WE OUGHT TO
OBEY GOD…
Preached: _____________
Text: Acts 5:26-29
Intro: When the disciples were beaten and imprisoned for their spreading of the gospel, they were told not to mention the name of Christ again. However, after receiving these orders from the council and the high priest, the Bible states that they went from there and, “Filled Jerusalem” with the gospel of Christ. They did the opposite of what they were told to do.
When they were asked why they did this, the Bible says, Peter and the other apostles answered and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
That was the right answer then, and it is the right answer now!
Something that Peter and the early disciples understood that many of today’s Christians don’t seem to understand, is that we Christians are to obey the commands of God. WHEN?
• When it is popular
• When it is not popular
• When it is convenient
• When it is not convenient
They simply understood that we always are to obey God.
Obedience is a choice we Christians have to make every day. The devil’s crowd is trying to tell us:
• What to say
• What to wear
• What to watch
• What to read
• What to listen to
• Where to go
But every day we should say to them, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Obedience is something the Bible teaches WE OUGHT TO VOLUNTARILY DO!
Illus: Oswald Chambers said this about obedience. “Obedience to Jesus Christ is essential, but not compulsory…”
God does not force us to obey Him. IT IS OUR CHOICE! If He forced us, there could not be a judgment we would be held accountable at.
He will never force us:
• To come to Him for salvation
• To attend the Sunday School
• To attend the Sunday Morning worship service
• To attend the Sunday Evening worship service
• To attend the Mid-week worship Service
• To read our Bible
• To pray
• To Witness
• To live a holy life
• To tithe
• To witness
These are things we OUGHT to do, but God does not force us to do any of them.
But you can rest assured that on the judgment day, we all will wish we HAD OBEYED HIM!
• He 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 several things about obedience, such as-
I. THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE
We learn a great deal about obedience when we look at the Amalekites in the Old Testament. This was a very evil and cruel nation.
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 for their deeds.
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
Look at 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.”
God told King Saul to UTTERLY DESTROY ALL. Because of their evil, God was going to wipe this nation from the face of this earth.
They sinned against God and God’s people as a nation, but now God was making them pay for their sins as a nation. What they did was not individual sin, but it was national sin. This is why God said to UTTERLY DESTROY ALL!
But Saul thought he was smarter than God. There are still people like this, you know.
Illus: Did you hear about a scientific convention that was held at a lakeside resort?
After the first day's proceedings, a mathematician, a physicist, an astronomer and a molecular biologist hired a boatman to row them around on the lake.
As they sat in the boat, they discussed all kinds of theories and hypothesis’s and other abstruse topics.
The biologist noticed the boatman looking at them from the corner of his eye.
He asked him, "What do you think of these ideas?" The boatman replied, "I didn't understand any of it."
The astronomer asked him how far he had studied. He told them he couldn't even read. "I hate to say it," said the physicist, "but you seem to have wasted your entire life."
The boatman remained silent. By now they were out in the middle of the lake, far from shore. A sudden storm whipped up. The waves started churning and heaving. All of a sudden, the boat flipped over.
The boatman started swimming for shore. The scientists cried out, "Help! We never learned how to swim!" The boatman called back, "I hate to say it, but you fellows have wasted your entire lives."
Many people are wasting their whole lives, because their actions tell us that they think they are smarter than God.
God tells them to do something, and they will only partially do what he tells them to do. Look at-
B. THE COMPROMISE
Look at 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 it. Partial obedience is not OBEDIENCE.
For example, God has commanded some folks to destroy all the abominable things in their life, and they have only gotten rid of a half, or two thirds of them. This is partial obedience!
They have saved the “Agags” in their life, and they refuse to get rid of them. I want to say again, PARTIAL OBEDIENCE is not OBEDIENCE.
In fact, God is as displeased with PARTIAL OBEDIENCE as He is with TOTAL DISOBEDIENCE. Look at-
C. THE CONDEMNATION
Look at 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 will not accept any excuse for disobedience, regardless of how good it may sound.
When Saul chose to disobey God, what he was actually saying was, “God I know what you said, but I know more than you do on this matter, and I am going to spare Agag and the best of the livestock!”
Obedience is essential in all areas of our life:
• 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.
God is displeased with PARTIAL OBEDIENCE. If you do not understand that, you do not know a thing about what this Bible teaches.
Illus: We need to be like the young man that Laura Christianson talks about. 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 mommy is going to be very upset with you.’" (Laura Christianson, Washington. Today's Christian Woman, "Small Talk.")
We need to understand that God the Father is upset with many Christians because they are not willing to obey Him completely.
Obedience is important. Look at those who do not think it is, and see how they have messed up their lives and everything they come into contact with.
GOD DEMANDS OBEDIENCE!!!
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.”
We have looked at the PRINCIPLES OF OBEDIENCE, but also look at-
II. THE PROMISE OF OBEDIENCE
A lot of folks today who profess to be saved are puzzled because God is not blessing their lives.
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 a lot of Christians have never learned yet.
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 Tom 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)
For God to bless a Christian that was disobedient, would send the wrong signal. That would be sending the wrong signal to that child of God if He was 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.
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.
We have looked at the PRINCIPLES OF OBEDIENCE, the PROMISE OF OBEDIENCE, now let’s look at-
III. THE PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE
America is living on the blessings of our godly forefathers. That is, God today is blessing this great nation because we had forefathers that obeyed God’s Word.
But 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,
• Look at Jer. 12:17, “But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.”
• Look at 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. And you might choose to do something that you know is wrong, but you need to know this, every sin of disobedience comes with a price tag.
Conclusion:
Illus: Two fish were swimming when they saw a piece of meat dangling before them. The younger fish darted toward it with an open mouth.
The older fish cried out, "Stop! You can't see it:
• But there is a hook inside that meat. It is connected by an invisible line to a pole outside the water.
• There is a man holding the pole. If you eat the meat, the hook will catch in your jaw and the man will pull you out of the water.
• He will cut you open with a knife, roast you on a fire and eat you. Then he will throw your remains to his cat."
The young fish stopped.
The two of them swam away. But when the young fish was alone, he thought to himself, "Let me investigate for myself how accurate these claims are."
He went back to the meat:
• He swam around it
• He swam above it
• He swam below it
• He swam as far as he could in widening circles around the meat
After a long search, he said to himself, "I've looked far and wide, and I haven't found any sign of a man, a pole, a knife, a fire or a cat. In fact, I've found no trace of anything outside this water we live in. These must just be stories."
He went back to the meat and ate it.
• The hook caught in his jaw.
• He felt himself being yanked out of the water.
• He saw a pole.
• He saw a man and a knife,
…but at that point his knowledge was useless.
One day every one here will come to realize that OBEDIENCE TO GOD IS ESSENTIAL, but their knowledge then will do them no good because it will be too late.
Today that knowledge can help you, if you are willing to act on it. What is it that GOD IS ASKING YOU TO UTTERLY DESTROY IN YOUR LIFE? Are you willing? Saul was not, but look what a price he paid.
I. THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE
II. THE PROMISE OF OBEDIENCE
III. THE PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE
