November 27, 2022 - Obedience

1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ” 4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

What we see here in this text is - just ANOTHER EXAMPLE of how Saul’s kingship played out...

Here we see a man - deciding to - DO HIS OWN THING!

*Ladies - how many of you have ever (it’s probably not happened too much) - but how many of you have ever been speaking to your husband - and AS you’re SPEAKING - AND AS HE’s LOOKING AT YOU -

YOU KNOW - YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE - that he’s not listening to you?

Anyone?

Guys - we’re guilty! It’s ok - - we can admit it!

Listen - and this goes for ALL of us - If we can’t ADMIT that we suck - we have - NO HOPE! you believe that?

AND SO - BEFORE we even get into this sermon DEALING with Obedience...

We need to PREPARE ourselves - OTHERWISE - we’ll walk away - UNCHANGED!!

And Danielle Fantis is gonna help us with this! :)

Danielle posted an awesome meme this week:

SLIDE:

If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be.

~ Quote by...

Who do you think said that? - Who’s quote is that?

Charles Spurgeon!

WELL - who does he think HE IS?

Oh, he was just known as - the Prince of Preachers

NOW - THIS is gonna HELP us PREPARE ourselves for this sermon - - on OBEDIENCE!

BECAUSE - we can so EASILY - hear this - and DECIDE - NAH…I’m great at OBEYING Jesus!

Think of what this says!! - If we can get to a place where we ACTUALLY believe that!.....

Guess what - ONLY THEN - can we grow - in Christ!

If I was to REWORD this - and say - If my wife thinks I’m terrible at listening to her, and I get ANGRY at her - - Will I grow?

But what if I ADMIT - yes - I’m actually terrible at listening to you - Will I grow?

And it’s GOOD that we can ADMIT it - BECAUSE - - THIS IS TRUE!

SLIDE: Obedience to God: Listens to God and Follows Him

Obedience to God

Saul - AS WE KNOW - was ALSO terrible at - LISTENING to God - and FOLLOWING Him…!

Saul was told VERY CLEARLY!!...

1 Samuel 15:3 ESV

3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. - Take out - Everything!

And yet - that’s NOT what he did!

It’s starts with - LISTENING!!

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Check out this verse

John 8:47 ESV

47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Do you see how IMPORTANT HEARING is...

The REASON you do not HEAR the words of God - is that you are NOT OF God...

Hebrews 2:1 ESV

1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

NOW - is it JUST - about hearing?

NO - there’s MORE TO IT...

John 10:27 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

His sheep - DO SOMETHING with what they - HEAR - they FOLLOW

Luke 11:28 ESV

28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

And...

2 John 6 ESV

6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

So it’s not JUST ABOUT - hearing the word of God!!

We’re called to - WALK IT OUT!!

to LISTEN - and to FOLLOW!

REMEMBER our initial analogy today -

You told your daughter to go clean her room - and instead she goes outside to PLAY...

She did HER OWN THING!

We’re called to LISTEN - and follow....obey

An example of this very thing GOING AWRY is in the very beginning....in the garden.

Genesis 2:16–17 ESV

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

We - HEAR the command…but Adam and Eve didn’t obey....

They didn’t WALK IT OUT!

Genesis 3:6 ESV

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Adam and Eve - HEARD the word of God...

YET chose NOT to follow!

But what really PROMPTED Eve to even CONSIDER disobeying God?

This verse tells us...

She saw that the tree was good for food

In other words - She viewed the TREE as a SOURCE (a PROVIDER) - to SATISFY her hunger.

Where GOD is the one (throughout GENESIS and creation) who DECLARED His creation to be - GOOD… (and God said - It was good…)

EVE now was in the business of deciding - ON HER OWN - what was “Good” as an EARTHLY satisfier!

What else?

The tree was “a delight to the eyes”

Lust

It LOOKS good - I DESIRE this thing

What else?

The tree “was to be desired to make one wise”

Power

THESE three things… (Earthly desires, Lust of the eyes, Power)

THESE things - won out in her heart

And she disobeyed!

Is it any wonder then - that the Bible says this?

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The desires of the flesh: Eve’s HUNGER - She saw the tree was GOOD for food!

The desires of the eyes - Eve looked at the tree and it was - “a delight to the eyes”

The pride of life - Eve desired to be WISE (like God) - PRIDE!

You see - THESE 3 things - all played out in the garden - and caused DISOBEDIENCE!

They WARRED against - Obedience to God!!

But Obedience to God: Listens to God - BUT ALSO FOLLOWS Him!!

Saul - heard God’s command - but didn’t HEAR God’s command!

He knew what he was supposed to do - DESTROY EVERYTHING...

But he chose to KEEP BACK - the best of the livestock...

But what else can we see about OBEDIENCE to God!

Back to our text:

1 Samuel 15:10–21 ESV

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” 17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

So what happened?

Here we see SAUL admit that he didn’t EXACTLY DO what God had said ...

But then he gives his reason as to why he didn’t destroy EVERYTHING...

1 Samuel 15:15 ESV

15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”

OK - so it was decided that INSTEAD of destroying EVERYTHING…they would KEEP back the BEST of the livestock -

FOR WHAT REASON?

“to sacrifice to the Lord your God”...

WELL - what do you guys think about that?

Were they trying to keep back the best so they could SELL THEM and make a profit?

NO!

They simply wanted to - sacrifice them to the LORD!

Sounds good - no?

Well - here’s what we learn from this!!

SLIDE: Obedience to God: Is Rooted in God and Not in Our Good Intentions

Obedience to God

It SOUNDED legitimate right?

They kept back the BEST of the livestock - in order to (in a sense) - THANK God!

to Sacrifice them to - God!

But God wasn’t HAPPY with that!

WHY?

BECAUSE...

1 Samuel 15:22 ESV

22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

The REASON God was NOT PLEASED with this sacrifice - is because God’s WORD was IGNORED...

You remember our 2nd analogy from the beginning of the sermon?

*It would be like you - AS A PARENT - telling your kid to go to the store with this $5…and buying a loaf of bread..because the family needs it.

INSTEAD - your child decides to use the $5 to buy your spouse a coffee...

NOW - in THAT scenario - we’re talking about bread and coffee...

The child had - GOOD INTENTIONS - with that $5 - and decided to DO THEIR OWN THING...

BUT - nonetheless - the child still disobeyed!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS - we’re called to - LISTEN and FOLLOW…!

We’re not called to to INTERJECT our own Intentions into it - REGARDLESS of how GOOD they are!

We need to know:

SLIDE:

A sacrifice to God will never cancel out disobedience to God

Let’s look at an example of this in scripture...

Luke 10:38–42 ESV

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary and Martha...

Martha was VERY busy getting things prepared…and Mary was just sitting with Jesus - LISTENING to Him...

Martha gets frustrated...

She’s setting the table...

COOKING the food

WASHING the dishes...

DOING - EVERYTHING…!

While Mary sits and - listens

So she tells Jesus - TO TELL MARY to help her!

Jesus says - Actually, Mary has chosen to do the BEST THING....listen

Now - Martha wasn’t SINNING in this situation…She had - GOOD INTENTIONS!

But Jesus said - there was SOMETHING BETTER she could have done!!

We all know that there are MANY situations we come across in life = where we just DON’T KNOW what to do!

We can either...

take this job or THAT job...

Go to this school or THAT school

Date this person or THAT person...

And in MOST of those situations - we’re not going to be able to go to the Bible - and find a verse to TELL US what to do!

And so when it comes to this idea that our GOOD INTENTIONS will NEVER cancel out our DISOBEDIENCE to God...

We’re MORE referring to the OBVIOUS - CLEAR CUT teachings of God…!

Repentance

Forgiveness

Hatred toward another

Lust / Pornography

Fornication

THESE things which are CRYSTAL clear in scripture...

We NEED TO KNOW - our sacrifices TO GOD - will never BALANCE out the scales of our...

lack of repentance

lack of forgiveness

hatred toward others

lust problems

*Sometimes = we might think...

OK, this person REALLY offended me…and I just DON’T feel like forgiving them...

I KNOW what God says about forgiveness - That if I don’t forgive then I WON’T be forgiven...

BUT - I’m not gonna do that...

SOOOO - instead I’m going to make sure I SACRIFICE my time - and read my bible EVERY night…!

THAT should make God feel better about my LACK of forgiveness!

Answer? - Wrong!

OK, I know I really struggle with gossip…it’s just something that I do (it’s WHO I AM)

And I know what God says about it...

BUT - I’m not gonna stop...

INSTEAD - I’m going to sacrifice my time and join the SEWING ministry…!

THAT should make God feel better about my lack of repentance!!

Answer? Wrong!!

As God said -

SLIDE:

To obey is better than sacrifice!

NOW - think about this (on the screen) - in light of JESUS CHRIST!

You might say - WELL - Jesus WAS OUR sacrifice! SO THERE!!

SEE - sacrifice ain’t all that bad huh Mike?

You’re right - Jesus was our SACRIFICE - our propitiation...

BUT…what does the Bible say??

Philippians 2:5–8 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Do you see it?

Jesus was - OBEDIENT - to the point of death (Sacrifice)

And so the SACRIFICE that God is after - is DIRECTLY tied to (it FLOWS from) - OBEDIENCE!

FOR Saul - His sacrifice was CONSISTENTLY flowing from - DISOBEDIENCE!

He IGNORED God’s word - and then tried to - SACRIFICE his way back INTO God’s GRACES!!

Doesn’t work that way!

Obedience to God is ROOTED IN GOD - and not in our Good Intentions!!

Continuing on in our text we see this...

1 Samuel 15:24–35 ESV

24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord. 32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

What I want us to see in this closing of chapter 15 - is what ended up happening to Agag, the king of the Amalekites...

If you remember - Saul brought the king back with him - and didn’t kill him.

And so HERE’s what we’re going to see to close today...

SLIDE: Obedience to God: Walks In the Will of God

Obedience to God

So what ends up happening…?

1 Samuel 15:32–33 ESV

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

God had commanded Saul to kill the Amalekites…INCLUDING Agag...

Saul chose NOT TO...

And so WHO ends up doing it?

Samuel does!

And in this taking place - we see that God’s WILL - was that Agag die.

SAUL - in choosing NOT to kill Agag - decided to WALK OUTSIDE of God’s will!

Samuel ends up KILLING Agag himself…

And so we need to KNOW - that OBEDIENCE to God - WALKS in God’s will!

It LIVES it out!!

And so - when we look at all of these things - TOGETHER!...

SUMMARY

OBEDIENCE TO GOD

Listens to God and Follows Him

Rooted in God and Not Our Good Intentions

Walks In the Will of God

When we LISTEN to God - AND follow Him (do what He says)...

When we don’t INTERJECT our own intentions into what God has said...

When we simply LISTEN and DO WHAT HE SAYS...

We will find ourselves - WALKING IN His will...

Which means - when we IGNORE His word...

When we IGNORE His clear teachings and we come up with our own reasons why WE’RE NOT going to do what He says...

we WILL find ourselves walking OUTSIDE of God’s will...

And there WILL be consequences to that!

For Saul - He lost the kingship!

His SON lost the kingship!

What about you?

Are you in a place right now - where you’ve been THINKING that your sacrifices FOR God - are going to TRUMP your disobedience TO God?

Are you currently ignoring God’s WORD - His clear teaching on...

repentance

forgiveness

lust

pride in your life?

If so - we NEED to know - God will not be mocked.

Saul learned this very thing - may we do the same...

For HIS Glory - and OUR joy.... AMEN...

have a great week!

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