Obedience Required

Obedience Is Required

Introduction

‌Last week Pastor challenged us to trust God in difficult situations. When someone comes against us, we are to respond in meekness, which is power under control, and be willing to do the opposite of what our flesh wants. To be different from the world, trusting that God has a purpose for us, even in our suffering.

‌The need to trust God in difficult situations goes right along with the message for today which is titled, “Obedience Is Required”. It’s a lot easier to obey when things are going well. But when the pressure is on, the desires of our flesh can be louder than our desire to obey. I read a devotional recently that said we should obey God, if we are to become like Jesus, and so forth. The phrase “should obey God” stood out to me and I immediately thought to myself, “that is not true”.

‌To say that we should obey God is like saying, “I should go to the gym.” “I should stop eating so many sweets.” “I should call my mother more often.” Having the mindset that “I should obey God” leads us to picking and choosing which part of God’s word we want to obey.

‌Obedience is not optional in our relationship with God. Obedience is required. We see this principle at work in the natural world. I recently bought a toy for a child’s birthday. Most toys these days are electronic. Somewhere on the packaging of an electronic toy is the phrase, “batteries required”. The manufacturer doesn’t suggest that we get batteries. The manufacturer states very clearly, if you want this toy to work the way it is designed to work then batteries are required.

‌Batteries are required for most things that we use in our daily lives. (Show graphic) If we don’t have battery powered tools and devices available then we are left with what we can do manually. Sometimes that may be ok, but inefficient. Other times, when time is of the essence, like with the jaws of life, not having a battery can mean loss of life.

‌The same is true spiritually. When we disobey, we are disconnected from our power source, the Holy Spirit, and we are left to our own devices. Pastor reminded us last week that, “God can’t bless our acts of the flesh!”

‌The point is, if we have the mindset that we should obey God we will compromise. And if we are asking ourselves questions like, “What’s the big deal? Does it really matter whether or not I obey? As long as I don’t hurt anyone, it’s ok, isn’t it?” then we are not responding to God with love in our hearts. If, we are in a marriage and we don’t make up our minds that divorce is not an option, then it will be an option. Likewise, in our relationship with God, if we don’t make up our minds that disobedience is not an option, then it will be an option.

Obedience is Love (SLIDE)

‌True obedience comes out of a heart of love. Just before going to the cross to die for our sins, Jesus showed the full extent of his love to his disciples and taught them how to remain in his love. In the Gospel of John, chapters 13-17 are known as the Farewell Discourse or the Upper Room Discourse. Alexander Maclaren wrote of this remarkable section, John 13-17: “Nowhere else is His speech at once so simple and so deep. Nowhere else have we the heart of God so unveiled to us… “– Enduring Word Commentary by David Guzik

John 13:1 - It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

In this chapter Jesus demonstrates his love for them by washing their feet. He tells them that just as he washed their feet, they should wash one another’s feet. Then Jesus predicts his betrayal and Peter’s denial. Then in vs. 34-35 he gives them a new command and what will come from their obedience to the command:

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Chapter 14 starts with Jesus comforting his disciples and telling them that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Then he tells them that all who believe in him will do the work that he has been doing. In verses 15-16 he makes a promise to those who love him:

John 14:15-16

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

Then in v. 21 he adds:

21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

As we grow in our love for Jesus and thereby our obedience to him, the more we will know him intimately. We will move beyond knowing about him and truly know him. The more we know him, the more we will love him.

“The better you know God - his heart, his character and his love for you - the easier it becomes to obey him with all your heart.” - Nicky Gumbel

When we look to ourselves and our ability to make a wholehearted commitment to God, we may think that we don’t have what it takes. We tend to look at our past failures and think that we will never succeed at loving God with all our hearts and loving others the same way Jesus loves us.

The apostle Paul had every opportunity to look at his past failures or to put confidence in his flesh or his own abilities. Yet, he put his faith in what had been revealed to him through Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Philippians, he wrote:

Philippians 3:3

3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

Paul knew that whatever gains he had made in life were like garbage compared to intimately knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. His desire was to know Christ and to be found in him.

Philippians 3:9

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

So it is on the basis of faith that we have a relationship with God and it is on the basis of faith that we will obey him.

In a Daily Devotion based on John 14:16-31, Charles Stanley wrote:

To follow His example requires a heart that desires to please Him, a will that is bent toward obedience, and a mind that consistently seeks direction from Him. (In Touch Ministries, Daily Devotion, How Obedience Relates to Love, March 9, 2020)

‌Conclusion

In conclusion, I want us to look at one more passage of scripture from this section of the gospel of John to gain a little more understanding as to why obedience matters. The Farewell Discourse starts in John 13 and ends in John 16. All of John 17 is a prayer Jesus prayed while he was with his disciples before they went to the Garden of Gethsemane. There is no other place in scripture that we get to eavesdrop on a prayer Jesus prayed other than short prayers like at Lazarus’ tomb or before he healed someone. Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and for all believers.

John 17:20-21

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Our obedience to Christ is not just about us, it is about the world believing in Jesus. As we individually obey Christ from a heart of love we will remain in Christ, and we will be one as he and the Father are one. Not only will the world know that we are his disciples because of our love for one another, but when we remain in Christ’s love by obeying his command, the world will know that the Father sent him into the world because the Father and the Son will make their home in us, and we will be one as Jesus and the Father are one.