ARTICLES ON RELATIONSHIPS

UNDERSTANDING THE LAWS OF CONNECTION I

DATE:  9th December. 2001

SPEAKER:  Pastor Tayo Adeyemi

TITLE:  The rewards of obedience

TEXT:  Isaiah 1:9

If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land.
Last week, we learnt that every champion has a secret.
And that we all must latch on to certain secrets if we truly want to walk in victory.
One of those secrets we identified in Matthew 6:6 as your closet culture.
We learnt that, like every other relationship, our relationship with God is powered by these engines
Time, communication and commitment.
Romans 11:16 tells us: “If the first fruit is holy, then the lump is also holy ”
We set the tone for the entire day by the things we do in the first hour of the day.
By spending the first hour of the day with God we establish a bond with Him that carries us through the entire day.
Our closet becomes the place where the battles of life are really fought and won
Our closet become our Gethsemane
When we say “yes” to God in the morning, we are empowered to say “No” to anything the day brings us.
Now today, I would kike to conclude this series by sharing with you the rewards of obedience.
Hebrews 11:6
“He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him” (Message Bible)
I recognise that this has not been a very easy message to receive.
But at the same time, without compromising the integrity of the word, I have tried to make it easy for you.
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said “My yoke is easy and my burden in light”
So we have tried to give you, not just the “ought to” but also the “how to”
Today, I want to make it even more exciting for you to walk in obedience.
I want to share with you the rewards of obedience
Many times we preachers are quick to give you the requirements without adequately showing you the rewards.
But the Bible tells us that God is a rewarder.
When we take a step towards Him, He responds to us – He motivates us to keep coming by rewarding us
Generally as human beings, we are motivated by reward
Whatever gets rewarded gets repeated.
This is why you must never reward or reinforce bad behaviour in children.
God has put within us, the instinct for happiness
The desire to be happy is a God – given motive
And it is closely connected with the will to live.
People who have suicidal tendencies have concluded that it is not possible for them to be happy in this world.
For those people, the pain of death is more bearable than the pain of unhappiness.
So, we all want to be happy
And we will go the ridiculous extents to make ourselves happy
But we forget that the key to true happiness is found in doing the will of God and obeying His word
Back to Hebrews 11:6
God uses reward to motive us
He says “if you diligently seek me, I will reward you”
If we can make connection between the act of obedience and the rewards of obedience, we will exponentially enhance our desire to obey and our willingness to obey.
It is very simply really:
I have two alternatives before me:
Obey God or disobey God
If I believe that disobeying God will bring me greater reward, then I will disobey
But if I believe that obeying God will bring me greater reward, then I will obey.
It is not rocket science really – it is all very clear in Deuteronomy 30:19
Now notice, I used the expression “greater reward”
The point her is disobedience brings its own kind of reward at some level.
In Hebrews 11:25, Paul calls it the “passing pleasures of sin”.
Sin has rewards – but they are fleeting, they are temporary, they are limited and they are deceptive.
They always promise more than they can deliver
They show you the immediate benefit, not the long-term consequences.
Eve concluded that the tree was good (for food)
She would not have eaten it has she not concluded that there was some benefit to be derived from eating it.
Of course we know, she did not think far enough.
Some people will tell you that you must obey God because you have an obligation to do so.
Or that you owe it to God to obey Him
After all He has been good to you.
They say “obey out of obligation or else obey out of gratitude”
Okay let us deal with that, shall we?
In life, we will do some things out of obligation or out of gratitude only for so long
The moment we feel the ‘debt’ is paid we stop
If I was ill and I want to my doctor – and the doctor prescribed medicine to me
Do I take the medicine out of obligation and gratitude to my doctor?
Or do I take it because I know it will work?
Of course, I take the medicine because I know I will be rewarded with good health.
Now, before we really start to discuss the rewards of obedience, let us quickly establish one truth.
Obedience is a decision.
Deuteronomy 30:19 – “choose life”
It is true that God works in us to do His good pleasure
But notice He also (and first) works in us to will His good pleasure
Philippians 2:12,13 – work it out.
We cannot just sit back and expect God to zap us into obedience.
Every work of transformation requires your cooperation.
God generally does not work outside your will.
God does not tamper with your will; the devil cannot tamper with your will.
What you want is your desire
What you will is your decision.
When your desire and your decision work in harmony, they create a synergy that brings you to your destination.
In walking in obedience, you must never underestimate the power of your decision.
Have you noticed that the devil generally does not tempt you with what you have decided not to do?
For example, I have never had the temptation to drink beer.
I do not even like how it tastes.
The decision of the believer destroys the determination of the devil.
We Can Be Free By Choice
And the choices we make on a regular basis will become our reality.
When we choose integrity, we become people of integrity.
When we choose righteousness, we become people of righteousness.
When we choose holiness, we become people of holiness.
When we choose obedience, we become obedient people.
When we choose love, we become loving people
When we choose honesty, we become honest people.
Daniel made up his mind not to eat the king’s food and that was that.
The devil had no chance of changing that decision
Make up your mind!
The prodigal son was not free until he said, “I will” “I will” do what?
“I will arise”
If you do not rise, sin would not go.
We are not victims of the devil
In the conflicts with sin, our choice is supreme.
When we make choice to obey God, He sets a seal on it with the blood of Jesus; and releases to us every resource we need to walk in that choice.
Now let us examine that rewards of obedience.
I would like to share with you seven rewards of obedience
Seven ways that I believe God honours those who are obedient
Seven ways that the rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Seven Rewards Of Obedience
God knows you with His presence
John 14:21
“I will love him and manifest myself to him”
John 15:14
Jesus has clearly laid down the condition for friendship with Him
“If you do whatever I command you”
John 8:29
Jesus was honoured with the presence of His father because He walked in obedience
When you walk in obedience, God’s presence is with you
And when God’s presence is with you, you become invincible
You become a terror to the devil
The devil does not fear a person who does not fear God
No wonder we suffer defeat from the hand of the enemy so often.
Jesus did not know defeat because He did not know sin.
Presence

God honours you with promotion
Psalm 45:7
Jesus was highly exalted because of His obedience – Philippians 2:8-11
Presence. Promotion
God honours you with His beauty
Proverbs 25:4
“Take the impurities out of the silver and the artist can produce a thing of beauty” (TEU)
God is the master artist – and He wants to produce a thing of beauty out of our lives.
But first, He needs to receive the impurities.
Purity gives birth to beauty
Sin makes you ugly
Did you know that the word “holy” and the word “beauty” come from the same root?
Presence. Promotion. Beauty
God honours you with answered prayer
John 15:7
Presence. Promotion. Beauty. Prayer.
God honours you with an earthly inheritance
Isaiah 1:19
Deuteronomy 11:8,9 (Read the entire cheaper in your devotion time)
You need strength to take your inheritance
Many cannot take what God has made available to them because sin has made them weak.
Presence. Promotion. Beauty. Prayer. Inheritance.
God honours you with a heavenly blessing
Deuteronomy 11:13,14
Rain always speaks of heavenly blessing.
The earth cannot bring forth what is in it until heaven gives the rain.
James 5:17,18
In Elijah’s time, God punished the people’s disobedience by withholding rain – the heavenly blessing
And it really becomes interesting when you realise that Baal was the Canaanite God of rain.
Presence. Promotion. Beauty. Prayer. Inheritance. Blessing.
God honours you with victory over your enemies
Deuteronomy 11:22-25
When you walk in obedience, your enemies become the enemies of God; and He fights your battles for you.
Presence. Promotion. Beauty. Prayer. Inheritance. Blessing. Victory.
God has promised to reward our obedience, but we must choose.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
But the biggest choice we must make a the choice to love God
Deuteronomy 11:1
We cannot really obey God if we do not love Him
John 14:15
If you love me, keep my commandments
So we must return to our first love
Revelation 2:4
Jesus for the joy that was set before Him paid the price – Hebrews 12:2
When we see the prize to be gained ahead, we are motivated to pay the prize.

There Are Rewards For Our Obedience – We Must Embrace Them