"But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it."
Luke 11:28
Part 2
Yesterday:
“Yea, rather.”
Jesus said, to be blessed of God, the focus is not on Mary, His mother, but on something else.
“Blessed are they.”
Jesus pointed to this description of the people God blesses.
Today:
“That hear the word of God.”
First off, the blessed ones are those who are…
1) Hearing-believing.
“His answer gives prominence not to His own word, but to ‘the word of God;’ for though they are the same, the woman was thinking solely of His human birth, and not of His heavenly Father; and this mistake He would correct”[1] (PNT).
The scriptures themselves emphasize the importance of God’s Word in our lives. And the Word of God always gives us good teaching in the proper balance.
We need to be reading the Word for ourselves – a baby needs to eat to grow (1 Peter 2:2).
We need to be taught the Word—for we need guidance in our doctrine (Acts 8:31).
We need to be under the sound of the Word through trustworthy Bible preaching—to challenge our hearts (Titus 1:3).
Don’t just read it but believe it! We must believe what the Word says.
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians (2:13).
“And keep it.”
Secondly, the blessed person is the one who does what the Word of God says. Believe it, and keep it by doing it.
2) Obeying-doing.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
Jesus asked this question of those who said they “followed” Him,
“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…” (Luke 6:46).
If Jesus is my Lord and Master, how can I ever tell Him no? This is unthinkable! I must obey Him always. The one who tells Jesus “no!” is no disciple of His!
“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 22:14).
Who does Jesus say are in God’s family?
“And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21).
“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 you think that you are a believer, and you can live without the Word of God, there is something terribly wrong in your relationship with Jesus.
Quote: “And this is love, that we should walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, even as ye heard from the beginning that ye should walk in it” (2 John 1:6).
[1] Popular New Testament, A Popular Commentary on the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.