"SIMPLY OBEY"

Look Up:     Matthew 1:18-24; 2:13-15, 19-21

         Sermon preached by:   Dr. Wayne Poplin, Carmel Baptist Church    (Copyright 2006)       

INTRODUCTION:   I want my life to count for the Lord, don’t you?  Those of us who come here and worship Him and serve because of Him, don’t you want your life to be useful to Him?  To count?  Sure we do.  Wouldn’t it grieve you if you thought your life wasn’t counting?  It would me.  So how about it?  Do you think that your life is counting for the Lord?  Do you think that it counted this week?   But, how can you know that?  How can you determine that?  I can tell you how, because God has told us how we can know it.  He has given us a very clear way to know that even when a lot of things in my life are unclear--even when there are indicators that my life isn’t counting.  Do you know what that way is?  If it is a part of this series, it must be simple, right?  And it is.    The way is SIMPLY OBEY.   That is, simply knowing what God wants me to do and doing it.   If I simply obey the Lord I know that my life is counting and is useful to Him.  Regardless of what might skew the picture, I know that if I am simply obeying my life is counting for Him.  That, of course, is much easier to say than to do.  But I didn’t say it is easy.  I said it is simple.
            Take this principle and go to the Chris tmas Story and apply it to the Chris tmas cast.  How does a young teenage girl, pregnant, being ostracized, being gossiped about, getting glares and stares, feeling the disapproval of friends and neighbors, caught up in something that she would never have dreamed of, have an assurance that her life is counting for God?  By simply obeying.  She says:
            “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.  “May it be to me as you have said” [Lk.1:38]. 
        Simply obeying was the way she knew that she was where God wanted her to be and that her life was counting.  The circumstances were tough—the talk was vicious—the journey was tiring—the stable was nasty.  Those indicators would lead any of us to believe that we were way off track.  We would think that our lives were a mess.  But she knew her life was counting because she was simply obeying God.    
          The same is true of Joseph.  How does a young man, whose life now takes a radical turn, who is distraught over Mary’s pregnancy, who is feeling the pressure to put her away quietly [rather than violently], who had never planned to go to Egypt, etc., know that his life is making a difference and counting for the Lord?  By simply obeying.  Look at these verses that describe Joseph’s simple obedience. 
Read  Matthew 1:18-24; 2:13 -15; 19-21

Do you know what is very interesting to me?  Joseph never speaks.  There is no record of anything that he said in these verses.  He just simply obeys. 
            So, here is another clearly identified ingredient for SIMPLE CHRISTMAS.  Simply obey.  Obedience runs throughout the Chris tmas story—through Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth , Zechariah, the Shepherd, the Wisemen, etc.  In fact without simple obedience, there would have been no Chris tmas:
            for Mary—God would have sent His Son as He had promised, but it would not have involved Mary.
            for Joseph—God’s Chris tmas would have gone on, but not for this guy. 
            for the shepherds—if they had not obeyed the angel, they would have missed Chris tmas.
            for the wisemen—if they had not obeyed the scripture they would have missed out.                 

What I see in the Chris tmas story is this:  God asked people to simply obey, and when they did, they experienced Chris tmas.  And not only did they experience Chris tmas, they also had the assurance that their lives were counting for the Lord.  Powerful lesson from the Chris tmas cast, isn’t it? SIMPLY OBEY.           

Because obedience is so key, let’s understand it a little better.   

1. Obedience is the fruit of faith.  Faith alone unites us to Chris t.  But obedience to Him is the fruit of that faith.  It shows that the faith is real and saving.  James put it this way:

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead [ 2:17 ]. 
You see by nature we have the spirit of rebellion.  Do you see any rebellion in your children, naturally?  Did you have to employ the words, “No, No” at any point.  Did you have to consider your form of discipline at any point?

And that nature of rebellion is still there.  It surfaces in me all the time—like when the guy steps out of the car with the flashing blue light and says, “May I see you license.” Or when the flagman tells me that I can only go a certain way when I don’t want to go that way—I don’t have time to go that way.  

By nature I am rebellious--disobedient [I discovered something interesting in studying rebellion.  The words rebellion and associated words like rebellious do not appear in the New Testament.  They are Old Testament Words.  The equivalent in the New Testament seems to be disobedience.  So I have a nature of disobedience].  But with saving faith, I get a new nature that wants to obey God and can obey God.  So when I obey I evidence that new nature—that saving faith. 
            Mary and Joseph had that nature.  They could obey.  In fact they were obeying prior to the angel’s appearance. 
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God” [Lk. 1:30 ].
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man…[Mt. 1:19 ]. 
            God came to people with the nature that could obey and asked them to simply obey.  They did and experienced Chris tmas.   

2. Obedience is not easy.  It may be simple, but it isn’t easy.  Obedience has a lot of enemies and hurdles. 

First up—Satan.  Satan wants us to be disobedient.  He doesn’t want our lives to count for God.  He doesn’t want us to be useful to our Lord.  As soon as God told Adam and Eve what they should simply obey, he immediately went to work to try to get them to disobey.  We have an enemy working against us.  He will lie to you, try to scare you, do whatever he can to keep you from obeying.  Our simply obeying God is his nightmare.
But there are other obedience stoppers. 
            Tough circumstances.  Instead of simply obeying we measure how tough things may get.  Tough circumstances and negative reaction scare us off or convince us that we must have heard God wrong.  Does Jesus’ experience give us any help on this?
                        Negotiation.  Instead of simply obeying we negotiate.  “I’ll agree if there is an inn.  I’ll do it if we don’t have to go to Egypt .”  I’ll obey if I don’t have to go over seas.  I’ll pray that God will send people, but I don’t want it to be my children or grandchildren.   
        When we negotiate we are saying that God’s version of  what is to be simply obeyed is not the best and needs some alteration. 
    Delays.  The child says, “I’ll be there in a minute”—as they continue to sit in front of the TV.  Do you count 1 to 5 with your children?  Obedience is first time.  Delayed obedience is actually disobedience.  Delayed obedience leads to force and coercion and manipulation.  Obedience is immediate.  

In the Chris tmas story, simply obey wins out.  It trumps the tough situation, fear, negotiation and delay.  And their Simply Obeying trumped Satan’s desire for disobedience. 
        So do you want to experience Chris tmas this year?  Really experience Chris tmas?  Then simply obey.  That lesson is clear from the Chris tmas story.  What is the Lord asking you to do?  Simply do the next thing that God tells you to do.  If He doesn’t give you something, go back to the last thing He told you to do, and see if you disobeyed.  If so, start there.  Repent and tell Him you are ready to simply obey.    
        Chris tmas—the true Chris tmas—is experienced by simply obeying.  But, in doing that, you also know that your life is counting for the Lord. When you walk with the Lord obediently, you don’t have to wonder if your life is counting for Him nor do you have to ask Him to bless you.
            All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God…[Deut. 28:2].  

What would it be like if we all Simply Obeyed the next thing God told us?  The result of that God directed action would be amazing to see.  That is what happened on the first Chris tmas with the cast.  Wonder what this Chris tmas would be like if we did the same?   
        I know this.  Simply Obey will simplify Chris tmas.  Simply Obey makes the next step very clear.  It defines the path.  It takes the guesswork out of the picture.  It just simplifies life.  It doesn’t make it easy—just simple. 
        If you want to Simply Obey the next time God speaks, simply decide that right now.  Decide in advance that you will Simply Obey.  Then if you simply obey, you won’t miss Chris tmas.  You will know, regardless of things that may suggest otherwise, that your life is counting for God.