Obedience is connected with the “entering into the Kingdom,” Matthew 7:21 and following. It is connected with knowingGod, 1 John 2:3 and knowing that we are in God, 1 John 2:5. It is also better to obey because obedience is connected with having “both the Father and the Son,” 2 John, verse 9, and obedience is better because to obey is to be “friends” of Christ, John 15:14. You can’t become one of His “sheep” without obedience, John 10, verses 27 and 28. You can’t become a “disciple” of His without obedience, John 8, verses 31 and 32. You can’t be a “branch” “in the vine” and continue as such without obedience, John 15, verses 1 through 5.

You can’t be a part of His family without obedience, according to Matthew 12, verses 47 to 50. You see, people came and said, “Jesus, some of your relatives are out here,” and He asked, “who are my brethren?” And then He said he that doth My Will “is my brother, and sister, and mother.” And so you can’t really be in His family without obedience.

You really cannot fulfill all the Great Commission without obedience, Matthew 28:19 and 20. And the end of that Great Commission says, “Teaching them to observe all things” –with commandments? “All things”! Call it legalism, call it whatever you will—that’s God’s arrangement. In Matthew 21:42, the Bible said, “this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in” your sight. Who dare question anything or put any kind of a question mark over anything the Lord asked? No—“To obey is better”!

Obedience is also connected with our entering that eternal city, Revelation 22:14. It is connected with eternal life, Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9 that we’ve just mentioned a moment ago. It is connected with so many, many things! We can’t really expect to live eternally with Him without obedience!

Now on the other hand, disobedience has brought on “vengeance,” 2 Thessalonians 1:7 to 9. Disobedience brought a curse on the whole human race, Romans 5, and verse 12. Disobedience is connected with the final indignation, Hebrews 10, verses 28 to 31. And disobedience has caused the Lord to say, “I never knew you, depart from Me,” Matthew 7:21 to 23.

“To obey is better.” It is better than sacrifice. It is better than any kind of an excuse that we could offer. It’s better than rationalizing. It is better than our trying to go our own way, because “it is not in man that walks to direct his own steps,” Jeremiah 10:23. And your “thoughts” and God’s thoughts are not alike, Isaiah 55:8 and 9. And “there is a way that seems right,” but it leads to “death,” Proverbs 14:12. So it’s always been better to obey!

Doesn’t the Lord say it’s better to obey parents? Ephesians 6:1, “obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” It’s always been right! And God wants people to know that, regardless of what labels someone might put on it, you see? And then in Colossians 3:20, He said, “Children, obey your parents…for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” Obedience to parents has always been “well pleasing.”

When Jesus was coming “to be baptized by” John in the River Jordan, in Matthew 3, verses 13 to 17, John hesitated. No wonder, because his was “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,” Luke 3:3. And only sinners needed to repent! John’s was a baptism in which they “confessed their sins,” Matthew 3:6, and only sinners had anything to confess. So when Jesus came to be baptized, no wonder John hesitated and said, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” And the Lord said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,” Matthew 3:13 to 17.

Now let me ask you: Would Jesus have fulfilled all righteousness had He not submitted—had He not obeyed? No! Was Jesus on the right side when he urged his disciples in teaching them to pray, “Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” Matthew 6:10? Doesn’t that call for obedience? Can you really become one of the Lord’s sheep without obedience? No! In John 10:27 and 28, He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,” or recognize them, “and they follow Me.” Can we follow in the steps of Christ, 1 Peter 1:22 and 23? Can we have the “mind” in us that is “in Christ,” Philippians 2:5? Can we bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” [2 Corinthians 10:5] without obeying? No, there’s no way!

Is it possible to overdo this thing of obedience? You see, the Lord said, “obey from the heart.” It’s not just a perfunctory thing—it’s not just an on-the-surface thing. But you see, when you do it “from the heart,” you’re still obeying, and that’s His teaching in Romans 6, verses 16 and 17.

So, “to obey is better.”Isn’t it better in servant and master relationships in Colossians 3:23? And what about obeying the ordinances of the land, Romans 13, verses 1 and following? That’s better! “To obey is better”!

You see, we couldn’t live in a society without some kind of authority and some respect for that authority. What if on the highways, with the speed limit being 75 mph, what if it really didn’t matter? You’d go 125 mph, if you wanted! You’d go on either side of the road, if you wanted! It wouldn’t really matter. You wouldn’t have to stop at any signs! It would be chaotic! Have you ever been on one of those autobahns in Germany? I tell you, when you do have a wreck, you’ve had one! But it doesn’t matter—no speed limit! What if in our world twelve inches did not make a foot—sixteen ounces didn’t make a pound—five thousand, two hundred eighty feet didn’t make a mile? You see? What if when you went to the gas pump—they’re just putting a figure up there—what if there was no standard? You couldn’t live like that! What if you charged $5 million dollars for something that could be bought for 50 cents? You see, there’s got to be a standard, and there’s got to be a recognition of that standard.