The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James

Scope Of Christian Obedience

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2019-11-06

Synopsis: John Weaver explores the full extent of Christian obedience, arguing that believers must obey God in all things, not based on feelings or desires but on God's sovereign commands. Using examples from Adam and Eve, Achan, Samson, and especially Ezekiel, he contrasts a commandment-oriented life with a feeling-oriented life, urging total submission to God's will regardless of circumstances.

[John Weaver] She said, did you hear me? I said, of course, I'm just not answering you. I saw a lady today with a shirt on that said, I hear you. I'm just ignoring you. But anyhow, he was talking about some of the tyranny. I read today where a man in Michigan had his house stolen from him by the state of Michigan. because he miscalculated the interest on this property tax by eight bucks and 51 41 cents. And so the property was valued at $160,000. And the state confiscated it sold it for 24,000 got there 841 and kept the remainder for themselves. And then they said that is legal in Michigan. So wow. Anyhow, well, it's good to be here I want you to open your Bibles not if you would please to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24 Ezekiel 24 and what I'm going to do is wait to read this passage But I do want you to have your Bibles marked Because we will come back there. That will be our text so before I get to explain and expound the text, I'm going to be giving you a lot of other scriptures as well that will lead up to it, Lord willing.

[John Weaver] So tonight I want to bring a message which I'm calling the scope of Christian obedience. Most of us hear the word obedience and we tend to think that basically we are obedient Christians as well. And many times we read the scriptures and we hear the word obedience And we tend to think, well, you know, I'm all right, I'm pretty good. When you talk about the scope of Christian obedience, you have to understand that the word scope means something like the extent or the range of Christian obedience.

[John Weaver] It could also refer to the outlook. It could also refer to what you and I would call the aim or purpose. So if really time allowed, we could really expand on what is known as the scope of Christian obedience. If you consider the scope of Christian obedience, we have some very succinct answers given us in the Bible, especially if you argue what is known as the argument from the lesser to the greater. Our Lord did this many, many times, and especially Matthew chapter six, he would say, like, consider the sparrows or consider the lilies. And then he would go on to say, are you not much more valuable than many sparrows?

[John Weaver] And does not God take care of you? And all he's doing is arguing from the lesser to the greater. So let me just give you a couple of arguments from the lesser to the greater. You and I both understand the fact that God commands children to obey their parents. Now, if God commands earthly and fleshly children to obey their parents, what is the scope of their obedience? Well, the answer is given to us in the book of Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20, because the Bible says, children, obey your parents in all for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord."

[John Weaver] So the child does not get to pick and choose. The child does not get to say, well, I like this or I don't like that, and so I might obey and I might not obey. No, no, no. The Bible says, children, obey your parents in all things. Now, if God then requires earthly children to obey their parents in all things, do you not think by extension He would also call His children in grace? and mercy to obey their Heavenly Father in all things as well. And then when you get to that passage in 1 Corinthians 6, When the Bible speaks about the fact that we are not our own, we are bought with a price.

[John Weaver] In other words, we're basically what you and I would call the servants and the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, anytime you see the Apostle Paul in the New Testament saying, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, the Greek word is thoulos, which literally means a slave. He's calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ. And when you get to 1 Corinthians 6, the Bible says what?

[John Weaver] Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are his. So now, if you confess and acknowledge that you are a child of God, then you can by extension say, just like God commands earthly children to obey their parents and all things, so God commands me as a heavenly child, a child of heaven, to obey my Father and all things.

[John Weaver] Now, since I am a servant also and a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you not know that servants and slaves are bound to obey their masters? Well, how far are they to obey them? What is the scope of their obedience? Well, the Bible answers that in Colossians 3 and verse 22, servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord. But notice what he said, servants obey in all things. So the servant does not get to pick and choose. The servant does not say, I like this, I'm going to do it. The servant does not get to say, I don't like shoveling manure, so therefore I'm not going to shovel manure. I'm sorry. If God calls you to shovel manure, that's exactly what you're supposed to be doing. Because a servant or slave has no choice in the matter. Again, so the Lord then considers that you and I are to be obedient in every area of our life.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Acts chapter 3 and verse 22. Look in Acts chapter 3 and verse 22. You remember Moses, the man of God, in Deuteronomy chapter 18, talked about how God was going to raise up a prophet like unto himself. Well, look, if you would, please, in Acts chapter 3 and verse 22, and you'll see the quote taken from Deuteronomy chapter 18. Notice in Acts chapter 3, notice, please, verse 22, the Bible says, For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Now, if you are to hear in all things whatsoever he said, what are the implications? Well, the very first one is if you were to hear in all things, that means you are to obey in all things.

[John Weaver] In other words, the scope is absolute total and complete obedience. Now, it's not just that we like this and we're going to do it or we don't like that and we're not going to do it. It's not that we get to pick and we get to choose. No, God says we are to obey in all things. We have to come to several realizations. Number one, he is the father, we're the child. Number two, he is the creator, we are the creature. Number three, he is the redeemer. We are the redeemed.

[John Weaver] We must recognize that he is in control and we are to be the controlled. We must also recognize that he is the potter and we are the clay. In other words, we have to realize and recognize, like the apostle Paul said in Acts 17, that in him we live and move and have our being. Without Him, there is no life. Without Him, there is no being. Without Him, there is no moving.

[John Weaver] Now, here's a simple truth that we have to understand. We have to understand that God is totally and completely sovereign. He has all power, all authority, and all jurisdiction.

[John Weaver] Now, many people have taken the idea and the attitude that Pharaoh took. You remember when Moses came to Pharaoh. And Moses said, thus saith the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me. And Pharaoh gave an answer in Exodus chapter five in verse two, and here's what he said. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.

[John Weaver] I want you to stop and think about this. Pharaoh asked this question, who is the Lord? that I should obey him and let Israel go. I want you to understand there was ignorance on Pharaoh's part exactly as to who God was. And then he made this statement. I know him not. That is, I don't recognize him. I will not count him as sovereign. I will not count him as Lord. And consequently, because I do not count him as Lord and I do not count him as sovereign, then I'm not going to obey him. I want you to understand something. Our obedience comes down to our concept of God. If you don't know who God is, you're not going to obey God. If you don't understand God's sovereignty, you're not going to obey God. You have to understand something. Total obedience requires total submission. Total submission requires total recognition of who God is and who we are. So if God is the sovereign, that means we are not. If God is in control, that means we are not in control.

[John Weaver] If God is the creator, we have to be the creature. If God is the father, we have to be the child. If God is the redeemer, we have to be the redeemed. I want you to understand that obedience is a sovereignly dictated order of life. Let me say that again. Obedience is a sovereignly dictated order of life.

[John Weaver] Now, before I get to our text, I want to show you some things of how wrong we are and how we got to where we are. So I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. And I want you to notice, if you would please, what God says to Adam. Genesis chapter 2. And let's read verses 15 through 17. God has created Adam.

[John Weaver] He's placed him in the garden. Genesis 2 verse 15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now, go back to verse 16 for a moment. And the Lord God commanded the man saying. And the Lord God commanded the man saying. The word commanded is a very interesting word. It doesn't mean just that God charged Adam. Or that God commanded Adam. It does mean that, obviously.

[John Weaver] But it means more than that. It literally means that God placed Adam under an oath. Adam was the creature. God was the creator. Adam was the man, God was God. And so God put Adam in the garden. He gave him a command, a charge. He actually put him under an oath, you will obey me in the totality of your life. Here I am. And there you are.

[John Weaver] And your responsibility is obedience. In other words, everything that Adam had, he owed to God. His life he owed to God. His creation he owed to God. His position he owed to God. The fruits of the garden he owed to God. Everything that he had owed to God. Have you ever stopped to think that everything we have and everything we are, actually we owe to Him? Have you ever stopped to think, even in First Chronicles chapter 29, when all those people were giving all that money to the temple, you know what David said?

[John Weaver] Out of thine own have we given back to thee. In other words, we can't give you anything because everything we have, you gave to us. And so Adam now is in the garden and God has graciously given to Adam all the fruits of the trees of the garden. He's just reserved one tree to himself. And said, you don't eat of this tree. This one is mine. Everything else you can have. I want to give you just a couple of quotes. The first one is from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry is talking about. Genesis chapter two, verse 16 and 17, listen to what he says, a confirmation of his present happiness to him in that grant of every tree of the garden he may freely eat.

[John Weaver] This was not only an allowance of liberty unto him in taking the delicious fruits of paradise as a recompense for his care and pains and dressing and keeping it, but it was with an assurance of life to him. immortal life upon his obedience for the tree of life being put in the midst of the garden and as the heart and soul of it doubtless God had an eye that too especially in this grant and therefore when upon his revolt the grant was recalled no notice is taken of the tree of life in the garden as prohibited him except the tree of No other tree is taken as prohibited him except the tree of life, of which there it is said he might eat thereof and live forever.

[John Weaver] That is, he would have never died and never lost his happiness had he remained obedient and eaten of that tree. In other words, God was basically saying this to Adam, continue thou in holiness, continue thou in conformity of thy creator's will, and thou shalt continue in life and thou shalt continue in happiness. And certainly that's a exactly where we are today. And that's exactly what God says to us. As long as we continue in obedience, as long as we continue in happiness, then God is going to continue to bless us. So God then placed Adam in the garden and God says, here's what I want from you. I want your personal obedience. I want your perfect obedience and I want your perpetual obedience. And God says, as long as you obey me personally, perfectly and perpetually, Then everything is yours forever. It's just yours. You may have it. You may enjoy it.

[John Weaver] Now, there are two points that I want you to really grasp before we get any further. The first one is this. That when God created Adam and placed him in the garden, he placed him under a commandment oriented life. In other words, it's very simple. God said to Adam, do this and thou shalt live. Do this and thou shalt die. So don't do this. So God told Adam, here are my commands. You do this and you live. You break my commands and you die. So originally, then, when God created Adam, Now, I want you to keep this in mind. God placed him under a commandment-oriented life. It's just that simple. Secondly is this. Absolutely nothing was to get in the way of Adam's obedience to God. He was obligated to God. He owed him. God was his creator, sustainer, provider and protector. Obedience was his first and foremost duty, and he was responsible to render that obedience to God personally, perfectly and perpetually. So God created him. He put him under the commandment of ordained life.

[John Weaver] So here's the question. What happened? What happened? Well, I want you to look in Genesis chapter three. I want us to read the first seven verses, and then I'm going to give you some answers to what happened. Notice Genesis chapter three, beginning there with verse one.

[John Weaver] Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. And for God does know in the day that you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open.

[John Weaver] You shall be as gods knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband wither, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were open, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

[John Weaver] Now, I told you how God created Adam. And by the way, without me going into all the scriptures, you can find them in Colossians three and Ephesians chapter four. But when God created Adam, he created him with original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. And he placed him under that commandment oriented life. And then you get to Genesis chapter three and you ask what happened? Well, so many people answer and they will give this answer. They will say, well, here's what happened. Adam and Eve were tempted.

[John Weaver] May I surprise you with a statement? Temptation is not sin. It may lead to sin, but temptation is not sin in and of itself. There have been plenty of Christians, even plenty of non-Christians that have been tempted to do certain things, but never did them. It's not sin to be tempted. It is sin to yield to the temptation. And may I remind you that even our Lord was tempted according to Matthew chapter four, the spirit of the Lord led him into the wilderness where he was tempted 40 days and 40 nights. So don't say, well, Adam and Eve were tempted.

[John Weaver] That's not the answer as to what happened. Certainly they were tempted. That is for sure. But the temptation itself did not ensure the fall. So we could say, yes, they were tempted. So someone has said, well, here's the answer. What Eve did was she added to the word of God. God said, Not eat of that tree, but she says, look at it if you would please. In verse three, but the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it lest you die. Someone is going to say, aha. There she is adding to the word of God for God just said, you shall not eat of it. He didn't say that you should not touch it. Well, let me tell you something. What Eve just confessed in verse three is a truth. She was not adding to the word of God. Let me explain it. Here's the principle.

[John Weaver] When God forbids any act at the same time, he forbids anything and everything that would lead up to that act. OK, so here's the fruit and God says, don't eat it. Well, you're not going to be able to eat it unless you touch it. And the touching and grabbing the fruit is the beginning of the sin. In other words, let me explain it like this. God says thou shalt not commit adultery. He's forbidding the act of adultery. in forbidding that act. He also forbids lust. He also forbids covetousness. He also forbids vain and wicked and foolish thoughts. In other words, he forbids everything that leads up to that. When God says, thou shalt not murder. At the same time, he's forbidding anger and strife and bitterness and ill will and hard feelings that would lead up to that. And so obviously when Eve said, you shall not touch it. She's not necessarily adding the word of God. She's saying you can't eat it without touching it. And so therefore, if I touch it, that means I'm grabbing for it and I'm violating the word of God.

[John Weaver] Just like lusting would be a violation of the word of God, just like covetousness would be a violation of the word of God. So obviously. Just simply because she added something there does not necessarily mean that she was wrong. Well, what happened? Well, the answer is that which caused Adam to sin is the same thing that causes us to sin. That which caused Eve to sin is the same thing that causes each of us to sin. Now, please let me just make this statement. Although Eve was the first to sin, sin did not come into the world by Eve. Sin came in the world by Adam. Eve is the one that took the fruit, and then she turned around and gave it to Adam. Did you know the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 14, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. In other words, Eve was really deceived, but Adam knew exactly what he was doing. Now, wait a minute. Think about this. God's covenant was with Adam.

[John Weaver] That's why in Romans five in verse 12, the Bible says this. Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered in the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. all of us sinned in Adam. God's covenant was not with Eve. God's covenant was with Adam. She was in the covenant due to her relationship to Adam, but Adam was the one in the covenant, and sin came in the world by Adam, not by Eve, even though Eve was the first one to sin, per se. Now, you see, when you get to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 45 through 48, you will understand that Adam was our representative.

[John Weaver] He was there in our stead. He was our federal head. He was our representative. And what he did, we did. When he sinned, we sinned. When he fell, we fell. When he died, we died. That's why the Bible said, and I just quoted it, wherefore by one man sin into the world and death by sin for that all sinned. It is an heiress passive, which means it's something that happened once and for all. Well, when did all of us sin once and for all? And the answer is in Adam, because he was our federal head and representative.

[John Weaver] Now you say, I don't like that. I don't like being in Adam like that. Well, if that's the truth, then you don't like being in Jesus Christ like that. Because Jesus Christ is called the second man and Jesus Christ is called the last Adam in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 45 through 48 as well. Because Jesus Christ was the second chronologically in time and history to sustain that federal headship in relationship. And the scripture tells us that when Jesus Christ died, we died in him.

[John Weaver] When he was buried, we were buried. When he was raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead. When he ascended to heaven, we ascended to heaven. When he sat down at the right hand of God, we sat down with him. He's the head, we're the body. So, the truth of the matter is, Adam was a federal head and representative.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you what happened. Look in Genesis 3 and verse 6. Watch carefully. Genesis 3 verse 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. She took the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Where in verse six is the word commandment or command? And the answer is, it is not there. What is there? Is sight. Pleasantness. And desire. I want to repeat something. I want you to listen very carefully. When God created Adam. He placed him under a commandment oriented life. Now here in Genesis chapter three and verse six, there's no commandment anywhere around. I see. Oh, this is pleasant. I want it. I'll take it.

[John Weaver] What Eve did was she took her desires. She took her emotions. She took what was pleasant to her and placed all of that above God's commandment, and she sinned against God.

[John Weaver] Now, Adam knew what he was doing. I wish I had time to preach on that. Adam knew what he was doing. But Adam's sin was this. He had regard to his wife, and he took. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he took because of his wife. And in that instance, he was also violating God's law. Thou shalt have no other gods before me, because he was placing Eve above God and above God's commandment.

[John Weaver] So let me explain it like this. Let me tell you what's happening. I'm going to show it to you more in scripture. But here's what is happening. Adam and Eve were trading the commandment oriented life. For a feeling oriented life. They were trading a commandment oriented life for a feeling oriented life.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter six. I'm going to show you. This goes throughout the scripture. Notice if you would please Joshua chapter six. Everybody knows, or at least you should know about the fall of Jericho. And of course, Jericho was condemned by God. Look in Joshua chapter 6, beginning there with verse 17. God says concerning Jericho, and the city shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein to the Lord.

[John Weaver] Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And you, that is talking about the Israelites, and you in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. And then he goes on to say, But all the silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord. They shall come into the treasure of the Lord. Now, here's a plain command to all of these Israelites.

[John Weaver] Don't touch anything in Jericho. It is all condemned. It is all under the curse. You take it, you are going to make yourselves a curse as well. That's all there is to it.

[John Weaver] Now, you know the story of Achan, or at least I hope you know the story. Look if you would, please, in Joshua chapter 7. Notice if you would, please. Achan steals and hides in his tent. In Joshua chapter 7, beginning there with verse 20, Now watch carefully.

[John Weaver] and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight. Then I coveted them and took them and behold, they're hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to watch carefully. God has said, don't touch anything in Jericho. It's a curse. If you touch it, you're going to die too. You'll be a curse. And so what did they can do? He saw it and he took it. So he said this. Look carefully now. He said, when I saw that is, it's pleasant to the eyes. And then 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold, a 50 shekels weight. I coveted them.

[John Weaver] That is, I lusted after them. I wanted them. I felt like having them. And I took them. and I hid them under my tent. And I hope you know the outcome was Achan, his family were stoned to death and then everything was piled upon them and burned. Adam and Eve had already shown us that death is absolutely certain from disobedience. And now Achan comes along and he proves it. Here's what he wanted to do.

[John Weaver] He desired that goodly Babylonian garment. He desired that silver. He desired that gold. And he said, I wanted it, and I took it. It didn't matter about the commandments. It didn't matter what God said. I saw it. I wanted it. I took it. May I remind you what the Bible says in 1 John 2? In fact, turn there. Turn to 1 John 2. Look at it. 1 John chapter 2 beginning there with verse 15. Watch carefully. 1 John 2 and verse 15. Look what the Bible says.

[John Weaver] This is what we've been talking about. 1 John 2 verse 15. God says this, Love not the world. Now He's talking about the world system. He's talking about everything that's contrary to God. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. So he actually sums everything up in verse 16 by saying, you have the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of heart. That's exactly what Adam and Eve did. That's exactly what Achan did.

[John Weaver] In other words, it did not matter about God's commandments. What did matter was what they wanted.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you also to look in your Bibles to the book of Judges chapter 14, just over a few pages, Judges chapter 14. And let's read about Samson because everybody loves Samson. Samson was an ordinary man with the power of God upon him, which made him an exceedingly strong man. But I want you to watch this. I'm trying to explain to you what has happened. What is happening? I want you to watch carefully. Judges chapter 14 verse one. And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I've seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

[John Weaver] Now, therefore, get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all of my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. But his father and mother knew not that it was of the Lord that he the Lord sought on occasion against the Philistines. Or at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you how obviously Samson was violating God's word. You see, in the book of Exodus, chapter 34, verses 12 through 16, and in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verses 1 through 5, God expressly forbade the Israelites from intermarrying with the heathen, and especially the Philistines. Samson knew this. His father and mother knew it. So when he came to his father and mother and said, I found a woman Of the Philistines now therefore get her for me to wife daddy said whoa. Whoa, wait a minute, son Is there never a woman in your own tribe? Yeah, could you not get a good little Israelite lady out of your own tribe and listen if you can't find in one in your own tribe There are 11 other tribes Don't get a Philistine woman. Now watch this. It doesn't matter that God had forbidden him to marry a Philistine woman. It didn't matter that he was violating the fifth commandment, honor thy father and thy mother, because the father's expression is saying, don't do this. But I want you to look what he said.

[John Weaver] Look if you would please, verse 3, Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. What? You know what the word pleaseth means? Look it up in your concordance. It means it's agreeable in my eyes. It's right in my eyes.

[John Weaver] I don't see anything wrong with it. I like this woman. You get her for me to wife. Here are God's commandments. And here is Samson saying, I don't care what God said. She pleases me. Well, get her. I don't see anything wrong with it. Oh, I hope you know. That although this did not work out. Later on, he went down to another Philistine woman by the name of Delilah.

[John Weaver] You'll read about that in Chapter 16. And Delilah was the one that deceived him, cut his hair. And what did they do to him? They gouged out his eyes and put him in the prison house and made him grind. Samson lost his life, he lost his eyes, he lost his ministry because he could not control his desires. lost his life and his family because of his lusts and his desires. He could not control them. Adam and Eve. Lost their lives in their posterity's lives. Because of their desires and their emotions.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to listen to me. This is exactly where we are today. The point in this message is this. We must obey in all things. Literally, our lives are to be brought in total conformity to the word of God, period. And the two main hindrances that we have are our feelings and our desires. I don't feel like obeying. I don't desire to do that. Well, Do you realize that most people live on their feelings? They don't live by principles. They don't live by commandments. They live by feelings. And you know, it is a ploy of the enemy to tempt you and to make you think that you cannot do what God commands you to do just simply because you don't feel like doing it and you can't help yourself. How many times have you said I don't feel like praying. It doesn't matter how you feel. God said pray without ceasing. Well, I don't feel like studying my Bible. I don't care. God says study to make yourselves approved unto God or workmen that need not to be ashamed.

[John Weaver] Well, I don't feel like going to church. I don't care. God said forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Well, I don't feel like giving. I don't care. God commanded you to give. You see what I'm saying? You have a commandment-oriented life, and you have a feeling-oriented life. And most people are just living by their feelings. And we have swallowed the old adage, hook, line, and sinker.

[John Weaver] If it feels good, do it. We've also swallowed the opposite. If it doesn't feel good, don't do it. We're just living by our feelings. We're living by our emotions. It doesn't matter what God commands to most people. We're like Samson. I see her. I want her. Get her for me. I don't care. We're like Akin. I want it. I don't care what God says. I'll take it if I have to steal it and spit in God's face. The biggest problem that you and I have are our feelings and our desires. Now, here's what I want to do tonight. I want to show you. That neither our feelings or our desires should hinder us in obeying God.

[John Weaver] And Ezekiel is a prime illustration of this fact. So I want you to turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel chapter 24. And I want us to read Ezekiel 24 verse 15. I want you to watch it. I'm going to come back and explain it. Also, the word of the Lord came into me saying, Son of man, behold, I'll take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke.

[John Weaver] Yet neither shalt thou mourn or weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead. Bind the tire of thine head upon thee and put on thy shoes upon thy feet and cover not thy lips and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning and their leave my wife died. I did in the morning as I was commanded.

[John Weaver] Ezekiel was a priest that God called to be a prophet. He was in Babylon, and in Babylon he was a sign not only to the people who were in Babylon, but to those who were to come to Babylon. He was also a sign to the people in Jerusalem whom God was sending the Babylonians against. He was also a sign that the temple was going to be destroyed. We have to understand that which happened to Ezekiel in order to understand that it is not our emotions, it is not our desires that counts, it is God's commandment.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to look in verse 16. The word of God came to him in verse 15. And here's what the word of God said in verse 16, son of man. Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke. What was the desire of his eyes? It was his wife. I'm going to take your wife away from you. I'm going to take her away very quickly. I want you to listen.

[John Weaver] John Gill, in his commentary, wrote this one paragraph. I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke, meaning his wife, who very probably was of beautiful countenance and goodly to look to, however of an amiable disposition, and in her conjugal relation very agreeable to the prophet, and no doubt a truly religious woman, and upon all accounts desirable to him. This lovely object of his affection, the Lord who is sovereign in the disposer of all persons, signifies that he would take away from him by death his wife unto himself. That is, suddenly and at once, And so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it with a sudden stroke. As sometimes persons are struck with death at once.

[John Weaver] So God comes to Ezekiel and says, Ezekiel, I know you love your wife. I know she's a beautiful woman. I know she's a godly woman, but I'm going to take her. I'm going to take her very quickly. Now here's the thing. It's not just that God told Ezekiel, I'm going to kill your wife. And not that she was ungodly and certainly not that Ezekiel was ungodly. But at the same time, God forbids him to grieve in any way whatsoever. Look in verse 16.

[John Weaver] He said, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke, yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down, forbear to cry, don't cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. I find this absolutely and totally astounding. He can't weep. He can't cry.

[John Weaver] He has to act just like nothing has happened. Matthew Henry in his commentary says this, He must not give way to his passions by weeping or letting his tears run down, though tears are a tribute due to the dead. And when the body is sewn, it is fit that it should be thus watered. But Ezekiel is not allowed to do this, though he thought he had as much reason to do it as any man and would perhaps be ill thought of by the people if he did not do it. Much less might he use the customary formalities of mourners.

[John Weaver] He must dress himself in his usual attire, must bind his turban upon his head, here called the tar of his head, must put on his shoes and not go barefoot, as was usual in such cases. He must not cover his lips nor throw a veil over his face, as mourners usually did. He must not be of a sorrowful countenance, appearing unto men to fast. He must not eat the bread of men or expect that his neighbors and friends should send him in provisions, as they usually did in such cases, presuming the mourners had no heart to provide meat for themselves. But if it were sent, he must not eat of it, but go on in his business at other times.

[John Weaver] It could not be but greatly against the grain of the flesh not to lament the death of the one he loved so dearly. But God commands it. So here's a man that has a beautiful wife that God says, Ezekiel, I'm going to take her. You can't cry. You can't mourn. You can't weep. You can't go barefooted. You can't make your head bare. You can't put a veil over your face.

[John Weaver] You have to act the way you normally act. Now, I want you to listen to this before I read the next verse. Matthew Poole in his commentary on this verse said this. It is likely that he, Ezekiel, had this revelation in the night or the evening before. And he tells there'll be times in the morning what God would do in taking away his wife and what he must not do when she is dead and be buried. Now, I want you to consider this just for a moment. If what Matthew Poole said is accurate, and I believe it is, Ezekiel did not really have any time to prepare himself for the death of his wife. In other words, when God told him, I'm going to take your wife, within 12 to 24 hours, she was dead. Watch it. Look, if you would, at verse 17 again.

[John Weaver] God says forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tar of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake to the people in the morning, same day, and at even, my wife died. Can you imagine God coming to you and saying, I'm going to take your wife in the next 12 to 24 hours. I don't want you to cry. I don't want you to mourn.

[John Weaver] Alice and I have been married so long. I had to ask her tonight. How long have we been married? 57 years. She can start a sentence and I can finish it. I know what she's going to say. I know how she's going to act. Unhappily, she can finish my sentences as well. She knows what I'm going to act. I usually tell people if I ever married another woman, her name would have to be Alice because I call that name 100 times a day.

[John Weaver] Oftentimes, our hands will touch as we either go to turn the car radio on or to turn it off. The point I'm trying to make, it is almost inconceivable to me. To think that God would say. And 12 hours, she's going to be dead. And you can't cry. And you can't weep. You can't show any emotion. You just have to do what I tell you to do.

[John Weaver] Go back to verse 17. He says, Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tower of thine head upon thee, put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of man. So I spake unto the people in the morning, and in even my wife died, and I did in the morning as I was commanded. What are the emotions that Ezekiel went through? What about his feelings?

[John Weaver] What about the desire of his eyes? It didn't matter. What God commanded was right and true. Because in this, God was picturing that he's going to destroy the temple that everybody trusted in. And he said, so at evening my wife died, and in the morning I did as I was commanded. No circumstances, no situations, no desires, no emotions, no feelings caused him to disobey. He just simply obeyed God.

[John Weaver] Doesn't that make our whining and our complaining pale in significance to such a devastating loss? I mean, if the grace and mercy of God could uphold Ezekiel, and enable him to obey in the most stressful and distressing of all circumstances. Surely, His grace is sufficient for us. And how often, how often do you and I complain And we consider our feelings, our emotions, and our desires, and we consider them in such a way that we completely and totally disregard the Word of God and the commands of God. It's as if we think that we know better than God. It's as if we think that God is insufficient to satisfy us, and we've got to have this lust, we've got to have this desire, we've got to have this obedience in order to make our life full and complete. You see, we profess to love Him, but the truth of the matter is, we love ourselves more than we love Him, because we put our desires, our feelings, our emotions ahead of Him.

[John Weaver] I want you to listen to me. When God created Adam, he placed him under a commandment-oriented life. When Adam sinned, we then began a feeling-oriented life. When God saves us, you know what he does? He takes us out of that feeling oriented life and places us back under a commandment oriented life. You know what our Lord said in John 14 in verse 21? He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. He that loveth me not, he said, keepeth not my commandments. Did you know the Bible says in first John five in verse three, And this is the love of God. That we keep his commandments.

[John Weaver] And they are not grievous unto us. What is the love of God is keeping his commandments? You know, in first John 2 and verse 4 says he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. So when God saves us, he puts us back under commandment or in life. No, we're not perfect. I understand that. And yes, I know that we're sinners.

[John Weaver] But it does mean this. It does mean that we are to be purposely. Endeavoring to obey God's commandments rather than our feelings, our emotions and our desires. That's what it means. You know what our Lord said in Matthew 10 in verse 37. Listen carefully. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

[John Weaver] We could also include husbands and wives. What is he saying? We must love him supremely. so that we will obey Him completely. Your view of God will determine the degree of your obedience. If you believe that God is absolutely sovereign, you will submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Father and you're the child, you submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Creator and you're the creature, you will submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Redeemer and you're redeemed, you'll submit to Him and obey Him.

[John Weaver] If you don't remember anything else from this message, remember this. In the evening, my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. You do what God commands. And everything will work out for you. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this night. Lord, we confess we've lived by our feelings. We've lived by our emotions. We've let them get the best of us. We get irritated. We get angry. We get upset. We get bitter. We are impatient. We do all of these things, Lord, and we forget your commandments. Lord, help us to understand that we're to live under a commandment oriented life, not a feeling oriented life. And give us grace that we may serve the acceptably with reverence and godly fear and obey thee.

[John Weaver] in every area of our life and bring our lives into greater conformity to your word. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Scope Of Christian Obedience

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	418201648586516
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James
Genre	Sermon
Date	2019-11-06
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 12
Source Timed Segments	82

Formatted Transcript

Opening

She said, "Did you hear me?" I said, "Of course, I'm just not answering you." I saw a lady today with a shirt on that said, "I hear you. I'm just ignoring you." But anyhow, he was talking about some of the tyranny. I read today where a man in Michigan had his house stolen from him by the state of Michigan because he miscalculated the interest on this property tax by eight bucks and 41 cents. And so the property was valued at $160,000. And the state confiscated it, sold it for $24,000, got their $841, and kept the remainder for themselves. And then they said that is legal in Michigan. So wow. Anyhow, well, it's good to be here. I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel 24. And what I'm going to do is wait to read this passage, but I do want you to have your Bibles marked because we will come back there. That will be our text. So before I get to explain and expound the text, I'm going to be giving you a lot of other scriptures as well that will lead up to it, Lord willing.

Introduction: The Scope of Obedience

Weaver introduces the concept of the scope of Christian obedience, emphasizing that it means obeying God in all things, as illustrated by the argument from the lesser to the greater.

So tonight I want to bring a message which I'm calling "The Scope of Christian Obedience." Most of us hear the word obedience and we tend to think that basically we are obedient Christians as well. And many times we read the scriptures and we hear the word obedience, and we tend to think, well, you know, I'm all right, I'm pretty good. When you talk about the scope of Christian obedience, you have to understand that the word scope means something like the extent or the range of Christian obedience. It could also refer to the outlook. It could also refer to what you and I would call the aim or purpose. So if really time allowed, we could really expand on what is known as the scope of Christian obedience. If you consider the scope of Christian obedience, we have some very succinct answers given us in the Bible, especially if you argue what is known as the argument from the lesser to the greater. Our Lord did this many, many times, and especially Matthew chapter 6, He would say, like, "Consider the sparrows" or "Consider the lilies." And then He would go on to say, "Are you not much more valuable than many sparrows?"

And does not God take care of you? And all He's doing is arguing from the lesser to the greater. So let me just give you a couple of arguments from the lesser to the greater. You and I both understand the fact that God commands children to obey their parents. Now, if God commands earthly and fleshly children to obey their parents, what is the scope of their obedience? Well, the answer is given to us in the book of Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20, because the Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord."

Biblical Basis for Total Obedience

Citing Colossians 3:20, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and Acts 3:22, Weaver shows that children, servants, and all believers are commanded to obey in all things, reflecting God's sovereignty.

So the child does not get to pick and choose. The child does not get to say, "Well, I like this or I don't like that, and so I might obey and I might not obey." No, no, no. The Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in all things." Now, if God then requires earthly children to obey their parents in all things, do you not think by extension He would also call His children in grace and mercy to obey their Heavenly Father in all things as well? And then when you get to that passage in 1 Corinthians 6, when the Bible speaks about the fact that we are not our own, we are bought with a price. In other words, we're basically what you and I would call the servants and the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, anytime you see the Apostle Paul in the New Testament saying, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," the Greek word is *doulos*, which literally means a slave. He's calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ. And when you get to 1 Corinthians 6, the Bible says what?

"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God? Ye are not your own. Ye have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are His." So now, if you confess and acknowledge that you are a child of God, then you can by extension say, just like God commands earthly children to obey their parents in all things, so God commands me as a heavenly child, a child of heaven, to obey my Father in all things.

Now, since I am a servant also and a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you not know that servants and slaves are bound to obey their masters? Well, how far are they to obey them? What is the scope of their obedience? Well, the Bible answers that in Colossians 3 and verse 22,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 3:22

"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord."

But notice what he said,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 3:22

"Servants, obey in all things."

So the servant does not get to pick and choose. The servant does not say, "I like this, I'm going to do it." The servant does not get to say, "I don't like shoveling manure, so therefore I'm not going to shovel manure." I'm sorry. If God calls you to shovel manure, that's exactly what you're supposed to be doing. Because a servant or slave has no choice in the matter. Again, so the Lord then considers that you and I are to be obedient in every area of our life.

I want you to look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Acts chapter 3 and verse 22. Look in Acts chapter 3 and verse 22. You remember Moses, the man of God, in Deuteronomy chapter 18, talked about how God was going to raise up a prophet like unto himself. Well, look, if you would, please, in Acts chapter 3 and verse 22, and you'll see the quote taken from Deuteronomy chapter 18. Notice in Acts chapter 3, notice, please, verse 22, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Acts 3:22

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you."

Now, if you are to hear in all things whatsoever He said, what are the implications? Well, the very first one is if you were to hear in all things, that means you are to obey in all things.

In other words, the scope is absolute total and complete obedience. Now, it's not just that we like this and we're going to do it or we don't like that and we're not going to do it. It's not that we get to pick and we get to choose. No, God says we are to obey in all things. We have to come to several realizations. Number one, He is the Father, we're the child. Number two, He is the Creator, we are the creature. Number three, He is the Redeemer, we are the redeemed.

God's Sovereignty and Our Submission

Weaver explains that obedience flows from recognizing God as Creator, Father, Redeemer, and Potter, and ourselves as creatures, children, redeemed, and clay.

We must recognize that He is in control and we are to be the controlled. We must also recognize that He is the potter and we are the clay. In other words, we have to realize and recognize, like the Apostle Paul said in Acts 17, that in Him we live and move and have our being. Without Him, there is no life. Without Him, there is no being. Without Him, there is no moving.

Now, here's a simple truth that we have to understand. We have to understand that God is totally and completely sovereign. He has all power, all authority, and all jurisdiction. Now, many people have taken the idea and the attitude that Pharaoh took. You remember when Moses came to Pharaoh. And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me." And Pharaoh gave an answer in Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2, and here's what he said. And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."

I want you to stop and think about this. Pharaoh asked this question, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him and let Israel go?" I want you to understand there was ignorance on Pharaoh's part exactly as to who God was. And then he made this statement, "I know Him not." That is, I don't recognize Him. I will not count Him as sovereign. I will not count Him as Lord. And consequently, because I do not count Him as Lord and I do not count Him as sovereign, then I'm not going to obey Him. I want you to understand something. Our obedience comes down to our concept of God. If you don't know who God is, you're not going to obey God. If you don't understand God's sovereignty, you're not going to obey God. You have to understand something. Total obedience requires total submission. Total submission requires total recognition of who God is and who we are. So if God is the sovereign, that means we are not. If God is in control, that means we are not in control.

Pharaoh's Rebellion as a Warning

Pharaoh's refusal to obey God in Exodus 5:2 illustrates that ignorance of God's sovereignty leads to disobedience.

Now, many people have taken the idea and the attitude that Pharaoh took. You remember when Moses came to Pharaoh. And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me." And Pharaoh gave an answer in Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2, and here's what he said. And Pharaoh said,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 5:2

"Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."

I want you to stop and think about this. Pharaoh asked this question,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 5:2

"Who is the Lord that I should obey Him and let Israel go?"

I want you to understand there was ignorance on Pharaoh's part exactly as to who God was. And then he made this statement, "I know Him not." That is, I don't recognize Him. I will not count Him as sovereign. I will not count Him as Lord. And consequently, because I do not count Him as Lord and I do not count Him as sovereign, then I'm not going to obey Him. I want you to understand something. Our obedience comes down to our concept of God. If you don't know who God is, you're not going to obey God. If you don't understand God's sovereignty, you're not going to obey God. You have to understand something. Total obedience requires total submission. Total submission requires total recognition of who God is and who we are. So if God is the sovereign, that means we are not. If God is in control, that means we are not in control.

Adam's Commandment-Oriented Life

God placed Adam under a commandment-oriented life in Genesis 2:15-17, requiring personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience.

He's placed him in the garden. Genesis 2 verse 15.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 2:15-17

"And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Now, go back to verse 16 for a moment.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 2:15-17

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying."

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying. The word commanded is a very interesting word. It doesn't mean just that God charged Adam, or that God commanded Adam. It does mean that, obviously.

But it means more than that. It literally means that God placed Adam under an oath. Adam was the creature. God was the Creator. Adam was the man, God was God. And so God put Adam in the garden. He gave him a command, a charge. He actually put him under an oath, "You will obey me in the totality of your life. Here I am. And there you are."

And your responsibility is obedience. In other words, everything that Adam had, he owed to God. His life he owed to God. His creation he owed to God. His position he owed to God. The fruits of the garden he owed to God. Everything that he had owed to God. Have you ever stopped to think that everything we have and everything we are, actually we owe to Him? Have you ever stopped to think, even in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, when all those people were giving all that money to the temple, you know what David said?

"Out of Thine own have we given back to Thee." In other words, we can't give You anything because everything we have, You gave to us. And so Adam now is in the garden and God has graciously given to Adam all the fruits of the trees of the garden. He's just reserved one tree to Himself. And said, "You don't eat of this tree. This one is Mine. Everything else you can have." I want to give you just a couple of quotes. The first one is from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry is talking about Genesis chapter 2, verse 16 and 17. Listen to what he says, "A confirmation of his present happiness to him in that grant of every tree of the garden he may freely eat."

"This was not only an allowance of liberty unto him in taking the delicious fruits of paradise as a recompense for his care and pains in dressing and keeping it, but it was with an assurance of life to him, immortal life upon his obedience. For the tree of life being put in the midst of the garden and as the heart and soul of it, doubtless God had an eye to that too especially in this grant. And therefore when upon his revolt the grant was recalled, no notice is taken of the tree of life in the garden as prohibited him except the tree of life, of which there it is said he might eat thereof and live forever." That is, he would have never died and never lost his happiness had he remained obedient and eaten of that tree. In other words, God was basically saying this to Adam, "Continue thou in holiness, continue thou in conformity of thy Creator's will, and thou shalt continue in life and thou shalt continue in happiness." And certainly that's exactly where we are today. And that's exactly what God says to us. As long as we continue in obedience, as long as we continue in happiness, then God is going to continue to bless us. So God then placed Adam in the garden and God says, "Here's what I want from you. I want your personal obedience. I want your perfect obedience and I want your perpetual obedience." And God says, "As long as you obey Me personally, perfectly and perpetually, then everything is yours forever. It's just yours. You may have it. You may enjoy it."

Now, there are two points that I want you to really grasp before we get any further. The first one is this: that when God created Adam and placed him in the garden, He placed him under a commandment-oriented life. In other words, it's very simple. God said to Adam, "Do this and thou shalt live. Do this and thou shalt die." So don't do this. So God told Adam, "Here are My commands. You do this and you live. You break My commands and you die." So originally, then, when God created Adam—now, I want you to keep this in mind—God placed him under a commandment-oriented life. It's just that simple. Secondly is this: absolutely nothing was to get in the way of Adam's obedience to God. He was obligated to God. He owed Him. God was his Creator, Sustainer, Provider and Protector. Obedience was his first and foremost duty, and he was responsible to render that obedience to God personally, perfectly and perpetually. So God created him. He put him under the commandment-oriented life.

So here's the question. What happened? What happened? Well, I want you to look in Genesis chapter 3. I want us to read the first seven verses, and then I'm going to give you some answers to what happened. Notice Genesis chapter 3, beginning there with verse 1.

The Fall: Trading Commandment for Feeling

In Genesis 3:6, Eve and Adam prioritized sight, pleasantness, and desire over God's command, shifting from a commandment-oriented to a feeling-oriented life.

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened." "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

Now, I told you how God created Adam. And by the way, without me going into all the scriptures, you can find them in Colossians 3 and Ephesians chapter 4. But when God created Adam, He created him with original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. And He placed him under that commandment-oriented life. And then you get to Genesis chapter 3 and you ask what happened? Well, so many people answer and they will give this answer. They will say, "Well, here's what happened. Adam and Eve were tempted."

May I surprise you with a statement? Temptation is not sin. It may lead to sin, but temptation is not sin in and of itself. There have been plenty of Christians, even plenty of non-Christians that have been tempted to do certain things, but never did them. It's not sin to be tempted. It is sin to yield to the temptation. And may I remind you that even our Lord was tempted according to Matthew chapter 4, the Spirit of the Lord led Him into the wilderness where He was tempted 40 days and 40 nights. So don't say, "Well, Adam and Eve were tempted."

That's not the answer as to what happened. Certainly they were tempted. That is for sure. But the temptation itself did not ensure the fall. So we could say, yes, they were tempted. So someone has said, "Well, here's the answer. What Eve did was she added to the word of God. God said, 'Not eat of that tree,' but she says, look at it if you would please. In verse 3, 'But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'" Someone is going to say, "Aha. There she is adding to the word of God for God just said, 'You shall not eat of it.' He didn't say that you should not touch it." Well, let me tell you something. What Eve just confessed in verse 3 is a truth. She was not adding to the word of God. Let me explain it. Here's the principle.

When God forbids any act, at the same time He forbids anything and everything that would lead up to that act. OK, so here's the fruit and God says, "Don't eat it." Well, you're not going to be able to eat it unless you touch it. And the touching and grabbing the fruit is the beginning of the sin. In other words, let me explain it like this. God says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." He's forbidding the act of adultery. In forbidding that act, He also forbids lust. He also forbids covetousness. He also forbids vain and wicked and foolish thoughts. In other words, He forbids everything that leads up to that. When God says, "Thou shalt not murder," at the same time He's forbidding anger and strife and bitterness and ill will and hard feelings that would lead up to that. And so obviously when Eve said, "You shall not touch it," she's not necessarily adding to the word of God. She's saying you can't eat it without touching it. And so therefore, if I touch it, that means I'm grabbing for it and I'm violating the word of God.

Just like lusting would be a violation of the word of God, just like covetousness would be a violation of the word of God. So obviously, just simply because she added something there does not necessarily mean that she was wrong. Well, what happened? Well, the answer is that which caused Adam to sin is the same thing that causes us to sin. That which caused Eve to sin is the same thing that causes each of us to sin. Now, please let me just make this statement. Although Eve was the first to sin, sin did not come into the world by Eve. Sin came in the world by Adam. Eve is the one that took the fruit, and then she turned around and gave it to Adam. Did you know the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 14, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." In other words, Eve was really deceived, but Adam knew exactly what he was doing. Now, wait a minute. Think about this. God's covenant was with Adam.

That's why in Romans 5 and verse 12, the Bible says this: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." All of us sinned in Adam. God's covenant was not with Eve. God's covenant was with Adam. She was in the covenant due to her relationship to Adam, but Adam was the one in the covenant, and sin came in the world by Adam, not by Eve, even though Eve was the first one to sin, per se. Now, you see, when you get to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 45 through 48, you will understand that Adam was our representative. He was there in our stead. He was our federal head. He was our representative. And what he did, we did. When he sinned, we sinned. When he fell, we fell. When he died, we died. That's why the Bible said, and I just quoted it, "Wherefore by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, for that all sinned." It is an aorist passive, which means it's something that happened once and for all. Well, when did all of us sin once and for all? And the answer is in Adam, because he was our federal head and representative.

Now you say, "I don't like that. I don't like being in Adam like that." Well, if that's the truth, then you don't like being in Jesus Christ like that. Because Jesus Christ is called the second man and Jesus Christ is called the last Adam in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 45 through 48 as well. Because Jesus Christ was the second chronologically in time and history to sustain that federal headship in relationship. And the scripture tells us that when Jesus Christ died, we died in Him.

When He was buried, we were buried. When He was raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead. When He ascended to heaven, we ascended to heaven. When He sat down at the right hand of God, we sat down with Him. He's the head, we're the body. So, the truth of the matter is, Adam was a federal head and representative.

Now, let me show you what happened. Look in Genesis 3 and verse 6. Watch carefully. Genesis 3 verse 6. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

Now, let me ask you a question. Where in verse 6 is the word commandment or command? And the answer is, it is not there. What is there? Is sight. Pleasantness. And desire. I want to repeat something. I want you to listen very carefully. When God created Adam, He placed him under a commandment-oriented life. Now here in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6, there's no commandment anywhere around. I see. Oh, this is pleasant. I want it. I'll take it.

What Eve did was she took her desires. She took her emotions. She took what was pleasant to her and placed all of that above God's commandment, and she sinned against God. Now, Adam knew what he was doing. I wish I had time to preach on that. Adam knew what he was doing. But Adam's sin was this: he had regard to his wife, and he took. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he took because of his wife. And in that instance, he was also violating God's law, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," because he was placing Eve above God and above God's commandment.

So let me explain it like this. Let me tell you what's happening. I'm going to show it to you more in scripture. But here's what is happening. Adam and Eve were trading the commandment-oriented life for a feeling-oriented life. They were trading a commandment-oriented life for a feeling-oriented life.

Old Testament Examples of Feeling-Oriented Sin

Achan (Joshua 7:20-21) and Samson (Judges 14:1-3) both sinned by following their desires rather than God's commands, leading to death and destruction.

Don't touch anything in Jericho. It is all condemned. It is all under the curse. You take it, you are going to make yourselves a curse as well. That's all there is to it.

Now, you know the story of Achan, or at least I hope you know the story. Look if you would, please, in Joshua chapter 7. Notice if you would, please. Achan steals and hides in his tent. In Joshua chapter 7, beginning there with verse 20, now watch carefully.

Scripture Reading — Joshua 7:20-21

"And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it."

Now I want you to watch carefully. God has said, "Don't touch anything in Jericho. It's a curse. If you touch it, you're going to die too. You'll be a curse." And so what did Achan do? He saw it and he took it. So he said this. Look carefully now. He said, "When I saw"—that is, it's pleasant to the eyes—"and then two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, I coveted them."

That is, I lusted after them. I wanted them. I felt like having them. And I took them. And I hid them under my tent. And I hope you know the outcome was Achan, his family were stoned to death and then everything was piled upon them and burned. Adam and Eve had already shown us that death is absolutely certain from disobedience. And now Achan comes along and he proves it. Here's what he wanted to do.

He desired that goodly Babylonish garment. He desired that silver. He desired that gold. And he said, "I wanted it, and I took it." It didn't matter about the commandments. It didn't matter what God said. I saw it. I wanted it. I took it. May I remind you what the Bible says in 1 John 2? In fact, turn there. Turn to 1 John 2. Look at it. 1 John chapter 2 beginning there with verse 15. Watch carefully. 1 John 2 and verse 15. Look what the Bible says.

This is what we've been talking about. 1 John 2 verse 15. God says this, "Love not the world." Now He's talking about the world system. He's talking about everything that's contrary to God. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:15-17

" So he actually sums everything up in verse 16 by saying, you have the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of heart. That's exactly what Adam and Eve did. That's exactly what Achan did.

In other words, it did not matter about God's commandments. What did matter was what they wanted. Now, I want you also to look in your Bibles to the book of Judges chapter 14, just over a few pages, Judges chapter 14. And let's read about Samson because everybody loves Samson. Samson was an ordinary man with the power of God upon him, which made him an exceedingly strong man. But I want you to watch this. I'm trying to explain to you what has happened. What is happening? I want you to watch carefully. Judges chapter 14 verse 1. "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife."

"Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel." Now, I want to show you how obviously Samson was violating God's word. You see, in the book of Exodus, chapter 34, verses 12 through 16, and in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verses 1 through 5, God expressly forbade the Israelites from intermarrying with the heathen, and especially the Philistines. Samson knew this. His father and mother knew it. So when he came to his father and mother and said, "I found a woman of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me to wife," daddy said, "Whoa. Whoa, wait a minute, son. Is there never a woman in your own tribe? Yeah, could you not get a good little Israelite lady out of your own tribe? And listen, if you can't find one in your own tribe, there are 11 other tribes. Don't get a Philistine woman." Now watch this. It doesn't matter that God had forbidden him to marry a Philistine woman. It didn't matter that he was violating the fifth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother," because the father's expression is saying, "Don't do this." But I want you to look what he said.

Look if you would please, verse 3, "Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well." What? You know what the word pleaseth means? Look it up in your concordance. It means it's agreeable in my eyes. It's right in my eyes.

I don't see anything wrong with it. I like this woman. You get her for me to wife. Here are God's commandments. And here is Samson saying, "I don't care what God said. She pleases me. Well, get her. I don't see anything wrong with it." Oh, I hope you know that although this did not work out, later on he went down to another Philistine woman by the name of Delilah.

You'll read about that in chapter 16. And Delilah was the one that deceived him, cut his hair. And what did they do to him? They gouged out his eyes and put him in the prison house and made him grind. Samson lost his life, he lost his eyes, he lost his ministry because he could not control his desires. Lost his life and his family because of his lusts and his desires. He could not control them. Adam and Eve lost their lives and their posterity's lives because of their desires and their emotions.

The Modern Problem of Feelings Over Commands

Weaver diagnoses that many Christians live by feelings rather than God's commands, using excuses like 'I don't feel like it' to avoid prayer, Bible study, church, and giving.

Now I want you to listen to me. This is exactly where we are today. The point in this message is this: we must obey in all things. Literally, our lives are to be brought in total conformity to the word of God, period. And the two main hindrances that we have are our feelings and our desires. I don't feel like obeying. I don't desire to do that. Well, do you realize that most people live on their feelings? They don't live by principles. They don't live by commandments. They live by feelings. And you know, it is a ploy of the enemy to tempt you and to make you think that you cannot do what God commands you to do just simply because you don't feel like doing it and you can't help yourself. How many times have you said, "I don't feel like praying"? It doesn't matter how you feel. God said, "Pray without ceasing." Well, "I don't feel like studying my Bible." I don't care. God says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."

Well, "I don't feel like going to church." I don't care. God said, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is." Well, "I don't feel like giving." I don't care. God commanded you to give. You see what I'm saying? You have a commandment-oriented life, and you have a feeling-oriented life. And most people are just living by their feelings. And we have swallowed the old adage, hook, line, and sinker.

"If it feels good, do it." We've also swallowed the opposite. "If it doesn't feel good, don't do it." We're just living by our feelings. We're living by our emotions. It doesn't matter what God commands to most people. We're like Samson. "I see her. I want her. Get her for me. I don't care." We're like Achan. "I want it. I don't care what God says. I'll take it if I have to steal it and spit in God's face." The biggest problem that you and I have are our feelings and our desires. Now, here's what I want to do tonight. I want to show you that neither our feelings or our desires should hinder us in obeying God.

Ezekiel's Obedience Amidst Loss

Ezekiel 24:15-18 shows Ezekiel obeying God's command not to mourn his wife's sudden death, demonstrating that obedience must override even the deepest emotions.

And Ezekiel is a prime illustration of this fact. So I want you to turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel chapter 24. And I want us to read Ezekiel 24 verse 15. I want you to watch it. I'm going to come back and explain it.

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 24:15-18

"Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke."

"Yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded." Ezekiel was a priest that God called to be a prophet. He was in Babylon, and in Babylon he was a sign not only to the people who were in Babylon, but to those who were to come to Babylon. He was also a sign to the people in Jerusalem whom God was sending the Babylonians against. He was also a sign that the temple was going to be destroyed. We have to understand that which happened to Ezekiel in order to understand that it is not our emotions, it is not our desires that counts, it is God's commandment.

Now I want you to look in verse 16. The word of God came to him in verse 15. And here's what the word of God said in verse 16, "Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke." What was the desire of his eyes? It was his wife. "I'm going to take your wife away from you. I'm going to take her away very quickly." I want you to listen. John Gill, in his commentary, wrote this one paragraph: "I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke, meaning his wife, who very probably was of beautiful countenance and goodly to look to, however of an amiable disposition, and in her conjugal relation very agreeable to the prophet, and no doubt a truly religious woman, and upon all accounts desirable to him. This lovely object of his affection, the Lord who is sovereign in the disposer of all persons, signifies that he would take away from him by death his wife unto himself. That is, suddenly and at once, and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it with a sudden stroke, as sometimes persons are struck with death at once."

So God comes to Ezekiel and says, "Ezekiel, I know you love your wife. I know she's a beautiful woman. I know she's a godly woman, but I'm going to take her. I'm going to take her very quickly." Now here's the thing. It's not just that God told Ezekiel, "I'm going to kill your wife." And not that she was ungodly and certainly not that Ezekiel was ungodly. But at the same time, God forbids him to grieve in any way whatsoever. Look in verse 16.

He said, "Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, don't cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men." I find this absolutely and totally astounding. He can't weep. He can't cry. He has to act just like nothing has happened. Matthew Henry in his commentary says this: "He must not give way to his passions by weeping or letting his tears run down, though tears are a tribute due to the dead. And when the body is sown, it is fit that it should be thus watered. But Ezekiel is not allowed to do this, though he thought he had as much reason to do it as any man and would perhaps be ill thought of by the people if he did not do it. Much less might he use the customary formalities of mourners."

"He must dress himself in his usual attire, must bind his turban upon his head, here called the tire of his head, must put on his shoes and not go barefoot, as was usual in such cases. He must not cover his lips nor throw a veil over his face, as mourners usually did. He must not be of a sorrowful countenance, appearing unto men to fast. He must not eat the bread of men or expect that his neighbors and friends should send him in provisions, as they usually did in such cases, presuming the mourners had no heart to provide meat for themselves. But if it were sent, he must not eat of it, but go on in his business at other times." It could not be but greatly against the grain of the flesh not to lament the death of the one he loved so dearly. But God commands it. So here's a man that has a beautiful wife that God says, "Ezekiel, I'm going to take her. You can't cry. You can't mourn. You can't weep. You can't go barefooted. You can't make your head bare. You can't put a veil over your face."

You have to act the way you normally act. Now, I want you to listen to this before I read the next verse. Matthew Poole in his commentary on this verse said this: "It is likely that he, Ezekiel, had this revelation in the night or the evening before. And he tells there'll be times in the morning what God would do in taking away his wife and what he must not do when she is dead and be buried." Now, I want you to consider this just for a moment. If what Matthew Poole said is accurate, and I believe it is, Ezekiel did not really have any time to prepare himself for the death of his wife. In other words, when God told him, "I'm going to take your wife," within 12 to 24 hours, she was dead. Watch it. Look, if you would, at verse 17 again.

God says, "Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died." Can you imagine God coming to you and saying, "I'm going to take your wife in the next 12 to 24 hours. I don't want you to cry. I don't want you to mourn." Alice and I have been married so long. I had to ask her tonight. How long have we been married? 57 years. She can start a sentence and I can finish it. I know what she's going to say. I know how she's going to act. Unhappily, she can finish my sentences as well. She knows what I'm going to act. I usually tell people if I ever married another woman, her name would have to be Alice because I call that name 100 times a day.

Oftentimes, our hands will touch as we either go to turn the car radio on or to turn it off. The point I'm trying to make, it is almost inconceivable to me to think that God would say, "And 12 hours, she's going to be dead. And you can't cry. And you can't weep. You can't show any emotion. You just have to do what I tell you to do."

Go back to verse 17. He says, "Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded." What are the emotions that Ezekiel went through? What about his feelings? What about the desire of his eyes? It didn't matter. What God commanded was right and true. Because in this, God was picturing that He's going to destroy the temple that everybody trusted in. And he said, "So at evening my wife died, and in the morning I did as I was commanded." No circumstances, no situations, no desires, no emotions, no feelings caused him to disobey. He just simply obeyed God.

Application: Returning to Commandment-Oriented Living

Salvation restores believers to a commandment-oriented life; we must purposely obey God's commands rather than our feelings, loving Him supremely.

I want you to listen to me. When God created Adam, He placed him under a commandment-oriented life. When Adam sinned, we then began a feeling-oriented life. When God saves us, you know what He does? He takes us out of that feeling-oriented life and places us back under a commandment-oriented life. You know what our Lord said in John 14 in verse 21? "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." He that loveth Me not, He said, keepeth not My commandments. Did you know the Bible says in 1 John 5 and verse 3, "And this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."

Scripture Reading — John 14:21

"And they are not grievous unto us." What is the love of God? It is keeping His commandments. You know, in 1 John 2 and verse 4 says, "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." So when God saves us, He puts us back under commandment-oriented life. No, we're not perfect. I understand that. And yes, I know that we're sinners.

But it does mean this. It does mean that we are to be purposely endeavoring to obey God's commandments rather than our feelings, our emotions and our desires. That's what it means. You know what our Lord said in Matthew 10 in verse 37? Listen carefully. "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. He that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."

We could also include husbands and wives. What is He saying? We must love Him supremely, so that we will obey Him completely. Your view of God will determine the degree of your obedience. If you believe that God is absolutely sovereign, you will submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Father and you're the child, you submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Creator and you're the creature, you will submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Redeemer and you're redeemed, you'll submit to Him and obey Him.

If you don't remember anything else from this message, remember this: "In the evening, my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded." You do what God commands. And everything will work out for you. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this night. Lord, we confess we've lived by our feelings. We've lived by our emotions. We've let them get the best of us. We get irritated. We get angry. We get upset. We get bitter. We are impatient. We do all of these things, Lord, and we forget Your commandments. Lord, help us to understand that we're to live under a commandment-oriented life, not a feeling-oriented life. And give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear and obey Thee.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Total Obedience to God

Summary: Believers are called to obey God in all things, without picking and choosing, as children and servants obey their masters.

Evidence: Weaver cites Colossians 3:20, 22 and Acts 3:22 to argue that the scope of obedience is absolute.

God's Sovereignty and Human Submission

Summary: Recognition of God as Creator, Father, Redeemer, and Potter demands total submission and obedience from His creatures.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Total obedience requires total submission. Total submission requires total recognition of who God is and who we are.'

Commandment-Oriented vs. Feeling-Oriented Life

Summary: The fall shifted humanity from living by God's commands to living by feelings and desires; salvation restores the commandment-oriented life.

Evidence: Weaver traces this from Adam and Eve through Achan and Samson, concluding that 'most people live on their feelings.'

Obedience Despite Emotional Cost

Summary: Ezekiel's example shows that obedience to God must prevail even in the face of devastating personal loss and emotional pain.

Evidence: Weaver highlights Ezekiel 24:18: 'and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.'

Love for God Expressed Through Obedience

Summary: True love for God is demonstrated by keeping His commandments, not by emotional experiences or professions.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John 14:21 and 1 John 5:3 to show that keeping commandments is the love of God.

Key Arguments

The argument from lesser to greater demands total obedience

Summary: If earthly children and servants must obey in all things, then God's children and servants must obey Him in all things.

Evidence: Weaver uses Colossians 3:20, 22 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 to build this argument.

The fall was a shift from commandment to feeling

Summary: Adam and Eve's sin was not merely eating fruit but prioritizing their desires over God's explicit command.

Evidence: Weaver points out that in Genesis 3:6, the word 'commandment' is absent; instead, sight, pleasantness, and desire drive the action.

Feelings and desires are the primary hindrances to obedience

Summary: Modern Christians often excuse disobedience by claiming they don't feel like obeying, mirroring the sins of Achan and Samson.

Evidence: Weaver lists common excuses: 'I don't feel like praying... studying my Bible... going to church... giving.'

Ezekiel proves obedience is possible despite overwhelming emotions

Summary: Ezekiel obeyed God's command not to mourn his wife's death, showing that God's grace enables obedience in the most distressing circumstances.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes Ezekiel 24:18 and asks, 'Doesn't that make our whining and our complaining pale in significance?'

Salvation restores the commandment-oriented life

Summary: When God saves us, He places us back under a commandment-oriented life, calling us to purposely obey His commands.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When God saves us, you know what He does? He takes us out of that feeling-oriented life and places us back under a commandment-oriented life.'

Scripture References

Colossians 3:20

Context: Children are commanded to obey their parents in all things, illustrating total obedience.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Context: Believers are not their own but bought with a price, therefore they must glorify God in body and spirit.

Colossians 3:22

Context: Servants are to obey their masters in all things, not with eye-service but fearing the Lord.

Acts 3:22

Context: Moses' prophecy that a prophet like him would come, and the people must hear Him in all things.

Exodus 5:2

Context: Pharaoh's refusal to obey God because he did not know or recognize the Lord.

Genesis 2:15-17

Context: God placed Adam in the garden and commanded him not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:1-7

Context: The temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, where they ate the forbidden fruit.

1 Timothy 2:14

Context: Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

Romans 5:12

Context: Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, because all sinned.

Joshua 6:17-19

Context: God's command to destroy Jericho and not take any accursed things.

Joshua 7:20-21

Context: Achan's confession that he saw, coveted, and took the accursed items.

1 John 2:15-17

Context: The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life are not of the Father but of the world.

Judges 14:1-3

Context: Samson saw a Philistine woman and demanded her as wife because she pleased him well.

Ezekiel 24:15-18

Context: God tells Ezekiel his wife will die, and commands him not to mourn; Ezekiel obeys.

John 14:21

Context: He who has Christ's commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Him.

1 John 5:3

Context: This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and they are not burdensome.

1 John 2:4

Context: He who says 'I know Him' and does not keep His commandments is a liar.

Matthew 10:37

Context: He who loves father or mother more than Christ is not worthy of Him.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 2:16-17

Context: Weaver quotes Henry on God's grant to Adam and the condition of obedience for continued life and happiness.

John Gill's Commentary on Ezekiel 24:16

Context: Gill describes Ezekiel's wife as the desire of his eyes, likely beautiful and godly, taken by sudden death.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 24:16-17

Context: Henry explains that Ezekiel was forbidden to use customary mourning practices, though he had reason to mourn.

Matthew Poole's Commentary on Ezekiel 24:15-18

Context: Poole suggests Ezekiel received the revelation the evening before, giving him little time to prepare for his wife's death.

Important Quotes

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord.

Significance: Establishes the biblical principle of total obedience as the standard for believers.

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.

Significance: Reinforces that obedience must be complete and sincere, not selective.

Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.

Significance: Quoted from Acts 3:22 to show that hearing Christ implies obeying Him in everything.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Significance: Demonstrates that the fall occurred when sight and desire replaced God's command.

When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them.

Significance: Achan's confession mirrors Eve's sin: seeing, coveting, and taking despite God's command.

Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Significance: Samson's demand shows he prioritized his desires over God's law and his parents' counsel.

Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

Significance: God's command to Ezekiel forbids natural grief, testing his obedience to the utmost.

So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

Significance: Ezekiel's immediate obedience despite devastating loss is the central example of the sermon.

Discussion Questions

How does the argument from the lesser to the greater (children/servants obeying in all things) challenge our selective obedience to God?

Context: Weaver uses Colossians 3:20, 22 to argue that if earthly authorities require total obedience, how much more our Heavenly Father.

In what ways do we, like Adam and Eve, trade a commandment-oriented life for a feeling-oriented life?

Context: Weaver explains that the fall was a shift from obeying God's word to following sight and desire.

How can we identify when our feelings or desires are hindering our obedience to God's commands?

Context: Weaver lists common excuses like 'I don't feel like praying' and contrasts them with biblical commands.

What does Ezekiel's response to his wife's death teach us about obeying God in the midst of personal tragedy?

Context: Ezekiel obeyed God's command not to mourn, showing that obedience must transcend even the deepest emotions.

How does our view of God's sovereignty affect the degree of our obedience?

Context: Weaver states that if we believe God is absolutely sovereign, we will submit to Him and obey Him.

What practical steps can we take to move from a feeling-oriented life to a commandment-oriented life?

Context: Weaver concludes that salvation restores us to a commandment-oriented life, but we must purposely endeavor to obey.

Applications

Obey God in all things, not just when it feels right

Summary: Believers must obey God's commands regardless of their emotions or desires, following the example of Ezekiel.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'You do what God commands. And everything will work out for you.'

Examine whether feelings or desires are driving your decisions

Summary: Christians should evaluate if they are living by principles and commandments or by fleeting feelings.

Evidence: Weaver warns, 'most people live on their feelings. They don't live by principles. They don't live by commandments.'

Submit to God's sovereignty in every area of life

Summary: Recognizing God as Creator, Father, and Redeemer should lead to total submission and obedience.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Total obedience requires total submission. Total submission requires total recognition of who God is and who we are.'

Do not let personal tragedy become an excuse for disobedience

Summary: Even in devastating loss, God's grace is sufficient to enable obedience, as seen in Ezekiel's life.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Doesn't that make our whining and our complaining pale in significance to such a devastating loss?'

Love God supremely by keeping His commandments

Summary: True love for God is demonstrated through obedience, not merely emotional expressions.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John 14:21 and 1 John 5:3 to show that keeping commandments is the love of God.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:55:44Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:10:18Z

Clean Transcript

Scope Of Christian Obedience

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

She said, "Did you hear me?" I said, "Of course, I'm just not answering you." I saw a lady today with a shirt on that said, "I hear you. I'm just ignoring you." But anyhow, he was talking about some of the tyranny. I read today where a man in Michigan had his house stolen from him by the state of Michigan because he miscalculated the interest on this property tax by eight bucks and 41 cents. And so the property was valued at $160,000. And the state confiscated it, sold it for $24,000, got their $841, and kept the remainder for themselves. And then they said that is legal in Michigan. So wow. Anyhow, well, it's good to be here. I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel 24. And what I'm going to do is wait to read this passage, but I do want you to have your Bibles marked because we will come back there. That will be our text. So before I get to explain and expound the text, I'm going to be giving you a lot of other scriptures as well that will lead up to it, Lord willing.
#1 | 0:00 to 1:29 | cleaned
So tonight I want to bring a message which I'm calling "The Scope of Christian Obedience." Most of us hear the word obedience and we tend to think that basically we are obedient Christians as well. And many times we read the scriptures and we hear the word obedience, and we tend to think, well, you know, I'm all right, I'm pretty good. When you talk about the scope of Christian obedience, you have to understand that the word scope means something like the extent or the range of Christian obedience.
#2 | 1:30 to 2:06 | cleaned
It could also refer to the outlook. It could also refer to what you and I would call the aim or purpose. So if really time allowed, we could really expand on what is known as the scope of Christian obedience. If you consider the scope of Christian obedience, we have some very succinct answers given us in the Bible, especially if you argue what is known as the argument from the lesser to the greater. Our Lord did this many, many times, and especially Matthew chapter 6, He would say, like, "Consider the sparrows" or "Consider the lilies." And then He would go on to say, "Are you not much more valuable than many sparrows?"
#3 | 2:07 to 2:49 | cleaned
And does not God take care of you? And all He's doing is arguing from the lesser to the greater. So let me just give you a couple of arguments from the lesser to the greater. You and I both understand the fact that God commands children to obey their parents. Now, if God commands earthly and fleshly children to obey their parents, what is the scope of their obedience? Well, the answer is given to us in the book of Colossians chapter 3 and verse 20, because the Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord."
#4 | 2:50 to 3:28 | cleaned
So the child does not get to pick and choose. The child does not get to say, "Well, I like this or I don't like that, and so I might obey and I might not obey." No, no, no. The Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in all things." Now, if God then requires earthly children to obey their parents in all things, do you not think by extension He would also call His children in grace and mercy to obey their Heavenly Father in all things as well? And then when you get to that passage in 1 Corinthians 6, when the Bible speaks about the fact that we are not our own, we are bought with a price.
#5 | 3:29 to 4:09 | cleaned
In other words, we're basically what you and I would call the servants and the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, anytime you see the Apostle Paul in the New Testament saying, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," the Greek word is *doulos*, which literally means a slave. He's calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ. And when you get to 1 Corinthians 6, the Bible says what?
#6 | 4:09 to 4:32 | cleaned
"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God? Ye are not your own. Ye have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are His." So now, if you confess and acknowledge that you are a child of God, then you can by extension say, just like God commands earthly children to obey their parents in all things, so God commands me as a heavenly child, a child of heaven, to obey my Father in all things.
#7 | 4:32 to 5:03 | cleaned
Now, since I am a servant also and a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, do you not know that servants and slaves are bound to obey their masters? Well, how far are they to obey them? What is the scope of their obedience? Well, the Bible answers that in Colossians 3 and verse 22, "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord." But notice what he said, "Servants, obey in all things." So the servant does not get to pick and choose. The servant does not say, "I like this, I'm going to do it." The servant does not get to say, "I don't like shoveling manure, so therefore I'm not going to shovel manure." I'm sorry. If God calls you to shovel manure, that's exactly what you're supposed to be doing. Because a servant or slave has no choice in the matter. Again, so the Lord then considers that you and I are to be obedient in every area of our life.
#8 | 5:03 to 6:02 | cleaned
I want you to look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Acts chapter 3 and verse 22. Look in Acts chapter 3 and verse 22. You remember Moses, the man of God, in Deuteronomy chapter 18, talked about how God was going to raise up a prophet like unto himself. Well, look, if you would, please, in Acts chapter 3 and verse 22, and you'll see the quote taken from Deuteronomy chapter 18. Notice in Acts chapter 3, notice, please, verse 22, the Bible says, "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you." Now, if you are to hear in all things whatsoever He said, what are the implications? Well, the very first one is if you were to hear in all things, that means you are to obey in all things.
#9 | 6:02 to 7:01 | cleaned
In other words, the scope is absolute total and complete obedience. Now, it's not just that we like this and we're going to do it or we don't like that and we're not going to do it. It's not that we get to pick and we get to choose. No, God says we are to obey in all things. We have to come to several realizations. Number one, He is the Father, we're the child. Number two, He is the Creator, we are the creature. Number three, He is the Redeemer, we are the redeemed.
#10 | 7:01 to 7:37 | cleaned
We must recognize that He is in control and we are to be the controlled. We must also recognize that He is the potter and we are the clay. In other words, we have to realize and recognize, like the Apostle Paul said in Acts 17, that in Him we live and move and have our being. Without Him, there is no life. Without Him, there is no being. Without Him, there is no moving.
#11 | 7:37 to 8:04 | cleaned
Now, here's a simple truth that we have to understand. We have to understand that God is totally and completely sovereign. He has all power, all authority, and all jurisdiction.
#12 | 8:04 to 8:15 | cleaned
Now, many people have taken the idea and the attitude that Pharaoh took. You remember when Moses came to Pharaoh. And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me." And Pharaoh gave an answer in Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2, and here's what he said. And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."
#13 | 8:16 to 8:48 | cleaned
I want you to stop and think about this. Pharaoh asked this question, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him and let Israel go?" I want you to understand there was ignorance on Pharaoh's part exactly as to who God was. And then he made this statement, "I know Him not." That is, I don't recognize Him. I will not count Him as sovereign. I will not count Him as Lord. And consequently, because I do not count Him as Lord and I do not count Him as sovereign, then I'm not going to obey Him. I want you to understand something. Our obedience comes down to our concept of God. If you don't know who God is, you're not going to obey God. If you don't understand God's sovereignty, you're not going to obey God. You have to understand something. Total obedience requires total submission. Total submission requires total recognition of who God is and who we are. So if God is the sovereign, that means we are not. If God is in control, that means we are not in control.
#14 | 8:48 to 10:07 | cleaned
If God is the Creator, we have to be the creature. If God is the Father, we have to be the child. If God is the Redeemer, we have to be the redeemed. I want you to understand that obedience is a sovereignly dictated order of life. Let me say that again. Obedience is a sovereignly dictated order of life.
#15 | 10:08 to 10:31 | cleaned
Now, before I get to our text, I want to show you some things of how wrong we are and how we got to where we are. So I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. And I want you to notice, if you would please, what God says to Adam. Genesis chapter 2. And let's read verses 15 through 17. God has created Adam.
#16 | 10:33 to 11:01 | cleaned
He's placed him in the garden. Genesis 2 verse 15. "And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Now, go back to verse 16 for a moment. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying." And the Lord God commanded the man, saying. The word commanded is a very interesting word. It doesn't mean just that God charged Adam, or that God commanded Adam. It does mean that, obviously.
#17 | 11:01 to 11:49 | cleaned
But it means more than that. It literally means that God placed Adam under an oath. Adam was the creature. God was the Creator. Adam was the man, God was God. And so God put Adam in the garden. He gave him a command, a charge. He actually put him under an oath, "You will obey me in the totality of your life. Here I am. And there you are."
#18 | 11:49 to 12:23 | cleaned
And your responsibility is obedience. In other words, everything that Adam had, he owed to God. His life he owed to God. His creation he owed to God. His position he owed to God. The fruits of the garden he owed to God. Everything that he had owed to God. Have you ever stopped to think that everything we have and everything we are, actually we owe to Him? Have you ever stopped to think, even in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, when all those people were giving all that money to the temple, you know what David said?
#19 | 12:23 to 12:59 | cleaned
"Out of Thine own have we given back to Thee." In other words, we can't give You anything because everything we have, You gave to us. And so Adam now is in the garden and God has graciously given to Adam all the fruits of the trees of the garden. He's just reserved one tree to Himself. And said, "You don't eat of this tree. This one is Mine. Everything else you can have." I want to give you just a couple of quotes. The first one is from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry is talking about Genesis chapter 2, verse 16 and 17. Listen to what he says, "A confirmation of his present happiness to him in that grant of every tree of the garden he may freely eat."
#20 | 13:00 to 13:47 | cleaned
"This was not only an allowance of liberty unto him in taking the delicious fruits of paradise as a recompense for his care and pains in dressing and keeping it, but it was with an assurance of life to him, immortal life upon his obedience. For the tree of life being put in the midst of the garden and as the heart and soul of it, doubtless God had an eye to that too especially in this grant. And therefore when upon his revolt the grant was recalled, no notice is taken of the tree of life in the garden as prohibited him except the tree of life, of which there it is said he might eat thereof and live forever."
#21 | 13:49 to 14:32 | cleaned
That is, he would have never died and never lost his happiness had he remained obedient and eaten of that tree. In other words, God was basically saying this to Adam, "Continue thou in holiness, continue thou in conformity of thy Creator's will, and thou shalt continue in life and thou shalt continue in happiness." And certainly that's exactly where we are today. And that's exactly what God says to us. As long as we continue in obedience, as long as we continue in happiness, then God is going to continue to bless us. So God then placed Adam in the garden and God says, "Here's what I want from you. I want your personal obedience. I want your perfect obedience and I want your perpetual obedience." And God says, "As long as you obey Me personally, perfectly and perpetually, then everything is yours forever. It's just yours. You may have it. You may enjoy it."
#22 | 14:32 to 15:32 | cleaned
Now, there are two points that I want you to really grasp before we get any further. The first one is this: that when God created Adam and placed him in the garden, He placed him under a commandment-oriented life. In other words, it's very simple. God said to Adam, "Do this and thou shalt live. Do this and thou shalt die." So don't do this. So God told Adam, "Here are My commands. You do this and you live. You break My commands and you die." So originally, then, when God created Adam—now, I want you to keep this in mind—God placed him under a commandment-oriented life. It's just that simple. Secondly is this: absolutely nothing was to get in the way of Adam's obedience to God. He was obligated to God. He owed Him. God was his Creator, Sustainer, Provider and Protector. Obedience was his first and foremost duty, and he was responsible to render that obedience to God personally, perfectly and perpetually. So God created him. He put him under the commandment-oriented life.
#23 | 15:33 to 16:59 | cleaned
So here's the question. What happened? What happened? Well, I want you to look in Genesis chapter 3. I want us to read the first seven verses, and then I'm going to give you some answers to what happened. Notice Genesis chapter 3, beginning there with verse 1.
#24 | 16:59 to 17:25 | cleaned
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened."
#25 | 17:25 to 17:57 | cleaned
"Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."
#26 | 17:57 to 18:22 | cleaned
Now, I told you how God created Adam. And by the way, without me going into all the scriptures, you can find them in Colossians 3 and Ephesians chapter 4. But when God created Adam, He created him with original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. And He placed him under that commandment-oriented life. And then you get to Genesis chapter 3 and you ask what happened? Well, so many people answer and they will give this answer. They will say, "Well, here's what happened. Adam and Eve were tempted."
#27 | 18:22 to 18:55 | cleaned
May I surprise you with a statement? Temptation is not sin. It may lead to sin, but temptation is not sin in and of itself. There have been plenty of Christians, even plenty of non-Christians that have been tempted to do certain things, but never did them. It's not sin to be tempted. It is sin to yield to the temptation. And may I remind you that even our Lord was tempted according to Matthew chapter 4, the Spirit of the Lord led Him into the wilderness where He was tempted 40 days and 40 nights. So don't say, "Well, Adam and Eve were tempted."
#28 | 18:57 to 19:39 | cleaned
That's not the answer as to what happened. Certainly they were tempted. That is for sure. But the temptation itself did not ensure the fall. So we could say, yes, they were tempted. So someone has said, "Well, here's the answer. What Eve did was she added to the word of God. God said, 'Not eat of that tree,' but she says, look at it if you would please. In verse 3, 'But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'" Someone is going to say, "Aha. There she is adding to the word of God for God just said, 'You shall not eat of it.' He didn't say that you should not touch it." Well, let me tell you something. What Eve just confessed in verse 3 is a truth. She was not adding to the word of God. Let me explain it. Here's the principle.
#29 | 19:40 to 20:41 | cleaned
When God forbids any act, at the same time He forbids anything and everything that would lead up to that act. OK, so here's the fruit and God says, "Don't eat it." Well, you're not going to be able to eat it unless you touch it. And the touching and grabbing the fruit is the beginning of the sin. In other words, let me explain it like this. God says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." He's forbidding the act of adultery. In forbidding that act, He also forbids lust. He also forbids covetousness. He also forbids vain and wicked and foolish thoughts. In other words, He forbids everything that leads up to that. When God says, "Thou shalt not murder," at the same time He's forbidding anger and strife and bitterness and ill will and hard feelings that would lead up to that. And so obviously when Eve said, "You shall not touch it," she's not necessarily adding to the word of God. She's saying you can't eat it without touching it. And so therefore, if I touch it, that means I'm grabbing for it and I'm violating the word of God.
#30 | 20:41 to 21:54 | cleaned
Just like lusting would be a violation of the word of God, just like covetousness would be a violation of the word of God. So obviously, just simply because she added something there does not necessarily mean that she was wrong. Well, what happened? Well, the answer is that which caused Adam to sin is the same thing that causes us to sin. That which caused Eve to sin is the same thing that causes each of us to sin. Now, please let me just make this statement. Although Eve was the first to sin, sin did not come into the world by Eve. Sin came in the world by Adam. Eve is the one that took the fruit, and then she turned around and gave it to Adam. Did you know the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 14, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." In other words, Eve was really deceived, but Adam knew exactly what he was doing. Now, wait a minute. Think about this. God's covenant was with Adam.
#31 | 21:55 to 23:17 | cleaned
That's why in Romans 5 and verse 12, the Bible says this: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." All of us sinned in Adam. God's covenant was not with Eve. God's covenant was with Adam. She was in the covenant due to her relationship to Adam, but Adam was the one in the covenant, and sin came in the world by Adam, not by Eve, even though Eve was the first one to sin, per se. Now, you see, when you get to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 45 through 48, you will understand that Adam was our representative.
#32 | 23:19 to 24:01 | cleaned
He was there in our stead. He was our federal head. He was our representative. And what he did, we did. When he sinned, we sinned. When he fell, we fell. When he died, we died. That's why the Bible said, and I just quoted it, "Wherefore by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, for that all sinned." It is an aorist passive, which means it's something that happened once and for all. Well, when did all of us sin once and for all? And the answer is in Adam, because he was our federal head and representative.
#33 | 24:02 to 24:36 | cleaned
Now you say, "I don't like that. I don't like being in Adam like that." Well, if that's the truth, then you don't like being in Jesus Christ like that. Because Jesus Christ is called the second man and Jesus Christ is called the last Adam in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 45 through 48 as well. Because Jesus Christ was the second chronologically in time and history to sustain that federal headship in relationship. And the scripture tells us that when Jesus Christ died, we died in Him.
#34 | 24:37 to 25:06 | cleaned
When He was buried, we were buried. When He was raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead. When He ascended to heaven, we ascended to heaven. When He sat down at the right hand of God, we sat down with Him. He's the head, we're the body. So, the truth of the matter is, Adam was a federal head and representative.
#35 | 25:07 to 25:25 | cleaned
Now, let me show you what happened. Look in Genesis 3 and verse 6. Watch carefully. Genesis 3 verse 6. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
#36 | 25:25 to 25:53 | cleaned
Now, let me ask you a question. Where in verse 6 is the word commandment or command? And the answer is, it is not there. What is there? Is sight. Pleasantness. And desire. I want to repeat something. I want you to listen very carefully. When God created Adam, He placed him under a commandment-oriented life. Now here in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6, there's no commandment anywhere around. I see. Oh, this is pleasant. I want it. I'll take it.
#37 | 25:53 to 26:52 | cleaned
What Eve did was she took her desires. She took her emotions. She took what was pleasant to her and placed all of that above God's commandment, and she sinned against God.
#38 | 26:55 to 27:14 | cleaned
Now, Adam knew what he was doing. I wish I had time to preach on that. Adam knew what he was doing. But Adam's sin was this: he had regard to his wife, and he took. He knew exactly what he was doing. And he took because of his wife. And in that instance, he was also violating God's law, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," because he was placing Eve above God and above God's commandment.
#39 | 27:15 to 27:44 | cleaned
So let me explain it like this. Let me tell you what's happening. I'm going to show it to you more in scripture. But here's what is happening. Adam and Eve were trading the commandment-oriented life for a feeling-oriented life. They were trading a commandment-oriented life for a feeling-oriented life.
#40 | 27:45 to 28:08 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joshua chapter 6. I'm going to show you. This goes throughout the scripture. Notice if you would please Joshua chapter 6. Everybody knows, or at least you should know about the fall of Jericho. And of course, Jericho was condemned by God. Look in Joshua chapter 6, beginning there with verse 17. God says concerning Jericho, "And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it." And then he goes on to say, "But all the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasure of the Lord." Now, here's a plain command to all of these Israelites.
#41 | 28:08 to 28:44 | cleaned
Don't touch anything in Jericho. It is all condemned. It is all under the curse. You take it, you are going to make yourselves a curse as well. That's all there is to it.
#42 | 28:45 to 29:19 | cleaned
Now, you know the story of Achan, or at least I hope you know the story. Look if you would, please, in Joshua chapter 7. Notice if you would, please. Achan steals and hides in his tent. In Joshua chapter 7, beginning there with verse 20, now watch carefully.
#43 | 29:19 to 29:33 | cleaned
"And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it."
#44 | 29:33 to 29:57 | cleaned
Now I want you to watch carefully. God has said, "Don't touch anything in Jericho. It's a curse. If you touch it, you're going to die too. You'll be a curse." And so what did Achan do? He saw it and he took it. So he said this. Look carefully now. He said, "When I saw"—that is, it's pleasant to the eyes—"and then two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, I coveted them."
#45 | 30:09 to 30:22 | cleaned
That is, I lusted after them. I wanted them. I felt like having them. And I took them. And I hid them under my tent. And I hope you know the outcome was Achan, his family were stoned to death and then everything was piled upon them and burned. Adam and Eve had already shown us that death is absolutely certain from disobedience. And now Achan comes along and he proves it. Here's what he wanted to do.
#46 | 30:22 to 30:51 | cleaned
He desired that goodly Babylonish garment. He desired that silver. He desired that gold. And he said, "I wanted it, and I took it." It didn't matter about the commandments. It didn't matter what God said. I saw it. I wanted it. I took it. May I remind you what the Bible says in 1 John 2? In fact, turn there. Turn to 1 John 2. Look at it. 1 John chapter 2 beginning there with verse 15. Watch carefully. 1 John 2 and verse 15. Look what the Bible says.
#47 | 30:51 to 31:31 | cleaned
This is what we've been talking about. 1 John 2 verse 15. God says this, "Love not the world." Now He's talking about the world system. He's talking about everything that's contrary to God. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." So he actually sums everything up in verse 16 by saying, you have the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of heart. That's exactly what Adam and Eve did. That's exactly what Achan did.
#48 | 31:32 to 32:08 | cleaned
In other words, it did not matter about God's commandments. What did matter was what they wanted.
#49 | 32:09 to 32:55 | cleaned
Now, I want you also to look in your Bibles to the book of Judges chapter 14, just over a few pages, Judges chapter 14. And let's read about Samson because everybody loves Samson. Samson was an ordinary man with the power of God upon him, which made him an exceedingly strong man. But I want you to watch this. I'm trying to explain to you what has happened. What is happening? I want you to watch carefully. Judges chapter 14 verse 1. "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife."
#50 | 32:58 to 33:04 | cleaned
"Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel."
#51 | 33:07 to 33:55 | cleaned
Now, I want to show you how obviously Samson was violating God's word. You see, in the book of Exodus, chapter 34, verses 12 through 16, and in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verses 1 through 5, God expressly forbade the Israelites from intermarrying with the heathen, and especially the Philistines. Samson knew this. His father and mother knew it. So when he came to his father and mother and said, "I found a woman of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me to wife," daddy said, "Whoa. Whoa, wait a minute, son. Is there never a woman in your own tribe? Yeah, could you not get a good little Israelite lady out of your own tribe? And listen, if you can't find one in your own tribe, there are 11 other tribes. Don't get a Philistine woman." Now watch this. It doesn't matter that God had forbidden him to marry a Philistine woman. It didn't matter that he was violating the fifth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother," because the father's expression is saying, "Don't do this." But I want you to look what he said.
#52 | 33:55 to 34:26 | cleaned
Look if you would please, verse 3, "Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well." What? You know what the word pleaseth means? Look it up in your concordance. It means it's agreeable in my eyes. It's right in my eyes.
#53 | 34:26 to 35:49 | cleaned
I don't see anything wrong with it. I like this woman. You get her for me to wife. Here are God's commandments. And here is Samson saying, "I don't care what God said. She pleases me. Well, get her. I don't see anything wrong with it." Oh, I hope you know that although this did not work out, later on he went down to another Philistine woman by the name of Delilah.
#54 | 35:50 to 36:30 | cleaned
You'll read about that in chapter 16. And Delilah was the one that deceived him, cut his hair. And what did they do to him? They gouged out his eyes and put him in the prison house and made him grind. Samson lost his life, he lost his eyes, he lost his ministry because he could not control his desires. Lost his life and his family because of his lusts and his desires. He could not control them. Adam and Eve lost their lives and their posterity's lives because of their desires and their emotions.
#55 | 36:30 to 37:09 | cleaned
Now I want you to listen to me. This is exactly where we are today. The point in this message is this: we must obey in all things. Literally, our lives are to be brought in total conformity to the word of God, period. And the two main hindrances that we have are our feelings and our desires. I don't feel like obeying. I don't desire to do that. Well, do you realize that most people live on their feelings? They don't live by principles. They don't live by commandments. They live by feelings. And you know, it is a ploy of the enemy to tempt you and to make you think that you cannot do what God commands you to do just simply because you don't feel like doing it and you can't help yourself. How many times have you said, "I don't feel like praying"? It doesn't matter how you feel. God said, "Pray without ceasing." Well, "I don't feel like studying my Bible." I don't care. God says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."
#56 | 37:10 to 38:04 | cleaned
Well, "I don't feel like going to church." I don't care. God said, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is." Well, "I don't feel like giving." I don't care. God commanded you to give. You see what I'm saying? You have a commandment-oriented life, and you have a feeling-oriented life. And most people are just living by their feelings. And we have swallowed the old adage, hook, line, and sinker.
#57 | 38:05 to 39:32 | cleaned
"If it feels good, do it." We've also swallowed the opposite. "If it doesn't feel good, don't do it." We're just living by our feelings. We're living by our emotions. It doesn't matter what God commands to most people. We're like Samson. "I see her. I want her. Get her for me. I don't care." We're like Achan. "I want it. I don't care what God says. I'll take it if I have to steal it and spit in God's face." The biggest problem that you and I have are our feelings and our desires. Now, here's what I want to do tonight. I want to show you that neither our feelings or our desires should hinder us in obeying God.
#58 | 39:32 to 39:57 | cleaned
And Ezekiel is a prime illustration of this fact. So I want you to turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 24. Ezekiel chapter 24. And I want us to read Ezekiel 24 verse 15. I want you to watch it. I'm going to come back and explain it. "Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke."
#59 | 39:57 to 40:59 | cleaned
"Yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded."
#60 | 41:02 to 41:42 | cleaned
Ezekiel was a priest that God called to be a prophet. He was in Babylon, and in Babylon he was a sign not only to the people who were in Babylon, but to those who were to come to Babylon. He was also a sign to the people in Jerusalem whom God was sending the Babylonians against. He was also a sign that the temple was going to be destroyed. We have to understand that which happened to Ezekiel in order to understand that it is not our emotions, it is not our desires that counts, it is God's commandment.
#61 | 41:44 to 42:07 | cleaned
Now I want you to look in verse 16. The word of God came to him in verse 15. And here's what the word of God said in verse 16, "Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke." What was the desire of his eyes? It was his wife. "I'm going to take your wife away from you. I'm going to take her away very quickly." I want you to listen.
#62 | 42:08 to 42:45 | cleaned
John Gill, in his commentary, wrote this one paragraph: "I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke, meaning his wife, who very probably was of beautiful countenance and goodly to look to, however of an amiable disposition, and in her conjugal relation very agreeable to the prophet, and no doubt a truly religious woman, and upon all accounts desirable to him. This lovely object of his affection, the Lord who is sovereign in the disposer of all persons, signifies that he would take away from him by death his wife unto himself. That is, suddenly and at once, and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it with a sudden stroke, as sometimes persons are struck with death at once."
#63 | 42:46 to 43:25 | cleaned
So God comes to Ezekiel and says, "Ezekiel, I know you love your wife. I know she's a beautiful woman. I know she's a godly woman, but I'm going to take her. I'm going to take her very quickly." Now here's the thing. It's not just that God told Ezekiel, "I'm going to kill your wife." And not that she was ungodly and certainly not that Ezekiel was ungodly. But at the same time, God forbids him to grieve in any way whatsoever. Look in verse 16.
#64 | 43:26 to 44:25 | cleaned
He said, "Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, don't cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men." I find this absolutely and totally astounding. He can't weep. He can't cry.
#65 | 44:28 to 45:15 | cleaned
He has to act just like nothing has happened. Matthew Henry in his commentary says this: "He must not give way to his passions by weeping or letting his tears run down, though tears are a tribute due to the dead. And when the body is sown, it is fit that it should be thus watered. But Ezekiel is not allowed to do this, though he thought he had as much reason to do it as any man and would perhaps be ill thought of by the people if he did not do it. Much less might he use the customary formalities of mourners."
#66 | 45:16 to 45:55 | cleaned
"He must dress himself in his usual attire, must bind his turban upon his head, here called the tire of his head, must put on his shoes and not go barefoot, as was usual in such cases. He must not cover his lips nor throw a veil over his face, as mourners usually did. He must not be of a sorrowful countenance, appearing unto men to fast. He must not eat the bread of men or expect that his neighbors and friends should send him in provisions, as they usually did in such cases, presuming the mourners had no heart to provide meat for themselves. But if it were sent, he must not eat of it, but go on in his business at other times."
#67 | 45:55 to 46:34 | cleaned
It could not be but greatly against the grain of the flesh not to lament the death of the one he loved so dearly. But God commands it. So here's a man that has a beautiful wife that God says, "Ezekiel, I'm going to take her. You can't cry. You can't mourn. You can't weep. You can't go barefooted. You can't make your head bare. You can't put a veil over your face."
#68 | 46:35 to 47:17 | cleaned
You have to act the way you normally act. Now, I want you to listen to this before I read the next verse. Matthew Poole in his commentary on this verse said this: "It is likely that he, Ezekiel, had this revelation in the night or the evening before. And he tells there'll be times in the morning what God would do in taking away his wife and what he must not do when she is dead and be buried." Now, I want you to consider this just for a moment. If what Matthew Poole said is accurate, and I believe it is, Ezekiel did not really have any time to prepare himself for the death of his wife. In other words, when God told him, "I'm going to take your wife," within 12 to 24 hours, she was dead. Watch it. Look, if you would, at verse 17 again.
#69 | 47:18 to 47:55 | cleaned
God says, "Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died." Can you imagine God coming to you and saying, "I'm going to take your wife in the next 12 to 24 hours. I don't want you to cry. I don't want you to mourn."
#70 | 47:58 to 49:07 | cleaned
Alice and I have been married so long. I had to ask her tonight. How long have we been married? 57 years. She can start a sentence and I can finish it. I know what she's going to say. I know how she's going to act. Unhappily, she can finish my sentences as well. She knows what I'm going to act. I usually tell people if I ever married another woman, her name would have to be Alice because I call that name 100 times a day.
#71 | 49:08 to 49:46 | cleaned
Oftentimes, our hands will touch as we either go to turn the car radio on or to turn it off. The point I'm trying to make, it is almost inconceivable to me to think that God would say, "And 12 hours, she's going to be dead. And you can't cry. And you can't weep. You can't show any emotion. You just have to do what I tell you to do."
#72 | 49:48 to 50:25 | cleaned
Go back to verse 17. He says, "Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded." What are the emotions that Ezekiel went through? What about his feelings?
#73 | 50:34 to 51:14 | cleaned
What about the desire of his eyes? It didn't matter. What God commanded was right and true. Because in this, God was picturing that He's going to destroy the temple that everybody trusted in. And he said, "So at evening my wife died, and in the morning I did as I was commanded." No circumstances, no situations, no desires, no emotions, no feelings caused him to disobey. He just simply obeyed God.
#74 | 51:17 to 51:58 | cleaned
Doesn't that make our whining and our complaining pale in significance to such a devastating loss? I mean, if the grace and mercy of God could uphold Ezekiel, and enable him to obey in the most stressful and distressing of all circumstances, surely His grace is sufficient for us. And how often, how often do you and I complain? And we consider our feelings, our emotions, and our desires, and we consider them in such a way that we completely and totally disregard the Word of God and the commands of God. It's as if we think that we know better than God. It's as if we think that God is insufficient to satisfy us, and we've got to have this lust, we've got to have this desire, we've got to have this obedience in order to make our life full and complete. You see, we profess to love Him, but the truth of the matter is, we love ourselves more than we love Him, because we put our desires, our feelings, our emotions ahead of Him.
#75 | 52:00 to 52:51 | cleaned
I want you to listen to me. When God created Adam, He placed him under a commandment-oriented life. When Adam sinned, we then began a feeling-oriented life. When God saves us, you know what He does? He takes us out of that feeling-oriented life and places us back under a commandment-oriented life. You know what our Lord said in John 14 in verse 21? "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." He that loveth Me not, He said, keepeth not My commandments. Did you know the Bible says in 1 John 5 and verse 3, "And this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."
#76 | 52:59 to 54:20 | cleaned
"And they are not grievous unto us." What is the love of God? It is keeping His commandments. You know, in 1 John 2 and verse 4 says, "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." So when God saves us, He puts us back under commandment-oriented life. No, we're not perfect. I understand that. And yes, I know that we're sinners.
#77 | 54:20 to 55:30 | cleaned
But it does mean this. It does mean that we are to be purposely endeavoring to obey God's commandments rather than our feelings, our emotions and our desires. That's what it means. You know what our Lord said in Matthew 10 in verse 37? Listen carefully. "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. He that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."
#78 | 55:31 to 56:04 | cleaned
We could also include husbands and wives. What is He saying? We must love Him supremely, so that we will obey Him completely. Your view of God will determine the degree of your obedience. If you believe that God is absolutely sovereign, you will submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Father and you're the child, you submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Creator and you're the creature, you will submit to Him and obey Him. If you believe that He's the Redeemer and you're redeemed, you'll submit to Him and obey Him.
#79 | 56:06 to 56:42 | cleaned
If you don't remember anything else from this message, remember this: "In the evening, my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded." You do what God commands. And everything will work out for you. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this night. Lord, we confess we've lived by our feelings. We've lived by our emotions. We've let them get the best of us. We get irritated. We get angry. We get upset. We get bitter. We are impatient. We do all of these things, Lord, and we forget Your commandments. Lord, help us to understand that we're to live under a commandment-oriented life, not a feeling-oriented life. And give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear and obey Thee.
#80 | 56:44 to 57:34 | cleaned
in every area of our life and bring our lives into greater conformity to Your word. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
#81 | 57:39 to 58:47 | cleaned
in every area of our life and bring our lives into greater conformity to your word. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
#82 | 58:48 to 58:57 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:55:44Z

Scope Of Christian Obedience

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver explores the full extent of Christian obedience, arguing that believers must obey God in all things, not based on feelings or desires but on God's sovereign commands. Using examples from Adam and Eve, Achan, Samson, and especially Ezekiel, he contrasts a commandment-oriented life with a feeling-oriented life, urging total submission to God's will regardless of circumstances.

Opening

Introduction: The Scope of Obedience

Weaver introduces the concept of the scope of Christian obedience, emphasizing that it means obeying God in all things, as illustrated by the argument from the lesser to the greater.

Biblical Basis for Total Obedience

Citing Colossians 3:20, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and Acts 3:22, Weaver shows that children, servants, and all believers are commanded to obey in all things, reflecting God's sovereignty.

Scripture Reading — Colossians 3:22

"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord."

But notice what he said,

Scripture Reading — Colossians 3:22

"Servants, obey in all things."

Scripture Reading — Acts 3:22

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you."

Now, if you are to hear in all things whatsoever He said, what are the implications? Well, the very first one is if you were to hear in all things, that means you are to obey in all things.

God's Sovereignty and Our Submission

Weaver explains that obedience flows from recognizing God as Creator, Father, Redeemer, and Potter, and ourselves as creatures, children, redeemed, and clay.

Pharaoh's Rebellion as a Warning

Pharaoh's refusal to obey God in Exodus 5:2 illustrates that ignorance of God's sovereignty leads to disobedience.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 5:2

"Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go."

I want you to stop and think about this. Pharaoh asked this question,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 5:2

"Who is the Lord that I should obey Him and let Israel go?"

Adam's Commandment-Oriented Life

God placed Adam under a commandment-oriented life in Genesis 2:15-17, requiring personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience.

He's placed him in the garden. Genesis 2 verse 15.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 2:15-17

"And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Now, go back to verse 16 for a moment.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 2:15-17

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying."

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying. The word commanded is a very interesting word. It doesn't mean just that God charged Adam, or that God commanded Adam. It does mean that, obviously.

The Fall: Trading Commandment for Feeling

In Genesis 3:6, Eve and Adam prioritized sight, pleasantness, and desire over God's command, shifting from a commandment-oriented to a feeling-oriented life.

Old Testament Examples of Feeling-Oriented Sin

Achan (Joshua 7:20-21) and Samson (Judges 14:1-3) both sinned by following their desires rather than God's commands, leading to death and destruction.

Don't touch anything in Jericho. It is all condemned. It is all under the curse. You take it, you are going to make yourselves a curse as well. That's all there is to it.

Scripture Reading — Joshua 7:20-21

"And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it."

Scripture Reading — 1 John 2:15-17

" So he actually sums everything up in verse 16 by saying, you have the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of heart. That's exactly what Adam and Eve did. That's exactly what Achan did.

The Modern Problem of Feelings Over Commands

Weaver diagnoses that many Christians live by feelings rather than God's commands, using excuses like 'I don't feel like it' to avoid prayer, Bible study, church, and giving.

Ezekiel's Obedience Amidst Loss

Ezekiel 24:15-18 shows Ezekiel obeying God's command not to mourn his wife's sudden death, demonstrating that obedience must override even the deepest emotions.

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 24:15-18

"Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke."

Application: Returning to Commandment-Oriented Living

Salvation restores believers to a commandment-oriented life; we must purposely obey God's commands rather than our feelings, loving Him supremely.

Scripture Reading — John 14:21

"And they are not grievous unto us." What is the love of God? It is keeping His commandments. You know, in 1 John 2 and verse 4 says, "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." So when God saves us, He puts us back under commandment-oriented life. No, we're not perfect. I understand that. And yes, I know that we're sinners.

Scope Of Christian Obedience

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	418201648586516
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James
Genre	Sermon
Date	2019-11-06
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 12
Source Timed Segments	82

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Scope of Obedience: Weaver introduces the concept of the scope of Christian obedience, emphasizing that it means obeying God in all things, as illustrated by the argument from the lesser to the greater.
Biblical Basis for Total Obedience: Citing Colossians 3:20, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and Acts 3:22, Weaver shows that children, servants, and all believers are commanded to obey in all things, reflecting God's sovereignty.
God's Sovereignty and Our Submission: Weaver explains that obedience flows from recognizing God as Creator, Father, Redeemer, and Potter, and ourselves as creatures, children, redeemed, and clay.
Pharaoh's Rebellion as a Warning: Pharaoh's refusal to obey God in Exodus 5:2 illustrates that ignorance of God's sovereignty leads to disobedience.
Adam's Commandment-Oriented Life: God placed Adam under a commandment-oriented life in Genesis 2:15-17, requiring personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience.
The Fall: Trading Commandment for Feeling: In Genesis 3:6, Eve and Adam prioritized sight, pleasantness, and desire over God's command, shifting from a commandment-oriented to a feeling-oriented life.
Old Testament Examples of Feeling-Oriented Sin: Achan (Joshua 7:20-21) and Samson (Judges 14:1-3) both sinned by following their desires rather than God's commands, leading to death and destruction.
The Modern Problem of Feelings Over Commands: Weaver diagnoses that many Christians live by feelings rather than God's commands, using excuses like 'I don't feel like it' to avoid prayer, Bible study, church, and giving.
Ezekiel's Obedience Amidst Loss: Ezekiel 24:15-18 shows Ezekiel obeying God's command not to mourn his wife's sudden death, demonstrating that obedience must override even the deepest emotions.
Application: Returning to Commandment-Oriented Living: Salvation restores believers to a commandment-oriented life; we must purposely obey God's commands rather than our feelings, loving Him supremely.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The argument from lesser to greater demands total obedience

If earthly children and servants must obey in all things, then God's children and servants must obey Him in all things.

Weaver uses Colossians 3:20, 22 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 to build this argument.

The fall was a shift from commandment to feeling

Adam and Eve's sin was not merely eating fruit but prioritizing their desires over God's explicit command.

Weaver points out that in Genesis 3:6, the word 'commandment' is absent; instead, sight, pleasantness, and desire drive the action.

Feelings and desires are the primary hindrances to obedience

Modern Christians often excuse disobedience by claiming they don't feel like obeying, mirroring the sins of Achan and Samson.

Weaver lists common excuses: 'I don't feel like praying... studying my Bible... going to church... giving.'

Ezekiel proves obedience is possible despite overwhelming emotions

Ezekiel obeyed God's command not to mourn his wife's death, showing that God's grace enables obedience in the most distressing circumstances.

Weaver emphasizes Ezekiel 24:18 and asks, 'Doesn't that make our whining and our complaining pale in significance?'

Salvation restores the commandment-oriented life

When God saves us, He places us back under a commandment-oriented life, calling us to purposely obey His commands.

Weaver states, 'When God saves us, you know what He does? He takes us out of that feeling-oriented life and places us back under a commandment-oriented life.'

Scripture References

Colossians 3:20: Children are commanded to obey their parents in all things, illustrating total obedience.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: Believers are not their own but bought with a price, therefore they must glorify God in body and spirit.
Colossians 3:22: Servants are to obey their masters in all things, not with eye-service but fearing the Lord.
Acts 3:22: Moses' prophecy that a prophet like him would come, and the people must hear Him in all things.
Exodus 5:2: Pharaoh's refusal to obey God because he did not know or recognize the Lord.
Genesis 2:15-17: God placed Adam in the garden and commanded him not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:1-7: The temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, where they ate the forbidden fruit.
1 Timothy 2:14: Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Romans 5:12: Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, because all sinned.
Joshua 6:17-19: God's command to destroy Jericho and not take any accursed things.
Joshua 7:20-21: Achan's confession that he saw, coveted, and took the accursed items.
1 John 2:15-17: The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life are not of the Father but of the world.
Judges 14:1-3: Samson saw a Philistine woman and demanded her as wife because she pleased him well.
Ezekiel 24:15-18: God tells Ezekiel his wife will die, and commands him not to mourn; Ezekiel obeys.
John 14:21: He who has Christ's commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Him.
1 John 5:3: This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and they are not burdensome.
1 John 2:4: He who says 'I know Him' and does not keep His commandments is a liar.
Matthew 10:37: He who loves father or mother more than Christ is not worthy of Him.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 2:16-17: Weaver quotes Henry on God's grant to Adam and the condition of obedience for continued life and happiness.
John Gill's Commentary on Ezekiel 24:16: Gill describes Ezekiel's wife as the desire of his eyes, likely beautiful and godly, taken by sudden death.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 24:16-17: Henry explains that Ezekiel was forbidden to use customary mourning practices, though he had reason to mourn.
Matthew Poole's Commentary on Ezekiel 24:15-18: Poole suggests Ezekiel received the revelation the evening before, giving him little time to prepare for his wife's death.

Important Quotes

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord.

Establishes the biblical principle of total obedience as the standard for believers.

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord.

Reinforces that obedience must be complete and sincere, not selective.

Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.

Quoted from Acts 3:22 to show that hearing Christ implies obeying Him in everything.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Demonstrates that the fall occurred when sight and desire replaced God's command.

When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them.

Achan's confession mirrors Eve's sin: seeing, coveting, and taking despite God's command.

Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Samson's demand shows he prioritized his desires over God's law and his parents' counsel.

Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

God's command to Ezekiel forbids natural grief, testing his obedience to the utmost.

So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

Ezekiel's immediate obedience despite devastating loss is the central example of the sermon.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the argument from the lesser to the greater (children/servants obeying in all things) challenge our selective obedience to God?

[Context]

Weaver uses Colossians 3:20, 22 to argue that if earthly authorities require total obedience, how much more our Heavenly Father.

[Question]

In what ways do we, like Adam and Eve, trade a commandment-oriented life for a feeling-oriented life?

[Context]

Weaver explains that the fall was a shift from obeying God's word to following sight and desire.

[Question]

How can we identify when our feelings or desires are hindering our obedience to God's commands?

[Context]

Weaver lists common excuses like 'I don't feel like praying' and contrasts them with biblical commands.

[Question]

What does Ezekiel's response to his wife's death teach us about obeying God in the midst of personal tragedy?

[Context]

Ezekiel obeyed God's command not to mourn, showing that obedience must transcend even the deepest emotions.

[Question]

How does our view of God's sovereignty affect the degree of our obedience?

[Context]

Weaver states that if we believe God is absolutely sovereign, we will submit to Him and obey Him.

[Question]

What practical steps can we take to move from a feeling-oriented life to a commandment-oriented life?

[Context]

Weaver concludes that salvation restores us to a commandment-oriented life, but we must purposely endeavor to obey.

Applications

Format deepseek deepseek-v4-pro structured study JSON | Source Commentary.net transcript enrichment

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:10:18Z