Obeying God's Word

ENGAGE

We have 2 dogs at our house, a golden retriever named Ali and a boxer mix named Charli. Ali is about 5 years old now, and Charli is just hitting her terrible twos.

Now there is a world of difference between the two.

Charli will do just about anything you tell her to.

And Ali, well, she failed obedience school.

TENSION

Obedience training is a necessary evil in order to have a well mannered dog, but obedience training is much easier if you have a dog who wants to do it.

There is an old old saying that goes like this:

“Any dog will sit if you are holding a treat, only a dog that has had obedience training will sit because it wants to serve its master.”

Honestly that’s not that old of a saying, I just came up with it while working on this sermon, but its true isn’t it?

I am sure someone has said something similar in the past, but I don’t think I have ever heard it before.

Obedience is tough.

Eugene Peterson writes in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:

“Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. 

In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged  freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap.

There is a great  market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness. 

Religion in our time has been captured by the tourist mindset. Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure. For some it is a weekly jaunt to church; for others, occasional visits to special services. Some, with a bent for religious entertainment and sacred diversion, plan their lives around special events like retreats, rallies and conferences.

― Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, P17

Today, were going to look at a man in the Bible who God laid it on his heart to speak to people who were in this situation.

They were doing all kinds of religious things, but their hearts were not remotely being obedient to God’s word.

TRUTH

Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1.

Isaiah 1:1 ESV

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

There were four kings in charge of Judah during Isaiah’s ministry, and these four men were directly linked to Judah and Jerusalem going from a nation for God, to a nation FAR FROM God.

We learn the story of each of these kings in the Old Testament book of 2nd Chronicles chapters 26 through 32.

You can stay in Isaiah and I will give you a super condensed summary of these kings- all of this stuff happened while Isaiah was preaching and teaching, so this is the constantly shifting state of life in Isaiah’s day.

A Super short cliff notes version of the 4 kings of Isaiah’s Ministry as told in 2nd Chronicles chapters 26-32.

Uzziah: chapter 26

16 years old when he became king.

He did what was right in the Lord’s sight.

He sought God and God gave him much success.

He waged war against the Philistines and built cities

His fame spread all over as God made him very powerful.

He had an army of over 300, 000 with all kinds of equipment and power

2 Chronicles 26:15 ESV

15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

He was wondrously helped until he became strong but then we start to see his issues...

2 Chronicles 26:16 ESV

16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

He died and his son Jotham became king.

Jotham:

he did what was right in the Lord’s sight and things were good for him.

When he died, his son Ahaz took over.

Ahaz:

2 Chronicles 28:1–3 ESV

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3 and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

So God handed him over to the king of Aram and he lost many brave men because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. He became more and more wicked and unfaithful.

2 Chronicles 28:22–25 ESV

22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.

Ahaz died and his son Hezekiah became king.

Hezekiah:

He wasn’t all that bad and sacrificed many offerings to the Lord but the Lord gave this warning to the people:

2 Chronicles 30:6–9 ESV

6 So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8 Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”

and the people responded:

2 Chronicles 30:10 ESV

10 So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

some did humble themselves and turned toward God and Hezekiah interceded for them and the Lord heard his prayer and healed the people and there were many reforms to the worship practices of the day.

2nd chronicles ends

So we see that God’s people have a history of turning away from him. Back in Isaiah 1, were going to see God bringing up their sin during a trial. Isaiah accuses them and brings them the charges against them.

Isaiah 1:2–3 ESV

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

This same verse in the Message paraphrase of the Bible, really illustrates what is going on in this courtroom scene as charges are delivered to Judah.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 1

2–4  Heaven and earth, you’re the jury.

Listen to GOD’s case:

“I had children and raised them well,

and they turned on me.

The ox knows who’s boss,

the mule knows the hand that feeds him,

But not Israel.

My people don’t know up from down.

The Heavens and earth are being told of the wicked things that Judah is doing, and they will judge them.

Isaiah 1:4 ESV

4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Isaiah 1:5–8 ESV

5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

We can go to the Message paraphrase again for insight into verse 8:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 1

Daughter Zion is deserted—

like a tumbledown shack on a dead-end street,

Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks,

like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats.

God paints the picture that Judah is falling apart and on its last leg. With God pulling his protection and support, Judah’s enemies have really done a number on her.

Isaiah 1:9–10 ESV

9 If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

Here God illustrates just how bad things have become.

Sodom and Gomorrah were the absolute worst situations cities could have found themselves in.

The whole entire cities were destroyed because of their sin, and here God is saying that Judah is looking to Sodom and Gomorrah as examples, that they are doing the exact same thing and on the exact same path toward destruction.

Isaiah 1:11–15 ESV

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

God here indicates that Judah has been just like our quotation from Eugene Peterson at the beginning. They are highly religious, but there is no obedience behind it.

There is no desire to serve and worship God from Judah and its leaders, so much so that God is tired of putting up with them, and when they pray, he wont listen or even look toward them because their hands are covered with so much empty and useless worship.

APPLICATION

If we left the story here, it would be a tragic day for Judah. But fortunately for Judah, the creator of the universe has given them a way to return to relationship with him.

It is not a permanent solution, that wont happen for a long time, but he does offer a solution.

Isaiah 1:16–17 ESV

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

He tells them that it is time to change. It is time to start putting some power behind their religious practices.

Isaiah 1:18–20 ESV

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

God tells them exactly what can happen if they are willing to change and become obedient.

Their sins will be washed away and they will be back in relationship with God, but then he goes on to show them exactly what will happen if they refuse to turn and be obedient to God in verses 21-23.

Isaiah 1:21–23 (ESV)

21 How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

22 Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.

23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

The use of adulteress here, is a strong accusation that they were once in love with God, but have since left him to go to another.

So God, the ultimate picture of Holiness, declares to Judah that he is going to purify them, he is going to restore the land to what it had been, a great city, a great people of God.

Isaiah 1:24–31 ESV

24 Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. 25 I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. 26 And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” 27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. 28 But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. 30 For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. 31 And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.

Isaiah 1:27 ESV

27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

Those who repent, those who recognize that they have lost their way, and make a conscious change to their lives to live that obedient life, will be redeemed.

They will be come that Righteous City, that faithful town, but those who do not repent, they will be burned away. They will be purified and melted down just like metal is heated and stirred and heated more until it only the purest metal.

INSPIRATION/REFLECTION

We have the same choice today. We can go through our lives going from religious event to religious event, Sunday to Sunday, without ever being obedient to God and his word, and God will not honor us.

He will not protect us, he wont even listen to us because our prayers have no power behind them. They are just empty words that we shout out to someone that we have no connection with.

But if we truly understand and repent, turn to Him and put our whole lives into being obedient to Him, he will listen and he will be our God and we will be his people.

We have to move from being a people who visit a place of worship every Sunday and call it good, to a people who long for and are dedicated to God and others.

NEXT STEPS

Pastor Robbie Gallaty came up with a mnemonic device to illustrate what it means to be an obedient disciple of Christ.

If you are taking notes, write this down.

CLOSER.

Communicate with God

Learn God’s Word

Obey God’s Word

Store God’s Word in your heart and mind

Evangelize

Reflect/Remember who God is and what he has done.

We have to do all of these things as disciples.

We have to be intentional about all these things as disciples.

Just like a dog who is going through obedience training, we have to work at being a disciple of Christ. We cant just show up on Sundays and be successful. We have to do these things every single day.

God is pleading his case to us, Just as he did to the people of Isaiah’s day.

We have the same choice: repent and be obedient, or perish.

I want each one of us today to make that decision.

lets take a moment and think about the six things in CLOSER.

Are we communicating with God, are our prayers going through to Him, or is there something in the way that is hindering it just like the people in Isaiah’s day whom God had turned a deaf ear to.

Are we learning God’s Word, which means are we reading it, are we understanding it, are we putting it into application in our lives.

Are we obeying what God’s Word says to do? We may understand it but if we dont obey what it says, are we not just giving God lip service and it becomes useless trivia to know what the bible says?

Are we storing God’s word in our hearts and minds? This one is a struggle for me, I know the value of having God’s word on the top of our mind and the tip of our tongues but it is still a struggle for me.

Are we reaching out and evangelizing, or telling others the good news of Christ and what he did for us to wash away our sins once and for all?

and lastly, do we take the time to remember and reflect on who God is and what he has done for us?

Lets pray and ask God to help us to grow closer to him.

Close in Prayer