ACCESS DOORS
The Way of Obedience part 1
There is a door to our souls, a passage where our enemy can gain
Under the divine law of God, our enemy is restricted to the realm of darkness. As believers, we are delivered from these powers of darkness. But if this access door is opened, Satan and his cohorts are granted legal entrance.
The objective: to
If Satan can keep you ignorant, he retains his access.
God says: My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge. -ISAIAH 5:13
The access door: It is as ancient as the devil himself. It is the iniquity that caused the fall of the Morning Star, Lucifer, and displaced a third of the angels from heaven. It is rebellion, which is disobedience to God’s authority.
Most believers do not dive willfully into disobedience; rather, they fall into it by way of deception.
Satan is the master of deception. Jesus said he was not only a deceiver but also the very father of it (John 8:44). Jesus also warned us that his delusions and deceptions would become so strong in the latter days that if it were possible even the elect would fall prey to them (Matt. 24:24).
Paul compared a believer’s vulnerability to deception with the deception of Eve. Eve was beguiled into disobedience, but Adam knew exactly what he was doing. The majority of the disobedient, like Eve, are deceived through ignorance. Through knowledge of the truth, the enemy can be shut off.
It is God’s very essence to love and give. He desired companions in His garden who would love and obey Him. He did not want robots without the freedom of choice. Without a command there is no choice.
Satan made God out to be a taker, not the giver He is.
Romans 5:12,
James 1:16-17
It must be settled in your heart that there is nothing good outside the realm of God’s will.
Many people disobey the will of God because they are enticed by the good and pleasant.
HEBREWS 5:7-8
JOHN 14:30-31
2 IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES :
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. -JAMES 1:22
A deceived person believes he has done what is right or best when actually he is in rebellion.
Paul warned Timothy that those in the church who have not obeyed would “grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13). Disobedience is accompanied by deception, and both grow worse if they are not confronted.
The deception: They see themselves as right while in reality they are not.
Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. -GENESIS 4:6-7, (EMPHASIS ADDED)
Cain had to choose. The devil was at the door. Would Cain rebel against God’s command and invite Satan in? Or would he choose to rule over sin and deny Satan access?
Disobedience communicates to God and those around us that we think we know
No sane person would go against God’s direct command. That is why deceit is such an element of disobedience, even if we’re only deceiving ourselves. Human reasoning must never override divine direction.
The more mature we are, the greater our judgment for disobedience. James 3:1
The only way we can obey is to take up the
1 Samuel 15 - Saul’s Story of Obedience vs. Sacrifice
Saul’s reasoning had deceived him. This is often the case when we do not obey what God has told us.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. -JAMES 1:22
THE CROSS SYMBOLIZES OBEDIENCE Jesus made this statement, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24).
Sacrifice was scriptural, so Saul was scriptural in his desire to sacrifice animals as offerings. But he was disobedient to God’s directive. But God declares, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22).
We will account for our obedience or disobedience to His ordained will. This illustrates the
There are two ways a person can disobey. First, when you do what God has not told you to do and, second, when you do not do what you’ve been told to do. This is why Solomon said, “And God requires an account of what is past.”
The marked difference between Jesus’ lack of action and Saul’s make-it-happen, make-them-happy mind-set. Saul knew God’s command but succumbed to the pressure of the people. (See 1 Samuel 15:24.) He gave in and gave them what they wanted. He appeased men yet disobeyed God.
He will never leave you or forsake you, but to view God as subject to
God desires us to come to the place where we will only do what we see Him do. That includes doing nothing when God is silent. He longs for us to leave behind the sacrifices based on what we think, want, or are pressured to do and return to simple obedience to Him.