With the exception of last Sunday, I have spent most Sunday mornings at home, listening to my church's worship service broadcast over the the internet. A few months ago I decided to start taking sermon notes on my computer. I've found that it helps me to focus, rather than being distracted by all the "shiny" things in my family room.
Today the sermon was preached by the president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. The sermon text was Judges 4, which on the face of it might seem like an odd text to choose for the first Sunday of the new year. But Dr. N knows his Bible and he knew what he was doing when he chose this passage.
The central point of the message was "do not hesitate to obey God." Isn't that a great New Year's resolution? Dr. N gave examples from his youth of times when he had hesitated to obey his mother and the consequences that resulted from his hesitation. He said that sometimes he knew ahead of time what the consequence would be, but at other times, he didn't know until it was too late just how much his hesitation would cost him. And so it is when we choose to hesitate in a matter where God has made His will clear.
In Judges 4, Barak knew that God wanted him to act immediately when the prophetess and judge, Deborah, gave him his marching orders to draw out Sisera. But Barak questioned and tested Deborah. Her prophecy had told him exactly what to do and assured him that God had promised to give him victory over his foes if he obeyed. Yet, Barak hesitated before he finally obeyed.
On the day of battle, Barak's men did indeed defeat the mighty army of Sisera, in spite of being outmatched by Sisera's 900 chariots of iron. But Sisera escaped and ran away to the supposed safety of an ally's tent. Barak pursued him and tracked him to the tent. But what did he find when he arrived, expecting to deal the death blow to his enemy? -- Sisera, dead, pinned to the floor of the tent by a tent peg driven completely through his head. And who hammered in that tent peg? It was none other than Jael, the wife of Sisera's ally.
I have often heard the phrase, "Obedience delayed is disobedience." Dr. N didn't say that today, but he did say that when we hesitate (delay) to obey God, He gives the honor that He intended for us to someone else who did not hesitate to obey. Barak missed out on the honor of killing Sisera and instead, that honor went to Jael, a woman. That must have been a double blow to Barak's pride.
I thought this was an excellent sermon. My only quibble was with an aspect of honor (or blessing) that Dr. N touched upon. He didn't specifically say this, but it was implied that obedience should be our immediate response because God will bless us for it. I would respectfully submit that obedience should be our immediate response because God demands it of us and He is supremely right to do so. If God chooses to confer honor or blessing on us for our obedience without hesitation, so be it. If He chooses to do otherwise, so be it. Our obedience to God should not be dependent on what we will get out of it. We should obey God because of who He is -- the great I AM -- and our love for Him and a desire to please Him.
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