Growing in Obedience

“Growing in Obedience, Not Just in Numbers”

INTRODUCTION

[Steps to the pulpit. Pauses. Looks out over the congregation.]

Give honor to God – who is the head of my life! Give honor to our Bishop, our Elders, our Mothers of the Church, our Deacons, and every blood-washed, Holy Ghost-filled saint in this house today!

Somebody ought to be glad you woke up this morning! [Pause.] I said – somebody ought to be GLAD!

Church, I feel the Spirit moving already, and I haven’t even started preaching yet. So y’all better hold on to something, because God told me to come in here today and mess up some of our thinking.

I want to preach this morning from a place that might make some folks uncomfortable. See, we love to talk about growth. We love to talk about how many folks walked through the door last Sunday. We love to count the cars in the parking lot. We love to announce how many new members joined the roll.

And listen – I’m not against growth. God WANTS His church to grow! But today, the Holy Ghost sent me to ask you a deeper question. The question ain’t how many – the question is how obedient.

So I’m preaching this morning on: “Growing in Obedience, Not Just in Numbers.”

Somebody say – Obedience!

PART ONE: THE BIBLICAL MODEL – WHAT REAL GROWTH LOOKS LIKE

Turn with me to Acts, chapter 2, verses 41 through 47. Go ahead and find it. Take your time. I’ll wait on the Lord and on you.

[Reading]

“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers… And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

GLORY! Did you catch that? Three thousand souls saved on the Day of Pentecost! Three THOUSAND! Now the world would say – Pastor, THAT’S a megachurch right there! That’s what we want! That’s success!

[Leans into pulpit.]

Chile, slow down. Read the text again.

BEFORE the Lord added to their number – BEFORE the seats filled up – those believers devoted themselves. They devoted themselves to the WORD. To FELLOWSHIP. To the BREAKING OF BREAD. To PRAYER. The obedience came FIRST. The numbers came AFTER.

[Walks the floor.]

You want the harvest? You gotta tend the soil! You want God to ADD to your church? God requires you to COMMIT to His church!

And saints, I want you to notice something else. Some of those early believers met in HOMES. Romans 16:5. First Corinthians 16:19. Colossians 4:15. No grand cathedral. No thousand-seat sanctuary. No light show and fog machine. Just Spirit-filled, Word-obeying, sold-out saints – gathered in somebody’s living room – turning the world upside down!

[Voice rises.]

It ain’t about the BUILDING. It’s about the OBEDIENCE inside the building!

Can I get a witness?

PART TWO: OBEDIENCE – THE MARK OF A GENUINE CHURCH

Now I need you to go to John 14 with me. Jesus is talking. And when Jesus talks – you better LEAN IN.

Verse 15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Verse 21: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.”

Verse 23: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

[Pause. Let it breathe.]

Did you hear what Jesus just said? OBEDIENCE opens the door for GOD to move IN. God said – keep My Word – and the Father and I will come and make our HOME with you!

[Voice cracks with emotion.]

Lord have mercy. The CREATOR of the universe wants to LIVE inside an obedient heart. And we out here worried about the head count?

[Congregation responds.]

Go to Matthew 25 – the Parable of the Talents. The Master came back and said to the faithful servant – “Well done, thou GOOD AND FAITHFUL servant.” He didn’t say – “Well done, thou LARGE AND POPULAR servant.” He didn’t say – “Well done, thou TRENDING AND VIRAL servant.”

He said – FAITHFUL. OBEDIENT. GOOD.

That’s God’s report card, church. And it grades on faithfulness, not on followers.

PART THREE: THE DANGER OF CHASING NUMBERS

[Serious tone. Slow.]

Now I need to tread carefully here – because this part of the message might step on some toes. And I apologize to your toes in advance.

Go to John 6, verses 26 and 27. Jesus had just fed five thousand people. Five thousand! The crowd was HUGE. The line stretched around the block. By today’s standards – Jesus was BLOWING UP.

Then Jesus turned around and said: “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.”

[Steps back.]

In other words – a big crowd can show up for the FREE FOOD and still walk away without the REAL BREAD. Numbers can DECEIVE you.

[Raises voice.]

And then – Matthew 7:21 – Jesus drops the most sobering words in the New Testament. He says: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father.”

I need you to sit in that for a moment.

You can fill the pews every Sunday. You can pack the parking lot. You can stream to fifty thousand devices. And STILL – if obedience to the Father’s will ain’t happening in those pews – God says that growth means NOTHING on Judgment Day.

[Quietly.]

A church can be wide… and still be shallow.

God desires DEPTH. God desires OBEDIENCE. God desires hearts committed to His Word.

Somebody ought to be checking their own heart right now. I know I’m checking mine.

PART FOUR: PRINCIPLES FOR TRUE GROWTH

[Picks up Bible. Holds it high.]

So what does REAL biblical growth look like? Let me give you four Kingdom principles – and I want you to write these down.

Number One – Obedience IS the Path to Growth.

James 1:22 says: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.” The foundation of spiritual growth sits on obedience to God’s Word. Every time you DO what God says – you grow. Every time this church ACTS on the Word – we grow. Doers grow. Hearers stay stuck.

Number Two – Obedience Produces Fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 – the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. When we walk in obedience to the Holy Ghost – that fruit shows up in our lives! And saints – FRUIT ATTRACTS PEOPLE. You want your church to grow? Let your love be real. Let your joy be genuine. Let your peace pass understanding. That fruit will draw folks in faster than any advertisement you can buy.

Number Three – Leaders Equip, and Members Serve.

Ephesians 4:11-16 – God gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Why? To EQUIP the saints for the work of ministry. Every Elder, every Mother, every Deacon in this building carries a God-given assignment – to equip THIS body so that every member walks in obedience and service. When every saint does their part – the whole body grows up in love.

[Voice climbs.]

Number Four – Unified Obedience Brings the FIRE.

Acts 4:31 – “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”

They got in ONE ACCORD. They unified in obedience. And GOD shook the BUILDING!

[Stomps foot.]

We ain’t need a bigger building – we need to shake the one we GOT! We need to get in ONE ACCORD, obey the Holy Ghost, and let GOD do the shaking!

[Congregation rises.]

CONCLUSION

[Steps down from behind the pulpit. Stands at floor level. Voice drops to a pastoral tone.]

Saints… I want to leave you with this.

God measures growth differently than we do. The world measures with a headcount. God measures with a heart check. The world looks at the parking lot. God looks at the prayer closet. The world counts the members. God counts the obedient.

Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20. He said – “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe ALL THINGS whatsoever I have commanded you.”

Teaching them to OBSERVE. Teaching them to OBEY. The mission was never just to gather a crowd. The mission carries the assignment to make DISCIPLES – obedient, Spirit-filled, Word-walking disciples.

[Pause. Looks slowly across the congregation.]

So I ask you this morning – as I ask myself – are WE those disciples? Are we obeying the Word we shout over on Sunday? Are we living Monday through Saturday like people who belong to God?

Because when we walk in obedience – GROWTH FOLLOWS. Spiritual growth comes first. Then God adds the numbers in His perfect timing.

Trust the process. Obey the Word. Watch God work.

[Returns to pulpit.]

CLOSING PRAYER

[Congregation stands. Music softly plays underneath.]

Let us pray.

Father – we come to You right now with hearts open and heads bowed. Lord, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You didn’t leave us to figure this out on our own – You gave us the Scripture, You gave us the Spirit, and You gave us each other.

Lord, we confess that we have sometimes chased the wrong kind of growth. We got excited about the crowd when You were calling us to check our character. Forgive us, Father.

Today, Lord, we make a fresh commitment. Fill us with Your Spirit. Stir up obedience in this body. Let love be our evidence. Let faithfulness be our testimony. Let our community know us by our fruit and our fire – and by the way we love one another.

Grow us, Lord. Grow us DEEP before You grow us WIDE. And in Your perfect timing – add to this church those whom You are calling. Add to us daily such as should be saved.

We receive it right now – in the name of Jesus. In the MIGHTY name of Jesus.

Somebody say – AMEN!

Closing Song: “Trust and Obey”

[Final Words – stepping back to the mic as the choir settles.]

Church – let’s make a decision today. A real one. A Kingdom decision. God calls us to obey His Word – fully, completely, and daily. As we do that – as THIS church commits to walking in obedience – God will bring the growth He desires. Growth in our spirits. Growth in our homes. Growth in our community. And growth in this sanctuary.

Go and be obedient people. Carry the Spirit with you when you walk out those doors.

God bless you. God keep you. And God grow you – from the inside out.

AMEN and AMEN.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” – John 14:15