God's Premium on Obedience

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

With that in mind, and to help us understand the importance that God places on obedience, remember the words of Christ in John 14:15:

John 14:15 KJV 1900

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Time and time again in His Word, God commands His people to obey His voice.

Deuteronomy 13:4 KJV 1900

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

But, we should remember that the motivation for our obedience to authority, whether God’s authority or other Biblical authority that God has delegated in our lives - such as parents - should be our love for and of God!

Obedience to parents is preparation for obeying God.

Ephesians 6:1 KJV 1900

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Teens and children, obeying your parents is just a learning curve for real life! Learning to obey Mom and Dad is simply “boot camp” - spiritual training for learning to obey God.

From Adam and Eve until now, God has been eagerly blessing those who obey Him and warning those who disobey Him.

He commands obedience, rewards obedience, and responds to obedience!

When you resist authority you are resisting God.

This should be a sobering thought.

God is very clear that those in spiritual authority over us should be honored, obeyed, remembered, and submitted to.

Hebrews 13:7 KJV 1900

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Hebrews 13:17 KJV 1900

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

But why?

Romans 13:1–2 KJV 1900

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Notice what Paul says, there in vs. 2: “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power (authority), resisteth the ordinance of God...” Wow!

Look beyond your parents and see God. Look beyond your employer and see God. Look beyond that police officer and see God. Look beyond that spiritual authority and see the God Who placed them in your life. Then think: In your life you will either obey God and reap the benefits, or disobey Him and reap the problems!

Obedience is central to your walk with God.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV 1900

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Question: Name a Biblical example of obedience?

Question: Name a Biblical example of disobedience?

The Bible is filled with the stories of countless individuals who each made a simple choice: obedience or disobedience. Yet, isn’t it amazing, that with all of this historical proof of the product of obedience and disobedience, we still convince ourselves that we can beat the system?!?!

Let’s not be so foolish! This obedience thing - whether as an adult or a young person - is about you and God and no one else!

Bringing this down to the teens and children here this morning: If you struggle with obeying Mom and Dad, you will most likely struggle the rest of your life with obeying God. And, in the end, you will miss out on unbelievable blessings.

God Chose Your Choices for Disobedience

Genesis 1:1 KJV 1900

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

When God created time and space, He created laws.

God created universal laws to which all of humanity is subject.

Some of those laws God chose to make mandatory. Other laws He gave you a free will to choose to obey or disobey. Therefore...

God determined our choices in obedience and disobedience.

In other words, God chose, long before you or I came along, in which laws we could rebel against and which ones we couldn’t. And guess what? We’ve stayed right in His plan all along!

For instance, you’ve probably never rebelled against breathing oxygen! But, if you really want to show how tough you are, do something impressive - start breathing water for a few weeks!

If you’re really going to fight God, really fight Him! Breathe water, eat concrete, resist gravity, grow another head, move to another planet, live underwater, eat through your ears instead of your mouth, sleep on the ceiling, grow a few more eyes, arms or legs…Do something original that truly shows your lack of submission to God’s authority!

Anyone can fight against their parents!

Anyone can have a bad attitude to their employer!

Anyone can rip up a speeding ticket or refuse to pay their taxes!

I hope you get the point. We don’t get to choose how to rebel. We can only rebel in the areas that God allows. And, it stands to reason, that we only get to rebel as long as He allows!

God could stop our rebellion at any time.

Maybe it never occurred to you quite this way, but God is the one who determined that resistance against your parents could be tolerated, while resistance against oxygen would be lethal!

God is the one who determined that disobedience to Him would sometimes be put up with, while disobedience to eating would be fatal.

Call it mercy. Call it patience. Call it love. No matter how you slice it, God is putting up with our rebellion - giving us time to rethink our direction and change our course. Isn’t God great!

Psalm 145:8–9 KJV 1900

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; Slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works.

Lamentations 3:21–23 KJV 1900

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Turn to and read Numbers 22:21-33.

God had already, very clearly told Balaam not to go. But, Balaam kept pushing until God allowed Him to go. It is never God’s will for us to rebel against Biblical authority in our lives. But God does allow it just as He allowed Balaam to go.

But, when individuals begin to rebel against Biblical authority, not only do they find themselves in a position where God Himself is withstanding them; they also find themselves doing some very foolish things. (Think Balaam talking to his donkey!)

Just as Balaam found out, we are far better off if we give in to God and submit to God’s authority in our lives of our own free will!

Obedience - The Place of God’s Blessing

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 KJV 1900

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

In these verses...

God gives me the choice to obey or disobey.

In these verses we see that...

God’s blessings always follow obedience.

Think about it. God has chosen whom He will bless. You could even say it this way, “God plays favorites!” Those who obey are His favorites.

Yet, He isn’t a respecter of person - anyone can obey Him and have His favor! This is just another one of God’s laws - His blessing follows obedience. If we want God’s blessing on our lives, we must be in the place of obedience.

The reason that I’m saying “Obey your parents” is all about God’s blessing for you. The reason we, as adults, should obey the authority that God has brought into our lives has everything to do with God’s blessing on our lives.

When we obey, we place ourselves in the direct path of God’s best blessings.

Closing:

I hate to be so blunt but, rebels are stupid. They never get what they want, and are always more and more uptight about it - like more and more rebellion is going to magically get them there!

Teens, young people, Submit to God’s authority and the authority He has brought into your lives - such as your parents. It is God’s way of blessing!

Parents, adults, lead by example. If we expect these teenagers and young people to submit to God and His authority, then we must submit to God and the authority which He has brought into our lives. Why should the young people in this auditorium submit and obey God if we are not?

Turn to and read Isaiah 1:16-20.

In this passage, God has just completed a clear indictment against the spiritual formalities that the nation of Israel was following. (Think “King Saul” from last week’s message.) He literally denounces the things they were supposedly doing “for Him.” Then, He turns His attention to the solution.

After telling these people to stop their game of religion, He calls them back to Himself in humble repentance. He offers to wash them, to make them clean, to clear the slate. Then He puts before them two simple options.

Isaiah 1:19–20 KJV 1900

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, Ye shall be devoured with the sword: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

God says, “You have two choices. You can be willing and obedient or you can refuse and rebel.”