And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
To say Lord, Lord to Christ while refusing to do what He says is inconsistent and empty, with no saving worth and no proof that one is truly His disciple. A claim to be a child of God and an heir of heaven must be matched by hearing His words so as to obey them, in a daily life that follows His will and His works. Profession that contradicts action has no value, for God requires His children to serve Him wholeheartedly.
True calling Him Lord means practicing His Word, with conduct made consistent in speech, in patience, and in meekness so that Christ is revealed in the heart. Profession without practice is faith diluted by natural traits of character, having lost Christlikeness and therefore its saving virtue, a haphazard belief and practice unlike His lessons. The heart holds either a treasure of goodness or a treasure of evil, and the receiver of truth from good treasure brings forth good, while one who claims to believe yet does not practice brings forth evil that wounds and discourages and destroys.
Those who say they are rich while disobeying will in the end be wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, and false disciples will be punished according to the harm they have done to His cause. Becoming an overcomer requires not acting like a child in understanding but becoming like a child in practicing the Word, taking self seriously in hand and moving steadily onward step by step. The question divides people into two classes found in every place and in every church: those who hear and do build for time and for eternity like a house dug deep and founded on a rock that the flood cannot shake, while those who hear and do not build without foundation upon the earth and fall at once with great ruin. The parable joined to it sets out the condition of each class and points out the fate of those who fail to realize the evil of what they are doing, and all are to read and understand it.
To say Lord, Lord to Christ while refusing to do what He says is inconsistent and empty, with no saving worth and no proof that one is truly His disciple. A claim to be a child of God and an heir of heaven must be matched by hearing His words so as to obey them, in a daily life that follows His will and His works. Profession that contradicts action has no value, for God requires His children to serve Him wholeheartedly.
True calling Him Lord means practicing His Word, with conduct made consistent in speech, in patience, and in meekness so that Christ is revealed in the heart. Profession without practice is faith diluted by natural traits of character, having lost Christlikeness and therefore its saving virtue, a haphazard belief and practice unlike His lessons. The heart holds either a treasure of goodness or a treasure of evil, and the receiver of truth from good treasure brings forth good, while one who claims to believe yet does not practice brings forth evil that wounds and discourages and destroys.
Those who say they are rich while disobeying will in the end be wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, and false disciples will be punished according to the harm they have done to His cause. Becoming an overcomer requires not acting like a child in understanding but becoming like a child in practicing the Word, taking self seriously in hand and moving steadily onward step by step. The question divides people into two classes found in every place and in every church: those who hear and do build for time and for eternity like a house dug deep and founded on a rock that the flood cannot shake, while those who hear and do not build without foundation upon the earth and fall at once with great ruin. The parable joined to it sets out the condition of each class and points out the fate of those who fail to realize the evil of what they are doing, and all are to read and understand it.