Obey Me

Jeff Walling tells a story that every preacher has dealt with if he has done a few weddings. Jeff had been counseling a couple and everything had gone just as expected during the sessions. On this last session he was going over the wedding ceremony with them and asked about vows. They wanted to go with the traditional vows that most couples have used since about the 1400’s when some monk came up with them. There was one catch though, the young lady wanted one phrase dropped from the vows. Yep, you guessed it, the part about obeying.

Our culture has a problem with obeying. For so many, obey is a 4 letter word. Obey is what a servant or slave does. Obey is the word of dictators and power hungry oppressors. Obedience was our parents generation. We’re all about freedom.

This generation doesn’t want to conform to rules and regulations. They don’t want standards forced upon them. They want to feel good about everything. Yes, obedience has been abused, of that there is no doubt, but do we throw out the baby with the bath water?

I’ve noticed in my girl’s classes that they can get by with spelling errors because as it was explained to me, “We want them to feel good about their work. If the spelling works for them, it’s fine for now.” If you think I’m a bad speller, wait until these kids grow up! Sin is no longer sin, it’s an alternate lifestyle. And on and on we can go.

Jesus throws a real curve ball in this whole way of thinking when you read our text and a few verses earlier. He ties obedience in with joy. What?? Obedience causes joy? If we lose obedience, then we lose true joy. That’s the gist of today’s lesson.

PRAYER

I. The Needs of Sin

A. Missing the mark

1. One of the Greek words for sin come from a term used in archery.

2. It means to miss the mark.

3. During competitions or while hunting, as they would shoot, sometimes the wind would blow the arrow off the mark and they would miss badly.

B. That’s a great word for sin.

1. Sin takes our lives and makes us think we are heading for the right mark when in reality we are way off.

2. I thought that affair would make me happy.

3. I thought lots of money was the answer to all my problems.

4. I thought the drugs would take away my pain.

C. Sin needs to masquerade as freedom

1. If we saw sin for what it really is, we would avoid it like the plague.

2. Satan is much more insidious than that.

3. He makes disobedience look like it’s passionate, ideal, romantic

4. We are suckers for that

a) How many times do you see men and women attracted to someone dark, someone forbidden to them, taboo.

b) It’s like we want to find someone slightly bad

c) Satan plays that card to the hilt.

D. Understand sin and disobedience for what they really are

1. READ Prov 2:16-17

2. sin is not a way to live, it’s a way to die

3. Sin isn’t a way to freedom, it’s slavery

4. Sin isn’t content with sharing your heart, it wants to take over the whole thing.

5. You see slavery is the end of the road of disobedience.

6. Remember the story of prodigal son? He though his life was just great being disobedient and sinful until it all caught up with him one day at a pig farm. Do you think he felt he had it all while slopping pig stalls?

7. The road seems so good, but it leads to slavery and despair

8. The good news is that you can find joy again.

II. The Power of Obedience

A. Obedience unmasks the reality of disobedience and sin

1. I grew up on Scooby Doo. The one constant was at the end of the show, they would unmask the bad guy and find out it wasn’t really a ghost, it was sweet Mr. Dibble or someone like that.

2. Obedience does the same thing with sin.

3. It unmasks the realities behind disobedience and exposes sin for what it really is.

B. Obedience shows truth of life

1. READ Jn 15:10

2. Christ points to his own obedience as proof that obedience leads to happiness. Heb 5:8

3. Later in Hebrews, the writer points to Jesus’ obedience and how it lead to his joy.

4. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame. Heb 12:2

5. Who would have thought that it was a joy for Jesus to Go to the cross!

6. It would have been so easy to be disobedient to God.

7. As the popular hymn says, “he could have called ten thousand angels to set him free”

8. But his obedience, led to what we are celebrating today.

a) His resurrection

b) His victory over Satan and sin.

c) His joy at giving US victory over Satan and sin.

C. Obedience is a good thing

1. Obedience is good.

2. It does bring joy when we do the right thing.

3. That joy can be yours just as it was Jesus’ if you are willing to obey God and know that his will is for YOUR very best.