Stories from Above: The House on the Rock | Luke 6:46-49

“Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” That question from Luke 6 is uncomfortable on purpose, and we sit with it all the way to the end. We talk about the gap that can open up between religious words and real discipleship, and why Jesus refuses to let us settle for a faith that only looks right on the outside.

From the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Luke 6:46-49), we trace what it actually means to build a spiritual foundation on the rock. We’re not talking about earning salvation through effort. We’re talking about the evidence of salvation: a growing desire to obey Jesus, shaped by the Holy Spirit through sanctification. We connect the warning to everyday life, where hearing God’s Word is easy, but doing it is the hard, life-forming work that prepares us for pressure, suffering, and the storms that eventually come for everyone.

We also lean into the idea that the most important parts of the Christian life are often unseen. Like a skyscraper foundation far below street level, prayer, Scripture, repentance, and small acts of obedience quietly build strength. If you’ve ever wished God would just “deliver” instant maturity, we challenge that shortcut mentality and point toward a steadier path: a long obedience in the same direction.

If you want a clearer picture of real Christian discipleship, a stronger foundation for trials, and a fresh call to trust Jesus with your whole life, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the part that challenged you most.

Transcript

Welcome And Series Context

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello and welcome. I'm Pastor Taylor Gearin here at First Baptist Church of El Dorado. I'm glad you've chosen to join us. We're in a series now called Stories from Above, the Parables of Luke. And it's just been a great time hearing these stories of Jesus, these earthly stories that give us a heavenly lesson about what God's up to and how we live in light of the kingdom of God. And so I hope you will enjoy it, and we hope to even see you in person real soon. Amen. You can open up with me to Luke chapter 6. And and as also as you're opening to Luke chapter 6, 46 through 49, can we just once again, with a round of applause, give thank you to this worship team that led us this morning? Again, this morning, Luke chapter 6, verse 46 through 49, as we continue our series through the parables of Luke, let me pray for us. Lord Jesus, by your Spirit, in this moment, would you teach us, instruct us through your word, Lord? Lord, show us what it means to build our life upon the foundation of Jesus. That is what we need. And without that, there's nothing we can do. There's nothing we can offer. And so, Lord, teach us even now. By your Spirit, would you speak in Christ's name? Amen. I looked all week to find the original article and I looked hard and I couldn't find it, but that's okay because I'll never forget it, the story a few years ago of uh a man uh a few states away that was arrested on multiple counts of shoplifting. But I was blown away by how it went down. This man went to multiple convenience stores uh dressed in what appeared to be uh, you know, a proper work uniform, and he claimed to be, proclaimed to be, a representative from Jack Lynx, the beef jerky brand. And he was there and he was going to various convenience stores, and what he was up to was really uh working uh for this company. He's here to test just kind of quality assurance. Uh he was there somewhat as a secret shopper. And what he said was, I'm just gonna grab some beef jerky. Don't worry, company will reimburse you later down the road. And what he would do in various convenience stores, he didn't ask for money, he didn't ask for anything else, he just left with a lot of beef jerky, claiming to be once again working for the company, just testing the uh the quality of the product. Down the road, he did get caught, and I gotta say this as a pastor, I certainly don't condone crime, but I do respect creativity. And I gotta say, I'm blown away by this man's thought, uh by uh how he went about this. But really, what he's doing this morning is teaching us the very same story that I believe Jesus is teaching us. I know that sounds odd to say, but the reality is this that it's one thing to maybe look the part, even another thing to maybe proclaim we are the part. It's a very different thing to be the part. It's one thing to look the part or to say we are the part. It's a very different thing to actually be the part, to be the person we are called to be. In Luke chapter 6, towards the end, that's what we're getting at. Jesus is giving us here really uh Luke's version of what is kind of the Sermon on the Mount, these various teachings he's provided. Uh, we see a big crowd is gathered this day. We see in verse 43 through 45, leading up to our text, that Jesus is talking about a tree and its fruits, that the tree will produce the kind of fruits that truly belong to the tree. A good tree produces good fruit, a bad tree, bad fruit. He even says this term out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And then he's about to show us in the very next verse what uh some mouths are actually speaking. I want to see two things this morning. The first is this that real salvation leads to real obedience. Real salvation leads to real obedience. Look with me at verse 46. Jesus says these words Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Let me read that again. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? He's looking at this crowd. Why do you call me Lord? This term for my authority. You are my Lord, you are my master, my authority, my ruler. I I am called to follow you, to go where you go. I I take my orders from you. Jesus says, So why do you call me that, Lord, Lord, this heightened, elevated, respectful term, and yet he says, not do what I tell you. Your mouth is saying all the right things, but your actions are proving otherwise. Why do you call me Lord and not do what I tell you? What we've got to see really this morning is this idea that for me or you to say I love the Lord and to say I obey the Lord, those two statements better be the same thing. Those two statements better mean the exact same thing. That you can't separate those statements from one another. You can't say I love the Lord and not obey the Lord. That kind of person can't exist. You and I, we sometimes think really in three categories of life. Number one, category number one is the unsaved person, the person that does not know Jesus. They are lost. Category number two, it is the Christian, the saved person, but it is living on the sidelines of the Christian life. Category number three, this is the saved person, the Christian who is a committed disciple of Jesus. So again, three categories: the unsaved person, category two, the Christian on the sidelines, category three, the the Christian who is a disciple of Jesus. Well, we've got to realize what our passage this morning reminds us, what all of Scripture shows us, is there is actually no such thing as category two. That's a category that does not exist, that will not exist. There are unsaved individuals, category one, and then the only other category is there are saved disciples of Jesus. The Holy Spirit himself sees to it that there's no such thing as a believer on the sidelines because the Holy Spirit coming into the life of the believer is about the business of sanctification in the life of the believer to lead that person to begin to look more like Jesus. And if that sounds a little heavy and a little harsh, there's no such thing as a Christian who is not interested in obeying Jesus or is interested in living on the sidelines. These are Jesus' words throughout the Gospel of John and 14. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who doesn't love me will not keep my words. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I've kept the Father's commands and remain in his love. John 15, 14, you are my friends if you do what I command you. First John in chapter 2, verse 3. And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. So in 1 John, what's scripture saying? Uh, here is the evidence. If you if you want the evidence that someone truly knows Jesus, here's here it is, they will keep his commandments. So a person who knows Jesus will actually start to look like Jesus, will be interested in obedience to Jesus. That's exactly what Jesus says in this text and throughout all of Scripture. So that second category, the one who proclaims they follow Jesus, yet whose life shows no evidence of obedience or desire for obedience, is sitting on the sideline of the Christian life. That's a category that is foreign to Scripture. And so we've got to think long and hard about this. Now, the important thing is here is this that we've got to remind ourselves over and over again, and we do it often, as we talk this morning about real salvation leading to real obedience, we've got to remember that this obedience is not taking place to earn salvation. It is not taking place to merit salvation. This obedience follows salvation. Last week, we saw the parable of the great banquet. We saw that uh they go to the highways and the hedges and invite these unworthy individuals. That's you and me. Unworthy individuals get to come to the banquet. It is this picture of salvation, the fact that we couldn't earn it, we don't deserve it, and it is totally the gift of Christ. That he died for us, that he forgives our sins, that he rose from the grave, no merit, no worth or work of my own. It's all his gift. That's where salvation comes from. Now, on the other side of it, you and I will be obedient to Christ. Why? Because we will desire obedience to Christ, because the Holy Spirit is working in our life to cause us and lead us to desire that obedience. So why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Verse 47. Everyone who comes to me, first of all, who comes to me, and uh, we see that's not as difficult. Verse 17 of verse of chapter 6 tells us that he came down with them, stood on a level place, and with a great crowd of his disciples, and great multitude of people from all Judea. So all the crowds are coming to Jesus. Jesus says, the person who comes to me and then does this, who hears my words. We also have to remember there's a difference between hearing and hearing. Ask any husband if there's a difference between hearing and hearing. Who who comes to me, who hears my words, and then this, who does what I say, and there's the biggest disconnect, isn't it? Who comes, who hears, and then this, who then does what I say, what is that person like? Here's what we see in verse 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. If we've already seen real salvation leads to real obedience, what I want us to see now is that real obedience uh forms a real foundation, that our obedience to Christ forms a foundation within us. We see that this man builds a house and he does the hard work, the labor-intensive work, the long work, the long process of laying a foundation. And what he does here is not the most exciting thing, probably not the most enjoyable thing, yet it is the most critical thing. You know, it's interesting in Matthew's gospel, he places the emphasis on the location. Is it on the rock or on the sand? And that's what Luke's getting at, too, but his emphasis more is how the house is built, even more than where it's built, how it's built. Is it built with a foundation or without a foundation? For this man, it is built with a foundation. I think of New York City and uh One World Trade Center, the new tower there that they've built following the events of September 11th. And from 2004 to 2014, they built this new One World Trade Center, this beautiful, beautiful structure. Uh but you think about that structure, uh, if you're going to build something that's going to represent the strength of a nation, the resilience of a nation, the ability of a nation to uh get uh off the ground and and and pull themselves up again and be stronger even than they were before. If that building is going to represent that, it better be a strong building. It better showcase the strength of a nation. I'm fascinated by the fact that in this 10-year process from 04 to 14, from 2004 to 2007, that whole time, 04 to 07, was spent fully on the foundation. Think about this. 30% of that process was spent on a part of the building that quite literally no one will ever see. That quite literally probably excites very few people, that that that is not seen or is not really thought about. It exists 70 feet below street level in these great steel uh rods that go even deeper than that, but three years, 30% of the process built to again what no one will ever see. And by the way, if you don't spend the first three years doing that, the next seven really don't mean anything. Here's what I want you to think about with the Christian life. As we think about the foundation, we think about the importance of the process of building the foundation. I'm convinced of this, that within the Christian life, it's a lot more than 30%. I'm convinced that probably 95% of the Christian life is in those moments. The foundation is built in those moments that no one will ever see. That by the world's standards are probably not that exciting. Maybe by the world's standards aren't that interesting, interesting. The things that happen in the prayer closet, the things that happen with the Word of God open, the things that happen in those ministry moments with one other person as you're meeting some need or sharing your faith. There is so much in the Christian life that happens that no one ever sees, and yet in those moments, that's where the foundation is built. Here's our problem, though. We love the moments that everyone sees, don't we? Like we we want all of our days, spiritually speaking, to be very impressive days. I think about this moment. I think about 1 Samuel chapter 17. You talk about an impressive spiritual day. I'm there's very few more impressive than this, as David stands before this giant, Goliath, and brings him to the ground. And there is a great crowd that day, and it is a great opportunity to showcase the goodness of God. This is an upfront, out loud type of moment. Yet it's fascinating. In 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 34, when no one else is volunteering for the opportunity to face Goliath, no one else wants to, David speaks up and says, I will, and then they ask this young little shepherd boy for his qualifications. Why in the world will we put you in this situation? And he says this, verse 34, that back when I was just a little shepherd in the open field, when a lion or a bear would come to get after my sheep, uh, I would kill, he says it, I would kill the lion or the bear. The Lord would deliver me from the lion or the bear, and if he can do it for me there, he can deliver me from Goliath. Now, why is that so fascinating? Because we're so interested in the big, upfront, out loud moments, but David reminds us that everything that led to this big moment with David and Goliath happened way back when in the open field that no one ever saw. There wasn't a crowd of Israelites and Philistines when I'm taking down this lion in the open field. There's no one cheering me on then. It is just me, the Lord, and a lion. And yet what was happening in secret was preparing him for where the Lord was taking him. I'm just convinced that in our lives the Lord does his work in the quiet places. As he's building a foundation in our lives, that he does work in the places and the times that very few people will see. And yet it is that work in our lives that makes all the difference. And so, really, I just want to ask this question, and it's a question I want to ask of our seniors that are graduating and you're heading out to big things coming up. Uh, but really, not just those seniors. I want to ask it of everyone in the room. Uh first, I make a statement that if you're in the room and you know Jesus, I would I would argue that you probably agree with this, that you want to do great things for the Lord. That you want your life to be used greatly for God, and you want to do mighty things for the Lord. You want to do big things for God. So here is my question for you this morning. Are you willing to do small things for God? Are you willing to do small things for God that maybe very few people see or recognize or talk about? Maybe no one else sees it. And it's you in prayer before your father, it's you opening this word, it it's you uh letting uh your mind meditate on the word of God, it's you letting the the Spirit sanctify you and and and and and forgive you of sin and run from sin in repentance. And it's you doing the hard work sometimes of the Christian life, yet what it is doing is the Lord building that foundation for you. And here's why. What does it say in the middle verse 48? And when a flood arose, the stream broke against the house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. Notice what Jesus says, not if the flood comes. He doesn't say it might be the case that a flood is coming. Notice this, that when the flood comes, if you have that firm foundation, you will not be shaken. What Jesus is saying is this that a flood is coming. I don't want to scare you, but in your life, you've either been through a flood, you're in a flood, or a flood is on the way. That's part of life. That's just part of our existence on this broken planet, that we are going to face trials in our lives. And yet, for the person who has this firm foundation, like David out in the wilderness, no one sees it. Yet the person who is following Jesus and being transformed by Jesus and building their foundation on the life and work of Jesus and growing in faith, when that flood comes, they will not be shaken. That doesn't mean the flood and the storm and the trial and the suffering will be enjoyable. That doesn't mean we were excited to face it, but what it does mean is that we will not be swept away with the flood. And now we see the other side in verse 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. I'm convinced of this. That you and I that we're tempted to want what I'll just call a seven brew faith. What in the world do I mean like by that? I I love Seven Brew, and we now have one in town. I I love it. I'd drive through right now if you'd let me. I'd go get some. It's not a matter of loving it, but I'm fascinated by Seven Brew and how it operates when it comes to your town. Because I've I've noticed this. When Seven Brew is coming to your town, they don't come uh build a seven brew in your town, they deliver a seven brew to your town. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, I didn't see it here in El Doredado, but I remember driving in Little Rock one day, and there was this truck taking up multiple lanes of traffic, and on top of that truck they're set a seven brew, like the building itself, the facility. And so they drive to the spot in El Doredado and they put that facility right there. And a company comes in and you know they do the drive thru and add a few other things, and and I mean there's a little more to it, but they come and they drop that seven brew basically complete uh in your town, and a few weeks later, you're getting coffee. Now that's good for uh maybe a coffee shop, but I'm convinced of something that we're tempted to want this seven brew faith that just says this, Lord. I I'm I'm saying I follow you, I'm calling you Lord, I'm telling others I'm following you as my Lord. Uh if you could just deliver for me right now, in this moment, everything I need for the Christian life. If you could deliver for me right now, in this moment, everything I need to live out this faith, I'm just gonna go do what I need to do, and Lord, you've given me what I need, and I'll see you on the other side. That's what we want sometimes. Lord, just deliver it at once, not realizing that the life of faith, I like how Eugene Peterson says it, is a long obedience in the same direction. A long obedience in the same direction, day after day, moment by moment, hour by hour, just leaning on Jesus and him building his foundation uh in us. But I'll tell you, in 2026, that's a tough sell. I just want to get it, and I want to get it now, and Jesus just do all the sanctification at the top, and let's just move on from here. But faith and life and the Christian life and following Jesus is just not like that. And so in verse 49, this man just comes and lays down his house with no foundation, and the same flood comes that comes in 48, but a different story because the flood comes and wipes this home away. Why? Because this man had no foundation. And what I fear for anyone in the room maybe you say this that uh we've talked about this before, that yeah, surely I'm uh I know Jesus because you know, my mom and dad certainly they had me in church growing up. Or I know Jesus because uh, you know, I try to get into this building as often as I can. Um certainly I know Jesus, and uh, you know, I kind of came to know him because I'm certainly doing a few more good things than bad things, and surely uh when I get to the gates at the end, he'll see some of my good works and and he'll be all right with it. That we we have all these, what we called them last week, these excuses, and there is no foundation, and I fear that someone in the room is looking up to Jesus saying, Lord, Lord, with your mouth, but you don't know him. And that when the storm comes, you will be swept away, and not just the storm of this life, but but when the storm of your ultimate expiration date on this earth comes, and you and I all have one, that's not to scare us, that's just to remind us of reality, we will all die. And when that moment happens, do you know that you know Jesus not by my works, not by my merit, but because of the finished work of Jesus Christ and your foundation is in him. I pray that if that's not the case for you this morning, that today you would come to Jesus for the first time and begin to build up the foundation because that's what the Christian life is, continually building upon the foundation. And so for the one baptized this morning, when James was baptized, and I tell him and and all others who are baptized after their salvation, I tell them, your salvation is not the finish line, it it it's it's the starting point. You now know Christ Jesus, and nothing can take that away from you. And now you get the joy of living out your life in Christ and building on the foundation he has laid in you. And so, to the seniors in the room, wherever you're about to go, to university, wherever it is, uh to the workforce in days or years ahead, to those who have graduated college or with masters and whatever is next, I just want to ask you: are you building your life on this foundation? Are you willing to do small, unseen things and remind yourself that these things matter? Not just matter, these things are the things that make the difference. And when you get to the end of your days, you will be able to look back and say that the Lord has brought me to this point. A long obedience in the same direction. Moments I may have thought went unseen, moments I may have thought made little difference, and yet all the while the Lord was doing something in me and through me and building a foundation that only He could build. Seniors, is that your story? Church member, is that your story? Is this your foundation? In just a moment, we're we're gonna have a chance to respond. And maybe you want to come for the first time, get to know Jesus and begin building your foundation and come to know what it means to follow Jesus. Believe in Him for salvation. I'd love to talk to you about that. Maybe you want to uh join this church or have a pastor pray with you, however, you may need to respond. We're about to have a moment to do that, and I'll be down front as we continue in worship. Will you pray with me now? Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the gospel, thank you so much for the hope that we have. And Lord, I pray that if there's anyone that does not know you this morning, that today that would change because today they would trust you for salvation, through the forgiveness of sins, through your death, your burial, your resurrection. Would that be the case, Lord? And I pray if there's anyone in this room that just needs to take inventory of their life and just, Lord, ask you to sharpen them, to move in their heart and life so that they are ready and willing to enter even to new levels of obedience and discipleship and following you, not just saying Lord, Lord, but showing it with our lives. Lord, today might be a day for someone to take the next step in obedience, whatever it looks like. Lord, would we respond now as we worship? We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.