We're going to have a lunch together
after the service today. I'm looking forward to that.
Everyone, please stay and we'll have a time of fellowship together.
And we will not be having services this evening. I've entitled this message true
blessedness. Let's read verse 27 of Luke chapter
11 once again. And it came to pass as he spake
these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her
voice and said unto him, blessed is the womb that bare thee and
the paps which thou have sucked. Now who would deny that? What a blessing. Now, us men
can't much imagine this, I don't think we can much get a hold
of this, but you women, every woman in here, what if the Lord
chose you to bear the Son of God? What if you were the one? Wouldn't that be a state of blessedness? To be chosen by God to bear His
Son. To have His Son in your womb. for nine months to be the mother
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What greater blessing could there
be? Look in Luke chapter one, what
was said of Mary. No one would disagree with this
woman when she cried out, blessed is the womb that bear thee and
the paps that thou has sucked. No one would dare deny that this
was a great state of blessedness. In Luke chapter one, verse 28,
we read in the angel came unto her and said, hail thou that
art highly favored. Much graced is the word. Much graced. The Lord is with
thee. Blessed art thou among women. Look in verse 46 of the same
chapter. This is Mary speaking after the
angel has appeared to her again. And Mary said, my soul doth magnify
the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath regarded the lowest
state of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done
to me great things, and holy is his name. What a blessing
to be the Lord's mother, and how the Lord loved his mother.
You know, even from the cross, he said to John, he was taking
care of his mother's needs. And he said to John, behold,
thy mother. He loved his mother. He wanted
her taken care of. And he said to his mother, behold,
thy son. And while she was highly favored
through this great blessing, she was highly pained watching
her son nailed to a tree. She had a a double portion of pain. Not
only was this her savior, this was her son in the flesh. And she had to watch him nailed
to a tree. You remember when Simeon said,
a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also. Now, when this woman uttered
these words, who would think of denying them? Yes, blessed
is the wound that bare thee and the paps that thou has sucked.
We agree. But look how our Lord answered
this woman. This is amazing. Verse 28, but
he said, yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of
God and keep it. This is something that is more
blessed. If you and I hear the Word of
God this morning, if that's what takes place, this is more blessed
than that blessing that Mary experienced. Now, the Lord said
that, not me. Isn't that an amazing, awesome
thing to be able, by the grace of God, to hear the Word of God
and to keep it? Now, first, there is something
called the Word of God. And this something is a someone
in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and
the word was God. Now the word of God. He says, blessed are they to
hear the word of God. First of all, the word of God is the written
word of God. That book you have in your hands,
that book that I'm preaching from, that book that you're reading
is the word of God. That is why it's authoritative. Here's my authority. This is
God's Word. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works. Isaiah said in Isaiah
chapter 8 verse 20, to the law and to the testimony. If they
speak not according to this word, this written word, this testimony,
the word of God, it's because there's no light in them. So here is the authority. This
is God's Word. The Word of God is the living
Word. God hath in these last days spoken
by His Son. The Word, John 1, 14, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The Word of God is quick, living,
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
asunder to the dividing of the soul and the spirit, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The living
Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's what God says. He's who
God says. The Word of God is the gospel message. It's the
actual content of the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Now, I just quoted that scripture,
the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword. Is that talking about The written
word? Yes. Is that talking about the
living word? Yes. Is that talking about the
message, the gospel message, the word? Yes. All three, the
word of God. If by the grace of God, I'm enabled
to hear the word of God and keep it That's a greater blessing
than that glorious blessing that Mary experienced in being privileged
to bear the Son of God. Preachers are called ministers
of the Word. The seed that was sown in the
parable of the sower is called the Word of God. The Word It's
called the word of truth. The Lord actually called it in
John 17, thy word is truth. It's called the word of faith. You and I won't have faith apart
from his word. It's called the word of promise. This is God's
promise. That interests me, doesn't it
interest you? This is something God has promised. It's called
the word of his grace in the scripture. It's called the word
of the kingdom. It's called the word of reconciliation. How God can be reconciled to
me and embrace me. It's called the word of righteousness. It's called the more sure word
of prophecy. It's the words of which Christ
said, the words that I speak unto you are spirit and life. That's what these words are,
spirit and life. Aren't you thankful for the word
of God? Turn with me for a moment to
first Peter chapter one. First Peter chapter one. Peter says in verse 22, seeing
that you have purified your souls, in obeying the truth through
the spirit unto unfeigned, unfaked, genuine love of the brethren.
See that you love one another with a pure heart fervently. And here's how that's going to
be done being born again. Not of corruptible seed of man
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God. That's the word
we're speaking of. This is the word that we're blessed
in hearing. By the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And he quotes a passage of scripture
from Isaiah 40 as to what the word is, the content of the message
for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man is the flower
of grass. The grass withers, the flower
thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord The word of
God endures forever and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. Now this is exactly what he's
talking about when he says, yea rather blessed are they that
hear the word of God. Now let me say this about this
thing of hearing the word of God. Do you know if you can hear, you're blessed. There are many people who cannot
hear and note the language I used. It's true they won't hear, and
it's true they cannot hear. They lack the ability to hear. Our Lord said, blessed is he
that hath ears to hear. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Not everybody has ears to hear. There are people in this congregation
right now, I don't know this for sure, I hope it's not so,
But generally, in a congregation, there will be those who cannot
hear. Look in John 8 for just a moment. Beginning in verse 37. The Lord says, I know that you're
Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me because my word the word we've been speaking
of, hath no place in you. I speak that which I've seen
with my father, and you do that which you've seen with your father.
They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father. Jesus saith
unto them, if you were Abraham's children, you'd do the works
of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man that hath told
you the truth, which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham,
you do the deeds of your father. They said, Then said they to
him, We be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
Jesus saith unto them, If God were your father, you'd love
me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot. You lack the ability. You are
unable to hear my word. You are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father you'll do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth
in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he's
a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
he gave them the word of God, you believe me not. Which of
you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why don't
you believe me? He that's of God, heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. That's a solemn scripture, isn't
it? Let's look at one other, Matthew chapter 13, beginning in verse nine. He said in verse nine, who hath
ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said
unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered
and said unto them, because it's given unto you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of God, but to them, it is not given. God withheld it from them for
whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more
abundance. But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing you shall hear, and
shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not
perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest at
any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted,
and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for
they see, and your ears, for they hear. Now do you see what
a blessing from God it is to be able to hear the Word of God. And I'm not just talking about
hearing audibly. You can hear the Word of God audibly and it
can do you absolutely no good at all. You can just sit there
like a stone wooden Indian and it won't do a thing for you.
You're not hearing with hearing ears. Now, what does it mean to hear
the Word of God? The Lord said, blessed are they
that hear the word of God. What does it mean to hear the
word of God? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. Well, first thing is I got to
hear the gospel. You see, the gospel has a specific
content. And if it's not preached, the
gospel is not preached. I might hear something from the
word of God, quoting the word of God, speaking of the living
word of God, using his name without ever preaching the word of God.
What is the word of God? Now, Peter quoted it there in
first Peter chapter one. We've already read that, but
he quoted this passage from Isaiah chapter 40. Let's turn over there
for a moment. I want you to see this. Isaiah
chapter 40. Verse 6, the voice said, cry. And he said,
what shall I cry? That's a good question, isn't
it? I mean, if God says, preach,
you know what I'm going to say? What do you want me to preach?
What am I supposed to say? What shall I cry? The voice said,
cry. And I said, what? Tell me. I'll say it. All flesh is grass. That is talking about the absolute
sinfulness and worthlessness of fallen humanity. All flesh is as grass. What do you do with cut down
grass? Throw it away. It's worthless. Cry, what? All flesh is grass
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of grass. The
grass withers, the flower fades because the spirit of the Lord
blows upon it. Surely the people is grass, cut
down grass. What do we do with cut down grass?
We put it in the herby and throw it away. The grass withers, the flower
falls, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. What's the
only thing that will stand before God? The Word of God Himself,
Jesus Christ, the Lord. The only thing that's going to
make this grass acceptable is the Word of God, the Lord. He's the only one who stands
the test of God's judgment. Oh, if me or you are put before
God's judgment, we're going to be burned up like withered grass.
But there's one who stands, the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of
God shall stand forever. Now that's our message. All flesh
is grass. Don't you know that so? When
I say that, don't you know that so regarding you? And the only
thing that'll stand before thrice holy God, the God of the Bible,
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God. So first, to hear the Word of
God is to hear the gospel message. Oh, may it be so regarding every
time I preach that I preach the gospel. But secondly, it's to
hear the Word of God in power. It's not just hearing the Word
of God audibly. When you hear, it does something to you. That's
what it means to hear the Word of God in power. It does something
to you. It's not like hearing a lecture
and being given proper information. If that's all that's going on,
it's not doing you any good at all. It's hearing the Word of
God in power. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. In verse
4, Paul makes this remarkable statement to the church at Thessalonica.
He says, Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Now, that's
quite a statement, isn't it? I know that you are God's elect. I know that God chose you before
time began to be saved. Now Paul, how do you know? Do
you have access into the Lamb's Book of Life where you can see
the names written there? No. Here's how I know. Verse five, for our gospel came
not unto you in word only, but also in power. Power. It did something to you. And that something we're going
to consider a little bit more in a few moments is faith and
repentance. It did something to you. It created
something in you, in power. And what's he say next? He says,
in the Holy Ghost, it's only by the Holy Spirit that you and
I can hear the gospel, that you and I can hear the word of God.
It's only as God, the Holy Spirit enables us and in much assurance. Power, the Holy Spirit, and much
assurance. And let me tell you this, that
much assurance does not mean I've got much assurance that
I'm saved. Doesn't have anything to do with assurance of personal
salvation. You're sure it's the Word of God. That's what it means. Well, I'm not sure what you're
preaching is the Word of God. Well, God isn't speaking to you then.
I mean, that's all I can say. If God's speaking to you, you
know it's the Word of God. It comes to you in power and
in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Turn the page to 1
Thessalonians 2, verse 13. He says, For this cause also
thank we God without ceasing, because when you receive the
Word of God, which you heard of us, you 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. Now, if all I hear
is the preacher's opinion, if I listen to the preacher to see
whether or not I agree or disagree, or whether I, if that's all that's
going on, I might be hearing audibly the content, but I'm
not hearing the gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit.
When you hear the gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit,
you know this is God's message. It's not just the preacher's
opinion or the church's beliefs. This is nothing less than the
very Word of God. It comes as words of life. Turn
to John 6. I've quoted this scripture, but I want you to look at it
again. John 6. Verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue
as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples,
when they had heard, said, this is a hard saying. Who can hear
it? Who can be expected to listen
to such teaching as this? It's harsh. It's lifeless. It's not doing us any good. Who
can listen to stuff like this? What had he been saying? Well,
if you look at that chapter, you see where he clearly brought
out what we call the doctrine of grace. He clearly brought
out in that chapter, the total depravity of man, unconditional
election of the father, the effectual redemption of the son for his
people, invincible, irresistible grace. Read it for yourself in
John chapter six. That's what he was preaching.
And their response was, we don't like this. When Jesus knew in
Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth
this offend you? What? And if you shall see the Son
of Man ascend up where He was before? I love the way He says
this. He says, If you're offended now, if you're offended now,
you're really going to be offended when you see Me ascend back up
as the Lord of lords and kings and kings and you see exactly
who I am. You'll be offended then. He said, verse 63, it's
the spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing, the words
that I speak unto you, their spirit and their life. Now that's what the word of God
is. You know, you find, let me ask you a question. When we talk
about grace, when we talk about God, choosing of people to salvation. Is that, is that words of life
to you? Or is it just dry doctrine? Rehearsing the same old thing,
you know, just barrel out the same old thing. Or is it you
find the only way you can be saved is for God to choose you
to salvation. When you hear of Christ's effectual
atonement for his elect, is that words of life to you? That's,
that's the only way you can be accepted is if he died for you.
Is it words of life? When you hear that God's grace
is irresistible and invincible, that's the only kind of grace
will save me. Words of spirit and words of life. Now, back to our text in Luke
chapter 11. I want you to listen as the Lord
enables you real carefully what I'm getting ready to say about
this. In verse 28, when he says, yea
rather blessed are they that hear the word of God. This word here serves as both
an adjective and a verb. It describes who you are and
it tells what you do. That's what that word is in the
original. It's used as both an adjective
and a verb. And it is in the present tense. You could read it just as easily. Blessed are those hearing. Present tense. Hearing is always in the present. Not you heard. I remember when
I heard a sermon and, oh, I... Yesterday's manna does what? It breeds worms and stinks, and
it can't do you any good at all. Faith is in the present. Who are you looking to right
now? That's the only issue. Right now. Blessed are those hearing. Do you hear the gospel now? Don't think about what might
take place tomorrow. You know, we can't do anything
tomorrow. One thing for sure about tomorrow is we can't make
any intentions about tomorrow. Because we don't know if we'll
be here. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not
what a day may bring forth. Two false refuges is the past. I must be saved because blank
in the past. or the future. I'm going to do
this. I'm going to get things straightened
out. Those are false refuges. Blessed are those hearing. Now, here's what always accompanies
true hearing. If I'm hearing the Word of God,
and remember the Lord said, blessed are they that hear the Word of
God and keep it. If I'm hearing the Word of God,
I repent. I changed my mind. Isn't it a
blessed thing to have your mind changed? And you know, if you
ever have your mind changed, you know the Lord did it. You
were thinking a certain way, and you couldn't stop it. You
were thinking a certain way, and all of a sudden, you think
differently. Your mind has been changed. You repent. That's what repentance
means. It means a change of mind. Now,
understand this. Not one time in the Word of God
do we read, repent of your sins. Do you know that phrase is not
in the scriptures? Repent of your sins. Now, we should change
our mind regarding our sins. Don't get me wrong, but repentance
primarily is a change of mind concerning God, self, and salvation. It's a change of mind concerning
God. When you hear the Word of God,
you change your mind concerning Him. You're no longer mad at
Him. You justify Him. You believe Him. You say, this
is who He is. I was thinking wrong. I was wrong. You know, our thoughts are wrong,
aren't they? They're just wrong. And you repent. You repent of your thoughts about
yourself. You used to think there's certain things you could do and
would do. But you don't think that anymore.
Your mind has been changed. You think you're nothing but
sin in and of yourself. And your mind has changed concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. You say salvation
is of the Lord. You really believe that. You
repent. And that will always lead This
change, and let me say this, I know this word is used loosely,
but it's a radical change of mind. It's a radical change. And it'll lead to a change of
manners or conduct. It'll lead to a change of motives,
but it is a change of mind. Lord, change my mind. Change
my mind about yourself. Change my mind about myself.
Change my mind about sin. Repentance. Repentance. And you know what always comes
with repentance? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Word of God is heard,
is believed, is relied on. That's what faith is. It's hearing
the Word of God. It's believing the Word of God.
It's relying upon the Word of God. Now, I know this. All my hope comes from what is
exactly stated in this book. I'm, you know, I would not dare
want you to believe something simply because I said it. I want
you to see if it's in the Word of God. Everything that this
church is about is the Word of God. And if that's not everything
it's about, we ought to close the doors down. There's no point
in our existence. The Word of God. Now, faith is
hearing and believing and relying upon the Word of God. Here's
a few examples of that. Colossians 2 verses 9 and 10
says, in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in him. And beloved, this is what I'm
relying on, that I'm complete, lacking nothing in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I believe that. I'm relying on
that, that all that God requires of me, he looks to Christ for.
I'm relying on this. By one offering, He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctifying. I'm relying on the fact that
His offering actually may be perfect before I was even born.
I'm relying on that. That's all my salvation before
God. I believe it. I believe that
when He said it is finished, it was finished. And I'm relying
on that. When he said it's finished, it
was finished. First Timothy 1.15 says, this
is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. I believe that and I'm relying
on it. I'm relying on the fact that
he came to save sinners. I'm one of them. He came to save
me. 1 John 5 verse 1 says, Whoso
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. I believe He's
the Christ. I believe He's God's prophet.
I believe He's the Word of God. I believe He's God's priest.
If He brings me into God's presence, I must be accepted. I believe
He's the King. God's King. My King. I need Him
as King. I'm relying on Him being the
Christ. I love that scripture where Paul
said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Well, I do believe He's the Lord. He's the Lord. He's in control. He's Jesus. He's the Savior. He's the Christ. I believe He's
the Christ. I believe He's the Lord. I believe
He's the Savior. I believe He's the Christ. I'm relying on Him
being my Lord, my Savior, and my Christ. Ephesians 2. 8 says, by grace are you saved. Well, I believe that and I'm
relying on that, aren't you? I'm relying on the freeness of
His grace to save me. So hearing the Word of God is
first hearing the Word of God, the content of the gospel message.
It's hearing in power, hearing in a way that produces faith. and repentance. And if you hear
how blessed you are of God, but the last thing I want us to notice
in our text, verse 28 of Luke chapter 11, yea rather blessed
are they that hear the word of God. And look at those last three
words and keep it. If I don't keep it, it's not
a blessing to me to hear the word of God. It's a curse. Blessed are they that hear the
word of God and keep it. And once again, the word keep
is in the present tense. It's what you're doing right
now. It's not what you did yesterday. It's not what you intend to do
tomorrow. You're right now presently keeping the word of God. Now, the word keep has two meanings. One, to guard over. to watch
over, to protect. You keep a prison. If you keep
a prison, that doesn't mean you're keeping it in your possession.
That means you're guarding to make sure the prisoners don't
get out. If you're guarding your house, you're making sure no
enemies come in. It has the idea of keeping, and
watching, and guard overing, and it has the idea of keeping
a commandment. If you keep a commandment, the
Lord said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Now, the gospel
is to be obeyed. You know, obedience, the word obedience
has as its root to hear. To hear. To hear the gospel is
to obey the gospel. To believe the gospel. If I don't
hear and obey, I don't believe. Now, I do believe on the Lord. This is His commandment, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a commandment I keep. This is His commandment that
you love one another. This is a commandment that I
keep. As a matter of fact, in Christ,
I love thinking about this too. When we talk about the Ten Commandments
in Christ, I've kept them all. That's why, you know, people
say, well, y'all try to keep the law. I don't try to keep
the law, I've kept it. In Christ Jesus the Lord, I've kept it.
When He kept the law, I kept the law. We keep the Word of
God. Obey the word of God, we obey
the gospel. Now let's consider this thing
of guarding. What do you guard over with earnest care? That which is precious to you. If you give me a dollar bill,
I'll take a dollar. I'll take a dollar, but you know
what? If I lose it, I'm not gonna lose that much sleep over it.
You can't hardly even get a candy bar for a dollar. There are some things that are
just not all that precious. But what is it that's precious
to you that you can't live without? That you must have. Precious. In Psalm 119, the longest Psalm,
longest chapter in the Bible, every verse, I wish you'd think
about this the next time you read Psalm 119, every verse has
to do with the word of God. 176 verses, every verse has to
do with the word of God. And the writer of this Psalm
made statements like this, I trust in thy word. Thy word hath quickened me, hath
given me life. I have hoped in thy word. My hope is in what he has said
in his word. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Order my steps in thy word. Thy word is very pure. My heart standeth in awe at thy
word. I rejoice in thy word as one
that findeth great spoil. I esteem all thy precepts and
all things to be right, and I hate every false way. Now, if you
love the true, you hate the false. If you don't hate the false,
You don't love the true. Now, loving his word and loving
him go together. You know, that's why this thing
of the gospel is personal. It's personal. I mean, when someone
says something contrary to the word of God, contrary to my Redeemer,
I take it personally. Because that's my Lord. If someone
says something bad about my wife, well, you ought to be gracious
and, you know, just get... No. Not if you love somebody. They can't speak contrary if
somebody you love and you just, well, you know, I'll just...
No. It's personal. You know when
people are so lax and they think, well, you're being too strict.
That's because of either no love or lack of love to the person
of Christ. If you love Christ, you can't bear for him to be
dishonored by what is being said regarding him. And as far as
that goes, you can't bear hearing your hope diminished. Like, once
again, my only hope, I say this all the time, I hope I die saying
this all the time, my only hope is that Christ died for me. That's
the only hope I have. The only reason I'll be accepted
is because Christ died for me. Now, if you tell me he can die
for somebody and they wind up in hell, well, you're taking
away the only hope I have. I take this personally. I surely
do. I hope I always do. I hope I, oh may God give me
grace to always in walking with Christ to take all this personally.
You guard over his words because you find in his words All your
hope, you know that nobody will be saved apart from his words.
Desire the sincere, the pure milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. You know there's no growth apart from his word. We guard over his words because
we love everything he said. Now, the doctrine of the gospel.
The word of God. Blessed are they who hear the
Word of God and keep it. They believe God's Word and they
guard over those words because they're precious to them. In John chapter six, after the
Lord said, the words that I speak to you, their spirit and their
life, but you don't receive them. Let's turn here. This is what
we're going to close with. John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Verse 63, It's
the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, the
words that I speak unto you, their spirit and their life. But, There are some of you that
believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that
believed not, who should betray him. And he said, therefore said
I unto you that no man can come to me, except it were given unto
him of my father. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. They claimed to be
his disciples, but this made them walk no more with him that
proved they were not disciples indeed. Then said Jesus unto
the 12, will you also go away? I think that's one of the most
awesome things to think about. The Lord watched 5,000 people
leave him. And he looked at the 12 and he
said, you fellas want to leave too? The Lord's not going to
have any unwilling disciples. He's not. Now look at Peter's
reply, and he replies as the spokesman of all of those who
believe. Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, where would we go? You say, do
you want to go? We don't have any plans. You
want us to go back to the law? Back to the world? Where would we
go? These words that they find to be harsh, the words that thou
hast spoken, thou hast the words of eternal life. Verse 69, and
we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son
of the living God. We don't wanna go anywhere. Mary was blessed. Would anybody
deny that, how blessed she was? But you know who's more blessed?
those who hear the word of God and keep it. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might be. We ask that everybody in this
room, by your grace, by your mercy, Oh Lord, we ask that everybody outside of this room, by your grace and your mercy,
might be people who hear the word of God and keep it. Lord, that's thy work and thine
alone, but oh, how that we might be among those that you have
blessed, hearing thy word and keeping it. In Christ's name
we pray, amen.