Luke 6.46-49 – Study Guide

True & Fake Disciples

An Orderly Account: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

Luke 6:46-49

Introduction

Last December, I took a trip with my Dad to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cleveland Browns. Now, I’m not a Steelers fan, but I went because I wanted to be with my Dad. I wore the black and gold, I waved the Terrible Towel, and I cheered loudly for the team. I even told people I flew from Charlotte to Pittsburgh to see the game! And, from the outside, I looked like a life-long die-hard Steelers fan.

But, in reality, I wasn’t a Steelers fan. I couldn’t tell you the names of all their players. I hadn’t watched a single other game all season. When I flew home the next morning, the Terrible Towel would go on the shelf as a memory.

Raise the Need, State the Destination, Give Signposts:

That experience reminds me of what Jesus Christ said in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:46-49. We’ve been in this sermon for over a month now, and we’re coming to his concluding words. In this sermon Jesus has made several challenging points:

He spoke of the blessedness of those who suffer for his sake and warned of the woe coming to those who live only for this life. He told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who hate us. He warned us against taking the speck out of our brother’s eye when we have logs in our own eyes. And he told us that just as you know a tree by its fruit, you know what’s in your heart but what comes out of your mouth.

We’re in the final section of Jesus sermon this morning. Every good preacher knows that the sermon needs to conclude with a call to respond. There needs to be an invitation for the audience to make a choice, a decision. Will I continue living the way I have been living, or will something change? And Jesus, as the greatest preacher who ever lived calls us to examine our lives, to make an assessment, and to respond.

He asks, “Are you truly my disciple or are you just playing a part?” He confronts those who call him “Lord,” but do not obey him. How can you know if you are a true disciple? Jesus says the storms of life and God’s judgment reveal the authenticity of our faith. The conclusion to Jesus’ sermon requires that we examine ourselves with honesty. Are we truly his disciples, or are we playing games with him?

Today we’ll see that it’s possible to be a fake disciple, that true disciples are tested but endure, and fake disciples are tested and crumble. Friend, I pray you will examine your own profession of faith today. Don’t assume you are a true disciple. Be willing to hold your life up to the mirror of this passage and let it test you.

The Text

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.”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

1. It’s Possible to Be a Fake Disciple

Jesus begins with a piercing, confrontational question: “Why do you call me ‘Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” By this point in his ministry, a crowd of followers has formed around him. He’s done miracles in several cities. His fame and notoriety have grown in the region. Everywhere he goes, people gather. It’s become quite popular to follow Jesus. People want to be seen with him. Many have even begun calling him, “Lord.”

That word has two different meanings in the New Testament. Sometimes “Lord” is simply a title of respect, like the words, “Sir” or “teacher.” But at other times the word “Lord” takes on divine significance: It means Christ, the anointed Lord; the one who has ultimate authority and to whom all others owe total allegiance. And that’s what it means here. Jesus is saying, “You’ve seen my divine power displayed in my miracles. You’re beginning to recognize that I am God’s anointed savior, you’re even calling me, “Lord,” but you are not obeying my words. In other words, “You’re a fake disciple.” You profess me with your lips, but you live for yourself. You acknowledge me with your mouth, but your heart doesn’t love me and your will doesn’t bow to me.

There are a variety reasons someone might be a fake disciple.

Cultural/Social Pressure

You might be someone who gives into cultural or social pressure. I grew up with many people here in the South for whom, “becoming a Christian,” was not a matter of true heart change, instead it was a rite of passage like getting a driver’s license or graduating High School. Friend, it’s possible to profess Christ as Lord simply to make your parents or your friends happy. You’ve professed Christ to please someone, but you haven’t truly embrace his call to costly obedience because you love him.

Self-Deception

Self-deception mistakes outward external displays of religion as true substantial faith. So, a self-deceived person thinks that attending church, singing hymns, and doing good works, is what makes someone a Christian. They think of Christianity as merely an outward religion. But Jesus Christ says those who worship God must worship him in spirit—which is to say, true worship must come from the heart. All of the outward piety in the world will send you to hell if you do not love God with all your heart.

Self-Interest

When Jesus preached this sermon, no doubt many called him Lord, not because they loved him, but because they loved themselves and desired a miracle from him. In other words, a person may profess to be a disciple in order to give themselves emotional comfort, social status, or even material blessings. And far too many preachers today proclaim gospel of prosperity, material wealth, physical health, and emotional stability that is gained by faith in Christ. The problem with that gospel is that it elevates the gifts of God above God himself. Jesus Christ is no longer the end; rather he becomes the means to something else.

Intellectual Ascent without Heart Trust

Christianity is a religion based on rational propositions. There is a Creator. Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected three days later. Those fact matter. If they are not true, if they are not historically verifiable facts, then our faith is vain. But merely granting the truthfulness of those claims does not make one a Christian. Intellectually affirming those facts is a necessary act to save you from your sins… but it isn’t sufficient. Thomas Watson said, “Many a man’s knowledge is a torch to light him to hell.”

Faith is more than intellectual ascent. Faith is accepting and resting in what Christ has done. He’s more than a propositional truth: he’s Savior and Lord.

Now, here’s where the rubber meets the road: if those are the reasons you came to Christ, they’ll also be the reasons you abandon him in the end. If you profess Christ as a child simply to please your parents, the day will come when you’re no longer living for their approval. Call Jesus Christ “Lord,” outwardly, but if you do not love him with your heart, he will call you to a level of obedience that you hate. If you only come to church in order to fix your marriage, you’ll be disappointed at Jesus’ apparent inability to make things right, when, in reality, he’s trying to help you see even deeper problems in your heart. You see, possibly for you to be here for all kinds of reasons, singing his name, confessing the faith, without actually being a true follower.

What are you looking for? What is it that you want from Jesus? Do you truly want him as Lord, or is he simply a means to an end? And if the only thing we had to offer you was Jesus, would that be enough? That’s how you know whether you’re a true or fake disciple. It’s an important question, because in the end, the only thing we can truly and fully offer you without fail is Christ himself.

Do not be deceived into thinking that everyone who calls Jesus, “Lord,” is truly one of his followers. It’s possible to be a fake disciple.

2. True Disciples Obey Christ

If you look at verse 47, Jesus describes someone who “comes” to him, “hears” what he has to say, and “does” what Jesus commands. This is the example we are given of a true disciple. Each one of those verbs, “comes,” hears,” and “does,” is in the present active tense. In other words, Jesus is emphasizing the active, deliberate response of the whole person. This is what makes a true disciple. This is not mere moralism, but evidence of a heart transformed by the gospel of grace, enabled to walk in faithful obedience to Christ’s commands.

It’s at this point; Jesus gives us a parable, a word picture. Imagine someone building a house in Israel. It’s a dry, desert climate. The ground is parched and hard; it looks and feels like concrete. Rather than digging down to find bedrock, let’s just begin framing the house right on top of the soil. The frame goes up, the electrical is done, the roof goes on, and everything looks normal.

The guy who owns the lot next door also decides to build a home. But instead of trusting the soil, he gets out the shovel and begins the back-breaking work of digging until he finds bedrock. Then, once he’s found the bedrock, he starts working his way back up, framing, roofing, until it’s all done. Now, looking at the two homes side-by-side you can’t tell any difference. They have the same siding, shudders, and shingles. But one has a foundation and the other doesn’t.

And the same is true with people. Two people come to church. They both say “Amen,” to the prayers. They both sing. They both put money into the offering plate, but one is a fake disciple and the other is a true disciple. But you can’t directly tell the difference just by looking at them.

Now, let’s make a clear distinction right now: you and I are not, nor can we ever be, made right with God by obeying him. The gospel is that we are made right with God only by believing that Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient and died in our place bearing our sin. So the gospel, strictly speaking is summarized in one word: “believe.”

The Scriptures teach that those who believe the gospel are utterly transformed from the inside out and they begin walking in obedience to Christ and his commands. In other words, the belief in gospel leads to obedience.

I’m afraid too many people today have believed in a shallow, sentimental, or unserious Jesus. The kind of Jesus who forgives but never demands, who loves but never convicts, who gives but never takes. And that’s simply not the Jesus of the New Testament. That’s not the God of the Scriptures.  Consider the title given to Jesus in this passage: “Lord.” The Lord is the one with authority, the one who commands, the one who gives orders, and Jesus embraces that title. He doesn’t run from it. He claims the right to direct our lives.

Throughout Luke’s gospel we’ve seen examples of true disciples: At Jesus’ command, Peter puts his boat out into deep water for fish, Levi leaves his tax booth, the paralytic gets up to walk, and the man with the withered hand stretches it out. All of them obey the commands of Jesus.

And listen: they don’t just obey the commands that make sense. In each of those stories, Jesus asked them to do something that only makes sense if he is indeed the Lord God. Why would Peter cast out the nets again after trying all night? Because Jesus Christ is Lord of the fish. Why would Levi leave the tax booth and forsake a lucrative income? Because Jesus Christ is only true wealth that matters. Why would a paralytic try to stand and a withered hand try to stretch? Only if Jesus Christ is the maker legs and the healer of hands.

A true disciple gives total obedience. They don’t treat themselves as Lord and weigh the commands of Christ to see which they prefer. They give consistent obedience. Jesus commands their worship on Sunday and their schoolwork on Monday. They give public obedience that everyone can see, and they surrender to private obedience knowing that Christ always sees. They give costly obedience. Christ’s disciples tell the truth even when it hurts. They obey Christ even when it comes at the cost of comfort. They refuse to tell lies even when it means losing their own life.

What does it mean to grow as a disciple of Jesus? It means learning the joy of knowing “You are not your own. You were bought with a price.” And that’s what this world needs. This world doesn’t need more fake disciples. Your home, your school, your neighborhood, our nation, needs true disciples, who love Jesus Christ and delight to obey all his commands.

So, it’s possible to be a fake disciple. True disciples obey Jesus. Finally…

3. True Disciples Endure Storms, But are not Shaken

Look back at the parable of the two builders: the one who built on the soil and the one who built on the bedrock. Both houses look the same, but one has a foundation and the other doesn’t. Jesus says that a flood rises, the rivers overflow their banks and begin washing away soil and sediment. The house that’s built on the ground is washed away with the ground, but the house built on the unmoving bedrock remains.

He’s what Jesus is saying: those who are fake disciples, who have only a temporary belief in Jesus, not a transformation of the heart, can deceive themselves for a while that they are in favor with God. They can believe, for a while, they are in a state of salvation. But eventually, that hope will perish. Those, however, who truly believe in Christ, and love him sincerely, and endeavor to walk in good conscience before him, will endure.

And the ground of that assurance is not their obedience. In the parable, the foundation of the house is not our obedience. The foundation is the blood and righteousness of Christ and Christ alone revealed in the gospel, upon which obedience is built.

But look what can happen to the house that is built on the rock: it’s shaken. It’s battered. It’s beaten from every side. There’s a flood rising. Christian, hear me: oh my goodness… the flood will rise in your life, probably more than once. It is perfectly consistent to have the house of your faith built solidly upon the rock of Christ and at the same moment feel the rush of the tide threatening to tear it all down.

True believers may have their assurance of their salvation shaken, diminished, and interrupted. It is possible to go through such a terrible storm of doubt that you wonder if you were even saved in the first place. Friend, go read the Psalms and see how many times they say, “Why, O God, are you hiding your face from me?”

Friend, if that is you today, know this: it is not your assurance that saves you. It is Christ who saves you, and he is saving you to the uttermost. If you have put your faith in Christ, you are not promised fair weather, you are promised to endure the storms by his grace.

Hear the words of Lamentations 3:

²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

³¹ For the Lord will not

cast off forever,

³² but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion

according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

What does he cause grief? Why does he allow and even send storms? Friend, he sends the storm to prove the foundation. He takes away every comfort but Christ.

The Puritan divine, Samuel Rutherford said, “The storms of this life are but the bellows of God to fan the flame of faith”, and the soul built on Christ shall never be snuffed out.

Friend, to walk with Christ is to learn that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing but Christ is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown.

When the floods of trouble come, the godly man and woman’s house stands not because their obedience is strong, but because it is cemented with the blood of Christ and supported by the bedrock of God’s eternal covenant promises.

If Jesus Christ is that strong, you can afford to be weak. If God’s promises are this sure, you can afford to doubt.