Obedience to Christ
Notes
Transcript
Handout
5 Reasons Why Obedience is Key to making the Bride ready!
5 Reasons Why Obedience is Key to making the Bride ready!
There was a father who called his 5 small children together.
As they sat together in a circle on the floor the dad placed a toy in the middle.
He explained to them that he won this toy as a door prize and he wanted to give it to one of them.
He asked them “who is the most obedient?”
Five sets of eyes looked up at him.
Sensing that they didn’t understand the word he then asked, “ok, who always obeys mommy, and does everything she says?”
One of the children picked up the toy and handed it to the father. “You win!” exclaimed the child.
The Trained Dog
A woman goes to a pet store and asks to buy a trained dog.
The owner walks to the back and shows the woman three dogs.
"Here are our dogs." the owner says, "The first dog knows the commands 'sit', 'stay' and 'lay down'. She costs $500. The second dog knows the commands 'roll over', 'fetch' and 'beg'. He costs $700. The third dog will obey any command he hears and costs $50."
Seeing a good deal the woman buys the $50 dog. She takes it home and tries out some commands.
"Sit" the woman says.
The dog just stands there blinking.
"Roll over" the woman says.
The dog continues to stand there.
"Lay down" she says angrily.
The dog still just stands there.
The woman takes the dog and goes back to the pet store.
"You lied to me!" the woman yells at the owner "You said he would obey any command but it doesn't do anything!"
"I didn't lie to you" the owner said, "I just failed to mention that the dog is deaf."
Marriage Vows
A young couple were having their first fight, and it was a big one.
After a while, the husband said "When we got married, you promised to love, honor and obey."
His bride replied, "I know. But I didn't want to start an argument in
front of all those people."
Today is part 2 of my series on the Bride has made herself ready.
Last week was the intro if you missed that. it was a brief summary of what we will be covering over the next few months.
The theme of this series is.
Jesus is waiting for His bride to get ready so he can return for her!
Jesus is waiting for His bride to get ready so he can return for her!
Today I want to talk about the glue that hold it all together.
its not a favorite word, and some people may not like to hear it
but the Word is Obedience
Specifically obedience to Christ.
today I want to talk about
5 Reasons Why Obedience is Key to making the Bride ready!
5 Reasons Why Obedience is Key to making the Bride ready!
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh.
“For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.
“But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’
“Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.
Why is Obedience to God is key to making the bride ready?
1. When you are obedient, you can walk with God.
1. When you are obedient, you can walk with God.
eg recap story of Noah
The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
How did Noah find favor in God’s eyes?
These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
Because Noah was obedient to God he was able to walk with God.
There is a direct correlation between your closeness to God and your obedience to Him
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
If you are feeling distant from God, the first place to look is have you been disobedient in an area of your life.
“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
Obedience is key to maintain a relationship with God!
Sin separates us from God
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
This is definitely true if you are not a believer, but it is also relevant for those who have there sins forgiven.
want proof.
Have you ever done something you knew you shouldn’t have done?
Did that choice draw you closer or or push you further from God?
Repentance brings us closer!
2. When you are obedient, you are much more useful to God.
2. When you are obedient, you are much more useful to God.
obedience was required in order for Noah to be useful to God in what was going to come about.
God: Noah build a boat
Noah: God I do want too, I rather sit in my hammock and soak up the rays
God: Noah build a boat
Noah: Oh alright, but it better be a small one, I don’t want to waste alot of time with this
God: I need you to build it 510 ft long and 50 feet high
Noah: How big?
God: 510 ft long and 50 feet high
Noah: by myself?
God: No your whole family can help
Noah: all 8 of us, well that’s a relief, I’ll guess I’ll get started on it tomorrow
God: now Noah
Noah: really, don’t a need to google how to build a boat first?
God: I will tell you how! Now get to it.
Noah: how long is it going to take?
God: between 55-75 years
Noah: What I’ll be old by then
God: yes but at least your be alive
Noah: This is gonna chew up alot of my free time, can you get someone to build the boat?
God: Noah!
Noah: ok ..ok God you win
God: Actually Noah…you win!
If Noah was not obedient, God could not have used him in the way that He did!
“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it.
“So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
3: When you are obedient, you will be open to Blessings.
3: When you are obedient, you will be open to Blessings.
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
“If you consent and obey,
You will eat the best of the land;
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
While God loves and shows favor to all of His children, Scripture is clear that there is an inherent blessing that comes as a result of obedience.
4: When you are obedient, you’re choosing God’s best!
4: When you are obedient, you’re choosing God’s best!
Many pre-beleivers hold to life as a Christian is boring. many believers maintain that thought.
The idea that drinking, drugs, promiscuity are the best this life has to offer is very sad.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
God has a master plan for your life, Its the plan that will bring your to your life the most fulfillment you can ever imagine
God’s love for us is clear from the sacrifice He arranged through Jesus Christ.
And by the power of His Holy Spirit, He drew us to Him and adopted us into His family.
We can’t lose His love. But
God is not a tyrant.
He does not force His will on us.
He always gives us the choice of whether to follow Him or not.
If we choose not to follow Him—to walk in disobedience—then we walk outside of that BLESSING.
It’s our choice, one He has given to all His children throughout history.
But the plan God has for us is the best,
everything this world has to offer is empty and void, unsatisfying.
I have to laugh when someone tells me the Christian life is boring!.
Have you ever fought a demon and won?
have you ever seen someone healed in a instant
have you seen a miracle
have you had a heart to heart conversation with the creator of everything
have you seen visions of the future.
Do you know things you’ve never learned
walking in obedience with God is never boring.
Look at the disciples.
Cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, walk on water.
When you walk in obedience life will never be boring.
5: When you are obedient, you’re trusting God to be God.
5: When you are obedient, you’re trusting God to be God.
Obeying God means moving aside and allowing God—His Word, His Holy Spirit and His way of operating—to move in our lives.
It means trusting (having faith) that He will be true to His Word.
When we obey, we don’t try to control our lives and the situations around us by our own human strength.
Instead, we focus on the Lord by keeping Him and His Word before our eyes and allowing Him to have His way and trusting that He will fulfill His promises.
Conclusion
We cannot claim to love God without obeying Him and His Word.
Let’s commit to obey Him with heartfelt love and show an appreciation for all He has done for us.
We serve a big, magnificent, awe-inspiring God.
Let’s obey Him immediately and wholeheartedly so we can walk with Him closely and enjoy the benefits of our obedience!