WORDS TO HANG ONTO
LUKE 19:45-48 (NIV) 45 Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, ” ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
1 COR 11:23-25 23 … The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
There is an old saying, “That when EF Hutton talks, people listen”
But better yet, when Jesus talks…people listen intently…
It says “all the people hung on his words”
Our text tells us how Jesus drove out merchants who were selling goods in the temple area. Verse 47 tells us about Jesus’ teaching in the temple every day and the desire of the Jewish leaders to kill Him. However they could not find a way to do it “because all the people hung on his words (vs 48).”
What an amazing statement, “because all the people hung on His words (vs 48)”.
Jesus words are indeed words to hang onto because they are life-giving.
They are not empty words; John 6:63 says they are words of spirit and life (John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.) … His are words that give us hope.
The people were following Jesus, listening to His teaching and preaching and seeing them confirmed with a holy lifestyle and signs and wonders. They were clinging to his words!
LUKE 21:38 (NIV) “and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.”
MARK 1:22 (NIV)
“The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
And Today we hear these words of life, directly from Jesus’ mouth; as they have been recorded for us in the Word of God, the Holy Bible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
They are there for you and I, and all His followers today.
They have been preserved for us throughout the ages for us to hang onto.
2. Not only to hang onto…But His WORDS ARE TO SHARE WITH OTHERS
Jesus Gave us wonderful words of life we have to share with others:
a) He said He is the Bread of Life John 6:48-51
b) He said without His Blood, we have no life in us (John 6:53)
c) He said He is The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14:6)
d) He said He is The Vine and we are the branches (John 15:5)
e) He said…You Must be born again!
John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
We Must Be born again, We must be changed and transformed by the power and Spirit of God.
Transition to a close…
Jesus said that the man who hears his words and puts them into practice is like the man who built his house by laying the foundation on rock – a strong house that’s able to withstand all kinds of inclement weather (LUKE 6:46-
We need to Take heed of His words today!
His words are words of Spirit and life; they are words to hang onto!!
They are words to be cherished, heeded, and taken to heart and obeyed.
Someone once asked Dwight L. Moody, “If you knew the Lord would return tonight, how would you spend the rest of the day?” Mr. Moody replied without hesitation, “I wouldn’t do anything different than I do every day.”
Anticipate!!!
Bishop Bryan
