John Bevere - Can You Obey Regardless of Circumstances?
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God never asks anything of us in the New Testament that He doesn’t give us the power to do. All right, we’re at the beginning of the fourth week, and you’ve just read chapter 22. This is such an important and exciting section because it shows you how vital it is to walk in obedience to God’s word. Now, I don’t want that to scare you because God never asks anything of us in the New Testament without giving us the power to do it. That is the great news; you have the ability within you because of the Spirit of God in you and the brand-new nature Jesus put in you to obey His word.
Now, you’ve got these people in Israel trying to establish their relationship with God on their own terms, and God comes in and basically says, «Hey, what do you think you can do for Me that will make Me happy?» But then He makes the statement in Isaiah 66:2, «I will bless those who are humble, have a contrite heart, and tremble at My word.» There is so much here; when He says, «I will bless,» it means, «I will pay close attention to.» Now, when God says, «I’m going to pay close attention to,» that gets my attention, and it should get yours too. All right, so here we are: God says He’s going to pay close attention to these three attributes—humility, a contrite heart, and those who tremble at His word. We understand humility; we understand a contrite heart.
Let’s talk about trembling at God’s word. What does it mean to tremble at God’s word? The one who trembles at God’s word will always exalt what He says above everything else. Now, let’s take this back to Philippians 2:12. Paul makes this statement: «My beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.» Now, there’s so much here. Yes, this is Paul writing to the Philippians, but it’s actually God speaking to us. So, what God is saying is that as you have always obeyed—not only in My presence but in My absence—what would God mean by «in My absence»? Because He’s everywhere, we’re talking about His manifest presence. We’re talking about when we’re going through tremendous trials and temptations.
Are we going to obey with the same resolve as when God is really blessing us at the moment? Here’s an example: It’s easy to obey God in a conference setting when the word of God is being preached and the manifest presence of God is there. But what if you’re on a business trip, lonely, and you get on the computer and suddenly find some pornography? Are you going to obey, or are you going to dive in? That’s the question. What if one of your colleagues lies about you? Are you going to forgive, or are you going to get even? These are the things that test us. When we are in the midst of a trial, can we still obey God?
When you understand these four things, it will make it so much easier to obey God when you don’t sense Him:
Number one, God knows what is best for you.
Number two, God is pure love, and you are the object of His love.
Number three, God will never tell you to do anything detrimental or anything that will bring you harm.
Number four, I will always choose to do what He says is best for me because of the previous three reasons.
So, let me just say this in opening up this section: We’re going to talk about obedience, but going into it, I want you to read these next six chapters knowing that God gives you the ability to obey Him, no matter what situation you’re facing. That is the great, great news, and there is tremendous blessing on the other side of our obedience.