Luke 6:46-49

Luke 6:46-49

Unshakeable Foundation

I.                    Our lives are only as unshakable as the foundation on which they’re built; so we must build our lives on the solid rock of Jesus’ Word (Vv. 46-48)

a.       In this parable, Jesus proclaims the primary factor which characterizes His true disciple, is the person’s commitment to Him expressed through obedience to His word in their lives. He’s speaking primarily to those who fervently claim to be His follower, but whose lives don’t match their proclamation. He says that His true disciples are those who don’t just come to Him, and hear His words, but those who also live obediently accordingly to them. That person’s life can be compared to someone who builds a house which must weather storms, but which isn’t shaken because of its foundation. The man in the parable is one who claims to be Jesus’ disciple, and the house represents his life. The floods and torrents represent the trials, difficulties, and temptations in life, and the final judgement. We’re all building something with our lives, and we’ll all face storms in life which reveal the foundation on which we’re building. (Vv. 46-48; Matt. 7:21-25)  

b.       Jesus is not calling for perfection or salvation through works. He’s saying that the lives of those who truly belong to Him reflect their trust in Him through their obedience to Him. Their stability at all times is a result of being built on His solid and unchanging nature and promises. The storms of life reveal the foundation of our trust and hope. When we build our trust and hope on temporary things, we panic in the storms because we don’t know what to believe or where to turn anymore. A life built on the firm foundation of Christ’s Word is also one which reveals its foundation at all times through its fruit. If the fruit of our lives only grows that which is temporary in our lives and the lives of others, it’s not fruit born in obedience to Christ, no matter what the façade of our building might proclaim. The reaction of our lives to trials, temptations, and difficulties, and the fruit of our lives, reveal the nature of the foundation on which we’re building. (Vv. 46-48; 43-45; Ps. 1:1-4; 15:1-5; 16:8; 55:22; 66:1-2, 5-6; Jer. 17:7-10; Matt. 7:16-20; 12:50; 16:27; 23:1-5; Luke 11:28; John 3:19-21; 8:30-36; 13:17; 14:15, 21-24; 15:14; Rom. 2:4-10; 8:31-39; 2 Cor. 5:10; Eph. 2:8-10; Gal. 2:20; 5:22-23; 6:7-8; 1 Tim. 5:25; Tit. 3:5-8; Jas. 2:14-20; 1 John 2:3; 5:1-5; 1 Pet. 2:9-12; Rev. 20:12-13)

II.                 Our lives are only as unshakable as the foundation on which they’re built; so we must not build our lives on the shifting sands of this world (Vv. 46, 49)

a.       Jesus’ second picture warns of the results of the life of the one who claims to be His disciple, but whose disobedient life reveals that they aren’t. They’re like the one who didn’t dig deeply to lay their foundation on rock, but built their house on the ground. The floods came against it, and collapsed. Again, the house is our lives and the foundation is that on which we build our lives. The one who denies Jesus’ Lordship over their lives through disobedience, doesn’t believe what He says, can’t believe who He is, and thus forfeits forgiveness. It is in believing Him, who He is, and what He’s done, that we’re forgiven, but the consequence of that belief and the evidence of that belief, is our commitment to follow Him with all our doing, being, and choosing. (Vv. 46, 49; Matt. 7:26-27) 

b.       Jesus calls us to love Him more than anything else in our lives, whether in times of storms or not. It’s much easier to cherish the thought of Jesus, or a Jesus of our own making, than is to obey Jesus as He reveals Himself to be in God’s Word. But the thought of Jesus, or our own Jesus, has no power to transform us or sustain us in life’s storms; we’re building on a foundation that is constantly shifting underneath our feet. Our foundation is revealed through storms, but also before the storms through the height and direction of our building. If we’re not building on the Cornerstone, each successive floor of our building is moved farther and farther off center, until either a powerful storm or our mortality bring it all crashing down. Before the storm hits, we often find ourselves dissatisfied, restless, and bitter in life and towards others, or exhausted and fearful of losing whatever it is we’re clinging to so tightly. If you’re holding anything back from giving it over to Christ, or living in a way in which is obviously contrary to His Word, your foundation is crumbling and shifting underneath you, and calling you to seek solid ground. Life will shake us to the foundation, but we must seek to allow it to reveal what we really believe, whose we really are, and that on which we’re really building. God graces us with storms in life to move us to seek the solid ground of His grace, and the comfort, contentment, and satisfaction that come only in living obediently under the Lordship of Christ. (Ps. 82:5; Luke 9:23-25; John 3:16, 36; 10:27; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 15:10, 54-58; 2 Cor. 10:5; 13:5; Gal. 5:19-21; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Tit. 1:15-16; 1 Pet. 2:6-8; 1 John 3:3-10; Rev. 3:15)