Transcription

Chris
So, Dave, what is your favorite piece of fruit?

Dave Wilson
Uh, I would say orange oranges.

Chris
Are your favorite.

Dave Wilson
Oh, I love them. There’s too much work, man. And sometimes I eat the Rhine. Uh, right. I should have told you that. What? That’s what everybody says. Not the whole thing. But I’ll eat the Rhine a little bit. As long as it’s washed off and cleaned the Rhine a little bit, it’s like, good for you. So it makes you. It makes you grow hair. That’s what it does. Oh, okay. Well, hey, listen, he’s.

Chris
Dave and Jeff’s out of town, and I’m Chris, and today we are the Bible guys. All right. Well, Dave, today, uh, Desiree has, uh, put this these segments together. Is that who puts.

Dave Wilson
These little ideas together?

Chris
And as always, you know, we never really review them on purpose because we want we want them to be on the spot. So today there’s a segment that’s usually reserved for me. And it’s the to do that.

Dave Wilson
Then I don’t need to do it.

Chris
No, it’s the segment that is always called what made Chris Mad today? Because, uh, people Jeff jokes and says, I’m so passionate about most things. So he just I’ve.

Dave Wilson
Seen you get mad about a few things. There’s probably something every day to get, you know.

Chris
I wouldn’t say every day. Every day I know, sure or not. No, no, surely not. But, uh, today we’re going to throw that segment your way. So the question is, what made Dave mad this week?

Dave Wilson
Uh, what didn’t make Dave mad this week? Yeah. My first thought is it happened, uh, the other night I was driving to an event, uh, and I should have looked my GPS, but I’d gone there so many times, I didn’t realize the road is closed and I’m sort of tight on time. I was playing guitar in the band and we had rehearsal, and so I’m like, how do I get there? And the only way to get there, and this is what makes me mad. And it’s not just this week. Uh, I can’t stand this about Michigan. Yes. You know, I grew up in Ohio. Oh, yeah. I hate to say that.

Chris
I’m already mad with you, and I don’t even know what it is.

Dave Wilson
Dirt roads. Oh, I’ve never been in a state. Yeah, where people have subdivisions on dirt roads.

Chris
And not only that, but nice houses on dirt roads.

Dave Wilson
No. And they like it.

Chris
Yeah, they like it.

Dave Wilson
I had to get off and I like a clean car, I just, I do, I wash it every week actually. My wife Ann loves the clean car and she washes it a lot. I mean, anyway, I mean and you I just, I the first house we ever rented in Michigan was on a dirt road and we’re renting. But I went to my neighbors in the first week. I said, hey, what do we have to do to get this road paved? And they looked at me like, why would we want a road paved? I go, you don’t like living on this? They’re like, oh yeah, like what? You know, potholes and mud. And anyway, that there’s two things I can’t understand.

Chris
One, I can’t understand it.

Dave Wilson
What is it about Michigan lefts?

Chris
Oh yeah.

Dave Wilson
We got dirt roads and we got you can’t turn left at the light. You have to go down a half mile and whip around. I’ve googled.

Chris
This before.

Dave Wilson
When I first tell me what it is, somebody tell us why they’re a Michigan left.

Chris
Well, I don’t think I have an official website to point you to, but I am almost certain that someone referred me to something that I read that has to do with left hand turns through intersections, cause more deaths than any other traffic. Uh, maneuver. Really? Right. So what they do is they have you go just in case. Nobody knows. Michigan lefts are instead of taking a left in a major intersection, which, by the way, only takes place with a median. Did you know that Michigan lefts only take place with a median?

Dave Wilson
Oh, I thought it was everywhere. It feels like it’s everywhere.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. No, no, it’s it’s actually only the.

Dave Wilson
Intersection that Michigan has lower deaths than other states because we.

Chris
I didn’t say it was effective because I don’t know the results of that. I just know that it was created, I believe, for that reason. Hey, let me.

Dave Wilson
Ask you this.

Chris
So instead, which by the way, let’s explain it. So instead of making a left through a really busy intersection like, like five lanes, sure they have you go straight through the intersection, do a u, turn around the median, get in the right lane, then make a right hand turn.

Dave Wilson
Yeah, I know it’s crazy.

Chris
So a Michigan left is really ends up being a right hand turn. Yeah, exactly. Anyway go ahead.

Dave Wilson
Yeah I don’t know what I was going to say, but I was thinking all the things that make me mad. They’re all driving things. People on the left lane on a highway that don’t. Yeah. Don’t pass. They just stay there. Yeah. People, you’re not supposed to be in that left lane unless you’re buying going.

Chris
It’s people. It’s called the passing lane.

Dave Wilson
How about when you want to turn left and there’s an arrow right. And it’s red so you can’t turn left and there’s no one coming for a half hour. You have to sit there and wait for the green Arrow. Yeah. Again.

Chris
That’s that’s actually that’s actually the law, Dave. I know.

Dave Wilson
And so, uh, sometimes I don’t do what I’m supposed to do. Yeah. Can you tell I might have problems when I get in a car?

Chris
Well, I think most people get frustrated in driving. Right. And by the way, do you know that the main reason why I get frustrated in driving? Because it’s. I love to hear it. It’s a communal event. What? It’s communal.

Dave Wilson
What’s communal?

Chris
Driving. You’re in a car act of driving, the act of.

Dave Wilson
Driving a community.

Chris
The act of driving is supposed to be, uh, that you’re supposed to look out for the benefit of every driver on the road. Yeah. Like you come to a four way stop sign. Everybody is supposed to know what to do and then do it together. When you come to a merge, there’s there’s a rule that everybody is supposed to do together. Uh, when it comes to passing lanes, you’re supposed to, uh, you know, consider everybody on the road, uh, when it comes to red lights, everything you’re supposed to consider everybody on the road because it’s not just you, it’s you with everybody.

Dave Wilson
What happens though? We get in a car and we become evil, you know? And of course, I’m not as evil as everybody else. I mean, everybody else is an idiot but me. But Ann, literally, Ann says, every time I get behind the wheel she’s like, you are scary. You know, that is funny. I don’t think this has anything to do with the Bible passage. No, no, no.

Chris
That’s our segment. So let’s enjoy.

Dave Wilson
That. Thank you, Desiree, for getting me all riled up right now.

Chris
You’re going to read it. Read the Scripture with haste. Well, today we’re doing the harmony of the Gospels as always. We’ve been in this series for quite a while, and we’re, uh, looking you know.

Dave Wilson
What the harmony of the Gospels means?

Chris
Well, if they’ve been following our series, they do. Yeah. So. But yeah, it’s basically, uh, the four gospels are written by four authors summarizing the life of Jesus. Some events are overlapped and recorded in multiple gospels, and, uh, and some accounts are not. Well, this passage today where Jesus talks about, uh, teaching about the fruit in people’s lives are recorded both in Matthew seven and in Luke six. We’re going to read both of those.

Dave Wilson
Here we go. Matthew 715 through 29. Jesus said, beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really vicious wolves. Man, you can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit so you can identify people by their actions. Not everyone who calls out to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my father in heaven will enter on Judgment Day. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and perform many miracles in your name. But I will reply, I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise. Like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock, but anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish. Like a person who builds a house on sand when the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority, quite unlike their teachers of religious law. Dave Wilson
In Luke 643 through 49 says it this way a good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are never picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. So why do you keep calling me Lord? Lord, when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the flood waters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built, but anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins. Yeah. Wow.

Chris
I think it’s interesting how both times, of course it’s the same story, same event. But, uh, you know, you sort of go from this one thought of Jesus saying, uh, you know, uh, if a person believes in me and acts it out, they’ll produce good fruit. If not, they’ll produce bad fruit. And then it goes right into building a house on foundation of sinking sand. And they don’t seem like they’re the same thought, but. And really, they’re really not. They’re two different, completely different analogies, because back then, everybody knew what it was like to grow grapes. And, uh, I think that most people understood what it was like to build houses because you don’t hire construction companies in those days. Yeah. In the first century, everybody build houses and they built them on the earth, you know, this plot of Earth. And so, you know, foundations were something that I think for the most part, everybody understood. So, uh, it was really saying is it’s the foundation of my word that produces good fruit, and it’s the foundation of my word that you can build your life upon or your house. Yeah.

Dave Wilson
And I think it’s interesting, as, uh, Ann and I have taught this passage in marriage conferences because he’s talking about building a house, a building, a marriage building a family. Um, it’s interesting what the difference is between what he calls the wise man and the fool. Um, and, you know, there’s been times where I’ve read this passage and left out and people don’t even notice because. Because, you know, say anyone who hears my word is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The floods are coming, storms are coming. It’s going to stand. And I left something out. The difference between the wise man and the fool in Luke and in in Matthew, Jesus said, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them, there it is, is a wise man. Then he says, anyone who hears these words of mine, as does not obey them, is a fool, and is going to build on the sand. The same storms are coming. Your marriage is going to crumble, your family, your house is going down. And and the truth is, you know, we sort of think going to church, getting to a Bible study, a small group, reading the word of God, that’s it. He’s like, that’s part of it, right? But it’s it’s not just knowing the word. It’s doing it. So it’s like you can sit in church and we know this. We’ve been pastors for 30, 40 years. People sit in church and they walk out and they don’t do it. And they think, because I was in church, because I read the Bible verse, I’m a wise man. He says, no, you’re not a wise man. If you read it or hear it, you’re a wise man if you do it, that separates the world. Dave Wilson
And I think that’s when he says, many will come to me on the last day and we’re thinking, I’m in. He’s like, you didn’t obey it, you know it. You can quote the Bible. Didn’t know how many times you go through the Bible, how many times the Bible goes through you. You ever heard that quote, it’s really true is how do we live? That’s the fruit, how we behave, how what our behavior is.

Chris
Well, another good quote would be. So that means that Christianity is not about information. It’s about application. Right? Right. So you know, like it’s not it’s not about another Bible study or another, uh, you know, I always laugh about people who say like, uh oh, I’m going to leave your church because I want to go somewhere where there’s more meat and potatoes. And what they really mean is teaching. Yeah, yeah. What they really mean is they want somebody else to do their studying for them. Right? Which means, you know, it sounds mature, but all you’re doing is you’re saying, I want to be in a high chair and have somebody spoon feed me. Yeah, right. And so it’s really infancy, uh, because a mature person, you know, seeks out meat and potatoes. Right. So it’s not our job to feed people as pastors. It’s our job to make them hungry. Right? Right. And so, uh, yeah, the idea that, like, uh, somebody would say like, oh, yeah, I got to go this other church and learn some more. Well, that’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with those types of churches. But as long as what you’re saying is, you know, you’re saying like, uh, just because you don’t learn something, the point is, do you do it right? Hey, what about that sermon I preached the other day? Have you mastered that? Well, no, I haven’t mastered that. Then you needed it. Yeah, right. Just because it’s not new information from you.

Dave Wilson
I read a story. I don’t even know if it’s true years ago about a pastor who gave the same sermon every week. Now, I know it’s probably just made up. Yeah, that sounds.

Chris
Made up.

Dave Wilson
But it sounded like, you know, the third week, they’re like, hey, you said the same thing last week. He goes, did you do it yet? I’m going to keep preaching it until you start doing it. And again, it’s made up. But it’s it is true. It’s like, how many times have we heard a sermon and we’ve had good intentions, like, I’m going to do this and then we just don’t. And I think Jesus is getting right in our space saying, it’s not what you know, it’s what you do. Are you living this because I think you’re going to be deceived? Because, again, we’re not going to get into heaven by what we do. But fruit reveals the vine. You know, Jesus said in John 15, I am the vine and you are the you’re branches. You’re the branches. And if you abide in me, you produce good fruit. Yeah, that fruit isn’t. We don’t make it happen. It comes from the vine. But I think there should be fruit of obedience if we truly are connected to the vine. Jesus.

Chris
Now, by the way, it’s worth pointing out that both Matthew seven and Luke six, they’re so incredibly similar, but yet the authors record just slight different details. Yeah. Like for instance, uh, Matthew chapter seven says a good tree can produce bad fruit and a bad tree can produce good fruit. And it goes on and talks about the tree and the fruit. But yet Luke six says the same thing and it says, uh, a good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. So what he’s really doing is, is he’s saying it more literal. Uh, you know, there’s there’s almost, you know, that’s the meaning of the verse, right? So he’s talking about a good tree produces good fruit. What he’s really saying is, hey, out of your heart comes, you know, that which is inside what is inside produces. And so a fruit meaning another word which could be evidence, right? The evidence of a life. And so, yeah, it is really good. Um, hey, I have a story about, uh, Luke 646 where it says, so why do you call me Lord? Lord. And you don’t do what I say? Uh, because it’s by itself. That’s a pretty convicting verse, right? Yeah. You can catch anybody being a hypocrite and say, Luke 646. Yeah, right. Why do you call Jesus Lord and don’t do what he says? Right? And I remember I just became a Christian. I was at Youngstown Baptist Church in Youngstown, Ohio, and, uh, and I’m considered one of the leaders already of this, of this little tiny youth group of 30, 40 kids. But yet I was really a new Christian, so new that it was like three weeks or something. Chris
I mean, we’re talking, right? I was 15 years old, and I remember being outside and playing softball or volleyball, uh, in the back, uh, parking lot of the church. And I was very competitive and still am.

Dave Wilson
And no, not you. Yeah.

Chris
Not me. So we get done and I go over to my car and somebody still don’t know who had written down Luke 646 and stuck it under my windshield. And I know what they were trying to say. Now, what they’re trying to say now is like, hey, you weren’t a very good, you know, example. So I was so unbelievably new to the Christian faith. I went there with my brother and I looked and I says, he says, what does it say? I said, Luke, I said, there’s three numbers on here. 646 and I looked at him and I said, hey, who’s Luke and where’s the rest of his phone number? Really? That’s true. So I had no idea that that was even a thing, like like a Bible verse. I didn’t even get it. And, uh, I just thought that Luke wanted me to call him and he forgot the last four digits. No. You know, so, uh. But anyway, anyway, all that to say, Luke six 646 is something that I always think of when the clock hits. Yeah, it says 646. And I always think of this verse. Really? Yeah, all the time. Really? Yeah. For real.

Dave Wilson
Like at the end of the at the end of your life, you’re either in or out based on what you believe in, how you live it out. Yeah. You know, one of the verses that I’ve always found interesting and you just mentioned a little bit is, is Luke 645 at the very end he says, what you say flows from what is in your heart. And I often think, we often think when I if I want to change my language, whether it’s cursing or slander or gossip or criticism, you know, things that I say come out of my mouth. I think we often think, I gotta I gotta clean up my speech. I clean up my leg. I’ve heard guys say to me, now I’m a father. I gotta stop cursing, right? And they think that’s how you do it. And I think Jesus is saying, no, no, no, you want to change your tongue, you gotta change your your heart. I remember when I was in middle school back then we called it junior high, but I think I was 13 years old and I cussed at the dinner table again. Single mom. So just moms sitting there, me and she had. Some friends over and I think I said the Lord’s name in vain. I said, Jesus, whatever. And I was, you know, a kid that wasn’t a follower of Christ. And I did not have good language, but I always spoke respectfully around. My mom never once cussed y cussed, and she grabs me by my shirt and she said, I always told you, I’m going to do this, and I’m doing it right now. And she whipped me into the kitchen. Don’t ask me how I was stronger than her at that time. Dave Wilson
And she got soap and water and she washed my my mouth out with soap and water. You ever hear anybody say, I’m gonna wash? I’m gonna.

Chris
Wash your mouth out with.

Dave Wilson
Soap? Well, she did it. I’ll never forget. I was so embarrassed. And here’s the. Here’s the truth. It didn’t work right. It didn’t work right because I kept cussing and blah, blah, blah. And I thought, you know, it’s just a it’s a metaphor. You know, we she knew it’s not going to work either, but you sort of think you got a tongue problem, you got to deal with the tongue. And Jesus said, you got a tongue problem, right? The tongue bone’s connected to the heart bone. You got to go. I’ll remember this dude. I’m in seminary. I wrote.

Chris
That you. That was your line. I didn’t realize that was one of your lines.

Dave Wilson
Tongue bone is connected to that hot bone. Anyway, I’ll never forget this. I was in seminary. The president of our seminary was teaching a pastoral major class. And he tells this story. Don Weaver is his name. And he was a pastor for 20 years before he was our seminary president. And he goes, hey, yesterday, guys, after class, I was getting on the freeway driving home, and this guy cut me off and he just bugged me so bad. As soon as he got next to me, I flipped him the bird. Yeah. As he went by and we were Chris. We were like, right. Our seminary president.

Chris
Can’t believe you just said that. Did that.

Dave Wilson
And then he looked at the class. I’ll never forget. It just sticks out and he goes. And as soon as I did that, I looked in my rear view mirror at myself and I said, what’s wrong with your heart? Yeah. And we’re all like, what’s wrong with your heart? It’s your finger, you know? It’s like, right? He goes, I knew that action. Something I got to deal with right here. And I think that’s what Jesus is getting at, is you think it’s a finger or a mouth? Even your your actions are connected to your heart. It’s like, God, what is going on here? I put you as the Lord and and God of my my heart. It’s going to affect what I say it’s going to. It’s going to affect how I build people up rather than tear them down. It’ll change your.

Chris
Marriage. Well, have you ever said you said something and you let it slip out and you go, oh, I don’t know where that came from. Yeah. Jesus would say, I do. Yeah. Jesus would say, I know because it’s in there. Yeah. Right. And so yeah, you’re right. It’s an overflow. That’s we say.

Dave Wilson
That about marriage and parenting. It’s like, I would never say things like that. Act like that if I wasn’t married to you or these kids. Bring out the worst in me. And the truth is, what they’re bringing out is already in there. It’s just, you know, the the pressure of that life is bringing that out.

Chris
Hey, you know that song?

Dave Wilson
Uh oh. Are you going to sing us a song?

Chris
No, I’m not going to sing it. I want to hear it. You know that song? You know it already. Don’t put your house on sinking sand.

Dave Wilson
I don’t think I know that one.

Chris
You’re lying. You’re lying. You’re just saying that that’s what you’re doing.

Dave Wilson
I want to hear you sing.

Chris
All right. Fine. I’ll do it real quick. Uh. It goes. Don’t build your house on sinking sand. Don’t build too near the shore. Well, it might be kind of nice, but you’ll have to build it twice and you’ll have to build your house once more. You got to build your house upon the rock, rock, rock. You got to build your foundation on solid spot. And when the storms of life may blow the peace of God, you’ll always know cha cha cha.

Dave Wilson
I have never heard that song.

Chris
Is that true? Well, I was saying it really, really fast because I didn’t want to bore everybody. But that’s true. Yeah, we learned that as a, uh, you know, out of this verse, out of this passage and I’m telling you what, in my mind all the time, I think that because sometimes when you put scripture to music, it really helps, doesn’t it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. You think about it all the time. Yeah. Which is why worship songs are so valuable. Yeah, right.

Dave Wilson
People are going to go back and play this over and over and over.

Chris
Not no, not but no, I think about that all the time. You know, you gotta build your house upon the rock, rock, rock I think in all the time. And I’m telling you what, it has helped me through serious situations just because of that goofy song.

Dave Wilson
Big Tent Revival. You know that band?

Chris
Yes, of course.

Dave Wilson
They had a song called Two Sets of Joneses. Oh yeah. Yeah, I.

Chris
Remember that, yeah, I do.

Dave Wilson
The video was powerful and it was just one set of jokes. Built their house on the sand, one set built their house on the rock, and the storms came and the wind blew. And the. And they said, only one stood. I’ll never forget. It was just a beautiful song based literally on Jesus words. Huh?

Chris
That’s awesome. Well, hey, that is a great place to end and hopefully we will see you Monday on The Bible Guys.