The Perils of Empty Profession (Luke 6:46–49) | The Gospel of Luke (Part 51)

Transcript

JRNT 102
2/1/2026
The Gospel of Luke (Part 51) / The Perils of Empty Profession
Luke 6;46-49
Jesse Randolph

As we get started this morning, I want to take us into the imaginary world of a couple of twin sisters. Let’s say these twin sisters are in their mid-thirties and they are from Norfolk Nebraska. I had to test myself and train myself to say “Norfork”, even though it ends with “lk”, they’re from Norfolk Nebraska. These two twins, because they’re twins, obviously, they have the same dad. Mid-thirties ladies at this point. Same dad, who raised them. He worked a 9-5 and worked in middle-management at the local plant. Of course, they have this same mom, who shuttled them around faithfully, in the family’s Aerostar getting them to their activities back in the day. The two women were raised in the same church, where they were taught the same Bible lessons, and attended all the same programs, and went to all the same camps. The two women went to the same Christian school, where they both received 4.0 stellar GPAs. Both made the cheer squad. The two women both opted out of college and the career track. Instead, they got married young, marrying their high school sweethearts who, stereotypically, were high school football stars. The two women both had babies at a young age. One sister had her’s in a boy-girl order. One sister had her’s in the girl-boy order. Then, soon after their babies were born, the two women each moved away from their hometown of Norfolk to follow their husbands in their career paths. One family unit made its way north to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the other family unit made its way south to Salina, Kansas.

Now, in what can only be described as an incredible twist. When these two women settled into their new homes, one in Sioux Falls, the other in Salina. The houses that they moved into, with their respective families, were practically identical. Though they lived now, some 400 miles away from each other, they were from an outsider’s perspective, from that drive-by perspective, living in these houses that looked like the spitting image of each other. Both houses had the same Victorian Era design. Both were painted white. Both had blue shutters. Both had a red door. Both had three concrete steps leading up to an enclosed porch. Both had a big oak tree in the front, with a tree swing attached to boot.

Now, though these women are identical twins. And though they ended up in essentially identical homes. What goes on inside those homes is another matter. By that, I don’t mean that one home is orderly and tidy, and that the other home is some sort of disheveled dump. No. What I’m referring to is the spiritual condition of the two women who occupy those two homes.

See, for the sister up in Sioux Falls, she held firm to the faith in which she was raised. She has an abiding personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ which is regularly fanned into flame by her time in the Word and in prayer. She has a Biblical marriage. One in which she embraces her role as her husband’s helper. One in which she honors the Lord by submitting to her husband’s Godly leadership. She’s invested in raising and nurturing and training up her children in the ways of the Lord. She’s committed to the Titus 2 principles of watching her heart and loving her home. She’s found a community of like-minded sisters in Christ, in the church that she and her husband have found in Sioux Falls. She’s living a contented and godly and quiet life in Christ Jesus. She is solid in her faith. She has a faith that is not only professed but a faith which in every sense of the word is possessed.

Well, for her twin, her sister in Salina, it’s a very different story. Since gaining independence from her parents and starting a life with her husband. The sister in Salina has taken a much different approach to what she would call “Christian faith.” She’s still call herself a Christian. She would say she loves Jesus. But how she lives, and what she practices, really call into question her profession.

See, along with her husband. The sister in Salina has become convinced that Jesus’ message is exclusively about tolerance and peace and unity, no matter the cost. She rejects the idea that Jesus had any rules that He wanted people that follow Him, to follow. She rejects the idea of repentance as being entirely unbiblical. She rejects the idea that she needs to be a part of a local church. She rejects the idea that she needs to spend any appreciable time reading the Bible, because it’s this out-dated, behind-the-times kind of book. She rejects the idea that she needs to pray, because it doesn’t change anything anyway. She rejects the idea of wives submitting to their husbands, because in her view, submission reflects these old-time sexist notions that are built upon male-dominant power structures. She rejects the idea of teaching her children Biblical truth. Instead, thinking they need to find their own way. She’s developed a drinking problem. She’s become emotionally attached to a man she met at the gym. And she’s become increasingly sympathetic to the pro-abortion cause. On top of that, when her parents and her twin sister in Sioux Falls talk to this sister in Salina, about what it means to truly and faithfully follow Christ she clams up. If she doesn’t clam up, she becomes openly agitated, and she accuses them of being judgmental and unkind.

Now, if you were to take separate photos of those two sisters, standing in front of their respective houses and you were to lay those photos side by side, you would have a very hard time telling which is which. Not only that, if you were to ask either of the sisters where they think they will go when they die. Both would say, without hesitation, “heaven.” If you were to ask either sister, why they believe they are heaven-bound. Both would say “Jesus.” And if you were to ask either sister if they consider Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Both would say “yes.” But considering how both sisters live and considering the pattern and practice of their respective lives. And considering what God’s Word has to say on the matter. Only one of those sisters would be right.

Turn with me in your Bibles, please, to Luke 6. This morning, we’re going to be covering the final four verses of this chapter, as we wrap up our time in Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. This morning we’ll be in Luke 6, verses 46-49. These are the words of Jesus, breathed out by the Spirit through the pen of Luke which landed on the pages of Holy Scripture. God’s Word reads:

“Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who heard and did not do accordingly, is like a man who build a house on the ground without any foundation; and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.’”

One of the basic rules of Bible interpretation, is that we follow the action of any text of scripture, by tracing our way through the verbs, by tracking the verbs “he walked”, “they prayed”, “she knelt”. Verbs really drive the text, any text of scripture. They are the engine of the text, and we ought to pay very close attention to them. Another fundamental rule of Bible interpretation is that we are to take note of any repeated words. Words that show up again and again in any given text. That’s because when a word is used repeatedly by the human author of the text that is likely a point of emphasis that he wants to point us to and have us really drill in on.

Well, here in our text, in these four verses, we have both dynamics at play. We have these verbs, which are driving the narrative forward. And we also have one verb in particular, which is being repeatedly used by Luke in these four verses, and that verb is “do.”
Look at verse 46, Jesus was calling those on the Plain, who were listening to Him there, by saying, you “do not do what I say.”
Or verses 47-48, Jesus commends the one who: “. . . comes to Me and hears My words and does them.”
Verse 49, It’s back to the words of warning, as Jesus singles out “the one who heard and did not do accordingly.”
Do. Do. Do. That’s the focus of Jesus’ words in this passage. That those who would call themselves His followers, would actually follow Him. That they would actually do what He says. It’s no wonder that Jesus’ half-brother, James, when he wrote the letter that bears his name. The Book of James would say, in James 1:22, that we’re to be what?
“. . . doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

See, there are many today who would call themselves “Christians.” Who would identify themselves as “believers.” They might wear a cross around their neck. They might occasionally darken the door of a church which has a cross behind the guy doing the talking. But they are, to use the term that Jesus gives here – “delude[d].” They apply themselves to their jobs. They apply themselves to their studies. They apply themselves to their culturally acceptable form of idolatry, i.e. that of their children and their grandchildren. They apply themselves to their involvement in the realm of political engagement, civic involvement. They apply themselves to managing their money market accounts. But when it comes to the faith that they say they have in Jesus they aren’t “doers.” Because they aren’t “doers” . . . their faith is not merely flabby, it’s fake, it’s not real. They’ve deceived themselves. They are in a state of self-delusion.

Well, in this final section of His Sermon on the Plain. Jesus calls out this so-called form of “faith.” A faith that doesn’t “do.” A faith that doesn’t act. A faith that doesn’t have legs. A faith which isn’t faith at all. As we work through this, I have a three-point outline for you.
First, in verse 46, we’re going to see how Jesus calls out THE LOOSE-LIPPED FORM OF “LORDSHIP”
In verses 47-48, we’re going to look at THE FIRM FOUNDATION OF THE FAITHFUL.
Then, in verse 49, we’re going to look at THE DEVASTATING DEMISE OF THE DECEIVED
So, it’s: The Loose-Lipped Form of “Lordship”, The Firm Foundation of the Faithful, and then The Devastation Demise of the Deceived.

Let’s start with that first one: The Loose-Lipped Form of “Lordship”
Look at verse 46 again.
“Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Now, these words have a context. Jesus wasn’t talking to a wall when He said these words. He wasn’t screaming these words out in the air on a walk through the forest one day. No. When He said this, “. . . why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Recall that Jesus is surrounded there by this crowd on this Plain outside of Capernaum. As we’ve seen, this was this crowd that was made up of both true followers and fakes. It was a crowd who was made up of those who heard the word “blessed” are you, when He gave the Beatitudes. It was also this crowd of those who were “cursed”, that He pronounced woes of judgment upon. It was a crowd which, as we saw last week, was made up of both good trees and bad trees. He said, in verse 44, that each is “known by its own fruit.”

So now, as He wound down this Sermon, this Sermon on the Plain. Jesus brought it down to this level for anyone who would identify themselves as His follower. He brings it down to the very basic level of asking the question are you a doer? Or are you merely a hearer? A mere hearer? A mere spectator? A pretender? Do you have the real thing, true faith, or not? While the immediate context of these words was to that crowd, at that place, at that time, on that Plain. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that God saw fit to record and preserve the words of Jesus in this book, the Bible. So, all future generations of those who would call themselves followers of Jesus all who would identify themselves, down the centuries, as believers in Jesus, would have to contend with questions like these. Questions that we must ask ourselves. Like: “Is Jesus not merely the object of my profession, but is He my most valued possession?” “Is Jesus truly the treasure of my life?” “Do I truly seek with my life, to honor Him with everything I do?” Or, instead, is Jesus merely this sort of rear-view reality? “You know, I acknowledged Him as my Savior, such and such number of years ago.” “I got my ticket out hell.” “I showed some initial interest and excitement in learning certain Bible stories about Jesus.” “The manger, the feeding of the 5,000, the stilling of the storm, walking on water, casting out demons, the raising of Lazarus.” “The cross, the tomb and the resurrection.” “And that’s good enough for me.” “I’m more of a spiritual person than I am a religious person.” “I know in my spirit that Jesus and I are good, and I’m good with God. I don’t need any of your rules or requirements, thank you very much.”

Ok. Except, note the words of Jesus Himself, in verse 46:
“Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Now, most who would call themselves Christians. You know, even if they use that ridiculous “I’m not a religious person, I’m more of a spiritual person” kind of lingo. Most who confess Jesus, they will grant the first part of this verse. They will identify Jesus as Savior. That’s the easy part. That’s the spiritual eternal blessing part. Most will even be willing to say: “Jesus is Lord.” And they’ll be willing to do so, because rolling around in the back of their minds somewhere – is that Adventure Club or AWANA or VBS verse they memorized all those years ago in Romans 10:9, that “If you confess with your mouth [what] Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” But that begs the question, what does it mean to “confess Jesus as Lord?” Does it mean merely to make a verbal profession? Does it mean that so long as we get the words exactly right. “Here I am Lord, confessing that Thou are Lord Jesus.” “I’m confessing to you Lord Jesus, that You indeed are Lord.” That means that nothing else matters from that point on. That doesn’t even matter how you live from that point on; it doesn’t mean that. Does it mean that so long as we say those words, “I am hereby confessing with my mouth Jesus as Lord.” That it’s like the Christian’s equivalent of rubbing Aladdin’s lamp and getting your three wishes granted. You know, 1. Eternal Life, 2. A timeshare in Aruba, 3. A fifth wheel. Is that what it means? So long as you say those magic words, you get exactly what you want, no matter how you live from that point on. No way! If Jesus was communicating anything right here in this text in the Sermon on the Plain what He was communicating to those who were gathered around Him is that His followers not only say, but they also do. His followers not only talk, but they also walk. His followers not only profess, but they also practice.

Now, whenever we read words like these off the page, verse 46: “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” There is always that risk that we come across these words, and we read these words, and we don’t truly appreciate their meaning and their significance. We’re too busy thinking about what’s for lunch today. Or when will this guy stop talking, so I can go do what I want to do today? Or when will I be able to fit in all those errands this afternoon, because I’ve got a real busy week ahead? We will blow right past Jesus’ words here that He is Lord and we’ll take them for granted. We’ll take for granted that as Lord, Jesus expects unconditional surrender and submission by His followers. To those who would call themselves His disciples; those who follow after Him.

“Jesus is Lord.”

How much thought have you given to that reality? That Jesus is Lord. Let’s say in the last couple of days. Or over the last few weeks even? How much has your life been transformed by that reality that Jesus is Lord? In what ways is your marriage different today, than it was before you came to that reality, that Jesus is Lord? How has His Lordship impacted on the most important human relationship you have here on earth? How has the fact the Jesus is Lord, impacted the way that you pour into your children, or the way that you honor your parents? How much is the fact that Jesus is Lord, impacted how you interact with one another, as members of the same body of believers?

You know, as we consider Jesus’ words here in the Sermon on the Plain that He is Lord and because this is such an essential component of Christian identity. I think it’d be beneficial to us, to spend some time brushing up on what the Bible teaches about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There are a number of ways we could go about this. I’m just going to hit a few of the essential components of what the Bible teaches about the Lordship of Christ. Let’s start with this one:
Jesus is God – John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It’s referring to Jesus. He is God. This is a statement of His deity. Meaning, Jesus wasn’t merely a teacher, and He wasn’t only a Rabbi. He wasn’t merely a miracle-worker. He wasn’t merely a demon-exorciser. No. Jesus is God. He is divine. He is deity. He’s the eternal Son of God. Which explains why the once-doubting Thomas, when he put his hand into the side of the resurrected Jesus, said to Him in John 20:28, “My Lord and my God!”

Now, as God, here’s another truth Jesus is eternal. He’s not a created being. He is not one of a pantheon of gods. He preexisted all things. He preexisted creation. He is eternal. Going back to eternity past Jesus, the eternal Son of God existed in perfect Trinitarian fellowship with the other two persons of the Godhead God the Father and God the Spirit. So, He’s God and He’s eternal. He’s also our creator.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says: “God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Jesus created the world. We’re also told in Colossians 1:16, “For in Him [speaking of Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is the eternal Creator God of all.

Now, when He left glory. When He took on human form, in His incarnation. The event we celebrated a month or so ago, at Christmas. When He, in His humanity, was conceived by the Spirit in the womb of a young virgin girl named Mary. When He was born into this world. When He was laid in a feeding trough in this dusty little backwoods village of Bethlehem. Jesus never once surrendered His deity. He never once laid aside His “God-ness.” He never ceased being God. Rather, He always has been, even when He took on humanity. He always been truly and fully and perfectly God. It’s an important truth to hang on to. Even as we and especially as we work our way through Luke’s Gospel. Which is recording His life, in His humanity, in His ministry here on earth to never set aside the reality that, even in His humanity, He was yet fully and perfectly and truly God. What that means, is that Jesus has always had perfect power and total sovereignty over this planet and all of its inhabitants. That’s why He could turn water into wine. That’s why He could command the wind and the waves to obey Him. It’s why He could direct demons into a herd of swine. It’s why He could stop a woman’s flow of blood. It’s why He could raise Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus is sovereign over everything and everyone in His creation. You know, He directs the migratory patterns of the Sandhill cranes. He directs, you know, any tumbling avalanche in the Alps. Not only that, but He also directs every single detail of our lives. He wakes us up every morning. He gives us every single breath we breathe. He gives us every gulp, every swallow, every twitch of an eyebrow. He perfectly tunes every one of our tastebuds. He gives us thirst, and then He quenches it. He causes our eyelids to grow heavy at night, and then He, by His grace, gives us rest, and sleep. He’s sovereign over it all. I Corinthians 8:6 says, “we exist through Him.” Through Christ.

Well, connected to that Jesus also has authority over everything and everyone in the world in which He has placed us. Matthew 28:18, which leads into the great commission, he says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” How much authority? All authority. Meaning, Jesus has authority, He has rulership over the planets and stars. He has authority over every grain of sand, over every snowflake that falls from the sky. He has rulership, he has authority over atoms and molecules the earthly realm. The angelic realm the animal kingdom, the human kingdom, presidents and princes, homes, households, husbands, wives, parents, children, the Church, the world, believers, unbelievers. He has authority and rulership over it all. You know, the old saying used to be that “the sun never sets on the British empire.” The accurate statement, the eternal statement is that “The sun never sets over all over which Jesus has authority.” He reigns over He has dominion over He has authority over all. Yes, His kingdom is still coming it is future, His millennial kingdom on earth but He sits on the throne of the universe right now. Philippians 2:8 says, Jesus was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” We read that this morning. Now “God [has] highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Because of those truths that Jesus is God, that Jesus is eternal, that Jesus is our Creator, that Jesus is sovereign, that Jesus has all authority, that Jesus has total dominion and rulership, that He has the name above all names. We can say – and we ought to say, heartily – that “Jesus is Lord.” Our Lord. Lord of all. Lord of all creation. As Lord, He expects His subjects, His slaves, to follow Him to “do” to be busy about His work.

Turn with me over a few pages to Luke 19:11 if you would. We’ll pick it, Jesus is telling of the Parable of the Ten Minas. Luke 19:11 says:
“Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. So, He said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return.’” The “nobleman” here, is referring to Jesus. He’s referring to Himself here.

Verse 13: “And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’”
Note that it’s not “sit on your hands until I come back.” Or “let everyone know that you know me.” Or “just make sure that you vocalize to everybody who’s within a certain radius of you, that you are My salve.”
No, it’s “engage in [my] business until I come back.” “Be busy about my work.” “Do.”

Verse 14: “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ It happened that when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know how much they had made in business.” In other words, when He returned from that foreign land, he wanted to know how much “doing” they had been doing.

Verse 16: “So the first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more’ and he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ Then the second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’” So, decreasing rewards for a decreasing amount of “doing.”

Verse 20: “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a cloth; for I was afraid of you, because you are a strict man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’” In other words, this slave didn’t do anything and look at the nobleman’s reaction to this third slave.

Verse 22: “He said to him, ‘From your own mouth I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am a strict man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ They said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’”

Verses 26-27: “I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.’” Jesus came offering salvation, yes. But to those who call Him Savior He also demands that they submit to His Lordship. He demands that they not be distracted by the shiny offerings of the world but instead, that they be busy about His work. That they “do.” They call on Him as Savior. They call on Him as Lord. They “confess with [their] mouth [Romans 10:9] that He is Lord.” And now they “do.” Look back at our text, Luke 6:46 – “Now why do you call Me, “Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Now, there are a couple of traps that a person could potentially fall into reading these words and seeking to apply them. I want to help everyone here to avoid falling into one of those traps.

One of those traps is that some might read these words, in verse 46, and unwittingly and wrongly believe that what Jesus was preaching here was some form of works-based righteousness. Some might read these words and think, as long as I do a certain number of good things, or good deeds that will ultimately please Jesus. He’ll grant me eternal life and then He’ll one day grant me entrance into His eternal kingdom.

That’s not what Jesus was saying here in verse 46. He regularly preached against works-based righteousness. I mean, in His interactions with the Pharisees, the very bread-and-butter of His back and forth with them, was preaching against works-based righteousness. The Pharisees thought they could earn something through their goodness, their actions, their keeping of not just the law, but that fence around the law. Jesus’ whole message to that group of individuals, those lost individuals, is that it is completely wrong. You certainly cannot work you way into the family of God. I’m always reminded of that George Witfield quote, where he speaks of works-based righteousness. He says, “Works, works, I might as well try to climb to the moon on a rope of sand.” It just doesn’t work that way. No. A good standing before God salvation before God always has been predicated upon belief.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. In fact, Jesus would have an encounter with a Pharisee named Nicodemus in John 3 and give some of the most famous words recorded in the scripture. Which defeats the whole notion of works-righteousness, or self-righteousness. John 3:16, He would say this to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever [would what?] believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Later Biblical authors would go on to say the same thing. Paul, in Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast.” Or in Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
The common thread in each of those passages, John 3:16, Ephesians 2, Titus 3, and other texts like them. Is that salvation is exclusively of the Lord. God is the One who saves and faith in His Son is the means by which He brings about our salvation. No one has ever “done” enough. No one could ever “do” enough to gain entrance into the family of God. Rather, it has all been done for us on the cross. It is only through faith in what Jesus has already done for us, on the cross, that sinners like you and me can be saved. So, note that. When Jesus here, in Luke 6:46, was asking this crowd: “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” He wasn’t preaching a message of works righteousness. He wasn’t saying “do more, and you’ll be saved.” Instead, He was saying “Since you claim to follow Me” “your practice ought to match your profession” “your walk needs to match your talk.”

Now, I mentioned there were a couple of traps that a person can fall into in encountering this verse 46. One is that of works righteousness. The other trap is this: Which is to assume that what Jesus was calling for, was mere busywork in His name. Mere busy work as opposed to total surrender of one’s life to His Lordship. Here is what I mean by that. Some of you are going to read this passage and hopefully, after I say what I say, you won’t go down this path in your thinking. But you’d read this passage, and you’re going to think that the major takeaway from Luke 6:46, is that you need to be in the church building whenever the doors are open. That you need to add five minutes to your Bible reading time and that’s what Jesus is talking about here. If you commit a certain number of service hours. Commit a certain number of hours or minutes in praying and Bible reading. That’s what he’s talking about.

Frankly, that would be an incredibly short-sighted takeaway from what Jesus was actually saying in this text. Be praying. By all means, put that nose in the word and glean what God has given us. By all means, serve the Church body that God has placed you in. But make no mistake, what Jesus was demanding here when He asked that question, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” What He was demanding here was something far greater. Jesus isn’t asking for a few more volunteer hours from any one of us. He’s not asking you to ratchet up Bible reading from 15 minutes to 20 minutes per week, or per day, and that’s good.

No. What Jesus demands is full-orbed surrender of every single corner and pocket of our lives to Him. Because He is Lord and creator God, and sovereign Ruler, and Master. Because He is all those things. Because He is the ruler and master and sovereign over our lives. He expects, He demands, and He deserves our obedience and our submission to Him in every aspect, every area of our lives.

Yes, we do good works in His name in light of what He has done for us.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, [God’s workmanship] created in Christ Jesus for good works.” The whole second chapter of the Book of James, is about that relationship between faith and how it produces works. James says, in James 2:18, “I will show you my faith by my works.” But while the Lordship of Christ necessarily will lead to good works, it goes even deeper than that. It goes down to the level of His followers having repentant hearts, which have surrendered their will entirely to His. It goes down to the level of His followers having been made completely new in Him.
II Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.’ In other words, for those of us who would call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ. We are under completely new ownership. We are under new management. We’re totally under the yoke and the Lordship of a new “Master”, a new Lord. We are full-time “on duty” for Jesus. Not only when we’re in a church setting, like we are this morning. Not only when we’re feeling extra spiritual. You know, like around Christmas or at Easter. We serve the Lord with all of our life and that’s because Christ, Colossians 3:4, is “our life.” And since He’s “our life” going from the greater principle to the lesser, it makes all the sense in the world that we would heed His commands and take up our cross and put our hand to the plow and march forward faithfully, in obedience to Him.

So, let me ask you, Is Jesus Christ your Savior? Is Jesus Christ your Lord? Is Jesus Christ your life? If He is, it’s going to show. Your life is going to prove it. John 10:27, Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” When you do, people around you are going to notice it. As you take the commands that the Lord has given you, in His word and as you live them out as you “do”, as you’re called to “do”, it will be noticed. The key takeaway then, from Jesus’ words here in verse 46. Is that merely saying “Lord, Lord.” is not enough. True followers of Christ don’t merely say. They don’t bank eternity on a prayer they prayed X-number of years ago. Their hope is not built on once having mouthed the words “Lord, Lord.” No, they do. They don’t pay mere lip service to Christ’s Lordship. Rather, their entire life reflects the reality that Jesus is Lord. That was The Loose-Lipped Form of “Lordship.” That was our first point. In verse 46 there, Jesus was confronting those who heard His words even acknowledged something about Him with their own words, but they weren’t “doers” of His word.

Our second point is this: The Firm Foundation of the Faithful
Look at verse 47 and 48,
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” You know, as Jesus would often do in His teaching. Here in His Sermon on the Plain, after He delivered the main idea, in verse 46, that central proposition about the perils of empty profession and not having that “loose-lipped form of Lordship.” Jesus now gives these twin illustrations one positive, and one negative. Of what it means not only to profess allegiance to Him. But to demonstrate allegiance to Him. Note the picture He painted, of these two men, building these two separate houses on two different surfaces.

Now, let’s take an illustration that I gave at the start of the sermon this morning and let’s modify it ever so slightly. You know, in the beginning, we were talking about the twin sisters. Now let’s focus on their husbands. Let’s say that instead of buying pre-existing houses in Sioux Falls and Salina, these husbands instead purchase lots in those two towns. Then, use the same architectural drawings, and the same floorplans, and the same materials. They each built the same house from the ground up. The only difference being though, is the two men built their houses on much different surfaces. The one man, the man who built his house in Sioux Falls, he did so only after a proper foundation had been laid. Only after consulting with a qualified local structural engineer. The other man, the man who built his house in Salina, he cut some corners. He figured he’d save some money by not laying a foundation at all. Instead, just starting to build right on that plot of dirt. Again, there are two houses that end up looking largely identical. Remember, they’re painted white, with blue shutters, with the red door, with the three concrete steps leading up to the enclosed porch. They’ve got the oak tree, the tire swing. But the houses rest on much different foundations. One sits on that solid rock-like foundation. While the other sits on loose gravel and dirt. In time, only one of those houses will be left standing.

Take a look at verse 47, and we’ll unpack this a bit. Jesus said, “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them.” Then He says, “I will show you whom he is like.” Now, before we go there and get further into that illustration of this house built on the rock. Let’s consider the context. You know, as Jesus addressed His immediate audience, there on the Plain. This statement here is referring to the commands He had given in this very sermon, this same sermon. We’ve been covering it for a few weeks, but this would have been delivered in one setting, in one event on the Plain. If fact, take a look up the page at verse 27. When Jesus was speaking of hearing His words and doing them. He’s referring to words like these, verse 27:
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who disparage you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your garment, do not withhold your tunic from his either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. And treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” It’s a little bit more than serving in the nursery and reading you Bible for 5 more minutes. Right? Verse 35, here are more of His commands, He says:
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you.” Again, that’s heart-level stuff. Not just being busy for the sake of Jesus. Or, last week, we looked at verse 42, toward the end there where He says:
“. . . first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Heart-level issues. Heart surgery. Go back to verse 47, when Jesus says what He said here in our text, about “everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them.” Again, He’s referring to those specific commands He gave earlier in the sermon, the ones we just read.

But note, those aren’t the only commands that Jesus would go on to give His followers. We have four different Gospel accounts, and the Gospel accounts are strewn with different commands Jesus would give to those who were around Him in His day. He commanded His followers to abide in Him.
John 15:4-5, To abide in Him.
Matthew 10:16, He commanded His followers to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves
Matthew 5:12, He told them to rejoice when they are persecuted.
Matthew 5:16, To let their light shine.
Matthew 5:28-30, To flee the sin of lust.
Matthew 6:19-20, To store up treasures in heaven.
Matthew 7:7-8, To ask, seek, knock.
Matthew 9:37-38, To pray for gospel laborers.
Luke 12:4-5, To not fear man.
Luke 9:23, To deny themselves.
Matthew 15:4, To honor parents.
Matthew 18:21-22, To forgive offenders.
Matthew 19:6, To honor marriage.
John 15:7, To pray in faith.
Matthew 22:19-21, To render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.
Matthew 22:37-38, To love the Lord.
Matthew 22:39, To love neighbor.
Matthew 28:19-20, And to make disciples.

That’s only a few of them. There are dozens more. Dozens of additional commands that the Lord gave to His followers during His earthly ministry.
Now, we also know the point in history in which we sit today. That Jesus would then go on to commission a group of Apostles to carry forth His message. We know that His Apostles did in fact carry forth His message into the Church age. They did so through the various New Testament writings that we have in our Bibles. In Romans, let’s say. Or James let’s say. Or in I Peter.

Now, we don’t have time, of course, to get into every single one of them with 15 minutes left. But it’s important to mention that Jesus had all these direct statements of command in the Gospels. Then there are all the words of the Apostles of the New Testament authors, in the New Testament Letters. When you put all of those commands together, whether the Gospel commands of Jesus. Or the commands of the Apostles whom He commissioned in His New Testament Letters. There are over 1,000 commands given to the follower of Christ in the New Testament. Jesus Himself would say, in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.”
He would also say in Luke 11:28, “. . . blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Then there’s our text, Luke 6:47, blessed is “everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them.”

Blessed are those who search the scriptures to see what they have to say about one’s relationship with God. About one’s relationship with their spouse. About one’s relationship with their children. About one’s relationship with their overseers. About one’s relationship with the civil authorities, the governmental authorities that God has placed over them.
Blessed is the one who digs through and mines the truth of scriptures, and not only locates the correct principle, but is committed to applying that principle to their life. Blessed is the man who not only knows that he is to live with his wife in an understanding way, I Peter 3:7 but is committed to actively doing so. Blessed is the one who not only knows that he is to obey his leaders and submit to them, Hebrews 13:17 but actively strives, with the Spirit’s help, to do so.

For that one, the blessed one. Look now at Luke 6:48, as we pick up the words of Jesus here:
“He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock.” He is like the one who built the house in Sioux Falls. The one who put in the time and the work. The one who consulted the structural engineer. The one who did the tests on the soil, to make sure that the house was not only well built but structurally sound. For that one, end of verse 48, “when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” So, trials came and worrisome diagnoses came and life came. Sometimes at a faster pace than at other times. Like a raging river which had spilled outside of its swollen riverbanks. But that house withstood the storm.

The spiritual point here, of course, is that the faith of such a person, real faith, true faith, the faith of the one who not only professes, but the faith of the one who “does.” That faith is going to withstand the stormy trials of life. They will endure. They will persevere. They will be proven steadfast and faithful in the end. Because their life is truly built upon Christ.

As we turn to verse 49, Jesus closed this part of the sermon. And He actually winds down the whole Sermon on the Plain with a negative example. If You’re taking notes, here’s our third point:

The Devastating Demise of the Deceived
Verse 49,
“But the one who heard and did not do accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” Now we’re back to that picture of the man who built that house in Salina, Kansas. The house which, from the outside, looked identical to the other house up in Sioux Falls. But because he wanted to rush it. Because he wanted to save time. Because he wanted to cut corners. And ultimately, because he thought he knew better. He built the house without a foundation and the result was disastrous. It was disastrous when the Smoky Hill River, which runs through Salina, yes, I looked it up, spilled over in the middle of a torrential spring rainstorm. This man experienced not only damage to his house, and flooding to his house. But utter destruction of his house as it was swept away.

It’s a sad and fitting picture of one’s so-called faith having no foundation. It’s a terrifying indictment of the one who goes so far as to acknowledge Jesus as Savior, and yes, even Lord, maybe even addressing Him, emphatically, as “Lord, Lord.” But then he doesn’t do what he says. He doesn’t act as though Jesus is Lord. He doesn’t live his life as though its actually under the Lordship of Christ. What he’s going to find out one day, if that’s how he continues to live, is that the faith that he thought he had, the faith that he said he had, the faith he told others that he had. It wasn’t true faith. It wasn’t abiding faith. It wasn’t saving faith. And what he’s going to face is a fate that’s far more terrifying than having one’s house swept away by a river.
Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew 7:21-23, this is the Sermon on the Mount. I’ll say it for the last time. I think this is a distinct sermon from the Sermon on the Plain. But the principle holds. Matthew 7:21-23,
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” There are those words again, Lord, Lord. “But he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, [there are those words again] in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Not all that glitters is gold and not all that calls itself “faith” is truly faith. Not all who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ truly are. Not all those who acknowledge Him or are even identify Him, or call Him “Lord”, will one day inherit the kingdom of God. That’s what this is saying. Rather, there will be those who, because they were all “talk” and no “walk” because their profession was completely hollow and empty. Will have the gates of heaven, as it were, slammed in their face. As the One that they thought they knew says to them, “depart from me, I never knew you.”

Geoffrey O’Hara, who wrote several hymns in the early 1900’s, he wrote these words, in reference to this verse, our verse, Luke 6:49. They are written from the perspective of Jesus. He takes some liberty here, as he considers what Jesus is thinking about what to do to those whose professions end up being hollow and fake.
“Ye call me ‘the way,’ and walk me not.
Ye call me ‘the life,’ and live me not.
Ye call me ‘Master,’ and obey me not.
Ye call me ‘Bread,’ and eat me not.
Ye call me ‘Truth,’ and believe me not.
Ye call me ‘Lord,’ and serve me not.
If I condemn thee, blame me not.”

The text that we’ve been in this morning, Luke 6:46-49, is a heavy one and it’s a frightening one. It’s one that forces us to ask questions of ourselves do I have this loose-lipped form of “Lordship?” Do I have the firm foundation of faith? Do I face that devasting demise of the deceived?
It is one which really reminds us of how foolish it is truly foolish it is to pretend to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I mean, think about that for a moment in the context in which we sit in the days in which we live. Where being or even saying that you’re a follower of Christ gains you nothing in the world. It actually knocks you down a few pegs, socially. It drives down your social equity score. It’s a lose-lose proposition to be a fake. You literally have nothing to gain. You’re not going to gain applause from the world for saying you’re a Christian. Yet, you have everything in eternity to lose if you’re not being real.

So, before you leave here today having heard the words of the eternal, sovereign Christ, off the pages of His Word this morning. Make sure you’re right with the Lord.
II Corinthians 13:5 says, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?”
Make sure you pass the test. Make sure that you haven’t merely vocalized the right words and prayed the right prayer and used the right formulation of “Lord and Lord.” But make sure your lifelines up with that profession. Make sure you’re not a hearer but a faithful doer.

Let’s Pray.
Father, we thank You for this chance this morning, to work our way through a challenging text, a heavy text, but one that You gave us to contend with, and to wrestle with. God, we thank You for the clarity and the conviction that Your Word brings. We thank You for the clarity and conviction Jesus brought, out there on the Plain. And that we can now read these words and wrestle with these words and measure our lives against the Word and know where we stand. Father, I pray for those of us who have been sealed with the Spirit who can confidently state, based on the finished work of Christ, and the pattern of obedience to Him. I thank You, Lord, that we can have confidence assurance. At the same time, God, assurance is not meant for those who are not of You. Assurance is not meant for those who are deceived. Instead, I pray that through the power of Your Spirit, through the preached Word, Your Word, that You’d bring conviction to bear on those hearts. That there would be those here who would be very honest about where they stand before You. Not because it’s a matter of pride anymore, but really a matter of humbling themselves before You, and making sure they are right before You. So that when their eyes close in death, they will be with You, in Your glory, in Your presence. Father, thank You for the truth of Your Word. Thank You for Your character, Your timeless faithful character. Thank You for Your Son’s sacrifice on our behalf. May we honor Him with our lives this week. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen