So today we come to a topic, what do you do when you don't feel like obeying God? And I mentioned to one of the folks here before we started, I really am grateful to be able to teach some of these topics because in the process of compiling my material, I'm essentially counseling my own soul. And so working through these topics, week by week has been incredibly helpful, and I pray that it's helpful for each of you as well. But the topic before us today, what do you do when you don't feel like obeying God, is one of the most foundational issues of all. So it really underlies most, if not all, of the other topics we'll be dealing with. So at least that's the the observation that I've made in working through this, but some initial comments, the title, what do you do when you don't feel like obeying God? The key word there is feel, and I think we can all resonate with the times when our emotions, when our affect isn't in line with God's will, and yet there's a difference between I don't feel like, and I choose to. When we say I don't feel like, we're dealing with our emotions, we're dealing with our affections. When we say I choose to, we're dealing with our will, we're dealing with our volition. But I would say at the very outset that these are not antithetical to each other. What the scripture will teach is that it's both and, not either or. So obedience is not devoid of our emotional engagement in doing what God would call us to do. As a matter of fact, it's integral to what God calls us to do. But the relationship between how we feel and what we ultimately choose to do, those two have to be in sync with each other. And that is really the key that we'll be working through today. But we choose to obey what we perceive. And I pick that word very specifically because the way we conduct our Christian life is really in large part a matter of perceptions, how we're viewing our circumstances, how we're viewing our own situation, how we're viewing what God has called us to do. We're dealing with perceptions. And we ultimately, at least it's my premise, that as a brew, we do what we perceive to be the most attractive option out there. Generally speaking, people will do what they see as most attractive and most reasonable. But that's really based upon our very limited understanding, our finite estimation of what's going on. And I think we'd have to all realize that when we make a decision, especially when it's contrary to the will of God, we're making an assessment that our understanding of reality is better than God's perception of reality. So we may be perceiving obedience to God, and I think there's three ways. If we're dealing with, why do I not feel like obeying God? As I reflect on this, as I pray through this, I think there's three fundamental reasons that we would choose to follow our emotions and be hesitant, if not reluctant, if not opposed to doing what God calls us to do. is if we're really honest, and I think we have to probe our own hearts on this, we would have to say that I choose to disobey God, but I don't feel like obeying Him, because we really think that what I'm being called to do is unwise. At the end of the day, we're saying I've got a better plan, that I understand what needs to be done better than God. If we didn't really believe that, then we wouldn't do that. If we really believed in our minds, in our hearts, in our very inner being, that what God is calling us to do is really the very best thing that we can be doing, we would do that very thing. So when we are hesitant to do what God is calling us to do, we're really questioning the wisdom of God. Another reason, and many times we rationalize, the human mind and heart is amazingly capable of constructing all sorts of perceptions and rationalizations. I'll give you an example in just a moment. Another reason I think that we are hesitant, we don't feel like obeying God, because to obey Him may be unattractive, if we're looking at relative to what we think are the benefits of disobedience. We're weighing, if I obey God, this is going to be the outcome, and if I follow what I'm wanting to do, which is disobeying God, then this is more attractive. We generally do what we think is most attractive, if we're honest about it. And maybe you say, no, I would never do that. But I would say if you're coming to that conclusion quickly, examine yourself more slowly and more patiently and more insightfully, because we really do what we choose to do based on what we think makes the most sense in our lives. Otherwise, we wouldn't disobey God. And so we're looking at the cost of obedience is outweighed by the perceived pleasure. And I put that word in quotation marks of disobedience. Another reason that we may not feel like obeying God is we may relegate what God is calling us to do is unimportant. And so we minimize the matter of disobedience and we might be constructing in our own hearts, this is a small sin. And we do that if we're really honest with ourselves, this is really not a big deal. If we really viewed sin for the way the Bible describes sin and a transgression against the Holy God, it would weigh upon our hearts and we would choose to do what God calls us to do by His power. Now, obedience can be motivated by a number of things. Let me give you two different ways of looking at obedience. One would be just a sheer sense of oughtness or I need to do this simply because I'm being commanded to do that. If you're a parent or a grandparent and you've got a child or a grandchild and you're directing the child or grandchild to do a certain thing, and the child or grandchild does that begrudgingly just out of a sense of, well, if I don't do this, I'm going to go to the woodshed. That's really not what you're after. You want your child or grandchild to do what they're being directed to do, number one, because they love you, number two, because they trust you, number three, because they're devoted to you. They see their familial relationship and they say, I'm not my own, I'm a child, and I need to do what I'm being told to do. That may seem a little idealistic, but what we're looking at in obedience with young people is really motivated not just out of a sheer sense of obligation, but love and trust. We want our children and our grandchildren to truly believe that we have their best interest at heart. because that makes obedience something that comes naturally to them. It pleases the parent or grandparent when that's the case. So it can be motivated by what I call a legal sense, a sheer obligation, or there's four dynamics that, as I have reflected upon this, and Scripture will support this, the proper motivations for obedience really are fourfold. One, love for God. Number two, trust in God's wisdom. Number three, gratitude. for what he has done and is doing in our lives. And number four, a realization of who God is and who I am. At the end of the day, those four dynamics are really the driving forces in obedience, love, trust, gratitude, and devotion. Let me give you, I'll walk through this one example, may be familiar to you, but in 1 Samuel 15, a tragic instance of disobedience by Saul. But before we do that, a couple of quotes just as a way of preface. Partial obedience, as one person said, is really only disobedience made to look acceptable. And secondly, he who obeys sincerely endeavors to obey thoroughly. How many times have you heard over the years that partial obedience is disobedience. Slow obedience is disobedience. I've heard that many, many times. And frankly, that's exactly right. Partial obedience is disobedience. Slow obedience or reluctant obedience is disobedience. So what happened in the life of Saul? 1 Samuel 15. I'm not going to go through all of this. I'm just going to hit some highlights. But Samuel, prophet of the Lord, so he's speaking for the Lord. What he's saying to Saul is directly from the Lord God. The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel, and therefore listen to the words of the Lord. So there's the mandate. The authority is the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts. And he goes on and he describes the fact that Amalek is the enemy of God and is to be decimated. Top of page two. So the directive, what does the Lord direct him to do? Go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy, utterly destroy all that he has. Do not spare him, but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. We'd call this scorched earth. There's nothing to be left. But that's what God directed him to do. So next paragraph, starting in verse four, Saul pulls together his men. He sends aside some innocent parties so that they don't become engaged in this initiative and says, you need to go because you're going to be in the line of fire. And that's fine. So they departed. And then Saul, verse seven, defeated the Amalekites from Hebala to Shur, which is east of Egypt. Verse eight, he captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. Verse eight, pardon me, verse nine, but Saul, and that word but is a very important word, and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, that's a key expression, and were not willing, that's another expression, to destroy them utterly, but everything despised and worthless they utterly destroyed." This is selective obedience, which is selective disobedience. This is partial obedience. He made a decision, and when he says, the people, Saul is responsible for what's taking place. He's the king. He's the one that's responsible. He's telling his troops exactly what to do. They made a decision on their own initiative to spare that which was attractive and to destroy that which was of no benefit to them. So that was selective obedience, which is disobedience. So then the word of the Lord comes to Samuel saying, I regret that I've made Saul king for he has turned back from following me. That's God's assessment of exactly what took place and has not carried out my commands. And someone could say, well, they carried out some of them. No, that's not what God told him to do. He said, I want you to do exactly what I told you to do. He did not follow the command. He chose his own path as to what he deemed to be a reasonable course of action, what he deemed to be an attractive course of action, what he deemed to be a profitable and pleasing course of action. So Samuel, verse 13, comes to Saul, and Saul said to him, blessed are you of the Lord. That's a very sanctimonious greeting. I have carried out the command of the Lord. Is that true? That's absolutely a lie. But Samuel said, well, what then is this bleeding of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen, which I hear? The animals making their sounds in the background were proof positive that he had not obeyed God. And Saul says, they have brought them from the Amalekites. And then notice, first of all, he displaces responsibility, the people. And I'm reminded of Genesis three, verse 12, when Adam, When he was confronted by God, what have you done? The woman whom you gave me took the fruit and gave to me. That's a complete failure of obedience. That is displacing responsibility to another party. Both of them were culpable, of course, but Adam should have said, I own this. I'm responsible. Saul is saying the people made this decision. And then it goes on, the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but, and again, the rest we have utterly destroyed. First of all, he displaces responsibility. And then secondly, he redefines the command of God. God did not say, spare that which is good and destroy that which is distasteful. He said everything, nothing is to be spared. Could not have been more clear. So then down in verse 19, Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did that? Notice how the word of God describes disobedience, that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. Did Saul obey? Someone might say, well, he obeyed in large part, but what God looks at this, this was evil. This was gross disobedience. Then Saul said to Samuel, I did obey the voice of the Lord. This is denial. He's already rationalizing in his mind what he's done. He's, he's recharacterizing what he's done and saying, I did obey the Lord. And that's, we often will do that. We will rationalize in our minds what we're doing and recharacterize what we've done in such a way as to make it palatable in our own estimation. Well, I did the best I could. I did what you called me to do. No, no, you didn't do what God called you to do. And he went on and so verse 21, but the people, so now he's displacing responsibility. took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction." Notice, now he's creating a rationale for what he's done, and he's creating a very sanctimonious, good-sounding reason. Why? To sacrifice to the Lord. Well, God doesn't need these oxen to be spared. He's already described the fact that every single thinking is to be destroyed totally. And Saul has reconstructed in his mind a rationale for disobedience. Well, I'm going to sacrifice it unto the Lord. Well, God's assessment of this through the voice of Samuel is on the top of page three. Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord? And the answer to that is obviously no. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. Notice how the Word of God describes disobedience, rebellion. That's exactly what disobedience is. It is rebellion against God. It is the sin of divination. Well, that's a serious accusation. Divination is calling upon the occult, it's calling upon satanic influences, and Saul pardon me, Samuel, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in God's own words, is saying that these are comparable. This evil against me, this incomplete obedience, this disobedience is severe. Insubordination. Those of you who are in the military, those of you who are in the police, et cetera, insubordination is a very serious matter. It's a refusal to recognize a line of authority. and we're called upon to recognize our line of authority and to submit to that authority, to disobey is insubordination, is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have, look at the other word, rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you. There are consequences to sin. Galatians 6, 7 to 10, God is not mocked. God is not mocked. When you sow to the flesh, you'll reap devastation. And so this is exactly what's going to happen Then Saul says, I have sinned, I've transgressed the command. Why? Because I feared the people. The scripture says the fear of man is a snare, and that is exactly, part of it is that dynamic, but part of it, in his own mind, he had re-characterized what God called him to do. and created an alternative standard of obedience. He said, I'm going to use in my own mind what is more reasonable to me, what is more pleasing, what seems to be more spiritual, and that is I'm going to spare the really attractive livestock and use that to sacrifice to the Lord. God doesn't need his wisdom, doesn't need Saul's wisdom. Saul doesn't have wisdom. This is disobedience. What God has directed is absolute devastation. And that seems extreme, but if that's what God has ordained, that's what God has ordained. And what Saul has done is he's created a rational explanation in his mind that he knows more than God. That what he's doing is more pleasing to God than what God directed him to do. And so he says, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord. The problem is there's consequences to sin. There are extreme consequences sometimes to sin. He goes on in verse 30. I've sinned, but please honor me now before the elders of the people." He wants to save his reputation. That's really what this is about. And ultimately in verse 33, Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal. And verse 35, Samuel grieved over Saul and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. The reason I selected this is it's a very graphic example. of what we're capable of doing when we begin to recharacterize what God has commanded us to do, to redefine what he has called us to do, to create another rationale for our own choice, and to pursue a path of disobedience. He redefined God's command. He saw sparing that which was in his mind most attractive to be spared, but that is his own rationalization for disobedience. And it just shows, at least in this one instance, how creative and devastatingly creative our hearts can be in looking at what God has called us to do. Well, what is obedience? And a biblical definition of obedience, Joshua 22, verse five, only be very careful, diligent, attentive to observe the commandment and the law, which Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him and serve him with all of your heart and all of your soul. In this passage, the components, the essential elements of obedience are all delineated and there are five of them. To love the Lord your God. Remember I said that we're looking at what the motivation that God is seeking in our obedience is to love him, to trust him, to be grateful to Him and to recognize who He is and who we are, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and keep His commandments. Those are essentially, those are comparable to each other. Some of your translations may have cleaved to Him or hold fast to Him and serve Him with all of your heart and all of your soul. What the scripture is saying is that obedience involves the totality of our being. It involves our emotions. So I'm not saying, I mentioned earlier that when we say, I don't feel like obeying, I'm not saying that our feelings are antithetical to what we choose to do. Our feelings and our, and our volition should go together, but ultimately our feelings cannot be driven by motives that are improper because we're entirely capable of rationalizing in our own minds why we don't want to obey either way, because it seems unattractive, unwise, or whatever the rationalization may be. But no part of life, as Joel Beeky said, is unaffected by one's relationship to God. So obedience involves the totality of our being. And as I've worked through this this last week, it's been really convicting. Obedience is not just a cursory matter. It's not just involving the big items in life. It involves all the items in life. It involves everything that we do. Everything is, R.C. Sproul is often accustomed to saying, we live quorum deo, before the very face of God. And none of us, brothers and sisters, will obey perfectly. Every single one of us, please, we need to recognize this. Every day, we'll offend and disobey God in thought, word, and deed. I do, and you do as well. But we need to understand, why are we disobeying? What's the motive for what we're doing? And how can we pray that God will recharacterize our souls so that, reshape our souls so that we're obeying him, not just in some aspects of our life, but seeking with a whole disposition of obedience. Lord, I want to serve you. Lord, I want to obey you. I will fail and I will come to you often and ask for forgiveness and I will repent of my sin. But God, I really, in my heart, I do want to obey you and I ask for your help. That's really where we're heading on this thing. Well, another passage, Deuteronomy 10, verse 12 and 13. Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you? But to fear the Lord your God and walk in his ways, love him, serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, keep the Lord's commandments and his statutes, which I'm commanding today. Notice that last little prepositional phrase, for your good. But notice the components here are essentially the same as what Joshua 22 had. The only difference is that instead of saying that we hold fast to Him, He says to fear the Lord your God, but those are comparable thoughts. To fear the Lord your God. And when the Scripture talks about fearing God, it's not talking about a fear as if your house is burning and you don't want to burn yourself, you want to escape because it's threatening your life, that's an entirely different fear or fear of someone attacking you. No, it's a reverential awe. It's seeing God for who He is as holy, holy, holy. Isaiah 6, we fall on our faces before God and we say, woe is me because I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. And it's a humble recognition that God is holy and he's awesome and he's righteous and he's just. And so to fear him is to recognize those things and to see him increasingly day by day with all of our hearts for who he is, who he is. And once we grasp that, it will shape how we respond to him. But to walk in all of his ways to love him. and to serve Him with all of our heart and all of our soul. That's really what the Scripture is calling us to do, is the totality of our being, an entire mindset of obedience to God. And do we often see that God's commands are not arbitrary? They ultimately are for His glory and for your good. God will never direct you to do something that is harmful to your soul. I promise you that on the authority of Scripture, He will always call us to do that which is for His glory and for our good. To walk in obedience to Him is always for our good. To disobey Him is always to our detriment. Every time we choose to disobey God, and we do choose every day, brothers and sisters, we choose to disobey God, either through acts of omission or commission. And so, but it's detrimental to our souls, and God wants that which is good for us. His commandments are sweet, and they're pleasant, and they're designed to foster our well-being. We need to recognize that. When I mentioned earlier the motivations for obedience, love to God, second, trust. Do we really believe that God would never call us to do something that isn't wise, that isn't good, that isn't honorable, that isn't pleasant to our very being? 1 John 5, this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. That was the point I made earlier, that there is one way of approaching obedience, and that's just out of a legal sense, a sheer sense of, I just gotta get this done. And that's not the motivation that God calls us to do. We see His commands as pleasant, as good, as something that we want to do, because it pleases our Father in heaven. So let's talk about some of these dynamics. Love, four dynamics, love for God, trust in Him, gratitude for what He's done, and devotion to Him, a matter of love. Jerry Bridges, there's no question that obedience to God's commands prompted by fear or merit-seeking is not true obedience. The only obedience acceptable to God is constrained and impelled by love. because love is the fulfillment of the law. God's law is revealed in his word, prescribes our duty, but love provides the correct motive for obedience. We obey God's law not to be loved, not to earn his love. Do you understand that point? Not so that you will be accepted by him, so that you'll have a higher position with God, not to be loved, but out of gratitude because we are loved in Christ. Obedience is always fostered by love for God, trust in Him, gratitude for all that He has done and is doing and will do in our lives, and devotion to Him as our God. John 14, and I could go on for several pages of this, but I just, in one chapter alone, John 14, 15, if you love me, and these words were spoken in the upper room shortly before the Lord went to give His life as an atonement for our sin, you will what? You'll keep my commandments. John 14, 21, he who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. He who loves me, and look at the benefit of having a loving relationship with Jesus. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and I will disclose myself to him. Can you think of anything more intimate and more beneficial than having that kind of fellowship with our Savior? John 14, 23 and 24, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him." John 15, verse 10. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Second John 1, and this is love, that we walk according to his commandments. I could go on. There are many other passages, but do you see the theme? Love is the fountain from which obedience springs. Joel Beeky talking about loving God. The Shema, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength, the totality of your being, all of our being, love God. That's the first and greatest commandment. This is really foundational to our obedience. So when we're, again, the purpose of this is what do I do when I don't feel like loving, obeying God? We have to, why do I not feel like obeying God? And ultimately, it goes to love, trust, gratitude, and devotion. And that shapes our affections. But top of page six, there's three observations. Number one, Deuteronomy six calls us to give undivided loyalty to God because we're to turn from all other idols. Disobedience is really idolatry because we're escalating our own choice above the will of God. And we're choosing to do that, which is displeasing to him. But love calls us to cling to him because he is our life. Secondly, love is engaging all of our being with all that we are, our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Not just our intellect, but our affections, our will, every aspect of our being. And so, third one, fourth paragraph down, love starts in the heart and mind, but it leads to action. There's a quotation by Abrakel, and I believe it's from the Christian's Reasonable Service. Love is the sweet motion of the heart toward God. infused into the hearts of believers by the Holy Spirit, whereby they, by virtue of union with Him, recognizing, you realize that in Christ, you are adopted by God the Father, you are in Christ, and you are joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, you've been brought into His very fellowship, and in view of God's perfections, you see God for all that He is, His beauty and His holiness and His righteousness. We delight ourselves in God. Obedience is fostered by delight in God and in a joyous embrace of His will. That's really what motivates our obedience is a joyful embrace of God's will. The more we understand who we are and who God is, our affections are shaped by that. Our priorities are shaped by that. Our decisions are shaped by that. And to submit to His leadership is not reluctant. It's a joyful thing in our lives. And we fully surrender ourselves to His service. That's really what the love of God will do in our lives. Well, how can we love God with all of our hearts? Down at the bottom of page six, first of all, we understand the gospel. When Joel Beek, he says, love him as the God of the covenant, the God of salvation. The point that he's making here is the more we saturate ourselves with the gospel and we recognize what God has done and is doing for us, the sacrifice that he made for us in eternity past, brothers and sisters, through no merit of our own. As a matter of fact, despite all of our demerit, despite all of our hatefulness and our bitterness towards God, that's exactly our disposition, our bitterness towards God, our hatred towards God. Our entire disposition is entirely contrary to God. That did not surprise him. That didn't surprise Jesus. Jesus knew that when he was going to the cross, why did he pray, can you take this cup from me? He was not talking about the crucifixion per se. He was talking about the outpouring of the wrath of God that he would be willingly, lovingly taking upon himself out of perfect obedience to the father so that rebels like us could be adopted into the family of God and have a place purchased for us in heaven forever and that God the father would call us his children. That's exactly what God has done. Those are the things that we should preach to ourselves, the beauty of the gospel. Secondly, meditate much on scripture that these words will be in your heart. Psalm 119, thy word have I hid in my heart. Why? That I might not sin against thee. If you want to obey God, put your word in his heart. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree firmly planted by rivers of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Psalm 1. A delight in God and a love for his word, and a meditation upon his law day and night. And third, teach the word of God to your children in family worship. The best way to love God with all of your might is to bring the word of Christ into all of your life through the means of grace, through prayer, praying over the scripture, reading the word of God, meditating upon the word of God, sitting under the teaching, the faithful teaching of the word of God, availing yourself of all the means of grace. So love. It's also a matter of trust. Love, trust, gratitude, devotion. Randy Smith said, oftentimes we don't know where the path leads, But when we obey, we trust the one who leads. And that's exactly obedience, is trusting the one who leads. We have no idea where God's taking us. All we know is that he would never do anything that would ultimately be for our harm, but only for our good. And it may involve pain. It may involve affliction. It may involve discomfort, and it often does. It may be entirely contrary to the path that we would personally choose. But do we really believe that God is infinitely wise, and that he's infinitely loving, and that he's immutable, that he never changes, that his law for us never falters or fails, that his wisdom is perfect, that he's omniscient, that he knows every circumstance, that he's omnipotent, that he can change anything according to his will simply by willing that? Do you really believe that? And if that's the case, then whatever path he ordains for us will always be perfect. God never does anything that's less than perfect. We do, we do all the time. But his design for us is that we be conformed to the image of the son. And that's why God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him, to those who are called according to purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined what to become conformed to the image of his son. What a glorious outcome that is. Is that a good path to be on? It's the best path to be on, to be conformed to Christ. Well, obeying God, as one has said, we're not wise enough to understand God's reasoning, so obeying His instructions requires our trust. When I don't feel like obeying God, I'm really saying I'm not entirely sure Although none of us are comfortable saying this, but I'm not entirely sure that God knows what's best for me. Otherwise, if I really believe that with full conviction, I'd say, lead on, God, I'm right behind you. I'm following you. If we really truly believe that God is doing for us what is always good for us, and he would never do anything that is harmful for us and our souls, we'd say, lead on. But we question God, and we put our own trust and our own wisdom Delight yourself in the Lord and trust also in that he will do it. Lean not on your unearned standing and he will make your path straight. That's what the scripture says. So we question it. The scripture's full of instances. The next page, when God told people to do things that made no sense at all from a human standpoint. Abraham, Genesis 22, take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, the child of the covenant. Isaac, take him to Mount Moriah and slay him as a sacrifice. Does that make sense? No, it doesn't make sense. One son, the child of the covenant, do you know why he did that? Hebrews tells us because he was looking for his son to be resurrected. That's what Hebrews tells us. He obeyed God because he looked to God to do that which was right. And he did something that was totally implausible from a human standpoint. Take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, and go and sacrifice him. And how close did he come to actually plunging the knife in his chest? Real close. And God stopped him just before that knife came down upon the chest of Isaac. Hold the knife. And he provided a substitute. On the face of it, that path makes no sense at all, but that's what God called him to do and he obeyed. Noah, does it make sense to build a ship in the middle of a desert with people mocking you for a hundred years and you haven't even seen an ocean? And it doesn't make sense at all. God told him to do it, and he did it, and he was faithful. Joshua, in Joshua chapter three, when you come to, this is not in your notes, but you come to the Jordan River, and you've got the priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant, go stand in the middle of the river. Does that make sense? No. I mean, this was time when it was flood season. Go stand in the middle of the river. So they did that. Joshua 6, a military engagement. Go circle the city and walk around it. And then after you've circled it for a number of days, call out and the walls will fall. That is not in any military strategy I've ever heard of. But I mean, that's what he was called to do. And guess what? Look at the blessings that ensued from total obedience. Gideon, he kept siphoning off men from his forces until he got to a very limited. He had a whole bunch of guys to work with him. And he kept parsing away. more and more men because God told him, send those guys away, send those guys away, and I'll give you just a handful of guys and we'll go forward and we'll do what he's called to do. Scripture's full of instances where on a human standpoint, it made no sense at all. But do we believe that God keeps his promises and he always does what's best and brings glory to him and good to us? We have to believe that. If we believe that, we will obey with a joyful heart. So as he says, don't let human logic dictate whether you follow the Lord. Your motivations don't count. If you say, well, I had a good motivation for choosing to do what I did instead of obeying God. No, your motivation was not good. If God is interested, he's commanding us to do total obedience. Love, trust, gratitude. Leviticus 11, I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourself and be holy for I am holy. Why should we be holy? For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. Ransomed from bondage, delivered from a hopeless situation. Gratitude for redemption is the mainspring of obedience. If you want to know what it is that causes us, be absolutely overwhelmed with the recognition of what God has done for you. Meditate often upon his deliverances in your life. Meditate often upon what God has rescued you from at the cross. Meditate often upon what awaits you in heaven. Meditate often upon the love of Christ and his sacrifice on your behalf. Be grateful for what he's done, and all of the contrary affections will begin to dissipate. I'm not going to go through this, but the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the questions is, why are good works important? And the first reason is our gratitude to God for his blessings. And the proof texts are on page nine. Gratitude. Love, trust, gratitude. But ultimately, it's devotion. It's a matter of how we view God. Jerry Bridges said, God is worthy of my loving obedience because of who he is, not because of what he does. And what he's saying is, why do I obey God? Because God is God. And he made me, and I belong to him. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, you're not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God with your body. Years ago, Eugene Peterson wrote a commentary on the Psalms of Ascent, and the title has stuck in my mind for years. It's called A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. And it's really calling for faithfulness. And so I love the title, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. It's a trajectory of following God And through the ups and downs of life, the things that make sense, the things that don't make sense, the things that are pleasurable, the things that are painful, in times of acceptance, the times of social rejection, whatever the case may be, a long obedience in the same direction. It's a march towards heaven. And so he goes on and says, each act of obedience by the Christian is a modest proof, unequivocal for all its imperfection, of the reality of what he attests, what we really believe. Our obedience shows what we believe. Feelings are great liars. Feelings are important in many areas, but completely unreliable in matters of faith. So I didn't say at the beginning that feelings and our volition are contrary to each other. I'm just saying that the feelings can't drive the wagon. Our feelings should be shaped by our love for God. And the more we're consumed with devotion to God, our feelings will be shaped by that, and our volition, our choices, and our feelings will be completely congruent with each other. A few thoughts just to conclude, and you can look at these, but Ian Duguid, the further you go in obedience, the more you see of God's plan. God doesn't often tell us the end from the beginning. He prefers to lead us on step by step in dependence upon Him. Trust. Jerry Bridges, we're responsible to obey the will of God, but that we are dependent on the Holy Spirit for the enabling power to do it. Obedience is not just simply a sort of bootstrap religion. Galatians 3 says, heaven begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Everything that we do depends upon God's spirit to enable us. It's not just simply saying, I'm going to gut through this and make it happen. No, it's not simply a fleshly endeavor. It's saying, God, I need your help. You've called me to obey. I want to obey. Help me to do what you've called me to do. Brian Chample, we should delight in God's delight. Mere outward conformity to the law is not what God requires. The person who does what God says with a resentful heart and begrudging obedience does not bear the mark of a true child of light. The heart renewed by the Spirit desires to please God, is anxious to find out what He desires, and is motivated by the sense of bringing God pleasure. Sinclair Ferguson, the person who wants to know God but has no heart to obey Him, will never enter the sacred courts where God reveals himself to the soul of man. God does not give divine knowledge to those who have no desire to glorify him. Randy Smith, I wonder how many blessings I've missed out on in my life because I've refused to obey the Lord. Page 11, just in closing, and this is foundational. It's important that we get this. Joel Beakey said, God intends the Christian life to be one of humble joy, not negative drudgery. The idea that holiness is to be associated with a dour disposition is a tragic caricature of Scripture. In fact, Scripture asserts just the opposite. Only those who walk in holiness experience true joy. And then down at the bottom, those who are obedient, who are pursuing holiness as a way of life, will know the joy that comes from God, a supreme joy, an ongoing joy, an anticipated joy. So when I don't feel like obeying God, ultimately it's a matter of love for God, trust in God, gratitude for what He has done, is doing, and will do in my life, and devotion to Him as the God who He is, and recognizing His authority over my life. Those are really the four foundational reasons that we, when we don't feel like obeying God. So when we don't feel, we have to go back and say, I need to re-examine my heart. I need to go back and say, do I really love you? And how do I foster a love for you? Why am I questioning your wisdom, God? Why am I replacing your perfect direction with what makes sense to me? Why am I choosing to do something that pleases me when sin never pleases? It ultimately destroys. Why am I not grateful, Lord, for what you have done and will do and are doing in my life? Why do I not recognize, oh God, that you are God and I am your child, that you've made me for your own, that you've designed me to be your servant, because you purchased me. I'm not my own. Jesus shed his own blood for me. He lived a perfect life for me. So as we examine our hearts, this will fuel obedience. And brothers and sisters, I guarantee I don't live up to any of these standards with any degree of perfection. I don't. I fail in every single dimension every day. But if we want to examine how we can become more obedient, I would suggest to you that those are the four driving factors that will foster a heart of obedience so that we can have a long obedience in the same direction.