46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
47 everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the river struck that house, it collapsed. [Luke 6:46-49]
This is Luke’s version of the parable of The Two Foundations…also found in Matthew chapter 7…both accounts are recorded at the end of the Sermon on the Mount…it’s crucial in knowing this.
Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew [7:24] with the word ‘therefore’ used as a term of conclusion…here’s why this is important…Jesus is saying take everything I have just told you…in chapters 5-7…stating what is involved in having a personal relationship with God…then apply those to your life.
Ever heard the saying… “Preaching to the choir”? …well in this morning’s message I feel that I’m doing just that…because I think I know my church well enough to know that what I’m about to share with you is common knowledge with respect to being a Christian.
BUT…not wanting to take anything for granted…especially if someone is watching us on youtube…I am going to share with you something that I hope is common knowledge.
Last week we began looking at some of the over 300 questions Jesus asked during His earthly ministry…I’m not going to look at all 300.
But I would like for us to look at some of the KEY questions He asked and examine what Jesus was expecting to hear when He asked those questions.
Last week we looked at two questions in Matthew 16.
The FIRST question was ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’
The SECOND question was ‘Who do you say that I am?’ [Matt. 16:15]…the one question that Jesus will personally ask of every person who has ever lived.
Probably the most important question any of us will ever answer…that question will determine where you spend eternity by how you answer it.
One of the biggest mistakes people make in reading Scripture is that they read it as a spectator…as a novel…or like a fictional story…Scripture becomes nothing more than a collection of stores and events that took place thousands of years ago…not realizing they have an application for us today.
People come across a question like that and just read through it with no thought to the eternal impact it presents.
They look at those two questions and fail to see the depth of what Jesus is asking…what we should be asking ourselves is what would be your reaction to those two questions if Jesus asked you.
How people answer the question of ‘Who do you say that I am?’ really depends on how they view their relationship with Jesus:
…some may only know Jesus by name…as a swear word
…some may only know Jesus as an historical peasant Jew.
…some may only know of Jesus as a good man…or a good teacher
…some see Jesus as their Savior…but obeying Him as Lord is optional.
That goes back to [46]
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
To a certain degree this is exactly what Jesus was referring to when He pronounced His judgement on the Pharisees.
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” [Mt. 23:33]
It’s been suggested that Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees was the most severe language Jesus ever used with anybody…but there are other instances when His response was less than cordial as well.
In Matthew 23 Jesus does not hesitate in His ongoing condemnation of them using the word ‘hypocrite’ six times when referring to the scribes and Pharisees even calling them fools…serpents…and brood of vipers.
Just like the Pharisees who thought their conduct would get them into heaven… in that statement Jesus is pronouncing the same thing on those who claim to be Christians but exhibit a lifestyle that is less than doing what Jesus says.
The Pharisees sought to teach others…to convert people and bring them into their understanding of how to please God…but because of their false teaching these new converts’ destiny would be the same as the Pharisees…bound for hell.
The problem hasn’t changed…there are those who are promoting the same erroneous teachings…mistakenly thinking they’re peaching the doctrine of salvation but denying the importance of submitting to Christ as Lord and Savior.
Which is the original issue:
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Failing to do so reveals a fallacy in your understanding of what is involved in entering the kingdom of heaven…people who believe they are followers of Jesus and servants of God but will one day find out they’re not.
Have you ever thought of how devastating it will be…believing you’re saved only to be told you’re not?
So…who will inherit the Kingdom of God? …well the Bible’s pretty explicit on who is and who isn’t [1 Cor. 6:9-11].
Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
John adds to this list in Revelation 21:8.
(the) unbelieving…murderers…sexually immoral…sorcerers…and all liars.
NOW…there are some today who would classify those two verses as hate speech …recently YouTube removed one of John MacArthur’s sermons because it allegedly contained ‘hate speech’ by stating that there is no such thing as being transgender. You are either XX or XY.
Obviously…Biblical truth is no longer popular in our society…but it is still truth.
What these two verses contain is a list of some of the works of the flesh…BUT for many that kind of speech is too oppressive…it’s demeaning…it makes me feel bad about my personal choices.
It’s easy to look at this list and think… “Well, I don’t fall into any of those categories, so I’m okay.”
BUT…Before getting too self-righteous by comparing ourselves to people who have committed such acts we need to look closer at what Jesus says.
He also includes ‘all liars’ as those not getting into heaven…going out on a limb but I think I can safely say we’re all guilty of telling at least one lie in our lifetime.
Many people look at the lists in 1 Corinthians and Revelation and scoff at God’s Word…even professing Christians reject the clear teaching set forth in these passages…example:
Certain denominations have endorsed some of these practices by ordaining homosexual ministers…in addition many Christians have been guilty of some of these sins while pastors refuse to speak out against them…not wanting to offend anyone…by suggesting that in life things happen and it’s not your fault.
In fact…there’s a song out there titled… “It’s Not Your Fault”. The song suggests that ‘You’re only human’ as if that’s an acceptable excuse for how you act…and in the chorus it repeatedly says, ‘It’s not your fault.’
Just for a minute I’m going to talk about something I never talk about…I am not going to preach against any of the things I’m mentioning…I’m using them as an example.
I want to look at three conditions that are spoken about in the Bible and the argument of why they should be accepted as normal because it’s not my fault… I’m in a condition that God Himself created.
FIRST…is Homosexuality…the common claim is that I cannot help being homosexual …they argue that it is perhaps genetically determined…that idea is supported by neuroscientist (Simon LeVay) who argues that there is a significant difference in the brain between heterosexual and homosexual men.
Therefore the church and society should accept homosexuality as natural and in that sense, normal…and insist…it is unfair to condemn people for what they cannot help doing….in other words…it’s not my fault.
SECONDLY…Some years ago, it was learned that an abnormally high proportion of boys with double “y” chromosomes ”(xyy) engage in anti-social or criminal behavior… so, we should give leniency to those who possess this chromosome condition because they really can’t be held accountable for what they do…it’s not my fault.
THIRDLY…Scientists have discovered that a certain gene is associated with a relatively high percentage of alcoholics…should we then accept alcoholism as being an inescapable condition because it’s really not my fault.
We all know people who have gone to alcohol or drug rehabilitation centers and been successful in their rehabilitation…but many times fall back into their old ways.
I’ve talked to people who have gone to church sponsored centers for homosexuals but have yet to have anyone tell me it was successful.
WHY??? This goes back to the condition that every person who has ever lived is in…doesn’t matter what your human weakness is…could be sexual…alcohol or drug addiction…regardless of what you do… you will forever be continually tempted by that which is keeping you from being in a closer fellowship with God.
Recurrent temptation is a problem for all of us…people who have been addicted to drugs and alcohol often face continuing temptations in that area long after they have stopped…is the temptation for people who struggle with homosexuality any stronger than the people who struggle with heterosexual temptations?…recurrent temptation is a problem for all of us.
The bottom line is that the genetic element in sin does not excuse it.
As a Pastor I don’t need to specifically identify every sin mentioned in Romans
chapter one and wave my finger in your face…Paul is describing the condition that every person who has ever lived at one time has been in…or is still in.
Beginning in [18] Paul vividly portrays the sinfulness of all people…he elaborates on the hopelessness of human nature and the eternal destiny that awaits every person who has ever lived…and concludes…they are without excuse.
Luke 6:46 is a statement that reveals the faulty assumptions people make concerning their salvation:
FIRST…sincerity is not good enough…sincerity is not salvation…those who claim to be ‘religious’ believe that that should be sufficient…it’s not.
They fail to realize that genuine saving faith always results in a life of progressive godliness…if a person claims to be saved but has no hunger for God’s Word…has no growing hatred of sin…and no growth in godly living …they need to examine where they are truly in the faith [2 Cor. 13:5].
SECONDLY…inclusivism…that we’re just all going to the same place…we might all have different ideas on how to get there but ultimately we’ll all be there in the end…no we’re not.
THIRDLY…just like with sincerity…admiration and respect of Jesus is not salvation…that will not be good enough…this mindset is seen in the group of people who came to hear and see Jesus and to be healed…wanting what Jesus could do…but failing to make a personal commitment to follow Him [6:17-19].
This is seen in the remainder of today’s verses…[47-49]…a well known parable about two people building houses…one house has a foundation built on solid rock and the other one is built on the sand.
In this analogy Jesus says two men built two houses…one was wise the other foolish…but…you couldn’t tell which house was which by the outward structure because they were both alike in their appearance.
So what is Jesus teaching here?
Some have attempted to make these houses represent the storms of life that we all experience…the real-life issues we encounter every day…financial problems …sickness and physical suffering…and the hardest storm we’ll face in this life…physical death of those we love.
The idea that has been preached for years regarding what Jesus meant by this analogy is that when the storms of life come, lean on Jesus as He’ll overcome them…but look at the placement of this story in relationship to Jesus’ sermon… context reveals a different meaning.
For those of you were at the Sunday night Bible Study ‘The Chosen’ you remember in that movie it portrayed Jesus out in the countryside practicing His sermon…this very sermon…the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus’ rehearsal of that sermon suggests that the placement of what Jesus said in that sermon was critical…it was the result of something He rehearsed and re-rehearsed rather than being an impromptu speech.
As you read the Sermon on the Mount…Luke’s version is called the “Sermon on the Plain”, both Matthew and Luke put this story at the end of Jesus’ sermon.
I don’t think it was just placed there by chance…it’s been suggested that both these sermons were spoken at various times and places…that they were a collection of bits and pieces of previous sermons and put into one long sermon.
BUT…if Jesus did not preach this as a single sermon why would the gospel writers mislead their readers to think that He did? (Robert L. Thomas, “Evangelical Responses to the Jesus Seminar,” Master’s Seminary Journal 7 (1996): 88-89).
This sermon was to serve as a radical wake-up call for Christians to live wholeheartedly for God…not simply through external actions of doing things.
It was not given simply as a list of rules to follow but as an invitation to live a life that reflects the commitment of professing Jesus as Lord and Savior… because when we don’t…there’s a storm coming.
That is the meaning of this analogy…the flood Jesus is talking about is not referring to the storms of life…or all the things that cause us distress in our life… or the hard times we encounter.
Jesus is referring to the judgement…there’s a storm coming…how do you think you will stand on the day of Judgement?
On that day…will you stand firm, or will you be like the house that is swamped and collapses?
That’s the difference…the wise man entered the straight gate and walked the narrow path that led to righteousness…the foolish man walked the broad path that ends in destruction…these houses represent what will occur in response to how you live your life.
As Christians…if we are content to live out our earthly lives…believing that being ‘religious’ should be sufficient,
…OR…being sincere is good enough
…OR… that that we’re just all going to the same place cause God loves everybody.
…OR…that I have an admiration and respect of Jesus and that should be good enough…
none of those are good enough…they won’t weather the coming storm on judgement day.
Jesus is using this passage to teach us that it’s necessary to live with the Kingdom of God in mind…not simply as a list of rules or a suggestion to follow.
Salvation is an invitation to live under grace and experience the blessings and rewards Jesus wants to give us as a result of living a Christ-like life both in this life and in the life to come.