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Title: The Beauty of Obedience

Text: Selected Scriptures

Intro:
1. We had an intense look at the drawback of obedience
2. (P) A defiant spirit is never from the Lord.
3. (P) Resisting God’s will be never appropriate or acceptable.
4. (P) Choosing to go our own way is never pleasing to God.
5. (P) The kind of sacrifice God chooses is one that results from obedience.
6. Pride is a state of mind or, more essentially, a condition of the heart in which a person has supplanted
the rule of God over his life with the rule of his own will. Instead of depending entirely on God, as was
God’s design, a proud heart now looks to itself to decide what is good and evil.  Tim Challies

7. Lesson Idea: Looking at the starting point and milestones of obedience allows us to reflect and
learn that obedience’s greatest motivation is what we know of God that made us love Him
more. It is this understanding that makes us see the beauty of obedience, motivates us to
willfully obey and impresses in us that it was worth it all.

I. The Starting Point of Obedience

A. Man was created by God “in His image and likeness”
1. The Intellect was given to KNOW God
2. The Emotion was given to LOVE God
3. The Will was given to OBEY God
B. The Effect of sin on Man’s relationship with God
1. The intellect was DARKENED
2. The emotion was DEGRADED
3. The will was DEADENED
C. The Effect of the GOSPEL on Man’s Life
1. The Gospel is a call for repentance
a. Repentance means to change the mind
 Change your mind regarding a lifestyle and mentality of sinfulness and turn
toward the message of the gospel by believing it.
b. The essential elements of the gospel are:
1. All of humankind has sinned and deserves God’s punishment
2. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for those sins
3. Jesus Christ arose from the dead to provide everlasting life for those who believe
in Him
4. Salvation and eternal life are offered as a free gift to all
 I Corinthians 15:3-4 - 3  For what I received  I passed on to you  as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins  according to the Scriptures,  4  that he was buried,  that he
was raised  on the third day  according to the Scriptures, 
D. (P) The Gospel’s effect brought renewed capacities and desires in Man’s life that is a part of
his transformational process
1. The Desire to know God
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2. The Devotion to love God

3. The Disposition (willingness) to obey God
 8  God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is
a gift from God.  9  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none
of us can boast about it.  10  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in
Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10

II. The Milestone of Obedience

A. Becoming a follower of Christ
1. (P) Discipleship paves the way for the follower to understand what it means to obey
Christ and obey Him as His disciple
 The significance of water baptism
B. The continuous process of learning to obey
1. 20  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  Matthew 28:20a
C. Experiencing a point of consecration
By definition, it is:
1. The act of dedicating yourself to the service and worship of God.
2. To make holy or dedicate to a higher purpose.
3. In short, consecration is the amount of your unconditional surrender to God as a result
of obedience.  
 29  Then Moses said,  “Consecrate yourselves today to the  LORD, that He may bestow on
you a blessing this day, Exodus 32:29a
D. Having the Right Motivation to Obedience
- 15 “If you love me, obey my commandments John 14:15

III. Obedience is critical to the successful Christian life – Luke 5:1-11

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,  great crowds pressed in on him to
listen to the word of God.  2  He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left
them and were washing their nets.  3  Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon,  its owner, to
push it out into the water. So, he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4  When he had
finished speaking, he said to Simon,  “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch
some fish.” 5  “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you
say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”  6  And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!  7  A
shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and
on the verge of sinking. 8  When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before
Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.”  9  For he was awestruck by the
number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.  10  His partners, James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon,  “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing
for people!”  11  And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
A. (P) Obeying God in small matters is an essential step in receiving God’s greatest blessings.
 Suppose Peter had said, “Look, I’m busy cleaning my nets right now. I can’t help
you because I’m going fishing again tonight.”
 Or he could have said, “Why don’t you ask to use that other boat, over there?”
 Or, “I’ve already been fishing today; it would be a waste of time to go again.”
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 If Peter had said anything other than yes, he would have missed the greatest
fishing experience of his life.
 But because of Peter’s obedience, the Lord arranged a miracle that he would never
forget.
1. (P) Often, God’s greatest blessings come as a result of our willingness to do something
that appears very insignificant.
2. (A) Ask yourself, “Has God been challenging me to do something seemingly unimportant
that I have not yet made an effort to accomplish?
(A) Is there anything I have rationalized by saying, ‘It’s too difficult,’ ‘I don’t want to’ or ‘I
have to pray about it first”?

B. (P) Our Obedience always benefits others.

 Think of how many people were blessed by Peter’s obedience. Not only could the
crowd see the Lord and hear his lesson, but Jesus himself also benefited—
preaching from the boat enabled him to sit down in comfort while he spoke (5:3).
 Then, of course, Peter’s friends had a very profitable day—they took in two vessels
so full of fish that both began to sink.
 More importantly, they had the opportunity to witness the Lord’s supernatural
provision.
1. (P) God often rewards others—in particular, those closest to us—as a result of our
obedience.
2. For example, when a parent obeys the Lord, the entire family reaps the reward of God’s
blessings. Likewise, a child’s obedience will bless his or her parents.
3. This does not mean that those who choose to disobey the Lord will escape his discipline
because of someone else’s godly walk.
4. (P) God’s call to obedience always demands our response.
5. However, (P) when we live obedient lives, those who know and love us will sense the
peace and joy he has given us. Instead of conflict, there will be contentment—and that is
just one part of experiencing God’s goodness.
C. (P) When we obey God, we will never be disappointed.
 Peter no doubt assumed that Jesus’ fishing instructions would amount to a waste
of time.
 But when he complied with the Lord’s simple request, Christ brought about a
miracle that gripped the disciple with amazement. Jesus turned an empty boat into
a full one.
1. (A) We, like Peter, must recognize that obeying God is always the wisest course of action.
2. (P) By obeying God, He can take our emptiness—whether related to finances,
relationships, or career—and change it into something splendid.
3. Perhaps you have hesitated to obey God because you fear the consequences of your
decision. But the Lord’s command is for you to fear him above all else.
4. (P) The same sovereign, omnipotent God who keeps your heart beating and the planets
orbiting is more than able to handle the results of your obedience.
5. (A) Be ready! When he tells you to do something and you know without a doubt it is his
will, then you need to obey based solely on who is doing the talking.
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(A) When you choose to obey the Lord, he will bless you. This is because obedience
always leads to blessing.
6. Some people say they do not understand why God is asking them to do a certain thing
that if they will obey him, he will reward them with a sense of peace and joy that
compares to nothing this world has to offer.
 Therefore, (A) set a goal to obey the Lord and watch him work in your life.

Conclusion:
1. A BLOG: THE STORY OF OUR OBEDIENCE by Christy Britton
- In her book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, Rosaria Butterfield says, “We are
the stories we tell.”
- Our lives, not just our words, are telling a story. I want to be a great storyteller. I want my
story to proclaim God’s power perfected in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). I also want
the themes of redeeming love and grace-fueled obedience to anchor my story.
- It’s easy to tell a story; it’s harder to be our stories. It’s also harder to exhibit authenticity.
Often, we declare something with our words but contradict it through our actions.  Titus
1:16 says, “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are
detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” The words we speak should translate
seamlessly into the deeds we do. If we say we love God, we should live the kind of lives
that express that through actionable obedience (John 14:15). We love through our deeds,
not our words (1 John 3:18). Obedience requires action.
- Does your life tell the same story that your words do?
- Our words don’t tell our stories; our actions do. What we do in the present will speak for
us in the future……. The danger in believing that what we say trumps what we do is that
we deceive ourselves into thinking we’re right with God when we’re not. Instead, we’ve
fooled ourselves into believing that we can have Jesus without having to obey Him. We
believe that since we prayed a prayer and walked down an aisle, we’re good; no need to
take God and His word too seriously.

2. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ  has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the
Father loves his children, too.  2  We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his
commandments.  3  Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not
burdensome.  I John 5:1-3
3. Does the story of your life tell a story of your obedience to God?