Obedience

by G. A. JONES | Category: General | Oct 1944

From the beginning of God's dealings with men obedience to His word is a matter of first importance. This question arose with the first man, Adam. The first recorded words spoken by God to Adam were in the form of a command, which, alas, were disobeyed (Genesis 2. 16, 17). "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One shall the many be made righteous "(Romans 5.19). God's Son, who became His Servant, stands here in great contrast to the first man. He is the second Man, the last Adam, the Lord from heaven (1 Corinthians 15. 45-47). Constant failure has characterised the human family, but He stands out alone as the One who never failed, in spite of the fact that His path was marked by trial and suffering far greater than that of any other.

How true,

Our hardest path is never

So hard as that He trod;

who day by day is ever

Just leading us to God.

He emptied Himself, and humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross (Philippians 2.5-8). Of Him, too, we read, "Who in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5.7, 8). Time and time again we have considered those worthy men and women of Hebrews 11., who lived by faith, who died in faith, and "of whom the world was not worthy " (verse 38); but Christ is our great Exemplar. We are exhorted to look to Him, to "Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith " (Hebrews 12. 2). "Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing unto Him (Hebrews 11.6). The ministry entrusted to the apostle Paul was unto "obedience of faith" (Romans 1. 5), the faith of the sinner in the Son of God.

It is impossible for anyone to "hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ " (see James 2. 1) without the exercise of a personal faith. Likewise, it would be impossible for any believer to "contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints" unless he had real faith in the doctrine embodied in the faith " (Jude 3).

Formalism plays a leading part in the religion of the world. How true are the Lord's words-" This people honoureth Me with their lips ; but their heart is far from Me " ! (Matthew 15.7-9). Little consideration is given to what the Lord has said. The commandments of God are forsaken for the traditions of men, the doctrine of the Lord for men's precepts. We would emphasize again: "God's requirement is real, living faith in His word, which will in consequence produce obedience from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto we were delivered.

Jeremiah's day was a dark period in Israel's history. Disobedience was rife. They wilfully rejected the word from the Lord to the nation, " If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me from among all peoples: for all the earth is Mine" (Exodus 19. 5). Time and again, through His faithful servant Jeremiah, God sought to speak to their hearts, but there was no response. His plaintive message to them in Jeremiah 35.13 was-" Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to My words? saith the LORD." In this chapter, which please read, God presents to His people an outstanding example of obedience. Jeremiah is commanded by God to bring to the House of God the children of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, and give them wine to drink. He did so, but they refused to drink. Why? Their father's command was that they were not to drink wine, nor to build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor own one, but they were to be tent-dwellers all their days. So that in their refusing to drink wine they sought to obey the voice of their' father. Their obedience to their father's command earned for them divine commendation as seen in the words "Therefore thus saith the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever" (verse 19), for they obeyed their father whilst Israel disobeyed their God. Think of the obedience of Abraham. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went" (Hebrews 11.8). Note, he obeyed to go out, and he went out, and that in obedience to the divine command, "Get thee out" (Genesis 12.1). Once we were servants of sin, now we are to be servants of righteousness, henceforward to be "obedient to that form (pattern) of teaching whereunto ye were delivered" (Romans 6.15-28).

This word the Lord enjoins upon all believers, "Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you (in) (so the force of the original), and will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to Me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty " (2 Corinthians 6.14-18).

G. A. JONES | Oct 1944
General