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The Sin of Disobedience

Posted on 25 Oct 2020, Pastor: Tolu Makinde

Title: The Sin of Disobedience

Text: Gen. 3:1-7

[Gen 3:1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

[Gen 3:2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

[Gen 3:3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

[Gen 3:4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

[Gen 3:5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

[Gen 3:6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

[Gen 3:7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Introduction

The tactics used against the first woman by the serpent is as follows:

Mix up the commandments of God
- Hath God said you shall not eat of every tree?
- How will they survive if God said they shall not eat of every tree?
- The purpose of such question is to mix things up.
- Muddle up the waters, so one cannot see the truth clearly.
Remove the consequences of not obeying the commandment
- Eve tried her best to clear things up. She stated exactly the tree they are not to touch and gave the consequences.
- The serpent disputed the consequences that it cannot happen.
- Don’t engage the enemy in a conversation. He is full of cunning wisdom
Paint a different picture of what will happen
- The serpent now gave a completely different picture of the consequences
- Unfortunately, Eve fell for the trick of the enemy and disobeyed God
The same tactics are still being used to trap children of God

Main Topic

There are three key points we should take away from this teaching:

Disobedience is a sin
If I disobey God, my disobedience will rob me of my destiny
If I disobey God, my disobedience will rob me of heaven

Case Study: King Saul – 1 Sam. 15:3, 9-11

[1Sa 15:3] 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 ass.

[1Sa 15:9] 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.

[1Sa 15:10] Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

[1Sa 15:11] 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.

The commandment came for Saul to go to Amalek and destroy everything that they have. Everything.
Saul went to Amalek and destroyed some of the things. He spared the king, the best sheep, and the the best oxen.
He partially obeyed God. Partial obedience is disobedience.
When he was confronted, he claimed that he had obeyed the voice of the LORD.
- [1Sa 15:20] 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.
- In his own sight, he had obeyed God completely. In God’s sight he had missed it completely.
- What standard are you using to measure your obedience to God? Your own standard or God’s standard?
- We must use the standard of the One that issued the commandments.
[1Sa 15:15] 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.
- “For the people” – Saul attempted in shifting the blame on “the people”.
- Saul justified his disobedience that he wanted to sacrifice the animals spared unto the “LORD thy God”.
- That statement referred to God as the God of Samuel, not the God of Saul. In other words, he rejected God. Notice that God said so in v
- That statement is also saying that he’s obeying God because he wanted to make a sacrifice.
  - You cannot disobey God and justify it as a sacrifice to God
  - For example, I’ve met people that refused to pay tithes. They claim they send it to feed the poor. There’s nothing wrong with feeding the poor, but it should not be at the expense of obeying God.
  - [1Sa 15:22] 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.
  - God is patiently waiting for us to repent, but a time is coming that it will be too late.
Saul had opportunities to repent, but he refused, until Samuel told him God has rejected him.
- [1Sa 15:23] 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.
- [1Sa 15:24] 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.
- [1Sa 15:25] Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
- [1Sa 15:26] 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.
- Saul cared more about his position than he did about obeying God
- He cared more about what the people thought of him, that he did about what God thought of him
- When he realized that the position he was trying to keep has been taken away, he repented. Unfortunately, it was too late.
His refusal to repent was compared to rebellion and stubbornness.
- [1Sa 15:23] 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.
- There are some of us, we have heard the message over and over and over, yet we refuse to obey
- Our refusal means
  - We reject the Word of God
    - If we disobey God, we reject word of God. If we reject the word of God, we reject God, because God is His Word.
      - [1Sa 15:26] 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.
    - If we reject God, God will reject us.
  - We have stopped following God
  - We are rebellious, which is like practicing witchcraft
  - We are stubborn, which is like idolatry
By the time Saul came to his senses, it was too late.
It is not too late for us to repent.

- Disobedience is a sin
- If I disobey God, my disobedience will rob me of my destiny
- If I disobey God, my disobedience will rob me of heaven

Other case studies: Adam and Eve, Samson, the children of Israel, Judas Iscariot, Eli, King Ahab, etc.

Prayer: Father, in any way that I have disobeyed You, please forgive me. Please have mercy upon me in the name of Jesus.

Another three key points we should take away from this teaching:

Obedience is righteousness
If I obey God, my obedience will help me fulfill my destiny
If I obey God, my obedience will help me make heaven

Case Study: Joseph – Gen. 37-50 (13 chapters)

Joseph was destined for greatness.
He had ample opportunities to use his challenges as an excuse to disobey God
In his father’s house, he would always tell the truth of what his brothers were doing
- Obedience is a matter of the heart.
- His brothers grew up in the same home, but they had different hearts
In Potiphar’s house, he refused all the advances from Potiphar’s wife, even though he landed in jail for doing so.
In the jail, he continued on his righteous path until God put him on the throne
Joseph’s continual obedience to God helped him fulfill his destiny.

- Obedience is righteousness
- If I obey God, my obedience will help me fulfill my destiny
- If I obey God, my obedience will help me make heaven

Other case studies: Jesus Christ, Elijah, Elisha, Apostle Paul, Peter, etc.

Prayer: Father, give me a heart that will obey you at all times in the name of Jesus.

Conclusion

It is better to obey God than to justify the disobedience when the consequences come.
Make up your mind that no matter what, you will obey God.

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Sermon

The Sin of Disobedience