WHO DO YOU LISTEN TO AND OBEY

PROCLAMATION

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey; whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”  Romans 6:16 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the believers in Rome.  His point here was that believers should be dead to sin and alive in Christ. (Romans 6:11)  He said that every man is the servant of the master to whose commands he yields himself to. (Romans 6:16)  He ends this chapter by saying that the result of sin is death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:21-23)

 

APPLICATION

If we frequently give in to sin, then we are slaves of the devil.  However, if we frequently obey The Word of God, then we belong to Him.  If we love The Lord God, then we will keep His commandments. (John 14:15)  Believers are not perfect, we are ashamed of the times when we used to sin and when we slip and fall back into it. (Romans 6:21)  We should not use our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness and sin.  We should be instruments of righteousness, doing those things which are pleasing to The Lord and that give Him glory. (Romans 6:13 and 12:1)

 

THE PREDICTION OF THE ABUSE OF CHRIST

PROCLAMATION

“The Sovereign Lord has opened My ears; I have not been rebellious; I have not turned away.  I offered My back to those who beat Me, My cheek to those who pulled out My beard; I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting.”  Isaiah 50:5-6 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the Jews through the prophet Isaiah. (Isaiah 50:1)  After a series of rhetorical questions, (Isaiah 50:1-2) God, The Son, tells them what God, The Father, has done for Him (Isaiah 50:4-5) and of His obedience to Him. (Isaiah 50:5-6)  Jesus, The Christ, was to be arrested, spat upon, mocked, slapped, beaten and scourged before He was taken to Calvary and nailed to the cross. (Matthew 27:26-31, Mark 14:65, Luke 22:63-65, and John 18:22 and 19:1-3)  Isaiah predicted this approximately 600 to 700 years before the earthly birth of Christ.

APPLICATION

In addition to being rejected by His own people, Jesus, The Christ, was abused verbally and physically before He was crucified on the cross.  Although He had the power to put a stop to His abuse, He endured it for our benefit.  He demonstrated His obedience to the will of God, The Father, (Matthew 26:39 and Luke 22:42) and He suffered to pay the price for our sins and for the salvation of our souls.  He came into this world and put on humanity in order to be the sacrificial lamb to take away the sins of the world. (John 1:29)  We should be thankful and grateful, and we should let Him know it.  In fact, everyday should be a day of giving thanks for all that He has done for us.

WHOSE WORD DO YOU LISTEN TO AND OBEY

Proclamation:

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey; whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”  Romans 6:16 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the believers in Rome.  His point was that believers should be dead to sin and alive in Christ. (Romans 6:11)  He said that every man is the servant of the master to whose commands he yields himself to.  He ends this chapter by saying that the result of sin is death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:23)

Application:

If we frequently give in to sin, then we are slaves of the devil.  However, if we frequently obey The Word of God, then we belong to Him.  If we love Him then we will keep His commandments. (John 14:15)  Believers are not perfect, they are ashamed of the times when they used to sin and when they slip and fall back into it. (Romans 6:21)  We should not be using our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness and sin, but we should be instruments of righteousness doing that which is pleasing to The Lord and giving  Him glory.(Romans 6:13 and 12:1)

OBEDIENCE SACRIFICE AND BLESSINGS

Proclamation:

“Some time later God tested Abraham.  He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ … Then God said, ‘Take you son, you only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’  Early the next morning … he took his son … When they reached the place … Abraham built and altar … he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar … and took the knife to slay his son.  But The Angel of The Lord called out to him … ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy’ … Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram, caught by its horns … he took the ram and sacrificed it … The Angel of The Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said ‘… I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.  Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.’”  Genesis 22:1-18 (NIV)

Explanation:

The Lord God appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him. (Genesis 17:1-7)  God kept His promise and Abraham was an old man when his son, Isaac, was born. (Genesis 21:2)  When The Lord God called to him and told what He wanted him to do, Abraham was obedient and took his son to the mountains to offer him as a brunt offering unto The Lord.  Before he actually slayed his son, The Angel of The Lord stopped him and showed him a ram that was caught in the bush.  Abraham called that place “The Lord Will Provide”. (Genesis 22:14)  Because he was willing to sacrifice his son to please God, The Lord promised to bless him and his descendants, who would be too numerous to count. (Genesis 22:16-17)  He promised that through Abraham’s descendants all nations on the earth would be blessed, referring to Jesus, The Christ. (Genesis 22:18)  The genealogy of Jesus can be traced back to Abraham. (Matthew 1:1-16)

Application:

Abraham passed his test of faith in God by showing his obedience to God.  He was willing to give up the son that he loved in order to obey God.  What sacrifices are we willing to make to obey The Word of God?  All too often we choose to please ourselves and our lustful, sinful nature instead of sacrificing our personal wants, wishes, and desires in order to please God.  We offer excuses when we are presented with the opportunity to choose to obey The Word of God and we give in to pleasing ourselves.  Abraham is often referred to as the father of the faithful.  He was truly blessed, God even used his enemies to be a blessing to him.  If we want to be blessed more in the future than we already are, then maybe we should be more obedient to God's word and His will than we are currently.  God gave us a free will and He allows us to choose to be obedient or not.  Following Him requires some personal sacrifices.  However, with obedience and sacrifice comes some special blessings.  Remember, some blessings are conditional.

HAVING THE COMPLETE JOY OF JESUS

Proclamation:

"As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in My love.  If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love.  I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."  John 15:9-11 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle John.  Jesus was speaking to His disciples to comfort them after He had told them that He would soon leave them.  He told them that one of them would betray Him, (John 13:21) and that Peter would deny Him, (John 13:38) and that God, The Father, would send The Holy Spirit to be with them. (John 14:26)  Then He likened Himself to a vine and said they were the branches. (John 15:5-8)  He told that as long as they stayed connected to Him and kept His commands, they would remain in His love and that His joy would be in them. (John 15:9-11)

Application:

As human beings we want all of the good without the bad, the sunshine without the rain, and the joy without the pain.  Jesus makes it clear that obedience to His commands is the basis for experiencing His complete joy.  His joy was based upon His obedience to the will of God, The Father.  Our joy is based upon our being obedient to His word.  We can have the ultimate and complete joy of Jesus if we follow His word.  And this joy is special, nothing in the world can give it to us, and the world can't take it away from us.  This joy extends from the joy of our salvation.

Sanctification Is A Life Long Process

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout ...  who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God The Father, through the sanctifying work of The Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ ..."  1 Peter 1:1-2 (NIV)

The Apostle Peter said, in the opening lines of a letter to the believers who were scattered throughout the Roman empire, that they were chosen by God, and sanctified by The Holy Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.

Believers are sanctified by The Spirit of God, consecrated, set apart for the purpose and will of God.  Sanctification is the process by which believers are purified and made ready to partake in the holiness of God.  It begins with justification, when we accept Christ and our sins are forgiven, and it continues until glorification and we see Christ face to face.  The Spirit of God is working within us from the moment we first believe, and continues to work within us for the rest of our life as we become more obedient to The Word of God and more like Christ.  God gave us all the free will to choose to accept, or not accept, Jesus, The Christ, as Lord and Savior.  We also make choices each day whether or not we will obey The Word of God.  The more we study His Word, and submit ourselves to Him, the more Christ-like we become.  As we grow in age, we should grow in the knowledge of God and in holiness.  However, perfection will not be attained until we are glorified and see Christ face to face.

Disobedience Justified By Obedience

"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men,so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men."  Romans 5:18 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul, the Damascus road Christian convert, wrote in his letter to the believers in Rome that justification is the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life through righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord.  He said that the act of one man condemned all men, and the act of one man redeemed all men, all who chose to accept redemption.

It was through the disobedience of Adam in the garden which condemned all men.  It was through the obedience of Jesus that all men were justified.  In both cases, many were effected by the actions of the one.  The righteousness of Jesus, The Christ, His obedience to the will of God, through and including His death on the cross, paid the price for the sins of man, and thereby provided the justification of man in the eyes of God.  While the pardon of sin is available to all men, the gift of justification is only given to believers, and thereby so is the gift of eternal life.  This gift of ours, Christ paid for with His life, with His crucifixion, and His death on the cross.  For that He deserves all glory, honor, and praise.  He is worthy of our worship.  

Disobeying God Is Not Good

"The Word of The Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it,  because its wickedness has come up before Me.'  But Jonah ran far away from The Lord and headed for Tarshish.  He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.  After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from The Lord."  Jonah 1:1-3 (NIV)

God spoke to the prophet Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh, a city where the people worshipped idle gods.  Jonah did not want to go the this foreign country and preach to those people because he did not want them to be saved.  So he ran from God and went in the opposite direction.  This is the only recorded example of a prophet refusing to do what God told him to do.

There is a price to pay for flat out refusal to do the will of God.  There is really no running away from God because He is omnipresent and is everywhere all at the same time.  Jonah paid for his refusal to obey God (Jonah 1:15-16), and we will pay for our disobedience.  Because of God's goodness and His mercy, after our punishment we can return to His good graces by repenting and asking for His forgiveness.  Prayer changes things but we must have a change of heart first.