"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
Luke 6:46-49
Part 2
Yesterday: The Hypocrisy of Disobedience
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord.”
“And do not the things which I say?”
Their obedience marks those who love and follow Jesus Christ.
Today: A Genuine Jesus Follower Will Come, Hear, and Do What Jesus Says
“The people who come to me, who listen to my teachings and obey them—I will show you what they are like” (Luke 6:47, HSB[1]).
In the previous verse, Jesus has just asked a penetrating question that quickly separates those who are genuinely His and obey Him from those who do not belong to Him.
“This warning of Jesus applies to people who say “Lord, Lord,” and yet their spiritual life has nothing to do with their daily life. They go to church, perhaps fulfill some daily religious duties, yet sin against God and man just as any other might. ‘There are those that speak like angels, live like devils; that have Jacob’s smooth tongue, but Esau’s rough hands’”[2] (Trapp).
“Whosoever cometh to me.”
“He or She Cometh”
Both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible have God’s gracious invitation to come to Him for salvation.
“Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (Isaiah 55:3).
Sadly, there have always been those who will reject His invitation. Jesus said to the Jewish leaders –
“And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40).
God the Father “draws” sinners to Jesus.
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:44-45).
Jesus is the Bread that gives life, sinners, trust in Him, come to Jesus now.
“And Jesus said unto them; I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
Sin weary pilgrim, come to Jesus for rest.
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Jesus’ call to discipleship is costly but is well worth the investment.
“If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
“And heareth my sayings.”
“He or She Heareth”
This is an essential characteristic of a true believer. They listen, hearing what God has to say in His Word. A believer knows that there can be no faithful obedience without first listening to what the Master says. We don’t mean just letting the words come into our ears. That’s one level of “hearing,” but not what Jesus is saying. God’s Word comes in through our eyes/ears and passes on to our hearts. Listening to God must be heartfelt; that is, we must take to heart what God has said in His Word. We must consider it, think about it.
At Jesus’ transfiguration, God the Father spoke and told the disciples to listen to His Son.
“While He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” (Matthew 17:5).
There is no obeying Jesus without hearing Him! One of the proofs that a sheep genuinely belongs to Jesus is that it listens to the Good Shepherd’s voice.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (10:27-28).
In the Greek text, the word hear means “to hear,… to attend to, consider what is or has been said,… to understand, perceive the sense of what is said”[3] (Thayer). We could say that hearing has a lot to do with paying attention to the one who is speaking. Or, for believers, it’s paying attention to the Word of God as He speaks to us. In the Scriptures, there’s a very close connection between hearing and obedience.
“In both Hebrew and Greek, the verbs for ‘hear’ are closely connected to ‘obey.’ We have not truly heard until we have obeyed”[4] (Osborne).
And this is the purpose of Jesus’ story, to help us hear and then obey.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
“And doeth them.”
“He or She Doeth”
And this is where the true believer shines for Christ, bringing glory to His name. You see, God’s child knows that they can never work to earn their salvation, and they would never try to. But the reason they work so diligently for Christ is that He has saved them, and they are eternally grateful.
“Carefully note the three-fold condition.
1. ‘Every one that cometh to Me,’ surrender.
2. ‘And heareth My words,’ discipleship.
3. ‘And doeth them,’ obedience.” [5] (Morgan)
Those who have come to Christ and listened to Him now recognize the fact that it’s time to obey Him.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25).
Let’s take a few moments to read through and meditate on some New Testament passages that emphasize the importance of doing what God says.
“But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50).
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17).
“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).
“And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:28-29).
“Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:13-14).
What wonderful encouragement this is to keep on listening to and obeying God and His Word.
“I will shew you to whom he is like.”
Come back tomorrow as we look into Jesus’ illustration of hearing and obeying.
Quote: “The willingness to obey every word from God is critical to hearing God speak”[6] (Henry T. Blackaby).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] EWC, this quote is from the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. Luke 6:46.
[3] J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword. Luke 6:47.
[4] Osborne, G. R. (2018). Luke: Verse by Verse. (J. Reimer, E. Ritzema, & D. Thevenaz, Awa Sarah, Eds.) (pp. 183–186). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] EWC, Morgan’s quote is from the Enduring Word Commentary, ibid. The emphasis is mine.
[6] Blackaby’s quote is from his book, Hearing God’s Voice. The selection was downloaded: October 2, 2021. From: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/527230-hearing-god-s-voice.