Obedience

Turn with me please to the Gospel by Luke. Luke chapter 6 please. Luke chapter 6 and we'll just take time here to read verse number 46.

And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Turn with me please to the book of Philippians chapter 2 verse number 3 to start. Philippians 2 verse 3. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and giving him a name that which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And finally back to Romans please in chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 read with me please at verse number 19. Romans 5 verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Lord bless to us the reading of his word and what we've listened to already. What Scott has mentioned is touched a little on what's on my heart for this conference. It's been on my heart for for a couple months and and the more I think about it the more the more I am amazed by it and it is really the greatest thing that a that a Christian can really do.

Maybe there's someone here maybe I'm speaking to a young person and you're wondering in your life what what is the greatest thing that you could do for God. Maybe you're thinking maybe I would like to be able to teach like like Scott or preach the gospel like Harold Paisley or something like that. What I'd like to encourage you this morning the greatest thing that you can do for God the thing that you will do for God that will bring the biggest impact with your life however long or however short it might be will be just this it will be obedience to God.

Obedience. Very simple message on my mind today to simply obey God. We read in Luke chapter 6 and verse number 46 why call me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say.

I'd like to look at the inquiry of the Lord Jesus. We come to Philippians chapter 2. I'd like to look just briefly at the importance of obedience the importance of it and then finally Romans chapter 5 the impact of obedience. Obedience is something we hopefully learn as children and you know as as I'm just a young dad and trying to teach my kids what it is to obey I'm learning more and more why my dad taught me to obey but you know it's for a greater purpose isn't it and so that in due time as God reaches and saves us we know what it is to obey.

We know what it is to to listen to what God has to say and act upon it. Really that's what obedience is. In every aspect of the Christian life there's something for us to obey.

You know when God created Adam and maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here but God never created Adam to make decision. He created Adam to obey. He said all things are yours just don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because when a person knows good and evil then they put themselves in a place of judgment and what God intended of Adam and Eve was just simply to obey him and listen to him and and to live happily in communion with him but Adam and Eve they they sinned against God and Adam by transgression fell and they knew right from wrong and now they're in this situation where they have to decide what's right they have to make judgment.

What happens when you and I have to make judgment? Oftentimes we fail don't we? God intends us to be a people of obedience and just simple obedience at that and so the inquiry of obedience. Why call me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say? What's being stated here? The Lord Jesus is talking to people that have confessed him as Lord and they're not obedient. They're not an obedient people and Lord Jesus is saying why is this? Why do you call me Lord and and do not the things that I say? What's wrong here? And you know as I read that that was just piercing to my soul and I think it should really pierce every one of us.

Here I am saved by God's grace and I wonder would the Lord make the inquiry here today why do you call me Lord and don't do the things that I ask? I think and as I look out to the eyes of some of the people we can all relate can't we? That's me that's me. God just simply expects us to obey and I want to say this until we learn to obey God won't be able to use us. Do you think he's do you think it's that extreme? Well I can just do what I want to do when I want to do it and when what when the Bible fits into my schedule when the when the Word of God and what he asked me to do fits then I'll then I'll do it.

If God is going to use us we have to be a people that know what it is to obey and you say why are you preaching that at a conference? Because I see in my heart the tendency to disobey to disobey to know what God would have me to do and do something else anyway. The inquiry are we obedient people today? What does God require of us as far as obedience? Only to obey what we know. God isn't going to expect something from me that I've never been in confronted with but what you do know the simple truth that you know are you obedient? We're saved and we're supposed to be baptized gathered unto the Lord's name gathered in local assembly capacity one step at a time God tells us what to do shows us what to do and when we do it then there's something else but the inquiry is this why is it that we don't do what God tells us to do? Why is it that we don't do what the Lord tells us to do? The inquiry.

Obedience. I was talking to some kids at a Christian school the other day and I tried to take this up with them as far as the gospel is concerned. What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel? You see relationship with God starts with obedience.

It's obeying the gospel. It's understanding that what God has said about me is is absolutely right that I am a lost sinner. I am a guilty sinner and to turn and to trust Christ and put faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to obey him and that's just the first start of it isn't it? The Christian life should be a life of obedience from that point onward and so I need to go quickly into to the importance of it.

Why is the obedience important? Number one it's a proof of my salvation isn't it? When I obey God when I'm when I'm doing the things that God has shown me to do it's a proof that I'm saved. Obedience. A person that is constantly living in disobedience against God and claims to be a Christian.

What is wrong with that situation? What is wrong with that picture? A person that can live their whole entire life in a constant fluent disobedience to God and claims to be a Christian. There's something wrong there. There's something wrong.

In fact a person who is constantly denying the lordship of Christ. There's something wrong there and so the importance of it is it is a proof to me that that I'm saved. It's not the only proof of that I'm saved but when I understand God's truth and I obey it and I have joy in obeying it.

Now God's truth is not always easy sometimes. Sometimes it takes sacrifice and it takes self-denial but the whole idea is this that the obedience to the word of God is absolutely paramount and now there's young people here today and you're looking at your overseers and your local assemblies and you're wondering why they do what they do. That's not a bad question to ask them but when they take you and they show you from the scriptures why we do what we do we're accountable to obey it.

We're responsible to obey it because it is the word of God. All right I want to talk to the young people for a moment. Sometimes young people think that the the like I could call them traditions of of the gospel halls are just traditions.

If there's something you're questioning on why we do what we do please ask someone and when they show you from the bible why we do what we do acknowledge it. It's the word of God. That's obedience.

It's not obedience to the elders. It's obedience to the word of God. That's what God wants.

We trust that the elders have the mind of God and are walking obedience to God themselves but the word of God and obedience to that is the most important thing a Christian can do. Never mind the services for God. Let's focus on just being obedient sons and daughters today.

Obedient. The importance of it. When I'm obedient to the word of God I love the brethren.

I love the brethren. You say why? Because God tells me to love the brethren. When I'm obedient to the word of God how is the assembly life going to be? It's going to carry on isn't it? It's going to be fluent.

I'm going to be obedient to what God has to say. And so all the aspects of Christian life will take care of themselves as we as we are obedient to the things of God and to the word of God. Can we worship without obedience? Honest question.

We live in our life and we're doing something we know is wrong and we're being disobedient. Can I worship God? I can't. There's a hindrance there.

There's an issue there. Communion is broken. And so what I'm learning more and more is the paramount importance of obedience.

But I want to look at just very quickly the impact of it. We come to Romans chapter 5 and we've got Adam and his disobedience and the impact of disobedience. The whole entire world affected by sin.

Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned and we've got the disobedience of Adam and the impact that the disobedience of one man had on mankind and on God's creation on this whole entire world. It affected everything. Everything.

But I'm looking here at the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ and its impact. Do you suppose the obedience of Christ would have less of an impact than the disobedience of Adam? The obedience of Christ has a greater impact. Affects the whole entire world.

Affects all of mankind. Affects all of creation. The obedience of Christ.

Many were made righteous. Think of it. The sinless one.

The obedient one. Obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross and the impact of the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It impacted the throne of God. What does the throne of God say concerning the person of Christ? This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Well pleased.

And dear believer, as you're obedient to God and His word, it impacts the throne of God. Think of it. We talk about having impact with our life.

Having a life that means something. Having a life that will amount to something. That will affect people.

That will affect God's cause for this world. When a Christian is obedient, it impacts the throne of God. I love that.

There's so much in that. That when I am in simple obedience on the little things that God has asked me to do, it impacts His heart. It impacts the throne.

It touches the heart of God when Christians are obedient. What about angels? The impact of obedience on angels. Well, I'm thinking of 1 Corinthians 11 and I'm thinking of headship being displayed and angels looking down at mere mortal men.

Mere mortal women. And they're simply by obedience. They're showing and displaying headship.

And it's impacting angels. Dear sister, with your hair and your head covering, the angels are looking down. They're being instructed.

There's an impact in the presence of the throne of God. There's an impact to the throne of God. And the angels are impacted.

I often wondered what it'd be like to be an angel. To be up there looking down on mankind. And here's a created people that have never seen God.

You see, the angels and all their privilege created in the presence of God, serving God day and night, if there is day and night there. Serving God continually. And there they are.

And now they're looking down at us. And what an odd bunch. We are an odd bunch, aren't we? Different personalities, different characteristics.

But what unifies us? Obedience. And here are these people and they're trying to serve God and they sin and they fail. But you know, they're seeking to be obedient to one they've never seen.

And they're worshiping one they've never seen. And they're serving one that all they have is His word for it. And there they are with their wings and they cover their faces in the presence of the glory of the Almighty God and the privilege that they have.

And they're looking down and what do they see? Redeemed souls that love God and they prove it by their obedience. What a marvel. What a marvel that angels are looking down at us today and we're instructing them by our behavior and our obedience to the word of God.

Gotta be a tremendous thing. What about the saints? What about the Christians? What is my impact going to be on other Christians? Let me start off first of all with disobedience. How do you think your disobedience affects your brethren and sisters in the local assembly? Do you think it goes unnoticed? Do you think it's really irrelevant? Do you think it really only matters what you think and it's between you and God after all? Let me say this and you know it very well.

When Christians are disobedient to the word of God, it has a drastic impact on the local assembly. We're not living to ourselves and dying to ourselves. What we do impacts our brethren.

Our disobedience impacts our brethren. But what about our obedience? Our obedience? You older Christians, as you live your life and the things that you've learned over time, you function now without even thinking about them because you've learned to obey and you've learned what those things are. But have you remembered that there are young eyes, young Christian eyes watching you? Yes, I watch my elders.

Yes, I watch the older people in my assembly. I watch the old widows that have lost their helpmates. I watch them and I'm learning from them.

And you know what's very confusing is when a younger Christian looks at an older Christian who's living in disobedience and they say, why is that? You see the impact of the obedience from one Christian to another. But now I look at the old widows and I watch them and they're steadfast and they're living one day at a time and every day they're obedient to God for the things that they know. And you know what that does? I wish I could be like that when I'm 89.

I wish I could be like that. One day at a time living for God. Are they out preaching the gospel to the world? No, but their relationship with God is greater and stronger than those of us that are younger.

They know God. Why do they know God? They've been obedient to God and it affects the Christians. So my obedience and your obedience has a positive effect on Christians and our disobedience has a negative effect.

And what about the unsaved? Oh boy. What do you hear? Well, if that guy that goes to your church over there is a Christian, I don't want nothing to do with what you got to say. Where'd that come from? Well, if that's what Christians do, that's no different than me.

You know where that comes from? That comes from the lips of people that are unsaved that are watching Christians. That's where that comes from. And what they're seeing is this.

They're taking the Christian that has maybe just a moment of disobedience or maybe a life of disobedience and that's what they're dwelling on. And if that's all that Christ means to that person, why would I want him? Do you see the relativity of obedience today? You say, we learned about that when we were kindergarten. Yeah, we did.

We need to be reminded of again today. The paramount thing in the Christian life is to be obedient to the Word of God. Now the inquiry, why do we call him Lord and don't do the things that he says? And this is speaking to me first and foremost this morning.

Why do we do that? The importance of it. The impact of it. If we want to have an impact with our little life for God, it's going to start with obedience.

Because it is God's work and God is the power behind it and God is the source behind it and God pleases is pleased to use you and I for his things and for his purposes on this earth. But it all starts with obedience to the light that we have. God help us to be obedient people today and tomorrow and the next day until the Lord comes.

Lord bless us.