Luke 6:39-40

Luke’s Gospel, chapter 6, verses 39, and 40. And he, Jesus, spake a parable unto them. Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master, but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master. God blessed to us is sacred and holy word this morning. Here we have Christ’s sermon on the plain, different from the sermon on the mount, but containing some of the same kinds of teachings. Here, we’re told that Jesus spoke a parable unto them. Jesus often spoke using parables. Now, simply put, a parable is an earthly story, but has a heavenly meaning behind it. Our Lord frequently used parables in his teachings. He found them useful tools for instructing people. Jesus would speak sometimes of what people knew very well. a common earthly experience or an incident, and then he draw a spiritual lesson from it. For instance, you know the parable of the sower where the farmer is out there and he has his bag of seed and he’s scattering it on the ground. Naribon has seen that in ancient days. They were aware of that, but he used it to speak of himself. and is spreading the word of God and how that the different grounds would represent the different people that the seed fell upon and their response to it and so forth. When he spoke about the parable, the mustard seed, how it’s the small seed, and it grows to a larger, tight bush tree-like in some ways. He’s saying, that’s like the king’s the same. of God that starts out really small and then it flourishes and grows. We’re familiar with this. So this is a very vivid, very memorable way to convey spiritual truth so it sticks in your mind. You’re not likely to forget it. It’s also an effective way of relating truth to his people, which he wished to remain hidden from the world. those without spiritual discernment. His disciples ask him at one point in Matthew 1310, why do you speak unto them in parables? And he said, because it’s given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it’s not given. Here we have the parable of the blind guide. Now, obviously, blind men should choose those who have sight to lead to lead them. I mean, that’s pretty obvious. It’s pretty clear. Before the availability of seeing eye dogs, if you were blind, you needed someone to guide you and lead you about. Someone who would take you by the hand lead you to where you wanted to go. You remember when Paul, he was none of Saul at the time, saw the exalted Christ on the Damascus road. The Bible tells us he was blinded by Christ’s brilliant glory for three days so that he couldn’t see. And scripture records that those who are with Paul led him by the hand and took him to Damascus. The sightless Paul couldn’t get there on his own. He needed someone to lead him. him. It is your own Christ’s day. You can imagine that it would be common to see the blind being led about by a guide. So blind men should choose those who have sight to guide. That’s simple enough. It would be foolish, would it not, for a blind man to choose another blind man to lead him about. That isn’t going to work out very well. Whoever heard of a blind guide enabling a sightless person to navigate through the city or on the road somewhere. Jesus is asking you to think about what would happen if such an absurd situation arose where a blind man would be leading about another blind man. They would be unable to escape the dangerous obstacles and circumstances around them. Think about it. how they would navigate the street traffic with the horses and the other animals and the wagons and the carts and the chariots and so forth and the pitfalls of the deep ditches on the sides of the roads, especially those mountain roads that led up to Jerusalem and other places where there was a narrowing of the road as they go up the mountainside and you could take a wrong step and you’re holding somebody’s hand and you go off. you’re going to drag them right over with you. The blind guide might cause the person to fall into the ditch that he’s leading. And where they’re both would perish, there was an elderly woman who was standing on a busy street corner, hesitant to cross because there was no signal light, no walk away, if you would. And as she waited, a gentleman came up to her and said, may I? cross over with you. Relieved, she thanked him, took him by the hand. However, the path they took was anywhere but safe. The man seemed confused as they dodged traffic almost being hit by several cars. They zigzagged across the street. You almost got us killed, she said, as they got across to the other side. You walk like you’re blind. The man said, I am. The man said, I am. that’s why I ask if I could walk across the street with you. With a blind guide, you’re likely to get killed. Now, the spiritual application is what’s important from this parable that he is told. Having told the parable, now he draws the conclusion. And this is what we will focus on today. I’m going to talk about spiritual guides from this passage of scripture. Now, let me begin by saying this. It’s necessary to have spiritual teachers to guide you. Some assert that man needs no guide whatsoever. We’re told that man is a noble creature. He’s gifted with great intellect and intelligence and ability so that man can find his own way spiritually. And he doesn’t need any human teachers of any kind that he’s capable of instructing himself. that you can navigate safely the maze of the false teaching and the dangerous errors without any help. All men are capable of doing this. See, his man is such a noble creature. Scripture, however, teaches you otherwise. Christ has provided shepherds to oversee his sheep. In Ephesians 4, verses 11 and 12, we read, by Christ, he gave some apostles, some apostles, prophets, some evangelists, and some prophets and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. As we go through scriptures, we find that God would have elders to lead his people, that point elders in each church to be overseers for the people of God. We are much like the Ethiopian eunuch. asked when reading Isaiah’s prophecy, do you understand what you’re reading? And he replied, how can I, except some man guide me. All Christians, even elders, need to learn and to grow from the gifts that Christ has given various members of his church, in order that the church may be edified. It’s a sad circumstance when Jesus looked out and saw people who have been. or like sheep without a shepherd. So it would be foolish not to recognize this and benefit from the teachers that God has provided. I think it is necessary to have spiritual teachers, thus God provides them to guide us. But secondly, you’re warned here that not all spiritual teachers are safe guides. The scriptures reveal that Satan is a master deceiver. He has his own ministers who will go about leading people astray. And thus you can’t trust just any religious teacher to be a safe kind. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God because many false teachers have gone out into the world. 1. John 4th. 2.1 says, there are many false prophets also among the people, meaning Israel, even as there shall be false teachers among you, the New Testament people of God, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies. 2.1. Now, these false teachers and these leaders, Christ refers to in scripture, as blind guides. The Pharisees complained to the disciples about Christ’s doctrine. The Pharisees described a complaint to Christ’s disciples about Christ’s doctrine. And they reported this to Christ, and you remember what he said. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15, 14, similar to what he says here in our text. It’s obvious that this parable perfectly applies to the Pharisees of Jesus’ Day. There’s no question about that. And certainly the religious teachers of the day for the Israelites people were many cases, deceivers. Christ specifically calls them blind guides in Matthew 23, 2316. for they have no spiritual illumination. They’re unable to rightly divide the word of truth, and therefore, they’re not taught of God. They have not been given the Holy Spirit to enlighten them. They’re spiritually blind. There’s no light in them at all. So how are they going to help anybody else? And the people, the Pharisees are supposedly providing guidance for, are also? blind. They’re spiritually blind. They’re in the blindness of unbelief. The ignorance of spiritual, ignorant of spiritual truth. The Bible indicates to us that the unbeliever, unconverted, have blinded minds. 2 Corinthians 314. They have blindness of heart, Ephesians 418. And thus blind guides were leading blind people. people to a disaster’s outcome, they’re going to fall into the ditch. Now, this reference to the Pharisees in the parable certainly should be broadened to include all false religious teachers. Certainly in his day, it applied to the Jewish religious teachers. But the implication of this teaching is for all the people of God, for all generations. And so we need to see what he’s saying to us here. Isaiah 5610 says this. His watchmen are blind. They’re all ignorant. They are dumb dogs. They cannot bark. What does he mean by this? What is he telling the Israelites? That false teachers are poor watchmen. They’re like poor guard dogs. Why are they poor guard dogs? First, they’re blind. They’re unable to discern. the threats. And two, they’re dumb. They’re unable to bark to warn you. And so he’s saying they’re useless. On one occasion, Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, the agnostic lecturer, was giving an address on the subject of hell. And he declared that he would prove conclusively that hell was the wild dream from some scheming theologians who invented it to terrify people. And as he was launching into his subject, a half-drunken man arose at his audience and began to speak to the speaker. Make it strong, Bob. There are a lot of us, poor fellows, depending on you. If you’re wrong, we are all lost. So make sure you prove it clear and plain. He was right. Because these people were depending on Robert Ingersoll, the guy. them correctly and if they followed his leadership and we know his leadership was wrong, they were surely going to end up in the very hellfire that he was denouncing. Thus you need to be discerning about spiritual guides because some of them are blind guides. Friends, there are a lot of religious teachers in this world. you it’s television evangelists radio evangelists look at the books that are being produced you go to a bookstore Christian book so-called Christian bookstore sometime and see what’s being published out there there are all kinds of religious teachers but they’re not all safe guides to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it’s because there’s no light in them Isaiah 820. And that means if they have no light, they are blind. So if it does not conform, their teaching does not conform to Scripture, they’re blind guides and we should reject them. Don’t be so naive to think that someone has written a religious book and I don’t care if Zonderman or whoever published it, that somehow or rather it’s going to be a good book. You don’t know that. I’ve read books already and I thought they were supposedly published by those who were sound publishers that I had to throw out or mark on the front or inside that this is heresy. Be careful. Just because a religious teacher is popular with the masses, his book is well received, means nothing. That doesn’t mean he’s a safe God. So don’t be foolish enough to accept any and all religious teachers is sound and good. This is what Jesus is warning us about here. So you’re warned that not all spiritual teachers are safe guides. Thirdly this morning. You cannot be spiritually benefited by blind spiritual leaders or teachers. Notice verse 40. The disciple is not above his master, but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master. You find generally the student. student doesn’t even attain the standard of the teacher. The disciple is not above his master, generally speaking. Now, it’s true. The similar language to what we see in verse 40 is used by Christ as a master, teaching his disciples to expect to be treated by the world as he was. However, I think it’s more natural. To connect verse 40 in the sermon on the plane with verse 39 and see it as a continuation and an application and a application of what the parable is teaching. Students generally become more and more like their teachers as they sit under their training. There’s a tendency to follow in the footsteps of their religious guides. You imitate those you admire. You conform to their image. As O’Sa put it in Josea 4-9, like people like priest, you often find on Facebook and other places people quoting religious teachers, thinking that they’re saying something that’s really good. Rain has pointed out a few things that we’ve had to scratch our heads about and say, what in the world is this double talk all about? This is wrong. But they thought this was the greatest thing since Swiss cheese, I guess. I don’t know. The student in general doesn’t even attain the standard of the teacher. The best student, however, doesn’t surpass the knowledge and ability of the teacher. When the famous preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, died in 1892, it was a real blow to his congregation in London. His son, Thomas Spurgeon, replaced him and served as the pastor there for the next 15 years. Thomas’ voice sounded a lot like his father’s. He had many of the mannerisms and inflections and speech that his father had. You can see why the people were sort of endeared to him. He certainly owed much of his religious training to his father because his father had a seminary. connected with the church in which they trained young men to preach. I’m sure Thomas went through that seminary. Thomas had the same ready fluency of speech, the same easy and familiar style of address. He had many of the gifts of his father, but not to the degree of his father. Nor was his Calvinism as strong as that of his father’s. and he could not proclaim the word of God at the same level as his father. This is a generally true thing. The one who sat under his father here couldn’t meet the standard of his father. He came close in some ways, but he just wasn’t there. Now, since it’s generally true that the disciple was not above his master, what does this mean for us as we look at these blind guides? It teaches that if you have a blind guide, you’re not going to surpass a blind guide. You’re going to remain blind. You will remain fatally ignorant. Continue to follow his errors blindly. You will not be able to improve and become better than your religious teacher. So you generally find the student doesn’t even attain the state of of the teacher. And, secondly, if you complete all the instruction of a blind teacher, you will only be equal to him. But everyone that is perfect shall be as his master. If you could, reach that point, not everybody can’t. But if you’re one of those special people who reached that perfect state here, where you have now perfectly cloned, the teacher, so to speak. That’s the best you can hope to be. Perfect, I think, here is used in the sense of complete. You’ve obtained a full knowledge of all the religious guide could teach you. If you reach that full measure of your teacher, you may become his equal, but you’ll never get better than him. You may be a perfect clone, but that’s all you can hope to be. Whatever following you, you can hope to be. whatever failings, whatever faults he has, you will have. Whatever his corrupt theology is, you will have that corrupt theology. You’ll be assimilated by you. You would adhere to it. If you choose a blind guide, the best you can hope is to be a blind guide yourself. All this teaches us, you must carefully choose your religious teacher for you will never be better than he is. You can never be spiritually benefited by a blind religious leader. My fourth point this morning is this. Ultimately, if you follow spiritually blind teachers, you will both end up in the ditch of perdition. Shall they not both fall into the ditch, he says, at the end of verse 39. Your choice, Jesus says, religious guides has eternal consequences to it. Choose a blind guide and it can lead to the damnation of your soul. Isaiah 916 says this. The leaders of this people cause them to err. And they that are led of them are destroyed. Well, how about what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 2315? Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you come past sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than you yourselves. Whoa! There’s a statement for you. They’re both going to end up in the ditch. This is a solemn truth to learn here. At the end of all bad leadership religiously, there’s a ditch. It is not a matter of indifference. who your religious teachers or guides are. It is a serious matter. Now, people have this foolish habit of choosing for themselves teachers who will say the kinds of things they want to hear. Remember what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4.3. For the time will come on, they will not endorse sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. They heap. They want all the ones. these teachers, a whole bunch of them, that will scratch their ears, say what they want to hear. Isaiah 30, verse 10 says, prophesied not unto us, write things. Speak unto us, smooth things. Prophesy to us, deceit. Could you imagine people saying that? If you follow error and take its teacher for your guide, you may be very pleased with yourself for a period of time. But mark my words, there’s a ditch at the end of all this. And you will fall and you into it and perish. The word ditch here, both thunos, is any kind of deep hole or pit. Probably it’s connected with the word bathos, which means deep. Our text seems to be referring to the pit of hell. This will be, you know, your inevitable end. You will not see it coming because you’re blind. But the ditch is there and you’re being led toward it by this false teacher and that’s where you’re going to end up. Curse it is he that trusteth in man and makeeth flesh his arm. Jeremiah 17.5. Ultimately, there’s only one safe spiritual guide, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. himself. Any spiritual guide you choose, better be following Jesus Christ, or you’re going to end up in the ditch. That’s as clear as I can make it this morning for all of us from this passage of scripture. Years ago, Marshall Applewhite had his cult. He said, follow me. That was his invitation. He was a self-appointed leader of the Heaven’s Gate cult. and he promised that those who would be his disciples that he would teach them how they could move on to a higher level of existence in a new world. Sincere but gullible, men and women, heated as call. They left their families. They left their jobs. They left their houses. To live and to work together and to obey their leaders’ teachings. 38 disciples’ fault. There was a comet that was coming past the earth at one point, which he said that they were going to pass out of their terrestrial bodies and enter into this glorious state, supposedly associated with this comet, and they would go to a new level of existence. So they all drank the poison, and they all died, as long as long as long as the time. along with Applewhite, thinking that they were going to transform themselves into something greater and have an higher level of existence. So in March of 1997, they followed their spiritual guide to death and eternal ruin. That’s where false teachers will take you. Jesus often used parables as a vivid and memorable way to convey spiritual. truth. Common earthly experiences can be used very effectively to illustrate a spiritual truth. So the parable here of the blind guide provides a warning to us about choosing our spiritual teachers carefully. Choose one that is a blind guide and you end up in the pit of hell. That’s what Jesus is saying. Always use scripture as your guide. That’s the true guide. It will point you to Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life, to the law, and the testimony, the Word of God. If they don’t speak according to this word, it’s because there’s no light in them, buts. Isaiah 8.20. Let us keep that in mind. This is a very serious warning from the Savior to make us aware that while he is a spiritual teacher, he’s teaching them the truth, There are many out there who are not. Be aware of that, is what he’s saying. Let us close.