As a congregation of people, we have a great
deal to praise God for today as we begin our
tenth year of ministry. You will notice an extra
little logo that we have designed to celebrate
this entire year as we enter into it, a year
that begins a new decade of ministry, a year
that in one sense ends a decade of ministry for
us. As we look back over these nine years, I
suppose all of us could come up with some examples
of how we have seen God's faithfulness demonstrated
in our small churches, in our flocks, or for
us as a total congregation. But what a fitting
theme for us this morning on this ninth anniversary
to praise God for His faithfulness. A traditional
bit of wisdom says that every bride should receive
something old, something new, something borrowed,
something blue. Hopefully that's not her groom.
It seems that marriage begins well if there is
a recognition that the value of things old is
as important as the value of things new. We've
been talking about new things, new methods, new
concepts of ministry as we enter into a new decade.
But at the same time, we need to remember the
value of old truths. For example, the truth of
repentance, the mindset of repentance. We never
graduate or mature out of the need to maintain
an attitude that says, I am open to the voice
of God and I will change my mind and mend my
ways as he directs me. That is the attitude of
repentance. And it's a mindset that is appropriate
for us believers to keep throughout our lives
in this world. Beware the ear that has grown
deaf to God's reproof. or the heart that has
become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Then there's the old truth of dependence, an
attitude of dependence upon God. We never grow
up enough or become experienced enough to strike
out on our own apart from God. We need Him. And
it is that trust, that faith, that reliance that
makes his involvement in our lives a daily reality.
These are two old truths that we must hang on
to as we enter into this tenth year of ministry
and into a new decade. We want to be a people
of repentance. We want to be a people of dependence.
And we come today to another old truth that I
believe is important for us to lay hold of, and
that is the old truth of obedience. Now when
we speak of obedience, we need to remember that
like repentance and dependence, or faith, obedience
relates to the saving experience. In fact, we
are saved by obedience. Did you know that? That
is not the same thing as saying that we are saved
by works. because that would be false. It is
not by works, lest any man should boast. We are
saved by grace and grace alone. But faith is
equated with obedience. Turn with me to John
chapter 3 and notice the very last verse of this
familiar chapter. It says, He who believes in
the Son has eternal life. But he who does not
obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abides on him." Notice that John equates
believing and obeying in this verse. In other
words, the obedience he's talking about is the
obedience of faith. When we are told, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
We need to understand that that is not merely
an invitation. It is a commandment. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we believe
on Christ, we are obeying God. And that's why
I say it is obedience that saves. Turn also with
me please to the book of Romans, the first chapter.
This great book of theology that describes to
us the grace of God and the salvation that is
by grace carries in it a similar theme. Notice
that the Apostle Paul, as he speaks about his
own ministry, in verse 5 of chapter 1 says, through
whom, through Jesus Christ, we have received
grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience
of faith among all the Gentiles for his name's
sake." And so the apostle speaks about the obedience
of faith. And then if you'll turn to the end
of the book, he seems to sandwich the content
of the book of Romans between these two phrases,
as we see in Romans chapter 16. Verse 25, as
he gives the benediction, he says, now to him
who is able to establish you according to my
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery which has been
kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested,
and by the scriptures of the prophets, according
to the commandment of the eternal God, has been
made known to all the nations, leading to obedience
of faith. So once again we see that salvation
is by obedience because it is the obedience of
believing that brings salvation. Now we could
go to Peter if we had time and we would see that
Peter says exactly the same thing in his first
epistle. The obedience of faith. But once having
become a child of God by obedience in believing
Christ, We do not leave aside obedience We are
not kept saved by our works any more than we
are saved by our works But we are saved that
we might obey God's plan for you and me is to
know a life of obedience in this world Turn back
to the Gospel of John and notice the words of
the Lord Jesus in the 14th chapter as we come
now to the text for today. In this 14th chapter
of the Gospel of John, look at the 15th verse
where it says, if you love me, you will keep
my commandments. Or it may be understood as a
command, keep my commandments. He says in verse
21, he who has my commandments and keeps them,
he it is who loves me. And then in verse 23,
Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves
me, he will keep my word. And in verse 24, he
who does not love me does not keep my words.
The Lord Jesus says, That if we love Him, we
are to keep His commandments. That is, we are
to obey. I notice in the first place here that
obedience is a matter of keeping Christ's commands,
His commandments. We need to understand something
about the word commandments. Jesus uses it again
here in the verse, the 14th chapter in verse
31 in reference to a commandment He had received.
He says, but that the world may know that I love
the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment,
even so I do. And so he says, the Father has
given me commandment. Now in this context, the
word commandment refers to a direction. He says,
the Father has given me direction as to what
I am to do, and I do that. As we use the word
commandment elsewhere, though, in relation to
us, it has a more descriptive meaning, a more
prescribed meaning. The word commandment, as
Jesus is using it in the verses we read earlier,
means a precept or a rule. And so Jesus says,
if you love me, you will observe, you will follow
my rule. or rules. You will keep my precepts.
You will observe my commandments. Now as we see
this in John chapter 14, it's important for us
to look at the context and to find out specifically
what commandments Jesus had in mind when he said
this. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Jesus, what commandments do you mean? Well let's
go back to chapter 13. You'll recall that beginning
with chapter 13, we have a long discourse in
the Gospel of John. It is all the same occasion
up through chapter 17. It is the night before
His crucifixion. Some of it was spoken and acted
out in the upper room at the Last Supper. Other
parts of it may have been spoken as they walked
together toward the Garden of Gethsemane for
that time of agony in prayer. But it was all
on that night that Jesus spoke and acted out
what is written in John chapters 13 through 17.
And so just a few minutes before this, maybe,
well let's say an hour before Jesus made this
comment in verse 15, in chapter 13 he had said
this in verse 34, a new commandment I give to
you, that you love one another. Even as I have
loved you, that you also love one another." And
so certainly as Jesus made his comment in chapter
14 verse 15, if you love me, you will keep my
commandments, he had this in mind. The commandment
to love one another. When Jesus said that, he
said it in a present tense in the sense, you
will keep on loving one another. This will be
a habit of life. This will be a practice for
you to love one another. Now when he says this
is a new commandment, what does he mean by that?
For if you recall, Jesus himself had said that
the summation of the law is that we love God
with everything that's in us and that we love
our fellow man as ourselves. So already he has
said that love is his commandment. In fact, love
is the bottom line of the law. So what does he
mean here by a new commandment I give to you
that you love one another? The word new in the
original language in which John wrote does not
mean new in the sense of time, but it means new
in the sense of quality. So as Jesus says this,
there's something about this commandment in its
quality that is new. And of course, you don't
have to look very hard to figure out what that
is. He says, love one another even as I have
loved you. And so there is the newness of this
commandment. The love that we are to express
to one another is the same quality of love, says
Jesus, that I have loved you with. It is a new
freshness, a new pattern that you are to follow.
It is the kind of love, says our Lord, that is
filled with self -sacrifice. That's the essence
of it. This kind of love is a love that sacrifices
for others. That's one commandment. Obedience
is a matter of keeping Christ's commands. He
says, if you love me, keep my commandments. And
here's one of them, love one another. And then
we see another one, chapter 14. Just a few minutes
later in this discussion, Jesus said, let not
your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe
also in me. There's a command. Doesn't it seem
strange to you that Jesus would speak to his
disciples and say to them who had already believed
on him, believe in God, believe also in me? Jesus
is saying again in the present tense, keep on
believing in God, keep on believing in me. Make
this a practice of your life. Every step that
you take, let it be a step of believing in God,
believing in me. Now why would he say this on
this particular night? Well, it's because their
minds are filled with trouble. Notice he says
your hearts are troubled. He had done a spiritual
exam on them and their spiritual heart is in
trouble. It is agitated. By what? Well, perhaps
by the shame that they felt of their own selfishness
and pride. Remember, that's why Jesus washed
their feet to give them the example of humble
service that none of them was willing, initially,
to perform. That had shamed them. Their hearts
were troubled by that. And then Jesus had said
to them that he was going away. There was sadness
in their hearts. And undoubtedly there was perplexity
too, as he told them that one of them would betray
him, that another one of them would deny him,
and that all of them would be ensnared because
of him. What did he mean by that? And then perhaps
there was uncertainty that was eating away. on
this crucial night. For their understanding of
the work of the Christ was the same that their
religious leaders had taught them. And that was
that Christ was coming to rule. He was coming
to establish a kingdom. And now Jesus speaks
in terms of going away, and hence even at dying.
Could it be that they were wrong? Is he really
the Christ? And so their hearts were troubled.
And because of what was about to take place,
Jesus said to them, keep on believing in me.
And then there's another command that is at least
implied in chapter 14. In verse 13, Jesus says
to them, and whatever you ask in my name, that
will I do. that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will
do it." And so there is a command implied at
least here that we are to pray. He tells his
disciples, pray in my name. Notice the close
connection here with verse 12, where Jesus has
just said to them, and greater works than these
shall he do because I go to the Father. that
is the one who believes in him, would do greater
work. Not greater work in degree. No one can
ever do greater work than Jesus was about to
do at the cross where he would lay down his life
for redemption of lost people. But greater works
perhaps in the sense of extent. The disciples
would carry the word of God where Jesus never
went. His ministry was primarily to the house
of the Jews. And he lived his life in that region
with the exception of the time that he went down
to Egypt when he was very young with his mother
and father. He was there in Palestine. But he
says, now greater works than the ones that I've
done shall those do who believe in me. And then
he immediately goes on to say, and whatever you
ask in my name. Do you understand that? Jesus
is connecting the greater works with prayer.
Pray in my name, says Jesus, that you may accomplish
the works that God has given you to do. Greater
works. Notice he says pray in my name. That is,
pray in keeping with what I would ask. Pray in
the interests of God's kingdom. Form your requests
so that they are in harmony with what I have
said to you about myself, so that as you pray,
you can pray as though you were me asking the
Father. You are coming in my authority with my
burdens to him. You are phrasing my requests
to the Father. Pray in my name, he says. They
had never prayed that way before, of course.
But now he invokes upon them this commandment,
pray, and pray in my name that you may accomplish
the greater works that God will give you to do.
So now when Jesus says, if you love me, you will
keep my commandments, you understand something
more of what he was saying. You will love one
another and keep on loving one another. You will
believe in me and keep on believing in me even
when the questions rise Even when the doubts
multiply keep on believing and pray and pray
in my name Obedience really is a matter of keeping
the commandments of Jesus Christ Like those that
we look at in the very context of this verse
But then obedience is also the primary proof
of love Do you love Jesus? We used to sing the
gospel song in our glee club that said, is there
anybody here who loves my Jesus? Anybody here
who loves my Lord? Oh, I want to know. I want
to know if you love my Lord. And often we'd have
people planted out in the audience. They would
stand up and respond as we sang. How do you know
if you love Jesus? Is it the platitudes that
we speak? Is it the warm fuzzy feelings that
we get? Is it the religious service we perform?
Is it the sentimental attachment that we have
to things like our Bibles? Or the chair we always
sit in on Sunday? Or the people of God that we
fellowship with in our flock? Is that how we
know we love Jesus? Jesus says, rather, that
obedience is the primary proof of our love for
Him. There's a dynamic in that. You say, well,
what is obedience? Well, you remember Brother
Brewer, don't you? Vernon, who preached here
two or three years ago. By the way, his coming
to mind reminds me to ask you to pray for him.
There's a possibility that the cancer has reoccurred.
And I know that he would appreciate your remembering
him in prayer. But Vernon told us that obedience
is doing exactly what God says immediately with
a right heart attitude. You remember that? That's
what obedience is. Obedience is doing exactly
what God says when he says to do it with a kind
of an attitude that pleases the Lord. Our tendency
as human beings is to substitute other things
for obedience, isn't it? Other things like good
intentions. I can remember my mother telling
me when I was young that good intentions pave
the road to someplace. You probably know where
that is. Good intentions are not enough. Good
intention really is but delayed obedience. And
delayed obedience is disobedience. It's like
when you tell your teenager, take out the garbage.
And there is the response from somewhere in the
nether world, I will. And you come back later
and the garbage is still sitting there. And it's
starting to ooze out on the floor. And there's
been delayed obedience. You say, take the garbage
out. And finally, with the second command, the
teenager comes and takes the garbage out. Has
he obeyed? Well, it's delayed obedience. And
delayed obedience is disobedience. He had good
intention the first time, perhaps, but something
just got in the way, whether it was the rest
of the basketball game or it was Homework? No,
it wouldn't be that. Something else. There was
good intention, you see, when he said, I will,
but it never happened. Aren't we a lot like that
with God? We sometimes get disgusted with our
children because they don't do what we tell them
to do when we've told them to do it. But which
of us has not done the same thing with God? And
we delay doing what God tells us to do. We substitute
good intentions for obedience. And then there
are times that we substitute pragmatic options
for obedience. We've got a better idea. God says
do this, but there's something that seems more
practical than that. An example of this is found
back in the book of 1 Samuel, if you want to
turn there a second, chapter 15. God sends word
to King Saul through his prophet Samuel that
he is to punish Amalek for what he did to Israel.
The Amalekites were a wicked and godless nation.
And part of that wickedness was expressed in
his refusal of Israel when Israel was in the
wilderness coming up out of Egypt. And so in
verse 3, the commandment of God to King Saul
and the armies of Israel is this, now go and
strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he
has. And do not spare him who is him. Well, that's
the leader of Amalek. But put to death both man
and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel
and donkey. You say, well, that's the God of
the Old Testament. That's not the God of the
New Testament. My friend, the God of the Old
Testament is the God of the New Testament. God
is a holy God who judges sin. And the time of
the Amalekites' sin had come to an end. Their
cup of iniquity had been filled to the brim and
overflowed. And now God was about to bring judgment
upon them as a nation. And he gives this command
to Saul. So Saul got his army together. And it
says in verse 7, he defeated the Amalekites.
And he captured Agag, verse 8, the king of the
Amalekites alive. And not only destroyed all
the people with the edge of the sword, but Saul
and the people spared Agag and the best of the
sheep. the oxen, the fatlings, and the lambs,
and all that was good. And we're not willing
to destroy them utterly, but everything despised
and worthless, that was utterly destroyed." So
we have an example here of something in place
of obedience, pragmatic options. Saul says, hey,
why should I kill this king? He can bring some
honor to me. I can show him as an example of
my power, and I will parade him before the people
and be acclaimed." And he says, we will keep
the best of these animals. It seems pretty impractical
to kill all of them. That's such a waste. So
you see, he had a better idea than God, and he
substituted that for obedience. Incomplete obedience,
Like delayed obedience is disobedience. And Saul
disobeyed God on this occasion and paid a terrible
price. So you tell your teenager, take the garbage
out. And again from the netherworld, I will.
And eventually before too many flies are drawn,
he comes and picks up the garbage and takes it
out. But you see he's in a hurry. there's a basketball
game to be played. Or maybe he's going to jump
in the car and go down to the store and do something.
And so instead of putting the garbage into the
can where it belongs, he just puts it in the
garage along the side of the wall. And as he
leaves, he leaves the garage door open, which
is an invitation to all the wild beasts of the
neighborhood to come into the garage and to enjoy
a meal. And so he comes back and he sees the
mess that's in the garage. What happened? Well,
there was a more pragmatic option than taking
the time to put the garbage in the can, you see.
There was something more important on the agenda
at that point, and so he incompletely obeyed,
and as a result of that, paid a price. Is there
one of us that has not experienced the same thing
to some extent in our lives? When we have said,
God, that's a pretty good idea. I'll just improve
upon it a little bit. Lord, I know you're saying
that, but that's not practical for me and for
my family. And so we incompletely obey. Now Saul,
in his case, lost his kingship over that. God
does not look upon partial obedience with partial
delight. He looks upon it displeasingly entirely.
Then there are times that we replace obedience
with rationalized excuses. That's partly what
Saul was doing here. But he seemed to develop
a rationale as the chapter goes on that gets
into the excuse category Samuel comes and He
uncovers what Saul has done and rather humorous
way we don't have time to talk about but in verse
20 and as he is confronted by Samuel Saul says
to him I did obey the voice of the Lord and went
on the mission and on which the Lord sent me,
and have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek,
and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites, but
the people," notice, the people, they, took some
of the spoil, sheep, and oxen, the choicest of
the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice
to the Lord, to the Lord your God at Gilgal.
So now you see Not only has he looked for a more
pragmatic option to obedience, but Saul has entered
into the rationale of excuses. He says, look,
I did obey the voice of the Lord. I went on that
mission. I did bring back the king alive, yes.
But you see, it was the people who brought back
all these sheep that you hear bleating out here.
But, but wait a minute now Samuel, they brought
those sheep back so that we could sacrifice them
to the Lord. Now isn't that a perfectly wonderful
reason? Surely God would be pleased that they
thought enough of him, eventually, to decide
to sacrifice the sheep and the oxen that they
had brought back from the battle. Samuel says
in verse 22, 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.
Excuses. However wonderful the rationale will
not stand up. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
And so your teenager comes back and he finds
this mess on the garage floor. And his response
is, my mother always fills these bags too full.
And they're top heavy. They tip over easily.
And besides that, the lid wouldn't come off the
garbage can. And the neighbors, they're not supposed
to let their dogs out. And which of us has not
done a similar thing to our Heavenly Father when
we've made a mess because of our disobedience
and we begin to excuse ourselves and to reason
out and to rationalize as to why this and why
that? Obedience is the primary proof of our love
for the Savior. It's when we determine to obey,
to do exactly what God says, immediately, with
a right heart attitude. It's when we determine
to obey, despite the consequences, despite the
cost, that God can and God will bless our lives
and bless our ministry. As a people, we must
be obedient to God. We must do what God tells
us to do. There are going to be some challenges
in the next ten years to the Word of God. There
are some ideas floating around in evangelicalism
that eventually will light in the branches of
our tree, and we are going to be challenged to
be more pragmatic. to accept some other options
than what God clearly says in His Word. And at
that point, it's going to be a test for us as
to whether we will obey the Word of God or we're
going to substitute something else for it. If
we want the blessing of God, we dare not substitute.
That's true in our lives, too. We've talked about
some of Jesus' commandments, but there are others.
What about His commandment to be baptized? Oh,
you say, that's a sore subject with me. Well,
maybe it is. But my friend, that's one of Jesus'
commandments of every one of His disciples. Now
we can immediately begin to throw up something
instead of obedience. throw up some good intentions.
Well, I plan to one of these days. Or we can
say, well, you know, I have some options to that.
You know, after all, I was sprinkled as a baby.
But the Bible knows nothing about that in terms
of baptism. There are those who have rationalized
excuses. Well, you know, I can't do that. Or
I haven't done that because of this, this, and
this. What would my family think? But Jesus says
that we are to be baptized. That is one of the
commandments he gave to us believers in this
age to identify with him and with the church.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We talk of them
as being two ordinances, not two options. They're
commandments that we're to obey. Tonight as we
observe the Lord's Supper as a church, We are
commanded by our Lord to be here. You say, Andy
Rooney is going to be back on 60 Minutes tonight.
Yeah? I suppose he will be. We're talking about
ministry involvement. It is clear as it can be
in the Word of God that God wants every one of
us to be involved in ministry. Inside the walls,
outside the walls, but somewhere there is to
be an outflow from our lives to touch others
for Jesus' sake. We talk about giving. Giving
is not an option. Giving is a commandment of
Jesus Christ. We talk about lifestyle. purity
of lifestyle in this age when standards almost
do not exist in our world. But living a life
that is pure in the sight of God. I recognize
that none of us are perfect in keeping the commandments
of Jesus Christ. One of his commandments is that
when we have sinned that we confess our sins.
That, too, is an act of obedience, you see. But
on the other hand, better than confession is
obeying. Better to obey than to sacrifice. Obedience
is the primary proof of our love for Jesus Christ.
How can we experience an increasing consistency
in our obedience? Let me just quickly suggest
three ways. Number one, by developing intimacy
with Christ. A cold heart toward the Savior is
a bold heart toward sin. When my heart is warm
toward Jesus, when there is an intimacy between
myself and Him, then sin does not have the power
over me that it has when I am walking out of
fellowship with him. I can increase my consistency
in obedience secondly by depending on the Holy
Spirit for enabling strength. Oh, I thank God
that we are not left up to ourselves to obey
in our own strength. But we have the Holy Spirit,
and in fact you notice here in our text, verse
16 follows verse 15. That makes sense, doesn't
it? He says after keep my commandments and I
will ask the father and he will give you another
helper That he may be with you forever. He's
talking about the Holy Spirit I Can increase
my obedience thoroughly by denying any sanctuary
for self Sanctuary is a term that's back in vogue
these days as refugees from other countries seek
sanctuary in this nation from political oppression,
possibly death where they live. So they come
for sanctuary, for protection. My point is that
we must not allow any sanctuary for self in our
lives. For the moment we begin to build up a
hedge around self to protect what we and ourselves
desire. we have begun to move toward disobedience.
By developing intimacy with Christ, by depending
on the Holy Spirit, by denying sanctuary for
self, you and I can experience an increasing
obedience to God. Why does Jesus Christ demand
our obedience? It is because He loves us. That's
why. It is because everything that he tells us
to do is for our own blessing, our own good,
our own freedom, our growth, our own prosperity
in the things of God. It is not because he's
trying to be hard or harsh or abusive. It is
because he desires our good and so he gives us
commandments. Then he says, if you love me, keep
them. Obedience, is an old truth that is in need
of fresh application to my life and yours as
we move into this new decade. Let's pray. Friend,
what is the area of obedience that Jesus is talking
to you about? Has he today uncovered an area
where there has been sin? Where something else
has been substituted for obedience to Him, will
you obey Him now and confess that? Will you repent
of it and in dependence, that is faith, start
over again today? determined in your heart by
the strength of the Holy Spirit, who abides within
you forever, that by his strength he will obey
and do exactly what God tells you to do, when
he tells you to do it, with the right heart attitude.
Will you? For someone here that may be the very
first step in becoming a Christian, the obedience,
of faith, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
that you might be saved. And I wonder, just as
we close this part of our service, if there's
one here who would say, that is the step I need
to make today. I have been trusting other things,
but I understand that I need to trust Christ
alone, who died for me and rose again. And I
am trusting Him today as my Savior. I receive
Him. I obey Him in believing. Would you lift
your hand if that's your prayer? Your decision?
Yes, sir. God bless you. That's the very first
step. That's a step you never have to take again,
but you must take it the first time to be saved.
Is there anyone else? Today, I am believing on
Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. Well, I wonder
if there are some of us who would say by the
uplifted hand, God has uncovered an area of my
life where there is concern in my heart, conviction
in my heart, and today I'm beginning again. I'm
confessing, and I'm determining in my heart to
obey God. Would you lift your hand? Yes. God
bless you. Are there others? I will obey because
I love Him. God bless you. Oh, Father, seal to
our hearts this message on obedience, and despite
the fact that it's old, may it be new to us,
newly applied, that our walk with You may begin
anew and be fresh today. In Jesus' name, amen.