Bethel Church--Encounter

True Discipleship
Follow Me
In Week 4 of Series
March 1, 2015

True Discipleship: Review

3 weeks highlights--Pastor Rob covered:
Youre not a Christian just because: prayer,
raising hand, jersey, service, etc. Heart
change.
Not all who think theyre Christians are.

Christian = disciple. Dying to self. Following

hard afterbecoming like the teacher.
No neutralgrowing or regressing. Hard life.
True disciples endure--most abandoned
Jesus. Eternal vs temporal confusion.

OBEDIENCE?
Its hard
Do I have to?
Whats the cost to
disobey?
But dont want to
disappoint

OBEDIENC
E?
No fun
Do thisdo that
Big tug to
disobey
But guess I
should obey

ToniteAdding Another
Piece
True Discipleship:

Teacher
pupil
Past
prayer

Raising
hand

Obedience
Endure
Die to self

Tonites Roadmap
What does the bible say about
obedience?
What motivates people to obey?
How can I desire to obeyand really
do it?

Many versesObedience

of 2

Goand make disciples of all nationsteaching them to

obey all I commanded you (Matt. 28:19).
Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things
which I say? (Luke 6:46)
I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse -the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your
God; the curse if you disobey the commands (Deut.
11:26) And they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we
will do, and we will be obedient. (Exod. 24:7)
The Lord punished Israel because they did not obey the
voice of the Lord their God but transgressed His
covenant(2 Ki 18:12)

Many verses
Obedience
2 of 2

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven. (Mat. 7:21)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22).
Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever
you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads
to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to
righteous living. (Rom. 6:16)
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as
much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is
better than sacrifice(1 Sam. 15:22)
This is love for God: to obey his commands (1 John 5:3)

Duh, so the
Yeah but
bible
whats our
repeatedly
motive to
No surprise
says disciples
heretrue disciples must
obey?
obey.must obey.

Most understand thisfind it

reasonable.

Some Motivations To Obey

Lov
e
Payba
ck

Rewar
d

OBEY

Fear

Dut
y

GLORIFYING GOD

PLEASING GOD

OBEDIENCE

E
A
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N
I
N
G

P
A
Y
B
A
C
K

R
E
W
A
R
D

F
E
A
R

D
U
T
Y

L
O
V
E

3 Motives Displeasing to God

1. Earning = obeying to get right with God.
Legalism.
2. Gratitude to God is greatbut payback displeasing.

I worked harder than any of them (obedience)yet

not I but Gods grace in me (1 Cor. 15:10).
God needs nothing from anyonebut He gives all.
(Acts 17:25). Gods grace empowers my
work/obedience. So, the more I obey, the more I owe
Him. Cant payback.

3. Beware of practicing your righteousness before

othersyou will have no reward from your Father...(Matt.

6:1)

3 OK Motivesfor a while
Reward: from man or God; bad or good.
From
From
6:4).

Motive

man: work for pay ok. For IOU or praise bad.

God good. Egs; pray secretly, God repays (Matt.
Bring full tithe (Mal. 3:10). But God never owes.

Fear: of man or God; bad or good.

Degree

Fear of hurting relationship, reputation, jail, etc.

Fear of God beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7)
God, wanting to showHiswrath and to make His
power known, endured with much longsuffering (Rom.9:22)

Duty: to God or man typically good.

Degree

When our heart is cold, helps us do right thing.

Best Motive to ObeyLove

Loving Jesus MUST result in obeying:
John 14:15: If you love me, keep my
commands.
14:21: Whoever has my commandments
and keeps them, he it is who loves me.
14:23: If anyone loves me, he will keep
my word.
14:24: Whoever does not love me does
not keep my words.

What Are Jesus Commands?

In Johns gospel, Jesus has almost no moral commands.
Rather, He oft says: Receive Me; Trust in Me; Follow Me and
Abide in Me.
In rest of bible, many moral commands.
Some external: Egs; no lying, stealing, murder, etc.
Many internal: Egs; Dont lust, dont stay angry, slow to judge, etc.
Sin starts in the heart; Out of the hearts of men proceeds all
evil

All contained within: Love God with all you have and your
neighbor as yourself.
Only those born again desire to and are able to do these.
The Law cannot help us obeyit only exposes that we are unable
to obey it. (Rom. 7:7)

What Love Motivation Looks

Like
Love vs. other motives: when the heart is
captured and Spirit-led, joyful obedience and
sacrifice cant be helped (even thru tears):
A new girl/boy friend vs. a waning one.
A parents love for ill child vs. the duty of a nurse.
A followers love for a great leader who puts their
peoples best interests before his own.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:8). Jesus
despised the cross, saw its joy and prayed Your will
be done-- not mine.

JesusOur Model for

Obedience
15:10; If you keep My commandments, you will
abide in My love; just as I have kept My Fathers
commandments and abide in His love.
My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me (John 4:34).
the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the
Father doing. (John 5:19)
I can do nothing on my own. .. I carry out the will of the one who
sent me, not my own will. (John 5:30)
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things He
sufferedand He became to all those who obey Him the source of
eternal salvation (Hebr. 5:8-9)
For we do not have ahighpriestwho is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as
we are, yet without sin. (Hebr. 4:15)

Johns definition of love

To John, love means: passion, strong
desire, treasuring, seeking, affection of
the heart.
We see this from: people loved the
darkness rather than light (3:19) or they
loved the glory of man more than the glory
of God (12:43).

God created us passionate joy-seekers.

This is how intensely we are to love Christ-because He is infinitely beautiful and satisfying.

Whats the Secret to

Obedience?
Paul once hated Christ--but became greatest faith contender ever. Obeyed
Spirit in going to Jerusalem-knowing persecution awaited. God rewired his
heart to live for Christ (joyful life)and not me-me-me (miserable life).
God literally changes our hearts/desires/affections over time: But thanks be
to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from
your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.
(Rom. 6:17).
The gospel/Spirit changes us to have compassion for others.
Anyone in Christ is a new creation. The old is gone--the new has come.
(5:17).. Without God, only superficial, self-help changenot death and new
life.
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who
works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure(Phil. 2:12-13).
The love of Christ controls usbecause we have concluded this: that one has
died for alland those who live might no longer live for themselves but for
Him (2 Cor. 5:14)

Obedienceits all good

Obeying Godall upside and no
downside:
Brings glory to God (John 15:8).
Its the best for us. God made us and
knows what will satisfy us the most
(Himself). Dont we want maximum joy
and satisfaction?
Shows that what matters to God matters
to us.
We dont break intimacy with God (huge
reason Jesus did not sin in temptation)

Anatomy of SinWhy we
Disobey
If obedience is all good, why do we sin?
We are blind to Gods beauty. Something else (an
idol) has captured our highest
affection/desire/passion.
We dont fear God enough.
OK to stain Christs name and lose our testimony.
The flesh/world/satan cause sin. God always
provides escape-we oft choose sin (though it
doesnt rule saved)
We do not abide in Christ thru reading, prayer,
fellowship, discussions, etc.embers grow cold.

GLORIFYING & PLEASING SELF

DISPLEASING GOD

DIS-OBEDIENCE
EVIL
D
E
S
I
R
E
S

P
R
I
D
E
WORLD

L
U
S
T
S

G
R
E
E
D

(friendship with the world is hostility toward God-James 4:4)

SATAN (the god of this world has blinded the minds-

2 Cor.

4:4)

FLESH (nothing good dwells in me; this body of death-Rom. 7)

Spiritual Cardiac Problems

Warning Flag Indicators

Right track indicators

I have besetting sin I dont admit;

I dont want to kill sin; dont see
as big deal.

The corrective to all these is

NOT to:
-Try harder.
-Be belittled and shamed.
-Self-flagellate and just hate
myself.

I dont struggle much with sin

because truth be told, I really do
want to do it my way. I dont
really care about Gods way.
I dont battle much against sin
because I know God and others
will forgive me. Ill deal with
punishment if and when caught.
Im not battle ready against sin:
sporadic, brief bible reading, no
weak prayer, but I dont really
care. And Im lazy.
I simply dont have an appetite

Rather, consider these:

-Know God created you for
joy/happiness
-Know He is the ultimate joy. His
character is amazing and worthy
of highest love.
-The Spirit will convict you of sin
and enable you to actually obey.
-The spiritual disciplines are huge:
bible reading, prayer, fellowship,
etc.

Love for Christ = best motivator

Signs Jesus has my heart:
Indicators of love /
affection

Obedience Aids

I think about Him often

Daily bible reading. Start

discussions.

I like to hear/learn about Him

Hang with believers. Read God

stuff.

I love to please Him

Love our neighbors. Care

same things.

I am jealous about His name

Defend Christ. Outspokenly

love Him.

I like to talk to Him- see Him

Pray without ceasing. Long to

see Him