Build Your Life on Jesus - Luke 6:46-49

“Lord, Lord” is easy to say. Letting Jesus rule your actual life is something else entirely.

In this sermon, Pastor Trent walks through a tension many Christians feel but rarely name: the claim that salvation is by faith alone versus the Bible’s insistence that real faith produces real change. 

This message traces regeneration through the Old Testament promises of Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31, where God doesn’t just clean up behavior, He gives a new heart and writes His law within. That new heart creates hunger for God, love for His will, and growing obedience. God’s saving work may be hidden at first, but it does not stay hidden.

The message arrives then at Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7, where people can perform religious works and still hear the chilling words, “I never knew you.” 

What does this mean? Knowing *about* Jesus is not the same as being known by Jesus. 

Transcript

Free Grace And Lordship Debate

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In the mid-20th century, there were a group of prominent evangelical leaders that were a part of a movement that we might now refer to as the free grace movement, or often referred to as like the easy believism movement, that stressed that salvation is by faith alone and stressed rightly that salvation is by faith alone. But also stressed that salvation is apart from any further commitment to surrender or change our behavior in line with the Spirit of God at work. Now, in this view, a person could understand themselves to be saved without showing any evidence of obedience or transformation, since adding those expectations in the life of a believer was seen by that movement as compromising grace. Now, by the late 1980s, a strong response emerged in popular evangelicalism, led by none other than, and I don't think he was trying to be a bulwark for this, but led by none other than John MacArthur, who wrote a book in 1988 called The Gospel According to Jesus. Now, his controversial response, known now as the Lordship Salvation Controversy, argued that saving faith is inseparable from repentance and submission to Jesus as Lord. John MacArthur, G.I. Packer, John Piper, R. C. Sprohl, all in somewhere or another weighed in on this controversy against the idea of free grace, agreeing with reformers before us, Puritans following them, and yes, even the early church arguing that while works don't earn, attain, or achieve salvation, a transformed life inevitably follows genuine faith. Inevitably. Maybe you ask the question well, what does this pastor think?

Regeneration And The New Heart

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Well, this morning we're gonna do a little bit of biblical theology to start out before we hop into a text of scripture. And we're gonna kind of trace a Old Testament promise to a New Testament fulfillment. And here's what we'll find when we do. Give a statement here. Scripture describes the hidden work of God. That is the work of salvation behind the scenes. That is like the Holy Spirit's prompting not only for you to hear the gospel in your ears, but receive the gospel in your heart. We call that work regeneration. When Scripture speaks of that work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, God speaks as if He is giving a brand new heart to people at conversion. I mean, you don't see actually a surgery taking place, but that's what the Lord is doing. God gives a person a new heart in conversion. Here's Ezekiel 36, verse 26. God promises, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And not only is the promise that God would give a new heart to those who place their faith and trust in him, but the heart that he gives, according to Old Testament prophets, is a heart that essentially, or even inevitably, hungers after the word of God. Hungers to obey the word of God. Jeremiah 31, verse 33, I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. In essence, to those who seek the Lord as Savior, who He converts, transforms, gives a new heart, God says, with this gift I will transform the nature of those I call, to love my will and to desire to walk in my ways. So yes, grace is free. The high cost of the life of Jesus hanging upon a criminal's cross, free for those who come to Jesus seeking his mercy, but a grace that does not change is not saving grace. You might say it like this a person does not have a new heart from God if they have no heart for God. Person does not have a new heart from God if they have no heart for God. If you have no heart for God to recognize him and submit to him as the Lord of your life, you may not have a new heart from God, the gift of salvation. Why? Because Jesus' rescue as savior and Jesus's rule as the Lord are inextricably linked. They cannot be separated. You cannot receive Jesus as the savior of your soul and simultaneously refuse Jesus as the Lord of your life. That doesn't work. It doesn't work because Jesus is not divided. He saves as Lord, and He is leads as Savior. He rules as Savior. So in our passage this morning, and tied to it, the more words Matthew tells us that Jesus gives in a similar sermon leads us to kind of consider that we should not be comfortable considering Jesus' return if we give maybe part of our mind to the Lord with sound theology, our Sundays to the Lord attending church, our families to the Lord for right and respectable behavior. If we give much to the Lord, but we keep our heart from Him, we should not be comfortable. The knowledge that Christ is going to return if we wish to save our own life for ourselves and not give it to Him. You cannot believe Jesus to be Savior after this life if you refuse to bow to him as Lord in your life.

Lord Lord And Final Judgment

SPEAKER_00 7:00

If you would, I want you to see a text on the screen. It's not actually the text that we're primarily in this morning, but if you were to go to the Gospel of Matthew, it records a similar sermon. Now there's argument amongst theologians whether or not the Sermon on the Mount is the Sermon on the Plain, like a high plane, or if these are two different occasions Jesus spoke. But you'll notice Matthew 5 through 7 and Luke 6 are very similar to one another. Very similar. And Matthew, in his account of this story about people pleading Lord, Lord, at the end of days looks very similar to Luke's. Matthew just gives us a little more information. Here's what Matthew says: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. That is what you think it is, the new heavens and new earth, the end of days. But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, that is the day of the Lord, his return, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? I mean, did we not cast demons in your name? Did we not do mighty works in your name? And I will declare to them then, depart from me. I never knew you. You workers of lawlessness. This passage is intended to cause you to pause and examine your heart. Seriously. Theologically, though, I want to point out some things because it does bring some confusion. We are products of the Protestant Reformation. We believe sola fide, which is we are saved by grace through faith alone, not by our own works. This is what Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 and 9 teaches. We can't boast about salvation. Christ has accomplished it on our behalf, vicariously. In our place condemned, he stood. He took upon himself the wrath of God so that we won't, we wouldn't have to. By faith we're made right with God, we're justified, as if we'd never sinned. But the faith saves is the faith transforms, and we see that in Matthew chapter 7. I want you to notice a couple things here. It says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. On that day many will say, Lord, Lord. There will be many, according to Jesus, that at his triumphal return, they will cry out as if they knew God, calling him by a proper name for him. King, King, Lord. But not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But you can see it. How does that work? Because we don't work our way to heaven. Does that not sound like in some way works righteousness? Well, what did John say? I'll put it right here. You can go look it up later. It's it's 1 John 2, verse 3. He said, By this we know that we have come to know God if we keep his commandments. How do you know that you know God? How do you live? He goes on, on that day, again, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do many mighty works in your name? I mean, here's the question. We did all of this for you. At least maybe we deceived ourselves from thinking it was for you. I'm immediately remembering another verse of scripture. Maybe you should go look up 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 1 through 3. Not the exact same context, but 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 1 through 3 tells us that it is quite possible to speak in the language of angels, to know all the many mighty works of God He has planned, and to even give up your body to be burned, and to do so without love, both for God and for others. These people have a track record of doing things for God. A track record they appeal to. Don't you see what I've done for you? And then I will declare to them, and I want you to see this. I never knew you. I never knew you. Immediately. I think. It's John 17, verse 3. This is eternal life. That you know God. That they know you, Jesus says. The only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17 3 and Jesus' high priestly prayer. So so what does this passage then teach us, right? It teaches us something profound. Quite simply, it is possible to know about the things of God, to know about Jesus. In fact, to even spend your life doing things that look godly, but do so for your own glory without knowing God. And without being inwardly changed by Him in such a way that you love as He's called you to love and live as He's called you to live. A life of action and knowledge without intimacy, without submission. This is a warning. It's the same warning that Luke gives. Because that picture is not just the difficulties in life, it is the disaster to come in the end of the houses, one that falls. Jesus here is making sure we know very clearly that there will be people who say, Lord, Lord, who know about him but don't know him.

Two Houses And Real Obedience

SPEAKER_00 14:36

If you would, Luke chapter 6. Look at our passage, it's very similar. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building house who dug deep, laid the foundation on the rock, and when the flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it. Because it had been well built. 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 then finally broke against it, it immediately fell, and the ruin was great. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Have you

The Mandela Effect Of Faith

SPEAKER_00 15:31

ever told a story? Maybe it's a story of something that happened 10 years ago, 15 years ago, early on in life. And as you tell it, of course, you find different ways to tell it. You maybe are start adding some embellishments, and then you tell the story 10, 15 years later, and you're not really sure what embellishments you added, so you can't really discern what's true and what's not true from what really happened. The thing really happened, but maybe not exactly the way that you remember it. There's a cultural phenomenon that's called the Mandela Effect. Maybe you've heard the Mandela Effect before. Um, it was popular on social media for a while to look at the box of Fruit Loops. And is it F-R-O-O-T, L-O-O-P-S, or is it F-R-U-I-T? And it's like, it's mind-boggling. Oh, what did I see and what do I remember? Or the Monopoly Man, does he have a monocle or does he not have a monocle? And it's mind-boggling. He doesn't have a monocle, by the way. Or maybe the Bernstein bears or Bernstein bears. Is there an E or an A? Kind of confusing. Well, our passage is teaching something, not the Mandela effect, but something unique. And here's what it is: that it is possible to say things for a certain amount of time that you begin to deceive yourself that you actually believe what you're saying. It's just become so accustomed to you. It's just part of your life. I go to church, I sing in Christ alone. Oh, yeah, I believe in Christ alone. That's where my hope's found. But but is it really? I surrender all. Well, I surrender at least my singing while I sing the song. Or really my life is laid down in view of the mercy of God who laid down his life for me. Again, this is not works-based salvation. This is saying, Jesus, Jesus is saying, look at your life. Is your life hidden with Christ in God? Has it been laid down and given over to the Lord? If not, you might not be his. There's certain things you can look at. First John gives us three tests. Is there a hunger to obey the Lord? Is there ongoing belief? You still confess Jesus is the Lord and mean it. Is there a love for other believers? Jesus says, Why do you call me Lord Lord? The people Jesus is speaking of here are people whose lives do not match what they say they believe about Jesus. Particularly what they say about Jesus. Namely, that he's Lord. So my question, for you who join me in singing three songs about who Jesus is, do you believe what we just sang? Or were they empty phrases? Is your walk in life matching the words of your lips? Does what you say about Jesus correspond to the life you're living for, Jesus?

Lord Means Master In Real Life

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Don't miss this. The phrase Lord, Lord, spoken out of the mouths of those in our passage and spoken out of the mouths of us today, carries meaning. They're not just empty words. The word Lord means supreme and sovereign being. And when someone uses it personally like we do, and like the people Jesus is speaking of, it means my master who I serve and to whom I will give an account. So what Jesus is implying here is that there are and will be many who say what they don't really believe. Every Sunday, there's churches filled with people and people and people who sing on Sunday when they do not worship any other day throughout the week. Many correct statements. He is Lord, said uh by many people about Jesus, who prove themselves not to believe what they say by the way they live their lives. Maybe that's you. It may be. You don't want what you say to believe to be true, because if you truly believe Jesus is Lord, you would stand in fear. By the way, you're living before a high and holy God. This passage is meant to call you to examine yourself. Many will come to him, presumably on the day of judgment, Jesus says, and not only call him Lord, but repeat the title. It will be as though they're saying, I have a deep, personal, abiding affection for you. I know you intimately, I've taken you as my Savior. Jesus, however, will say to them, I don't know you. You see how scary that is? It seems as if Jesus gives us a picture of the final judgment where the question is not so much, do you know Jesus, but does he know you? Jesus is saying that judgment is coming for those who honor him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. Again, you should not be comfortable considering Jesus' return. Soon, imminent return. If you've given him parts of your mind to study sound theology, Parts of your week to gather with his church. And large part of your family for routines and for manners. Given him much, but you've kept your heart from him. You should not be comfortable with the return of Christ. Jesus would later say to his disciples, if you love me, keep my commandments. Yes, anyone can say they love Jesus. Lord, Lord. But the proof of faith is obedience. That's the proof of faith. Jesus could not make it clear when he says in John 3.36 that those who believe in him are those who obey him. I want you to hear this text.

Belief And Obedience In John 3:36

SPEAKER_00 22:45

John 3.36 is not on the screen, but follow along. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Hear that clearly. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whomever does not obey the Son shall not see life. Those phrases are next to each other. I'll read them again. Whoever believes the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God remains on him, that future flood. Here's the link again between belief and obedience. Eternal life does not come by the work of man, it comes by belief. Whoever believes has eternal life. But those who do not obey the Son do not have it. Whoever does not obey shall not see life. So faith in Jesus, sincere faith. Mercy, uh, sought, sincerely seeking Jesus for his mercy, receiving forgiveness, genuine faith. If it is not followed by a desire to obey the one you've sought after, it is nothing more than words without the belief he's talking about. Jesus is Lord, that's correct. But it is not true to say that Jesus is the Lord of your life if that's what you say, but not who you obey. If he is Lord, his dominion does not end where your will begins. Let me say that again. If he really is Lord, Lord, Lord, his dominion does not end where you want your will to begin. If he is Lord, he is Lord of your life as well as the cosmos. So Jesus then illustrates his point.

Wadis And The Storm Test

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Verse 47. Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like hearing and obedience. What do we say at the beginning? It's impossible to seek Jesus as the savior of your soul without submitting to him as the Lord of your life. Everyone who hears and obeys, here's what he's like. He's like a house who dug who's who's deep with a deep foundation on a rock. So when floods arise, the stream breaks against that house and could not shake it because it's been well built. All right, I don't know how much you know about topography in um in Israel and beyond its borders, but um it's desert-like, it doesn't rain very often, but you'll see what are called wadis uh in the Palestine region. And wadis are these like big deep creek-like structures where when it does finally rain and rains a lot, they fill, and what is kind of made in these wadis is like tsunami-like rivers. You don't get in them for a calm swim. You get in them, you might die. That's the picture. They knew that. That's the picture he's painting. So, what does Jesus do? He tells two stories of two homes. And let's consider the similarities of both. First home's in 48, second home is in 49. In both situations, a house is built. I'm sure both houses were visibly similar. They looked the same. Both appeared to be strong houses, probably nicely painted, roses on the outside, open windows, truly beautiful. But when both were hit with the same storm, only one of them fell. What was the difference between the first and the second home? Well, one house looked well put together, but it had no foundation. It was a well-dressed dome on top of the ground. The other was well put together, with a strong foundation well below the ground. Here's the truth. Both houses looked indistinguishable next to each other on Sunday. But when the Monday current came, they could not have been more different. As is often the case. Those that claim Christ and those that follow Christ are often indistinguishable until difficulty comes, or indistinguishable until the end comes. And what is true in the deep heart of man and where his heart is is finally revealed. Is there a deep connection to the solid rock, the foundation of Christ? Has one's life been built upon Jesus' words? Well-fabricated exterior may fool man, but it does not fool Christ. And it will not stand in judgment. It will be exposed. You see, the unshakable home, the one that will remain standing when storms and yes, the final current of the wrath of God comes. It is the person who not only hears God's word, but who believes God's word, who plants their life on God's word, and who obeys God's word that will stand through judgment. Though the storms of judgment will come, though many houses will give way, here is one thing you can be assured of. If you have built your life upon the solid rock of Christ and His Word, believing the gospel, seen and joyfully seeking Christ and submitting in obedience to his word, you can be sure you will stand. I do think this is ultimately a picture of the end of days.

Revelation Answers Who Can Stand

SPEAKER_00 29:03

I want to show you. In Revelation chapter six and chapter seven, you have the seals, chapter six, and the sixth seal is all hell breaking loose. I mean, it is storming rocks. And the kings of the earth are going to hide in the caves, and they say this phrase The day of the Lord and of his lamb has come. Who can stand? That's the phrase. Who can stand? The day of judgment's come. Well, and then chapter seven seems to almost change the point. Because of course there are many different kind of visions from different perspectives. One vision, but many different perspectives of what God shows John. And chapter seven basically says here's who can stand. It's those that are marked by Christ. Now, I have a particular view of Revelation, and I think that number of people are the number of people that make up the full entire church. The redeemed. They're marked by Christ. They don't have a brand of the beast. They're marked by Christ. They're marked by his spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. Our seal. That's a seal that gives given out in chapter seven. Who can stand? Well, it's these people. They can stand. They're sealed with Christ by His Spirit. They'll stand. And then, of course, at the end of chapter 7 in Revelation, oh, I love talking about this. It shows that they did. Because there's an innumerable, I can't say the word, an innumerable amount of people standing around the throne. They made it through the floodwaters of God's wrath, safe on the other side, kept by God. They can stand. How do they stand? They're held strong by the rock. Later on in Revelation 14, that same group of people is mentioned. They're the ones standing on Mount Zion. They're the redeemed people. They have white robes. They did not give in to the impurities of their day. They didn't stain their robes. And here's the phrase it was those who followed the Lamb wherever he goes. That's a life given to Christ. Revelation 14. Those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. There will be many running for the hills who've attended church services, whose grandparents know God. Running and running. And God is, I don't know you. I don't know you. This is eternal life, knowing Christ. Do you know him? Knowing implies you've heard and listened and love him and have followed him. You follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Hear me closely. Those who build their lives on the solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, following the Lamb wherever he goes, will not be put to shame.

Final Appeal And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 32:33

So build your life upon him. Give your life to him and grow in him. Follow him. Don't just give Jesus your lips, give your life. And you can sing with your heart. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sand. Do you know him? You will stand. Let's pray. God, our Father in heaven, thank you for sending Jesus. Savior of our soul, the Lord of our life, the one who gives breath and meaning. The one who will come back and celebrate. Consummation of all things. We wait together. Empowered by your speech to wait, and empowered by your spirit to wait faithfully. Pray, Lord, you would keep us strong. Keep us standing. Pray, Lord, for this church. A witness that does not give in to anxiety or to every calamity. Because though the storms may rage on, used to be the same, today, yesterday, and tomorrow, though disaster may come. Disaster will not remove us from your presence. Rest on the solar rock. The rock of our salvation. We thank you for saving us of no work in our own. Lord, but we seek to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing it's you who works in us for our good and for your glory. Do it, we pray. In your name, in your name alone. Amen.