Joyful Obedience
Notes
Transcript
Intro: To obey someone or something is to submit yourself to accept orders and to carry them out to fulfillment.
To obey the civil and judicial laws of our land is to submit to them and live by them
To obey your parents is to submit to their rule over your life and learn from them
To obey in the military is to fulfill an oath to protect and serve
We obey the rules of our work place, or obey the recommendations from our doctor for our health
When we obey God and it is the greatest benefit and blessing to our lives
To obey is to invite benefit into our lives. But unfortunately we don’t always enjoy obeying.
Warren Wiersbe states that everything in creation—except man—obeys the will of God. “Lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds … do his bidding” (Ps. 148:8). In the book of Jonah, we see the winds and waves, and even the fish, obeying God’s commands, but the prophet stubbornly wanted his own way.
Disobedience to God’s will is a tragedy—but so is reluctant, grudging obedience. God does not want us to disobey Him, but neither does He want us to obey Him out of fear or necessity.
This morning I want us to look at the secret of “Joyful Obedience”
Text; 1 John 5:1-3
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
What is the secret of joyful obedience? It is to recognize that obedience is a family matter, obeying a loving Father.
1. Eternal Security in Christ; 1
1. Eternal Security in Christ; 1
As stated before, obedience can take on many forms;
reluctant obedience because we know we have to;
grudging obedience because we are made to;
or joyful obedience because we desire to.
“Joyful Obedience” starts with our family relationship with God!
Joyful- gladness and happiness; a state of being from a result of choice; [fruit of the Spirit]
Obedience- the practice of following rules, commands or orders
This scripture teaches us that those who believe in Jesus are born of God and that’s where joyful obedience begins!
Believes and born are in two different tenses.
Believes is in the ‘present tense’ which signifies a present and ongoing belief in Jesus.
Believes Jesus is the “Christ”- [Messiah, Anointed One]; we believe in a Person, who He is and what He has done. Jesus is the Son of God, the Jewish Messiah and the long awaited for Anointed One. What He did was come and die for the sin of man that those who believe in Him can be forgiven of sin and have everlasting life!
John 3:16 (NKJV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Born of God is in the ‘perfect tense’ which means they have been born in the past and the results remain.
Born of God; Once you are born again [spiritually of God], you cannot be unborn spiritually, just like a mother gives birth to her child. Its a done deal!
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Begot- to father, parent
We love God because He is our Father through adoption by His Son. And that adoption makes us his children and eternally secures us in Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We should be “joyfully obedient” to God because of His great love for us that is eternally secure in Jesus Christ. It should be our desire to obey our earthly parents, it should be a greater desire to obey our heavenly Father!
2. Evidence is Love; 2
2. Evidence is Love; 2
One of the evidences of “joyful obedience” is love.
Almost everything is governed by the simple law of cause and effect.
Cause and effect is the relationship between two things when one thing makes something else happen/respond.
A loud alarm clock causes you to wake up
Flipping a light switch causes the lights to turn on
Eating too much food and not exercising causes weight gain
Singing off key causes people to move to other seats
Cause and effect works in our relationship with God to others
The love of Father [cause] enables us to love His family [effect] as we keep His commandments.
John 13:34 (NKJV)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jesus not only loves us, He loves the unlovable us. Remember He loved us first as sinners, now He loves us as saints! That kind of love compels us to love others that way.
10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
A man may be a good doctor without loving his patients; a good lawyer without loving his clients; a good geologist without loving science; but he cannot be a good Christian without love.
Dwight Lyman Moody (Evangelist)
3. Exercise Joyful Obedience; 3
3. Exercise Joyful Obedience; 3
“Joyful Obedience” is fleshed out in our lives because of our family ties in Christ [eternal security], when we love others as God loves them, and finally because we keep His commands.
Joyful obedience has to be exercised daily in our lives.
Exercise- activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness; a process or activity carried out for a specific purpose, especially one concerned with a specified area or skill:
7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.
8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
John is not talking about keeping the commands of the OT Law, because they are burdensome and impossible to keep.
Burdensome- cruel, severe, violent; oppression upon a slave from a cruel master
John is talking about the spiritual exercise of following the way of Jesus in our everyday life out of love
John 14:15 (NKJV)
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
What are some commands we are called to keep as christians? Turn to [1 Thes. 5:12-28] 24 commands for believers in this chapter, I’m gonna show you 20.
12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
20 Do not despise prophecies.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
The commands in [1 Thes. 5] demonstrate His love for us, helping us to avoid actions or behavior that will harm our lives but also enable us to fulfill the command of the Great Commission!
Mark 16:15–16 (NKJV)
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Genuine saving faith produces a godly love which results in joyful obedience to our Heavenly Father!
Close;
Love for the Lord makes obedience to His Word desirable and so much easier. Obedience is what brings blessing to our lives and the lives of others as well.
Something to Ponder
What are some specific things you and I would be willing to try this week to attempt to make our obedience to Christ more joyful?
Serving Jesus should not be a burden, but “Joyful Obedience”!
