Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 5 Study # 31
June 1, 2008
Lincolnton, N.C.
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<440> Thesis:   Discipleship requires a "long haul" commitment to "living up to Nature". Introduction:   Jesus said that there is a major "problem" for everyone who would be a disciple of the Truth. It is the underlying root of the three manifestations which He addressed in Luke 6:39-42. In that unit of thought he addressed the blind guide, the superior disciple, and the hypocritical speck remover. In our studies we have tried to make it as plain as we can that the one thing that ties all three of these problems together is what we have called "status-seeking", the desire to look good in the eyes of men. We noted a progression in Jesus' teaching. First, there is "status lust", plain and simple, in the putting of oneself forward as a guide to the blind. Second, there is an undercurrent that drives "status lust": fear ... the disciple who claims superiority to his Teacher so that he can be free to not do what he is afraid to do. Third, there is a second undercurrent: aggression ... the hypocritical "speck remover" who simply wants to dominate others. These three manifestations of the same problem were presented by Jesus as examples of what works against the development of compassion in true disciples. In the text before us today, we see that Jesus is not yet finished with His subject. In Luke 6:43-45 we find that Jesus lays out a "natural" reality that is supposed to address the core conflict between the development of compassion and the death to status lust. This "natural" reality is this: good trees produce good fruit and useless trees produce useless fruit. Following hard upon the heels of this "natural" reality is a second "natural" reality: men depend upon the appearances of things in order to pursue their courses (they gather fruit according to what they see). Then, in conclusion, Jesus applies the "natural" reality to men by insisting that His disciples understand that their behavior will flow out of their "natural" state. This morning we are going to at least begin a study of Jesus' use of the "natural" to provide motivation for those who would be His disciples.