Christian Living

Profit in Obedience

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
12/21/20
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“Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” (James 1:21-22)

It is sometimes thought that an obedient person is a good person. But that is not truly the case, and those who use that loose definition are people that could be living in a delusion. I have always been called the “Black Sheep of our Family.” It was said that of all the children my parents had, I was the most difficult. My mother would say to others, “it was many years before Tommy became an obedient child.” But believe me, that did not mean that I was good. When I became old enough to think about such things, I looked up the definition of the word obedience and found that it could be good, but also it could be just as well bad. Obedience complies with an order or a request. Obedience is submission to the law or the authority of a leader. If that is correct, then we are all obedient to if nothing else than our own will and way.

With the verse we have read from James, we all were obedient to filthiness, wickedness, and a lot are obedient to their self-pride. This past Thanksgiving, my son and I had a short discussion on his business. I played the daddy role and was trying to instill some good financial discipline for him to be obedient to. He works hard and is obedient to the work ethic, but he is not making a profit from the money that he is making. I was trying to teach him some financial discipline wondering why. When I have two dimes together, I’m still a nickel short.

But we all are obedient to our heart’s desire. Some of us work hard at the vocation we are interested in and some we aren’t interested in, but we still work hard. You could say that we are obedient. And I must question whether it be obedience for the good or the bad, and is my obedience bringing me a profit?

I got to thinking about profit. The world has a standard for profit, and for most, it is financial, others it is having an accomplishment, and for others, it is always better than their best. I think the overall profit has more to do with the perspective that we live in, what is our chief goal. Goals change over the years, and mine certainly has since way back then. Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) When we look at our profit, will anything we profit from in this world be used in the next? The only profit in the eternal perspective is the profit from living in the power of the Holy Spirit for our Kingdom service.

As Christian disciples, followers of Jesus, we are not of this world only in this world, as Big T often says. That truth comes from these words of the Apostle Paul. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) If ambassadors for Christ and living in this world, then where should our life perspective be? Should it be founded in this world we will soon leave, or the world we are soon to return? So the Christian then should not have a short-sighted perspective of this world but an eternal perspective of the world we are heading to. A Christian should be recognized as a peculiar person, a foreigner in this world we live in.

Last Wednesday, we spoke on the verse Matthew 16:24. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) We were focusing on the cross and what our cross meant. We came up with a few answers, but they all come to this that our cross is commitment. Following Jesus is a commitment that requires our all. First, Jesus said we must deny ourselves. I know that we have to give some obedience to living in this world, and sometimes that draws us to disciplines that we know are wrong. We sometimes become obedient to our filthiness and wickedness. Then we get convicted and have to ask for forgiveness. Better to avoid that from the start by not dwelling on the temptation Satan places in our path.

I see denying our self is denying our sin-nature and being obedient to God’s Word. The Word of God is strong if we are obedient to what it is telling us. Satan obeys the Word of God so much so that he flees from it. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) When we obey the Word of God, it becomes the Sword of our spirit that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6. The Word of God is the very example that Jesus teaches by His use of Scripture when tempted in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1-11) If we apply God’s Word, then we have a spiritual advantage.

We receive the Word of God through Scripture in the Bible. We come to Church meetings to hear the teacher explain the deeper meaning of God’s Word. God uses His Word for learning and instruction that we may live as ambassadors of His Kingdom. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) Another way to see that is in the Scripture we receive is for learning and instruction, and from the teacher comes a conversation that draws us into godly living.

Through God’s Word, we discover the sin that we have in our lives. The unbelievers who have rejected God come to know their sinful condition in the power of God’s Word. “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25) The Word of God leads to mourning over sins committed (Acts:2-6), leading them to confess their sins and true repentance (Acts 19:18) and leads to reformation. (1 Thessalonians 1:9) The power of God’s Word calls converts and sanctifies the believer. “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

The Word of God teaches us the attributes of God. Through His Word, we learn mercy, wisdom, faithfulness, and power. His Word teaches us His promises and the privileges of Sainthood. Through His Word, we grow in the character that His children should have, and His Word takes away our doubts and fears.

A while back, the Pastor gave us a mathematical equation from four soils found in the Parable of the Sower. (Matthew 13:1-23) There are four soils, and only one of the soils produced fruit for the Kingdom of God. The equation is that only 25% of those in the world will produce good fruit for the Kingdom. That would mean there are two billion Christians in the world today, plus or minus. I look at the soils as the hearts of men and women. If you want to produce fruit for the Kingdom of God, then you must have a pure and noble heart. “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” (Luke 8:15)

We must keep His Word for the most valuable treasure that it is. “My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 7:-13)

Take that which you read and hear and keep them in the midst of you each day and night. Speak them to your family and friends and to all that will hear. Talk of His Word as you go home from Church to implant them. Pray that the Lord will preserve them in your heart. In obedience, act on His Word as our Lord has commanded. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) As James tells us to be doers of the Word, as all the knowledge of Scripture will profit you nothing if you don’t apply it to your life and the lives around you.

Jesus is telling us to keep His commandments to prove our love for Him. James is telling us that God’s Word is not at rest; his Word requires action. If we are to have a profit in this world that will grow in the world to come, then the profit is in our obedience to God’s Word.

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, November 23, 2018