In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the greatest sin in the Church and aims to uncover what it is. The sermon begins by referencing 1 Samuel 15:22, where Samuel questions the importance of burnt offerings and sacrifices compared to obeying the voice of the Lord. The preacher highlights the significance of obedience over sacrifice and recounts the story of Samuel, who was initially small in his own eyes but later elected to choose his own terms of obedience. The sermon emphasizes the importance of wholehearted obedience and its impact on one's spiritual life and salvation.

The greatest sin in the Church, and we're going to discover just what it is. There's no time to read these thirty-five verses, but I am going to ask you to turn with me to verse twenty-two of 1 Samuel, chapter fifteen. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, and in obeying the voice of the Lord, wherever ye lead, I will follow you, would say, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the pack of rams. There was a time in the life of Saul when he was very small in his own eyes. It was in that period of his history that God broke through from heaven and answered the cry of his ancient people, and anointed through Samuel Saul to be king of Israel. And we read that in those days the speech of the Lord came upon Samuel. But as we move into this fifteenth chapter of 1 Samuel, the scene has changed. The mood is different. The man who was small in his own eyes is now elected to choose his own terms of obedience. When God commanded him to do something which notwithstanding its inconvenience, as we were hearing, he decided that partial obedience was enough. Partial obedience was enough. Ninety-nine percent would do it. God broke into that man's life with these words, 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. Today, as is part of the gospel, there is no preacher here who would stand up and confess to flagrant disobedience. Your congregation would have voted yes. But I wonder how many of us are in this place, guilty to speak on what I am. Notice, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and obeyed the voice of the Lord. With all its attendance, ramifications, partial obedience, he saved Agag and the best of the oxen. The message to learn, and I'll say this if I describe a chain of penalty or anything that solemnizes my heart, to commit total disobedience. It violated the will of God. But more than that, it was serious because it dictated the work of God. I have transgressed, he says, the word of the Lord because I feared the people. And when a man violates the will of God, he became immediately feared of man, unmentionable, festive, insufferable. And I want to tell you, whether you're saved or whether you change things, but the seriousness of the faculty of this partial obedience, obedience, that the reasons why, here he is, a man, Peter, that friend was beloved Peter, who had pronounced him, it was Peter, to obedience takes you to, your daily quiet time with God, that morning Christ with him, that lost soul between your wife or your children. Yes, my friends, the seriousness of partial obedience, there is a savingness of partial obedience, there's a penalty. Did you know, my friend, there's such a thing? Yes, did you know that there's such a thing? As the copy said again, did you know that there's such a thing? He bowed down and never regained his kingdom. He never regained his kingdom. Because I have rejected from being king. You can't put God, there is the victory for partial sin. And here is our text, the victory for partial sin, to obey is better than sacrifice. He called for a gag that came, even so by the obedience of one. Many were made one. He came down and in the flesh, condemned sin. I say here tonight, that word that came from Dr. Vance, it isn't how many sins, what light you have rejected, and there are no more enlightened than ministers. You are men who hold the book in your hands. You are men who fall over it. You are men who have the blind eye. You know, any text that applies to ministers more than that word in James, to him, a reservation in your heart. You know tonight, even as you bow your head, that situation isn't solved. You know, as you bow your head, that, you know, as you bow your head, that, to him it is sin. And you're never going to see revival. You're never going to see revival. You're going to never have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I'm waiting with eagerness to hear my brother Bennett tell me how to receive the Holy Spirit to them. Obedience, which in the last analysis, is total disobedience. It's a new act of obedience. A minister and member alike, obedience. I say to you as I go, to obey is better than sacrifice.