About this sermon
Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” The one who hears his words and does them is like a man who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock, and his house stood when the flood came. The one who hears and does not act built without a foundation, and his house fell, so Jesus calls his hearers to build their lives on him, the only rock that stands through judgment.
Sermon transcript
We’re reading this morning from Luke chapter 6. This is reading the very end of what’s sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain. We read verses 46 through 49. Luke chapter 6, beginning of verse 46. Hear God’s Word. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like.
He’s like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it. because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation. And the torrent burst against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Shall we pray? Lord God, we do indeed look to your hand Even as the maid looks to the hand of her mistress, we look to You to give us what we need. So, Lord, feed us this morning by Your Word. Encourage us in our faith. Help us to understand how it is that we may build on a firm foundation with the Word of the Lord Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen. Anyone who wants to become an expert in something has to learn first from someone else, right? If you want to become a master carpenter, for example, you have to first apprentice under someone else who’s already a master carpenter.
And as an apprentice, your job is to do everything that the master teaches you. You would start your learning by doing very menial things, the very basics of the trade. You’d start by learning to sweep the floor, sweep up the sawdust, and clean up. You’d learn to stack the lumber, pick up and take out the trash, and so forth. And over time, as you progressed in following the master’s instructions, you would learn from the master how to prepare the wood. taking it from rough lumber and making it into smooth dimension lumber. And then you would learn to take that lumber and produce it into the finished work piece, the chair or the table or so forth. Now, throughout this process, as you learn how to do this, you must do one thing, one thing above all else that is fundamentally important mastering this trade.
You must do and follow everything that the master teaches you. If the master tells the apprentice to use a saw or a chisel to hold it in a certain way or at a certain angle, then the apprentice refuses to listen, won’t do what he’s asked or told. He’ll never learn how to properly cut the wood and to properly shape it and to achieve the final result. If the apprentice doesn’t follow the words and teaching of the master to the letter every time, he’ll never be able to progress in his trade to the point where he can be a journeyman carpenter.
The relationship between Jesus and his disciples is really very similar to this, that of the master and the apprentice, the teacher and the disciple. And in this last section of the sermon here in Luke 6, Jesus teaches us that in order for us to be His disciples, His followers, to become like Him, for that’s the goal of the disciples, to become like the Master, we must learn to do the words of Jesus, our Master.
Jesus illustrates this. The idea of learning to do his words with a parable of two kinds of men. The one who does his words and the one who doesn’t do his words. As we look at how Jesus teaches us that we must learn to do his words, we’ll look at it under those two ideas. The one who does the words of Jesus and the one who doesn’t do the words of Jesus. So the first kind of person, the one who does the words of Jesus. That kind of person is the disciple who does what Jesus tells him.
Jesus had been going through Galilee, this section of Luke, preaching a gospel of repentance, calling sinners to turn from their sin and to follow him, to become his disciples, to do his words. And he had called various disciples, Peter, John, and James. Fishermen, remember, and he calls them from their boats to follow him. Later, he calls Levi, the tax collector, known as Matthew, and he tells them to follow him. And the sermon is directed at his disciples, Peter, James, and so forth.
You see that in verse 20 of chapter 6. Turning his gaze towards his disciples, the people who are already following him, he began to say, and then he preaches the sermon. So this whole sermon is connected to the disciples who he has called and who have been following him through this section of Luke.
So we have to understand what he’s saying here in relationship to all of that. Jesus tells them that if they’re truly going to be his disciples, they can’t just come to him and follow after him. They have to do those things too. But there’s one more thing they have to do. They have to do the words that they’ve heard him speaking. They have to act upon his words, make a life that’s filled with actions flowing out of his words.
And he uses this parable of building a house to illustrate it. The parable is a picture of the life of a disciple of Christ. It’s a picture of who you must be as a disciple of Christ. So we see a man building a house. A house has a roof, right, over it. A house has walls. And it has floors. But every house also ought to have a foundation at its very bottom.
The man who acts on Jesus’ words, Jesus says, is one who starts building his house by first digging deep, deep into the ground until he hits a rock, bedrock. Once he hits that rock, he clears away and removes all of the dirt, anything that could shift or move. And he finds the unmoving, unshakable bedrock. And when he’s uncovered it, he lays his foundation of his house on that rock. And then he builds the rest of the house on top of that foundation. Now, the disciple whom Jesus is picturing here, is one, he says, who has heard the words of Jesus. Everyone who comes to me and hears my words. The man who builds his house hears and acts on the words of Jesus. This man has to do hard work, very hard work, of digging down to the rock.
If you’ve ever dug a foundation by hand, A little bit of that, but not a whole foundation for a whole house. If you’ve ever dug it, you know how hard this work is. If you’ve ever tried to dig a hole in the ground, you know how hard digging is. You dig down even just a foot or two, and the sand keeps falling back into the hole, right? And you have to keep digging it out. And by the time you’ve gotten down even just two feet, not a very deep hole, you’ve had to do a great deal of work in digging.
You find out immediately as you dig that it is much harder work than perhaps you first thought. Now imagine digging a hole the size of your house, all the way down to bedrock, and you get a picture of what Jesus is describing as how difficult it is to become a disciple. It’s hard work.
This work starts by hearing Jesus’ word, his call to repentance. Remember Peter? Jesus says, come follow me. What does he say? Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Jesus, in calling him to follow him, is calling him to turn from his sin and find forgiveness in Jesus.
The man here in Jesus’ parable, as it were, taking it in this context of Jesus’ ministry. This disciple is one who has heard God’s law. He’s come to understand God’s perfect standard of righteousness. He sees the holiness of God, particularly as it’s revealed in the life of Jesus, whom he’s following. He’s come to understand what God demands of him. Remember, he’s walking around following the Son of God, a sinless man. What a wonderful picture of the Lord.
And he’s immediately reminded of his own sinfulness. He’s heard that he does not have the ability to be perfect in himself if he didn’t already know it. He can’t save himself either from his sins. So he can’t be righteous in himself and he also can’t take his sins away.
And this man has also heard the words of Jesus. Come to me. He’s received these words. He’s accepted them and heard them to be true and right. Jesus says, come to me. I will take your burden of sin away from you. And I will give you forgiveness of your sins. I’ll give you freedom from that yoke that’s weighing you down. I will give you peace with God. The man hears the words, but he also accepts them. He receives them to be true and right. This man has dug down all the way down to the rock. He’s uncovered the rock and laid it bare. You see, he’s understood the truth of the gospel.
But seeing, you see, seeing and hearing the gospel, coming to understand it, as this man has done by the time he’s uncovered the rock, that’s not enough. It’s not enough to just say, it’s true that I’m a sinner and it’s true that Jesus can forgive me. Finding the rock is not enough to be saved. You have to build your house on the rock. Having exposed the rock then, having heard and seen the wonderful news of the gospel, this man goes one step further. The man begins to build his foundation, the foundation of his house, the foundation of his life upon the rock.
The man trusts Jesus Christ, trusts not only that Jesus can, but will save him from his sins. He’s believed with his whole heart that Jesus died and rose, not just to save some sinners out there, but to save me. The true disciple of Jesus is the one who has heard the sweet and wonderful news of the gospel and acted upon it. He’s done the words that Jesus has spoken. He’s believed in him. He has come to Jesus in faith. and in repentance of his sin. This is the true disciple, the one who lays hold of Jesus, the rock of salvation, the man who lays the foundation of his new life upon Jesus, the bedrock.
You see, when we become true disciples of Jesus, we have laid hold of Jesus himself. We’ve been joined to him. We’ve been united to him by faith. In being joined to Jesus, we become joined to something that is unshakable, unmovable, not a rock that rolls or rattles. It’s firm. We are joined to someone who is eternal and unchangeable. By faith, we are united to the eternal Son of God himself. and we build our lives upon him. And in doing so, we receive eternal life.
You see, that’s the bedrock that this man was digging for and wanted to build his life on, was Jesus, in whom there’s no moving. And this means that you have to do and to act upon the words of Jesus. To truly be his disciple is not just to hear what he says, but to throw yourself upon him. as your Savior, to place all your hope on Him.
The whole thing, that whole house is sitting on the rock, Jesus. But the parable doesn’t stop with the rock, but with the foundation. After the man builds his house, he moves into it, and eventually a flood comes. Apparently, this man had built his house alongside of a river. We have one right out there. Usually gives you a good view, right? It’s a nice place to build.
But one day, the river flooded terribly. It overflowed its banks. It changed its course, as sometimes rivers do. And this powerful flood tore it, poured out of the river, and aimed squarely at the little house. The rushing floodwaters of the river beat down upon that house, threatening with all its might to carry that house away. But the house on the rock stood firm.
Jesus says that the house was not even shaken. It doesn’t even move when the flood comes rushing upon it. This is the foundation that every disciple of Jesus has built his life upon. Everyone who has joined himself to the everlasting rock will not be moved. Will not be moved when the torrents of this life come pouring in on you as they did on our psalmist this morning. The trials of life will not move you. The misery, illness, the poverty, the temptation and struggles with sin, even persecution and death.
None of this can shake us from our eternal salvation in Jesus. But that’s not really the floodwaters that Jesus is describing here. It’s not the waves of this life. No, the flood, as wonderful as that comfort is and as true as that is, the comfort that Jesus offers here goes beyond this life and its trials.
You see, the flood in the Bible is a picture of judgment, of final judgment, of God’s wrath being outpoured and unleashed in a torrent, poured out on sinners like a river, rushing, catching everything in its path and sweeping it away. That’s the river that Jesus is describing here. It’s the floodwaters of eternal judgment and God’s wrath on the last day.
And Jesus promises that the one who believes in his words, who does what he says, he will be unscathed. He will pass through this final judgment unshaken. His house will not be moved. Why? It’s because the disciple of Jesus clings to the everlasting rock. Jesus promises the security and safety of heaven now. Eternal life for his disciples, for those who do his words.
That means you have to believe in what he says and cast yourself with him and him alone. Jesus says there’s another kind of man. That’s his warning here. This section really is a warning, as much as it is a wonderful encouragement. There’s another kind of man, because not everyone who hears Jesus’ words, not everyone who actually follows him, does what he says. There are those who hear his words, but don’t act on them. Jesus applies this same parable to a second kind of person.
This man also comes to hear and listen to Jesus. He also hears Jesus call to repentance. He hears about God’s law and his own sinfulness. He hears Jesus offering forgiveness through repentance and faith. He’s considered this offer of salvation and of eternal life in Jesus. This man may have even said, that’s all true. I believe that’s right. I believe Jesus, you’re telling the truth. And I’ll come and join your people and I’ll walk after you.
This man is like someone who has heard about how a house should be built. He knows that every house should have a foundation, that the best foundations, as a matter of fact, he knows, are built on rock. This man has perhaps even watched the first man as he built his house, doing the hard work of digging down to the rock. But after having watched all this at length, this man says to himself, I don’t need that. I don’t need to go to all the work of digging down to the rock, of laboring on a foundation. That river out there will never flood its banks. He will never change its course and flood my home. Rivers don’t do that, he says to himself.
And so this man scoffs internally at the thought that someday God will judge the world. He rejects the gospel. He rejects the sweet offer of freedom from sin. He rejects Jesus, the savior of the world. He rejects the rock. He says, I want nothing to do with it. He knows about it, but he doesn’t want it. He wants nothing to do with Jesus or eternal life or heaven. And what does he do?
Instead of all of that, he builds his house directly on the dirt. Right on the dirt. This man cares more about this life and this world than anything else. His desire is to enjoy this world and the things of this world. Rather than digging away at the ground, rather than getting rid of that shifting and untrustworthy dirt, this man builds directly on it. Not even a foundation, Jesus says. It’s not fair. This man is so tied to this world that he builds directly on the earth.
And having built his house, he stands back and he admires it. He says, look at my beautiful house. I will live in it and be happy forever. What do you think? Jesus tells us that this man has built his house right next to the first man’s house. We all live in the same world. We’re all subject to the same judgment. Jesus tells us that one day that same river will flood. As a matter of fact, it’s going to be on the same day.
And when the flood comes, this man’s house was likewise inundated by the floodwaters. And when that torrent bore down on his house, it was swept away. It was gone. Immediately, Jesus says, it collapsed and came to great ruin. On the Judgment Day, when Jesus comes to judge the world, everyone who has built his life, built his house upon this world, who has lived clinging to this life and the things that this world has to offer, who is tied to this universe and only this, he will experience great ruin. He will not pass through safely, but he will be swept away by the waters of God’s eternal judgment. This is the lot of the man who hears God’s word, who hears Jesus’ gospel and says, I don’t need it.
Even though it may be true, even though I may have followed and outwardly lived like a Christian, I don’t really need to believe this. I’ve got what I need here on earth. So we go back to verse 46. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?
You see, the second kind of man exists among the people whom Jesus is looking at, that group of followers and disciples. There are some among there who call him Lord, Lord, who claim to be Christians. And yet they haven’t truly believed in him. There are some who will call themselves Christians, some who are even raised in the church and claim to call Jesus Lord, but they haven’t truly done what he said. It involves doing all of Jesus’ teaching, but we’ve looked at the very most important part of it, the beginning of it, which is to believe in him as your savior. There’s a grave warning here, both to those who are in the church and to those who have not yet been baptized and joined the church. Jesus says that merely calling him Lord is not enough. Merely hearing his words and following him outwardly is not enough. You must do and act on his words. You must come to true faith and true repentance. We can’t judge men’s hearts. I don’t know what’s on the inside of your heart. I’m not going to claim to know. That’s not what I’m here to do today.
We all as individuals will answer to Jesus as our judge. He knows what’s in our hearts. And that’s why he’s the one who gives the warning. He calls us to follow him, to do his words. So come, come and follow him today. Come and find in him your true foundation, your true eternal rock of salvation, both for this life and for all eternity. Lord Jesus, you are the only rock by which men can be saved, by which they can pass through judgment. Help us, each of us, Lord Jesus, to trust in you, to truly do what you say. to truly believe that You are our Savior. In Your name we pray, Amen. Let’s respond to God’s Word, singing praise to Jesus with Hymn 262, God and the Gospel of His Son, Hymn 262. Let’s stand. so
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