1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,520 The Word of God is food for the spirit and health to the body. 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:13,200 Through the spirit of revelation, we are guided into the wisdom and deep mysteries in His 3 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,960 Word that make our lives vibrant and productive. 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,160 Welcome to the Mercure for Gospel Church podcast. 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:25,480 As you listen in, the glory of God will be quickened and activated in your life. 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,000 And now, the Word. 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:34,200 This morning we're going to look at the subject of obedience when you are in covenant with 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:35,200 God. 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,360 And as usual, we're going to look at the life of Abraham. 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:45,680 Abraham is a good example of someone who walked in covenant with God. 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,600 We learn many things from Abraham. 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,040 Abraham is called the father of the faithful. 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,920 He's called the father of faith. 14 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,480 He was called the friend of God. 15 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,400 Three major religions look to him as their father. 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,720 Christians, Jews, and Muslims all consider Abraham as their father. 17 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:12,080 So Abraham is a good example for us to study to see what it means to be in covenant with 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:13,080 God. 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:20,560 Now, tell me the Meteor Bible's priesthood book of Genesis chapter 22. 20 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,720 Let's read the first five verses. 21 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:28,080 Genesis 22, verse one to verse five. 22 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:38,760 Night came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. 23 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,720 And he said, here I am. 24 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:42,720 See how this is my response? 25 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:43,720 Here I am. 26 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:44,720 Here I am. 27 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:45,720 Ready to do your will. 28 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:46,720 Here I am. 29 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:47,720 Verse two. 30 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:55,080 And he said, take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. 31 00:01:55,080 --> 00:02:03,160 Go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a bad offering on one of the mountains 32 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,960 of which I shall tell you. 33 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:06,960 Verse three. 34 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:15,000 So Abraham rose early, underlined early, in the morning and saddled his donkey and took 35 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,440 two of his young men with him and Isaac his son. 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:27,520 And he split the wood for the bad offering and arose and went to the place of which God 37 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,440 had told him. 38 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:30,440 Verse four. 39 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:37,600 Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. 40 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,440 Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. 41 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:47,600 The Lord and I will go yonder and worship will come back to you. 42 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:52,600 There are so many things we can learn from this text and I've been trying my best to 43 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,840 control myself, not to say too much. 44 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:04,120 But this morning, I want us to realize that obedience is critical in life. 45 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:10,760 If you want to succeed in life, you must learn the discipline of obedience. 46 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:18,640 When a child grows up disobedient to parents, disobedient to elders, disobedient to those 47 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:22,280 in authority, that child is in danger. 48 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:27,400 That child will end up in prison or end up dead. 49 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,720 Obedience is critical to all of us. 50 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,600 We must learn to walk in obedience. 51 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,880 As a good citizen, you must obey the laws of your country or else you may end up in 52 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,880 prison. 53 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,520 If you're always breaking the law, one day you get in trouble. 54 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:52,760 Good citizens are those who obey the laws of the country. 55 00:03:52,760 --> 00:04:02,160 And if you are working for a company, an organization, and their laws, policies, principles in that 56 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:09,280 organization, when you breach those policies, you may end up being unemployed. 57 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:10,880 You may lose your job. 58 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:18,920 So obedience is part and parcel of our lives if we want to succeed. 59 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:27,960 If you are seeking to live a victorious life, you must learn the discipline of obedience. 60 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:37,120 In fact, Jesus told us from the parable of the wise and foolish builder, Jesus said 61 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:46,520 that whosoever hears my sayings and obeys them is like a wise man who builds his house 62 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,080 upon a rock. 63 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:55,200 But whosoever hears my words and ignores them is like a man who builds a house upon 64 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,480 sand. 65 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:04,040 And when the rain comes, because rain will come, when the floods come, when the wind 66 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,840 blows, the house built on sand will collapse. 67 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,760 So obedience is central, even spiritually. 68 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,560 We shall soon find that out. 69 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:20,080 It is important for you to develop a heart of obedience. 70 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:25,560 If you are building anything in this life, you must learn to walk in obedience to God's 71 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:26,560 Word. 72 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:34,080 Now, when you look at Abraham, God gave him a very difficult command. 73 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,040 Honestly, put yourself in the shoes of Abraham. 74 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,600 How would you have reacted to that instruction? 75 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:49,520 God comes up out of nowhere, says, Tomorrow take your son, the one whom you love, not 76 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:54,400 Ishmael, not Esau, the son whom you love. 77 00:05:54,400 --> 00:06:01,920 Take him up to a place I will show you, go up there and offer him as a sacrifice to me. 78 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:03,840 How would you have reacted to that? 79 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:10,900 It was so distressing, it was a shock to him. 80 00:06:10,900 --> 00:06:15,600 But the Bible says he rose up early in the morning. 81 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:24,840 He's teaching us that understanding a commandment may wait, but obedience is immediate. 82 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:33,480 You do not, dearly, dally, try to debate with God, trying to make him look as if he's made 83 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:34,480 a mistake. 84 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,440 You are not as wise as him. 85 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:43,040 He is the porter, you are the clay. 86 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,760 The porter has power over the clay. 87 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,920 He can mold it and shape it however he wants. 88 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,000 He can do whatever he wants with the clay. 89 00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:00,640 So if you are going to walk in covenant with God, learn this principle. 90 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:09,000 There were times you may not understand why God commands you to do what he tells you to 91 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:10,000 do. 92 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:17,280 But it may take a long time to grasp the meaning behind God's commandments. 93 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:18,280 Obeying is immediate. 94 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:19,280 Immediate. 95 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,640 You don't debate with God. 96 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,600 The Bible says the man woke up early in the morning. 97 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,080 In fact, he's the one who even split the wood. 98 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,080 Look at the Bible. 99 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,080 That's what I'm going to say. 100 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:45,680 Because the one who split the wood unsettled the donk and he went out to do the will of 101 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,320 God. 102 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:56,480 Sometimes it is as we walk in obedience that we discover the meaning of a command. 103 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:04,720 It is as you go about to obey what God has told you to do that you begin to gain understanding. 104 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,200 You remember what Elisha called Naaman. 105 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:17,360 Said Naaman, God has told you to go and wash in River Jordan seven times. 106 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:21,360 Naaman was a commander of the Assyrian army. 107 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,080 This is found in the first kings. 108 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,280 Naaman was a leper. 109 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:31,960 He was a general in the army, the Syrian army, but was a leper. 110 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:39,800 He had a young Jewish maid who told him, if you went to Israel, there's a prophet there 111 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:44,060 who can heal you. 112 00:08:44,060 --> 00:08:46,760 The king of Syria wrote a letter to the king of Israel. 113 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,360 He asked my servant, heal him. 114 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:57,840 So long story, but this man Naaman ended up at the doorstep of Elisha's house. 115 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:05,040 Elisha told him Naaman, go and wash in River Jordan seven times. 116 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:14,120 In his sitting room, he stayed in the house and told his servant Gehaz, tell that man 117 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:21,400 if he wants to be healed from leprosy, let him go to River Jordan and dip himself seven 118 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,040 times. 119 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,240 The Bible says Naaman was furious. 120 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,280 He says, what is this? 121 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:32,600 I thought the man will come out and touch me and pray for me and receive a gift from 122 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:33,600 me. 123 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,760 That is what which doctors do. 124 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:42,360 The medicine men and the gods of the Syrians, that's how they behave. 125 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:48,120 But Elisha told this man, I don't need to come and touch you. 126 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,800 I don't also need your money. 127 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,920 The god of Israel does not take bribes. 128 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:56,280 He doesn't need your money. 129 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:02,640 Go and wash River Jordan seven times. 130 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:08,560 At first the man was upset, but his servant told him, sir, if this man had asked me to 131 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:12,000 do something much harder, would you have done it? 132 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:23,440 So reluctantly Naaman went to the river and stripped to his leprous skin, went in the 133 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:31,440 river, dipped himself seven times, he came out healed completely. 134 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:40,240 The story is even more interesting because when the man realized that he had been healed 135 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:50,520 of his leprosy, something that the gods of the Syrian people could not do, their Syrians 136 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:56,520 and Syrians had their own gods, none of those gods could heal him. 137 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:04,040 And God had healed him without any enchantment, any incartation, any ritual sacrifice, because 138 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,800 that's what they do in witchcraft. 139 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,240 The man was touched. 140 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:13,880 He went back to Elisha and said, Elisha, please take a gift from me. 141 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,160 Elisha said, I told you I will not take your money. 142 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:29,240 Then the man made a statement, he said, let me take two lords of soil on my mules, take 143 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:38,360 them back with me to Syria, and there I will offer sacrifice to no other god but the God 144 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,080 of Israel. 145 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:48,600 The man did not know that when God gave him a command, although the command was ridiculous, 146 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:53,960 but it was going to lead to his salvation, the man became a believer. 147 00:11:53,960 --> 00:12:01,600 He said, I'll never again offer sacrifice to any other god except the God of Israel. 148 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:07,320 Sometimes when God gives us commands, we don't understand them. 149 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:13,220 But as we walk in the BBS, they begin to make sense. 150 00:12:13,220 --> 00:12:15,800 They begin to make sense. 151 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,800 Praise the Lord. 152 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,800 Hallelujah. 153 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:29,840 Now in verse four, he says, then on the third day Abram lifted up his eyes and saw the place 154 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:30,840 of Pharaoh. 155 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:35,640 He said to his young man, stay here with the donkey. 156 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:42,800 The Lord and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. 157 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,920 This is a powerful text. 158 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:51,100 It teaches us many, many things. 159 00:12:51,100 --> 00:12:59,600 It teaches us, for instance, that obedience is the highest form of worship. 160 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,560 Obedience is the highest form of worship. 161 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:10,480 He told Abram, told his servant, stay here with the donkey. 162 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:21,200 The young man and I will go up the mountain, up Mountain Moriah, and we will worship. 163 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:22,200 We will worship. 164 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:27,360 And he said, and we will come back. 165 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,360 This man is interesting. 166 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:30,920 We will worship. 167 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:32,600 And I will not come back alone. 168 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:34,080 We will come back. 169 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:36,760 Oh, praise the Lord. 170 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,520 Praise the Lord. 171 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:45,240 Here is what we call in theology the law of first mention. 172 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:52,360 The law of first mention states that whenever you find a concept or a word mentioned for 173 00:13:52,360 --> 00:14:01,280 the first time in the Bible, that context provides the true meaning and it gives you 174 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,920 keys to interpret it in the rest of the Bible. 175 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:14,640 This word, worship, here gives us the basis of what worship is. 176 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:18,440 Worship is really obedience. 177 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:23,040 Obedience and a sacrifice. 178 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,360 You may not have musical instruments. 179 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:27,720 You may not have a keyboard. 180 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,320 You may not have a loudspeaker. 181 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,480 You may not have a choir. 182 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,560 You may not have a microphone. 183 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:42,600 Worshipping God is the state of the heart. 184 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,760 It is first and foremost your heart. 185 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:54,280 How is your heart in relation to God's commandments? 186 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,300 What you do is secondary. 187 00:14:58,300 --> 00:15:03,320 How you relate to God's word is primary. 188 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:10,960 The state of your heart, the way you relate with God's commandments is the highest form 189 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:11,960 of worship. 190 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,520 There are two elements. 191 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:21,840 Yes, there is the attitude and there's also the sacrifice, but I want to talk about the 192 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,840 attitude first. 193 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:34,760 Abraham is going up a mountain to obey in my mind a ridiculous commandment. 194 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,360 It doesn't make sense. 195 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:47,280 Listen, God had just told him that I'm going to give you descendants and I'm going to do 196 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:53,360 a lineage through your son Isaac, not Ishmael. 197 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,240 Abraham had told God, God let Ishmael live. 198 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:05,240 I love Ishmael as my son, but as you know, his wife, I told him get rid of Hagar, get 199 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:09,200 rid of Ishmael, take them away from my home. 200 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,080 And Abraham was upset. 201 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,240 And God told Abraham, Abraham, Sarah is right. 202 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:25,360 Chase away Ishmael, chase away Hagar because it is in Isaac that I will give you a seed 203 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,360 and I will establish my covenant. 204 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:36,080 Now, now God is telling him, now sacrifice him to me. 205 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,240 Does it make sense? 206 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:48,560 Because the guy walks in obedience to sacrifice his future. 207 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,920 And by that time, Isaac has no children. 208 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:56,240 He's still a teenager, probably 15, 16, 17. 209 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:58,640 He hasn't yet got married. 210 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,320 Isaac got married late. 211 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,200 Got married when he was 30 years old. 212 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,960 That was pretty late. 213 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,640 But this time he has no children. 214 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:18,320 And yet God is saying, kill him, offer him to me as a bad offering. 215 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:23,600 I thought you said my future was in this boy, not Ishmael. 216 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:25,360 He has no child. 217 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:26,360 He has no son. 218 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:29,600 How will you fulfill your word? 219 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,720 Does it make sense? 220 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:38,560 But the man walked up the mountain in obedience. 221 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,040 He said, I am going to worship God. 222 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,240 I'm going to worship God. 223 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:53,440 Obedience is the highest form of worship. 224 00:17:53,440 --> 00:18:04,120 You walk in obedience when you endeavor to live by the tic-tacs of God's word. 225 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:08,720 Then consider that as worship. 226 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:10,640 Hallelujah. 227 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,920 Oh, blestor. 228 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,400 I want to move on to something that I think is even more profound. 229 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,760 Abraham says, we will go and worship. 230 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:24,600 Wait a minute. 231 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:30,080 Isaac is going to become a bad offering. 232 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,720 What do you mean we will go and worship? 233 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:44,400 It's because one of the things that we do in worship is that we place these bodies on 234 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:52,200 the order of God as leading sacrifices. 235 00:18:52,200 --> 00:19:00,520 If you fail to live with a life where your body is a leading sacrifice, you are not yet 236 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:01,960 worshiping God. 237 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:07,200 Abraham says, we will go and worship. 238 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:12,600 That means even Isaac, who was going to offer himself as a leading sacrifice, was going 239 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,000 to worship. 240 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:21,440 Which means worship includes our bodies. 241 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:27,360 Our bodies become leading sacrifices. 242 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:34,120 We are willing to suffer pain to obey God. 243 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:39,320 We are willing to live without to obey God. 244 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:45,200 We are willing to pay the price to obey God. 245 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:51,480 We will tell this flesh, I know what you want, but behave yourself. 246 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:52,840 I must obey God. 247 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,840 That is worship. 248 00:19:54,840 --> 00:20:00,360 Both of them worship God. 249 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:07,480 The one who had an attitude of obedience and the one who offered his body as a leading 250 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:08,480 sacrifice. 251 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:15,720 The Bible says Romans 12 verse 1 and 2, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mass 252 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:24,600 of God, that you present your bodies in living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which 253 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,400 is your reasonable service or worship. 254 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:34,480 Don't be conformed this world, but be transformed by the knowing of your mind that you may prove 255 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:41,040 what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 256 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:48,520 The most pleasing worship to God is leading a life of obedience in your physical, mental 257 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,160 and emotional life. 258 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:59,600 Prepare the price, pay the price to walk as the Bible says. 259 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:05,760 Even if you can't sing, even if you can't play the keyboard, if you are presenting your 260 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:15,000 body daily, this is not an exercise we do only on Sunday morning from 7 to 8.30 or 9. 261 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:21,440 No, no, no, no, it's not something we do once a week, 24-7. 262 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,680 Now that is worship. 263 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:30,020 But wherever you are, you present your body in living sacrifice to God. 264 00:21:30,020 --> 00:21:33,080 You are willing to pay the price. 265 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:34,640 Of course it's painful. 266 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,800 Of course there is a cost. 267 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:44,640 I know there are times when you feel you could benefit doing something, but that if it's 268 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:50,320 against the word of God, you forfeit it. 269 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:58,760 You present this body would take more people to hell than I can count. 270 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:08,520 This body, this body can become an idol, can become God, this body can become your God. 271 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:16,960 This body can begin to make commands and demands that are contrary to the word of God. 272 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,360 And many believers succumb to that pressure. 273 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:30,080 Now even if you come and clap here, clap, jump, dance, but you are obeying your body 274 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,400 more than you obey God, you are not worshipping God. 275 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:45,880 God says, I'm not in dress, you may sing like an angel, you may dance like a crab frappling, 276 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:53,680 you may do all kinds of things, but instead of obeying God's commands, you obey the commands 277 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,500 of your flesh. 278 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:59,160 God despises your worship. 279 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:13,080 Abraham said, I and the boy will go on, but wait a minute, Isaac was going to end up dead, 280 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,160 was going to become a living sacrifice. 281 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,880 That is also worship. 282 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:24,440 When this body becomes dead to sin, it is worship. 283 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:33,320 That is the epitome, that is A plus worship. 284 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:34,680 Hallelujah. 285 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:48,640 I want you to turn to the book of 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 1 and 2. 286 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:56,440 I read this verse last night and I woke up to pray and this verse ministered to me and 287 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,280 I want to share what God blessed my heart. 288 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:04,040 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 1 and 2. 289 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:13,520 It's therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the sin 290 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:20,600 mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from what? 291 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:21,600 From sin. 292 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:29,080 He no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for 293 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,160 the will of God. 294 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:39,440 Jesus gave us a tremendous example of how to live as a woman or a man in covenant with 295 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,640 God. 296 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,360 He paid the ultimate price to obey God. 297 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:48,680 He gave up his life for us. 298 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:57,760 But along with that, throughout his life, Jesus suffered to obey God. 299 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,840 Jesus humbled himself. 300 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,600 He became a servant. 301 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:06,000 He was rejected by men. 302 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,480 He endured the cost. 303 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,880 I mean he went through it all. 304 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:12,040 Why? 305 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:17,800 He was seeking to do the will of the Father. 306 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,160 Now that is worship. 307 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:26,480 He endeavored to walk in obedience all throughout his life as a man. 308 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:31,200 As a man, he suffered in the flesh. 309 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:39,400 He gave us an example that until you're willing to suffer in the flesh, you can't stop sinning. 310 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,480 You didn't hear that? 311 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:49,240 I repeat, until you are prepared to suffer in the flesh, you will never stop to sin. 312 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,920 You can never stop sin. 313 00:25:53,920 --> 00:26:00,720 It is those who suffer in the flesh that cease from sin. 314 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:06,640 Jesus gave us an example to us that there are times when people will reject you to understand 315 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,600 you, but you must stay the course. 316 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,080 Your own family can misunderstand you. 317 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:19,760 His own family missed out on a studio, he stayed the course. 318 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:26,280 He gives us a prime example of a believer in covenant with God. 319 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,400 Now we have to arm ourselves with the same mindset. 320 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,200 You arm yourself. 321 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,960 You acquire the same mindset. 322 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:48,720 We become prepared, if necessary, to suffer in the flesh in order to cease from sin. 323 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:58,200 In the last days, as we draw nearer near the coming of Christ, as Christ prepares to return 324 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:09,080 on the earth, and as events unfold, as the world winds up, more than ever, believers 325 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:20,480 must arm themselves with the mindset to suffer, if necessary, in order to obey God. 326 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,040 That mindset is going to be more critical than ever. 327 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:34,320 Today, we have those who promote LGBT, those who support lifestyles that are contrary to 328 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,280 the Bible. 329 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:44,720 And now it's becoming, oh God help us, it's becoming popular and fashionable and acceptable 330 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:45,720 to be gay. 331 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,720 That is the agenda of Satan. 332 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:56,920 Now those who believe what the Bible says will become the minority. 333 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:05,560 They have brought this wicked teaching in schools, they're infiltrating our schools, 334 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:13,480 primary schools, a thing is a curse going up through universities and also society. 335 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,040 It has taken over Hollywood. 336 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:26,200 Gay movies, probably 80% of them now have a way in which they provide tolerance or accept 337 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:35,200 or condone homosexuality, even cartoons, even cartoons. 338 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:42,200 More than ever, you will have to have a mindset where you are not afraid to stand alone. 339 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,520 Stand alone and believe what the Bible teaches. 340 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,800 Be prepared to pay the price. 341 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,720 We must arm ourselves with that mindset. 342 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:59,080 Until you are prepared to suffer in the flesh, you never stop from sin. 343 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:00,960 Let me move on to the last point this morning. 344 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,680 Let's go back to Genesis 25, 22. 345 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:13,240 Yes, this text is so rich, I have to stay on course because we could go so many directions. 346 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:19,240 Genesis 32 verse 15, it says, Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time 347 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:29,160 out of heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, saith the Lord, because you have done this 348 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:38,280 thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, blessing our blessings, multiplying 349 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:45,480 your descendants at the stars of the heavens and as the sun which is on the seashore. 350 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,920 And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 351 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:55,400 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed 352 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,400 in my voice. 353 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:03,080 Verse 19, So Abraham returned to his young men, and the rose went together to Beersheba. 354 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,520 Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. 355 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,720 Write this down somewhere. 356 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:17,920 Obedience determines the realization of your potential. 357 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,400 Obedience determines the realization of your potential. 358 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:32,600 If you never walk in obedience, you always live below your potential. 359 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:41,840 I repeat, until the day you begin to walk in obedience, you will never touch the full 360 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:46,840 capacity of the potential that God has blessed in your life. 361 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,640 We are all here, we have got destinies. 362 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,800 All of us have a destiny in God. 363 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,560 There are things that God wants to do in us that are extraordinary. 364 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,560 I believe that with all my heart. 365 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:01,360 All of us here are children of destiny. 366 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:06,000 If you are born again, God has a program and a plan for you. 367 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,000 He does. 368 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:16,920 But you see, if you don't walk in obedience, you always walk below your potential. 369 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:24,880 God says, because you have done this, in verse 16, he told Abraham, because you have done 370 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:26,880 this, what did he do? 371 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,800 He obeyed God. 372 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:38,880 He obeyed God, took his son, put him on the altar, and in type, in his heart, he actually 373 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,040 offered him to God. 374 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:47,240 In his heart, Abraham had given up his son. 375 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:56,160 That act of obedience was so profound that God says, because of this, he began to give 376 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,440 extra details about the Abrahamic covenant. 377 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:01,440 He began to expand. 378 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,640 He began to talk about the guests of your enemies. 379 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:14,720 My goodness, he says, I swear by myself, I can't serve anyone else, I swear by myself. 380 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:20,000 That is the day that God decided to make Abraham his friend. 381 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:32,120 There are only two men in the Bible that God categorically and specifically explicitly 382 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,840 calls friends, only two. 383 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,840 Abraham and Moses, only two. 384 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:44,840 And all of them, their level of obedience is up here. 385 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:54,360 There were men who walked in obedience to God, and my God, look at their lives. 386 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,000 You know, here we are. 387 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:08,440 We are reading the Bible, but the Bible came to us through the seed of Abraham. 388 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:12,440 The Bible, here we are today. 389 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:23,680 We are born again because Abraham proclaimed the forefather of our Lord Jesus. 390 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:32,280 Obedience determines the total fulfillment of the potential in you. 391 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:40,320 More you walk in obedience, the more God begins to unravel and unfold and bring to pass everything 392 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,880 he placed in your life. 393 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,800 Every time we walk in disobedience, we fall short. 394 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,600 We fall short of that potential. 395 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,280 Hallelujah. 396 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:05,880 Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 26 and up to 28, Deuteronomy 11. 397 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:14,440 Moses told the Jews, I place before you life and death. 398 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:19,640 Place before you blessing and curse, choose. 399 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:26,120 He said, if you obey, you will have life, you will have blessing. 400 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:31,240 If you disobey, you will have death and curse. 401 00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:36,680 That principle runs throughout the Bible. 402 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,240 Obedience determines your destiny. 403 00:34:40,240 --> 00:34:44,760 It determines whether you will ever become what God has called you to be. 404 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:48,640 Moses told them, here are the commandments of God. 405 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:52,080 I place before you a choice. 406 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:56,600 If you obey, there's life, there's blessing. 407 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:04,280 If you choose to obey, prepare to die and live with the curse. 408 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:06,240 That principle is there. 409 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:15,680 In fact, the book of James says, chapter 4, verse 7, submit to God, a resisted devil, 410 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,280 and you'll do what? 411 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,080 He will flee from you. 412 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:29,920 Submit to God, obey his commands, and then resist the devil and he'll flee from you. 413 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:39,640 Even our victory over the powers of darkness revolves and depends upon our obedience. 414 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:44,240 Don't ever go and try to cast out demons when you walk in disobedience. 415 00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:46,120 It will be disastrous. 416 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,060 Don't do that. 417 00:35:48,060 --> 00:35:54,320 You have no power against the enemy if you walk in disobedience. 418 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,400 Demons can tell if you are disobedient to God or not. 419 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,420 Read the book of Acts, sons of Ski-va. 420 00:36:03,420 --> 00:36:11,020 Never try to contend with Satan with disobedience in your heart. 421 00:36:11,020 --> 00:36:20,480 It is when we submit to God that we resist him and you'll be forced to flee. 422 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:28,680 The turn of May 28, verse 1, now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice 423 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:38,040 of the Lord your God, to observe, I like this, to observe carefully all his commandments. 424 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:43,680 I want you to underline those words, to observe carefully all his commandments, which I command 425 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:51,680 you today, that the Lord God will say to you, high above all nations of the earth, and all 426 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:58,000 this blessing shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord 427 00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,640 your God. 428 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:05,960 I have discovered this is true even in New Testament. 429 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:13,840 Your placement in this life is not determined by your background, gender, or level of education. 430 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,680 Let me say that one more time. 431 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:26,520 Your placement, your position, your well-being in this life does not depend upon your background, 432 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,600 your age or your race or your gender. 433 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:36,240 Your position ultimately, your placement in this life depends on your level of obedience 434 00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:37,240 to God. 435 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:45,800 Moses told his people, look, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God and observe 436 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:51,920 carefully all his commandments, which I command you today, that the Lord your God will say 437 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:59,160 to you, high above all nations of the earth, and all this blessing shall come upon you 438 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,400 this summit. 439 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:07,760 When we walk in obedience and the faith of God, when we conduct ourselves according to 440 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:14,280 the instructions that we have in the Bible, there's a way in which God promotes us, prolongs 441 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:20,440 our lives, gives us favor before man. 442 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:28,800 If you obey the word of God and leave as you take heed to the instructions of the Bible, 443 00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:35,120 you will have peace with men, you will be prosperous, you will manage your finances 444 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:42,920 well, you'll be one that people can employ, it shall be well with you. 445 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:48,360 Listen, this principle I've seen it work in this church. 446 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,120 People have come through those doors. 447 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:57,400 I've seen them wearing short pants. 448 00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:59,320 They have nothing. 449 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:05,160 I know one man who was a Mutembe, they paid with this small merchandise. 450 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,000 I remember him very well. 451 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:15,040 He was a young man, but as he began to love God and serve God, my Lord, I saw God transform 452 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,360 that man. 453 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,840 I saw God transform. 454 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,100 The man opened up shops in the city. 455 00:39:23,100 --> 00:39:27,560 He opened up branches, some of you here know him. 456 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:33,640 He began to import and sell cars, but he came in this church with a band. 457 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:39,960 Not to mention he was so poor. 458 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:49,760 I was sure, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, observe carefully his commandments, 459 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:56,360 the Lord your God will set you high above the waters of the earth. 460 00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:03,760 All this blessing shall come upon you and overtake you because you do what? 461 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:08,240 You obey the voice of the Lord your God. 462 00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:09,880 Hallelujah. 463 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:15,320 Blessings will come upon you and overtake you. 464 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:23,200 In the Bible, there are many examples of popes who God raised up. 465 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:27,960 Their judges, their men and women that were nobodies. 466 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:35,800 They were former prostitutes and herds like Rahab, Ruth, who was coming from the Moabites. 467 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,200 These were people that were despised. 468 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:42,800 God raised them up and put them in the lineage of Jesus. 469 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:47,080 They have now become a royal family. 470 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:48,080 Hallelujah. 471 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:56,680 Former prostitutes, these were herds. 472 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:02,440 Rahab was a herdsman, but she obeyed God. 473 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:03,880 God raised her up. 474 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:09,680 Now she's one of the grandmothers of Jesus. 475 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,040 It's a principle in the Bible. 476 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:18,840 If you obey my commands, I will set you above all the other nations. 477 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:23,960 And these blessings, and there are so many determinedly, will come upon you and overtake 478 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:25,640 you. 479 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:33,560 So obedience in many ways determines how far we get in God's will for our life. 480 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:37,360 It determines how well we reach our potential in God. 481 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,320 Let me give one more example. 482 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:46,520 First Samuel chapter 13, verse 13 and 14, first Samuel 13, verse 13, and Samuel said 483 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,520 to Saul, you've done foolishly. 484 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:55,920 You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. 485 00:41:55,920 --> 00:42:04,240 For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 486 00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:10,560 Instead of us calling Jesus the son of David, we would have been calling him the son of 487 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:12,600 King Saul. 488 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:19,600 If Saul had obeyed God, instead of calling Jesus the son of David, we would be calling 489 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,760 him the son of King Saul. 490 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:23,760 That was the plan of God. 491 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:30,720 It is I wanted, I would have established your kingdom over it forever. 492 00:42:30,720 --> 00:42:31,720 Forever. 493 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:39,640 But now, because of disobedience, your kingdom will not continue. 494 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,720 The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart. 495 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:48,160 The Lord has commanded him to be a commander over his people because you have not kept 496 00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:51,720 what the Lord commanded you. 497 00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:55,840 Disobedience will always cause us to leave it below our potential. 498 00:42:55,840 --> 00:43:02,120 You will never be everything that you could be if you live in disobedience. 499 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:03,520 Never. 500 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:13,640 When you get to heaven, may God help us because we may see, hey, I could have become this, 501 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:22,360 I could have done this, I could have achieved this, I could have gone here, oh, it will 502 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:30,600 be too late because you can't come back and do corrections to be too late. 503 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:35,640 The time to begin is now. 504 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:41,760 Make a decision, I am going to walk in obedience to God so that everything he has planned for 505 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:46,640 me will come to pass in my life. 506 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:47,840 Everything. 507 00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:49,400 Make that your goal. 508 00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:50,480 Everything. 509 00:43:50,480 --> 00:44:00,600 Everything, every gift in me, every potential in me must be realized, must be actualized, 510 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:04,480 must be enhanced, must be brought forth. 511 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,720 I will walk in obedience to God. 512 00:44:07,720 --> 00:44:14,960 Bible says about Jesus, Philippians 2 verse 8, being fine appearance as a man, he humbled 513 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:22,080 himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, verse 514 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:23,080 9. 515 00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:31,720 Therefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him the name, hallelujah, which 516 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:34,480 is above every name. 517 00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:40,480 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth, 518 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:45,480 those under the earth, every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory 519 00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:49,640 of God the Father, hallelujah. 520 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:53,400 Even Jesus followed this principle. 521 00:44:53,400 --> 00:45:00,560 He obeyed fully, and he reached his potential to the full. 522 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:04,800 Obedience attracts a reward. 523 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:08,400 Obedience attracts blessing. 524 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:11,000 Obedience will never go unnoticed by God. 525 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,280 Did you hear that? 526 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:18,400 Obedience will never go unnoticed by God. 527 00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:23,000 Whenever you obey God, God takes note, takes note. 528 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:29,960 No act of obedience is overlooked by God. 529 00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:36,960 Bible says Jesus suffered and obeyed, humbled himself. 530 00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:43,440 Now God gave him a name above every other name. 531 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:47,480 You know, I'm amazed at the power of that name, hallelujah. 532 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:55,000 I am just a man, a human being, but whenever I stand in the power of that name, even demons 533 00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:56,000 tremble. 534 00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,680 A certain takes notice. 535 00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:01,000 That's how powerful that name is. 536 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:08,160 That's the name God gave his son Jesus, because he worked in obedience. 537 00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:11,160 Hallelujah. 538 00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:22,720 Finally, just as in the beginning, obedience was the one needful thing to stay in the garden 539 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:24,560 of Eden, obedience. 540 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:33,680 My father, forefather Adam and his wife Eve, didn't have to do anything else but obey. 541 00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,360 They had every food they could eat. 542 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:37,360 There was everything. 543 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:42,480 I mean, this is, it was paradise, paradise. 544 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:50,840 Now for them to enjoy and stay and flourish in that paradise, there was one thing required 545 00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:51,840 of them. 546 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:52,840 What was it? 547 00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:53,840 Obedience. 548 00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:55,880 Yes, that's all. 549 00:46:55,880 --> 00:47:01,320 God placed a tree in the middle of the garden, says, please do not eat from that. 550 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:06,720 Look, you have so much, so much here. 551 00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:10,480 There's no disease, no sickness. 552 00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:13,560 Do not eat from that. 553 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:25,240 Their stay and their enjoyment in the paradise of God depended upon one thing, obedience. 554 00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:31,280 Same thing is true for the second paradise. 555 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:43,320 Only those who do the will of my father, Jesus said, he says in Matthew 7 verse 31, not everyone 556 00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:48,280 who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. 557 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:55,680 But he who does the will of my father in heaven, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, 558 00:47:55,680 --> 00:48:00,200 have we not prophesied in your name, cast a demon in your name and done many things in 559 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:01,200 your name? 560 00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:04,760 I'll say to them, I don't know you. 561 00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:07,080 I don't know you. 562 00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:11,160 You will not enter the second paradise. 563 00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:20,440 You have no access, both paradises, if I could say, the paradise in the garden of Eden, the 564 00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:27,600 final paradise, all of them depend on one thing, obedience. 565 00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:34,600 The first couple failed to live in that paradise because they failed to obey. 566 00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:42,760 Now our generation, we shall enter that paradise or fail in the paradise based on the same 567 00:48:42,760 --> 00:48:44,760 thing, obedience. 568 00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:52,840 Many will come and say, oh Lord, I was in my full gospel church, I did this, I was in 569 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:55,560 the choir, I was the pastor, I don't know you. 570 00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:57,000 I don't know you. 571 00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:58,000 Why? 572 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:02,440 Because you never obeyed my commandments. 573 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:09,120 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does 574 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:16,800 the will of my Father in heaven, same principle from beginning to the end. 575 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:23,080 And in between, your success in life depends on the same thing, obedience. 576 00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:28,160 Walk as the Bible says, obey God's word. 577 00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:31,200 You want to be well, you want to thrive, obey God's word. 578 00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:36,040 It says these blessings will overtake you. 579 00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:40,240 But even going back in the past, same principle. 580 00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:45,600 Garden of Eden, now as we prepare for the second paradise, it's the same principle. 581 00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:50,380 You will not enter heaven even if you are the pope. 582 00:49:50,380 --> 00:49:54,680 If you fail to obey the commands of God, you will not. 583 00:49:54,680 --> 00:50:00,060 So this principle is critical for us to embrace. 584 00:50:00,060 --> 00:50:05,920 Because God's children, train your heart to walk in obedience. 585 00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:09,240 Train your flesh to walk in obedience. 586 00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:16,040 I said every act of obedience attracts a blessing from God. 587 00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:20,720 Everything you do in obedience, every time you deny yourself sinning and suffer in the 588 00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:24,280 flesh, it's pleasing to God. 589 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:25,760 It's a worship to him. 590 00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:28,200 Oh, how I love you. 591 00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:29,200 Thank you for listening. 592 00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:34,120 We hope that you've been strengthened with his might and fortified by the word of God. 593 00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:39,240 Please make sure to like, follow and subscribe to our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube 594 00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:40,240 pages at FullGospa. 595 00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:52,920 Now, goodbye.