Deuteronomy 5:28-29 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and the LORD said to me… The way to be happy is to obey God. And, though by nature we are inclined to question this, and think to find more enjoyment in self-indulgence, yet experience proves that the way to be happy is to obey God. It is sin which makes men miserable, and keeps them so. But "godliness has promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come." And thus, when God, in my text, called Ills people to obedience, it is that it may be well with them, and with their children after them forever. I. THE SOURCE OF OBEDIENCE. This is the heart. All Christian obedience flows from the heart. And thus the Psalmist says: "When Thou shalt enlarge my heart, I will run in the way of Thy commandments." We are to love God, worship God, and obey. God from the heart. There can be neither genuine love, nor worship, nor obedience, unless our hearts are engaged: "Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart." God's claim is, "My son, give Me thy heart." God's appeal in the Gospel is addressed to our hearts; and for this reason — that "out of the heart are the issues of life." It is the state of the heart which distinguishes the righteous from the wicked; and it is the heart which influences the conduct: it is the root which supports the tree, and makes its fruit either corrupt or good; and therefore God speaks to our hearts in the Gospel. He appeals to our gratitude. He endeavours to enlist our affections. He interests our hopes, He binds us to Himself by a sense of benefit. He provokes us to love and to good works by reminding us what great things He has done for our sakes. II. THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE OBEDIENCE WHICH IS REQUIRED FROM US. We are to fear God, and to keep all His commandments always. We are to keep all God's commandments, and we are to keep them always. 1. And, first, God requires universal obedience. It is the only obedience which will be accepted by God; He will not own a partial obedience or a divided heart. It is the only obedience which will give us confidence with God. "Then," says the Psalmist, "I shall not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments." Our obedience must go to the length and breadth of the requirement. We must make no exceptions. What God enjoins we must do; and what He demands we must resign. To be His, we must be His wholly; and, without exception, our aim must be to keep all His commandments, and this always. 2. Our obedience must be constant, as well as universal. We can obtain no discharge from Christ's service except by apostasy; and, even then, the law is in force, though we have disowned the authority. In other services, a man may engage for a year or a day, and with the term of servitude the obligation to serve is cancelled; but nothing can release us from the Saviour's blessed service. And if we are really His, we have no wish to be discharged. We love our Master: we love His service: we are content with our wages. III. THE REWARD. "That it may be well with thee, and with thy children forever." In keeping God's commandments there is great reward; and, to repeat the sentiment with which I began, the way to be happy is to obey God. Indeed, God has promised that it should be so; and none of God's promises can fail. You have a promise implied in the text. You have a similar one in Isaiah: "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea" (Isaiah 48:18). Reward is a bold word for one of a sinful nature ever to use; but God has pronounced it, and we need not be afraid of what He has sanctioned. He connects obedience with reward, even in this world. And, when I look back upon life, I see written as with a sunbeam, "It shall be well for them that fear God, and keep all His commandments." It is an eternal necessity, founded on the constitution of things. "Great peace have they which love Thy law." And, just as sobriety and industry and talent and integrity will, to a certain extent, secure a man success in the affairs of this life, so obedience to God entails God's blessing. There is a promise, too, for the good man's children; and, blessed be God, it is often made good in this world. It is well with his offspring for his sake. His example had been their pattern; his name is their recommendation and passport; and his memory is bequeathed as a blessing, long after he has been gathered to his fathers, and has bid the world and all it contains an eternal adieu. (J. Sandford, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. |
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