March 1st 2020 - Brother Josiah Shipley

The Call to Obedience as the Fulfillment of Humility and Scripture Memory

If you could turn there with me. Mike, thank you brother. Mike and I had the hardest time getting this to work and Mike found a way. I appreciate that so much. He spent like 45 minutes just so y 'all could have that up there.

Thank you brother. Oh, I got it bro. It's on man. Yeah, totally. See, I'm not lying. This is the end of a three-part series. Jeremiah spoke on humility. Austin spoke about the commitment to memorizing Scripture and applying it and today we're talking about obedience, which should be the fulfillment of your humility and your commitment.

If you are not a believer in here this morning or if you view this as anything other than the inspired, infallible, and errant Word of God, this sermon will be foolishness to you. This sermon will be folly because what I, and more importantly the Holy Spirit, is calling you to do is to obey His Word written over a period of 1 ,500 years by 40-something different writers that you all say you believe has one author and that's God.

That's the call we have. Now if that is true, if that is true, then it's crystal clear how we're supposed to follow it and that's what we're going to look at today. Before we begin in 1 Peter, I want to go back to the song that Hunter and Carla and Andrew and whoever else was up there, Mary Love, I love that song.

That analogy of the potter and the clay is repeated in Scripture. Isaiah mentions it. Jeremiah mentions it. Paul mentions it. It only has to be in Scripture one time to be Scripture, but the fact that three different authors in three different cities at three different times repeat it, I think bears a further look.

I got to witness one time, I got to witness a potter making a pot out of clay. He had a foot pedal, he was spinning the little wheel. Have any of y 'all ever seen this? And he took a lump of clay, he threw it in the middle, which had a little spade, I don't know what to call it, and he shaped it into whatever he wanted.

My call for you and what I want for me is to be the most moldable piece of clay you can be. To remove any bricks, any dirt, any impurities, and be the most pure moldable piece of clay for the potter God.

I did want to point out one more thing. The potter, the human potter I saw, wore an apron. And on this apron, as he was spinning the wheel, some of the clay got on his apron, and at the end he cleaned it off and that went to waste.

That's not what happened with our God. With our God, he takes that clay back, throws it right back in the mix, and reuses it. Whatever you see as a waste, he turns to good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

So nothing has been wasted. Not one speck. Before, that clay was in the ground, buried beneath dirt and sand, serving no purpose. But when the potter went and dug it up and molded it into a fashion, it now has a purpose.

Our job as believers is to be that moldable piece of clay for God to mold us however he sees fit. Ephesians 2 .10 says, for we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works that he planned ahead of time that we should walk in them.

Our calling is that we figure out how to do that. So here we are in 1 Peter chapter 1, I put up the four main verses, but I'm going to go ahead and read the rest of the chapter. We're in 1 Peter chapter 1, I'm going to start in verse 13.

Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children. Don't be conformed to desires of your former ignorance, but as one who has called you as holy, you are to be holy in all your conduct.

For it is written, be holy because I am holy. And if you address as father the one who judges impartially based on each one's work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during your time of temporary residence.

For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life, inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without spot or blemish.

He was chosen before the foundation of the world and was revealed at the end of times for you. Who through him are believers to God, who raised him from the dead and gave him the glory so that your faith and hope are in God.

Verse 22, by obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not a perishable seed but imperishable, through the living, enduring word of God.

For all flesh is grass, and the glory of a flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this is the word that was preached as a gospel to you.

Let's pray. Father, let the meditation of our mouths, let the words of our mouths and meditation of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. The standard of obedience.

The Standard of Obedience: Holiness in All Your Conduct

What are we to obey and how much are we to obey it? Well, we've already said the standard is the word of God. In verse 13 here, let's read it again, still in chapter 1. Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, don't be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance, but as the one who called you is holy, you are to be holy in all your conduct. For it is written, be holy, for I am holy.

The standard does not get any higher than that. You are to be holy as he is holy. And Peter gives us no excuse. He says in all your conduct. What do you think the Apostle meant when he said all your conduct?

All of it. All of it. All your conduct. That is the standard. By the way, if you do not have one of these, they're in the back. I highlighted in yellow for some of you. I highlighted in yellow the verses we'll be looking at today.

He says all your conduct, you are to be holy. What is holy? Well, holy is to be set apart. Yes? Come out from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord. By your conduct, by your conduct, before you've even opened your mouth, the world should know that you are a believer.

Before you've ever even said the name Jesus, by your conduct, they should be able to witness it. Matthew chapter 5 says this, let your light so shine among men that they can see your good works. And by seeing your good works, they glorify the Lord.

Let your light shine that brightly that when they see your works, they glorify God. The standard gets no higher. Well, there is our conduct. Certainly, we cannot add to this anymore, can we? Well, Paul does that for us.

Let's see if I can figure this out. Yes? Mike, I got it on, I promise you. Mm-hmm. It's all right. I'll quote it. 2 Corinthians 10 5 says, look, see? We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.

Take every thought captive in obedience to Christ. Now, the Bible cannot mean every thought, can it? That's not what it means. It can't mean that. It can't mean that I have to take every thought captive to obedience to Christ.

And yet, that's what it says. So, not just my actions now, but now every thought must be taken captive, taken prisoner, and turned to obedience in Christ. When we get to the end, I want you to, for those of you following along, I want you to highlight, make a little asterisk.

We're going to come back to how to do that right there at the end. How to do that point right there. Okay, so there's the standard. There's no ambiguity. There's no excuse you can put before God. There is your standard.

All your conduct, every thought, perfectly holy. No problem, right? None. Obedience is what God desires from us. I'm going to turn to 1 Samuel. I got it highlighted on your little paper. I'm going to turn to 1 Samuel, and let me set the scene for what's happening here in 1 Samuel chapter 15.

That's 1 Samuel chapter 15. The Israelites are ruled by judges, but they complained to God, and they said, all these neighbors around us have kings. We want a king. God says, okay. It's ironic. The book of Judges ends by saying, for there is no king in Israel, so every individual did what was right in his own eyes.

The book of Judges is the most violent and gruesome book in all the Bible. Well, God gives him a king. His name is Saul. 1 Samuel chapter 15. God commands Saul, go destroy the Amalekites, and do not take anything back with you.

Okay? Saul goes, destroys all the Amalekites, except one, the king, which he brought back as a trophy, and he took with him ox and cattle and sheep. Samuel, the prophet, approaches him. I'm in verse 17.

I'm going to read through 22, and it says this. Samuel continued, although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed you king of Israel.

I'm going to stop right there for a minute. Fathers, men in the household, as you keep reading, you'll see the troops disobeyed. The troops took the cattle, but who did God address? The leader. And who did God hold responsible?

The king. If they are in your household, and it goes undisciplined, unpunished, God holds you responsible. Verse 18. And they sent you on a mission and said, go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites.

Fight against them until you have annihilated him. Verse 19. So why didn't you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord's sight? Verse 20. But I did obey the Lord.

Saul answered, I went on the mission the Lord gave me. I brought back King Agag, king of the Amalekites, but I completely destroyed the rest of the Amalekites. The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder and the best that was set apart for destruction in order to sacrifice to the Lord your God.

Verse 22. But Samuel said, does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offering and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look, to obey is better than sacrifice. To pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

Did you hear his excuse? We took the cattle in order to give sacrifice to Yahweh. And God said, what do you think I desire more? Sacrifice or obedience? Obedience is what I desire from you. Obedience is what I desire from you.

No excuse that you and I can come up with in the corners of our mind are acceptable for disobedience. He desires obedience more than anything else. He does not need our money, our time, our service. He requires our obedience.

The Consequences of Disobedience Are Corporate, Not Just Individual

The consequences of obedience. So we see the standard. We see there is no room for ambiguity. What about consequences? Well, the consequences are often lasting. And I put a little account for you so you can go back and read it yourself.

Story of David murdering Uriah after Bathsheba got pregnant. Though he repented, the consequences of his sin did not leave. Repentance can renew your joy, your peace, and your feeling of being in right step with God, but that does not mean the consequences of your sin disappear.

Sometimes they stay with you for the rest of your life. But I want to focus on the second point under number two. We'll let her be there. The consequences of sin are corporate, not just individual. Now what do I mean by that?

I mean your sin, I promise you, does not just affect you. Let me say that again. Your sin does not just affect you, no matter how you think it does. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, thank you.

My Sunday night crew is going to get tired of this analogy. We have been in the book of Ephesians for five months now, and we're on the last chapter finally. They have heard this every week, but I guess it bears repeating.

It is God's Word, right? Your individual obedience or disobedience to God absolutely affects others, particularly other believers. Now the good news is your obedience can affect others also. So where sin abounds, grace abounds even more, right?

Think about Noah for a minute. Do you know the Bible says in Genesis chapter 6 that of all the peoples on the earth, only one was found righteous? Noah. Now how many people got on the ark? Eight. Now how many were righteous?

Because God's grace to Noah for obedience benefited his family. Because God is a merciful God. But your disobedience, I promise you, can also affect others. Ephesians chapter 4, 15 and 16 says this,. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who's the head, Christ.

From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. Each individual part.

At your conversion, the Holy Spirit indwells you, you are positionally placed in the body of Christ. That analogy is repeated in the New Testament numerous times. Being part of the body of Christ. And no matter what part of the body you are, Jesus tells us you are not allowed to tell another part of the body I don't need you.

The eye cannot say to the ear, yes you remember this, the ear is not allowed to say to the eye I don't need you. Sir Quid is laughing because I told her that she would be the eyelash of Witten, which keeps the dust out of the eye and all those other scientific words you googled for the next class.

When I was in high school, I sprained my MCL. Now you medical people in here, I'm gonna do my best to explain what the doctor told me happened. So my MCL is the inner ligament of my knee, it was in my right knee, and the way they explained it to an idiot like me was this, if you have a hundred fiber strands that make up that ligament, you have torn 20 of them.

That's it. That's it. One ligament, one ligament operating at not maximum capacity. I was 17, I was capable of squatting 465 pounds. I could bench press 300 pounds. When that MCL got injured, I was the weakest person on the team.

I was in crutches for two weeks. Now once you think about this for a minute, during those two weeks, my left ankle hurt more than anything else. Now why? I didn't hurt my ankle, I hurt my right knee. Why did my left ankle hurt?

Because I had to put all the pressure now on that foot, didn't I? Which made my back start to hurt, right? So by one body part not fulfilling its part, the rest suffered, and the rest had no idea. My left ankle didn't know why it was hurting.

It didn't know that my right knee wasn't doing its job, it just knew that it was suffering. That's all it knew. From him, the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, influenced the growth of the body for the building up of each individual part.

I want to be the best MCL I can be. I want to be the best joint I can be, so I can support the rest of the body. Your disobedience does not just affect you. Let me ask you a question. I want you to think of it this way.

Maybe this will help. Hebrews chapter 10 is the passage that is most often turned to, to tell you to go to church, as if you could, because we are the church. Let me ask you a question. Why are you here this Sunday morning?

Why are you here? And whatever reason just popped in your brain, I want you to ask yourself, does it pass the test of why you're supposed to be here? Whatever reason just entered your brain, when I asked why you're here, ask yourself, does it pass the test of Scripture?

Here we go. Hebrews 10 24 and 25. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings as some habitually do, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

That was written 2 ,000 years ago. You think that day is closer now? And all the more as you see the day drawing near. You should be here to encourage and exhort others in the corporate worship of God.

Feeling closer to God should not be your primary reason to come into this place. That should be a side effect of you being obedient. Getting a spiritual boost should not be the primary reason you walk into this place.

That is a side effect of being obedient. The Scripture says that you are to come to this place in the corporate worship of God to encourage and exhort your brothers and sisters in Christ. And if you have given a cup of water or visited or spoken to any of my children, you have done that to me.

That's what Jesus said, right? The purpose of being an individual body part is to build up the body as a whole to the praise of God. Be the best body part you can be. Whether that's a left big toe or right ear lobe, whatever body part God has fashioned you in, you are to be the best one possible to support the rest of the body.

Trusting God More Than Yourself

And I promise you, the rest of the body feels it if you don't. Lastly, okay, we see the standard. We see the results of not obeying. How? How do we obey? How do we live in obedience? The first thing that came to my mind when I wrote this question was to trust God more than I trust myself.

Now, I told you, if you don't believe this is the Word of God, this is going to sound foolish to you. Because the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to those of us who are being saved, it's God's power.

I have to trust God more than I trust myself. And I do that two ways. First, by realizing I am not to be trusted. On my own, I am not to be trusted. The heart is desperately wicked and incurable. Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17. God is the only one who is trustworthy. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not in your own understandings, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and then He will direct your path.

I am, when I come home from work, especially on a negative day, I want to go home and I want to see Rachel and Ava, right? Ava's at that age, she's a year and a half now. Once she hears the key going in the door, I can hear her on the other side of the door getting all excited.

And then her little fat feet go pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, walking, running towards the door, right? You hear her breathing heavy. She's waiting in anticipation. She holds her breath so long she's got to breathe again.

You open it up and she sees me and she goes, it's Dada. Whatever problems I had that day, I just don't care anymore. Other times, I open that door and I hear Ava being disobedient towards Rachel, right?

Anyone else ever experience that? You hear, now I hear her. Now, what do I feel like doing? Now, Ava is happy in her disobedience. She's not upset. She's not crying. She's laughing. She's happy. Now, I'm tired from work.

All I want to see is a smile on Ava's face. In my inner being, I want to pretend like I didn't just hear what I heard, yeah? I want to pretend like I didn't just see that. I want to just walk on by, pretend like I didn't hear it, and act like nothing happened so that I can be happy to see Ava.

But Hebrews chapter 12 says the Lord disciplines those He loves and punishes every son He receives. Think about how often the analogy of God being our Father is used and I don't think that's a mistake.

I have to trust that this is His Word more than me. And I read through it, and I read Proverbs, and then I read Ephesians, and no matter where I go, I can't get away from how I'm supposed to parent. And I have a choice to make.

Do I trust that God knew what He was doing when He wrote this, or do I trust what I want to do? And it's not a one-time choice. I've got to choose every day. Every day. Every single day, I've got to pick up my cross, deny myself, I think is the most important part of that verse, and follow Him daily.

The other day, this happened, Thursday, I had a terrible day at work. I come home, open the door, I hear Ava being disobedient. She doesn't want to sit down. Well, I go in there, I tell her to sit down.

She says no. I sit her down. I stand her up. I say sit down. Oh, I sit her down. I stand her up. The whole time, inside, I'm dying, right? Finally, she sprawls out on the ground, and then I say, okay, stand up.

And I say, Ava, obey. And she goes, obey. I walk in the other room so I don't lose it in front of her. After a couple minutes, she comes waddling in with a blanket in her mouth, almost tripping over the blanket that's trailing behind her.

Walks up to me, holds up her hands, and says obey. Ephesians 4 says speak the truth in love. So I know that if I really trust that this is the Word of God, that if I really love her, and I really believe that, I'm going to raise her by whatever this says.

There's no getting around it. I have to trust that what God says is more true than what I say, or I feel, or I think. John 3 .30. I have a challenge for every one of you. I want you, before you get your day started this week, and I am not kidding, before you get your day started this week, I don't care if you're walking out the door, whatever you're doing, I want you out loud to say John 3 .30 for that day.

Here's John 3 .30. He must increase, and I must decrease. Ladies and gentlemen, you do not need an extra dose of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwelling in you is enough. You need to get rid of yourself.

Quit praying for an extra measure all the time, and instead get rid of the filth that's in you. And then you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is more about you emptying yourself.

He must increase, and I must decrease. Every day of this week, say those words before you walk out your door. Whatever you're doing, it doesn't matter if you think it's important or not. Because Colossians says, in whatever you do, in word or deed, do it as something done for the Lord and not for men.

I think whatever means whatever. In whatever you're doing, do it as something done for Him and not for you. He must increase, and I must decrease in every single thing I do. Everything. Second thing, love Jesus more than you love anything else.

Love Jesus more than you love anything else. Anything else. You know what we call anything that you love more than Jesus? You know what the Bible calls that? And what does the Lord do with idols? I want to say something that may not sound encouraging to some of you, but let me finish till the end, and I think you might be encouraged.

I want all of you to actually think about something. How much do you really love Jesus? How much do you really love Him? Not the idea of Him, not the tradition of Him. How much do you really love the person of Jesus Christ?

John 14 and 15, Jesus said this as clearly as it can be said, if you love Me, you will keep My commands. I want you to notice what it doesn't say. If you love Me, you'll think about keeping My commands.

If you love Me, you'll keep some of My commands. If you love Me, you'll keep My commands when you feel like it. It doesn't say any of that. If you love Me, you'll keep My commands. Are you heartbroken when you sin?

Does it bother you when you sin? You give it a second thought. Because let's reverse that. If you don't, you are not showing Him love. You see that? If you don't, you are not showing Him love, no matter what coming out of your mouth.

Just like He told the Pharisees, don't let it be said of anyone in here, that these folks honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. I want to love Jesus more than I love anything, all the time.

And when I disobey, I want to feel disappointed. I want to feel convicted. You know why? Because He disciplines those He loves, and punishes every sin He receives. Josiah, I want to love Jesus, I want to obey, but I don't even know where to start.

Two ways for you today. Number one, it was said last week, and I am totally serious about this. Memorize Scripture. Now for those in your brain, when I just said that, who said you can't, I want the first verse you memorized to be James chapter 1, verse 5.

If you in your brain just said, I can't memorize Scripture, I'm looking at one individual right now, who used to struggle with this, I want you to memorize James 1, verse 5. I can make him stand and say it.

If any of you lack wisdom, what do you think the Bible meant by any of you? If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask of God who gives to all generously and without criticizing. He doesn't even say, I told you so.

And without criticizing, and it will be given to him. Would you agree with this? That a large portion of decisions you make during a day are not premeditated. They're reactionary. Okay? Someone asks you a question you did not know when you woke up they were going to ask you that question.

Someone cuts you off in traffic. Boss gives you assignment. Most of the actions you have during the day, you don't have time to go sit in your office and think about a 30 minute reply. Most of the time, it's right then, right?

I don't know another way to already have obedience and godliness in your heart than to memorize Scripture. Otherwise, you are operating off your reactionary heart, which we already said is desperately wicked.

Be saturated with the Word of God, and that will be what is in your heart. The Bible says, Psalm 119, 11, I have treasured your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. How do you take every thought captive?

By saturating yourself in the Scriptures. By saturating yourself in the Scriptures. Memorize the Scriptures more than you memorize anything else. More than you memorize song lyrics on the radio. More than you memorize anything else.

Memorize the Scriptures. In order to obey the command of 2 Corinthians 10 5, to take every thought captive, godliness, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and love must already be in your heart.

Matthew 12 34 says, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. It has to already be in your heart, or your mouth will not say it. It has to already be in your heart, or your mouth will not say it.

One more thing on Psalm 119. Notice, I have treasured your word in my heart, not so I'll feel better about myself, not for a jewel and a crown, but I've treasured your word in my heart so I won't sin against you.

How do I obey Jesus? Memorize Scripture, and last thing, Andrew y 'all can come up, and last thing, love each other, which is part of the great commandment. You said correctly last week, you can't obey what you don't know, that's why we're memorizing Scripture.

The New Testament is summed up, Jesus says, all the law and prophets hang on these two things, that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you love your neighbor as yourself, and what's great about that is the rest of the New Testament authors call that one command.

This is my commandment. Remember the royal command. Why? Because how are they going to know that you're His disciples? What did Jesus say? Of all the things, how will they know you're My disciples? Isn't it incredible?

You would think that He would have said, and they will know you are My disciples by the way you love them. That's what I would have thought He would have said. That's not what He said. He would have said, they'll know that you're My genuine disciples by the way you love each other.

I love when we have visitors come in and come and tell me, Josiah, I can't explain it, but it feels like the people legitimately love each other, like they actually care. It's not just a tradition, a repetitive thing, they actually care.

They will know you are My disciples by the way you love each other. Verse 22 of 1 Peter, chapter 1, says this, By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

Did you notice that? After He says, by obedience to the truth, the very first example He has of obedience to the truth is what? Love one another earnestly from a pure heart. I love the people in this room.

I don't do a lot of things right, but I love the people in this room. My best friends in the world are in this place. I mean that. More and more, I feel alone out there in the world. If you have been on a college campus in the past four or five years, you know what that feels like.

Alone. Classroom of a hundred people, you feel alone because the very few people in the room that do agree with you are too afraid to speak up and you are by yourself. I tell my MIT students that you are not or should not be in MIT for yourself.

You are in there for Declan, for Ava, for Nadine, for Edward, for Jazzy. Twenty years from now, she will be alone everywhere but here. She will be. That is already true for most of the planet. It will be here soon.

She will be alone until she comes here. Love one another earnestly from a pure heart and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Father, thank you for all you have given us. Forgive us where we fail.

If there is anything in any heart of anyone in this room that is not of you, I pray you get rid of it right now. Forgive us where we fail. Help us to love you more than we love anything. Enable us to desire and work out your good purpose.

Let us love one another. Show us someone else in this room we can love today. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.