We dealt with the TRUST this morning, but this evening we would like to deal with the OBEY part of that song.
Something that Peter and the early disciples understood that today’s church does not understand, is that WE CHRISTIANS ARE TO OBEY GOD. They understood that you obeyed God:
• When it was popular
• When it was not popular
• When it was convenient
• When it was not convenient
They understood the importance of obeying God at all times.
It is like obeying the speed limit signs that are posted, it is something we should do ALL THE TIME, not just SOME TIME!
Illus: Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Police Officer saw a car putting along at 22 MPH. He thinks to himself, "This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies, two in the front seat and three in the back, wide eyed and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, "Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?" "Ma'am," the officer replies, "You weren't speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers." "Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit, exactly twenty-two miles an hour!" the old woman says a bit proudly. The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that "22" was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error. "But before I let you go, Ma'am, I have to ask... is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven't muttered a single peep this whole time," the officer asks. "Oh, they'll be all right in a minute officer. We just got off Route 142."
Illus: Have you noticed that they have dog shows where dogs have been taught to obey commands? You can teach a dog to obey. But have you noticed, you never see a cat show where a cat is taught to obey and perform? YOU KNOW WHY? Cats have a mind of their own. They are the most disobedient creatures on this earth. Some people are like cats, they do not like the word “Obey”! They have a mind of their own.
Illus: During the wedding rehearsal, the groom approached the pastor with an unusual offer. "Look, I'll give you $100 if you'll change the wedding vows. When you get to me and the part where I'm to promise to 'love, honor and obey' and 'forsaking all others, be faithful to her forever,' I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave that part out." He passed the minister a $100 bill and walked away satisfied.
It is now the day of the wedding, and the bride and groom have moved to that part of the ceremony where the vows are exchanged. When it comes time for the groom's vows, the pastor looks the young man in the eye and says: "Will you promise to obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning of your life and swear eternally before God and your lovely wife that you will not ever even look at another woman, as long as you both shall live?"
• The groom gulped and looked around, and said in a tiny voice, "Yes."
• The groom leaned toward the pastor and hissed, "I thought we had a deal."
• The pastor put the $100 bill into his hand and whispered back, "We did, but she made me a much better offer."
The early church knew a great deal about OBEDIENCE. Peter said, “WE OUGHT TO OBEY GOD…”
Illus: Oswald Chambers said this about obedience. “Obedience to Jesus Christ is essential, but not compulsory….”
WHY IS IT ESSENTIAL THAT WE OBEY? For a number of reasons. If God forced us to obey Him, there could not be a judgment where we would be held accountable.
He will never force us:
• To come to Him for salvation
• To come to church
• To read our Bible
• To pray
• To tithe
• To witness
He only commands us and then He holds us accountable. He commands us and expects us to be obedient.
Since obedience is such a very important part of our life, let’s look at-
I. THE PURPOSE OF OBEDIENCE
We learn a great deal about obedience when we look at the Amalekites in the Old Testament. These were some evil and cruel people.
For example, when Israel was fleeing from Egypt, they were tired and exhausted.
• Some, because of physical problems and exhaustion, became stragglers and began to follow the large crowd from a distance.
• The Amalekites took advantage of these stragglers, attacked them, robbed them and killed them.
• But while they did this in secrecy as much as they could, God saw what they did.
God was determined that one day, as a nation of evil and cruel people, they would pay with their own lives. Later on, when God saw it was the right time to take care of them for the horrible deeds they had done, God gave King Saul a specific command to wipe them from the face of the earth. Look at-
A. THE COMMAND
1 Sam 15:2-3, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
We see the command, now look at-
B. THE COMPROMISE
1 Sam 15:8-9, “And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.”
Saul received a command from God and only partially obeyed.
Illus: That is like coming to a stop sign and slowing down, but not stopping. Stop means to stop! And obedience means obedience. It means complete obedience not partial obedience.
Look at-
C. THE CONDEMNATION
1 Sam 15:28, “And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.”
Notice, God would not accept any excuse for disobedience, regardless of how good it may sound.
Illus: Obedience is essential.
• If an army is going to be victorious in a battle, the soldiers have to be obedient to the orders that are passed down to them
• If a factory is going to be productive, the employees have to be obedient to the orders given to them
• If the highways are going to be safe to drive on, the drivers have to be obedient to the speed signs posted
• If a family is going to be a functional family, the children are going to have to be obedient to their parents
Illus: Laura Christianson tells the story of a young man who knew something about obedience. She said, “My husband was home with our three-year-old son, Ben, when the plumber arrived to fix our leaky pipe. As the plumber cut a large hole in our family room ceiling, Ben watched solemnly, then informed him, ‘My daddy is going to be very upset with you.’" (Laura Christianson, Washington. Today's Christian Woman, "Small Talk.")
Obedience is important, and for those who do not think it is, watch how they have messed up big time and when they stand before God almighty one day. They are going to be in big trouble.
Illus: Roger Staubach, who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in ’71, admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn’t call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!). Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team. Roger later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.” (Source unknown)
GOD DEMANDS OBEDIENCE!!! God demanded OBEDIENCE and Saul was convinced he could partially OBEY THE LORD and blame his disobedience on the people.
Illus: In Discipleship Journal, Don McCullough wrote that John Killinger tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself.
• The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth
• The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun—until it bounced off his forehead
• The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye
Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. “You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!”
Don McCullough, Discipleship Journal.
Saul was the king and he could have prevented the people from taking the best of the flock and King Agag, but he did not! It wasn’t because he was DISABLED, it was because he was DISOBEDIENT.
Saul had two flaws in his thinking.
• “I’ll do evil that good may come of it.”
• “If I do good in one area, then God will overlook my evil in another area.”
Saul seemed to think that since he was going to make offerings and sacrifices to God with some of the spoils, God should overlook his disobedience.
That is like some today, who say, “I will play the lottery. I know it is gambling, but if I win I will give some of it to God and He will be happy with me then.” Listen, some folks are so messed up that they actually pray and ask God to be a partaker of their gambling!
God requires OBEDIENCE and He will not settle for anything less! Look at Deut. 26:16, “This day the LORD thy GOD HATH COMMANDED THEE TO DO THESE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS: thou shalt therefore keep and do them WITH ALL THINE HEART, and with all thy soul.”
God requires obedience, and that obedience is to be performed from the heart of man. There ought to be a great desire in the hearts of God’s people to be as obedient to His Word as we possibly can.
We looked at THE PURPOSE OF OBEDIENCE, now look at-
II. THE PROMISE OF OBEDIENCE
Many folks today who profess to be saved are puzzled to see why God is not blessing their life.
Illus: John Maxwell tells the story of a son and his mother. He said, “I heard a story the other day of two boys going to school, and they were talking about their families. One boy said he had figured out a system for getting along with mom. He said, ‘It's very simple. She tells me what to do, and I do it.’" What a thought! (John Maxwell, "What Children Owe Their Parents (and Themselves)," Preaching Today, Tape No. 140.)
That little boy has learned a lesson that many Christians have not learned yet. The lesson is that God is not going to bless a child of His that is DISOBEDIENT. That would be sending the wrong signal to that child of God if He were to do such a thing.
Illus: That would be:
• Like a child failing his grade because he would not study, and when he comes home, Mom and Dad buy him a new bicycle for failing his grade.
• Like a child throwing a rock and knocking out your car window, and you go over and give them a big hug.
You might find some earthly parents who are dumb enough to raise their children this way, but God the Father does not do such things. He will bless those who are OBEDIENT TO HIS WORD, not those who are DISOBEDIENT TO HIS WORD!
Look at Jer. 7:23, “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, THAT IT MAY BE WELL UNTO YOU.”
If you want a life that is well with you, you have to walk in obedience.
If you want the blessings of God on your life, then you need to understand the importance of obeying God, because God the Father is not going to bless a disobedient child of His.
III. THE PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE
America is living on the blessings of our godly forefathers. Today, God is blessing this great nation because we had forefathers that obeyed God’s Word.
But today, some (not all) of the most crooked men and women on the face of this earth are now are in control of this nation. The reason they stay in office year after year is because the people who put them there are evil and crooked as they are.
One day God is going to look at all the evil in this land and says, “that’s enough!” and bring this nation to her knees.
Preacher, how do you know that? Because the Bible teaches that.
• Jer. 12:17, “But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.”
• Rom. 2:8,9, “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, INDIGNATION and WRATH, TRIBULATION and ANGUISH, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;”
No one can make anyone obey the Lord. You may choose to do something that you know is wrong, but you need to know that every sin of disobedience comes with a price tag.
Illus: Imagine if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, “Look, I’m going to leave. And while I’m gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I’m away. I will write to you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip.” Everyone agrees. He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns. Finally he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess--weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss. Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, “What happened? Didn’t you get my letters?” You say, “Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We’ve even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have ‘letter study’ every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters.” I think the president would then ask, “But what did you do about my instructions?” And, no doubt the employees would respond, “Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!” Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p. 242
Conclusion:
As we close, let us look at 1 Sam.15:10-11, “Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.”
The word “repenteth” here can be misleading. This term does not mean that God regretted His action of having permitted Saul to be king. That idea would imply some sort of imperfection on the part of God, which we know is not possible. God knew what was in Saul, and what he would do. So Saul’s rebellion was no surprise to God.
What it means is that God would have continued to deal with Saul in mercy, grace, and blessing if he had been obedient.
But due to Saul’s disobedience and rebellion, God is now forced to deal with him differently. That is the basic idea behind the word “repenteth” - God’s plans and purposes toward Saul would now change.
Today, God desires to deal with us in mercy, grace, and blessing, but if we are going to be disobedient, then GOD’S PLANS WILL CHANGE TOWARD US!
I. THE PURPOSE OF OBEDIENCE
II. THE PROMISE OF OBEDIENCE
III. THE PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE
