Obedience
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Prayer; Prayer; first of all I would like to open with a word of prayer.
Question; don’t forget to always be asking questions!
Prayer; Prayer; first of all I would like to open with a word of prayer.
Intro; Alright, well here we go again. Today we will be looking at the twelve lesson in the FOF – that being the subject of obedience. Before we do that, I want us to think back to the previous 11 lessons for just a minute. Because I believe there is a reason this curriculum begins to close the study with the topic of obedience and God’s Will.
What topics have been covered so far?
The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Prayer and the believer
The Church: Fellowship and Worship
Spiritual Gifts
Evangelism and the Believer
Introduction to the Bible
How to Know the Bible
God: His character and Attributes
The person of Jesus Christ
The work of Christ
Salvation
So to sum all of this up in a nut shell. We have been on the mountain tops these last few months. We have been studying some of the grandest topics the Lord has revealed to men and an understanding of these topics demand something. They demand the Christian to obey in light of this knowledge.
You see you have learned about…
What the bible is and how the Lord has gone about giving us His revelation
You have seen all three persons of the Trinity and exactly what they have done for this sinful human race.
As a Christian you have seen who you are and what the church is.
You have been told that you have spiritual gifts and a call to disciple the world.
Now what more is left but to beg the question what will you do with this knowledge?
Listen to how the Apostle John puts it in ,
3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
You see we say we know the Lord – that we are His. John reminds his readers in this passage that those who say they know the Lord will obey Him. The Christian who does not live a life of obedience and submission to the Lord is simply a liar!
So if this is true then obviously this is an important topic and one that demands some attention. We do not want to be hearers of the word only we want to be doers of the word. Men and Women who have been impacted by the Holy Spirit through the scriptures and who desperately feel the need to obey.
Q; so today here is how I would like to open. I would like to open by asking the question, “What reasons or examples are we given in the scriptures for obeying”?
A; Several…
Saints before us who have done it, like; Abraham obeyed by faith, Prophets, Joshua and Caleb
Christ Himself the ultimate example of obedience; never once failed to obey, gave up glory and personal rights for obedience
Scriptures commend us to obey:
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
, , ,
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
, , , ,
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
,
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy
This passage in Romans leads us into another reason the scriptures gives us for obeying. Simply put - we are now slaves of obedience that should lead to righteousness.
to righteousness.
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
Q; What does our obedience show to the Lord?
A; several answers…
It shows we honor Him and His word
It shows we love him
It shows Him we value His ways and not our own
Q; What does our obedience show to the Word (Jesus)?
A; Several answers…
We honor Him and His word more than men
We love him more than ourselves
We find our pleasure in His ways and not mans
It shows humility – which is essential to the gospel message
It shows His ways are above ours
Q; Is there a “wrong” way to show obedience”
A; Yes, obedience should always flow from a thankful and grateful heart.
Obeying God in an attempt to earn His favor or to pay Him back for salvation is not true obedience.
Sermon
Sermon
Does anyone have any thoughts, comments or questions from our sermon this week?
1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.
2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”
6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.
8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
9 So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”
11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”
19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”
Can anyone remind us in 2 minutes the story MacArthur built this sermon on?
Q; MacArthur reminds us that Peter is estranged from Christ. Christ has left them and Peter had gone back to fishing. As Peter and the other disciples are fishing, they are having no luck. Who comes to help them?
A; Christ
Q; what miracle does Christ perform and what do we see from His actions?
A; He tells them to fish from the other side of the boat and they catch a lot of fish.
This action of Christ by coming to them reminds us that He is always the initiator in our reconciliation.
Q; why is it important when we talk about the topic of obedience we study the topic of restoration and forgiveness?
A; because we have failed and we will fail. It’s important to understand that there is always forgiveness and restoration for those who seek it.
It is important to also remember that restoration, just like salvation, is always initiated by God.
Q; sometimes as humans we are not sure if a person really wants forgiveness and is really sorry. How do we know Peter wanted restoration?
A; when he realized that it was Christ on the shore he jumped out of the boat to get to Him.
Peter was in a hurry to be restored and this is a clear sign of one who really wants forgiveness.
They are in a hurry to make that happen.
Q; MacArthur made a comment about what makes spiritually great people. Can you remember what he said?
A; Spiritual greatness comes from obedience. Gradual growth comes through regular obedience.
Q; what kinds of things do we not obey in like we should?
A; many answers...
How we treat our spouse
Honoring the Lord
Thinking on right things
Sexual purity
A; Many answers…
Edifying, admonishing & disciplining each other
Ø Edifying, admonishing & disciplining each other
Prayer
Ø Prayer
Seeking the Lord through teaching & reading His word
Ø Seeking the Lord through teaching & reading His word
Serving the Lord and each other
Ø Serving the Lord and each other
Evangelism
Ø Evangelism
Statements from sermon I liked (paraphrased)
Statements from sermon I liked (paraphrased)
We live in an age of mass choices and somehow we as Christians have decided that experience should be true of the church as well. We feel we can make choices in Christianity as if they don’t matter. Well I might go the church today. I might help out my brother or sister if I can, I’ll decide what my priorities should look like and what is important. We love Jesus if it seems like the best option at that time.
We have all been called to wholehearted love and devotion. Yet we don’t live our lives as if that is true. The early church new nothing of halfhearted devotion the way we live treat this Christian walk.
Love and obedience in this sermon were basically synonyms to MacArthur. They cannot be separated.
The test of our love is whether or not we pursue the things of the Lord.
It’s amazing the songs that we sing on Sunday confessing our love to Jesus and yet we don’t live our lives like that.
Our obedience puts us in a position to fully receive God’s grace and mercy.
We all want 100% of God’s love, yet we don’t give Him 100% of our love.
So it is that we must be careful to remember that at the end of the day obedience is to be done out of a heart that is grateful for the work that have been done through Christ. The Lord has saved us through the atoning work of His Son and the calling of the Holy Spirit. He never needed our obedience nor does He need it now. It didn’t save us nor will it keep us saved.
So at the end of the day we come back to where we started. We look at all the things the Lord has done for us. Things we have covered in this study…
The bible
The Godhead
Our salvation
Our work
We look at all these things and we are left to conclude that obedience to the Lord out of gratitude and worship is what should drive our obedience. What is it we teach our children?
You need to obey with a good attitude.
We should do the same.
And with that we come back to the gospel again. What greater reason could we ever have for obeying than when we ponder how He has bought us and given us a new life! Oh that the Lord would give us hearts like the Psalmist,
8 I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
“I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart”.
Prayer; I pray that we will stop viewing the fleeting pleasures of this world as more valuable than obedience to the Lord.