Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Guest (Male): The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Let us face these great facts. We are to be obedient. Obedience is the great mark of the life of the true believer in Jesus Christ; that we have listened with alert ears, that we try to put into practice the things that please God, that we search to find out His will, and that when we find something that is pleasing to Him, we immediately translate it into doing so that men may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

Guest (Male): Over a half-century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio ministry which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

The application of God's word, as taught by Dr. Barnhouse, is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago. The message we'll be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled, "The Joy of Obedience."

"Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey." This old hymn conveys a profound spiritual truth: that obedience to the Lord produces real joy in the Lord. Do you experience the joy that comes from faithfully obeying your Lord and Master?

The Scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is Romans, chapter 16 and verse 19. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled, "The Joy of Obedience."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto Thee, our Father and our God, and in the Holy Spirit. Help us to understand that hearing Thy word brings with it a great obligation, even the obligation to submit ourselves to it. May we know the simplicity of obedience that we may have the glory of fellowship with Thee. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

The text is in Romans 16 and verse 19: "Your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you." Now, in the opening chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans, he writes, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world." And now, here in the end of the epistle, he says that their obedience is known to all.

In no small sense, the two are synonymous. Faith equals obedience. Obedience is faith in action. And this is not merely a catchphrase. It's inherent in the very root meaning of the terms for obedience. The Greek word for "hear" is *akouo*, and the word for "obey" is *hupakouo*.

The preposition *hupo*, which is joined to the verb, has come into our language in all of the forms that include "hyper" as a prefix. And indeed, since the Latin *super* is its exact translation, all of the words which have "super" as a prefix can serve to illustrate the meaning of our word.

Most literally, obedience is super-hearing. This idea is reinforced by the fact that the Greek word for "disobey" is this same word "to hear," prefixed by the preposition *para*, which we know in "parallel" and similar words conveying the meaning of "alongside." Therefore, to super-hear is to obey, while to hear alongside is to disobey.

Here we see in the essentials of etymology the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ set forth in the parable of the two sons. Christ said, "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same, and he answered, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?"

We may rephrase this in terms of the words we're discussing and say that although the first son replied that he would not go, he really super-heard his father and went and did what he was asked. In the same way, we may say that the second son announced that he would go, but his mind heard alongside the words of his father, and he did not go. True obedience, then, is a hearing that produces action.

In classical Greek, as early as Homer, the word was used in the sense of listening with bowed head. In Xenophon, it's used for the doorkeeper who stands outside the master's door, but with head bowed to listen for the summons, which often came with the noise of the clapping of the master's hand. The porter then opened the door and went in to receive his orders.

This idea is fixed for us in one of the beautiful beatitudes in Solomon's Proverbs. There we read, "And now, my sons, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Happy is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For he who finds me, the divine wisdom, finds life and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who misses me injures himself; all who hate me love death."

Now, does it seem superfluous to give such an introduction to the word and the idea of obedience? Is not this one of the first words we ever learned? "You must obey mama," is one of the early lessons of life. "Do what I tell you, obey." How old were we when these sounds first came to our ears? And we learned the early struggle between hearing alongside and super-hearing.

Incidentally, teaching children obedience is one of the most important functions of parenthood. The child who learns to obey implicitly will have an easier time shifting gear into the divine obedience than will a child who is allowed to have his own way. You can teach the child that which we all need to learn so well: that there are two distinct motives for obedience.

There is the motive of fear and there is the motive of love. The discipline which we impart is not to be used in such a way that it incites to fear, but rather in such a way that it moves to love. When we transfer this idea into the realm of obedience to God, we discover that the same two motives operate. The unsaved man obeys because of fear, and fear can never do any more than restrain. But for the believer, the motive must be love, and love can constrain us, compel us, and bring us on into holiness.

Oh, how much misery is caused by seeking one's own way. We think of the horrible toll of accidents on our highways. What is behind most of them? A deep analysis will bring forth, I believe, that someone wanted his own way, and wanted it even to death and destruction.

Some time ago, we were motoring in the West and we passed one of the advertising jingles that are so frequent along the road. And this one said, "Mad dashes from byways make crashes on highways." Well, when I was putting down my random thoughts on the worksheet that precedes the preparation of a message like this, I thought of this jingle and I typed it with the thought that I might work it into the narrative.

And when I looked at what I had typed, I knew I could use it because my finger had slipped, and what I had typewritten said, "Mad dashes from my ways make crashes on highways." Oh, how true this is in many realms of life.

There is not one of us who has not wounded some loved one with a precipitate flinging out of some unkind word. And as soon as it has been spoken, we realize how terrible it was, and we would do anything we could to recall it, but it's too late. Oh, it's not only a motorcar that can get out of control, but also the mind and the tongue.

God is teaching us in our text that there is to be obedience, and as we shall see, this obedience brings us completely under the law of Christ. At this point, I can hear the upset people who cry out that we're not under law, but we're under grace. Well, it's very important that belief in grace should not be interpreted as a simple and easy road to having our own way. Even under grace, there must be law.

There must be regulations in life. A family that lives in a city must have rules for its children about crossing streets, rules that a family living on a farm doesn't have to have. There must be regulations in the home, especially if there's a large family and only one bathtub. There must be regulations in traffic. We walk to the right, we drive to the right.

We have red lights and green lights to regulate the flow of traffic. Grace does not give us the right to drive as we please. We must obey, and it's well for us to realize that the opposite of obedience is sin.

Perhaps you question my statement that the opposite of obedience is sin, but listen to the following from Romans 6:16: "Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" Look closely, and you'll discover that there are two sets of opposites in that text. Death is the opposite of righteousness, and sin is the opposite of obedience.

Now, this brings us squarely into the realm of Christian obedience, the obedience which in the Roman believers had become a topic of conversation in the whole Christian world. The believer, though not under law, is bound to Christ in a way that is going to produce obedience to law. The law is good in a general sense. It is the fixed and steady expression of right and duty.

When we go to the words that have come down to us to cover the whole question of the rules of human government, we find most interesting comparison between the Anglo-Saxon word and the Latin word. Both of these words have come to us. The one is "law," and the other is "statute." Law is an Anglo-Saxon word and statute is a Roman word, Latin.

Now, the word law in its primitive form meant something that was laid or fixed. The common verb "to lay" comes from the same root as law. So the law, then, is something that has its place laid solidly and that must not be moved. Now, when we go to the Latin, we find that the Romans had the same concept, but expressed it by a word that comes from the Latin for "stand."

For this word has given us state, statue, status, estate, station, and many other words that derive from the concept of standing erect or standing fast. The word statute found so frequently in the Old Testament for the law of God—22 times in the 119th Psalm alone—describes the steadfastness of the divine decrees.

Now, in the human realm, reverence for law marks civilization. The dictatorships seek to have a rule of men; the Western world seeks to have a rule of law. Disregard for law marks savagery. Antipathy to law is immoral and criminal. God has given us the expression of His being in the laws and statutes which He gave first to His people, and through which He trained them as a primary teacher trains a child until we could be brought up to the age where we learn to love the law for the Lord's sake.

Oh, it would be a good exercise for you to take a good concordance and study the uses of the word "delight." See how the men of God found their great pleasure in God and in His revealed will. It's Job who first speaks of delighting in the Almighty. And David makes this word one of his favorites.

The Psalms begin with the description of the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on that law day and night. In the great Psalm of the law of the Lord, the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, David uses three different words to express his delight in the law and the statutes of God.

Now, the Roman Christians understood Him, and without having the Old Testament, as many of the Gentile Christians did not, they knew what it was to be submitted to the law of Christ. And thus it was that their obedience came forth to all the world. Time and again, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He was giving them a new law of life.

We go to the upper room and listen as He prepares them for His departure: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. This I command you, to love one another."

Now, all of those verses there are seven different quotations spoken in the last few hours of Christ's life, either in the upper room or on the road to the garden where He was to be betrayed. St. Augustine understood well the meaning of these commandments and the method whereby they were to be translated into life.

His sentence is a cryptic one: *dilige et quod vis fac*. "Only love, and then do as you please." What? Let not the hasty reader conclude that he is counseling a method whereby the believer can enter into complete lawlessness and the anarchy that comes from self-will.

When Augustine said, "Only love, and then do as you please," he's saying that if true love is in the heart, then love is the law of the heart. I can do as I please because I do not please to do anything that would please the Lord. The commands of grace are sweet and wonderful. And this is why John can say in his first epistle: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, not grievous."

If we're to have an obedience that will cause others to remark that we've been with Jesus Christ, we must live in the word of God and take to heart the scores of loving commandments which are found scattered through the New Testament. It may surprise some to speak of the New Testament commandments, but I have found 28 commandments in the New Testament, all beginning with the imperative "be." And I'm sure I've not exhausted the list, where the Lord enjoins us to have a character that produces good works.

Since all of these verses are in the imperative, they must be considered as commands. Now, first in the Gospels we read, "Be ye merciful, as your Father is merciful." And this, we might say, is the pattern of all the others. We are commanded to act in a certain way because the Lord Himself has acted toward us in that way.

If He has—if God the Father has because of Christ—overlooked all our sins and iniquities, then we must, because of Christ, overlook anything that anyone might do against us. Oh, how tender He is when we have done something willful that shows the bent of our fallen nature. How we must seek to be like Him when someone acts toward us as we have often acted toward the Lord.

Also in the Gospels, we find the command, "Be ye ready." Now, this is only common sense in view of the fact that it's our Master who's coming, and that we must render all our accounts to Him. How true that we should keep all our books up to date. Be sure that there's no unforgiveness toward others, and nothing unconfessed and unforgiving in all our conduct. Listen and obey this command: be ready.

In the Acts, Paul gives a command to those who were with him in the shipwreck, which we can take to ourselves from God, since it's found in one form or another in scores of passages in the Old Testament: "Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer." And this is the equivalent of that word found more than a hundred times in the Bible: "Be not afraid," or "fear not."

In Romans 12, we have several of these commands: "Be not conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Be kindly affectioned one to another. Be of the same mind one toward another." And the revision makes the command even stronger: "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, associate with the lowly; never be conceited." And in the same chapter: "Be not overcome of evil."

To the Corinthians, the Holy Spirit commands: "Be ye reconciled to God. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Be ye separate." And this is a call to separation from the world and from the devil's religions. It's not a call to be separate from other believers.

Anyone who attempts to apply this command in the opposite direction from that for which the Lord intended it is guilty of disobedience. We must not nullify the commands to love by any false separatism that is of our own devising, and on standards that are opposite to those that are set up in the word.

Calling attention to the whole course of Christian living, Paul writes to the Galatians: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." And in the context, this is a commandment that refers to our stewardship of the money that God has given us. In the letter to the Ephesians, we come upon a commandment: "Be ye kind one to another." And again: "Be ye angry and sin not."

And as though Paul knew that there might be a conflict between those two commands, he gives the secret for all of this in the context by commanding: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." And later he adds: "Be strong in the Lord." To the Philippians is given a command concerning the practicality of daily living: "Be anxious for nothing."

This is the equivalent of saying, "Do not worry about anything." Oh, how many Christians realize that worry is definitely to be classed as sin. It's a subtle sin, but nevertheless it's a sin. To the Colossians, the Apostle writes the command: "Be thankful." If we've ever taught a child to say "thank you," "thank you," "say thank you," "say thank you," we know how slow we are to learn gratitude, and how often we have to be reminded.

It's good, therefore, to find this command reminding us that all that we have and are comes from our heavenly Father. To the Thessalonians, Paul paraphrased the Lord's command to love one another by telling them: "Be at peace among yourselves."

We must never forget that the Lord said that this was the one way by which the world would take note that we're His disciples, and that the world might come to believe that the Father had sent Christ. Now, one of the most important of the Christian commands comes to us in the epistle to the Hebrews.

While most believers today are not Hebrews, the command comes through as a sharp call to us. It is a command which is more needed in America today than almost any other command. Oh, what a difference it would make in our living if we obeyed this word. Listen: "Be content with such things as you have."

In the general epistles, we find James transmitting two important commands: "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only," and "Be patient unto the coming of the Lord." If we are doers of the word, the rest will follow naturally. Peter transmits the following commands: "Be ye holy for I am holy. Be all of one mind. Be pitiful," which in the revision is "have a tender heart."

"Be courteous." How few of us realize that courtesy is commanded by God. And Peter, knowing well the strength of the adversary, gives the warning command: "Be sober, be vigilant."

Now, this brings us to the book of Revelation, where we're commanded to face the hatred of the world and Satan, and to be ready to go all extremes to keep faithful for Christ: "Be faithful unto death" is the command, "and I will give thee the crown of life." And knowing the perils of the Christian life, He warns: "Be watchful. Be zealous."

Now, all of these commands—and I've given you 28 of them—all of them begin with the word "be," and they are all in the imperative, and all of them are set forth as the way the believer should walk. All of them rise out of our relationship of love for Christ, which comes from the fact that He first loved us.

It's wonderful to realize that the little band of believers in Nero's Rome were so obedient to the movement of the Holy Spirit that all Christian visitors who left there for their homes in other parts of the empire brought the news that the church was solid, that the believers were kind and loving, and that their lives showed forth the obedience of Christ.

Oh, let us all most solemnly ask the Lord to search our hearts, to know our thoughts, to try our whole being, lest there should be any disobedience in us. Thus men will see Jesus Christ in us and be drawn to Him. Oh, may God give to us the Holy Spirit of obedience, that we may obey Christ who said, "Love one another. Love is the fulfilling of the law."

And our God and Father, we pray Thee that the Holy Spirit should take the richness of these words to our hearts and make our hearts humble before Thee. May we hear Thee, listen to Thee, and may we put into effect the things which we learn of Thee. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Guest (Male): Sin and disobedience lead to misery and despair, but faithful obedience and submission to God produce genuine joy in the Christian life. We hope you've benefited from today's message, "The Joy of Obedience." To listen to additional teaching by Dr. Barnhouse, visit us online at alliance-net.org.

An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling toll-free 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled "The Joy of Obedience," or simply request message number R16-4. We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled, *When Believers Sin*.

Many believers become discouraged and defeated in the ongoing struggle with sin in the Christian life. Sin can rob us of our joy, breed insecurity in our spiritual lives, and hinder our fellowship with the Lord. This free booklet will help you understand why genuine believers still struggle with sin and how to effectively and biblically deal with sin in your life.

Ask for your free copy of *When Believers Sin* when you call or write. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We exist to promote a biblical understanding and worldview.

Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of listeners.

If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help us keep this ministry on the air. For more information or to make a contribution to help further our work, contact us by calling toll-free 1-800-488-1888. That's 1-800-488-1888.

Visit us online at alliance-net.org or write: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Be sure to ask for a free resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reformed teachers and theologians, including Doctors Donald Grey Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Martin Lloyd-Jones, and Philip Graham Ryken. Thank you for listening. Join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.