Hear and Obey

By Andrew Williams – April 4, 2021

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Matthew 7:24‭-‬27 NKJV



INTRODUCTION

Matthew 7:24 says, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock”. We live in a world that places a high value on education both in the secular and the church worlds. As children of God being taught to be Disciples of Christ, sometimes what we learn / hear we don’t know how to put into practice, or we are not taught how to put them into practice. Today I want to talk about a few of the things that Jesus said that we should put into practice.



LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37‭-‬40 NKJV

Jesus said that when we hear His commandments and do them that we will be like the wise man. Jesus repeated this when He said in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Here comes the questions!

1. Do you love God with your ‘everything’?

2. Do you love your neighbor as you love yourself? And,

3. Do you love others the same way that Jesus loves you?

I IMPLORE YOU TO DEEPLY PONDER THESE QUESTIONS FOR A WHILE BEFORE READING ANY FURTHER !

As we read the Bible we realize that the overarching theme of the Bible is LOVE: the love of God for mankind, the love that man needs to show to God, and as beings made in the image of God we should also love one another. As I write this I have paused so many times to ponder these questions written above, and I realize that it is only in the power of the Holy Spirit that I can put “love” into practice. I pray that we will all submit and surrender to God’s rule in our lives so that we can fulfill this great command to love one another.



GO MAKE DISCIPLES

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 NKJV

Jesus was God made human and He came to teach us everything that Father God told Him to. He modeled for us the lifestyle that we should live and He taught this to His disciples. When He was leaving Earth He gave the command to go and make disciples. A disciple is someone who learns his master’s teachings and lifestyle, and it is the duty of that disciple to continue making other disciples who will make disciples.

My questions are these:

1. “Are you a disciple of Christ?”
-When people hear and see you, do they see Christ in you?
-Do you live in total surrender, submission, and obedience to God?

2. “Are you making disciples?”
-Are you teaching and modeling the Christlike life to others who learn to faithfully doing the same?



WALK IN POWER

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4‭-‬5 NKJV

The gift of the Father : His Holy Spirit, is the person of the godhead who empowers us to do the work of ministry here on earth. With Him in our lives we can witness properly and do the things that Jesus did, because the Holy Spirit also empowered Jesus during His earthly ministry. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are empowered to be God’s witnesses and to do the mighty works that Jesus himself did.

In the following passage Peter testified about Jesus’s life here on Earth. Acts 10:38 states, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” When we are anointed with the Holy Spirit we are empowered to do good and heal those who are oppressed by the devil.

Do you have the Holy Spirit In You? Are you walking in His power as you live your life, and as you witness about Jesus Christ in your community?



CONCLUSION – OBEY

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Today we looked at three commandments that Jesus gave:

1. Love God and love others!

2. Go, Make disciples! and,

3. Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit!

As we live our lives, let it be marked by love, characterized by disciple making, and empowered by God’s Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Father God, we have heard the commands that Your son gave. Help us to be fully obedient to them as we turn our focus from hearing to obeying what we have heard. We now go out to make disciples in the power and anointing of Your Holy Spirit, thus showing our love for You and our love to others. Amen.