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Our Gospel Meeting is Here“Trust and Obey” – The elders of the congregation have chosen this phrase as a theme for 2011. Therefore, I have chosen it as the overall theme for our Gospel Meeting which is now upon us. For many of us, when we hear the words, “Trust and Obey,” our minds go immediately to the beloved song of that title. It has been reported that in 1886 Daniel Towner was leading songs during a worship service in Massachusetts. During the worship service a young man made the statement, “I am not quite sure, but I am going to trust and I am going to obey.” Mr. Towner jotted down those words and sent them to his good friend, John Sammis. Mr. Sammis utilized those words to produce the song that we now know so well. The song addresses the importance of our daily walk with God, our perseverance through the difficulties and hardships of life, the importance of complete submission to His will and the necessity of faithful service. As the chorus to the song says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” For the purpose of our Gospel Meeting, we’ll focus on some very important Biblical principles by utilizing the words from the first verse of the song: “When We Walk With the Lord” (Sunday Bible Class); “In the Light of His Word” (Sunday a.m..); “What a Glory He Sheds on Our Way” (Sunday p.m.); “While We Do His Good Will” (Monday); “He Abides With Us Still” (Tuesday); “And With All Who Will Trust and Obey” (Wednesday). If we are going to submit to God in the way that we should, we must truly trust in Him. We must trust His goodness, His power, His word, His promises. With such a trust, we can gladly submit to Him with true obedience. The word “trust” occurs more in the book of Psalms than in any other. Here are just a few occurrences: “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!” (Psalm 40:4). “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth” (Psalm 71:5). “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2). “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul” (Psalm 143:8). Unfortunately, for some, upon hearing the word “obey” they think of the concept of earning salvation. Yet, obedience is submission to the One who grants salvation. The truth is, not a one of us can earn salvation for we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (see Rom. 3:23). Yet, to obtain the salvation that He offers to all (see Titus 2:11-14), we must obey His word. Notice what the Hebrew writer tells us, “And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb. 5:9). God’s offer of grace does not negate the necessity of our obedience. And, our obedience does not diminish God’s grace. Notice how Paul utilized both of these concepts in perfect harmony within Romans 6. “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (vs 17-18). Although he addressed the necessity of proper obedience, just a few verses later he continued to speak of God’s gift– “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God offers all of us the wonderful gift of salvation. But, we must respond to His offer in obedience. As the song says, “Never fear, only trust and obey.” |