Jesus, The Obedient Son 2-8-26 AM

          I.            Spoken obedience (Ps. 40:6-9).

a.      Notice these phrases in the text.

 i.      My ears you have opened (vs. 6).

 ii.      I have preached righteousness (vs. 9).

 iii.      I have not refrained (or restrained) my lips (vs. 9).

b.     The obedience of Jesus begins with listening attentively.

 i.      The Lord heard the words of the Father and took them in.

 ii.      He listened to all of them, not just some of them.

 iii.      There is no way Jesus could have been fully obedient if He did not know all the will of the Father.

c.      Because Jesus listened so attentively, He was able to teach perfectly the will of the Father to those that would listen to Him.

d.     Jesus did not speak what He came up with on His own.

 i.      John 7:16.

 ii.      John 12:49.

e.      The Hebrews writer applies this directly to Jesus – I have come to do your will, O God.

f.       Think about that:

 i.      Every sermon, parable, or declaration of truth that Jesus spoke was from God.

 ii.      The came from a heart fully aligned with the Father.

g.     Obedience is the doing the will of the Father and not our own.

h.     It begins with hearing the voice of God in the gospel (Rom. 10:17).

 i.      We have to listen to God’s word in order for faith to form.

 ii.      Faith in God’s word moves us to be obedient (Matt. 7:24).

 iii.      It is hearing first, then doing.

i.       Just like Jesus, when we hear we will tell.

 i.      We won’t be able to help it.

 ii.      It will come from a grateful heart, knowing what has been done for us can be done for the person we are telling.

 iii.      Think about how we act when something good has been done for us at a store or a restaurant – we tell everyone.

 iv.      It should work this way with the gospel.

j.       Jesus exemplifies spoken obedience in that His words were the words of the Father.

k.     We need to make sure our words line up with God’s word and follow the example of Jesus telling the things of God that we have heard.

II.            Shown obedience (Ps. 40:8).

a.      The Psalmist said, “I delight to do your will…”

 i.      Twice in the 119th Psalm David said something similar.

 ii.      Ps. 119:16, 47.

b.     It was a pleasure for David to do the will of God.

 i.      For David, it was not just words.

 ii.      It was a doing of the will of God.

c.      Notice why this was the case: “Yea, your law is within my heart.”

 i.      Also in Psalm 119, David said “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you” (vs. 11).

 ii.      David kept God’s word stored in his heart and it helped him do the will of God.

d.     Jesus perfectly embodied this while on earth.

e.     The obedience of Jesus was visible to all by the way that He lived.

i.      He was not bragging when He said I do always those things that please Him.

ii.      He was telling the truth.

iii.      Everything that Jesus did was what God wanted Him to do.

f.      The Hebrews writer compares the life of Jesus with the empty sacrifices of the Old Testament.

i.      There were those who went and offered the right sacrifices but weren’t right with God.

ii.      Jesus did the will of the Father and that is what pleases the Father.

g.    Jesus didn’t just say the right things.

h.    Jesus lived out the right things in every action of His life.

i.      His obedience was not out of duty or because He was forced.

j.      It was His delight to do the will of the Father.

k.    We have to get to the point where it is a joy for us to serve God and not a burden.

i.      We might say “Why do I have to do this or that” when it comes to living for God.

ii.      We should be growing to the point where we do the right thing because we love God and it brings us joy to serve Him.

l.      True obedience is not a reluctant compliance with the will of God, but willing submission that shows up in how we live.

m.  People can tell when actions are forced or fake.

n.   Our lives should so to the world a delight in doing God’s will.

III.            Sacrificial obedience (Ps. 40:6-7).

a.      God did want sacrifices to be made under the Old Testament law.

 i.      We read of Him commanding that they do be made.

 ii.      This is not what the Psalmist is saying.

b.     God wanted those sacrifices to be made, not of ritualism or compulsion, but out of love for Him and a desire to please Him.

c.     Ultimately, all the sacrifices made in the Old Testament were to show that they were not enough.

d.     What Psalm 40 looks to, or anticipates, is a time when obedience would replace ritual.

e.     Hebrews 10:10 makes it unmistakable – Jesus is the One who came to offer Himself, not animals.

f.      The obedience of Jesus reached its fullness, or its climax, in death.

i.       He submitted His body to the cross, completely fulfilling the will of God completely and finally.

ii.      What Old Testament sacrifices could never accomplish, His obedient death achieved forever.

g.    You and I must have a sacrificial obedience as well (Rom. 12:1).

i.      We make the sacrifice of self.

ii.      We give ourselves, our power, our strength, to God.

iii.      It may cost our physical lives, but every day, we give ourselves to God and show Him that we are obedient to His will.

h.    We sacrifice what we want for the will of God.

i.      We do this because of the sacrifice of Jesus for us.