Check, check. Okay, we're starting, guys.
So Jacob wanted to speak about the power to keep and preserve people.
So from Psalm 121, let's start with verse 5.
Psalm 121.
So God is our keeper, right? No doubt about that.
And to keep is originally from the Hebrew root shamar, which means to attend, protect, guard, hedge in, give shade, provide an umbrella.
So many words for shamar, to keep.
So keeping us, his shamar, is actually a covenant with us.
From Numbers, the Lord bless you and keep you.
From Genesis, when God said to Jacob, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land, like as his everlasting promise to the Israelites.
It is an everlasting covenant to us.
And then from Hebrews, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.
So his keeping us is like a promise. It is a covenant.
And if you understand as God, God as keeper, you understand that this is the very nature of him to keep us.
Then the more you are able to, like Peter, get out of the boat.
And the more you are able to also keep others.
So I have, I'm very privileged that I play the anti-life for many kids.
And so when parents entrust me with their kids, there's a few things that I've realized.
Just as when God entrusts me to watch over his sheep, when the parents entrust me, there is a handing over, right?
So the children know who's in charge, who is the safe person.
Like Sheldon said to me this morning when he gave me Phoebe.
Phoebe, he didn't say Auntie Mae, he said Mae Te Te is the boss now.
So you have to listen to her, right? So there's a handing over.
There is, when God hands us over to his sheep, to his flock, he's empowering us.
He's giving us his authority, right?
And there's order, right? Because the flock also know it.
Just like my niece also knows it, right?
One of my nieces is kind of a wild one.
She does not listen to me when the parents are around, when her grandparents are around.
But when it's just me, she just suddenly obeys the rules.
There's a switch on, right?
So the flock also recognizes their sheep.
So there is this entrustment.
As keepers, it is not passive, right?
It is actually very costly. You keep with your life.
It requires you to be very vigilant.
I was just telling somebody downstairs, usually after worship, I know my duty with Phoebe is done.
I almost turn off and I start talking to people.
Today, I was like, no, I can't turn off. I still have to be vigilant about her, right?
So keeping is costly.
So we're vigilant with God, especially when you're keeping his flock, because he gives us the Holy Spirit, right?
So we need to be so vigilant in what he's telling us so that we can pray for our flock.
We can send a word.
We can ask if they need help before they even need to ask for help, because the Holy Spirit gives us that prompting.
And it's a completely dependent relationship.
I'm completely dependent on God and the Holy Spirit and with the people I am keeping, right?
It is a dependency that isn't demanding.
It isn't controlling.
And it doesn't require any obligation.
It's definitely not about power over people.
It is about keeping them, watching over them.
And with keeping, you also give away your best.
This morning, Phoebe had yogurt and I don't know what else was in there, maybe blueberries and cereal.
But she saw me eating hash browns.
Did she want her yogurt anymore? No.
It's still downstairs in the fridge.
And she had my hash browns instead, right?
So you give away your best.
Just as Jonathan gave David his robe, his armor, his sword,
he was in essence giving away his right to be king, right?
And the best example is God gave away his best, right?
He gave us his very best in Jesus.
So keeping is also about giving away your best.
And then it's also about knowing your boundaries and the permission that God gives you.
So it's interesting because children know their boundaries almost immediately, right?
Phoebe knows very well she can get chips from Jacob.
She also knows very well she has full access to Betty's phone.
She knows with me she can go right into the mud, step right into the puddles.
There is no problem there.
But she doesn't do that with certain people, right?
Even children know their boundaries and what their given permission is.
So because I know who is keeping me, I'm also able to keep others well.
And that I can step in spiritual warfare for them,
knowing that I will not be harmed because of the one above who keeps me.
We can keep each other financially, not worrying about our own security,
and also prioritizing another's affairs without worrying about looking after myself first,
because I know who keeps me.
So one thing I notice about keeping in this house, in this body, is also it's multi-pronged.
It's not just me keeping Phoebe, but there's others, right?
It's not just me keeping those in my house church.
I know as we've been growing it's multi-pronged in that there's multiple people keeping each other,
which is what makes it so beautiful.
Because God takes pleasure when we are in one accord with one another,
as it says in Psalms, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live in one accord with another.
So as we watch over each other, keep each other,
in essence to have exercise, great care over one another, this brings God delight.
And he really dwells among his people who are keeping each other.
And I know I'm using a very simple example here with children,
but I think many of you guys can relate with your own kids.
But how can God trust us with bigger things if we don't keep well in the smaller things, right?
So when Jesus asked Peter the three times,
Simon, son of John, do you love me?
And he said, feed my sheep, right?
Three times he said, take care of my sheep, feed my sheep.
I know I missed a little bit about what you guys were sharing earlier when Derek was saying about
he will leave the 99 to go after the one.
That is the intention God has for us, right?
To care and nourish that deep, deep keeping for one another.
And it is part of his commission for us that demands our keeping, right?
It's not a request, but it's actually a command from him,
part of his great commission that we be in very keeping relationships that nourish one another.
So I leave you with a question.
Knowing you are kept sheep by the great shepherd,
how will you go about being entrusted with the flock?
Thank you, Mae.
Any questions for Mae?
And it's so quiet.
You guys okay?
Alright.
Okay, I want to talk about the pleasure of obedience.
So there was a king, and the king had three soldiers, Don, Paven, and Mark.
Okay, let's keep it interesting.
So three soldiers, and the king summoned them one morning.
And the king said, okay, I need you to go to this river bank tonight,
and at night I want you to take a sack with you as well,
and fill your sacks with whatever you find at the river bank.
Fill it up, and come next morning before dawn.
Not that dawn, like the other dawn.
Before dawn.
And then when you come, whoever comes first, you're going to be rewarded.
Okay, so Don, Paven, and Mark, they get going.
Don and Paven are very competitive, you know that, right?
So once they get to the river bed, Don and Paven do whatever they can do.
Okay, there's a stone, or whatever, they put it in the sack, they come back.
Mark is there, Mark is like, okay, I'm going to take some more time.
Do it slow, do it right, and Mark takes his time.
They come back.
Don and Paven are waiting for Mark to come.
Mark is a few minutes late.
They are at the king's palace.
The king is there.
The king says, Don, Paven, what you got?
They open, and they find out that their sacks are filled with gold.
They thought they were picking up stones, but it was filled with gold.
But they did not fill the sacks up, because they were in a rush, and they wanted to compete, and they wanted to get back first.
They did not obey fully what was asked of them.
But Mark, on the other hand, look at you, Mark.
Mark, on the other hand, Mark took his time, because Mark heard what the king said.
The king said, Go, when you're there, make sure you fill the sack with what you find.
And then you come back.
Mark heard what was said by the king and took the time to obey it to the minutest detail.
What the king then says is, Mark, you've done well.
What you've gathered is for you.
This is your reward.
It's just a story of obedience.
And this happens with us when God says, Hey, Derek, I want you to do something.
I want you to do this.
I can do what he's asking me to do, either completely.
I can rebel and not do it at all, or I can do a part of it, and then report back to him and say, I've done it.
And the thing that we need to be careful, guys, is oftentimes even doing a part of it looks about right.
It looks about right.
Look at Don and Paul.
They look about right.
But it doesn't matter how you look, man.
I'm just kidding.
But the idea is you've got to do it fully.
You've got to do it completely.
OK, so we'll spend a few minutes talking about the pleasure of obedience.
I want us to first go to a scripture.
We'll go to Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verse 13.
Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verse 13.
The end of the matter all has been heard.
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Everything else can be summarized to this.
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
In Mark chapter 12, a bunch of guys get together, the scribes, they go to Jesus.
And they ask Jesus, what is the most important commandment?
And Jesus responds and he says, the most important commandments, there are two.
Number one, love your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength, with all your soul.
And then he says, love your neighbor like you love yourself.
And the scribe, one of the scribes, who is really keen on what Jesus is saying, he responds with a very interesting response.
Here's what he said. Mark chapter 12, here is the scribes' response.
And to love him, as in God, with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength,
and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all whole burned offerings and sacrifices.
All of a sudden, this guy who has learned through the Bible, who has read through the Old Testament,
is immediately correlating what Jesus said to a passage in the first Samuel chapter 15.
Jesus said, the greatest of commandments is to love. Love God, love people.
And the guy who is listening to this immediately goes back to something he has read.
Is my mic doing the same thing again?
Is it good?
So the guy who is listening and the scribe immediately responds with this.
He immediately responds with first Samuel chapter 15, because he says to obey God, to love him means, and it's better than sacrifices.
So that story, first Samuel chapter 15, I want to quickly go through it,
and then we'll look at a few things that are practical for us in terms of our living today.
In first Samuel chapter 15, Saul is the king, and Saul is commanded by God to go and basically kill all of the Amalekites.
God very specifically tells him, go kill all of the Amalekites.
You can't have anyone, anyone left.
The entire people group, all of them, they have to be killed.
They have to be taken out of the equation.
And so Saul goes, and while Saul is out at it, he decides to just leave the king and the sheep and the cattle and kills everything else.
He doesn't kill the king. He doesn't kill the cattle, and he keeps it.
And when Samuel confronts him and he asks the question, why did you do it?
He says, well, the sheep and the cattle, all of that I preserved just so that we can do sacrifices later.
And God had already told Samuel that this has happened, and Samuel responds with the line that the scribe in Mark chapter 12 says,
which is much better than sacrifices, is obedience.
Hearing is better than what?
Sacrifices, when God looks at sacrifice in the Old Testament, they felt like we need to do this.
We need to keep doing it. We need to keep doing it.
But God's response is much more than sacrifice, much better than that, is obedience.
And so for us then, how can we walk a lifestyle where obedience is something that we take pleasure in, that we delight in?
Because when I was in my teenage years, because I grew up in a Pentecostal church,
I would often obey things because if I didn't obey it, something will happen.
Sorry. You guys are like all good. Maybe it was only me.
But yeah, I obeyed a bunch of stuff because if I didn't do it, I was afraid.
And then there was this fear of missing out too, right? Get vaccinated, otherwise you'll... No, just kidding.
But the idea is they'll tell you, well, there are things that you take as you go through life and you go, well, if I don't do this, I'll miss out.
And so I'll do it. It's very true, guys.
If you really check your lives, there may be things that you do because you're doing it, because others are doing it,
or because you fear that if you don't do it, something may happen.
It sounds funny when I say it, but there are things sometimes that we do because it seems like if we don't do it, something may happen.
Or it's not right, and therefore we need to do it.
But there is a greater way of living, which is you do and you obey out of love.
Then it's pleasure-filled. Then it's a lifestyle where you're doing things out of pleasure.
And that's what we want to talk about today, the pleasure of obedience,
where you have this thriving relationship with the Father, with the Son, with the Holy Spirit.
And because you have a thriving relationship with God, you then walk through life with this idea, with this mindset,
with this way of living, which is I want to obey out of love. I want to obey because I want to bring him delight.
I want to obey. What's the next thing I can obey in? What's the next thing I can mature in?
What's the next thing that I can take on? I want to obey. I want to obey.
It's a very different way of living.
And one of the things that I'd like you guys to look at in your lives is what are the new things that you're obeying God for?
Are you stagnant in it? In that, yeah, you kind of know your life. You know how to live.
There are things that we have become experts in, and they're good. They're nice things, good ways of living.
But are you maturing in your obedience?
Are you going from one level of obedience into another level of obedience into another level?
Jesus actually spoke about this.
Don't I think today I needed help with this, but I'll try to log in again.
Otherwise, you may have to fix this.
So Jesus actually spoke about this.
Let's read this verse. It is spoken of Jesus, Philippians chapter two, verse eight.
And being found in human form, Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.
So Jesus's obedience did not start with death.
Jesus's obedience started with whatever he was first obedient with.
And as life went on, he matured into a place where he was obedient unto death.
And so for me and for you, we've got to ask ourselves, what are the things that I'm maturing in in terms of obedience?
Because it's very easy for us because we are part of a church that's growing, that's moving.
There are things that we're doing. It looks like, wow, man, I'm doing these things.
I didn't do it 10 years ago, 15 years ago.
I'm doing these things and they look good and they are good things and you are part of something.
But you've got to ask yourself, are you progressively obeying?
Are you seeking continually to obey him more and more?
And that's a question that we need to ask.
So to obey is better than ministry.
To obey is better than sacrifice.
To obey is better than serving.
And when I say these things, really what I'm trying to say is things that you do because you need to do it.
Things that you do because you heard it and you want to obey God and you're just like, yeah, I'll go for it.
But there is a greater level of obedience that we are to give him.
Where we look at our lives and we go beyond this, I can obey you.
I want to obey you. How can I obey you in this?
If I look at my life, I can very clearly without any second or spend, I can very clearly say,
this, this and this, these are three areas that jump right out at me and I need to change in the way I am.
Same with you guys.
If you spend time, it will quickly come to your mind.
Areas where you're lacking in obedience.
You're not rebelling perhaps, but you're not doing it the full way, the complete way, the correct way.
You're not a mark yet. You're like a dawn and a pavan.
So think through it as we spend some time looking at this.
So obedience is a process and you move from one level of obedience to a deeper level of obedience as you walk with him.
You move from one level of obedience to a deeper level of obedience as you walk with him.
I want to read Romans chapter 6, 17, but thanks be to God.
This is a very important one, guys.
But thanks be to God.
That you were you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.
You see the lines there to the standard of teaching to which you are committed.
You became obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.
Spend some time on it because it's so easy sometimes to.
Oh, Romans 6, 12. 6, 12 is it 6, 17 Romans chapter 6, 17.
There is a standard to which that we commit to when it comes to obedience and learning.
There is a standard that to which we commit to.
And what is that stand? Yes, then.
I'm saying in our minds and in the way we live, there is a standard to which we have committed to in terms of walking with him and being obedient to him.
And what is said here in 6, chapter 12, sorry, chapter 6, verse 12, 17.
Sorry, it says you become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you committed.
So whatever you committed to, to that point, you're becoming obedient.
To whatever extent you haven't committed yourself to, you're not obedient yet, in other words.
So think about it. What level of teaching have you and I committed to?
One of the things we spoke about in Wally a few days ago is this idea that it's so easy for us,
even when we belong to a people, not to go through the process of discipleship.
Because we can be moving from one meeting to the next meeting to the next meeting very quickly, very easily.
We are in a hub meeting, then we have a house-touch meeting, and then we have encounter meeting, and then we have Sunday meeting,
and then we have the other meeting, and then there are meetings.
But we have to commit to a process of obedience, a process of discipleship.
And if you hear me and you're like, yeah, I attend and I'm part of these meetings,
but I'm not hooked in to a process of discipleship, you have to.
It will change your life. Process of discipleship and you committing yourself to the level of teaching, to the level of discipleship, is so important.
And I want to mention this because as we grow, as there are people coming,
it is possible that you attend things but you haven't committed to discipleship.
And it's something that you have to be very aware of. Because very quickly time can go by.
If you don't commit to it, you, as per what I just read, Romans 6.17, oh, got it right this time,
Romans 6.17, you obey to the standard to which you've committed yourself.
Okay. So the process itself continues on as we live in that we move from one level of obedience to another.
Obedience is learned. Hebrews 5 verse 8. That's why discipleship is so important.
Because obedience is learned. Jesus had to do this. How?
Hebrews 5 verse 8, although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Jesus learned obedience. He went from a level of obedience to the next by learning.
I have to, we can grow in our obedience by learning, by submitting, by giving ourselves to the process of discipleship.
It's so important, guys. If it's only one person who hears this and you think, that's true, I'm part of this church,
but I haven't committed myself to discipleship, do it. It'll be the best decision that you make.
Do it. Find your house church leader, find someone and say, I need to, not someone,
find someone in the arrangement that's been set up at Acts 29 and say, I want to learn. I want to disciple myself.
Can you? Do it. It'll change your life.
One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it. One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it.
Well, you can study as much as you want to about forgiveness, about bitterness, about offense.
But after all those studies, if you haven't taken a step of progression in obeying, it's really worthless.
It's just knowledge. But if you decide, I have heard, I have understood, I want to commit to obeying.
One step that's way better than many years spent learning.
And as you take that one step, guess what happens? The Holy Spirit takes you to another level in it, to another depth in it.
So commit yourself to this, that, Father, I want to obey you. I want to obey you well.
I want to find these areas in my life which I haven't given you full access to.
And I want to do it well. I want to be obedient to until death, like Christ.
You could be asking God to do something to, and God may have said, hey, start this, or I want you to do this this way.
And if I say speak, it comes to your mind and you haven't done it, it's inaction.
And God is saying, do it. I should have had a Nike t-shirt today. Just do it. Just do it.
Because there are things that we sometimes commit to, and we say, we will do it.
And then the cares of the world or however you want to phrase it, those things take over.
And then you find yourself in a space eight months later, twelve months later, where you're like, oh, I didn't do it.
May today be a day, as you hear me, if anything jumps out at you, things that you committed to but you couldn't do for whatever reason,
make a decision to do it, to obey him fully.
So obedience is fueled by love. Obedience, true obedience is fueled by love.
David understood this Psalm 1, 1947, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.
I will lift up my hands towards your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.
David said, I love you, so I will do it. I love your commandments, so I'll do it.
It came from that place. So if I go to the father and say, father, I want to love you more.
There are days, guys, when I tell him I don't love you enough. And that's true.
I'm not saying you should say it like that. But I tell him I don't love you enough. I want to love you more.
I don't love you enough. I want to love you more. And because I want to love you more, show me how I can love you more.
And it has to, at the end of the day, love is, it has to lead you to obedient action.
Jesus said it, John chapter 14, 15. John chapter 14, 15, it says, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.
Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
So joyful obedience is the evidence of our love for Jesus. Joyful obedience is the evidence of our love for Jesus.
So if I say from now until the end of the year, man, I love Jesus so much, love Jesus so much, love Jesus so much,
I can speak as much as I want to speak. But if you do not see joyful obedience unto Jesus, my love ain't love.
So Jesus said it very clearly. My mom, I may have shared this before, but she grew up in a traditional Christian family
and at one point in her life, she decided that she wants to know God more and commit her life to Him.
And she had this question about, oh, is baptism a real thing? Should I get baptized? Should I not?
People are seeing it. I don't really know. And she was cooking one day. And while she was cooking, she's saying,
Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you. And she kept on cooking. And then all of a sudden she heard a voice.
It said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. And so you'll say, oh, what did I just hear?
If you love me, keep my commandments. She felt like she had to go open the Bible. So she runs to the room.
She opens the Bible directly to John chapter 14, 15, where it said, if you love me, you will obey my commandments.
Guys, love and obedience, they go hand in hand.
We can do all of the talking, but unless I am obedient to Him, I ain't loving Him.
And what I'm talking about is let's love with pleasure, with delight.
May we be a church, as we say, as people come, they interact with us, they spend time with us, may they all say they love God the Father.
They love Jesus. They love Holy Spirit. And my goodness, man, these guys, they obey it.
That is something to be told about a church, that we hear and we obey it, obey it fully.
First Corinthians chapter 3, 13, there's a message version. I'll read it out loud.
Eventually, there is going to be an inspection.
All of the things we're doing, eventually there is going to be an inspection.
If you use cheap or inferior materials, you will be found out.
The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You will not get by with a thing.
If your work passes inspection, fine. If it does not, your part of the building will be torn out and started over.
But you won't be torn out. You will survive, but just barely.
I'll read that again because it's important. In everything that we do, as I said, we can do it for other reasons too.
So if I still haven't matured from how I used to be in that I'm doing it because if someone asks me something and I don't do it,
I know God is also speaking the same thing and I don't do it, I do it because what if I don't?
That's not the right response. I should do it because God is saying do it and I want to love him and do it.
And I may not be at that place today, but I can say I want to walk in that direction.
When I commit to that, he'll take me there. All I sometimes need to do is commit. I commit, he does the rest.
I'll read it again because it's important. Eventually, there is going to be an inspection.
If you use cheap or inferior materials, you will be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous.
You won't get by with the thing. If your work passes inspection, fine.
If it doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over, but you won't be torn out.
You will survive, but just barely.
The other thing is, guys, we are not like in Timothy. Paul says to Timothy, be like an athlete who is always training.
Our advantage is that our trainer is not outside us. Our trainer is inside us.
And because our trainer is inside us, it's not like the trainer will say, Derek, flick it and then hit it.
No, he'll make me do it. He has the power to make me do it. He is inside me.
As a coach, as a trainer who is on the outside, you can only say, well, collect the ball, flick it, hit it.
Well, you can keep saying how much ever you want to say, but if the guy doesn't know what it takes to do it, you can only say.
But if the coach is living inside you, if the trainer is inside you and you yield it to the trainer, now you can do it.
So everything that we're talking about, we are at a great advantage because the Holy Spirit is our trainer.
He is inside us. He's a coach and he will have us do things when we come into it.
Second thing, obedience accompanies faith. Obedience accompanies faith.
If you say you have faith in Jesus, then obedience must accompany your faith.
Abraham, you say you believe in this God you heard. Well, you then have to do this.
What you have to do this. What you have to take Isaac up the mountain, up Moriah, and you have to sacrifice Isaac.
You believed that God said, I'm going to make you a father of all nations, of many nations.
Well, then if you believe it, your obedience must go with it.
Think of it this way. When Abraham was going up the mountain, two things were going up.
On one hand, there was faith. He believed that he will be the father of many nations.
On the other hand, there was obedience. He looked at Isaac and he saw what God promised.
And he himself carried obedience with him. So he looked at Isaac, there is faith.
I know that God said my generations will become many nations. I know it. He looked at Isaac and he knew it.
He looked within himself and he found obedience. So obedience and faith, they go hand in hand.
They absolutely go hand in hand.
Iris and I were driving one day and as we were driving, we were praying.
So praying is faith, hearing God, you're hearing. Anytime I open my mouth, anytime you open your mouth, you're speaking.
And we have faith that he is hearing, that he is there. He's hearing.
And so while we were driving, we start praying and as we were praying, God said, take this road this way.
And is that God or no? Well, we are talking with our father. We have faith this is our God.
What is he saying? What is he saying? Go that way. So we start driving that way.
We drive a little bit and we find a lady on the side and she's like the only one on that street and we stop.
And God tells us to do something. And we did exactly what he said to a point where the lady is like, Jesus, I praise you.
Because she has been waiting right there for something, not knowing how it will happen.
And two people come by, do something and she's like, I praise Jesus. She doesn't even know we know Jesus.
Faith, obedience, they go hand in hand. You cannot have faith and not have obedience.
So every time we open our mouths, we are also hearing what the Holy Spirit wants to do.
And then we obey it fully, not like Pavan and Dawn, but like Mark.
I hope you guys repent. It's time for you to repent.
Okay, so obedience accompanies faith. Next, because we need to go through this quick,
obeying God will always go against conventional wisdom. Obeying God will always go against conventional wisdom.
Sometimes stories are better to illustrate it, so I'll illustrate it this way.
At one point in my life, I was working at a company. And when I was working, some of you know the story.
I was working at a company and I found myself at a boss and the boss was pretty hard on me.
Trying to find faults anywhere the person could. And it was getting to a point where it was like, oh my goodness.
You don't need to do it, but you're almost taking it out on me.
You're exposing me every day. It was getting pretty difficult.
During the same time, God was teaching me about order. Keep order. Keep order. Keep order.
I found myself at a place in my life where on one hand, everything inside me is like,
I really want to just do something because you're not treating me well at all.
I have all the right reasons to tell you, you ain't treating me well.
And then on the other hand, I'm hearing and God is saying, keep order. Keep order. Keep order.
And so order is not just for Acts 29 and things that we do.
Order is for every area in life. At work, wherever you are, you keep order.
If God said an order, you keep by it. So I had to learn it, obey it, and then I said, I'll commit to it.
There was a thought in my mind, should I go look for another work?
And then I decided, no, I'll just, I won't. I'll process. I'll go with it.
I'll do what God said I should do.
So a few months went by, almost a year, I think.
I found out very quickly that something changed.
All of a sudden, my boss is like, you're my right-hand man.
You're the one I like. I need you to come on this. I need you to do this.
I'm like, I didn't even do anything.
I've been the same guy then. I'm the same guy now.
I didn't do anything differently. All I did is I kept order.
To a point, a couple of days later, she invites me into a meeting.
She's like, I'm going to promote you. I'm going to make you this in the company.
The only thing I can say is this.
When you obey, and it goes against conventional wisdom, you're obeying God.
And he will do the rest.
So obeying God will go against conventional wisdom,
because maybe friends will say, man, there's no need for you to do this.
Why would you even spend another day?
We live in a society now where people are not even paying attention to God.
We live in a society now where if employees aren't treated well,
you should be doing this, you should be doing that.
Obeying God goes against conventional wisdom.
So take thrill in it. Take pleasure in it.
Because our whole life is about enjoying this experience with him.
Where people may treat you bad, people may talk things. It doesn't matter.
If you know you've heard from God, you stick to it.
You stick with the process, and he'll do the rest.
Next.
Your obedience is not dependent on other people or your situation.
Guys, what I'm saying now, this one, it'll help so many of us.
Sometimes in life, we do not obey because we look at the other person
and we say, well, they ain't doing it, so why should I do it?
Your obedience to God is not dependent on others or your situation.
Obedience to God is, he said it, I'll do it.
It's between him and you. There is no one in the vicinity.
It's always between him and you.
If you can live your life like this, it'll set you free.
If you realize that it is always between him and I, first, it'll set you free.
Now, you will not withhold forgiveness to Nick because it doesn't matter what Nick does.
He said forgive, so I forgive.
Nick can treat me whichever way Nick wants to treat me tomorrow.
It's okay. It's ultimately between him and I, and I can obey by listening to God.
Do not hold yourself captive to other people and the way they respond to you.
I'm telling you, this is so important. So important.
Do not hold yourself captive to the way others respond.
It's between you and him.
Think about Noah. God says, build an ark.
What? Build an ark.
He's about 100 miles away from anything that's watery.
Build an ark.
He says, okay, I'll build an ark.
So what should it be like?
It's about 1.5 times the size of a football field.
What? Yeah, that's what I want you to do.
Okay. What do you want me to do?
It should be about four stories high.
All right. So how much time do you think it should take me?
Well, I don't know. You go at it. It took only 120 years.
It's important, eh?
Noah, the thing is sometimes when we read these stories, it's like, oh, Noah heard this. Noah did this.
Noah says, 120 years building an ark.
All the time expecting rain.
And then after he works during the day, he has got to preach.
And he was the best preacher. It was very easy.
There's only three words. It will rain.
It will rain. That's all he needed to preach back then. It'll rain.
So he kept preaching.
So Noah, it took him 120 years to build the ark.
And then he went through that process.
During that time, his obedience was not dependent on how people responded to him.
Your obedience cannot be dependent on others' response.
Or your situation. Oh, it doesn't even rain here. Why would I build this?
Shadrach, Meshe, Kabeirnego, Daniel, in Babylon, the easiest thing to do is just do what the king says.
But they say no.
It doesn't matter if the other young men in the group are doing this or not.
I won't do it because I've been told something.
The fact that I'm a captive in this land does not mean that I will have to obey you.
I will ultimately only obey God.
So I pray that as I spoke this, some of you will quickly realize areas in your life where you aren't submitting to full obedience because you're looking at others.
Don't do that. Run away from that place.
Run away quickly. Run to him and obey him because it's ultimately between him and you.
Second Corinthians, Chapter 10, Verse 5, it says,
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Take thoughts captive to obey him.
Thoughts that come at you, take them captive.
Because those are the thoughts that make you a certain way, that make you think a certain way.
They don't do it. So why would I do it?
Take those thoughts captive.
Next.
Your obedience empowers others to choose righteousness and take their rightful place in God.
In Wall-E, one of these days, probably two weeks ago, we were all praying and we felt like there will be a person we'll meet later on during the day who will be in a wheelchair.
And we were supposed to do something.
So a couple of us, we are driving and while we are driving, we find a person in a wheelchair.
He's just going the other way.
So we turn around. We go. We find that he's going inside this building.
And so we park. We come out and we look at him. He's right at the entrance of that door.
So that's the entrance and it's like a place where there's a reception.
It's a community housing thing. So you don't have access inside.
And well, I shouldn't say that. Maybe you have access. I don't know.
So there is a gate and we can literally see him right there.
And there are two, three people outside and there is this guy in the wheelchair.
And God had said, you'll meet a guy in a wheelchair.
And so we rush. And just as we are there, he goes right in through the door.
And the door closes almost.
There are two, three people outside.
So there was something that said, that's the guy he said, go after.
There are two, three other people that you can talk to outside, but that's the guy God said, go talk with.
So we somehow just squeezed in, squeezed in, somehow just made our way in.
Because we can't leave this guy because God said, go for him.
And so once we are inside, we talk with the reception person.
Is it OK for us to be here?
That's OK. You can be here.
And we start talking with this person who is on the wheelchair.
Start sharing who Jesus is and the gospel.
And his response was, I've never had anyone chase me and talk to me about Jesus like this.
And I want to know more.
We could have, because the door was closing, why would you just squeeze in through the door?
Man, the door that's closing, that's exactly when you need obedience.
And you go, no, we won't let that happen.
We will squeeze in through that door.
Because he said the guy in the wheelchair.
So if he said the guy in the wheelchair, we're going after the guy in the wheelchair.
Obedience to the full extent of the guy in the wheelchair.
Obedience to the full extent of what he is saying.
Remember this line.
People and nations are waiting for your obedience.
If you understand that, then you will know how much your obedience matters.
Timothy's and Titus's are waiting for Paul to arrive.
Timothy has to know that there is a Paul who is traveling between cities,
carrying the gospel for him to one day make the decision that,
yeah, I can leave Lystra and go to Ephesus.
It is possible.
I've never heard it before.
I've never seen that before.
But it is possible.
Your obedience matters.
People and nations are waiting for your obedience.
I know I'm repeating it, but may that go with you for the rest of your life.
Your obedience matters.
So we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.
Some we know, some we don't know.
Today I'm in the mood of sharing stories.
I was probably 12 years, I don't know, sometime around then, 12 years or something.
I remember my mom saying, hey, we need to go to this funeral.
And so I go to this funeral, and when you're 12 years old and you're at the funeral,
you're not really, maybe I was less older than that, I don't know.
You're not really thinking too much.
You're going because your mom said go, and you know there is something happening,
and you're aware of it, but that's about it.
But I remember being at the funeral and really feeling like, wow, this person.
I don't know him, I don't know the connection.
This person, it's something.
And later found out that that person was my mom's spiritual father.
When I could understand who this is, that person was my mom's spiritual father.
Why am I sharing that story?
My goodness, you stand on other people's shoulders.
You do.
Some you know, some you do not.
And your obedience matters.
Because there are going to be people who will one day say, I stood on Heidi's shoulders.
I stood on Mark's shoulders, and they showed me what it was like.
They showed me how to be fully obedient to the call of Christ.
They showed me how to do it.
And so after having seen them, I now do it.
One of the things to be aware of, guys, when I make this statement is,
remember we talked about Saul?
One of the things that Saul made a mistake in was not just that he rebelled,
and he did opposite to what was told him.
In the same chapter, it talks about Saul this way.
Samuel actually says, here is the verse, I don't want to paraphrase it, here is what he says,
Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel?
Saul had another problem.
He was little in his own eyes.
Which then caused him to do things that he should not have.
What am I saying?
I am saying that you must know your rightful place in God.
It is not a great characteristic to look at yourself and say,
Oh, I am nothing. I am just the worm.
It is not.
You see where I am going?
Somehow false humility has crept into the church and makes us say,
Oh man, I am just so nothing.
No, you are who you are in God.
Take your place in God.
If you don't take your place in God, there will be other powers that try to take the place.
Happen with Ahab.
Take your rightful place in God.
Speak of it, think like it, act like it.
It is not a great quality to say, Oh, I am just so nothing.
The Bible actually says the other way.
Take your place.
Saul, if he realized who he was, that he was appointed by God, set in charge over a people,
he would have fought the Amalekites differently.
His feelings of inferiority destroyed his kingship.
See, the thing is, when I said your obedience empowers others to choose righteousness
and take after the rightful place in God, one of the things I sometimes,
I really enjoy this when Pawan is with me and Pawan is talking to sometimes people who have used drugs
or are actively using drugs.
Sometimes I can almost sometimes take two steps back to listen to his story.
Because there is no man who is saying, I was using drugs, I was selling drugs, and Jesus changed me.
And the guy sitting on the ground is listening to the story.
And God's stories create God's stories.
Your story matters.
Take it, wear it, own it, speak of it, run with it.
Don't hide.
I think I've said enough about it.
Next, obedience will always attract divine blessings.
Obedience will always attract divine blessings.
Because we don't have time, I'll just leave it there.
If you want scriptural references, you can read the following.
Deuteronomy chapter 4, 39 to 40.
Leviticus chapter 26, 3 to 13.
Deuteronomy chapter 28, one onwards, I think goes on.
And many other.
There are so many scriptures that talk about, if you do this, then I'll do this.
And sometimes, I'm not saying you should do it this way,
but sometimes I like having conversations with God where I say,
that's your part, this is my part.
Sometimes, there are certain things you just leave it with him.
Because he's good at that.
Next, obedience brings down consuming fire on your enemies.
Obedience brings down consuming fire on your enemies.
It is a superior form of spiritual warfare.
You see Elijah, God is saying, Elijah, for you to defeat Baal.
We don't really read it in that order, because Elijah did certain things.
He built the altar.
He used water three times it was poured.
The wood was set up a certain way.
All of that was done in a particular order.
And it doesn't say until later that he heard God say these things,
and he did it exactly like that.
And when he obeyed to the full extent, exactly what was asked of him, fire came.
Your obedience will bring down fire on your enemies.
And by enemies, I mean spiritual powers that try to war against you.
Your obedience matters.
Your pleasure-filled obedience matters.
There was this guy, a farmer living in Germany,
and he decided that he was going to leave Germany with his family and move to Pennsylvania.
True story.
And so he is a rich guy, he's a very wealthy guy.
So he takes all of his money and he gives it to his eldest son, and he says,
You go first.
That's the land that's been bought.
I'm giving you very clear instructions on what you do there.
You have to build a barn and a few buildings around it.
You do it this way, and then we'll come.
The rest of the family will come.
The son is so proud.
Dad just gave him such a great opportunity to go somewhere.
First time, set everything up, expect father and the rest of the family to come.
And he's there, and he starts working.
He looks at the plan, he looks at the documents that were provided to him,
and he starts building the barn.
He finds out that the barn, if it faces the north, it's better.
It looks better, it's easier to access it.
So he sets up the barn a certain way.
He looks at the documents like, that can be done differently,
because it just doesn't make sense in terms of what I see here.
So I'm going to build the barn facing the north so that that's better.
And then along with the barn, there were a couple of other buildings
that had to be built very close to it.
And he looks at that and goes, well, maybe if I just move this teeny little bit
on this side, it's easier, because more people can come.
It's easier for me if I build it that way.
So he builds it differently.
And then finally, the dad comes with the family.
They come, they land, back then in a ship, I guess.
They come to Pennsylvania, they're in the property, and the dad is super angry.
He's like, what have you done?
And the son says, well, I built it with the best of my ability.
I looked at all of the things that could happen,
and I think I've done a pretty good job.
Are you not happy?
Dad says, no.
He asks why.
Well, you've severely damaged the value of the property,
because you built north, all of the animals in the barn
will now be suffering severe winter.
If you were facing southeast, it would have been better.
These other buildings that you did not construct close to the barn,
now every time we have to go fetch something that's more distance to walk.
And this building that was supposed to be on the hillside,
which you built on a level ground,
well, the whole idea was that the back of the building
could be used for something else.
All of our money, everything that we built in Germany,
now I gave it to you, and you've gone ahead and constructed things
your way, and it's devalued the property.
True story.
What's the point?
Sometimes, as I said before, it's more about how you do it
and the extent to which you obey him, not just doing something.
The extent of your obedience matters.
Stay away from presumptions.
In fact, if you go back to 1 Samuel chapter 15,
you'll see it talking about presumption.
Stay away from it.
The last thing, perhaps, I want to say is, your obedience,
what is it really doing?
It is yielding more of yourself to the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
I think now, by now, we've come to a place where we recognize
that we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
We are not asking for more of the Holy Spirit
because all of the Holy Spirit has been given to us.
What we ask for is more of us to be given to him
so that his fullness can take over.
And that's what obedience does.
Obedience yields more of you to him.
And so, like David, may we be people who tell him,
I delight in obeying you in small things and in big things.
Don't wait for big decisions and big steps of obedience.
Start obeying him for small things.
When you start obeying him for small things,
you see you accelerate in that path.
You're ready for the next big decision.
You have to use the axe to prepare for the winter season.
Use it when you can.
Use it, use it, use it, use it, so that when winter comes, you're ready.
So, pleasure-filled obedience.
Like David, lift your hands up to him and tell him,
I delight in obeying you.
I meditate on you, your words, your commands.
I delight in obeying you.
I take pleasure in doing it.
I want to be a man, I want to be a woman who will obey you.
I realize that with respect to my relationship with you,
all of that can be weighed in my obedience to you.
And so I'll obey you fully.
I won't be told.
I won't give you access to the front room and then the kitchen
and the washroom and the other two rooms.
I don't know. I'll give you access to everything.
Remy, do you want to pray in close?
Father, thank you for your Word.
Your Word is life to us.
And Father, I pray that what we heard today,
that it will plant seed in our hearts
and that we'll go and cultivate it and let it grow.
Because Father, we want to be known as people who hears your Word
and obey, obey diligently.
And help us to imitate like your son, Jesus,
that we will go to any extent to obey you.
Because we take pleasure in obeying our Heavenly Father
who gives us everything that we need,
who never leaves us, who never forsakes us.
So Father, I pray on behalf of the church and the body here
that we will be your instruments and in our obedience
that your name will be glorified.
So Father, we thank you.
We bless your name.
And we glorify your name.
Thank you. Amen.
Thanks guys. Thanks, Barry.