I have no idea how I came up with this outline, but I have had it for years. And it is obvious to me that it is not an Oldfield original, although I’ve adopted and adapted it. I prefer to preach textual messages, drawing out and applying the meaning of a particular text. But this is a topical message, whose subject is “obedience” but we’ll be saying within Deuteronomy for the most part.
I suggested this morning that pastors can take things for granted in regard to what their church people know and understand. And “obedience” may be a good example. When was the last time either of us considered it? I haven’t taken this subject because I’m angry at anyone for their open disobedience. I have chosen this subject because here is something which we MAY not consider very often.
As an illustration: when was the last time you considered those things at the end of your arms? How many hours in September, or even in ‘23, have you spent thinking about your hands or your fingers? Probably only those with arthritis or some other disability have given their hands much consideration. But if you do think about it, hands are an engineering marvel – a marvel of divine engineering. It took company of geniuses (Canadian) years to engineer the mechanical arm of Space Shuttle. The reason is that the problems of any kind arm are enormous, and that arm more than most. There 30 bones in the wrist and hand with yards of muscles, tendons and ligaments. But unlike most muscle/skeletal groups, the muscles of the hand are all off site, so to speak. If the muscles which move your fingers were actually in your hand, it would be so cumbersome that it would defeat its purpose. But God designed hands in such a marvelous way that they work perfectly. And, by the way, any accidental or coincidental evolution of the hand would be impossible. Yet, how many ever give their hand a second thought until it gets hurt?
Well, the same thing is true about many things in our lives – including obedience. We all know what obedience is. The dictionary says that it is: “complying with – or conforming to – orders.” But that is just a start.
Obedience is the PROOF of our REPENTANCE.
Deuteronomy 4:30-31 – “When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be OBEDIENT unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”
If I asked you prove that you had taken four years of Spanish in school, how would you prove it? If I asked you prove that you were expert chef, you might cook some really fancy meal. If I asked you prove could that you could play the piano, you would probably sit down and play. But what if I asked you to PROVE that you had REPENTED before God? Even if you could to take five loaves and two fish, and make them feed 4,000 or 5,000 people, that would not be proof of your own repentance for sin. You might stand before thousands and preach a great Gospel sermon, but that is not proof. You might show me how well you can pray, but, again, that is not proof of much of anything. Repentance is what the Lord was describing in the first two beatitudes. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom Heaven.” And “blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” Repentance is an emptying of oneself; a mourning; a surrender to the will of the Saviour. When, through repentance, someone has no will of his own, then obedience becomes as natural breathing. Do you say that you are a Christian through your faith and repentance – well then prove it. Persevere and live a life of obedience to the Lord.
Second, obedience is an AVENUE by which we RECEIVE GOD’S BLESSINGS.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 – “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.”
In Psalm 19, David shares the Holy Spirit’s perception of the Word and the commands of the Lord. Verse 7 – “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Now notice verse 11 – “Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” The blessing of the Lord does not come BECAUSE we keep the words of God, but IN keeping them. In other words, there is no fuller, greater, or happier life than the one spent in obeying, or minding, God.
And this is not just an isolated scripture. Many of God’s specific blessings are conditional upon our obedience to Him. John 15:16 says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” To be given “whatsoever we ask” is a mighty big blessing. But that “whatsoever” must be kept in the context of verse 14 – “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Why should the Lord, grant us our “whatsoevers” if we ignore His “whatsoevers?”
Third, obedience often means PRESERVATION from CONTAMINATION.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 – “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.”
John Ruskin was not a preacher, but rather an author and an authority on art. Nevertheless, he was raised by Godly parents; he was well-known in his day and is often quoted in sermons. Someone, on day recounted Ruskin’s first lesson in obedience and liberty. He was but a child. These are still subjects which dominate the minds of many people. Especially children who want less requirements and more liberty. Ruskin said that when he was very small, and still being carried about by his mother, he heard and spied the tea kettle merrily boiling away on the stove. He wanted to investigate what made it so happy; but his mother said, “No!” He was resolute – “I want that.” Despite being told “no” several times, he continued to persist. Finally his mother said, “All right you may have your liberty,” and so he touched it. He said that it was his FIRST taste of liberty and the LAST that wanted for long time.
It may be a simple lesson, but one which a lot of people just will not learn from a distance. When God gives us a command, not only is there blessing in obedience, but there is likely protection from trouble as well. “Abstain from fornication.” In obedience, the Christian will avoid AIDS and several other diseases. In obedience she will not get pregnant, and he will not have his life redirected from his projected goals. We could run through a long list of serious problems which could be avoided by obedience to God.
Then, obedience is EVIDENCE OF A GOOD RELATIONSHIP with the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:8-11 – “If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.”
Do you remember David’s son Absalom? There were several things that characterized that man – pride, self-righteousness, arrogance, murder, etc. But something else dying his heart black was plain old, simple “disobedience.” It conclusively proved that he was out of step with his father, David.
On the other hand there was a lad named “Jesus” growing up in the city Nazareth. There has never been, and never will be, a boy like that boy. Although every child claims it once in a while, in Jesus there really was a lad who was smarter his parents. Nevertheless the scriptures show that He was obedient to his parents. Luke 2:51 says that He was “subject” unto them. So I assume that if Joseph said, “take out the trash,” Jesus took out the trash. If Mary said, “I want you to sweep the floor,” Jesus would make sure that it was done and done well. That obedience shows a good relationship between the parents and the son. Disobedience, on the other hand, proves that a father and son are not as close as they should be. And nearly every time – the fault lies in the child.
If there is little obedience in someone’s response to the Lord, it proves that there is a bad relationship there. And again this time the problem is entirely with the child. You should want to be known as having fellowship with your Saviour and with the Heavenly Father.
John Philip Sousa was in hotel room in New York City, when he heard an organ grinder down on the street. He had an apparatus with a handle, which if turned ran some gears which hit a variety of plates producing a tune. In this case, the man’s instrument was playing Sousa’s march “Stars and Stripes For Ever.” But the organ grinder played it so slowly and dejectedly that I sounded horrible and no one paid any attention. Sousa rushed down to the street and chewed him out severely, showing him how quickly and sprightly it should be played. The next day he heard the same man playing the same march with all his might. As looked out the window he saw new sign on the street beside the man: “I am a student of John Philip Sousa.” The composer said to himself, “I’ll let you keep sign, if continue to obey me and play my music the way I wrote it.” Obedience proves a right relationship to the Father.
Fifth, obedience is the SECRET OF VICTORY.
Deuteronomy 30:1-3 – “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.”
There was once an English farmer who saw a party of rich fox hunters riding across the hills. He noticed they were headed toward his newly seeded field. Quickly he sent his son to the gate and gave orders to let no one into the field. A horseman came up and ordered the boy to open the gate, but he refused. Another came and threatened him, then others even offered him money. But true to his commission the boy flatly refused. Then one of the horsemen rode up and said, “I’m the Duke of Wellington, and I am not accustomed to having my orders disobeyed.” The boy took off cap and said very respectfully, “I am sure the Duke of Wellington would be the last person in world to wish me to disobey my father’s orders.” Raising his eyebrows, Wellington replied, “I honor the man or boy who can be neither bribed, nor frightened, nor threatened into doing what is wrong. With an army of such soldiers I could conquer the world.” Then handing the boy a gold coin the Duke led the hunting party off in another direction. A postscript to the story had the boy running home shouting, “Father, Father, I have done what Napoleon could not do, I have turned back the Duke of Wellington.”
Obedience is the secret of success before God and man. But more importantly, obedience IS a victory in itself, and the successful results are up to the Lord. An old, well-worn, preacher was talking to his small congregation about this subject. He said, “If God ordered me to jump through that brick wall, I’d jump. I am called to obey, and it’s His job to open the wall up if He chooses.” That is an especially appropriate illustration about evangelism. It is not up to us whether a single soul is redeemed. God wants us to be faithful.
Obedience is the SOUL OF PROSPERITY.
Deuteronomy 30:8-10 – “And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”
Ben Franklin put it differently in his almanac, when he said that education was the key to prosperity. Without a good education we confine ourselves to a limited job market – slinging burgers at McDonalds. But then Franklin, with his worldly wisdom added, a slightly more Biblical thought – “First teach them obedience, and then they will be able to learn anything.” How true that is. If kids learn to obey, they will also learn to work, and to listen and to apply what they have heard. One of the things kids are not learning today is obedience.
Obedience is the soul of prosperity.
And finally, obedience is the MEANS to LONGEVITY.
Deuteronomy 30:20 – “That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
The best way to become friends with someone who is your superior is to obey him. If you don’t want trouble with an ungodly government, obey as much as you possibly can. If you want to prosper before the school teacher, or employer or spouse, obey and apply yourself. And of course, our greatest superior also is the Governor over all life and death. Obey the Lord, and it will be very well with thee.