Loyal, OK

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

The Power of Obedience

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”  -The prophet Samuel to King Saul (1 Samuel 15:22, 23)

“If you love Me you will obey My commandments.” - Jesus (John 14:15)

With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the men and women that left Egypt under Moses’ leadership were not able to enter Canaan – the Promised Land – because of their rebellion. Moses explains this very well in the following verses:

This morning God is challenging us to realize how much power there is in obeying God. God has certainly been dealing with your pastor about moving from intellectual assent into obedience. “Intellectual assent” means that someone believes what the Bible says, but implies that the person is not obeying it.     

When D L Moody started his ministry someone told him, “The world has yet to see what would happen if one man was fully committed to doing the will of God.” Moody stated that he would accept the challenge. As a result he had a very powerful, dynamic ministry. However, at the end of his ministry he stated, “The world still has yet to see what would happen if one man were to be totally committed to doing the will of God.” Obedience is no small task!

I fear that most of us of us never give the challenge a serious thought.  I must confess that the challenge was too much for me… and I have asked many people if they are willing to pray, “Lord, I’ll do whatever You ask me to do.” But today I accept that challenge. It should be interesting!

Moses’ statement illustrates the power of fear. The fear of dying before they settled in the Promised Land consumed them. Because of fear they did not receive God’s promises. The more we talk about our fears, the more power they have in our lives. When you hear someone talking fear stop them!  

They should have known better:

• The Israelites had seen God end their 400 years of Egyptian slavery. They had seen the ten plagues poured out on the Egyptians and God was arranging for their release from slavery. God protected them from the plagues, yet this did not build their faith.
• After their release they walked through the Red Sea on dry ground; they had watched the powerful Egyptian army drown when they tried to come across that same spot.
• God had protected them from the hot desert sun by the clouds by day and the cold desert nights by a pillar of fire.
• They had seen water come out of a rock after Moses spoke to it – enough water to satisfy the thirst of 1 million people and their animals.
• They had eaten manna from heaven; their clothes had not worn out for 40 years.
• Yet their minds spun out of control with fear and they said, “The LORD hates us; so He brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.”

It is hard to even imagine how frustrated God and Moses must have been. Moses lost control of his anger at the people and struck the rock. God told him to speak to the rock. But the frustrated Moses struck the rock with his staff.

This was an act of disobedience to the Lord’s command. God considers disobedience the same as rebellion. God did not say, “Moses, try to do better.” He simply refused to let Moses enter the Promised Land.

Unresolved anger and fear have devastating results. Disobedience leads to severe consequences.

Let’s move from the museum of Old Testament history and apply this teaching to our own lives. Paul told us that these things are recorded to teach us what God expects of us today.

1.     Is fear your constant companion?

2.     Are you guilty of “grumbling” to your friends and neighbors about your situation?

3.     Are you daily seeking ways to please the Lord, or just getting a spiritual tune-up now and then?

I can’t speak for all pastors, but I know that it is hard for me to keep a balance in my preaching. Sometimes pastors spend so much energy propping up the people that walk in self-condemnation that we fail to preach and teach the power of obeying God. Thank God, He does freely forgive, but if that is all we preach, our preaching is out of balance.

The Christian walk is more than simply making plans to go to heaven when we die. The Christian walk is all about our relationship with God. That relationship involves accomplishing the work we are called to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says that we are saved by faith… to do the work that God has prepared in advance for us to do.

If we are obedient, then God will reward us for doing our earthly work when we get to heaven. Also, it is not a bad thing to achieve great things for God during this life!

Revelation 5:8-14

In my studies the past few days the Holy Spirit has led me to Psalm 119:65-72:

“Do good to Your servant according to Your word, O LORD.  Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in Your commands.  Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your word.  You are good, and what You do is good; teach me Your decrees.  Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.  Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in Your law.  It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.  The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”

If you have ever considered the question, “Why me, Lord?” when you are going through difficult times you may have just found your answer!

The truth is, no matter how God has dealt with us, He has dealt with us better than we deserve! He is not the source of all of our problems. Usually we are. But if He were, it would all be in love, and for our good.

A lot of people have knowledge, but many have poor judgment. In order to be kept safe from the power of Satan we need knowledge, wisdom and good judgment. Then we need the courage to take action!

Satan is able to draw us into sin when he encourages us to do what we already want to do. We need to learn the simple secret, TO CONTROL OUR ACTIONS WE NEED TO CONTROL OUR THOUGHTS.

The Israelites did not control their thoughts, so they grumbled against the Lord.

When we pray, we ask the Lord to bless us. And that is good. However, He can only bless us in accordance with what His Word says. Now I understand that many of us are far more blessed than we deserve. Roberta and I certainly fit into that group. However, I sense that God wants to bless this church a lot more than He is at present. But the responsibility lies in our corner, not His.

The psalmist asked God to “teach me knowledge and good judgment.” Well, my friends, some of that is learned in the school of hard knocks. Not because God wants to do it that way, but because we do not always learn it from reading the book. When Roberta and I were in nursing school they taught us microbiology. It was a really tough course for me and I was not pleased with the information or the instructor. However, microbiology is something we needed once we got into professional practice.

The psalmist also desired “good judgment” – notice that he links the good judgment with “I believe in your commands.”

Good judgment involves obeying God’s commands; even when we do not want to. Evidently the psalmist would understand, for he said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray.” But “now that I have been afflicted, I obey your word.” (Seaton paraphrase)

He then acknowledges the goodness of God. If we will make a decision that every instruction in the Bible is there for our good, then we will eagerly look forward to obeying God’s decrees and judgments.

The psalmist had met plenty of Satan’s helpers. “Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.”

A precept is a rule or principle that prescribes a particular course of action or conduct. In Law it is an authorized direction or order; a writ.

Then the writer makes a powerful statement. “It was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn your decrees.” “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”

Thus he practices the principle taught in Romans 5:1-5:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Matthew Henry notes that “the proud are full of the world, and its wealth and pleasures; these make them senseless, secure, and stupid. God visits His people with affliction, that they may learn His statutes. Not only God's promises, but even His law, His percepts, though hard to ungodly men, are desirable, and profitable, because they lead us with safety and delight unto eternal life.”       

You have to admit that a bullet would be a great motivator. But that is not the way the Lord does things. He is a gentleman, so He does not put a gun to our heads. Rather He gives us the stories in the Bible for direction and motivation. But the Bible cannot help the person that will not read it or hear its message.

Genesis 32:28, And He said, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Jacob/Israel believed that he had wrestled with God, for “He named the place ‘Peniel’ for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Do we have power with God? Of course we do. We are His children and all of us have had prayers answered. But there is more out there!