It’s just so good to have all of you here tonight. To those who might not be members of the church of Christ, should there be anything about our service that you don’t understand, or something about which you would like some more information, we want you to feel perfectly free to ask. We’re just delighted to have you and hope you’ll come back and be with us tomorrow night [Tuesday night, April 30th] and again Wednesday night [May 1st].
In 1 Samuel 15, verse 22, King Saul, the king of Israel, was told, “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken” is better “than the fat of rams.” Is that really true today in the 21st Century? Has that always been true through the years? Many times people think that if you insist on obedience, that’s being “legalistic.” What is “legalism”? How much do you obey, or how much do you stress obedience before you really are “legalistic”? Under the Law of Moses, you could be legalistic. You were not to go more than 7/8 of a mile on the Sabbath, and you could say, “Well, I didn’t go more than 7/8—I did exactly what the Lord required!”
But you see, under the Gospel of Christ, it’s a little different story. We’re told not to give a tenth of our income, but give as we’ve been “prospered” [1 Corinthians 16:2] and as we “purpose in our hearts,” 2 Corinthians 9, verses 6 and 7. It’s sort of hard to be legalistic about that, isn’t it?
The Bible said that “the love of Christ constraineth us,” 2 Corinthians 5:14. Which puts a man under more pressure: “law” or “love”? Love puts him under more pressure than law ever thought about! Which really demands more of man: “duty” or “devotion”? Devotion demands so much more than duty! You see, under law, I can say “I’ve done it”—that’s all that’s required and no more than that. But when you think about love, you can’t do “too much”.
Can you imagine a boy in love with a girl—really in love with her—and he’s counting the days when he can marry her. Can you imagine him saying, “You know I saw that girl too much last year!” I gave her too much—I must have spent a $150! I think that was too much.” And, “I wrote to her too much.” No—he couldn’t write “too” much, and she couldn’t write to him “too” much. And if the whole world was his, it would be a present far too small.
There’s no limit to love. There’s no limit to devotion. So really, in a sense, when the Lord speaks of loving Him, “with all of our heart…with all of our soul…with all of our mind…with all of our strength,” Mark 12, verses 29 and 30, that’s about all there is! There isn’t any more!
Now let me ask you tonight: Do you really believe that we ought to stress obedience? Isn’t this one of the general things of the whole Bible? In fact, in the Garden of Eden, the Lord gave this commandment in Genesis 2, verses 16 and 17: Of all the trees you may eat except one, and I forbid you eat thereof, and “the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
As we mentioned last evening, in 1Timothy 2, verses 12 to 14, Mother Eve was deceived into thinking that God didn’t really mean what He said, and she was deceived into thinking that God wouldn’t do what He said. But how wrong she was! Has God ever said anything He didn’t mean? Has He ever said anything He wouldn’t do? Is any commandment of God’s of no importance? Are there really nonessentials? No!
Let me ask you: When Saul was told “to obey is better”—it’s better than what? Well, it was certainly better than sacrifice, in his case; and because he didn’t obey in [1 Samuel 15] verse 23, the Bible said, “Because you have rejected” Me, I have “rejected you from being king.” And so this man learned that it would have been better to have obeyed!
Don’t you think Adam and Eve knew later it would have been better had they obeyed? “To obey is better”—it’s always been better. We’re told in Genesis 3, verses 18 to 24 that they were stripped of their Eden, they were driven from the Garden, and things were never the same any more. It would have been better for them to obey.
Wouldn’t it have been better for Ananias and Sapphira to have obeyed than to suffer the consequences in Acts 5, verses 1 to 11? Wasn’t it better for Joseph of the Old Testament to obey in Genesis 39:9? Wasn’t it better for Paul to obey when he said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” in Acts 26:19? Wasn’t it better for Jesus to obey? The Bible said, “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience for the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him,” Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9.
Who said obedience is not important? Obedience has always been important! In fact, obedience is even connected with the grace about which we are speaking night after night.
In 1 Peter 1:13 and 14, obedience is connected with “grace.” Obedience is connected with “grace” in Titus 2, verses 11 and 12. It’s connected with “love,” John 14:15. It’s connected with “faith,” Romans 16:26. It is connected with the “Gospel,” Romans 10:16. It’s connected with “righteousness,” Romans 6:16 and 17. We’re talking about obedience.
Obedience is connected with the “entering into the Kingdom,” Matthew 7:21 and following. It is connected with knowingGod, 1 John 2:3 and knowing that we are in God, 1 John 2:5. It is also better to obey because obedience is connected with having “both the Father and the Son,” 2 John, verse 9, and obedience is better because to obey is to be “friends” of Christ, John 15:14. You can’t become one of His “sheep” without obedience, John 10, verses 27 and 28. You can’t become a “disciple” of His without obedience, John 8, verses 31 and 32. You can’t be a “branch” “in the vine” and continue as such without obedience, John 15, verses 1 through 5.
You can’t be a part of His family without obedience, according to Matthew 12, verses 47 to 50. You see, people came and said, “Jesus, some of your relatives are out here,” and He asked, “who are my brethren?” And then He said he that doth My Will “is my brother, and sister, and mother.” And so you can’t really be in His family without obedience.
You really cannot fulfill all the Great Commission without obedience, Matthew 28:19 and 20. And the end of that Great Commission says, “Teaching them to observe all things” –with commandments? “All things”! Call it legalism, call it whatever you will—that’s God’s arrangement. In Matthew 21:42, the Bible said, “this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in” your sight. Who dare question anything or put any kind of a question mark over anything the Lord asked? No—“To obey is better”!
Obedience is also connected with our entering that eternal city, Revelation 22:14. It is connected with eternal life, Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9 that we’ve just mentioned a moment ago. It is connected with so many, many things! We can’t really expect to live eternally with Him without obedience!
Now on the other hand, disobedience has brought on “vengeance,” 2 Thessalonians 1:7 to 9. Disobedience brought a curse on the whole human race, Romans 5, and verse 12. Disobedience is connected with the final indignation, Hebrews 10, verses 28 to 31. And disobedience has caused the Lord to say, “I never knew you, depart from Me,” Matthew 7:21 to 23.
“To obey is better.” It is better than sacrifice. It is better than any kind of an excuse that we could offer. It’s better than rationalizing. It is better than our trying to go our own way, because “it is not in man that walks to direct his own steps,” Jeremiah 10:23. And your “thoughts” and God’s thoughts are not alike, Isaiah 55:8 and 9. And “there is a way that seems right,” but it leads to “death,” Proverbs 14:12. So it’s always been better to obey!
Doesn’t the Lord say it’s better to obey parents? Ephesians 6:1, “obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” It’s always been right! And God wants people to know that, regardless of what labels someone might put on it, you see? And then in Colossians 3:20, He said, “Children, obey your parents…for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” Obedience to parents has always been “well pleasing.”
When Jesus was coming “to be baptized by” John in the River Jordan, in Matthew 3, verses 13 to 17, John hesitated. No wonder, because his was “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,” Luke 3:3. And only sinners needed to repent! John’s was a baptism in which they “confessed their sins,” Matthew 3:6, and only sinners had anything to confess. So when Jesus came to be baptized, no wonder John hesitated and said, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” And the Lord said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,” Matthew 3:13 to 17.
Now let me ask you: Would Jesus have fulfilled all righteousness had He not submitted—had He not obeyed? No! Was Jesus on the right side when he urged his disciples in teaching them to pray, “Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” Matthew 6:10? Doesn’t that call for obedience? Can you really become one of the Lord’s sheep without obedience? No! In John 10:27 and 28, He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,” or recognize them, “and they follow Me.” Can we follow in the steps of Christ, 1 Peter 1:22 and 23? Can we have the “mind” in us that is “in Christ,” Philippians 2:5? Can we bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” [2 Corinthians 10:5] without obeying? No, there’s no way!
Is it possible to overdo this thing of obedience? You see, the Lord said, “obey from the heart.” It’s not just a perfunctory thing—it’s not just an on-the-surface thing. But you see, when you do it “from the heart,” you’re still obeying, and that’s His teaching in Romans 6, verses 16 and 17.
So, “to obey is better.”Isn’t it better in servant and master relationships in Colossians 3:23? And what about obeying the ordinances of the land, Romans 13, verses 1 and following? That’s better! “To obey is better”!
You see, we couldn’t live in a society without some kind of authority and some respect for that authority. What if on the highways, with the speed limit being 75 mph, what if it really didn’t matter? You’d go 125 mph, if you wanted! You’d go on either side of the road, if you wanted! It wouldn’t really matter. You wouldn’t have to stop at any signs! It would be chaotic! Have you ever been on one of those autobahns in Germany? I tell you, when you do have a wreck, you’ve had one! But it doesn’t matter—no speed limit! What if in our world twelve inches did not make a foot—sixteen ounces didn’t make a pound—five thousand, two hundred eighty feet didn’t make a mile? You see? What if when you went to the gas pump—they’re just putting a figure up there—what if there was no standard? You couldn’t live like that! What if you charged $5 million dollars for something that could be bought for 50 cents? You see, there’s got to be a standard, and there’s got to be a recognition of that standard.
An authority is the great regulator of our lives. We’ve had so many problems because we haven’t taught obedience in the home. That’s where it all begins. That’s not where it ends, but that’s where it begins. And then obedience in school, obedience in other areas that the Lord speaks about, and in the church. “Obey them that have the rule over you,” Hebrews 13:17. Obedience has always been a part of God’s great scheme. What did Paul mean when he said in 2 Corinthians 2:9, I want to find “the proof…whether” or not you have been “obedient”? Does it really matter? It must matter! It must make all the difference in the world! Ask the rich man in Luke 16, verses 19 and following, if obedience didn’t make any difference! He could tell you a different story there! Ask the people who have gone to torment if it doesn’t really matter whether we obey or not!
Well, when we think about all the labels that are thrown about and all of the things that are said, that doesn’t lessen the reality of God’s calling for obedience. In John 4, verses 20 to 24, he said we must “worship the Lord in spirit and Truth.” How do we know what spirit we are to worship the Lord in? In Acts 5:32, the Bible said “the Holy Spirit” is “given to those who” what?—“obey Him”. Well I didn’t think you could link spiritual things with obedience, because that looks like that might be a little “legalistic.” Who said so?! Just because somebody said something, it doesn’t make any difference when it comes to what the Lord said!
I was telling someone today that we were in a certain class in college. It was called “spoken grammar”—nothing written. A person would get up and speak for two or three seconds. When he’d make a mistake, he’d have to sit down. It was sort of a preacher’s class, really. This old boy got up and said, “I think…” and the teacher said, “Sit down—we don’t care what you think!” The teacher said, “We want to hear what Paul said.” I thought, hey, that’s a pretty good point! God said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts” [Isaiah 58:8]. Your idea may not be any better than anybody else’s. It’s not the construction you put on a passage of Scripture; it’s “What does the passage of Scripture actually say?”.
The grace of God is connected very definitely with obedience. What about Titus 2, verses 11 and 12 that we’ve already mentioned? Let’s go over it again. He said, “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men instructing us”—you see, that calls for obedience—“teaching us” to the intent that “denying ungodliness”—that calls for obedience—“worldly lusts”—that calls for obedience—that “we should live soberly,” and “righteously…in this present world.” You can’t do that without obedience! So grace does not offset obedience—no, not at all. Grace is definitely a part of it and you can’t really receive the grace of God and enjoy the grace of God and benefit from the grace of God without receiving it by faith, as we mentioned in Romans 5:2, but even faith is something on man’s part.
As a little review for those who weren’t here Sunday, grace is not a license to “sin,” Romans 6:1; grace is not a freedom from responsibility, Ephesians 2:10; and grace does not promote carelessness, Luke 13:24 and Hebrews 2, verses 1 and following. And grace doesn’t discredit the Lord’s justice, Job 40, verse 8. In fact, God is called “a God of justice,” Isaiah 30:18, and He’s also called the “God of grace,” 1 Peter 5:10. These verses are not antagonistic! And let me say again: If it weren’t for God’s justice, grace would be superficial! Grace would be meaningless without the justice of the Almighty! There isn’t anything we could do or be that we don’t already owe to God. We didn’t give Him what we owed Him [obedience] in the first place, as we learned last evening! And without the “extra” there can’t be any propitiation [Propitiation: an offering, or atonement, to win the good will of; to appease]; without propitiation—no reconciliation; without reconciliation—no salvation—no hope of heaven. And were it not for the grace of God that provided what we could not provide for ourselves, we wouldn’t have anything extra to give. And so, Hebrews 2:9, it’s all “by the grace of God” that Jesus “tasted death for every man.” In fact, just form an acrostic of the word “GRACE”—God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense. That spells “grace.” And “thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” that speaks of grace, 2 Corinthians 9:15.
Back to last evening’s lesson, Galatians 6:14, I have no “glory” except itbe “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s Gospel! In 1 Thessalonians 1:10, the Bible said, “He…delivered us from the wrath” through Him. That’s Gospel! Romans 5:9, being “justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” So obedience, then, is to help us not be under the wrath of God, because “the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience,” Ephesians 5:6. You go through the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 and look at the word “obey,” or “commandment,” or “they were asked to do something,” or they were “urged” to do it. Just see how often you find these, because this [obedience] goes through the whole Bible.
I heard a lesson once that I did not agree with. The fellow said we’re changing rules for relationships—rules of the Old Testament—relationships in the New. Don’t you believe it! They had relationships in the Old Testament, and we have rules in the New Testament. No, there has never been a time when anybody could please God without rules. There hasn’t been a time when anyone could become a follower of His without rules. Obedience is very vital. So we are saved by grace, but obedience is very definitely connected with it, and very definitely a part of it!
If on the judgment day you could just interview people who are going to miss Heaven—the people that hear the Lord say, “depart from Me, he that works iniquity,” Matthew 7:23—and you were to ask: “Why did you do this?” “What happened?” “Why are you not making it [into Heaven]?” No doubt, many excuses would be offered, but they would all be excuses. There couldn’t be a reason, because where God guides, God always provides. With every assignment, He gives assistance. He doesn’t ask you to do something without helping you. “Without Him you can do nothing,” John 15:5;but “through Him” you “can do all things,” Philippians 4:13.
But if you were to just ask people [why they didn’t make it into heaven], couldn’t you just hear someone say, “Well, I never learned the Bible,” and, of course, that’s very vital, because in John 6:44 and 45, it’s through that Word that we are drawn to Him. We couldn’t be drawn to Him except through that Word, you see? That Word “saves” us, we’re told, James 1:21, “sanctifies” us, John 17:17, and “frees” us, John 8:31 and 32, and that Word is most important.
You would hear someone else say, “Well, I thought I was already saved.” What about 2 Peter 1:10? “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” That means you’re going to have to be responding, you’re going to have to submit to what the Lord said. You’re going to have to “observe all things” that He “commanded,” [Matthew 28:20]. There’s no way you can earn it, deserve it, or repay it. You’re not working for your salvation—you’re “working out your own salvation,” Philippians 2:12 and 13.
You could hear someone else say, “I didn’t think the Lord would accept me,” but didn’t Jesus say, “Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28? But that calls for obedience! Not only “come unto Me,” but, Matthew 16:24, “come after Me.” “Come unto Me”—that calls for obedience; “come after Me”—that also calls for obedience! And then we should have the “mind” of Christ, Philippians 2 [verse 5]. To do that, we have to obey! We obey Christ, we mind Christ, John 10:27, and then we have “the mind” of Christ. But you can’t bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ without that obedience, you see?
But you could hear someone else say, “You know, I was too busy judging others. I was too busy thinking of the faults of others.” Many times people are going to be lost because they didn’t spend enough time thinking about their own faults, based on Matthew 7, verses 1 to 5. It’s easier to see the faults in others; it’s not nearly so easy to see and to admit our own faults!
But then again, you could just hear someone else say, “Well, I was too much in love with the world,” and that certainly is true! Demas was, and he paid a price for it. It would have been better had Demas obeyed, rather than being worldly, 2 Timothy 4:10. Or, 1 John 2:15 to 17, the “love” of “the world” cannot really be where the love of God is. You either take one, or you take the other. In everybody’s heart, there is a throne and there’s a cross. When you put Christ on that throne, you immediately put yourself on that cross, or if you dare put yourself on that throne, you automatically put Christ on that cross. Where do you put Christ? Where do you put self? Actually, when the Lord said, “deny yourself” [Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23], He didn’t mean deny yourself some thing—He just means deny “yourself.” That means, get self out of the way! Take self off the throne! Get self into the background! Humility is not thinking too little of self; humility is just not thinking of self. That was Paul in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 12, verses 6 and 7.
But you can also hear someone say, “Well, I was rationalizing.” How many times have we rationalized? We’ve tried to explain away—we’ve made all kinds of alibis—about why we haven’t obeyed. We’ve thought, “Maybe there are hypocrites in the church.” And, in all probability, there are hypocrites in most all groups— somebody who pretends to be what he isn’t. But I’ve often thought, “How silly to stay out of Heaven because you don’t want to be associated with hypocrites, and then have to spend all eternity in hell associated with those hypocrites!” That just doesn’t make sense, does it?
You see, so many times all of these things are excuses—they’re alibis. Most of us have majored in “alibiology.” That’s not a course you take out at the University, but it’s a course we take in life. An alibi is the worst “by,” but you can’t get by with an alibi. The ox is in the ditch, but he gets in too often. You better kill that oxen and fill up the ditch! We often times don’t take this thing seriously. Jesus said, if you’re “not with Me,” you’re “against Me,” Matthew 12:30. There’s no in between. We’re either on His side, or we’re not. We’re either serving the Lord, or we’re serving the devil [Matthew 6:24]. We’re either in the Kingdom of Christ, or we’re in the kingdom of Satan, as mentioned in Colossians 1, verses 13 and following.
Where are you tonight? Obedience—very vital, very necessary, and very definitely connected with everything that God is. In fact, can you be spiritual, without being obedient? No! How can you be led by the Spirit, Romans 8:4? If you’re led by somebody, that means you are following. You can’t be led by without following the person who is leading. So that calls for obedience! He [God] said, now stay here in this particular area, and don’t get outside of the perimeter. That calls for obedience.
I tell you tonight—and we could just go on and on—but you can’t really in any way rule out this matter of obeying the Lord. Now, you’re not earning anything! You’re not deserving anything! You shouldn’t have sinned in the first place! You should have given God perfect obedience, total submission, never deviated from anything. That’s what you really owed God; but nobody gave it, so there’s no room for boasting. We cannot be saved because of something we earned, deserved, or repaid—but it’s [salvation/grace] by what God said!
Now when the Lord said, “not of works, lest any man should boast” [Ephesians 2:9], yet in Acts 10:34, 35, He says through Peter, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him”—it’s not a contradiction. He’s really stressing the two sides: the meritorious phase of it, and then the gracious phase of it. He said, “God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth” God—that calls for obedience—“and worketh righteousness”—that calls for obedience. Yet in Titus 3:5, He said it’s “not by works of righteousness which we have done.” You see, the righteousness by which we’re saved is God’s “righteousness,” Romans 1:17. That’s what is in the Gospel! Now, man’s own righteousness is like “filthy rags,” according to one of the prophets [Isaiah 64:6]. But when we do what the Lord says, then we’re not working it on our own terms, you see. “It is not in man that walks to direct his own steps,” [Jeremiah 10:23]. There’s a way that seems right, but it leads to death.
Let me ask you tonight: Have you really obeyed in every sense
to become a Christian? Have you really obeyed when the Lord
asked you to have faith?—“faith comes by
hearing…the Word,” Romans 10:17—but
you can’t hear it and heed it or listen to it and live it
without obeying. And “without that faith it is
impossible to please Him,” Hebrews 11:6.
When He told you to “repent” of your sins,
Luke 13:3, that calls for obedience. You can’t
repent without obeying. When He asked you to
“confess Him before men,” Matthew
10:32-33, you can’t do that without obeying. When
He asked you to be baptized—“He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved,” Mark 16:16; and when
the Holy Spirit moved Peter to say in 1 Peter 3:20, as
“eight souls were saved by water,” in
“like figure…baptism also now saves”
you. You say, “I don’t think it
does.” Well, Peter said it did and it really
wasn’t Peter—it was the Holy Spirit Who said it!
See, on Pentecost, Peter was the mouth piece in Acts 2:38:
“Repent, and…be baptized…for the remission
of sins.” Then over in 1 Peter 3:21,
he’s the penman. The Holy Spirit used him on both
occasions as a mouth piece and as a penman. So, really, if you
argue against what Peter said, you’re not arguing against
Peter, you’re arguing against the Lord! That [command]
came from Heaven!
Now God never does anything that is contrary to, or without the consent of both the Holy Spirit and Christ. The Holy Spirit never does anything without the consent and the approval and working together with what God and Christ have said. None of the three in the God-head ever does or asks for anything that does not correspond with the other two! So you’ve got to say, “Well now, the Holy Spirit told me to do this…”—yes, but, here’s what Paul said the Holy Spirit moved him to say. All Truth runs in parallel lines.
Let me urge you to do what was done in Acts 17:11. When people heard [Paul preaching of the Gospel], “they searched the Scriptures daily” to see if Paul was speaking the Truth. You see, this octogenarian [speaking of George Bailey himself, being between the ages of 80 and 90] could easily make a mistake, and often does, but the Bible doesn’t make any mistakes! There can’t be any error in that Book! Titus 1:2, it “cannot lie.” Hebrews 6:18 and 19, “it is impossible for God to lie.” Now what I say may be wrong, but what He says cannot be wrong! And so we look and think. Romans 3:4, “let God be” found “true but every man a liar.” Don’t you think it was better when Peter and John said we must “obey God rather than man,” [Acts 5:29]?
Today we’re obeying somebody, and the “somebody” sometimes isn’t the Lord. People are going to be lost because they obeyed the wrong one. Obedience is going to come in, one way or the other! You can’t get away from it. We are the servants of whomsoever we subject ourselves to, you see—we choose our own master, if you please, Romans 6:16, 17.
“To obey is better”—it has always been better. Anything God says, it’s certainly better to listen to it, than to wish you had. It’s better never to have been born at all than never to have been born the second time [see John 3:3, 7]. Don’t listen to people—don’t listen to the crowds. Just listen to what the Lord says.
May God help each of us that we might put everything in its proper perspective. Now, people are going to say, “Well, that’s just being too dogmatic.” No—when it comes to life or death, and when it comes to Heaven or hell, I tell you, we better be pretty serious about this thing! It’s not just something like, oh, you can “take it or leave it,”—“it really doesn’t matter.” It does matter—it matters very seriously.
Tonight, should there be anybody in this audience who is not a Christian, you can’t become one accidentally. You can’t become one without obeying Him. You obey with the Spirit—you obey from the heart. It’s not just a perfunctory thing—no, you put everything into it. But you can’t do that without obedience.
If you have fallen away, you can’t come back to Him—according to James 5:16, 1 John 1:8 to 10—without obedience.
Tonight we hope and pray that you will obey God, rather than man. That’s the message. As Heaven looks this way tonight and souls are in the balance, we hope and pray that maybe some name tonight might be written in the Book of Life, that somebody tonight might change an eternal destiny. Don’t be lost. The only way to be sure that you are not going to be lost is to simply submit to what the Lord said. Will you do that tonight, one and all, while we stand and while we sing, will you come?