Obedience, the true worship.

Read Gen 22:1-18

Obedience, our true worship.

Sometimes people say, “We need to improve the worship in our church”. What do the mean by that?.....

If I do not know how to sing, play or dance. Can I really worship God?

What is worship?

Worship is an acknowledgment of God’s majesty and sovereignty. A complete surrender and submission to God’s will.

- Genesis 22 is a great lesson about a worship service. There was no music, no preaching or prayer; simply obedience to the command given.

- To obey = to serve Him, to listen (shamah).

3 Truths about obedience as our true worship

If we have believed, we must obey Him.

Obedience is synonym of faith.

-We rarely equate faith with obedience; but Christ did:

John 3:36 (NASB95)

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Believing in Christ means believing He is God, Savior, but also Lord.

Lord is the translation of two greek words: “kurios” and “despotes”. They mean “lord and master”.

When Jesus was 40 days old, His parents brought Him to the Temple for the purification, Simeon took Him into his arms and blessed God, calling Him “despotes”...

Luke 2:29–30 NASB95

“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

Jesus used “kurios” when He said...

Matthew 7:21 (NASB95)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

If He is Lord, we must obey every single order or commandment He gives us.

To believe means to obey.

Christ expects obedience as a result of faith.

Part of the purpose of our election is obedience to Christ...

1 Peter 1:1–2 (NASB95)

... who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Immediate disposition to obedience is the result of salvation.

What were the first words uttered by Saul when he faced Jesus on the road to Damascus?

“Lord, what you want me to do?”

Illust. King of Baviara practices obedience

Handbook of Contemporary Preaching Making the Gospel Relevant

According to an often-told story, Henry III, king of Bavaria in the eleventh century, grew tired of his heavy responsibility. One day he traveled to a local monastery, presented himself to the prior, and announced that he wanted to live the rest of his life in the monastery as a contemplative. The prior asked, “Your majesty, do you understand that this is about obedience? Whatever I tell you under authority you must do.” King Henry replied, “Yes, father, I understand.” “Then, your majesty,” said the prior, “in obedience to me go back to your throne and serve in the place God has put you.” King Henry, according to the story, went back to the throne and served the rest of his reign in a magnificent way.

That’s the true mark of salvation: immediate submission to the Lord’s will.

God is pleased with obedience from the heart.

Deuteronomy 11:13–15 NASB95

“It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. “He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Romans 6:17 NASB95

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,

Obedience is a demonstration of our love for Christ: “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

Constant obedience is better than occasional sacrifices.

1 Samuel 15:22 NASB95

Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

We must obey Him even if it seems illogical.

Genesis 22:2 NASB95

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

It was illogical to Abraham.

- It seemed illogical that God had promised to multiply the descendants of Abraham through Isaac, and now God ask him to sacrifice it. But obedience implies faith: to believe that God knows what He is doing when He commands us to do something.

- Noah was also given an “illogical order”: to build a boat for the rain to come. Noah had never seen rain, but he worship God by obeying Him.

"Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did." Ge 6:22

- In Abraham’s case, there was no argument, no whys, no “let me think I it over”, but immediate obedience. He knew that God’s plan was better than his.

Adoniram Judson ends up in Burma

It was illogical to Isaac.

gen 22 9-10

Genesis 22:9–10 NASB95

Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

We must obey Him at any cost.

Abram left his land and family.

- Abram had learned to trust and obey God. He started learning when God instructed him to leave to comfort of his home, the security of his surrounding, and his relatives and friends to go to a land he did not know.

"Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;" Ge 12:1-2

- If we do not learn to obey God in little things we’ll never obey Him in the big ones. This command was just training for the moment he was now facing.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son.

Genesis 22:3 NASB95

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

As we can see, Abraham’s obedience was very meticulous, detail after detail. It was not rushed, not just to do it, but to do it well.

Is that the way we worship (obey) Him?

Can you imagine how painful was that? There is no doubt that Abraham truly trusted God.

When he was about to finish to fulfill the command, God’s voice stopped him:

Genesis 22:12 NASB95

He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

God had seen Abraham’s fear. “Fear” means: honor, revere,

Conclusion: Although, sometimes, obedience may seem difficult, obedience always brings a blessing:

Genesis 22:16–18 NASB95

and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Luke 11:27–28 NASB95

While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

James 1:25 NASB95

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.