Trust and Obey God
Notes
Transcript
Intro; As we close our doctrinal study on God’s Plan of Salvation, I want to remind us that salvation is not just a prayer nor a RSVP to heaven, though they are part of it. Salvation is being pardoned from sin to live a life of holiness in Christ. And to do that we must learn to “Trust and Obey God”!
Trust and Obey/ John H. Sammis
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, Can abide while we trust and obey;
But we never can prove the delights of His love, until all on the altar we lay; For the favor He shows and the joy He bestows, are for them who will trust and obey;
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, Or we'll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey
Trust and obey, for there's no other way; To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Text; Acts 5:29
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
Prayer
Background; Peter and John had been arrested for preaching the gospel and healing the sick. This is actually the second time this has happened. They were put in jail but an angel of the Lord released them that night and told them to go and speak to those in the temple the whole message of this Life! So they did [Acts 5:19-20].
They were then brought back before the Council and were questioned why they continued teaching in Jesus’ name when they were ordered not too? This is where they responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Tonight I want us to look at 6 things that can help us in our daily walk of salvation to “Trust and Obey God”, regardless of the cost!
1. Unite with a Bible Teaching Church; Acts 2:47
1. Unite with a Bible Teaching Church; Acts 2:47
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
When one is saved, Jesus becomes his Lord and Master. Since a believer cannot serve two masters, he needs to be joined to the one that he loves the most, the church.
The church is the family of God that is saved and set apart in this world to serve and glorify our Savior!
[Acts 2:42-46] Uniting with the church helps the new convert to begin to grow in faith and understanding of the teachings of Christ. Learning the ordinances of the church and encouragement of other believers. Worship of God, praise and prayer with joy in His family!
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
2. Believer’s Baptism; Acts 2:41
2. Believer’s Baptism; Acts 2:41
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Baptism is a believers first witness to the world of our faith in Christ. We are identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Baptism never saved anyone, but one who is saved desires to be baptized! Because we are not ashamed of the One who saved us!
3. Bible Study/Sunday School; 2 Tim. 2:15
3. Bible Study/Sunday School; 2 Tim. 2:15
If one is to ever fully trust and obey God, then one must know God intimately to know God’s will and purpose for us.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The best hour of our Sunday/Wednesday to grow in God’s grace is to come to Sunday School and Bible study where you can learn and interact in God’s word with God’s family!
Diligent- zealous, eager, intense effort
13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
The weakest link of the church is the ignorance of the Word of God by it’s members!
4. Corporate Worship; Heb. 10:23-25
4. Corporate Worship; Heb. 10:23-25
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Every believer needs the encouragement in worship of God and the fellowship of the believer in the family of God!
Worship strengthens our hope in Christ in a world of hopelessness.
Worship strengthens our faith in Christ and recharges our spiritual desire to live for Him daily outside the walls of the sanctuary and our home.
Worship allows one to encourage others who may be struggling spiritually as they see you praising God
Worship is our safe place as we fellowship with our family
Worship is where our minds attention and hearts affection is solely focused upon the Person of Jesus Christ!
Regular church attendance in true worship shows support for the work of God in the body and in the world—that we are for Jesus rather than against Him. To say we love Christ and neglect church is nothing but hypocrisy!
30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
Worship is not just to encourage the believer, it also focuses the believer on Christ and prepares us for the Day of His return!
5. Giving; 1 Cor. 4:1-2
5. Giving; 1 Cor. 4:1-2
1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
What are the mysteries of God? A “mystery” in the New Testament is something that had at one time been hidden but is now revealed to God’s people.
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The wisdom and knowledge of giving is found in the Person who gave all, Jesus! It doesn’t make common sense to the natural man to give his finances to the church [10%] and live off the rest [90%] and think he can survive much less prosper. But that’s the mystery of God in giving!
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also:
2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
9 As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
When a christian learns to trust God with His money, then a whole new dimension of spiritual understanding, growth and obedience will begin in their life!
6. Personal Time with God; Phil. 2:12-13
6. Personal Time with God; Phil. 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Working out our salvation is not working for our salvation. It is the process of spending personal time with God in prayer and the study of His Word. It is relationship building. If we don’t grow personally in Christ, then we will have nothing to offer others in public worship and witness of Him!
All relationships take time. A relationship with God, while unlike other relationships in many ways, still follows the rules of other relationships.
For example, Christ is depicted as the bridegroom, and the Church is depicted as the bride. Marriage is two joining their lives as one. Such intimacy involves time spent alone with one another.
Another relationship is that of father and child. Strong parental relationships are those in which children and parents have continual investment in one another. Spending time alone with a loved one provides the opportunity to truly come to know that person.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Close;
When we “Trust and Obey God”, then and only then is He able to fulfill in us His glory. What is God’s glory in us?
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
