Obedience
1 Samuel 15:22-23
Someone has said that obedience is the practical acceptance of the authority and will of God. It includes both submitting to Him and then expressing that submission in actions, words and thoughts. Anything short of absolute obedience to God is disobedience. Saul’s life points out the seriousness of disobedience and the nature of obedience.
I. Sin of Disobedience
A. Disobedience is like the sin of witchcraft (It is an Act)
1. Disobedience is a voluntary act of rebellion to the authority and will of God.
2. Verse 23 – “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…”
3. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.”
4. Disobedience like witchcraft is an open challenge or resistance to the authority of God.
5. 1 Samuel 15:13-15 “Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD. But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
6. Saul’s response to Samuel’s question reveals Saul’s heart of rebellion. Note that he refers to the Lord as the Lord your God.
7. Witchcraft or “divination is seeking to know what to do in a way that ignores the word and counsel of God. And that is exactly what disobedience is based on. God says one thing, and we say, I think that I will consult another source of wisdom -- namely, what? MYSELF!” – John Piper
B. Disobedience is iniquity (It is more than an act it is an attitude)
1. Verse 23 – “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity...”
2. Iniquity signifies not merely that which is wrong, but the tendency to do wrong. Iniquities are second nature sins, which drive us to repeatedly, continually commit sin. A perversion of the truth, which leads to error. A perversion of intents, which affects our will. Sin and Transgression are Verbs and things we do: Iniquity is the bent condition of what we are. – Copied
3. The condition of Saul’s heart is seen in his continuation of rebellion to the and authority of God in seeking advice from the witch at Endor.
4. 1 Samuel 28:7-8 “Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.”
5. Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”
C. Disobedience is idolatry
1. Verse 23 – “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
2. In his rebellious disobedience Saul ignored God and made himself his own god.
3. When God says one thing and we consult the little wizard of our own wisdom and then stubbornly choose to go our own way we are idolaters. We have not only chosen to consult ourselves as an alternative to God, and thus become guilty of divination, but we go beyond that and actually esteem the direction of our own mind over God’s direction and become guilty of idolatry
4. 1 Samuel 15:12 “So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal."
5. Disobedience is idolatry because I worship myself above the worship of God.
II. Nature of Obedience
A. Obedience must be intentional
1. Saul chose not to obey.
2. God does not force us into obedience. He allows us to obey. Our choice will determine our character.
3. We must recognize the will of God and intentionally obey.
4. There is no excuse for us not to know and do the will of God.
5. Jeremiah 29:13 "And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart!"
6. Proverbs 8:32-33 “Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.”
7. Those who confess to be Christians intentionally obey God. This is the dividing line for those who say they serve Him, and those who don’t. In order to be a Christian (for real) and walk in the power of God, it’s not about how well you can sing or how well your preaching sounds, or even how well you know how to play church; it’s really about how well you obey, and the motives of your heart when you do obey. - Versal Mason
B. Obedience must be immediate
1. Psalm 119:4 “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.”
2. Procrastination is a form of disobedience.
3. In the New Testament the word for “obey” comes from the Greek “hupakou” which means to listen attentively; by implication to heed or conform to a command or authority. This word conveys the idea of immediate and active following a command.
4. In July, 1976, Israeli commandos made a daring raid at an airport in Uganda, in which 103 Jewish hostages were freed. In less than 15 minutes, the soldiers had killed all seven of the kidnappers and set the captives free. As successful as the rescue was, however, three of the hostages were needlessly killed during the raid. As the commandos entered the terminal, they shouted in Hebrew, "Get down! Crawl!" The Jewish hostages understood and quickly obeyed falling to the floor, while the guerrillas, who did not understand Hebrew, were left standing. Quickly the rescuers shot the standing kidnappers. But two of the hostages hesitated and were also shot down. One young man was lying down and actually stood up when the commandos entered the airport. He, too, was shot with the bullets intended for the enemy. Had these three obeyed the soldiers’ command, they would have been freed with the rest of the captives.
5. Luke 19:5-6 “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, because today I must stay at your house."
So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully.”
6. Is it any wonder that the world sees no urgency in the call to repent? It is any wonder that the world delays in harkening unto the call to turn from wickedness? If God’s people can wait to be obedient, then what right do we have to tell the world to repent now? It is time for God’s people to be obedient. Now. - copied
7. Hebrews 3:15: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
C. Obedience must be all inclusive
1. Saul claimed he obeyed.
2. 1 Samuel 15:13 “Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
3. To obey God in part is to not obey God at all. Partial obedience is disobedience.
4. Acts 13:22 “After removing him, He raised up David as their king, of whom He testified: ’I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will carry out all My will.’”
5. True obedience must be complete. We cannot choose to implement only the part that suits us and leave some other parts out while hoping to be commended as being obedient. We cannot choose and pick the part that suits us to carry out, such is not obedience , it is disobedience
6. 2 Corinthians 2:9 “For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.”
III. Reward of Obedience
A. Obedience invites God’s blessings
1. Deuteronomy 6:17-19 “Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.”
2. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.”
3. Roger Staubach was the quarterback of the 1971 World Champion Dallas Cowboys. However, he admitted up to that point it was a trial for him not to call his own plays. Coach Tom Landry sent in every play from the sidelines. 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 be a genius of football strategy, his pride said that he should be able to run his team. Roger later said, "I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory." When we learn to obey our Coach, the Lord Jesus Christ, there will also be harmony, fulfillment, and VICTORY! - copied
B. Obedience gives power to prayer
1. 1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
2. Obedience to God is a condition of spiritual thrift, inward satisfaction, stability of heart. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the fruit of the land." Obedience opens the gates of the holy city, and gives access to the tree of life. An obedient life helps prayer. It speeds prayer to the throne. God cannot help hearing the prayer of an obedient child. He always has heard his obedient children when they have prayed. Unquestioning obedience counts much in the sight of God, at the throne of heavenly grace.– E.M. Bounds
3. “Do His will as if it were yours, that He may do your will as if it were His.” – Jewish saying
C. Obedience brings peace
1. Philippians 4:9 “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
2. John Owen said “…your faith brings forth obedience, and God in due time will cause it to bring forth peace… without the diligent exercise of the grace of obedience, we shall never enjoy the graces of joy, peace and assurance."
3. Perfect obedience brings perfect happiness, peace, and contentment.
