The Obedience Dilemma pt. 1

Mark Finley: Throughout the Bible, you have this linkage, you have this integrated unity of obeying God because we love God, responding to his grace in obedience.
Guest (Male): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: "The Obedience Dilemma, Part 1." Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up on past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: The book of Revelation is not merely a book to fill our heads with mystic symbols, cryptic signs, and strange beasts. The book of Revelation is designed to compel us, to lead us to make eternal decisions in our lives and to really compel us to action. Some time ago, I was thinking about a concert that may have taken place in Carnegie Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Now, this is in my imagination only, and I need to clarify that before I go into the story. So let's suppose that you've bought tickets to Carnegie Hall. Let's suppose that you're sitting in this concert. It's an absolutely amazing concert. You sit on the edge of your seat, you're thrilled with the music, you're taken into the stratosphere with the rapturous playing of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. You've paid a great deal for those seats, and then somebody in the middle of that concert begins to yell, "Fire! Fire!" Now you have really three choices if that happens. Choice number one: you think this guy is an absolute lunatic, they're a crazy nut, I can't wait until the security comes and takes them away. Secondly, you might think, "You know what? This may be true." You're thankful that a person has yelled fire. There's been no danger yet. You jump up and run out with a thankful spirit. The third option is maybe you think, "I better get out of here," but you're angry, you're bitter because you spent a lot of money for the tickets. You may have those three options. Look, to yell fire when there is no fire is a very serious thing. I mean, somebody can get trampled, some others can get severely injured rushing to the exit, somebody may be stress-filled and have a heart attack. So if you yell fire and there's no fire, that's pretty serious. But warnings are valid only if the crisis is real. When you have a real crisis and somebody warns you of that crisis, that indeed is an extremely valid warning. The warning in the book of Revelation is not a warning that comes in harshness. It's not a warning from a God that is an authoritarian judge or a tyrant. The warning in the book of Revelation is a warning in love. Revelation really is a book about the grace, the mercy, the goodness, the love of God. The book of Revelation is an appeal to us to know Christ as the dying lamb, to know Christ as the living priest. The book of Revelation is a book about Jesus Christ. And the warnings that we receive in Revelation are warnings given to us in love. They're warnings given by three angels that symbolically fly in mid-heaven. These warnings are very similar to the warnings that God gave to Noah before the earth was destroyed by water. The earth was destroyed then by water, and it will be destroyed another time by fire. In Noah's day, Noah preached for 120 years warning that the flood was coming. In the book of Revelation, we have Revelation's end-time judgment. And we saw in our last presentation that the clock struck the hour prophetically at the end of the 2300-year prophecy in 1844. So just as Noah preached for decades, over a century, so the message of God has been going out for well over a century in this world population to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. What were the conditions like in Noah's day and how do they compare to our conditions in our day? Notice Genesis 6:3 says, "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever." So God reaches out in mercy. He graciously reaches out in love. But his spirit that leads to decision does not always appeal to human beings. There'll come a time when human beings have made their final irrevocable decision. There'll come a period of time in earth's history where every person has had ample opportunity, where every person has had the privilege of responding to God's love, and they've made their solid irrevocable choice. God does not withdraw his spirit arbitrarily. He doesn't withdraw his spirit and say those that are in are in and those that are out are out. When God's message went forth in the days of Noah, and when Noah and his family entered into the ark and the door was shut, it was not shut when many more could have honestly graciously repented, confessed their sin, and entered in. It was shut because they had made their final decision. Probation in this world will not arbitrarily close by God. It will be the signal that every human being has already made their decision. What were the conditions in the days of Noah? Genesis 6:5 really seems like conditions today: "Then the Lord saw that wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually." You don't have to spend too much time on television, even looking at the ads, too much time on the internet, when you recognize quite dramatically that the wickedness of man has been great in the earth. You don't have to spend much time with news media, news magazines, or newspapers to understand that the intent of the thoughts of his heart is evil continually. When Billy Graham finished writing his first draft of one of his books called *World Aflame*, it's reported that he gave the first chapter to his wife Ruth, and when she read it, she said something like this: "Billy, if Jesus does not come soon, he's gonna have to resurrect Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize to them." In every age of earth's history, there has been a period of time when human probation has come to an end. In every age of earth's history, there's been a time when the wickedness of man has filled the cup of iniquity where God has given opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. And that's really the message in the days of Noah. It's the message in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's the message in the days of Daniel in Babylon with Belshazzar when the handwriting was written on the wall: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. It's really the message of the three angels. It is the message of the first angel, which is an urgent appeal to men and women everywhere to make their decisions for Christ and make them today. The message of these three angels is God's final warning. It's his final message of hope. It is a hope-filled, grace-filled message of love to this generation. 2 Peter 3:4 and 10 says, "The day of the Lord," that's the coming of Christ, "will come as a thief," that is, it'll come rapidly, quickly, unexpectedly in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up. The earth was destroyed by water once, and it will indeed be destroyed by fire a second time. Jesus is coming, though, not primarily to destroy the earth. Christ's intent is not simply to destroy our world. It is rather to destroy wickedness so righteousness will reign. It's not to destroy the evil, although that will be the natural result of his coming. It is to redeem the righteous. Jesus is coming because heaven is empty without you. The fellowship that Christ has with the angels and the cherubim and seraphim, that fellowship is incomplete without you. Jesus is coming because he wants you. He wants you to live in a land where there is no sickness, suffering, death, heartache, pain anymore. He wants you to be with him forever. And that's the message of the three angels. That's the message of these three cosmic beings that fly in mid-heaven. That's the message in earth's final conflict: the message of a loving God, a message to prepare men and women for the last days of human history. Let's go to the heart of the book of Revelation and see the details of this specific message. Revelation 14:6 and 7 says, "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come." We studied that in the last two presentations in this series. The hour of God's judgment has come. The clock has struck the hour. Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. Now notice the expression, "Fear God and give glory to him." We ask the question: what does it mean to fear God? What does it mean to give glory to him? What appeal is this practically to our hearts? How indeed do we fear God? How indeed do we place our allegiance on the behalf of God and in his grace and mercy? Is this message, "Fear God," one in which God appeals to us to tremble and shake before him? Certainly, there is that sense of reverence and respecting God. But this word "fear" in the original language of the New Testament Greek is *phobeo*. And it has this sense of reverence, awe, and respect. But it goes beyond that. This word "fear" or *phobeo* in scripture has to do with a large idea. It has to do with the idea that I respect God enough to obey him. It has to do with a thinking process in my mind that leads me to decide to do whatever Christ commands, knowing that his commands are best and in my best behalf. It is not a command of force. It is a loving appeal for obedience. In the book *Desire of Ages* on the life of Christ, on page 22, I read: "The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government." You see, the devil uses force, not God. "He," God, "desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened." Only by love is love awakened. And so that's why in Revelation 14:6 it says, "I saw another angel flying in the middle of heaven with the everlasting gospel." The gospel, the love of God revealed in the life, death, resurrection, and intercession of Christ in heaven above. That love of God enables us to respond *phobeo* to fear God or to obey God. That love leads us to obedience. It continues in *Desire of Ages*, page 22: "To know God is to love him." His character must be manifest in contrast to the character of Satan. So in the book of Revelation, God's love reaches out to us, leading us to loving obedience, leading us to respect, reverence him—that's fear him—enough to obey him. That is in contrast to the beast power. The beast power in Revelation forces. The beast power in Revelation coerces. The beast power in the book of Revelation passes a decree where no man can buy or sell unless they worship the beast. The beast power in the book of Revelation, this politico-religious Antichrist power, persecutes the people of God like church-state unions have done in the past. He also passes a death decree on the people of God. So you see this amazing contrast: a contrast between God's love that leads to willing obedience outlined in this message of the first angel and Satan who tries to coerce and force allegiance. The contrast could not be greater. This battle over the law of God, this battle over the throne of God, this battle over who has the authority to rule, is described in Isaiah 14:13 and 14. Lucifer says, "I will ascend into heaven." Wasn't he already in heaven? He wanted a higher place. "I'll exalt my throne above the stars of God." My throne above the stars of God. Throne implies rulership. He wants to rule. "I'll sit on the mount of the congregation." Notice this: he says, "on the farthest sides of the north." What was the mount of the congregation on the sides of the north of Israel? Mount Sinai. What came from Mount Sinai? The law of God. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I'll be like the most high." Lucifer, a created being, did not want to worship the Creator. Lucifer, a created being, wanted to exalt himself above the Creator. He wanted to sit on the throne and rule. He wanted to make law and not obey law. So the question of the controversy between good and evil was over authority. Does God have the authority to rule? Is God a loving ruler? Does God have the best interest of his creatures in view? In the last days of earth's history, in the messages of the three angels that go forth, God sends an eternal message to the ends of the earth, showing that his people willingly, lovingly, openly desire to please him in everything they do. This fear God has to do with this mental commitment that we make, knowing that God's commands are for our best good and to lovingly, graciously serve him. We discover the depth of the meaning of the expression "fear God" by observing its usage in other parts of the Bible. In other words, if you want to know what the Bible teaches on a subject, you take that expression and you travel through the Bible. And as you travel through the Bible, you look at how that expression is used in the Bible. So when the Bible uses the expression "fear God," what does it mean? What does this expression indicate to us? Let's journey through scripture and let's look at the expression and how it's used. Deuteronomy 6:2, "Fear the Lord your God." So here it is, fear God, "to keep all his commandments and statutes which I command you." So here, fearing God is linked to a reverence, a respect for God that leads us to obey him and keep his commandments. Here's another one: Psalm 119:73 and 74, "Your hands have fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. Those who fear you," that is respect you, "will be glad when they see me because I have hoped in your word." So what according to these passages does it mean to fear God? It means to be glad, to be joyous in our obedience to him. Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 14 says, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter." Now this is the conclusion of the matter. "Fear God," respect or obey him, "and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." What duty of man is this? It's the whole duty of man. So this says fear God, keep his commandments, for this indeed is the whole, the entire duty of man. So the book of Revelation, the appeal of the first angel's message, is an appeal that leads us back to obedience. It leads us back to the gladness and the joy that we have in life when we please God. The Bible says God will bring every work into judgment. Now notice judgment is included in Revelation 14:7: the hour of his judgment has come. Commandments of God are included there in the idea of respect or obey him. Fear God, for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Throughout the Bible, you have this linkage, you have this integrated unity of obeying God because we love God, responding to his grace in obedience, and the idea of judgment that we'll be judged by the very choices we make, judged by the lives that we live. In the light of the judgment hour, heaven's urgent appeal is for those saved by grace to live godly lives. Now there are those people that have this strange idea that when I come to Jesus it's Jesus only. And for them, the Jesus only means a Jesus only from the sense that he saved me from the guilt and condemnation of my sin, but there's not much emphasis on obedience, not much emphasis on Bible doctrine. You cannot separate Christ from doctrine. To accept Jesus is not to accept some mythical Jesus, some mystical Jesus, some ethereal Jesus. To accept Jesus is to accept the teachings of Christ. It's to understand that when I come to Christ, Romans 8:1, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. When I come to Jesus, I'm saved by grace, saved totally by grace. There is no other salvation besides grace. But when I am saved by grace, that leads me not to disobedience but to obedience. It leads me not to walk away from the commandments, but walk toward the commandments, not as legalistic requirements, but as glad tidings of the character of Jesus Christ himself. The gospel not only delivers us from the guilt of our past, it empowers us to live godly obedient lives in the present. So the gospel is a complete gospel. It delivers us from the guilt of sin and delivers us from the grip of sin. It delivers us from the penalty of a broken law, and it delivers us from the bondage and power of the broken law. The grace of Christ is the grace he gives us for obedience. Romans 1:5, notice this: we've received grace and apostleship for what? What do we receive grace for? What do we receive apostleship for? For obedience to the faith among all nations. So faith does not lead me from works but to works. When people ask me, "Do you believe in Jesus only?" I say to them, "I believe in the Jesus only of the Bible." The Jesus only of the Bible saves us by his grace. The Jesus only of the Bible transforms us by his love. The Jesus only of the Bible empowers us by his power. The Jesus only of the Bible transforms our life. The Jesus only of the Bible is the Jesus of the book of Revelation that leads us to fear God, respect God, and obey God. In the book *Christ Triumphant* on page 235, I read: "Those who are truly converted to Christ must keep on constant guard lest they accept error in the place of truth." Now what is this error that they may accept in the place of truth? Here it is: "Those who think it matters not what they believe in doctrine, so long as they believe in Christ, are on dangerous ground." What kind of ground are they on everybody? They're on dangerous ground. Because you cannot separate Christ from the teachings of Christ. You cannot separate Christ from doctrine. So the Jesus that was here talked about the Bible as his word. He said, "Sanctify them through my word, thy word is truth." John 17:17. When you accept Christ, you accept his word. Jesus said, for example, that there's no other way of salvation. When you accept Christ, you accept him as the way of salvation. Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions." John 14:1 to 3. "If it were not so, I would have told you, I'm coming again." If you accept Christ, you believe his teachings: he's coming again. If you accept Christ, you accept fully the teachings of Christ about obedience, the Bible Sabbath, and the teachings of the Creator God. If you accept Christ, you accept what he has said about death and life and the resurrection. Those who think it matters not what they believe in doctrine, so long as they believe in Jesus Christ, are on dangerous ground. Christ is the embodiment of all doctrinal truth. So when we accept Christ, we accept the embodiment of truth as it's revealed in scripture. We do not turn our backs on the Christ who has proclaimed that truth. Andrew Bonar, great Christian writer, states it really succinctly when he says this: "Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience withdraws from what? Grace." It is not the importance of the thing, but the majesty of the lawgiver that is to be the standard of obedience. Some indeed might reckon such minute and arbitrary rules as these as trifling. Bonar goes on: "But the principle involved in obedience or disobedience was none other than the same principle which was tried in Eden at the foot of the forbidden tree. It is really this: is the Lord to be obeyed in all things?" Whatsoever he commands, is he a holy lawgiver? Are his creatures bound to give implicit assent to his will? You see, the issue is far more than the specific command. The issue is the authority of the lawgiver. The issue is: do we accept a limited Christ, or do we accept the fullness of Christ? Do we accept the beauty of the greatness of Christ? And to disobey the commands of Christ is to disobey accepting the fullness of Christ. Christ has more for you than you can possibly imagine. Christ has more for you beyond in your life that's greater than simply saying, "Oh, I accept Christ. Now I can live like I please. Now I can do like I please." Jesus invites you into the depth of his experience. That's why he says, "Fear God, obey God, respect God." Fear God, that respect is the mental attitude of obedience that leads us to do whatever Jesus says. Revelation is an urgent appeal in the light of heaven's judgment hour to make God the center of our lives.