian, but I don't live like one? Well, number one, ask them what it means to be a Christian. Don't assume they know what it means. Ask them to define what being a Christian is all about. And then number two, tell them. After you ask them, tell them that such a claim stands contrary to what being a Christian is. Tell them that Jesus Christ assumes that all who know Him personally and savingly will surrender to Him as the authority over their life. They will hear Him through the means of His word and they will desire to obey Him at any cost. True Christians will grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. They will come out of the world and be separate. They will be content to show their love for Christ to all. And then number three, it may be that you need to earnestly plead with them to examine themselves to see if they're in the faith because their verbal profession of faith demonstrates that they are deceived. Ask them, tell them, and then earnestly plead with them. This is what the Apostle Paul did to the church in Corinth. Second Corinthians 13, five, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. This is what Jesus is getting at. If you say, Jesus is my Lord, my Lord, but you do not the things that he says, then you need to examine yourself. You need to examine if God has really changed you, converted you. And maybe we should stop asking others if they are Christian. Maybe we should start asking if you are his slave. Maybe that would be better. Because everybody says, I'm a Christian, but Christian means Catholic and Mormon and Jehovah's Witness and everything else under the sun. Maybe we should say, are you his slave? Is he your master? What shows in your life that he is? Let me ask you this morning, where do you stand with the Lord? What's your story? Do you have a testimony of conversion? Can you point to a before you and an after you? Is there a time and a place marked by a lasting change and a love for the Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps I've been expounding upon these things and the Holy Spirit has been speaking to your heart through this text saying, this is for you. You call Jesus Lord, but you do not live as if he is. If that's you, my pastoral plea is do not put off Christ any longer. Stop living a double-minded life. Stop living a life of hypocrisy. I'm speaking as one who knows what that means. For 10 years, I lived that way, and it only proved worthless. I made a profession of faith when I was a child, but Jesus Christ was not the love of my life. Jesus Christ was not truly Lord. I went around telling myself and others, I'm a Christian, but it was all a sham. It was all empty. But when I turned to him and he received me, everything changed. I no longer had to pretend. I didn't have religion, now I had a relationship with Jesus Christ. And this same God, who was able to save this wretched sinner, is the God who can save you, if you will but turn to Him in humility, in brokenness, and in repentance, in desperation, calling upon His name. Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Is that you? Go to Him. Tell Him. He knows already. Just be honest. Well, let's pray.