The Two Foundations - Luke 6:46-49 (June 14, 2026)

Sunday, uh, we finished our series, preaching through the book of Revelation.

So this Sunday, we're starting a brand new sermon series.

This summer, we're going to be preaching through what we are calling the stories of Jesus.

As in Jesus' parables, we're going to be looking at nine different parables all in the Gospel of Luke this summer.

Now, church parables are these little stories that Jesus tells.

So this summer, as we gather together as a church, it's going to be like we're showing up for story time with Jesus.

But Jesus tells these stories for a reason.

Not just to entertain us, but to teach us.

And specifically, he uses these stories because they have a way of not just teaching our minds, but actually of penetrating our hearts.

Our parable this morning, the first in this series, is what's often called the parable of the two foundations, or the parable of the two builders.

You can go ahead and find that in your Bibles now.

It's Luke chapter 6, verses 46 through 49.

Luke 6:46–49

Should be printed in your bulletins as well.

And as you're flipping there, I wonder if you are familiar with the term fallacy.

I think many of us probably are, but a fallacy is something that's it's wrong.

It's a misunderstanding.

And there's a lot of different kinds of fallacies, but there's one in particular when you take a statement that's true, and then you think that a statement that's really similar to it should also be true, but it's not quite true.

Here's an example, here's what I mean.

I think it's fair to say that if it were to rain outside, then the grass would be wet.

And so if someone takes that truth and then says, oh, so so then if the grass is wet, that means it must have rained.

And the answer is, well, maybe, but a lot of things can make the grass wet.

Maybe, maybe they just run the sprinklers, and that's why the grass is wet.

Here's another one, I think this will make sense to us.

Uh if someone has the flu, then they'll have a fever.

And so then if you come across someone who has a fever, and you say, Oh, they must have the flu, well, maybe.

But actually, a lot of things could cause us to have a fever, so maybe they have something else.

It's easy to do this, to take something that's true, and then try to claim that it means something else that's also true that it doesn't quite do.

We can easily believe fallacies.

Now, why do I bring this up?

Because I think there's a fallacy that we could be in danger of in our Christian lives.

That we could take something that the Bible says that's true and try to make it claim something from that that sounds similar to it, but that actually is not true.

Here's what it is in church, I think we could be in danger of this.

Here's the true statement that the Bible teaches that Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, not because of our own obedience.

That's true.

But I wonder if we hear that truth and then come to the false conclusion, the fallacy, that therefore we Christians don't really need to be obedient.

That I'm saved by grace.

I don't really have to obey.

Now, church, I'm guessing most of us, we would know that there's something wrong with that.

That none of us, I don't think, would say that wholeheartedly.

But I wonder if that mindset subtly creeps into the way that we live.

Maybe even becomes a sort of excuse to us.

Oh, that I know that I'm saved by grace, so I don't really need to read my Bible.

I don't really need to pray because I'm already justified by Christ.

What's the point?

I know I have some sin in my life, but Jesus came to save sinners, so I guess it's okay.

Church, I wonder if sometimes we practically live like, since we're saved by grace, that we don't really have to obey Jesus.

That our obedience isn't really a big deal to us.

What we're gonna see in this passage is that our obedience is a big deal to Jesus.

That if we've slipped into thinking that because we're saved by grace, that that has somehow lowered the standard for how we're expected to live, then we've misunderstood the Christian life.

That if we think that we're secure because we've claimed Jesus as our Savior, and yet when we look at our lives, we don't have any fruit of obedience.

Jesus is gonna ask us to think again.

Church, here's the main idea of this passage.

A life built on Christ produces obedience and security.

A life built on Christ produces obedience and security.

Let's read our passage now.

It's Luke chapter 6, 46 through 49.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

This is what Jesus says.

Why do you call me Lord Lord and don't do the things I say?

I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.

He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn't shake it because it was well built.

But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the destruction of that house was great.

A life built on Christ produces obedience and security.

Three points for us this morning, church.

First, we're gonna look at this question that makes us shake.

Then we're gonna look at the foundation that makes us obedient, and then the foundation that makes us secure.

First, the question that makes us shake.

Well, the question that Jesus asked here at the start, it shocks us.

It stops us in our tracks that Jesus asks his followers and those around him, and in one sense, he's asking us, verse 46, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don't do the things I say?

It's a sobering question.

I think it's a question that shocks us for two reasons.

And the first is that we then have to ask ourselves, is that true of me?

That do I call Jesus Lord and not do the things he says?

It shocks us because we could picture Jesus asking that question to us.

But there's a second reason, and I think this question shocks us.

I wonder if there's part of us that actually thinks that we need to correct Jesus here, that we think Jesus is asking the wrong question.

That we think he should be asking, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don't believe the things I say?

That we can sometimes think the Christian life is only about believing the right things.

That we can have a wrong understanding of what it means to be saved by grace, so much so that when anyone brings up obedience or or takes sin seriously, we're like, oh, I'm saved by grace.

I'm not a legalist.

We tend to think, or perhaps we we drift to think, that it doesn't really matter how we live as long as we believe the right things.

That we think Jesus should say, why don't you believe the things I say?

But that's not what he says.

He says, You call me Lord and don't do the things I say.

He says you don't obey me.

Church, I think the point to this question is clear.

That if we call Jesus Lord and aren't obeying him, then something's not adding up.

But church, it's actually more than that.

That to call Jesus Lord without obedience to him, it's actually not just being neutral to Jesus.

It's actually to side with Satan.

And here's how here's how we know that.

Do you remember in the other Gospels uh when Peter makes a somewhat similar claim to this?

It's kind of Peter's big moment when he confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus is the Christ, the Lord.

It's clearest in Mark 8 and Matthew 16, it would be worth our time after lunch to read those passages.

But right after Peter makes that claim, that he says, Jesus, you're the Messiah.

If you remember what happens, Jesus then goes on to explain that the path, the road of suffering and obedience that Jesus is going to go on, and therefore his followers are gonna go on too.

And then Peter rebukes him.

Because he wants Jesus to be his savior, but not to have to obey in suffering.

He calls Jesus Lord, but doesn't want to take up his cross and follow him in obedience.

And do you remember what Jesus says to Peter?

Get behind me, Satan.

Why?

Because a gospel that only claims Jesus as Savior, but's not willing to follow him in obedience, is the gospel that Satan wants us to believe.

To claim Christ but not obey him is to side with Satan.

And we put a big smile on Satan's face when we claim some sort of Christianity with our mouths but not do it with our actions.

Like when we talk about how trustworthy God is, but then are consumed by worry because we really depend on ourselves.

Or when we claim that people are made in the image of God and then gossip about them.

When we talk about evangelism and never do it.

And Satan is like a kid on Christmas morning.

If we can recite the gospel in the most eloquent way, as long as it never changes anything about us.

Church, have we believed Satan's gospel?

We need to reflect on this question that Jesus asks and ask ourselves: is there something in my life that I know Jesus calls me to do that I haven't been doing?

Or maybe on the other hand, on the other hand, is there something that I know Jesus would not want me to do?

But I've been fine with doing it.

Why do you call me Lord and don't do the things I say?

That's the question that Jesus asks.

And then he paints a picture of this question with a parable.

A parable that's going to show us that if we build our lives on Christ, if we really do that, then that will lead us to obeying Jesus.

And that's our second point, which is the foundation that makes us obedient.

Church, let's look at this parable.

And this might be helpful for us to know up front that when we're reading our Bibles and we're asking the question, what does this passage mean?

It's often really helpful for us to look for the contrast in a passage where the things line up but are different.

And it's the contrast and the differences that are going to highlight the meaning.

And church, this parable is loaded with contrast.

So let's look at that, starting with the two approaches that we see here to Jesus.

We see this in verse 47 and verse 49.

The first approach, verse 47, this is gonna be the one who builds his house on the rock.

Let's look at what it says.

I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.

So we have comes to Jesus, hears his words, acts on them.

That's the first guy.

Now let's look, let's compare that with the second approach to Jesus.

This is at the start of verse 49.

It's gonna be the foolish builder.

But the one who hears and does not act.

This one does hear Jesus, but he doesn't act on his words.

So what's the difference?

Alright, the second one hears, that's the same, but he doesn't act, that's different.

And why doesn't he act?

Well, what's missing?

What's not mentioned about the second person that is mentioned of the first?

It says nothing about the second person coming to Jesus.

Do you see how this pieces together here?

That someone who hears Jesus but doesn't actually act on him, doesn't obey him, is someone who never really came to him in the first place.

And while this is a warning to us, church, it should also be powerful to us.

Because, church, this then means that those who do come to Jesus, who build their lives on him, actually can act on his words.

That those who do come to Jesus, they really can obey Jesus.

That a true faith, a faith that actually comes to him, produces obedience.

It causes us to act.

Church, can we grasp the application to this?

That the Christian life is not, oh, I became a Christian.

I came to Jesus, so now I don't have to do anything.

No, it's I became a Christian.

So now I actually can do something.

I actually can obey Christ in Christ.

I in Christ, we have the power to fight sin.

The gospel is not a certificate for us to take our foot off the gas in life and coast.

The gospel is the fuel for us to actually put our foot on the gas and do the things that Jesus says to do.

In Christ, we can use our lives to do God's will.

Which means, church, our lives matter.

Our lives are not a run out the clock situation.

We are not like the high school basketball team who's up big in a game, and so they aren't trying to score, they aren't trying to do everything, they're just trying to run out the clock until time runs out.

That's not what the Christian life is like.

We are not just sitting and waiting around here until we die.

No, because of Jesus, we can glorify God with our lives now by doing his will.

That in Christ, in Christ, we are new creations so that our good works are actually not filthy rags, but we actually can do good works that come from a changed heart that actually is pleasing to God.

Church, we really can please God.

Our new life in Jesus isn't so that we don't have to obey.

Our new life in Jesus is so we actually can obey.

But we also see something in this parable that I know we know is true.

That obedience, while it is possible, is not easy.

So let's look at the next contrast that we see in this parable, which is the two ways that these builders build.

It's gonna be in verse 48 and then the middle of verse 49.

So this first builder, the one who comes, hears, and acts, verse 48, it says this He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

Versus the other builder at the end of or middle of verse 49.

This is the one who hears and doesn't act, is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

What's the difference in the way they build?

The first builder digs deep.

But the second doesn't dig at all.

He just builds on the ground.

And I think we can picture here digging deep.

If you've ever had to put a fence post in the ground or a basketball goal, or if you had to plant some sort of plant and you had to dig a hole for that, that digging deep means you need to go through the roots and the rocks.

It's hot and sweaty and it's hard.

Digging deep is not easy.

But if you don't dig deep and you put a basketball goal in the ground, it's gonna be shaky.

But if you dig deep, it'll be secure.

So, church, our obedience, while we can do it because we have the power of the Holy Spirit giving us a new heart, it is digging deep.

Because we're gonna have to push against the dirt that is our own sin.

And maybe in our lives, we're gonna need to uproot some things that are deep in our hearts.

That obedience, doing the things that Jesus says to do, is not the easy route.

Taking time to be in God's word, meditate on it, chew on it, store it up in our hearts, is not easy.

It's easy to scroll our phones.

Forgiving others is not easy.

It's easier to just stay bitter.

Not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus isn't easy.

It's easier for us to shy away when it's not popular to be a Christian.

Investing in relationships here in our church, as beautiful as that is, church is not easy.

It's easy for us to only just want to associate with the people who are like us.

Resisting sin is not easy.

It's easier to give in, and church confessing sin is not easy.

It's easier to keep it in the dark.

All these things are hard.

And there's a host of other things that we could list out here as well.

Digging deep is not easy, and neither is the Christian life.

But Christian, if we build our lives on Christ, we can obey him.

And it's not that God lowers the expectations for what that means, but instead, he gives us the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and it's that spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, that produces fruit in us.

And so while we might not be able, we might not be strong enough to say no to sin, Jesus is.

So in him we can.

And we won't obey perfectly, but we can truly.

A life built on Christ makes us obedient.

But it also makes us secure.

And that's our third point, the foundation that makes us secure.

Back to our Bibles, looking at these two houses, and what's the biggest, clearest difference between these houses, the most important distinction between them?

It's that the first builder builds his house on the rock, and the second with no foundation.

In church, I think we know the Sunday school answer to this.

It's been said it said many times already this morning that the rock is Jesus.

He's the one we build our lives on.

In church, I know we know that answer.

But we can drift to practically, to functionally, to in our hearts, building our lives on other things that aren't as secure.

We need a foundation that makes us secure and a foundation that's actually going to make us obedient.

And that foundation is not our own merit.

That foundation is not our own self-righteousness.

But, church, it's also not our kids.

It's not our spouse.

It's not our friends, our jobs, our reputation.

Some of those are really, really good things, but they make really bad foundations.

No, church, as we say before, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

The only secure foundation.

Is Christ.

We build our lives on Jesus.

He's the foundation that's secure.

And our Bibles tell us just how secure He is.

Because look at what happens to these two houses.

The last contrast in this passage is the outcomes to these houses.

Second half of verse 48, and then the end of verse 49.

The first house, when the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn't shake it because it was well built.

Versus the second house, end of verse 49.

The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the destruction of that house was great.

Church, the contrast.

Here, look at the contrast.

The first house, it's not like that first house barely makes it through the storm.

Not that the wind and waves are brushing against the house and the walls are creaking and cracking and it's holding on, but just barely.

No, the house that's built on rock, the house that's built on Christ, it doesn't even move.

This flood, this river, this storm doesn't even affect it at all.

It couldn't shake it.

But the other house, with no foundation, it's not that that house held up for a while, that it was doing okay and then eventually it gave in.

No, it says immediately.

As soon as the water came to that second house, immediately it collapsed.

So the question is, what does this represent?

In a physical sense, this is construction 101 with the carpenter himself.

But what does it mean spiritually?

In some regards, it does apply to us being able to weather the storms of life.

That a life built on Christ is going to be able to take hardship in this life more than a life with no foundation.

That's true.

But I don't think that's the main emphasis of what Jesus is saying here.

And it's because of how different those houses do when the river comes, that one isn't shaken at all and the other one collapses immediately.

The reason I think this is not primarily about the woes of life is because even if we're building our lives on Christ, we're gonna shake in this life.

That trials are going to come and they're going to hit us hard, and we aren't gonna break, but we are going to bend.

And on the other hand, even those who don't know Jesus, they can weather some storms in life.

They don't immediately collapse at the smallest trial of life.

So if this then doesn't point to the trials of life, then what is this about?

Well, the picture is a flood coming to these houses.

And when we hear the word flood in our Bibles, what should we think of?

The flood is a picture of God's just judgment against sin.

And there is a flood coming for all of us.

And depending on which foundation we are standing on, either we will collapse immediately, or we will not shake at all.

And this flood is our own judgment day.

Church, these houses are a picture of our future final day of judgment.

A day that's coming for us all when we will stand before God.

All of us.

And we will give an account to God for everything that we said, everything that we did, everything that we thought, our selfish acts, our lack of obedience, our trusting in ourselves rather than God, it will be exposed on that day.

And it will be clear that we are guilty of sin.

And God takes sin seriously.

Friend, on your judgment day, if you're standing on your own foundation, relying on yourself, thinking that you might be good enough on your own, if that's you, then when the river of judgment comes, you won't stand a chance.

You will collapse immediately.

Because a foundation of our own works and our own righteousness is actually not a foundation at all.

If we think we'll be safe because we think we're not that bad, the Bible says otherwise.

But there is another foundation.

A foundation strong enough to hold us.

A foundation that's stronger than our sin.

A foundation strong enough to hold against this flood.

And it's Jesus.

And Jesus is strong enough because he, unlike us, because he actually lived the perfect, sinless life of righteousness.

He took our sin on a cross, paid for our sin with his life, the judgment that should be for us, Jesus takes himself.

He dies, but doesn't stay dead.

Proving that he is not one who just claims to have authority to forgive sin.

He's proving that Jesus is the one who can forgive sin.

Church, why is it that the house on the rock, why is it that it is not shaken at all?

It is not shaken one bit by this flood.

Why?

Because Jesus took all of that flood himself.

Because he took all of that judgment himself, so that for those who build their life on him, there would be no judgment left for us.

If we trust in him, throw ourselves on him, then his righteousness, Jesus' perfect righteousness, is ours, and there is no condemnation for us.

In Christ's church, we're secure.

He is the foundation that makes us secure.

Now let's piece all of this together here.

What's the essence of this parable?

Jesus is teaching about the relationship between a life built on him, our own security, and our own obedience.

And there is something that we need to be really clear about.

And I hope that I have been clear, but I actually fear that maybe I haven't been clear.

Because this parable, Jesus calls us to obey him.

And I think that's clear in the passage, that we can't have Christ without having obedience.

But let me be very clear that if on our judgment day, when we stand before God and He asks us why we think we should be able to enter His kingdom, if we in any way point to our own obedience as to why we are worthy to be in the presence of God, then we've misunderstood.

The only answer is Jesus.

It's not what we have done, it's what He has done for us in His cross and resurrection.

Our obedience is not part of our foundation.

Our obedience does not make us secure.

It's a true faith in Jesus that does.

And a true faith in Jesus also makes us obedient.

And church, I want us to hear this, that this passage, it is, yes, a warning to us.

I think it primarily is a warning to us, but it's also an encouragement to us.

That if God, by God's grace, you can sense that you are growing in obedience, maybe not perfectly, actually not perfectly, but but truly.

Maybe it's hard to see, but if you look at your life five years from ago, maybe ten years ago, and then you look at your life today, and if you're able to say, man, I'm growing and walking in obedience to Jesus.

I'm different than I used to be.

If so, praise the Lord.

And that is obedience, is evidence of and strengthens our confidence that we really are in Christ, that we're secure in him.

But, friend, if you look at your life and you know that you actually haven't been obeying Jesus, Jesus gives us this parable for a reason.

Turn from your sin and turn to him.

Because Jesus is a God worth obeying.

Because Jesus, the one who says to do the things he says, is the one who did them for us.

Jesus obeyed for us.

He obeyed to the point of death, death on a cross.

Why?

So that we could obey.

So that we wouldn't have to be slaves to sin anymore, that we would have the freedom to fight sin.

So that we could say to sin, no sin, you're not my king, Jesus is.

Church, are we going to be those who call Jesus Lord, Lord, and don't do the things he says?

Or are we going to be those who come to Jesus, hear him, and act?

A life built on Christ produces obedience and security.

Let's pray.