Obey Or Be Sacrificed Series

"Do!" was the indignant reply. "I would refuse to accept her as a patient. I could do nothing for her unless she put her whole case into my hands and obeyed my directions implicitly."

"Then obedience to the doctor’s orders is essential if the patient wants to be cured!"

"Absolutely!"

"And that is consecration. God must have your whole life put in his hands without any reservations and his directions must be implicitly followed."

There are people who go to church regularly who either don’t understand that concept… or maybe they don’t care.

They’ll sing in the choir on Sunday, but they’ll curse like a sailor on Monday.

They’ll work with the Ladies Group on Tuesday, but spread malicious gossip on Wednesday.

They’ll teach the youth on Thursday, but look at porn on the internet on Friday.

* I’ve talked with Elders who felt they had could overlook sin in the church because the one sinning was one of their relatives.

* I’ve watched a church piano player sit in the third row during the sermon and saw the hatred and spite in her eyes.

* I’ve known of rich men who felt they could do whatever they wanted in God’s church because the church “needed” their support.

* And I’ve known church leaders who publicly enjoyed the respect of the congregation but who privately were committing adultery.

How could they do such things?!!!

Well… they say to themselves:

“I’ve sacrificed so much.”

“I’ve sacrificed my time, my money, my resources for God.”

“I’ve earned a little leeway here. I don’t have to obey Him about this”

But God says “To Obey is better than sacrifice to heed better than the fat of rams”.

In fact, God tells us that when we choose NOT to obey… that’s the same rebellion.

It’s the same as idolatry.

It’s wicked in God’s sight.

God considers obedience to be more important than anything else in His relationship with us.

* Deuteronomy 11:26-28 says “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— the blessing if you OBEY the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands...”

* In Exodus 15:26 we’re told "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN HIS EYES, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."

* In John 14:15 Jesus says: "If you love me, you will OBEY what I command.

* And 1 John 5:3 declares: “This is love for God: to OBEY his commands. And his commands are not burdensome”

Obedience is at the very heart of our relationship with God.

We can’t have a healthy connection to our Father if we have a disobedient heart.

But, now wait a minute?

Haven’t you ever been disobedient to God since you’ve become a Christian?

How many of you have disobeyed God at least once since you’ve been saved?

Yeah… we all have.

That’s when we have to turn to I John 1:9 where we are promised:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”