Maybe your boss, a loved one or a friend has asked you to do something and you only partially completed the task. Are you guilty of ever doing this? Or have you ever asked someone to do a task for you and they only finished the job half halfway? If so, how did that make you feel?
I’m asking these questions because the message tonight is about partial obedience and I’d like to read 1 Samuel 15:1-28: Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 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.
3 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 donkey. 4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed 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 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. 10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, 11 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.
12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. 17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22 And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 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.
God gave king Saul specific instructions because the Lord was judging Amalek over their sins and He commanded Saul to utterly kill everything. The Amalekites sins were so horrendous and they had sinned for so long that God was judging them with utter and complete judgment (think of Sodom and Gomorrah type utter destruction and the same type of judgment America may soon be under). But notice that Saul was not obedient to God. Oh he partially followed orders. He destroyed some of the people but he kept alive their king and he kept alive the best of the sheep and cattle.
Saul was only partially obedient to God and by being only partially obedient to the Lord he really was disobedient and he tried to justify his disobedience by saying that he only spared the best of the animals so they could sacrifice them to the LORD. In other words, he did what he thought was right, even though it wasn’t what God commanded him to do.
Are you trying to justify sin in your life to almighty God? Do you tell yourself “everybody does it?” Do you look around you and think that you are no worse than everyone else? Do you pray to a god that you have fashioned in your own mind that overlooks your sin? Are you deceiving yourself tonight, like king Saul deceived himself?
Notice what Samuel said to Saul in verses 22 and 23: 22 And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Samuel says that God delights in obedience, not sacrifice and partial obedience is disobedience. Are you being disobedient to God tonight? Even if you think you are doing good works for the Lord, are you being disobedient to Him? Oh, search your heart tonight. Better yet, ask God, the God of the Bible, the One True God to search your heart tonight. Cry out to God to show you if you are being obedient or disobedient to Him.
If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, then you are most assuredly being disobedient. Ephesians 2:2-3 talks about followers of Jesus used to be dead in their trespasses and sins: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Colossians 3:5-6 states: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.
Are you a child of disobedience tonight? If you are an unrepentant sinner, if you have never been born again, then you are child of disobedience. You are a child of darkness. You have never come to the Light of the world. You are still spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins. You are disobedient to God and you are an enemy of God. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4).
Don’t continue being disobedient to God tonight. Stop being God’s enemy. Surrender your life to Jesus. Only Jesus saves and He still saves today. He came to save sinners from their sins. He suffered and died on the cruel cross that we might live; that we might live forever. Don’t continue mocking and scoffing God. Don’t continue living your life selfishly for yourself. Don’t continue barreling down the broad road to destruction. Don’t continue living in disobedience to God.
Repent and believe the Gospel. Admit that you are a sinner. Cry out for God to save you. Be repentant through godly sorrow over your sins, over your disobedience to God. Cry out for God to save you through the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Be saved tonight. Romans 10:9-10: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation .
Romans 10:13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Believe upon the name of the Lord Jesus tonight and be saved. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36). Flee from the wrath of God. Flee from disobedience. Bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord. Turn away from your sins and turn to Jesus. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Then walk in obedience to Him from this night forward.
(This message was lifted up in downtown Springfield, MO on April 25, 2015)
‘Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ.’?
In doing so you would be partially obeying Acts 2:38. What is partial obedience called again?
We are to rightly divide the word of God. If you think water baptism in any way saves you, then you are adding works to your salvation. Acts 3:19 says we are to repent. Acts 17:30-31 says that we are to repent. Acts 20:21 says that we are to have repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. On top of all this, the real key is Mark 16:16 where Jesus mentions believe and be baptized. Then He continues that the person who believes not shall be damned. He didn’t say who believes not and is not baptized, He said he that believes not shall be damned. We are to be obedient to our Lord and water baptism is the first step of that obedience. But to add baptism as a condition of salvation, is being disobedient to Jesus Christ our Lord.
I believe baptism is a work, but it’s God doing the work (i.e., forgiving sin and imparting the Holy Spirit). Note that the 3000 who accepted Peter’s message were baptized (emphasis on the passive tense). You cannot do it to yourself.
Regarding your comment, ‘if you think water baptism in any way saves you…’ I would ask you to point out which of the two passages below you believe (one of them is Scripture):
1. ‘…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also…’
2. ‘…and this water symbolizes baptism that now does not save you also…’
I love the account of 1 Samuel 15. It nails the idea of partial obedience and what God thinks of it. I shared this with my children in a family devo a couple nights ago. They got it!
That’s really great. Thanks for sharing.