Redemption And The Obedience Factor Series

Redemption and the Obedience Factor

(Isaiah 50:4-11)

1. [A] mother who wanted to have the last word but couldn't handle the hassle that resulted whenever she said no to her young son. After an especially trying day, she finally flung up her hands and shouted, "All right, Billy, do whatever you want! Now let me see you disobey THAT!" [Our Daily Bread]

2. The word “obey” has taken a bum rap. Many parents are uncomfortable demanding that their kids obey them, choices/ options; kids opinions do NOT count as much as those of adults…Even pet dogs can rule the household

3. There are many wrong teachings about obedience. For example, Thomas A Kempis said: “Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.”

4. When you disobey, God does not withdraw his grace. And delayed obedience is better and different than disobedience (Matthew 21:28-31); two sons, one said he would not go but changed mind, other said he would but did not go. Although immediate obedience is better, delayed obedience is better than disobedience.

5. Complication: people demand we obey God not based on what the Bible actually says, but on what they think it means, their application of a principle. Legalism

6. Obeying is easy when we agree or when the matter does not create trouble/pain.

7. Jesus struggled to obey the Father in Gethsemane, but prevailed. He could have called 10,000 angels to avoid the agony of the crucifixion.

8. So how did Jesus console himself when he was beaten and abused for us? The New Testament only gives us a glimpse, but Isaiah 50 is the best source of information about what Jesus actually thought.

Main Idea: Jesus obeyed the Father, and Jesus calls us to obey the Father, too!

I. The OBEDIENT Servant Messiah (4-9)

A. The Amazing TEACHER (4a)

B. The Amazing PROPEHT (4b-5)

1. No man ever spoke as Jesus did (John 7:46)

2. He was the founder and founder of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)

3. He was taught by the Father through the Spirit (took discipline to study)

NIV vs. 4, "the instructed tongue" in the ESV is, "the tongue of those who are taught," the NASB, "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples."

4. He was eager to obey without reservation

• Sometimes I obey God in hesitation, with whining and bad attitude

C. The ABUSED Messiah (6)

Hebrews 5:8-9, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,”

Romans 5:19, “ For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Philippians 2:8, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…”

D. The TRUSTING Messiah (7-9)

1. One of the hardest things to trust God with is apparent failure

2. When prayers seem unanswered and things are going poorly

3. Example: you have a friend or adult child, and they wonder if they will ever find the right person to marry, and you tell them, “Don’t worry, the right one will come along.” How do you know? What God has done for others, he might NOT do for you.

4. Trust can be hard labor for the soul. Don’t minimize how hard it can be.

II. The Call to OBEY the Servant Messiah (10-11)

Jesus implicitly trusts the Father; when we trust Jesus, we must also truth the Father. Trusting and obeying always go together. The more you believe in God’s character, the more you trust him and the more you obey him.

A young lady was sunbathing on the beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She was surprised by the question but she replied, "Why, yes, I do." Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?" Again, her answer was "Yes!" He then asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray every day?" Again she said, "Yes!" By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and said, "Will you hold my money while I go swimming?" [Gordon Curley, sermon central]

A. A SELECT Number Who Obey (10a)

Romans 1:5, “…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…”

Romans 16:19, “For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.”