Thanksgiving Is Obedience

Heavenly Father, in Adam we were children of the devil. Whom you obey is your master. Adam and Eve obeyed the devil, who is a liar and father of all lies. He is a murderer. Few people you chose in eternity to be the children of God. Thank you for saving us. We praise you. Help us to be filled with the Spirit and pay attention to the word of God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What does Thanksgiving mean? What is Thanksgiving? It is obedience to God’s Christ all of life. Do you know the secret that everyone obeys? Most people obey the devil. John 8:44 says, “Your father is the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning. He is a liar and the father of all lies.” Everyone obeys either God or the devil. Few of us obey God.

We are told by Peter in 2 Peter 1:10, “Make your calling and election sure.” I made that sure. Obedience to Jesus—immediately, exactly, and joyfully. Do you obey your parents? It is a question you must ask. It is the will of God to obey your parents, your pastors, and your policemen. Oh, they want to defund the police so lawlessness can take place and people can steal less than $950 with no consequences. Do you know this is the law in San Francisco?

In Hebrews 5:8–9 we read, “Although he was eternal Son [Pastor’s translation], he learned obedience from what he suffered,” that is, on the cross for our sins, “and, once made perfect,”—the proof he is perfect is the resurrection. He never sinned. He is God-man—“he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” The question is, do you obey God and the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit?

“The wages of sin is death [eternal], but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). He accomplished our redemption. We sinned; he died. He did not have to die. But he died.

In John 14:15 Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” It is not “what I suggest,” or “what I beg you.” He always commands, and we do what he commands in the Scripture. Three times after his resurrection, Jesus asked Peter, who had denied him three times, “Do you love me more than these—more than your life?” And Peter said, “Yes.” Then Jesus disclosed to Peter the eternal plan for him: “You are going to be crucified,” and he was crucified. And Peter says, “Make your calling and election sure.” In other words, be sure that you are a child of God.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Everyone obeys. I repeat: Few obey God. The vast majority obey the devil.

In John 14:21 Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” Do you obey God in the word? That is the question. Do you obey even to die for your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? I am not interested in money-making. Too much money causes you to find out ways of how to sin. Check with the rich people. They are finding new ways to sin. Jesus continues, “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” This is happiness to the nth degree. I have experienced it. This is joy unspeakable and full of glory.

In John 14:23–24 we read, “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching,’” which is all Scripture. “All Scripture is God-spoken, and is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). I told a young man what God spoke to me, and the young man did not obey. But Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” The triune God comes in and dwells in us. This is joy unspeakable and full of glory. Oh, you have a billion dollars? Jesus continues, “He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

Do you know Romans 1:1 says, “Paul, a slave of Christ”? And Philippians 2:7 says Jesus Christ is a slave of the Father. Do you know that? We all were slaves of the devil. But God chose us to be sons and daughters of God. And we as his slaves now have only one job—to hear and do immediately, exactly, and joyfully the will of God.

In John 14:31 Jesus says, “The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” Do not add to it or subtract from it. We hear and do the will of God.

In John 15:10 Jesus says, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” This is security. Oh, do you think you will find security in position, in power, in money? They all will fail you. “Just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” Jesus is our model. Our model is Jesus. As Jesus obeyed the Father, we obey Jesus. That is why we confess, “Jesus is Lord.” Jesus is my Master. And I am not only a slave of Jesus, but also a son of God.

We obey immediately, exactly, and joyfully because he died. We sinned; he died on the cross. He was the poorest person in the world (Luke 9:58). All he created he owned, and yet he was the poorest person. He suffered many things.

In Psalm 103:18 we read, “[The Lord’s love is] with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” Do you know covenant theology is the most correct theology in the whole world? This is not a stupid church. (PGM) This is a church that wants to study the Bible. What is covenant theology? “I will be your God. I will save you. And you will be my people who obey me.” This is covenant. We entered into a covenant with God. “I will obey you, and you will save me.”

And now we are told something by John’s letters. In 1 John 2:3–5 we read, “We know that we have come to know [Jesus] if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him.” Such people remain children of the devil. John continues, “But if anyone obeys his word [the Bible], God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him.” The life of God in the soul of man. And you could see his life revealing the life of God in the soul of man. There is one thing only you must make sure—that you are born of God, that you are a new creation. I do not seek money.

So John says, “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him.” Obedience is the fruit of regeneration—fruit, more fruit, much fruit (John 15).

In 1 John 3:22 we read, “And [we] receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” God has provided for me exceedingly abundantly above all that we have asked or imagined. That is why we do not beg for money in this church. Have you ever heard me begging for money? We do not. And 1 John 3:24 says, “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” Also read Ezekiel 36. He gives us a new heart, a new spirit, and on top of it, he puts his Holy Spirit and moves us to obey his decrees and precepts. We all are indwelt by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, infinite and eternal.

In 1 John 5:3 we read, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” Jesus promised, “Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Notice, John ends verse 3, “And his commands are not burdensome.” Jesus told Peter, “You are going to be crucified,” and he was. But God was with him, and the presence of God makes everything easy.

In Romans 6:16 Paul writes, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to [eternal] death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” There are only two masters: the devil or the eternal, infinite God.

So in Romans 1:1 we read, “Paul,” and in the Greek it says, “a slave of Christ.” Pastor is a slave of Christ, and true people are slaves of Christ. “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” And verse 5: “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.”

God says, “Obey parents. Obey pastors. They have no authority, but their authority is Christ’s authority. And by this authority, they are speaking to you.” Oh, you want to defund the police? They are God’s agents in a fallen world.

Believers in Jesus obey Jesus. He received all authority from the Father to judge and to save. In Romans 10:9 we read, “If you confess with your mouth,” and my translation, “‘Jesus my Master,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Resurrection is proof that he never sinned. Only one person was raised from the dead. That is Jesus Christ. In him, we will be raised from the dead. All people will be raised from the dead if you confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Jesus is my Master, not money. Jesus rose from the dead. Why? He never committed sin. We sinned; he died on the cross for our salvation.

In Acts 5:31–32 we read, “God exalted [Jesus] to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to [all his people]. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” Salvation in its totality comes from Jesus Christ. There is only one thing you need to do: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

If you obey God in the word of God, you are saved eternally. “As many as are being led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). I do not just speak; I preach the word of God. And so let me tell you what God has said: “His name is Jesus, for he shall save his people [his elect people] from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Thank God, he forgave our sins. Totality of salvation comes from Jesus Christ. “Salvation is found in no one else, because there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

In Philippians 2:8–13 we read,

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

God saves us. I do not understand it. I do not understand election. Few are chosen to eternal salvation. I do not understand it, but I like it, and I rejoice in it, that this man God eternally chose to be saved. And you do not understand it. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”

I say, if you are saved, rejoice greatly. And if you are not saved, ask God to save you, and he will save you. And then prove that you are born of God by repentance and obedience to Jesus, who is Lord.

Let me tell you what is going to happen: God is going to come in Jesus Christ, and we [believers] will be placed on his right, and all unbelievers on his left. And before unbelievers are sent to hell, eternal hell, they must bow their knees and confess, “Jesus Lord.” And then he will send them to hell. Your mother and father are not exempt from this. God gave each of them a life, and only one thing matters. What is that? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Thank God, you believed in him. You are safe and secure from all alarm. Hallelujah!

Heavenly Father, thank you for choosing us to salvation. Enable us to be faithful to you, to obey you, and if we failed, to repent and obey Jesus Christ. Thank you for your eternal love for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.