Discipleship -- obedience

Discipleship – path of obedience

 

(Luke 6:46)  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

 

      Jesus asks a simple yet profound question, if we going to call Him Lord meaning we are committing to follow Him, then why do we not obey Him? Many have a profession without a practice of their profession. They are like the people in Ezekiel’s day “Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. {31} And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. {32} And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.” I have experienced that same thing through the years in ministry, people will come to church or listen to the radio and they will say, “That was a good sermon, keep on preaching the truth.” But they go away with no intention of obeying God’s word. They love to hear good preaching , but they are either blinded spiritually or just an outright hypocrits and just think that the other guy needs the message not them.

      Isaiah said basically the same thing in (Isa 29:13)  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Jesus quoted from Isaiah when He told the disciples why He spoke in parables – the more we understand the more responsibility we have laid upon us; the greater advantages we have the great demand God places upon us. We in America have much greater accountability that many or most other countries because the gospel has and is being preached over radio, television, the internet and on the printed page far more than in any other country.

      The earl church had their professors without obedience just as we do today; James tells us in (James 1:22-25)  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. {23} For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: {24} For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. {25} But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

      The reformers were concerned about this matter because many claimed to be Christian because they had some fantastic dream or some other experience. They were not ignoring the possibility or potential of God speaking in these ways, but they stressed two main things: The Word of God (Bible) and illumination by the Holy Spirit of that word. Paul tells us that God’s word is not able to be understood by the natural (unsaved) person, but only by the saved because it is understood in the spiritual realm and applied to the physical world --  “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (Discerned means understood) Jesus told Nicodemas that we cannot even understand about the kingdom of heaven until we are born again – “Except a man be born again, he cannot see (understand) the kingdom of God.”

      Some may say, “I know I am saved, but there is so much that I still do not understand.” This is a real and very resolvable situation. In Eph 4:11-12, Paul tells us “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; {12} For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” God gave some in the church the gift of teaching in order to help others understand and grow in their Christian walk. Now this means that anyone who is serious about learning needs to seek out and attend a Bible believing and teaching church.

      Not only is it obedience, but it is continued obedience. Accepting the call to confess your sin and allow God through Christ to save you – that is initial obedience – but continued obedience goes beyond that initial beginning. John says, “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” As we walk (obey) the light of God’s word we will see areas of our life that need changing. When we see it, we need to confess any sin associated with it and walk in obedience, then continue to follow God as He continues to teach us and guide us. This is a lifetime experience – we never arrive at graduation in this life. Graduation is glory.