Demand #6 – Listen to Me
He called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.”
—Mark 7:14
As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
—Luke 8:8
Take care then how you hear.
—Luke 8:18
And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
—Luke 10:38-42
The New Testament does a good job of explaining why we should spend time listening to Jesus and also a good job of explaining why so many turn on the TV instead.
Characteristic 1: No One Ever Spoke Like This Man
Jesus was a threat to those who would not acknowledge Him and His words changed those who listened to them. The Pharisees “sent officers to arrest him” (John 7:32) but that didn’t work because the officers came back without Jesus because His teaching was so stunning. “The officers . . . came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’ The officers answered, ‘No one ever spoke like this man!’” (John 7:45-46).
Characteristic 2: Jesus Speaks the Very Words of God
When Jesus taught, “the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29). This wasn’t just His personality or the method He used to teach. His words had (and continue to have) authority and power, Jesus says, because they are the words of God. “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49). “What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:50; cf. 8:28). “The word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14:24). Jesus’ teaching was what God wanted spoken, by Him, at that time and at that place.
Characteristic 3: Jesus’ Words Silence Supernatural Powers
In addition to the right word, at the right time, and in the right place, the words of Jesus carried the authority of force. Imagine a general speaking an order while standing in a desert with no one to hear him. Nothing happens. When Jesus spoke an order the universe heard Him. He has two complete natures, one human and one divine. He was heard when He spoke. Jesus met a demon possessed man he rebuked him and said, “Be silent, and come out of him!” (Mark 1:25). When the demon convulsed the man and came out, the crowd was amazed and said, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (Mark 1:27). This same power of Jesus’ word healed leprosy (Matt. 8:3), deafness (Mark 7:34-35), and blindness (Matt. 9:28-30). And most remarkable of all, with a simple word three times Jesus raised the dead. “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:41-42); “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14-15); “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43-44). I had some friends who knew a woman who had cancer and told everyone that God had told her that He wouldn’t heal her but that He would raise her from the dead. Well her funeral turned into a bit of a circus from what I heard. But I bet nobody just walked up and said, “Woman, I say to you, arise” … except God who already had her with Him and was explaining that she misunderstood the nature of promised resurrection.
Characteristic 4: Jesus’ Words Bring Eternal Life
That brings us to the most important reason to listen and that is because His words lead to eternal life. Jesus commands some hard things to hear. His disciples found some of Jesus’ teachings hard to listen to and “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” So Jesus said to the twelve apostles whom he had chosen, “Do you want to go away as well?” To which Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:66-68).
They weren’t following Jesus because He was fun to listen to. Jesus said “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The words bring life because Jesus’ words regenerate dead hearts. It is the word of God through the Jesus that the Holy Spirit brings in revival. You can’t package it or program it anymore than you can put a hurricane in a box. Does His Word find a place in you? We can constantly be seeking God and asking Him to remove the hard places in our life so that His Word will find a place to take root and grow (Luke 8:12). Scripture says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. We want our abundance to be the Word and not our flesh. The Word and its place in our heart is a key to believing.
In our salvation, Jesus Word begins by conviction by revealing who we are, the depth of our sin, and the beauty of God’s Grace so that Jesus says, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24).
Why do so many people not hear what Jesus is saying? Jesus said to his most bitter adversaries, “You seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you” (John 8:37). That is a striking phrase: “My word finds no place in you.” God often prepares us before salvation by a series of seemingly random events that we look back on and see God’s sovereign hand. Apart from God’s mercy we would be just as blind as Pilate when confronted with Jesus saying “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37) cynically said “What is truth?” Pilate was deaf and blind to Jesus as He said “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
Jesus tells us that people are “of the truth” if they listen to Jesus. Jesus describes these two kinds of listeners with two other phrases: If they do not hear they are not “of God,” (John 8:47) and if they hear they are his “sheep.” This is frightening to realize that our sins make us deaf to the truth. We like to think we are balanced and fair minded. We like to think we were good listeners and found the Gospel to be a good deal. Scripture tells us that we were selfish and dull of hearing and stubborn but God, who is rich in mercy, gives us ears to hear and eyes to see according to His Grace.
This explains why Jesus said:
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Luke 10:21-22)
“My Sheep Hear My Voice”
Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Therefore, it is a source of peace and assurance to us when we listen to his voice. We need to be like Mary and sit at his feet (Luke 10:39, 42). God gave a general command to disciples like you from the Mount of Transfiguration when He said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matt. 17:5).
You can’t waste your time on the Word of God. He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). Embrace the Word since He promises that “These things I have spoken to you . . . that your joy may be full” (John 15:11; cf. 17:13).
Demand #7 – Abide in Me
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
—John 15:4
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
—John 15:9
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
—John 8:31-32
Independence from Christ is not a goal for a Christian. Most of us would acknowledge that to be the case intellectually and yet most of us do not focus our time in a way that shows we are fully aware of our need for Christ. Consequently, our stated beliefs are not in accord with our actions and decisions. Our actions typically show our heart more reliably than our statements.
To respond to this demand of Jesus we really need to change our attitude toward “our” time. First of all we need to realize that once we have a “Lord” we really don’t have any of “our” time. That is hard to come to grips with but our only personal time is time granted to us by the Lord. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He knows what it takes for us to live and He knows our weaknesses. He is a wonderful Lord to serve but He is Lord of heaven and earth. Remember the attitude that Jesus spoke about Luke 17:7-10.
Luke 17:7-10 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
This has application to the fundamental place of prayer and meditation in our lives. Working for Jesus doesn’t free us up from God’s command to seek Him in prayer and meditation and of course we do have a spiritual need for prayer and meditation. This is a lifelong command and a lifelong need.
Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). This abiding in the Word in a moment by moment way and in a focus on the Word of God within our lifestyle is part of discipleship. Only a false disciple is without this discipline. Past experience with God is not meant to sustain you or substitute for service today.
The meaning of Jesus demand to, “Abide in me” is fairly straightforward and can be translated “stay” or “continue” or “dwell.” The context of this demand is the example of a vine and its branches. Jesus compares himself to the vine, and us to branches: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5) The main point of the analogy is that power to bear fruit— that is, power to live a fruitful life of Christ-like love (John 15:12).
As a biologist I really like this analogy and God in His sovereignty has taken essentially all the roles needed for growth. One thing that I’ve never really gotten tired of thinking about when I see a forest is that essentially all of the dry matter I see came from the air. The Greek word for air is the word used for the Spirit. The energy comes from the Sun, the Light of the World. The center of the chemical that makes it possible for the branch to use the Sun’s energy is a mineral that come from the soil which ultimately comes from the Solid Rock as do all the minerals that are needed for growth. The Vine provides Living Water for the branch. Do you see how God has taken over all aspects of this analogy?
Real branches are too bright to separate themselves from the vine but when one is cut off the first thing you notice is nothing. Then the branch will turn away from the light, close small pores (which you can’t see), and then curl to avoid air. So the light (a biblical symbol of Christ) and air (a biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit) become something to avoid when the branch is not abiding in the Vine. We see this in the lives of Christians who fail to abide in Christ and then separate themselves from the Body of Christ and then fail to produce fruit for Him.
Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10) meaning that fruit is the result of our being connected to the vine. If you don’t keep the commandments of Jesus (bear the fruit of love; for love is the sum of his commandments, John 15:12) then you have ceased to abide in him. Jesus said “Whoever abides in me . . . bears much fruit” (John 15:5) so the abiding gives us the ability to bear an abundance of fruit.
Practically, How Do We Abide in Jesus?
1) Abide in His Love.
To abide in Jesus’ love means that we continually trust that He loves us. We never allow our circumstances to separate us from the trust in His love. That is how those martyrs who have gone before us and those who will likely be made martyrs today walk in victory. Moment by moment, as difficult as life may be, we trust that everything in our lives is under Jesus’ sovereign authority (Matt. 8:8) and is somehow part of his love for us. In our day to day needs Jesus reassures us telling us “That’s how my Father cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field; how much more you!” (cf. Matt. 6:26-30). In the really big trials he says, “Fear not, the worst that can happen is death, and I have overcome death. I will be with you to the end. And you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (cf. Matt. 10:28; 28:20; John 11:25-26; Luke 14:14). To abide in Jesus’ love means to trust that these things are true moment by moment. This trust in the love of Christ keeps you in right relationship with God and you will be able to grow and bear fruit.
2) Abide in His Word.
“Abide in my word” (John 8:31) does not just mean “Keep my commandments” but in a larger sense means to “Keep on trusting what I have revealed to you about myself and my Father and my work” (John 8:31-32) so that we’ll not be bond in the slavery that sin produces (John 8:34). Being free from sin is the fruit of abiding in the Word. So we need to know and trust in all that Jesus has revealed about Himself and His work.
We should find it as natural as a branch to stay in the vine but our sin nature is in opposition to the work of God in our life. Jesus will not leave us alone and God will discipline us to keep us abiding in the Vine. The enemy of your soul will also oppose your walk in God and we are to pray for God to “deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). We are responsible for abiding but Jesus is the one who keeps us. Our eternal security depends on Him and not, fortunately, on us. We know this because Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29).” Jesus prayed “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me. . . . While I was with them, I kept them in your name . . . and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:11-12).
Jesus knows how weak we are and how we need to Him. He knew beforehand that Simon Peter would deny Him three times on the night before his death. Jesus said, with sovereign authority to Simon Peter “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). We can trust in the security of our salvation because of God’s sovereign power. Intercession for each of us is ongoing and needed.
On this point, note that we have John 15:1-2, 6: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . . If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” So how do we understand that verse in the context of the rest of Scripture? The most natural explanation is that, like the tares and the wheat, there are those who appear to be branches (like Judas) but are not branches and they will be visibly removed from the Church one day (so they were never saved but they may have been Church members). Also there are those who were separated from the Church and have no true spiritual life and their separation from God is evident now (so they were never saved and never Church members).
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