Luke 6:46-49
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great," Luke 6:46-49. As Christ continues to preach the sermon on the mount, He is using illustrations that the people would easily understand. These illustrations have undeniable truths. In Luke 6:43-45 a tree is undeniably known by the fruit it bears. In Luke 6:41-42 a person who has a beam in their own eye cannot help their brother get the dust out of their eye. Through this teaching Christ continues to expose the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and those who follow them, but more than that Christ is exposing their spiritual condition. They say one thing with their mouth, but their heart is far from the Lord. They claim to be children of God, and are sure they will inherit heaven, but the foundation upon which this belief is built is faulty, and it will not stand up on the day of judgment.
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say," Luke 6:46. "Lord" in this verse is the Greek word "Kurios", and means master or teacher of a student or follower. Remember that there are multitudes gathered around Jesus Christ to hear Him teach. The majority of them claim that He is their Master. The term we would use today is "Christian". When someone claims to be a Christian, the assumption is that they are a follower of Jesus Christ. To be a follower of Jesus Christ means you submit to His authority and you follow His teachings, or His sayings. Just because someone claims to be a Christian does not mean that they are. You can learn the lingo, you can blend in with the crowd, but what is in your heart is what you really are. You can fool others, but you will not fool Christ. Turn to Luke 13:22-30, and then Matthew 7:21-23. How many people think they can earn their way to heaven? They are sure that Christ is pleased with their religious works and therefore by their works they are sure they have gained entrance into heaven. They have preached, taught, and ministered in the name of Christ. They have joined good organizations that are helping the world by providing food, water, shelter, medicinal things, and are addressing spiritual matters. In our eyes they are good people doing good things for the world and they are also calling themselves Christians. Though their works are good in our eyes, in the eyes of Christ what they do are works of iniquity. The deeds they do are sin, unrighteous, wicked, impious; which makes them workers of iniquity. Jesus Christ ascribes this definition to their works because they are trying to work to get to heaven. They are trusting their works instead of trusting Christ. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," Galatians 2:16. Turn also to Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9.
"Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like," Luke 6:47. "Whosoever" is Jew or Gentile, anyone. Anyone who hears Christ's teachings, and obeys them will be known as a good tree because of the good fruit he is producing. One of our prayers for the lost is that God will open up their eyes and ears so that they will be able to see and hear the gospel and be saved by God's grace. An evidence of salvation is good works. Saving faith produces good works (James 2:14-26). "If ye love me, keep my commandments," John 14:15. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous," I John 5:3. We hear the Word, and we strive to obey the Word. This is hard work. This is a constant battle (Romans 7). But the foundation which this is built upon is sure and stedfast. That foundation is Jesus's life, death, burial, and resurrection. What we do, feel, and experience is not a firm foundation, but the work of redemption that Christ finished on the cross is unmovable. We know this by digging in the Scriptures. Remember, the multitude that Christ is speaking to have a foundation that is not built on the Scriptures, but instead is built upon man's traditions.
When the Lord saves someone, that person usually doesn't know a lot about soteriology, the doctrine of salvation. They know they love Jesus and that Jesus loves them, and they want to tell the world about their Saviour. As they are proclaiming Christ to the world, they will come in contact with those who will try to convince them of a lie with the sole purpose to ship wreck their faith in Christ. This is another reason it is important to be part of a church family where we help each other and receive biblical instruction (Ephesians 4:11-16). "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive," Ephesians 4:14. Also turn to II Peter 1:1-15. When what we believe is built upon Scripture in context, it will stand the testing's and trials that come against it from every direction. True salvation is built upon Jesus Christ alone.
"But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great," Luke 6:49. Picture this house looking the same or better than the house in verse 48. As long as there wasn't a storm to test these houses, you wouldn't know any difference. But when put to the test, this house would quickly and utterly fall. The house in verse 49 was not built upon Christ, but instead would be built upon those things that sounded and looked religious. As the storms would beat upon this house, there would be no hope, no assurance that it would remain standing. What is worse is that on the day of judgment all the works done in and for this house would be considered works of iniquity, the person would be judged, and then God would cast them into hell to suffer the wrath of God for eternity.
As Christ preached this sermon, I wonder how many people actually heard Him and examined themselves by the Scriptures. How many actually believed to the saving of their souls? How about you? Where will you spend eternity? Have you trusted Christ alone to save you? Salvation is Monergistic, not synergistic. Christ saves lost people. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37.
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