Build Your House On the Rock - Pastor Jonathan Haley- 9.8.24

MAIN IDEA: The true followers of Christ build their house on the Rock of His word and live lives that produce good works out of the overflow of a heart that comes to Jesus, listen to his words, and then does them.

TEXT

Luke 6:46–49 ESV

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Context/Intro

These verses come at the end of a sermon given by Jesus in chapter 6 of Luke.

If you go back and read the whole sermon, you will see that there are many similarities to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount that is recorded in the book of Matthew 5-7.

Both sermons begin with beatitudes and end with this parable of the two builders.

Matthew’s account is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount and Luke’s is often referred to the Sermon on the Plain because it says he came down and stood on a level place.

While Luke’s version is shorter than Matthew’s, he does reference many of the sections of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew throughout his gospel.

That being said there is debate as to whether or not these are the same sermon or different sermons where Jesus uses some of the same material.

It does not matter for our purposes if this is the same sermon or not but what does matter is that we understand the context of what is going on.

Luke tells us, just like in Matthew’s account, Jesus had gone up a mountain to pray. But then we read this in verses 17-19.

Luke 6:17–19 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

To put this into context we must understand just how driven these people were to see and hear Jesus.

Jesus’ ministry was in full swing. Luke says this a chapter earlier.

Luke 5:15 ESV

15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.

Crowds were flocking to see Jesus. These were people full of hunger for the truth and wanting to be healed of their sicknesses.

We do not know how many people were there but we know of other instances from the Bible such as the feeding of five thousand people with a few fish and a little bit of bread, so it is not out of the question to assume that this was a large crowd.

The other fact that makes this event so astonishing is that the Bible says “they came from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.”

We don’t often think about this much as we read our Bibles but when you come across a passage like this, where people are traveling somewhere, you have to remember that they did not have cars, or railroads or airplanes. This is quite astounding to think about because this includes a territorial range of well over 110 miles

They had their feet or maybe an animal to ride.

The distance from Jerusalem to where Jesus was speaking here was roughly 80 or so miles as the bird flies.

No air conditioning. No Sheetz gas stations. Just a long dusty road.

These people were in so much need.

There is desperation in this moment. Life was hard for these people.

There was certainly a mix of people from varying socio-economic standings but Luke seems to indicate that the majority of these people were poor, sick, and disturbed people seeking relief from this life.

Imagine the pandemonium there must have been while people were being healed just by touching him.

We must also be aware that not everyone who was there to see Jesus was a disciple of his.

Earlier in Luke 6 we begin to see his interactions with the priests and the tensions that begin to form because they believe he is a blasphemous teacher for making himself equal with God.

In the beginning of Chapter 6 we read this in verse 7.

Luke 6:7 ESV

7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him.

As we think about these people who are listening to Jesus we must realize that there are two groups of people just like there is in all of life.

We just read in verse 17 that there was a crowd of His disciples AND a multitude.

There were people who followed Jesus and people who were maybe coming for the first time to see what all the buzz was about.

As Jesus is preaching, he is well aware of those who are his true followers and those who are just seeking for a healing. He is well aware of the pain, hardships, and heavy burdens the Romans and the Pharisees had put on these people.

So imagine you are one of these desperate people in the crowd or a Jewish ruler who is one of the elite and Jesus’ first words are the beatitudes that you see in verses 20-26.

Jesus juxtaposes two people groups in verses 20-26 where he gives 4 blessings and then 4 woes.

Vs. 20 and Vs. 24 - Those who are poor receive the kingdom of God is juxtaposed against those who are rich and have found their reward in their material wealth.

Vs 21 and Vs 25- Those who are hungry will be satisfied versus those who are full now will be hungry.

Vs 21 and Vs 25 - Those who weep now will laugh and those who laugh now will weep.

Vs 22 and Vs. 26- Those who are hated on account of Jesus’ name versus those others speak well of.

Jesus is teaching us that in this world there are only two people groups. His true followers and those who are not true followers.

He is also teaching that in His kingdom, everything is the exact opposite of the way the world works.

He goes on in this chapter and then talks about loving your enemies, doing good to those who hate you and blessing those who curse you.

Jesus calls them to show mercy to each other and even be “kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

He teaches them that before they can help others see, they first need to remove the log that is in their own eye.

Then He speaks of how good fruit comes from a good tree and bad fruit from a bad tree.

By the time we come to our text Jesus has laid all this ground work about specific ways we must approach life and things that we must do and not do.

At this point in His sermon, it is easy for us to hear these words of Jesus and look at His teaching as a checklist of does and don’ts.

But that is far from what Jesus is doing because we are blessed to have the whole Bible.

We know that we are not saved by works but by grace.

It is obvious we could not do the things that he tells us to do without help from the Holy Spirit.

There is something more going on here.

We shall see it is all about true relationship with Jesus and abiding in Him.

The Blueprint for Building a Strong House - Doing Vs. Bearing ( Exposition)

Jesus closes his sermon with the parable of the two builders solidifying there are ultimately only two groups of people in this life.

He speaks of a builder who builds a strong house by first laying a foundation on the rock. And then He compares that person to one who builds a weak house by skipping the foundation.

Today we are going to discover the blueprints for the strong house and the weak house.

What does the House Represent?

We should first define what the house represents in this parable that Jesus is giving.

Jesus personifies a man’s likeness with this parable. One who hears His words and does them “is like a man building a house on a strong foundation”.

Since he is metaphorically comparing a person to the process of building a house, the house must represent the whole life of a man or woman.

It is the makeup of our heart, soul, and mind. It is the outward actions and inward emotions and thoughts that make up our self.

The house is symbolic and representative of our entire life in this world.

As we live this life, everyone one of us is building a house whether we are aware of it or not.

Every moment of our life is a process of building. Every action. Every thought. Every word we speak. Every reaction and interaction is but another hammer hitting a nail in the house of our life.

There is ultimately only two builders to consider.

You are either building your house on a strong foundation or with no foundation.

What is the Blueprint for a strong house

The Foundation

So what constitutes a strong house? What is the blueprint for building a strong house?

Jesus shows us that the most important aspect of a strong house is the foundation upon which it is built.

Some of you are builders and may relate to this better than others but the foundation is the most important part of building a house.

I used to work construction with an uncle years ago, back when I could swing a hammer for longer than 10 minutes without getting tendonitis…..I was always fascinated by the detail and careful attention he gave to the foundation making sure it was square and solid.

And then when he went to attach the first boards to frame the house he would spend so much time measuring and making sure everything was square.

If you are a builder, you will understand that this is so important for two reasons.

First, if the foundation is not laid correctly it will settle over time and if done poorly, cracks will develop and lead to a weaker foundation, and in some cases, failure of the foundation, causing massive damage to a house.

Secondly, if you start building your house on a foundation that is not square, the higher up you go as you build, the more difficult and out of square the house becomes.

So the most important part of the symbolic house in each of our lives is the foundation that we are building our life upon.

If you pay attention to the order of Jesus’ analogy, it makes so much sense because you will notice that though our whole life is a process of building a house, it is the foundation that comes first.

He says the man digs deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

In this picture of a strong house, I believe the rock that we build our foundation upon represents God’s word.

It is the truth that does not shift. It remains pure, constant, and dependable. The word of God never changes.

Notice the emphasis Jesus gives in this whole passage about His words.

The whole point of these two builders is to show what their life is like when they hear his words and do them or don’t do them.

The one who hears them but does not obey them is skipping the foundation process. They are setting their life up for failure and destruction and even headed to hell because they thought they could build a house without the Word of God.

They are deceived because they think that their good works, or being a nice person is their foundation.

They think that calling Jesus Lord and coming to church is enough. They sit in church and listen to the words of God with a nominal, and lukewarm heart that has no awe or reverence for the word of God.

They are building their house on sand which represents the exact opposite of God’s word.

Instead, they are building their house on their own words thinking that their own truth and earthly wisdom will help them stand the test of time.

But the Rock, God’s word, is the only thing that will make your house stand.

So the integral part of the blueprint for the a strong house is to build your foundation on the Rock of God’s word.

But the process of building is one of steps.

What are the steps? What are the things we do in order to follow the blueprint?

How do we dig down and lay a foundation on the Rock?

Jesus gives us three steps that reveal this process for us in verse 47.

Luke 6:47 (ESV)

47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

We must first come to Jesus, Then listen to his words and then do them.

These are the three simple steps that represent the continuing lifelong process for building our house.

I like how the James Edwards from the Pillar Commentary shows us that these 3 steps represent the whole person.

He says this,

The Gospel according to Luke Ethics within the Family of Faith (6:37–49)

These three qualities lay the foundation for genuine discipleship. They lay claim to the whole person, the relational, the verbal, and the behavioral—and in that order.

Coming to Jesus is the relational aspect because we have a relationship with Him. We come to Jesus and seek him every day.

Listening to His words is the verbal aspect. The communication aspect. He talks to us and we listen.

Doing His words is the behavioral aspect of our life. It is what we do. We listen to his words and live them out.

These three aspects of our walk with Jesus go together and one can’t be left out just like you can’t leave out two walls and then build the roof.

The Steps -

Let’s briefly look at these steps.

Coming to Jesus - Relationship

Jesus shows us in this passage that a strong house is first built on relationship with him.

Intimacy and relationship is implied in verse 46 by Jesus when he says, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord.”

R.C. Sproul comments on this by saying,

A Walk with God: Luke Build Your House on the Rock (Luke 6:46–49)

The repetition of the address, ‘Lord, Lord,’ is a Hebrew method of communicating intimacy.

By saying this, Jesus is implying that people are claiming to have an intimate relationship with him.

To prove this further you can see in Matthew’s version we read this right before the parable of the two builders.

Matthew 7:21 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Then what does Jesus say to those who did not do His will?

Matthew 7:23 ESV

23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Coming to Him is first , but Jesus is showing us that to truly be able to call him “Lord, Lord” is to imply that we must have an intimate and real relationship with Him.

Calling Him Lord is not enough.

Even the demonic man called Jesus the Son of of the most high God before the demons were cast out of him. Luke 8:28.

Professing His name is not enough.

We must go to the next step and listen to His words.

Listening to His Words - Verbal

God gave us language because that is how he has chosen to communicate his truth to us.

But it is not the kind of listening as we might listen to birds or music.

It is not just hearing for purpose of transferring information and head knowledge.

When Jesus is saying to hear his words he is actually implying to obey them as well.

Understanding a little bit about what is going on here in the Greek can be very helpful.

Let’s first consider the word “Hear.”

Luke 6:47 ESV

47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

Quoting R.C Sproul one more time- “ Jesus wants people who not only hear him, but who obey him. Interestingly, in the New Testament, the verb ‘to obey’ comes from the same Greek root as the word ‘to hear’. Akouein means ‘to hear’, and put a prefix on it: hyperkouein, and it means ‘to obey’. And so, literally, ‘to obey’ means hyper-hearing, or really hearing. Jesus does not want people just to hear his voice, he wants them to do the things that they hear”

Sproul, R. C. 1999. A Walk with God: An Exposition of Luke. Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.

When Jesus says “hears my words and does them” He is connecting the dots between hearing and obeying.

And we obey by doing but we can’t obey without first knowing what to do……. so we must listen.

But obeying can sound so legalistic and make us feel like following Jesus is a chore list.

Of course we know that we do not earn salvation through works but again diving into the Greek there is some deep theology that we can take to heart.

Doing His Words - Behavioral

The word Jesus uses for “does” and “do” means “to do” but it can also mean to “make” or “produce.”

Within the context of this Sermon Jesus uses the exact same word for “does” and “bear” in Luke 6:43

Luke 6:43 (ESV)

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,

What does all this mean?

It means that when we look at these things as a checklist of to-do items we cannot produce or make them happen in our life without first abiding in Jesus.

Jesus says this in John 15:5.

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Sincere works and obedience can only be a result of abiding with Jesus.

This is why Jesus precedes this parable with the picture of a tree producing good fruit.

If you are a disciple of Jesus you can’t help but produce good fruit.

It means that the true disciples of Jesus don’t “do” fruit, they “produce” or “bring forth” fruit.

Each tree is known by its fruit.

Just thinking that we know Jesus is not enough. Thoughts can be deceiving. It is the fruit of your life that proves you know Him.

If Jesus is really the lord of our, life we will do what he says.

John says this in I John 2:3.

1 John 2:3 ESV

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

The proof is in the pudding as they say.

Obedience to Jesus’ words is the sign of true relationship with Him. It is the metaphorical cement the holds the bricks of our house together.

So the steps for a strong house are come to Jesus, really hear his words, and do them or rather produce them.

The Blueprint for a Weak House

The blueprint for a weak house is the exact opposite.

The builder of a weak house skips the hard work of digging down to the rock and is only interested in taking the easy way out. This builder is only interested in short term, and in this case, life on this earth.

If you have ever been on a job site for a new house being constructed, you will understand that the messiest and most destructive part is getting the foundation ready.

The diggers rip the earth apart and have to go deep. Sometimes rocks have to be broken up. Roots are removed.

In the context of Jesus’ day, before bulldozers and backhoes, this all had to be done by hand.

Leigh and I recently put in a patio by hand in our back yard. And we only had to go down 3 inches into the earth and I tell you what, digging by hand is like the hardest thing you can do in this life.

This is why it is easy for people to not want to dig down to the rock when they build the house of their life.

It is hard. It is destructive. It is intrusive to our human sinful hearts, because it reveals all the dirt that we have. We have hearts of stone that must be broken to build a foundation on the rock of God’s word.

But those who don’t want to obey Jesus skip the foundation all together.

They are not willing to let Jesus dig down through the muck and mire of their sin.

The result is a house that has no foundation.

If the foundation is not there, the house is doomed for destruction. The ruin of the house will be great and beyond repair.

Building a house without a foundation is trying to build on your own truth.

Matthews version says “sand” while Lukes version says “ground” but they represent the same result; no foundation means destruction will come.

We just got back from the beach about a week ago and I knew I was going to be preaching on this passage and I thought about this a lot as every shoe I put on, every article of clothing, and even my bed all had sand in them.

The kids wanted to build sand castles and the first thing you do is find a spot to set up but you need sand mixed with water to help form shapes. Dry sand just crumbles.

So you build your castle and everyone takes pictures and all is good. But then the tide comes in and what happens? All your hard work is undone in a moment.

I even thought of this as I stood on the beach. When the waves came into shore and went passed my feet the water would pull sand out with it and I noticed that my feet would move around because even the sand underneath them was shifting.

Without the truth of God’s word we are on shifting sand.

We live in a world where people don’t care to know what the truth is. They only consider truth to be what they want it to be and it is usually dictated by feelings.

And we all know how reliable feelings can be!

A house that is built on anything other than the word of God will not last and is constantly shifting. These builders are changing their mind constantly, struggling with doubts and fears. Everything they do seems to work in the moment but then it comes crashing down.

Without being attached to the rock your house will simply be a bunch of sticks and stones that represent you trying to do it on your own, and it will come tumbling down someday.

How Is Your House Building Coming Along (Application)

How is your house building coming? How do we produce fruit and build on the foundation of His word?

We come back to the main steps.

Come to Him - Repent of sins and ask for forgiveness. Ask him to be Lord of your life in all areas. He is the best excavator. We are to come to Him daily. We don’t just come one time and then forget about him. We seek him and desire to be in His presence daily.

Listen to His word - ( Read the Bible, study the Bible, Go to church, listen to sermons and great teachers)

We are so blessed because all of this is at our fingertips on our phones. We don’t have to walk 100 miles to hear Jesus speak. He is speaking at this moment and every moment of your life, through His words which are found in the most amazing gift the Bible.

Do the words that he says - If you have truly repented and come to him humbly, and you listen to His words you can’t help but produce fruit.

You cannot do this on your own. No matter how hard you try.

You must abide in Jesus every day.

In my life, I have always noticed when it feels hard doing his words, I am usually not doing the first two steps.

Perhaps, I am not praying and spending time with him every day or I have not been reading His word on a consistent basis.

When we stop doing the first two steps the building project comes to a halt.

Are you building on the foundation of His words?

Are you immersed in the Bible and reading His words? Are you putting them into action? You can’t put them into action if you don’t know what they are!

Are you coming to Him and praying every day?

When we think about doing His words, it easy for us to envision doing things like serving in homeless shelters, going out and evangelizing in the streets, or trying to serve more in church.

We picture missionaries in the jungles, doctors working in 3rd world countries, or working in orphanages.

We have this romanticized view of doing grand things.

The danger of this thought process is that we forget to look close to our own home. Our real tangible and close relationships with our spouses and our children.

How can you go love the world when you don’t love our spouse?

How can you go serve a world when you don’t serve and sacrifice for our spouse?

How can you go disciple a world when you can’t disciple your own children?

Are you only building your house on Sunday mornings or are you building all week long ?

Are you building your foundation on God’s word?

Are you building your supporting walls and roof upon the truth that does not shift?

One thing is for certain - floods will come.

You can’t know when floods will happen but you can be ready.

Loss of job, sickness, and even death.

If you are not living on Christ’s words, the floods will come someday and your house will be destroyed forever.

You only have one house to build in this life.

But if your foundation and house is built on the word of God your house will stand and you will dwell in eternity with Jesus where you will be blessed to come to him, hear His words, live them out, and see them fulfilled. It is then you can truly call him “Lord, Lord.”