As we return to the Lord wholeheartedly, we must adhere to the word of God relentlessly. By adding and subtracting from the word of God and replacing them with man’s words, we end up following false gospels and are defeated by our enemies. What happens is man develops their own beliefs and doctrines and then when the bible does not align with their ways, they ignore what the bible says very clearly and continue on their own way. For example you often hear there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. That statement is only true when we are following God’s word wholeheartedly. We have talked about this before but God’s promise was to David not to every individual who said a little prayer and now have been told they are eternally secure. 2 Samuel 7:11 “‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
After Solomon takes the throne 1 Kings 11:9 “The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.” This subordinate was Jeroboam. He was told 1 Kings 11:34 “‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35 I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. 36 I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37 However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38 If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.” Then Jeroboam did not obey. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 9 You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me. 10 “‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam.” He was so bad that later kings were compared to him. 1 Kings 15:34 “He (King Basha) did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.” Even in the end the whole remnant went into captivity but the promise to David was not broken.
David gave this charge to Solomon. 1 Kings 2:1 “When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.” Jeroboam was told “If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you.” God kept his promise to David but he punished those who broke covenant with Him.
When Moses went up the mountain before God, God said to him, Exodus 19:5 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” We see that the blessings from God come when we obey. Leviticus 26:3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands.” Then the blessings are listed. Deuteronomy 28:1 [ Blessings for Obedience ] If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:” Following the blessings are the curses Deuteronomy 28:15 [ Curses for Disobedience ] “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:”
Jesus made it clear in the great commission that we must obey. Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” When we obey God is with us. Don’t let anyone tell you that no matter what, everything is okay because that is not what the bible says. One of the biggest issues on the church today is concerning disobedience and the lack of repentance. Most have no idea what it means to follow God’s word wholeheartedly.
I think it would be important to look at verses that talk about this. I am not going to write them all down but give you a link so that you can read them for yourself. This link will be to Bible Gateway.
Another combination to pay close attention to is “if” and “then.” 1 Samuel 7:3 “So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” Nehemiah 1:9 “but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.”
When you are reading the bible, know that little words like “if” can have a significant affect on your eternal life, so pay attention. By taking away the fear of God in people and telling them that no matter what they do, how they live, and who they follow will have no affect; people have ceased to care. This lack of knowledge is causing people to parish. Samuel said to the people 1 Samuel 12:14 “If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! 15 But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.”
