To Obey is Better - Life of Christ Part 74

Have you ever thought about what the least favorite word in the English language is? Have you ever think about that? Well, I got to think about this.

We can hear some thoughts I had. In January, the least favorite word in the English language is visa bill. How about that? And in April, the least favorite word is aha. And in the summertime, the least favorite word is humidity. And in the fall, the least favorite word is the cowboys.

What do you think? Right. And in December, the least favorite word is Toys R Us, where you got to go and they're open till midnight. And I don't know, that's kind of a seasonal thing. But I think there's a word that's probably a good candidate for your least favorite word in the English language that's good year-round. See what you think of this word.

Obedience. Two-year-olds hate it. Elementary school kids hate it. Teenagers hate it. College kids hate it. People in boot camp hate it. Employees hate it all year round.

People who drive on the Beltway hate it because they don't pay any attention to anything out there. And so I kind of think that obedience may be possibly the most hated word in the English language. Now the interesting thing is that in God's language, in God's vocabulary, however, obedience is a very treasured word. And we're going to talk this morning about obedience and about how important it is to God and how important it is to our relationship with God.

Obedience, I looked it up in the dictionary, means to follow the orders and carry out the instructions of someone who is in authority over you to do what you are told. That's what we're going to talk about. Now there's a little story here we're going to use. It's in Matthew chapter 21. And the context or the background of the story is it's Tuesday of the last week of Jesus' earthly life. He's in the temple.

He's teaching. And the rabbis come to confront him. They come to challenge his authority. And it's in this context of a showdown that we have Jesus telling this little story.

There are three main characters in the story. There's a father who represents God. And there's two sons who are meant to represent the two different ways we can respond to God over this issue of obedience. So let's look beginning at verse 28. What do you think Jesus said?

What do you think, rabbis? There was a man who had two sons. Now by the way, I know that in some Bibles the order of the two sons is mixed up, is backwards from the way it is in the one I'm reading.

You say, Lon, why is that? Friends, it's too complicated to explain. But just you're smart people. Just reverse your order. If your Bible's got it the other way, we'll do it in the order the NIV has it, okay?

We had a lot of people come up and go, ah, your Bible's wrong. No, it's just a different order. Okay, here we go. There were two sons. A man had two sons. And he went to the first one and said, Son, go and work today in my vineyard. And the son answered and said, I'm not going to do it.

I will not. But later he changed his mind and he went. Meanwhile, the father went to his other son and said the same thing. And the other son answered and said, yes, sir, you bet, I will. God bless you.

I'm going. But he didn't go. Now which of the two sons did what his father wanted? Jesus asked these rabbis. Remember just in the passage before this, Jesus asked him another question.

The baptism of John, where did it come from? Did it come from heaven or did it come from man? And you remember the rabbis, they wimped out and they said, well, we don't know. We can't tell.

We don't know where it came from. Well, here he asked him another question. Except you can't wimp out on this one because even a nincompoop can get this one right. And so they have to answer him and they answered him and said, well, it was the first one. It was the son who said, I'm not going, but then later changed his mind and went.

He was the one who did what his father wanted. Jesus said, hey, guys, congratulations. You finally got one right. Good for you. God bless you.

A gold star for you guys. Now let me tell you what this means. Look, Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you rabbis. For John came, John the Baptist came to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes, they did. OK, now let's figure out who the people are in the story. Son number one, the one who said, I'm not going, but then he went.

He stands for the tax collectors and the prostitutes. These were people who didn't talk about God. They didn't read their Bible. They didn't claim to live lives that please God. They didn't pray. They were like people who had said, God, we're not interested.

We're not going to do what you want. But Jesus said, when John the Baptist came and I came offering them a new beginning for life, a new way of living, forgiveness of sin, a chance to have eternal life. They did what the first son did. They changed their mind and they obeyed. And now we're giving them eternal life and we're changing their lives. Don't you see these people who are following me?

They're entering the kingdom of God. And he said, this other son, this other son who said, yes, I'll do it. Yes, I'll do it.

Yes, I'll do it. But then he just totally blew the day off and didn't pay any attention to what he really wanted. That's you guys. That's you rabbis.

You guys talk a great talk. You talk about God all the time. You read your Bible all the time.

You study the Bible all day long. You make a federal case out of how pious you are. In fact, if you go back in Matthew six, it'll tell you that these are the people, Jesus said in Matthew six, that when they're coming to give their donation at the temple, they had somebody walk in front of them and blow a trumpet.

Here comes Rabbi so-and-so to give his money. And when they prayed, they stood out on the street corners and they prayed out in public on the street corners. Everybody would go by and go, oh, look how religious he is. And these were the people who, when they were fasting, would walk around and go, ah, ah, ah. And people would go, man, what's wrong?

You got a virus? And they'd go, no, I'm fasting for God. Oh, it hurts so bad. And they'd go, oh, what a religious guy. Weren't these the guys who made a big show out of how pious they were? I mean, with their mouth.

They talked the talk, right? But Jesus said, hey, when it comes time to obey, pure and simple, you guys won't do it. I mean, you ignore John the Baptist when he called you to repentance. You refuse to humble yourselves. You refuse to come clean about your sin. You refuse to prepare for the coming of the Messiah that John told you would be right behind him. And when I finally showed up, you refused to embrace me as the son of God. You guys are just like the second son in this story. You're all talk.

You're no action. You're like the people that Isaiah talked about. Jesus said that these people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And the worst part is, look what he says in the end of the verse, verse 32. And even after you saw this, even after you saw the tax collectors and the prostitutes getting their life right and obeying and having changed lives, even after you saw that, you still didn't change your mind. You still didn't humble yourselves. You still wouldn't admit you were wrong and that you disobeyed God. Instead, now you're out to kill me. And so as a result, Jesus said, guess what?

The tax collectors and the prostitutes are going to enter the kingdom of God. And you're not, you rabbis. Man, talk about a slap in the face, huh? He said, Lon, that's pretty tough stuff to give out to these rabbis.

Yeah, it is. But you know what? I believe with all my heart that Jesus' motive was a loving motive. I believe Jesus was trying to give these guys one last chance, one last chance to respond to him.

And friends, sometimes when kindness doesn't work and patience doesn't work, sometimes rebuke does, and he's rebuking them and saying, guys, come on, I'm giving you one last chance. Let's shape up here. Now, that's the end of our passage, but it leads us to ask a really important question. And what's that question? So what? Yeah, Lon, I mean, you know, so what?

Well, let me see if I can answer that. You know, I have three older boys and I have a little girl and I got three older boys and I got a little girl. You understand? That's kind of how it is around my house. In the early years, when I was learning how to do this thing called being a dad, I had it all worked out, you know, and I'd sit these guys down at the table and we'd talk about where they were really messing up and I'd reprimand them. And I'd say, all right, guys, now, you know, this is what it's got to be and it can't be this way anymore. And we've got to straighten this thing out.

And they would sit there and they would write an order, go, yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir. Dad, you're right. And we see what we're doing wrong and it won't happen again. And you can count on us. And you're right, Dad. And you don't need to mention it anymore. You can stop talking about it now and eat your broccoli because we're going to do it. You know, and I was so proud.

I was so excited about this. You know, I would say to Brenda, I'd say, Brenda, in his need, do you see how obedient these guys are? They sit there at the table and go, yes, Dad, you're right, Dad, we're going to do it your way, Dad.

And Brenda said to me, Lon, you are such a sucker. Don't you see what they're doing to you? They're sitting here at the table saying, yes, Dad, you're right, Dad, because they know that's going to get you off their back. And then they're going out of here blowing you totally off and doing whatever they want to do.

Can't you see that? I was like, oh, really? She'd go, what is wrong with you? I go, oh, OK. Well, you know what?

She was right. And now, you know, we don't have discussions like that anymore. Now we talk different. Now we say, guys, I don't care what you sit here at the table and tell me.

Doesn't impress me in the least. You can sit here and say, yes, sir, you're right all you want. I don't care what you sit here in the table and say, I care what you get up from the table and. Ah, some of you have been through this, too, haven't you?

Yeah, that's right. You know, it occurred to me that God might be saying that same kind of stuff to us that have occurred to you. I don't care what you say to me.

What I care about is what you do. Listen to Malachi chapter one. A son honors his father and a slave obeys his master. So if I'm your father, God says, where's the respect that's due me? And if I'm your master, where's the obedience that's due me, says the Lord?

Friends, the point of this parable is real simple. It's that if you're a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ and above everything else, God is interested in obedience. Son number two gave his father all kind of verbal courtesy and all kind of verbal politeness.

But when it came time to step up to the plate and to obey, he punked out. The first son may not have been so polite at the very beginning, but at least when push came to shove, he obeyed his father. And the Bible says it's clear that of the two of them, the one that Jesus was most comfortable with was the kid who, even though he may have said, I'm not going to do it, changed his mind and went and did what God asked him to. And the Bible is full of this kind of message to us from God. God tells us over and over in the Bible that he's not primarily interested in ritual, creeds, doctrinal statements, prayer books, singing hymns, religious activity, taking communion, church membership, but that first and foremost above everything else, God's interested in obedience. Listen to some of these verses. James 1 22. Do not merely listen to God's word and so deceive yourself.

Rather, do what it says. Matthew chapter 12, verse 50. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven, he is my brother and my sister and my mother. John 13 17. Now, if you know these things, you will be blessed if you copy them on a plaque and put them on the wall in your house.

No, you will be blessed if you do them. Psalm 111, verse 10. A good understanding has everybody who does God's commandment.

And finally, Matthew chapter seven. You know that that's the passage about the wise man, the foolish man. You know the song? The wise man built his house upon the... Now, I know I'm singing this bad, but I know you all know the song. You say, Lon, you're singing it so bad, we need to recognize the song.

Well, all right. But you know the song, the wise man built his house upon the... That's better. And the foolish man had built his house on the... You know, for a long time, I thought that the difference between the foolish man and the wise man was that one was a Christian and one wasn't. I mean, for years, I thought, well, a wise man is a guy who's accepted Christ in his life and a foolish man is a person that's not accepted Christ. And then one day I was reading it and I realized that's not at all what the difference is.

Listen to what it says. It says, and everybody who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man and everybody who hears these words of mine and doesn't do them is like a foolish man. The difference here is not being a believer versus an unbeliever.

It's whether you do what you read in the God's word, whether you do what God's telling you or whether you don't. Can you be a Christian and still build your house on the sand? You bet.

You bet. You remember the story in the Old Testament about Saul? Well, maybe you don't, but let me kind of rehearse it for you. It's in 1 Samuel 15 if you want to ever go read it. But, you know, Saul, I don't know about you guys, but I struggle to figure out Saul. I mean, you know, he was kind of, well, the best way I can describe him is he was kind of a schizophrenic in the Old Testament. I mean, he would do some things that were really great for God and then he'd turn around and do something really horrible.

You know, he's just kind of like all over the place. But one day, 1 Samuel 15, God appeared to Saul and he said, Saul, now what I want you to do is I want you to go wipe out the Amalekites. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them. They plundered them. And I didn't get them back then.

I didn't judge them for it then, but I'm going to judge them now. What I want you to do is I want you to go and I want you to take their city, Saul, with the army, and I want you to kill all the men, all the women, all the children, all the animals, wipe the whole city out. You say, well, I don't like that. I don't think that was very nice. Well, I'm sorry, you're not God. It wasn't your call. All right, it was God's call and that's the call he made. And so Saul says, all right, yes, sir, will do. Took the army down there, took the city, but after he took the city, as the story tells us, he spared the king.

Why? Because in those days, if you were going to march the king back through your city, it was like a big feather in your cap to march this captured king back through your city. And he spared the best of the animals.

He didn't kill the best sheep, the best goats, the best oxen. Well, he's walking back to Jerusalem, to the capital, and Samuel meets him. God had appeared to the prophet Samuel and said, Samuel, I'm real sad I made Saul king.

Look at this. He went out there and he didn't even obey me. So Samuel comes up and when Saul sees him, he goes, oh, Samuel, blessed are you, great prophet of God. I have obeyed the Lord fully. And Samuel says, excuse me? He says, you obeyed God fully? Well, if you obeyed God fully, what is this bleeding of sheep I hear and what is this lowing of oxen I hear? See, that's kind of Old Testament humor. You understand what I'm saying? See, you get the story? See, if he had obeyed God completely, there would be no sheep to bleat.

You understand? There would be no oxen to low. So he goes, oh, you've obeyed God, huh? Well, how come I hear all this bleating and lowing?

There shouldn't be any bleating and lowing. That's a good thing you guys don't live in the Old Testament. You'd never laugh. All right, well, anyway, it was funny then.

Trust me, it was funny then. So Saul says to him, oh, he says that. He said, well, we spared the best of the animals so we could come back and sacrifice them to the Lord our God. And Samuel said, let me tell you something, Saul. To obey is better than to sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15, 22, to obey is better than to sacrifice. God doesn't want those animals. He wanted you to go do what he told you, Saul.

You didn't. And as a result, God took his kingship away from him. I want you to turn to one more passage with me in the New Testament. It's Acts chapter 26. And if you're using our copy of the Bible, it's page 793. Acts chapter 26.

Lon, all right, I got the point. God wants me to obey. Lon, what if I'm here and I've never trusted Jesus Christ in a real and personal way? Well, you know, what kind of obedience is God looking for from me, Lon?

Let me see if I can show you. Acts chapter 26, verse 19. The apostle Paul is talking to King Agrippa, and here's what he says. He says, so then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision I got from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then to all the Gentiles. I preached, here it comes, that they should change their mind.

They should repent and turn to God. And folks, if you're here and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way as your Savior, you know the kind of obedience God wants from you? He wants very simply for you to change your mind. To change your mind about yourself, about him, about your relationship to him, and turn to God.

That's what he wants from you. You say, but Lon, I'm here and I'm a Christian. So what does God want from me? Well, I'll tell you, let's finish the verse. It says that they should change their mind and turn to God.

Watch, there's a little more. And that they should prove that we should demonstrate this change of mind, this repentance by our deeds. What kind of obedience does God want from me if I'm already a Christian? It says here that what God wants from me is that I should prove, that I should demonstrate the fact that I have changed my mind, the fact that I have turned to God, the fact that I have become a child of God, the fact that I love God. And how am I going to demonstrate that now that I'm a Christian? Jesus said, John chapter 14, if you love me, if you want to prove you love me, you will obey what I command.

A.W. Tozer said, have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on lately? And how little revival has resulted? Considering the volume of prayer for revival that's been going up these days, rivers of revival should be flowing.

That no such results are in evidence should not discourage us. Rather, it should stir us to find out why our prayers for revival are not being answered. And at the end of his little article, he tells us what his opinion is. Here's what he says. He says, I believe that our problem is that we as Christians have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work.

And, you know, I think the guy's onto something, huh? We've been praying and praying and praying and praying and praying. Oh, God, work in our nation. God, work in my life. God, work in my family. God, work in our church. God, work in our community. God, work, work, work, work. And we pray and pray and pray and pray.

But you know what? God's ability to work is not so much conditioned on us praying as it is our obeying. And when we try to substitute praying for getting out there and obeying God, it's not going to work. It's not going to work.

It's not going to bring revival. We're kidding ourselves. May I point out to you there's a third son that's possible here? We saw two sons. But could I point out to you there's a third possibility for a son? That would be a son who first of all says, yes, I will go, and then who goes.

Did you ever think about that? Yeah, of the two sons, Jesus said, I prefer the one who even though at the beginning said, I won't do it, finally went. But wouldn't it be nice if we had a son here who from the beginning said, I will do it, and then who followed through and did it, huh? And I think if you were to ask Jesus what kind of son he was really looking for, or daughter he was really looking for, he'd say, I'm really looking for number three.

That's what I'd like to see. You know what I've found about obedience over the years? Four things.

Four things that are always true. Number one, obedience always presses us out of our comfort zone. When God comes to you and God says, I want you to obey and do something, you can be absolutely certain God will always be pressing you out of your comfort zone, huh? I mean, when he asked Abraham to leave his land and go out where he didn't even know he was going, was he asking Abraham to leave his comfort zone? When he appeared to Moses in the desert and said, Moses, I want you to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out. Was he pressing him out of his comfort zone? When he appeared to Nehemiah in the palace and said, Nehemiah, I want you to leave the palace.

We've got a wall to go build. Did that press him out of his comfort zone? You bet. When he appeared to Elisha, Elisha, a rich landowner, and said, Elisha, I want you to burn your plows. I want you to kill your oxen.

You're coming with me to be a prophet. Did that press him out of his comfort zone? You bet. When he knocked Paul off of his horse and said, Paul, you're now going to be an apostle, not a rabbi anymore. Did that press him out of his comfort zone?

You bet. Hey, whenever God asks you to obey him, you can depend on it. It's going to press you out of your comfort zone. Second thing I've learned about obeying is that there will always be some risk involved. Was it risky for Abraham to leave his home and go out in the middle of nowhere, not know where he's going? Was it risky for Moses to leave a comfortable living on the desert and go back to face Pharaoh? Was it risky for Nehemiah to go to someplace he'd never been and try to build a wall with people he didn't even know? Was it risky for Elisha to give up his cushy living to go be a prophet? Was it risky for Paul to go out and become an apostle?

Yeah, it was risky. Third, the third thing I've learned about obeying God is it's always easier not to. It's always easier not to. But the fourth thing I've learned about obeying in 25 years of being a Christian is this, that in spite of the fact it'll press you out of your comfort zone and in spite of the fact it's always risky and in spite of the fact it's always easier not to, that you and I will always be glad when we obey God. We'll always be glad we did it.

Always. You know, in September, I will have been here at McLean Bible Church 15 years. You say, wow, Lon, that's great. You must have started here when you were 18 years old. God bless you, God bless you, and God bless you.

That's right, actually 19. But I want to tell you about how I kind of came here. When the pastor here resigned before me and I knew the opening was here, we had some initial discussions and I was out jogging one day.

I was living over in Crofton, Maryland and I was out jogging one afternoon. And just as sure as I know my name's Lon Solomon, God told me, Lon, I want you going to McLean Bible Church. And I said, wow, what happened? I mean, did you hear a voice? Did an angel pop out from behind a shrubbery bush or something?

No, no. But I knew God said to me, you're going to McLean Bible Church. I came home and told my wife when I walked in the house, Brenda, you might as well start packing right now. We're moving to Virginia. She thought I'd lost my mind because that's normal. But with my wife, she said, I'm like, you know, is this you again?

No, no, no. I'm telling you, God has told me we're going to McLean Bible Church. When we move through the process a little bit, I got to tell you, you know, I began learning some things about McLean Bible Church. The pastor had been fired, really, in a Saturday night massacre. There were deep feelings here of bitterness and anger and hostility. People were hurt. They were stunned. The official board itself was at war internally and acrimoniously so. The church was basically in a state of anarchy.

It was in total disarray. And I was a 30 year old guy who never pastored a church in my whole life. You know the song Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread?

That's the song for me, folks. And in that process, I got a phone call from a pastor who was pastoring over here in northern Virginia. He called me when I was living in Maryland. He was a friend. He had been a mentor. He called me up and said, hey, I heard a rumor that you were considering taking the pastor to McLean Bible Church. I said, yeah, that rumor is true. He said, Lon, I love you.

I care for you like my own son. And I've called you up to do everything in my power to talk you out of that. He said, you do not know what you're getting yourself into. He said, that church is a disaster zone. He said, I'm an experienced pastor and I wouldn't touch that church with a 10 foot pole. And he went on to tell me I was totally inexperienced, that I didn't understand the problems over here, that logically they made no sense for me to come over here and even with God's help think I could do this. And at the end of him going on, I said, you know, called him by name. I said, you know, you're probably right. You're probably right about all those problems at McLean. And I want to tell you, he didn't know the half of them.

Trust me, he didn't know half of them. And I said, I'm sure the wise decision humanly would be to say, nah, I don't really think this is for me. But I said, I got to tell you something. I know God is telling me to go to McLean Bible Church. I feel that so strongly that I'm telling you, if I refuse to go, I would be disobeying God.

That's how I see it. And so whatever McLean Bible Church holds for me and my family, I have to go. He said to me, well, it's your funeral. That's what he said, it's your funeral.

And I said, let me know if I can help you. Friends, did coming to McLean Bible Church press me out of my comfort zone? Ooh, baby, did it. Was it risky? I mean, hey, life was kind of cushy where we were living and what we were doing. Was it a lot easier not to do it?

Uh-huh. Has it been easy the last 15 years? I'll pull up my shirt and show you the scars to show you it hadn't been easy. Am I glad I came? Friends, I am so glad I came that every day I thank God that he pushed me out of that comfort zone and into where I am now. Someone asked me the other day, Lon, what's your job satisfaction at McLean Bible Church? I said, zero to ten? Nine point something.

I don't think most people in the world can say their job satisfaction is nine point something. And there have been some tough times, but you know what? Even through those tough times, I knew God had called me to McLean Bible Church and that this was obeying God was for me to stay here.

I'm so glad I did. And, you know, friends, I don't know what God's asking you to do in your life. I hope he's not asking you to pastor McLean Bible Church because that means I'm leaving.

But whatever. I don't know what he's asking you to do. But whatever he's asking you to do.

The point is, don't worry if it presses you out of your comfort zone. Don't worry if it's risky. Don't worry if it's easy or not to do it. Obey God.

And you'll always be glad that you did. Is God asking you to go seek somebody's forgiveness, to humble yourself and admit you were wrong and try to reconcile that relationship? You say, but Lon, God's asked me to do that, but I don't want to do that. I don't feel like doing that. Hey, God knows you don't want to do that. He knows you don't feel like it. But he doesn't care. He's saying, I want you to do it anyway.

What are you going to do? Is God asking you to go make restitution for something you did wrong, to pay back people that in some way you defrauded or cheated and you're saying, no, God, it's too costly. I don't want to pay that much to be right. Well, hey, as a Christian, believe me, nothing's more costly than disobedience to God.

It's much cheaper to go pay whatever you've got to pay to make it right. Is God asking you to speak to somebody about their relationship to Christ and you're saying, that's too embarrassing. I don't want to do that. Well, but is God asking you to do it? Is God asking you to stop dating some person that you know you shouldn't be dating? Is God asking you to stop sleeping with your boyfriend or sleeping with your girlfriend or sleeping with your fiancé because you know it's not right?

You say, but Lon, it's much easier to keep on sleeping with them. That isn't what God's asking you. He's asking you, are you willing to obey him? Is God asking you to stop some other relationship if you're already married that you know you got no business in, you know you shouldn't be having a part of? You say, but I like her.

That's not the issue. The issue is what's God asking you to do? Have you got some secret habit that God wants you to deal with, a pornography habit, a recreational drug use habit, a drinking habit? You say, but I don't think I can beat that habit by myself.

Hey, we can help you. We've got ways that we can help you beat it, but we can't help you beat it unless you in your heart first make up your mind you want to obey God. Then we can help you, but you've got to make up your mind you want to obey God.

How about some of us men here? Has God been asking you to spend more time home with your wife, with your children, investing in the things that really matter for eternity, but you're too busy out there building your own little kingdom at work? What's God asking you to do? Are you going to obey him or not? Maybe God's asking you to take some area of Christian service, or maybe if you're a young person, God's asking you to dedicate your whole life to serving God. You say, but I don't want to do that.

People who do that don't make any money. Well, hey, God has ways of giving you money that don't always come on a W-2. Trust God, and if God's asking you to obey him, obey God. How about quiet time? You know, that time in the morning or in the evening where you read your Bible and talk to God? No, that time.

Yeah, that time. You know, what we tell you here is that we're not giving you religion. We're giving you a personal relationship with God. Well, most people in a relationship talk to each other.

I mean, if the relationship's worth anything, they talk to each other. How about you? You spending any time communing and communicating with God?

You go, but, Lon, you don't understand, man. In the morning, I got to hit the road before traveling. In the evening when I get home, I'm really tired. On my lunch hour, I don't have time to take out the Bible and go pray.

I mean, then I'm exhausted, and I get in bed and do the same thing next. It doesn't sound just like Saul. God's not interested in excuses. God wants to know, are you going to obey him or not?

Dear friends, I don't care whether it's a big issue or a small issue. God is looking for people who will obey him. He'll always bless your life.

You'll never be sorry you did. There's a great verse in the Bible, and I'll close with this. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth, kind of like radar, you know, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Looking for something. So what's he looking for? Looking for those people whose hearts are totally committed to God, totally his. Now, this doesn't mean people who are perfect. This doesn't mean people who never mess it up, but this means people who are committed to obeying God the best they know how. Listen to what this verse says. Looking for people whose hearts are totally his.

Why? So that he may show himself mighty on their behalf. You want God to show himself mighty on your behalf?

I'll tell you how to get it. You be one of those people who say, God, I'm son number three. My heart belongs to you. You asked me to do it, and God, the answer is yes.

That was the question. And as best I know how, with your help, that's how I'm going to live. And God will show himself mighty for you. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I want to pray this morning that you would help us internalize and hear the word of God deeply.

Speak to our hearts. And this morning with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, if you're here and God has spoken to you about it, some area of obedience where you've been fighting with God, negotiating with God, arguing with God. But this morning you're willing to say, God, I'm just going to obey. I need your help, but I'm willing to surrender and I'm going to obey. I'd like you to seal that before you leave this morning. And if you're willing to seal that, I'd like you simply to indicate that by raising your hand right now and say, God, I'm going to seal it right here.

Lots of hands. Thanks. God bless you.

Anybody else, just before we finish? Thanks. Lord, for all these folks who raised their hands, I pray your special strength and your special courage. Help them to follow through.

All of them have something different, but it's all very real, and for most of them, very hard. Lord, give each of the folks who raised their hands, and maybe folks who didn't raise their hand but made the same commitment, the strength, the courage they need to follow through. Thank you for reminding us this morning that obeying you is what it's all about and that that's when you can really use our lives to glorify you. That's when we see the mightiest working of God in our lives. Lord, help us be sons number three who say yes and then obey. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.