Obedience to the Lord is the key to His power and authority. If you desire to move from observing what God is doing, to being used in what He is doing, coming under His authority and obeying Him in all areas of your life is key! Why is this?
There are two forces in the universe, the Kingdom of Light under God’s rule and the Kingdom of Darkness under Satan’s rule. They co-exist simultaneously here on earth. As a result of Adam’s fall, we are all under Satan’s reign until we receive liberation through Jesus Christ who according to Colossians 1:13 has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we (now) have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Once we are liberated, the Bible says that we still live in this world, but are now behind enemy lines. We are now children of God in a foreign land. And the enemy of our soul, the ruler of this world (Eph. 2:2), Satan himself will do anything he can to keep us from following Jesus and advancing His mission of preaching the good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”(Lk 4:18-19).
That’s why it is so important to understand that if we desire to be used in what God is doing, we must come under His authority and obeying Him in all areas of our life. That’s why Jesus told His disciples in His final commission to them that under His authority, they must, act, operate and teach all who would follow as disciples “to obey everything I have commanded you,” (Mt 28:20).
This morning I want to give you some specific examples of this very thing. In the last chapter of Joshua, we see that Joshua is quite old and so he reminisces. After Moses, had lead the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness God began to raise the young Joshua to take over when it was time for Moses to step down. Joshua was a humble and mighty man for the Lord because he understood what it meant to come under God’s authority and obeying Him in all areas of his life.
When Joshua was a young man, Moses sent he and 11 others into the Land God had promised to them across the Jordan. Though there were fierce warriors there, only Joshua and Caleb believed that God was true to His Word. Nonetheless, they were trumped 10 to 2 and the children of God ended up wandering around for another 40 years until all but he and Caleb died off.
When it came time to cross the Jordan, Joshua, now the leader explicitly obeyed God’s directions and had success. When God told him to have his troops march quietly for 7 days around Jericho and 7 times on the seventh day until it was time to shout, Joshua again explicitly obeyed and the walls of Jericho came a tumbling down. Joshua was a man of God who was well aware that obedience to God brought blessings, and disobedience brought devastation. For years Joshua led God’s children through the thick and thin, yet he always remained obedient. Now at the end of his life, having lead his people through all these things, what do you thing were his final words to them? What do you think he wanted them to know as he drew his last breath? This is what he said:
Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River (in the wilderness) and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15
Wow! What is Joshua saying here? He’s saying guys and gals, we’ve been through a lot together and we’ve seen God move in incredible and indescribable ways. But every day you wake up! Every day you draw a new breath, you have a choice, a choice to come under God’s authority and obeying Him in all areas of your life, or walk away. God is giving you a choice! But know this; obedience to the Lord is the key to His power and authority. If you desire to move from observing what God is doing to being used in what He is doing, there is no other option than to come under His authority and obeying Him in all areas of your life. So choose for yourselves this day (and every day from now on, whether or not you will trust and obey or walk away). But for me and my household, we will serve (and obey) the LORD.”
Let’s fast forward! Near the end of His earthly life, Jesus, (which is Greek for Joshua) tells His followers the same thing. In “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching…. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. John 14:23-24
Then He gets real personal about the struggle He’s about to face, I will not speak with you much longer (He preparing to go to the cross), for the prince of this world is coming (that’s Satan). He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father (listen carefully) and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Jesus understood that His authority and power came only as came under authority and obeyed His Father in every area of His life.
Now the very next breath out of Jesus’ mouth comes when He turns to His disciples and says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Remain in me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing, Jn 15:1-2.
You will have no power or authority apart from me. But how does that work? Well He tells us, if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15:5-10
When God’s people are obedient to the Lord, His work in us and through us increases. But, when we are disobedient or ignore what He says, that power and authority is diminished, taken away, or worse yet, the enemy gets a foot hold and it can be disastrous. There are two forces in the universe, we can choose to come under God’s authority and obey Him or be abused under Satan’s authority and obey Him.
The Lord wants to protect us and use us in a spiritually hostile world. Obedience to the Lord is for protection, mobilization and to win back that which Satan has stolen. Without this understanding of Scripture, without this Biblical word view, the New Testament doesn’t make any sense. Jesus is constantly in warfare with the Evil One and He is constantly teaching and training His disciples to understand what they’re up against. He tells Peter that his boasting will get him in trouble because, Satan has asked to sift him as wheat, Lk 22:32
Paul tells the Ephesians “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Eph. 4:26-27
Peter finally learns his lesson and tells his disciples, be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, and stand firm in the faith, 1 Pet. 5:8-9. Peter had the scars to prove it!
There are two forces in the universe, we can choose to come under God’s authority and obey Him or be abused under Satan’s authority and obey Him. When we choose to align and obey God, power, authority and His blessings come. When we choose to ignore it or walk away from it, it doesn’t just lie dormant or go away, Satan will use it to abuse us and eliminate us from being used by God. Disobedience opens the door to the believer’s life and gives Satan authority to cause havoc in that person’s life. Let me give you an example that we’re all familiar with.
In Matthew 18, Peter (in his typical “smart-allic,” way asks Jesus) v.21“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-(times) seven times. What Jesus is saying is that “unforgiveness,” is never-ever a good idea and that holding on to unforgiveness is disobedience, and disobedience opens the door to the believer’s life and gives Satan authority to cause havoc in that person’s life.
Jesus tells the disciples the story of a master who forgave a servant’s incredible debt (millions of dollars), He goes on to tell how that forgiven servant had a guy who owed him a few bucks thrown into prison because He unable to pay him back.
Listen to Jesus’ words, 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
Now ask the questions: Who’s the forgiving master in the story? Who’s the person forgiven the incredible debt? Who’s the jailer? Who turns the unmerciful servant over to the jailer?
Listen to what Jesus says v.35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 6:14 for if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Unforgiveness is a cancer that God will not heal. It will fester and infect your entire life and spread to everyone around you. To not deal with it by coming to the Lord is a prime example of disobedience. When we choose to ignore it or walk away from it, it doesn’t just lie dormant or go away, Satan will use it to abuse us and eliminate us from being used by God.
Obedience to the Lord is the key to His power and authority. If you desire to move from observing what God is doing, to being used in what He is doing, you absolutely must be willing to come under His authority and obeying Him in all areas of your life is key!
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15
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