Would you turn to Luke chapter
8? While you're turning there, Andy Davis is going to be preaching
for us tonight. He's helping me out since he
and Paul and I spent the week up in Pittsburgh and he'll be
bringing the message tonight. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Mother and the Brethren of Jesus. Luke chapter 8 verse 19. Then came to him his mother and
his brethren. And could not come at him for
the press. And it was told him by certain,
which said thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring
to see thee. And he answered and said unto
them. My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word
of God and do it. The Lord was preaching in a crowded
room and his earthly mother, Mary, and his earthly brethren,
could not get in the room, but they greatly desired for him
to come to them. They wanted to say something
to him. And while the Lord was speaking,
someone interrupted him and told him that his mother and his brethren
were without desiring to see him. And the Lord answered, My mother and my brethren are
these which hear the word of God and do it. That's who his mother and that's
who his brethren are. Now in both Matthew and Mark's
account, he says, whosoever shall do the will of my father, which
is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister. And mother
in our text says, my mother and my brethren are those which hear
the word of God and do it. Now, obviously the first emphasis
is the word of God. His mother and brethren are those
who hear the word of God. Now, what is meant by the word
of God? The word of God. Not the word of man. Not man's
thoughts, not man's opinion, not man's take, not man's twist,
but the word of God. Paul said in Galatians 1.13,
I certify you, brethren, I assure you, brethren, that the gospel
which was preached of me was not after man. It was not derived from any human
source. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Now that is the word of God,
not the word of man, but the word of God. Now, the word of
God is the truth concerning the character of God almighty. The word of God is the truth
concerning the character of man. The word of God is the truth
concerning salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Paul
said to Timothy, Timothy, preach the word. That's preaching the
word of God, preaching the true character of God, the absolute
sovereignty of God, the justice of God, the holiness of God,
the power of God, the wisdom of God. That's who he is. God's
God. We preach the God of the Bible.
We preach the true character of man, dead in sins, unable
to save himself or to do anything to contribute to his own salvation.
We preach the truth concerning salvation, salvations of the
Lord. That's the word of God. Salvations of the father and
eternal election, salvations of the son in successful redemption,
salvation of the spirit in invincible, irresistible grace. Now that's
the word of God. And if the word of God is not
preached, no life comes. There's no life. The word of
God. My mother and brethren are those
that hear the word of God and do it. Now in our text, a little bit
of a grammar lesson, the words hearing and doing, my mother
and brethren are those which hear the word of God and do it.
They're both participles. Now participle is a word that
acts both as a verb and an adjective. It describes us and it tells
what we do. That one who is the mother and
brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ is first of all, one who hears
the word of God. That's what he is. And that's
what he does. He hears the word of God. That one who is the mother
and brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ, here's what he does.
He's a doer of the word of God. And here's what he is. He's a
doer of the word of God. He hears and he does. And both of these words, when
our Lord says, my mother and my brethren are those which hear
the word of God and do it. It could just as easily be translated
because it's in the present active. My mother, my brethren are those
who right now are hearing the word of God. and those who right
now are doing the word of God. Now, what do I mean by that?
I'm not asking if you've heard the word of God. I'm asking,
are you hearing the word of God? I'm not asking if you've done
the word of God. Are you doing the word of God? You know, faith is always in
the present. It's always in the present. Don't look to what you
knew. Don't look to the time when you
first learned something. Don't look to something that
is going to happen in the future. Right now. His mother and his
brethren are those hearing right now and doing right now the Word
of God. Now, if there is a disconnect
between hearing and doing, in reality, we do neither. The mother and the brethren of
the Lord Jesus Christ are those who hear and do the Word of God. You see, the truth is something
you do. Now, what's that mean? My mother
and my brethren are those that hear the word of God and do it. The truth is something you do.
It's not just something you give a cent to and say, well, I agree
with that. Well, so what? That doesn't mean anything. If
you agree with it, I mean, that that's not doing the word of
God, just giving a seat to it. So yeah, I see the Bible teaches
that there's something to do with doing the truth. Turn with me to John chapter
three for a moment. Verse 19. And this is the condemnation. That light is come into the world. And men love darkness. Men loved darkness rather than
light. Because their deeds were evil. Now Christ is the light that
has come into the world. And we're going to come back
to that in just a moment. Now turn with me to 1 John 1.
Hold your victory there in John 3. We're coming back to it. Turn
to 1 John 1. This then, verse 5. Remember, light is come into
the world. This then is the message which
we've heard of him and declaring to you that God is light. And in him is no darkness at
all. You see by light, don't you?
Without light, you do not see. God is the light. He gives light
as to who he is, who we are, how he saves. God is light. In
him is no darkness at all. Verse six, if we say we have
fellowship with him, and there's a lot of people who say that,
isn't there? I pray. I pray to God. He hears me. He
answers my prayer. I have fellowship with God. I
love him. He loves me. I have a relationship
with God. I know him. He knows me. Now
we can make that claim. Notice what he says. If we say
that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness. And that's the darkness of salvation
by works. It's what that's a reference
to. It's not talking about sinning in the dark. Now you ought not
sin in the dark, I ought not sin in the dark. I'm not in any
way saying anything like that's okay, but that's not what he's
talking about. He's not talking about some kind of conduct at
this time. He's talking about the darkness of salvation by
works. Oh, it's so dark. Thick Egyptian
night. You can't really see. You can't
see who God is and you can't see who you are if you're walking
in darkness. If we say we have fellowship
with him, I'm one of his. I trust him. If we say we have
fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie. I love the
way John says that, that's real simple, isn't it? We lie, and
look at the next phrase, we do not the truth. You see, the truth
is something you do. Now here's what the doing of
the truth is, look in verse seven, but if we walk in the light,
the light of how God saves sinners by Christ, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Now there's the doing of
truth. Walking in the light of how he saves by Christ. How he saves by his grace. You
know, we walk in the light together. You know what we have? We have
fellowship with one another. It doesn't just mean sitting
around, drinking a cup of coffee together and having a good time
and talking about things. That means we have fellowship
in the gospel. Fellowship with one another. And the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's son cleanses us from all sin. Now that's doing
the truth. Now turn back to John chapter
three, where we're at. Verse 19, let's read it again.
And this is the condemnation. that light is coming to the world
and men love darkness rather than light. And here's why. Because
their deeds were evil for everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Remember when the Lord said in
John chapter seven, verse seven, the world cannot hate you, but
it hates me because I testify that the deeds thereof are evil. Now you know what the light does?
The light shows me. that everything about me is evil. Now that's what the light shows
me. Everything about me, what I am by nature, is evil. And men hate the light because
all the light does is expose all their deeds, not just some
deeds, not just the bad things, but everything as evil. That's why men hate the light.
Verse 21. But he that doeth truth. There's that phrase again. Remember,
the truth is something you do. It's not just something you give
a cent to. It's something you do. He that doeth truth cometh
to the light. He's not afraid of the light.
And here's why. That his deeds might be made
manifest that they're wrought in God. Now that one who does
the truth, he isn't afraid to come to the light because his
deeds are that which God has wrought. It works like this. Paul said, I live, yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. who loved
me and gave himself for me. Now that is the doing of the
truth. You know, I'm not afraid to come to the light because
my deeds are made manifest that they're wrought in God. This
is God's work. You know, if I have faith, you know where I got it?
Him. It came from him. If I have repentance,
you know where I got it? Came from him. It's his work.
If I have love to Him, you know where it came from? Him. If I
have righteousness, you know whose it is? His. And I'm not
afraid to come to the light because it's not my work. Now, if it
was my work, I'd be scared to death. I wouldn't come. I'd stay
away just like everybody else does. But if it's His work, if
my deeds are wrought in God, if it's His work only, I'm not
afraid of the light. I come to the light to have my
deeds manifest. that they are wrought in God. My brethren, our Lord said, my
mother and my brethren are they that hear and do the truth. Now turn with me for a moment
to James chapter one. James chapter one. Verse 18, of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. Now, there's no salvation. There's no life. There's
no beginning apart from the word of truth. I can't emphasize this enough.
All I want is the truth. I want the truth regarding who
God is. I want the truth regarding myself. I want the truth regarding
salvation. And there is no begetting of
spiritual life apart from the word of truth. Of his own will
begat he, birthed he us with the word of truth. Verse 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear. Slow to speak. Slow to wrath. Angry at what God says. For the
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore,
lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and
receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your
souls. That's the hearing and the doing
of the word of God. But look at verse 22. But Be ye doers of the word and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Now, one who is not
a doer, but a hearer only is one who has deceived himself.
You know, I got to thinking about this thing of deceiving yourself. We all ought to be concerned
about self-deception and self-delusion. And the scripture says, he that
trusts his heart, his own heart is a fool. The fact that the
Bible says that our hearts are desperately wicked, deceitful
above all things ought to make us all concerned about this thing
of self-deception and self-delusion. And I fear it, I fear it for
myself. Lord, give me the grace to be
honest before you. Now he says, be ye doers of the
word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. Remember the
mother and brethren of Jesus are those who hear and do, hear
and do the word of God. Now let's go on reading verse
23. But 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. A man looks in the mirror of
the word and he sees himself. And that word natural is literally
the face of his birth. The face of his birth, the nature
he was born with. And what does the mirror of the
word reflect? When he looks into the mirror
of the word, the truth, the mirror of the word shows
man for what he is depraved, evil, dead in trespasses and
sins. without the ability to save himself
or to contribute to his own salvation in any way. Now that's what the
mirror of the word shows me about myself. My natural self. It shows
me that all I am is sin. Sin's my nature. Sin's my name. I'm a sinner by nature. I'm a
sinner by choice. I'm a sinner by birth. I'm a
sinner by practice. Now that's what the mirror of
the word shows me about myself. Do you see that? Do you see that
about yourself? Is that what the mirror of the
word shows you about yourself? Well, if you don't see it, you
haven't seen it in the mirror of the word. Now let's go on
reading verse 23. But if any be a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he's like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass for he beholdeth himself. Verse 24. And he goes his way and straightway
forgets. He forgeteth what manner of man
he was. He goes off and forgets and the
gospel becomes meaningless. Now listen real carefully. You
can only hear the gospel as a sinner. There's no other way to hear
the gospel and the gospel becomes meaningless. If you don't hear
the gospel as what you see in the mirror of the word as a sinner,
the gospel is the only sinner's religion. A sinner is a sacred
thing. The Holy ghost have made him
so. Verse 25, that man forgets. That's the hearer only. He's not a doer. He sees himself
and straightway goes forth and he forgets what manner of man
he was. Really, he forgets he was a sinner, but now he's something
else. He's he's he's better. He's better. He forgets. Verse
25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth
therein. It's only as a sinner looking
into the perfect law of liberty that you, and you continue looking,
do you know the only, oh, may I say this the way it ought to
be said? Um, there's nothing more liberating than being a sinner. And here's why it's only as a
sinner. I can trust Christ as my savior. That's it. It's only as I have
no righteousness that I trust His righteousness. Now that's
continuing in the perfect law of liberty. Isn't it liberating
to not have to look to yourself for anything and to look wholly
to Christ? That's the most liberating thing
in the world. To know that all that God requires of me, He looks
to His Son for because there's nothing in me to look to. That's
liberating. That's, that's freeing. I'm free
to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not free before this, but
it's only looking in that perfect law of liberty and continuing
therein. He being not a forgetful hearer,
but he's a doer of the work. This man shall be blessed in
his deed. Now as long as you have anything
that's even potentially helpful for your salvation, you can't
trust Christ as your Savior. But when you have nothing, you can trust Him. Now turn to
Matthew chapter 7. This is what I believe one of
the scariest passages of Scripture in all the Word of God. Remember
we're talking about doing the Word, doing the will of God,
and doing the work of God. Matthew chapter 7. Beginning in verse 21. Remember, the Lord said, who
is my mother and brethren, these that hear the word of God and
do it, whosoever should do the will of God. The same is my mother
and my brother and my sister. Look what it said here in verse
21. Not everyone, Matthew chapter seven, verse 21. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my father, which
is in heaven. Now he's not saying, saying Lord,
Lord's a bad thing. Saying Lord, Lord's a good thing,
isn't it? He is the Lord. And the repetition of the name
means you're saying it with feeling and with passion and with zeal.
Lord, Lord. But just saying it, if that's
all it is, if it's just speech, That's not enough. It's not everyone
that says, Lord, Lord, that shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. Only those who do his will. Now,
a lot of people stop right there and they say, see, you need to
do the will of God to be saved. It's not enough to just believe
the gospel. You need to be doing something. Let's go on reading. Let's go on reading. Many, verse 22. Many, not a few,
but many will say to me in that day, that day we just heard sung
about judgment day. Many will say unto me in that
day, Lord, Lord, they'll say the right thing. Have we not
prophesied in thy name? We were Orthodox. We did this
in your name. We didn't do this in our own
name. We did this knowing we could only be heard for your
sake. We were very orthodox in our doctrine. Now, orthodoxy
is fine, but if you're trusting your orthodoxy, you'll go to
hell for it. It's not enough to, we preached in your name. We were orthodox. Look what he
says next. And in your name, cast out devils. There was much
power in what we did. There was much success in what
we did. We cast out devils. And in your name, we've done
many wonderful works. Notice their own estimation of
their works. Many wonderful. They thought they did as well.
That's evident. If anybody was doing his will,
I was. I preached in his name. I cast out demons in his name.
I was given much success. I had many wonderful works. Now listen to the words of our
Lord. And then. Will I profess unto
them? I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Now, I have no doubt that these
people thought that they had done his will, but they had not. Not everyone that sayeth to me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Now, what is this
thing of doing God's will? If I don't do his will, if I
do not do the truth, I'll be cast off. I'll be exposed to
be nothing more than a hypocrite. I'll hear the Lord say to me,
I never knew you. I never loved you. I never knew
you to be one of mine. Depart from me. Can you imagine
hearing those awful words from the Lord? Depart from me? Oh, I don't want to hear that.
What is this thing of doing his will? Now, first of all, there
is such a thing as the will of God. You know, God's not an influence
or a force. God's a person. And a person has a will. You
have a will. I have a will. God has a will. Scripture says in Psalm 115.3,
Our God is in the heavens, He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. You see, his will is always done
because he's all powerful and he makes sure it's done. He's
got a will and he's got the power to make his will come to pass. Daniel said, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. You know, right now, whatever
it is you're doing, it's his will. It's His will. He's in control
of it. You're in His hands. Why I'm
not going to obey Him? That's His will. Who is the Lord
that I should obey Him? That's His will. He's hardened
in your heart. Whatever you do, whatever you think, whatever
comes through my mind, it's His will being done. He doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? He gives no account of his matters.
There is such a thing as the will of God in there. All powerful. Now the will of God is one. You
know what that means? That means he only has one agenda.
His own glory. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. God does
what he does for his own glory. Somebody says that scares me.
Well, still true, whether it is or not. That's who He is. He does according to His will.
His will is one. His will is eternal. We read
in Ephesians 3.11 of the eternal purpose which He purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Whatever His will is right now,
it always has been. Never been any different, and
it always will be. His will is eternal. His will
is immutable. That means it can't be changed.
His will is efficacious. That means it cannot be thwarted.
And his will is sovereign. He said, can I not do what I
will with my own? He giveth no account of his matters.
And this is who the Lord is. He's got a will. Now, if God's
will, here's a question. If God's will is always done,
why does he make this distinction that my mother and my brethren
are those who do the will of God? Why does he make that distinction? There are some who do the will
of God. His mother and his brother are the ones who do the will
of God. The other ones aren't. Why does he make this distinction
if his will is always done? Doesn't everybody do his will?
Well, there's his will of decree and there's his will of command. His will of decree is always
done. It's always done. If you reject
Christ Jesus the Lord, it's all a part of His sovereign purpose.
I don't know how else to say it. He's in control of that.
You're in His hands. And you're going to praise and
glorify His justice if that's what you do. You see, this is
His agenda. His own glory. There's His will
of decree and there's His will of command. And it's not always
done. You see, salvation is experienced
in coming to an understanding of and a doing of His will. Now you remember what the Lord
said to Paul when He saved him? Ananias said, The God of our
fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know His will. Every believer becomes someone
who knows His will. Now that's not talking about
I know what His will for me tomorrow is, because I don't. I don't.
I don't have any idea what His will for me tomorrow is, or next
60 seconds, or next second as far as that goes. It doesn't
mean knowing His will of commandments, knowing the Ten Commandments.
But this is talking about a knowledge of His will in redemption. His will in salvation. That thou mightest know His will. Now beloved, I know the will
of God. And turn back to John chapter
6. Now we're going to see His will
of decree and His will of command that must be obeyed in this passage
of Scripture. We're going to see both of these
things. Verse 38. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ and He says, For I came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." You know, Christ is the sent one.
And He was sent to do the will of His Father in heaven. Now
here is God's will of decree. Verse 39. And this is the Father's
will, which has sent me, that of all which He had given me,
I should lose nothing. But raise it up again at the
last day. Now here is God's will of decree. It's His will that everybody
that He gave Christ the elect be saved. That is God's will,
the decree. The Lord tells us that. Everybody
that Christ died for, they must be saved. All the elect will
be saved. A few verses up, he said, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to
me, I'll in no wise cast out. Now there's God's will of decree.
But here's God's will of command. Look in verse 40. And this is
the will of him that sent me. that every one which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I'll
raise him up at the last day." Now, I do not see the Son physically,
but I tell you this, I do see, right now while I'm talking to
you, that He is the Son of God. I do see that he is the only
way a sinner can be saved. I do see that his righteousness
is the only righteousness there is. I do see that his precious
blood actually did whatever God sent him to do by. Do you see
that? I see the Son. You see, you're
not going to believe unless you see who He is. You can't trust
an unrevealed Savior, can you? You're going to have to see who
He is. You know what's going to happen
when you see? You're going to obey the command, you're going
to do the will of God, you're going to believe on the Son. Someone who believes on the Son
is doing the will of God. If right now you are believing
on the Son, you are doing the will of God. Look back in John chapter six,
verse 27. Labor not for the meat, which
perisheth. You know, everything around us
is perishing. everything around us. Labor not
for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you. What a, what a blessed thing. He says, which the Son of Man
shall give to you. I love the way he says this. He doesn't
say, well, I give it to you if you're elect. He just says, don't
labor for that meat which perishes, but for the meat which endures
to everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give to you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, they
heard him talking about working and laboring, and that's all
they heard. They said unto him, what shall
we do that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God. This is what happens when God
works. This is the work that he accepts. This is his work. This is the work of God. that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. And you know what comes after
that? A period. This is the work of God that
you, now here's what it is to do God's will. Here's what it
is to hear the word of God and to do it. It's to believe on
him whom he hath sent. Do you believe God the father
sent him? I do. I really do. Do you believe he did whatever
it was the father sent him to do? I do. I believe that. And I'm believing on him. That
means I am relying. I'm relying on Him only. If what He did only doesn't save
me, then I won't be saved. Sink or swim, I go to Him. I'm believing on Him only. And someone who does that is
someone who is the mother. and the sister and the brother
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His mother, his sister, and his
brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it. Let's pray together.