Obedience Matters to God
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· 103 viewsthis is a Biblical topical sermon about the need for obedience in the new year...
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Obedience is necessary in the Christian Life
Obedience is necessary in the Christian Life
Two Truths about the Necessity of Obedience in this passage:
1) God is interested in our obedience
1) God is interested in our obedience
God concerns himself with our daily decisions and actions. He is concerned with how you and I live our lives in the most intimate of ways. He wants us to love, worship, and enjoy Him through every moment of every day…not just on Sunday’s…not just on Christmas…but God wants us to have weeks that are filled with worship driven obedience in every single moment of every single day.
The God of the Bible isnt Deistic—God is not, as Bejamin Franklin once said, “uninterested in our worship and praise because he is far above it.”
The writer of Hebrews tells us that God is concerned with how we live.
Hebrews 12:5-7 “5 Or have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
Why is God interested in our obedience? It is right there in verse 5, because we are His children.
God is the example of a good Father. Good Dad’s care about obedience for their kids. Good Dad’s know that there are good ways to live that lead to flourishing and blessing and abundance and freedom and love and life... and good Dads also know that there are other ways to live that lead to destruction, and chaos, and death. When good Dad’s see their kids not obeying the rules of life that lead to blessing, they dont ignore it. They take responsibility to offer instruction and encouragement. When their kids dont obey after they have given instruction and encouragement, Good Dads apply pressure to their kids through discipline. Good Dad’s dont discipline out of anger or hate (that’s what we call abuse), but Good Dad’s discipline out of love. Good Dad’s take interest in their kids obedience because they desire to be like their heavenly Father who takes interest in our obedience.
God is the prime example of a Good Dad.
He isnt an absentee Father…like the Deist believes…
He is an involved father who is interested in our obedience. He knows that his word is a way for us to live that will always lead to life, blessing, and flourishing (what we might call “The Good Life”)…and He knows that their is a way to live that leads to death, destruction, and chaos. And because God is a good Father, he makes sure that we stay on the path that leads to blessing and not cursing…so he disciplines us because he loves us.
Obedience is necessary…God makes our obedience His interest…therefore, if you are a child of God this morning. If you have been born again, if the Spirit of God indwells you, you will obey...eventually.
Sure…you can resist it for awhile.
You can throw a temper-tantrum. You can kick and scream…for awhile…God is patient.
But if God Almighty has made our obedience His interest…then my friend…we can bank on it…Because He loves us…He will discipline us to obey. He will help us learn to walk on the path that leads life. We can either chose the easy way, or we can choose the hard way…but God’s grace will eventually prevail in our lives because he is interested in our obedience.
And He is interested in our obedience because without obedience we won’t “see the Lord.”
2) Without Obedience, we wont “See the Lord.”
2) Without Obedience, we wont “See the Lord.”
Hebrews 12:14 (ESV)
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
There is a type of obedience…that the writer of Hebrews calls “the holiness” that if we dont live up to, we wont see the Lord. ....Meaning, we wont be saved....
Now, I want to be really clear. I believe, and we here at this church believe that the Bible teaches that salvation is totally and utterly a work of God given through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. We dont add anything to our salvation but the sin that made it necessary. Salvation was accomplished on the cross of Christ and sealed by His resurrection from the grave, and it is applied by the Spirit of God to all who repent and believe. That’s the gospel.
But…when the Spirit of God awakens our hearts to the reality of our sinfulness, and we are saved…that isnt the finish-line. It is the Starting-line. That is where our race begins...
Look at verse 1:
Hebrews 12:1–2 (ESV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
The work of God doesnt end at our salvation…that is where the work of God truly begins in our lives.
It is after we are saved that God begins His work of disciplining, correcting, and teaching us to devote our lives to living as His children.
The word that the writer of Hebrew uses here is the word Hagiosmos…it means holy…as it’s translated in most of our English translations as the word “holy.” But it literally means sanctified…it means to be consecrated to God…to be wholly and totally committed to God.
So literally what the writer of Hebrews is saying is that…unless you commit yourselves to being totally set apart to live your life for God, you wont see the Lord.
Therefore…obedience is necessary…because without it…we wont ever get a glimpse of God at all. Therefore…the pursuit of obedience is necessary in our lives.
Obedience Requires our Effort
Obedience Requires our Effort
Verse 14: STRIVE for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Verse 7: It is for discipline that you have to ENDURE. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Verse 4: In your STRUGGLE against sin....you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Salvation is a gift…obedience is work...
If you want to pursue God, you must strive…and struggle…and endure.
To quote the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2, we must “press on” to make our pursuit of holiness and obedience our own…because Christ Jesus has made us His own. So we have to learn to live forward…to strive and strain toward the call of God to obey.
So what does this look like?
I think it looks like obedience in the little things...
Look…even Hebrews tells us this…He doesnt say, “Strive to take the gospel to the most unreached and unengaged people group on the planet...” Notice…he simply says, “Strive to live at peace with everyone…and to be holy…without which noone will see the Lord...”
You see, God wants us to focus on the little, everyday types of obedience…Because God majors in the minors. God knows that the little things add up to big things. And how we live in the little moments of life, God leverages to make massive impact in the world that we live in.
Think about it…God took 12 everyday…ordinary guys…he taught them how to obey…and over time…He turned the world upside down through them. And if God did it with 12…what might he do with our 200 or so people if we decided to obey?
So where do we start...
3 Ways to Obey in 2022:
The Word—
There is simply no way to live obediently…if you dont spend time in God’s word.
Paul says in Eph. 5:15-17 “15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
In order to not waste our lives, we must understand the will of the Lord for our life…and it comes through His word.
The Psalmist captures this well:
Psalm 119:9–16 (ESV)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
The Blessed person is the one, according to Psalm 1, that delights in the word of God and meditates on it day and night...
You and I simply cannot and will not be who God has called us to be without a regular intake of the word of God.
Read God’s word this year with us...
We try to make this as accesible as we possibly can...
Each week we put a perforated tear off in your bulletin that you can use as a bookmark throughout the week.
Prayer—
1 Thessalonians 5:8 tells us that we are to pray without ceasing.
Samuel Chadwick once rightly said, Satan dreads nothing but prayer....The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion, He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”
Fellowship— get involved in the community of faith here…it’s time to join…it’s time to serve…its time to move from the row to a circle...
showing up to church isnt enough.
Can I ask you a question: What does it mean to be a member of the local church?
I dont mean theoretically…but practically.
How does the fact that you walked down in front of this church one day in the past change the way you live throughout the week?
Does you being a church member here make your weeks look any different than it did before you joined?
Look around this room...Whether or not you realized it…when you joined this church…you made a commitment. You committed yourself to covenanting together with these people to pursue holiness and Christ-likeness with them. You committed to serving them. You committed to loving them. You committed to caring for them, encouraging them, you commited to partnering with them to accomplish the mission of God the reach people that are far from and make disciples of Jesus.
For too long…we have treated the church with less respect than the country club. At least at the country club you are expected to follow some rules…in too many churches we have neglects our membership in the body of Christ.
We dont need to be a fancy church…we just need to be a faithful church...
Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
So in 2022, maybe where we can grow is by “devoting” ourselves to one another again...
Lets practice the one anothers in scripture....lets love one another, en
There are more ways to obey…but these three are the most important…you simply cannot and will not grow without these three...
If you already do these…then perhaps it time for you to begin practicing some of the other spiritual disciplines...
Fasting…Solitude/Silence…Practice Simplicity
Obedience Requires Effort
And Lastly...
Obedience is Worth the Work
Obedience is Worth the Work
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
The discpline of God that leads to obedience might be work…it might take effort…but it is worth the work because it is for our good…it reaps the blessing of holiness...
It might be painful rather than pleasant for a little but eventually it leads to the way of life.
Psalm 1 (ESV)
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Obedience is hard…but disobedience is harder.
Obedience is hard up front…but in the end it leads to life.
Disobedience is easy on the front end…but in the end it leads to destruction and destruction.
Obedience church family…matters to God.
Where is God calling you to obey?
Maybe it is to commit yourself to one of the ways I mentioned earlier. (the word, prayer, or fellowship)
Maybe it is to begin making disciples
Maybe it is to begin living on mission for the glory of God
Maybe…it is to take the first step of obedience and to receive Christ this morning as your lord and savior.