If you look at 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse number 23, it begins by saying,
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
The title for the sermon tonight is Rebellion and Stubbornness.
Rebellion and Stubbornness.
Now, once again, this is not a sermon that I actually prepared to preach today.
Due to some events this morning, following obviously putting certain people under church discipline,
we've seen some evidence of further rebellion, you know, especially with people that have nothing to do with the situation.
And so, you know, what was placed on my heart when I saw this rebellious nature is just to talk about this topic of rebellion,
to talk about stubbornness and, you know, to see what God has to say about this sin.
You know, any of us can be rebellious, any of us can be stubborn.
We've all been rebellious and stubborn in our lives.
But notice how God compares these two sins.
Rebellion is a sin as witchcraft and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.
So, obviously, these are sins that we all can suffer with, we can all experience or have experienced,
but you need to understand that God hates that kind of sin, okay?
Now, when we talk about rebellion, what are we actually talking about?
To rebel is basically this, to rebel against authority, where God has put authority in your life and you say,
no, I don't want to listen, I don't want to obey, I want to disobey, I want to go my own way,
then what this authority that is over me says, well, that is basically rebellion, okay?
That is rebellion.
And I'm sure we've all had times in our life, like I said, where we've had authorities over us.
Wives, maybe your husbands, have asked you to do certain things or have directed the family a certain way
and you've been stubborn and rebellious.
Well, it's like the sin of witchcraft and idolatry.
You know, employees, I'm sure you've had times when you've wanted to rebel against your manager, against your employer,
okay, well, it's like the sin of witchcraft and idolatry, okay?
These are sins that we ought not to have and this comes about when we strongly disagree with authorities that God has put over us.
So, I think this is a great story that we can look upon and consider what this rebellion or stubbornness stems from,
what causes it, and how people try to justify their rebellion and stubbornness.
So, let's start there in verse number 2, 1 Samuel 15, verse number 2, and actually, before we read it,
I just want to tell you, this is basically the point where God is through with Saul, King Saul, okay?
Where God says, you know what, Saul, I refuse for you to be king any further.
I'm going to reject you as king and God starts putting steps forward to set David to be the next king over Israel, okay?
Now, this is not the final, this is not like the only thing Saul did.
You know, Saul in his life was constantly disobeying God.
You know, he was constantly turning against the Lord and this was like the final straw.
This was the straw that broke the camel's back and not even Samuel, you know, was willing to give Saul an extra opportunity.
Samuel knew that God was through with King Saul here.
So, what took place? What happened? Well, verse number 2, let's start there.
We're not going to read the whole chapter. We'll just read certain passages and we'll get the story here.
Verse number 2, it says,
So, let me just stop there for a minute.
So, Amalek is another nation.
The Amalekites were the descendants of Amalek, right?
And they did wrong to Israel.
As Israel, on their way out of Egypt, on the excess out of Egypt, the Amalekites treated them wrongly, okay?
And now God is finally putting justice, he's sending his wrath and his judgment against the Amalekites.
Let's read verse number 3 once again.
Let's pay very close attention to the instruction God is giving Samuel and Saul regarding the Amalekites.
Verse number 3 says,
I mean, how much clearer could God be?
Anything they own, all their possessions are to be utterly destroyed.
And then he says,
So, even their livestock, okay?
Everything they own, God says, go and destroy them utterly.
Don't leave anything alive, okay?
Very clear instruction from the Lord here.
Look at verse number 9.
So, they see, hey, these Amalekites, they've got great possessions.
They've got great livestock.
They've got great sheep.
They've got great lambs.
They've got great oxen.
Why should we destroy what is great?
But then they saw some animals that were a little bit vile, animals that weren't doing too well, maybe sickly,
and they decided to destroy those.
And they said, no, we're not going to destroy even what looks great here.
We want it for ourselves.
Now, what do you notice about this rebellion?
That they're in disobedience, direct disobedience to God.
Now, brethren, did they mean well?
Of course.
Hey, this looks great.
You know, this can profit Israel.
This can profit us.
Why don't we take the animals that belong to our enemies and we can use it for ourselves?
It'll be profitable for us, profitable for our family, profitable for our nation.
Hey, they have good intentions, don't they?
But you notice that it's contrary to what God commanded them to do.
Drop down to verse number 13.
And actually, Matias, can you give me a cup of water, please?
Verse number 13.
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord.
So how does Saul speak?
King Saul, he's disobedient to God.
He sees the man of God come.
Oh, blessed is the Lord.
You know, he's putting on this spiritual high, right?
Look what he says.
I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
Did King Saul perform the commandment of the Lord?
No.
But does he believe he completed the commandment of the Lord?
He believes it.
He's deceived himself.
Right?
Ah, praise God.
I've done everything God has asked me to do.
Except what is very clear in God's Word, he was obviously very disobedient.
So how does Samuel respond in verse number 14?
And Samuel said, what meaneth them this bleating of the sheep in mine ears,
and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
Samuel goes, what are these animals that I can hear then?
If you've obeyed God, what are these animals doing here?
Saul, verse number 15.
And Saul said, they, by the way, when someone's disobeying God,
when someone's rebellious, they don't want to talk about themselves.
They don't want to blame themselves, right?
They, someone else, it's always someone else.
They have brought them from the Amalekites for the people.
The people, Samuel, spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen
to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
So he says, look, we've obeyed God's commandment.
Now he obeyed some of it.
He destroyed some of the sheep and the oxen.
They destroyed some of the people, but they kept the king alive
and they took the best of the oxen, best of the sheep for themselves.
But notice, when he's in disobedience, no, no, I'm not in disobedience.
It was the people.
He's the king. He's got authority.
He's the one leading the battle.
Brethren, if you've got authority, you've got to learn this simple truth.
The people that are under you, you're accountable to them.
You're accountable for them, for their actions.
You know what, if my family, if my children are running wild
and riotous and rebellious, it's the people.
It's my children. It's not me. It's you.
If you've been given authority over people, it's you.
You know what, if I allow this church to do whatever the hell they want,
to run riots, to disobey God's word, I just allow it to be the case,
and I don't enforce some type of church discipline
or some type of order or some type of leadership, guess what?
It falls on the pastor. It falls on the leader.
You know what, if a business fails, you can't turn around.
It was the employees. No, it was the employer.
You should have trained your employees,
or you should have fired the employees that weren't performing right
and get some good people in there and train them to make sure
that the business operates and does well.
Listen, this is one thing you need to learn.
A lot of people want authority.
A lot of people want some level of power,
but understand you've got to hire accountability toward God
for those that he's put under you.
And King Saul asked, not me, Samuel,
I'm obeying God. It was the people. It was the people.
It was his people. He was in charge.
He's the one that's accountable for the mistakes
that he's allowed his people to make.
Look at verse number 20.
Drop down to verse number 20.
And Saul said unto Samuel,
Look what he says,
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.
Is that what God said? Keep him alive? No.
And have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
I've destroyed all the Amalekites except the king.
But what's he doing again?
He's saying, I've done everything that God said.
This is the worst of the worst.
You know what? If you have rebelled against God,
and listen, every time you've seen you rebel against God, by the way,
every time you've seen you rebel against his word,
but you know what the right response is?
I messed up. I'm sorry, God.
And humble yourself before an almighty God and say sorry.
The worst thing you could possibly do is say,
Well, God, I obeyed you.
I'm living exactly how you want me to live.
You know, when I was a teenager, when I was in high school,
I was in a Christian high school, right?
And my parents warned me growing up against worldly music,
against the rock and roll, and, you know,
they loved to sing about, you know,
fornication and drug taking and alcohol and, you know,
sleeping around like that.
You know what? My parents are trying to keep my mind clean, right?
But then you go to a private Christian school,
and guess what they're listening to?
Christian rock, right?
It's like, oh, it's the same music,
but we've replaced it with better words.
It's the same thing.
You know what? It's the devil's music.
You know, this stuff does not appeal to the spirit of God.
It appeals to the flesh.
They're like, oh, no, let's change it to Christian words,
and now we can look godly.
We've obeyed the Lord.
We're doing what is right with this.
You know, I've always said to my friends
that we're listening to Christian rock.
I said, you know what?
This Christian music, it's trash.
Like, I would rather listen to the world's rock and roll.
Like, I'd rather just listen to, you know,
I don't know, I don't even know anymore.
Today FM, is that still around?
I don't know anymore, right?
I'd rather go listen to, you know, was it Rage?
Rage, Rage, you know, whatever it was that they used to listen to.
I'd rather just listen to the devil's music
and enjoy the devil's music
than take that music and Christianize it
and, oh, I'm just doing what God says.
I don't know what God might do.
I'd rather just be rebellious and say, God, I'm being rebellious
than say, well, God, I'm acting rebellious,
but then, oh, no, I'm doing what God wants me to do.
It's Christianized music.
That's what it reminds me of, right?
People trying to take what is worldly and evil, tattoos,
I'll take tattoos, let's put it on our bodies,
but we'll put Jesus, I'll put a cross, you know?
It's the same, you're being rebellious against God's Word, right?
Same kind of attitude, but it's so fearful
when people deceive themselves
and they think they're doing what God wants,
but they're actually being completely rebellious.
It's a fearful thing, okay?
Verse number 21, 1 Samuel 15, 21.
But the people took the spoil, again, the people, Samuel,
took the spoil, sheep and oxen.
The chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed,
look at this, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
Listen, the reason we took the best was to sacrifice to God.
We just love God. We just want to worship God.
So we're going to take the devil's music,
we're going to take the devil's tattoo in practice
and we're just going to sacrifice it to the Lord.
No, God wants those things utterly destroyed.
God wants your obedience.
You know, God wants your obedience.
God is against rebellion and stubbornness.
Look at verse number 22, and Samuel said,
Have 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.
You know what's better than your sacrifice to God?
That you just obey and you hearken, you listen to God's words
and you do what he says.
That gives God much more joy, you know.
God would rather you do that than you offer your sacrifices in disobedience.
Oh, I'm doing what God says. I'm doing what the Lord says.
But you're in direct disobedience to God's word.
That's a scary place to be, brethren.
God wants our obedience.
You know what? When you got saved, you obeyed the gospel.
That's your very first step into the family of God.
You obeyed the gospel.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
And you said, Yes, I'm going to obey that.
I'm going to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm going to be saved.
That's our very first step in our Christian life,
to be obedient to the gospel.
Well, you know what? What continues in our Christian life
is our obedience, our hearkening, our listening to God's word
and following what he says rather than pretending
in your wicked lifestyle, with your wicked actions
to say, Well, I'm just doing what God wants me to do.
God is not satisfied with sacrifices contrary to his word.
But you can see how deceptive King Saul is trying to be here,
trying to make it look like he's godly,
make it look like he's righteous.
He's trying to do what he's right,
but they're in disobedience to the commandments of God.
Okay?
Verse number 23, Samuel continues speaking.
He says, For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
So think of that, brethren.
What would you think if a believer,
let's say someone in this church, you find out they dabble into witchcraft.
They dabble into magic.
What would you think of that person?
Wouldn't you think, Man, what's happened?
How did he get so backslidden?
How is he so far from God?
Why is he enjoying the things of the devil?
Wouldn't you think that?
It would be unbelievable, I think,
if someone in this church started dabbling into witchcraft.
What if someone got into idolatry?
They start worshipping some false idol, some false god.
You find out a brother in the Lord in church starts worshipping a false god.
You know, you go to the house and you find this idol they've set up there
and start worshipping, they're worshipping there.
What would you think of that?
Wouldn't you go, Is this guy even saved?
I mean, this can't be.
It's almost impossible to imagine, right?
You would think that if someone got into witchcraft and idolatry.
Well, we have people that are getting themselves into rebellion
and have that sin of stubbornness in them.
You know what? It's the same level of sin in God's eyes.
It's the same level.
Rebellion and stubbornness is at the same level as witchcraft and idolatry.
And again, you would think there's no way a brother in Christ would get into idolatry and witchcraft.
Hey, but there's brother in Christ that gets into rebellion and stubbornness.
And we've been there. We've all been there though, haven't we?
We've all, at times, rebelled against authority.
I mean, if you're a child, you had parents, you've rebelled against authority for sure, many times.
It's an experience that we all go through.
And you know what? In God's eyes, you need to understand it's as bad as witchcraft, as bad as idolatry.
Okay?
Now, look what else he says to King Saul at the end of that, verse number 23.
Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Okay?
So, when you get into the sin of rebellion and stubbornness, what are you doing?
You're rejecting the word of the Lord.
You're rejecting God's word.
Okay?
You're rebelling against authority.
Now, we know the highest authority is, of course, our Lord God.
The highest authority is his word.
Okay?
And I don't know what it is, brethren, since I got down to Sydney, it seems like this is the topic that I keep having to hammer.
Authorities.
Okay?
You know, the different institutions that God has created.
God has put people in charge.
He's put leaders in charge.
And those that are in that organization or in that institution, they have to submit themselves to the one that has been put in charge.
And the one that has been put in charge is accountable straight to God for what that institution does.
You know, whether that's government, whether that's a church, whether that's a family, whether that's your workplace.
This is how God has set things up.
And don't forget, the reason God sets it up this way is because it's within his nature.
Within the Godhead, within the Trinity, there is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and it's very clear that the Father is above all.
It's very clear that the Father is the one that has instructed Jesus to do the work, to say his words.
There's an authority structure, even within the nature of God.
And if that's within his nature, then it makes sense that he has put powers in place, he's put authorities, institutions in place, following the same pattern.
Because it works.
There's nothing wrong with authorities.
There's nothing wrong with submitting to different people that God has put you under.
This is God's way of living a good and healthy and obedient life.
You know, there are some authorities that you have a choice in the matter.
You basically have a choice as to who you're going to work for.
I mean, if your employer, you find out he's wicked, he's not paying me, he's dishonest.
Well, you know what, nothing's stopping you from quitting the job, putting in your notice, and finding some other employer.
Like, you've actually got a choice.
You know, when you've got a choice, and people whine and complain about it, I just don't understand.
It's like, okay, why whine and complain about your manager? Just quit, find someone else you can work under.
I mean, that's just, I just thought that was common sense.
Guess where else you have a choice? Your church pastor.
You know what, if you can't get under your church pastor, you can't submit under the authority of the pastor in the church, you know what, you have a choice.
There are other churches out there.
You know what, if I was living in Sydney, if this was where I was going to reside, you know, for the next 10, 20, 30 years, who knows?
And I did not have Blessed or Baptist Church, I can find you at least in other free churches that I would be happily attending and happily submitting myself under that pastor's authority.
You know?
And what's weird is when people complain when you actually have freedom to decide who your authority is going to be.
It's so weird, it's so strange.
But then you have other authorities that you have no choice over.
You know, you really had no choice over which parents you were born under, okay?
You really had no choice there and, you know, they're going to be your parents until you establish your new family unit, okay?
Even your government, you know, it seems like you have a choice, right, when we go and vote, right?
But really, at the end of the day, when we have a democracy the way we do, 51% of the population is going to decide who, what, 49% of the population, you know, will be submissive under.
And you can't really do much about that.
And then who knows how many of those polls and those voting, you know, times have been, you know, corrupted.
And, you know, I mean, I honestly don't feel there's a difference in Australia between the Labor and the Liberal Party.
I mean, I look at the Liberal Party today and they were just the Labor Party 10 years ago.
What the Liberal Party wants to do is what the Labor Party wanted to do 10 or 20 years ago, okay?
And the Labor Party is just getting worse and worse and worse, you know?
But here's the thing, at the end of the day, whoever you vote for, whatever government has been put, you know, you've been put over, guess what, you're called to be submissive to that government.
You don't have much of a choice about it.
So I can understand complaining about your government, I can kind of understand it, okay?
I can kind of understand complaining about parents.
That's what kids do a lot of times, even teenagers, you know?
I'm not saying it's right, I can just understand that because you have no choice, okay?
But what about when you do have a choice and you still whine and complain, you know?
It's like, boy, you know, what's wrong?
You know, as I said, some authorities, you have no choice, children growing up in your parents' home.
You know, one thing we learn in the Bible is that God is very gracious to children, you know, children that are under the age of 20.
You know, because many times they're just doing what their parents want.
Like, for example, when Israel did not want to go into the Promised Land and God would correct them, would judge them, and they would wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation would pass.
Well, the generation that was under 20 years old would be the one that would go into the Promised Land, you know?
And here's the thing, they had no choice, they were little children at that time, you know, they were following their parents' instructions, but God held the authorities, gave the parents, responsible for not going into the Promised Land.
Well, the next generation, they were, you know, ultimately able to go into the Promised Land.
And you see that God treats, you know, children that really don't have much of a choice, you know?
It's not really their fault that they did not go into the Promised Land at the beginning.
God's more lenient with them, you know?
But here's the thing, once you're 20 and over, you can't like, you know, run to God and say, well, it's my parents, Lord.
You know, you've got 40 years old and 50 year old people still complaining about their parents.
You know, this is why I have not achieved this in my life.
This is why I'm suffering in my life.
My parents, my parents.
Listen, once you're 20, God's holding you accountable for your actions.
You know, you've got 20 years to learn how to do things right.
You can't keep complaining about your parents.
Okay?
And, you know, something else that, you know, my twin boys, they turned 13 this week, Matthias and Christian.
They turned 13.
And quite often when you think about the teenage years, quite often people think about the rebellious years, you know?
And I understand that because I felt rebellious as a teen, right?
You have those hormones, you're growing, you're becoming a man, you're becoming a lady,
and you start forming your own thoughts, your own opinions.
You know what? There's nothing wrong with that.
That's how God created for people to develop.
Okay? To go from a child into an adult.
And these are challenging years, you know?
And these are the years, the teenage years is really where you learn how to deal with rebellion.
You either go, you know, off the charts and completely rebel against your parents
or you start learning the lessons when you rebel and you start seeing things not work out for you.
You say, man, I need to get this right.
I need to overcome this stubbornness.
I need to overcome this rebellion.
And you know, God gives us those teenage years so we can learn from the mistakes
and we can learn how to overcome rebellion so that when we become adults,
we're not making the same mistakes that we did when we were teenagers.
Unfortunately, there are many people that did not learn as teenagers.
They did not learn how to handle rebellion and stubbornness.
And even in their adulthood, they're still rebellious and stubborn.
You know, those people never really achieve much in their lives.
You know, if I can just give you some personal example here of, you know, rebellion and managing rebellion.
And you know how God blesses you if you're able to overcome that kind of temptation, that kind of sin.
And again, I don't say this because I'm trying to puff myself up.
This is my personal examples in life that I've seen and, you know, I want to share that with you.
But there was a job and I might have covered some of these topics before,
but there was a job that I reached that I was newly employed in.
I was like so happy that I took on full-time employment because it allowed me to get married to my wife.
I had an income, right? We had, you know, we had what we needed to be able to get married and live.
So, I was just excited to land a job. It wasn't paying much.
It was very low income, but it was, you know, it was enough to live a basic life.
And soon after I joined, I had the union, the trade union try to, you know, they signed me up to the union.
And I was like, okay, you know, I'll sign up to it.
You know, a few weeks down, they wanted to strike.
You know, we want to strike. We're not getting paid enough.
And I'm like, guys, like this is what I'm talking about. You have a choice.
Like if you're not getting paid enough, why don't you find another job?
And I was telling them, look, when I got this job, they gave me a contract.
It has my name. It has how much they're going to pay me.
It has how much annual leave I'm going to get. It has how much sick leave I'm going to get.
And then they didn't force me. They didn't put a gun to my head.
I took a pen and I signed it and said, yes, I agree to this.
And then they took it and they signed it. Happy to have you on board.
And now you want me to strike against this?
I'm the one that voluntarily got myself into that situation.
And now you want me to whine and complain and go strike?
Not only do they want me to strike, they wanted me to lead the strike.
They wanted me to lead the union.
They felt that I was the best-suited to lead the union, to strike.
I could have rebelled. It was a low-paying job.
But you know what? I agreed to it.
You know, I agreed to it.
And I knew, just as a Christian, if I rebel here, even though it's tempting,
because we might get more money, right?
I just knew that if I rebel, I'm not right with God.
You know what? The authorities, this is what they're paying.
These are the hours. I've agreed to it.
And now I'm going to rebel against the authorities?
I'm going to rebel against my employer?
You know, after being so happy of landing my job?
Brevin, I was so happy having that job.
You guys know what it's like when you land a job.
I'm sure many of you know that.
You've been looking, you've been looking, you've been applying, you've been rejected.
You finally get a job. How happy? Yes, I got a job.
It's a great feeling, okay?
But where does rebellion lead? Where does strike action lead?
Depressed, right? Going to work unhappy.
Going to work with a sour face.
What's the point of being there then?
You know what? Just have, you know, I want to enjoy my life.
You know?
And here's the funny thing. We didn't go ahead with this.
The strike never happened.
You know, I refused to participate.
You know? And a few months later, I got a better job.
In fact, my manager brought it up and said,
Hey, you know, what about that time when you guys were going to go and strike?
I'm like, listen, I never wanted to be part of that.
And I was just being honest with him and they said,
Yeah, you know, you don't seem like the guy that would want to be part of that.
Let me give you another job, right?
Let me give you another job that pays you more.
And listen, I just felt like God blessed me.
You know, instead of becoming rebellious and stubborn,
I just submitted myself to the authorities.
You know, I just honoured the agreement that we had.
And the Lord blessed me.
Put me in a better position, a higher paying job.
You know, there's another time where I took on a job
and the person that was training me, the person I was put under,
was really hard to get along.
Like, just a really bad person.
Like, a horrible person.
You know, honestly, horrible.
Like, it takes a lot for me to say that about someone.
They were really bad.
Okay, they were training me.
Literally, my second day on the job, this person comes up to me.
I'll never forget the statement.
And it was a lady. She goes,
I've got a bone to pick with you.
I've never heard that statement before.
I've got a bone to pick with you.
I'm thinking, what is that? What is she saying?
What does that mean?
So obviously, she's not happy with me.
She's got a bone to pick with me, right?
And I'm thinking, this is my second day on the job.
If I've made any mistakes in my first day, you train me.
I mean, what did I do wrong?
Because every step of the way, you were there training me, right?
Anyway, this was a really...
And by the way, if I ever say to you, I've got a bone to pick with you,
you know it's bad news, okay?
But listen, she was stubborn.
She was a really hard person, right?
And I could just see, boy, she's a really hard person to work with.
And she really wanted to make other people look like bad employees
and that she was this great, you know, employee.
She wasn't my manager, but I was put under her for training.
Anyway, as time went on, the months went on, the years went on,
other people in the same department were having the same kind of struggles with her.
They came up to me once, some employees said,
hey, you know, can you talk to this woman?
And I said, listen, I have no authority here.
We're all at the same level.
If you want to go and complain about this employee,
you've got to take it to their boss.
You know, you've got to take it over.
And they did.
Eventually, that person ended up retiring,
ended up pretty much a few weeks after that,
ended up basically leaving the job.
And then guess what?
I was promoted.
I was given a team leader position, right?
I had people come up and from other departments to my manager and says,
why don't you put Kevin in charge?
He's already the leader, like informally.
Why don't you put him in charge?
And again, I just felt like God honored, right?
There were times when I just wanted to quit that job.
There were times this person was making my life hell.
I was like, why am I here?
Okay?
But I was like, no, I've got a job.
I'm going to honor the contract.
I'm going to do what I've been asked of me.
And again, this person leaves.
God sorts it out.
I get a promotion and I think it was a 25% pay increase,
which was awesome for me at the time, right?
And again, I look at that.
I could have rebelled.
I could have been stubborn.
Okay, but no, you know what?
I just put my head down and I just worked hard.
And I thank God for those opportunities.
I thank God for those opportunities because I truly believe
that I would not have been given certain positions, even as a pastor,
if I did not learn how to humble myself
and just be obedient to the authorities that were over me.
That's where you start.
When God sees your obedience, then he'll lift you up.
Then he will give you positions over people.
That was back in 2007.
And since then, I've always had a job where I was over people.
I've always been a supervisor.
I've always been an assistant manager or a manager or whatever, an office manager.
I've always had these kinds of positions.
I've always been over people since 2007.
So I've learned a lot about management and how to deal with people
and difficulties and things like that.
And I thank God for that.
I've never gone back into a job where I was kind of like under a supervisor
or anything like that.
And again, I look at that and I think, well,
that's because I was obedient to the authorities.
That's because I humbled myself.
I was submissive to whatever authorities God had over me.
And I just believe God blessed me in that way
and has then gave me the positions to be over certain people.
Can you please take your Bibles and go to Jeremiah 28?
Go to Jeremiah 28.
So we have been going through Jeremiah, as you know,
chapter by chapter, week by week.
But I just want to bring to your attention some chapters that we have covered before.
Jeremiah chapter 28, verse number 11.
Because we are looking at this topic of rebellion, aren't we?
So Jeremiah 28, verse number 11.
It says,
And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people saying,
so Hananiah here was a false prophet, if you remember.
What did he say?
Thus saith the Lord, even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations,
within the space of two full years.
And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
So Jeremiah was saying, hey, the Babylonians are coming,
they're going to win, they're going to take us over.
Okay, we're going to be put under bondage.
And Hananiah is saying the opposite.
No, we're going to have victory over the Babylonians within two years.
Verse number 12.
Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet.
After that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke
from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Go and tell Hananiah, saying,
Thus saith the Lord, thou hast broken the yokes of wood,
but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations,
that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
and they shall serve him, and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
Then saith the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet,
Here now Hananiah, the Lord hath not sent thee,
but thou makest his people to trust in a lie.
I want you to remember that.
This man was causing people to trust in a lie.
Okay?
He was saying something contrary to what God's word was saying.
Jeremiah was teaching the Babylonians are coming
and you're going to serve them.
Put the yoke on, get used to it, is what he's teaching.
Hananiah being rebellious, says,
No, we're not going to be put on the yoke of the Babylonians.
Okay?
Look at verse number 16.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth.
This year thou shalt die.
Look at this, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord.
You see, rebellion against the Lord.
Brethren, you've got to be careful.
You've got God's word.
Okay?
You've got God's Bible.
You've got all six books in God's word here.
Granted, something to challenge in.
Granted, some passages are cryptic.
But you know what?
Many of the Bible passages are clear black and white.
What God says you do, brethren.
You obey.
You follow what God says.
Otherwise, you're teaching people to trust in a lie
and you're teaching them to rebel against the Lord.
You know, we're operating in this time here of COVID once again, right?
There are powers and they're doing things that we don't like.
It almost feels like there's yokes upon our necks sometimes.
Different mandates, different lockdowns.
Brethren, guess what?
They're in authority.
You can rebel if you want.
But you know what the sin of rebellion is like compared to God?
It's like witchcraft.
I mean, you want to rebel?
Get into witchcraft then.
You want to be stubborn?
Then get into idolatry then.
There are powers, that be.
And God's going to judge them with the power that God has given them.
As so long as they're not asking you to sin, okay?
What is sin?
Sin is the transgression of the law.
Sin is not your own preferences.
You know, sin is not, I'm uncomfortable here.
I'm not happy here.
Sin is the transgression of the law.
You know what?
If the government's causing you to sin, you can disobey then
because you're honoring the Lord God.
But if they're asking you to do something that doesn't make you feel comfortable
but it's not a sin, brethren, that's the authority.
And I know you have no choice.
I have no choice either.
But why would I preach rebellion?
Why would I be like Hananiah and say,
no, they don't have the authority.
They don't have the power.
It's not going to happen.
That would be causing the people to trust in a lie.
True.
Go to the next chapter.
Jeremiah 29, verse number 27.
Now therefore, why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah Anathoth,
which maketh himself a prophet to you?
For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying,
This captivity is long, build ye houses and dwell in them,
and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.
If you remember, Jeremiah's telling those people
that were taken into captivity into Babylon,
hey, guys, get used to it.
You're going to be here for 70 years.
Okay?
Don't rebel.
Just build your houses.
Let your kids get married.
Settle down and be at peace
because this is going to be a long captivity for 70 years.
This is what Jeremiah's teaching.
Okay?
Now, what if I told you the same thing?
Not that I'm going to say this because I don't know,
except from the Lord,
but what if I told you, guess what?
COVID restrictions, COVID mandates,
get used to it, brethren.
It's going to last for 70 years.
So go ahead, build your houses,
go get married,
go get your kids married.
Right?
I mean, that would not be a popular sermon.
Okay?
Look at verse number 29.
Jeremiah 29, 29.
And Zephaniah the priest
read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
Send to all them of the captivity, saying,
Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nephilimite,
because that Shemaiah have prophesied unto you,
and I sent him not,
and he calls you to trust in a lie.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nephilimite
and his seed.
He shall have no man to dwell among these people,
neither shall he behold the good that I will do
for my people, saith the Lord,
because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.
Another false prophet.
Another man that's contrary to God's word.
Okay?
But you know what is the same with Shemaiah and Hananiah?
They were saying they speak for the Lord.
They're doing what the Lord says.
What was Saul doing?
I'm doing what the Lord says.
I'm just following the Lord.
These people are in clear disobedience.
Disobedience.
These people are clearly rebelling against the Lord.
I'm going to quickly read to you from Proverbs 17, verse 11.
This is the consequence, brethren, of rebellion, of stubbornness.
You're going to be stubborn against your authorities.
You're going to be rebellious against your authorities.
This is what God promises you.
In Proverbs 17, 11, he says,
An evil man seeketh only rebellion.
Therefore, a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
You know, if you rebel against authority,
you're guaranteed to receive a cruel messenger.
God's going to send you a cruel messenger.
Say, what does that look like?
Well, kids, if you disobey mum and dad,
that cruel messenger is going to be the rod.
The rod of correction.
The rod of chastisement.
Right?
You're going to face some level of discipline from your parents.
Okay?
Listen, if you rebel against governments, governing authorities,
guess what's going to...
You're going to end up in prison.
That's going to be a cruel messenger.
Right?
Get arrested, thrown into prison.
You rebel and be stubborn against your employer.
The cruel messenger is going to be, you're going to get fired.
All right?
Or demoted or something.
You're going to receive some type of cruel messenger.
And guess what?
If you rebel against the church and against a pastor,
you're going to be put under church discipline.
You're going to receive that cruel messenger.
That's where rebellion leads.
That's where stubbornness leads.
There are consequences.
Again, we're meant to learn this in our teenage years.
When those hormones are raging in our bodies,
and we are, I can do things better.
I know how to run the nation better.
I know how to run the church better.
I know how to run my family better.
All those ideas that teenagers get.
You guys know what I'm talking about.
You know what?
That's when you're meant to learn your lessons.
And go, no, you know what, Lord?
You're giving me an opportunity to deal with rebellion,
to learn how to overcome rebellion,
to learn how to overcome stubbornness,
so I can be a help to those that you put over me in authority.
And Lord, if I be submissive to the will,
if I be obedient, Lord, and you see this,
you may very well cause me to be lifted up into a position of authority.
There are consequences to rebellion.
People don't realize this.
You know what?
When you rebel against these authorities that God has put you under,
you are ultimately rebelling against the Lord.
And the Lord will send his cruel messengers whatever way that might be.
Don't complain when you receive the cruel messenger.
It's the consequence of your rebellion.
It's the consequence of your stubbornness.
Please send to Nehemiah 9.
So, brethren, I know we've all rebelled, we've all been stubborn.
And so I don't want to end this sermon without actually giving you some words of advice
of how to overcome rebellion.
Because maybe you didn't learn it as a child.
Maybe you didn't learn it in your teenage years.
And maybe you're still struggling with this in your life.
So go to Nehemiah 9, verse 16.
And we know the book of Nehemiah is when they went back to the land after captivity
and they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.
And so they pause here at this point here in chapter 9
and they start talking about the past.
They start speaking again about the past of Israel and how God has helped them through.
Look at verse number 16.
It says,
So they're speaking about their forefathers in the past, how they've rebelled against God.
Look at verse number 17.
Look at this.
So they wanted to go back to Egypt.
They wanted to return back to the bondage in their rebellion.
They refused to obey.
They hardened their necks and they wanted to return back to bondage.
But look how God responds to them.
What a great God that we have.
When you rebel against the Lord, when you've rebelled against authority,
when you've been stubborn and stiff-necked,
you know what, you've always had a God you can turn to for pardon.
He's slow to anger. He's got great kindness.
He's gracious and He's merciful.
I thank God I've got the God of the Bible on my side
because I've rebelled. I've been stubborn.
We've all done it.
And when you do, don't forget you've got a God that you can turn to and humble yourself.
Make sure you humble yourself.
And don't be like Saul.
Don't say, I'm just doing God's service.
Listen, who cares about your sacrifice if you're not obedient to God?
Verse number 18.
Now I want you to notice the next thing because this is what's going to help you overcome rebellion.
The pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way,
neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light and the way wherein they should go.
So brethren, the first thing that you need to learn if you've got a stubborn heart,
if you're stiff-necked, if you're rebellious, okay,
the first thing you need to learn is to follow the Lord's lead-in.
Get yourself in the presence of God and follow His lead-in.
The same way God would lead them with a pillar of cloud,
the same way the Lord would lead these Israelites with a pillar of fire by night,
not only giving them direction but giving them light in darkness.
Brethren, to overcome rebellion you need to be in the presence of the Lord.
You need to follow His lead-in.
Follow His lead-in.
If you follow the Lord, you're going to automatically, automatically obey the authorities that are over you.
Again, if they tell you to sin, different story.
But if you're just following the Lord, the Lord wants you to obey your authorities.
Brethren, in church that's the pastor.
If you find yourself not in this church, it's that pastor.
If you're at work, it's your employer, it's your manager, it's your supervisor.
If you're a child, it's your parents.
And if you're an Australian citizen, it's our government.
I'm not saying they're great and wonderful and perfect, I know they're wicked.
They're some of the most wicked people on this earth actually.
But you know what? God has still given them power.
God has still allowed them authority.
I'll just read a very famous passage to you in Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy palms.
Brethren, you know what? The easiest way to follow the Lord's leading is to simply acknowledge the Lord.
You know, when you have a choice to make, Lord, which way would you have me to go?
Close the doors so I don't make the wrong decision.
Open the doors that I can make sure that I'm walking the right way.
You know what? With the Lord, many times it's not just one right decision and one wrong decision.
Many times God gives us freedom. He gives us liberty.
You get a hundred correct decisions and God says, hey, choose which way you want to go.
But whatever way you go, make sure you acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
He'll direct your steps.
You know, sometimes I see Christians, you know, agonized. Am I doing what God says?
You know, I've got to choose between this or that. Which one is the Lord?
Well, maybe they're both right and God's leaving up to you to decide.
Is one sinful? Is one wicked? No, they're both fine.
Okay, then choose and just acknowledge God, okay?
Say, thank you, Lord, for giving me the option. I get to choose. Neither of them are wrong.
If you do have concern, nothing wrong with asking God, though, to direct your paths if you really need it.
But many times God just gives you many options, okay?
Because there are many good ways to live your life so long as you are not in disobedience to God's Word.
The Bible also says in Psalm 119 verse 105,
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
So brethren, you want to follow the Lord?
He's not going to send you a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire.
He's giving you the Word, okay?
You follow God's Word as best as you know.
If you're a new Christian, you don't know much about the Bible,
then you're still going to be able to read the Bible and learn some things.
You're still going to read the Bible and know what God is saying.
Well, if you only know a little bit, just follow the little that you know.
God will be pleased with the little that you know.
And if God sees you following the little that you know,
He's going to give you a greater awareness, greater wisdom, greater understanding
so you can know more of His Word.
But if you're disobedient to the little that you know,
why should God open your eyes to know more of the Bible?
So number one, brethren, follow the Lord's leading.
That's the first step to overcome the sin of rebellion and stubbornness.
Let's keep going. Verse number 20.
You're in Nehemiah chapter 9, verse number 20.
Thou gave us also thy good spirit to instruct them.
So point number two, brethren, is be instructed by the Holy Spirit.
Be instructed by the Holy Spirit.
Brethren, when you need advice, when you need counsel,
when you need some guidance, when you need to make the right decisions,
don't go to a man. Okay?
Go to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will direct you.
Again, it's the Holy Ghost who gives us knowledge of God's Word.
I'm going to read to you. Can you turn to 1 John chapter 2 for me, please?
Keep your finger there in Nehemiah.
And turn to 1 John chapter 2.
Keep your finger there in Nehemiah chapter 9.
Go to 1 John chapter 2.
And while you turn there, I'm going to read to you from Isaiah 63 verse 9.
You go to 1 John chapter 2.
I'll read to you from Isaiah 63 verse 9, which reads,
Then it says this. This is about Israel.
But they rebelled.
Not only does it say that.
But they rebelled, verse number 10, it says,
Brethren, when you rebel, you vex the Holy Spirit.
You hurt God when you rebel, when you're stubborn.
You're hurting the Lord God that has redeemed you,
that has given you so many blessings.
The sin of rebellion doesn't just hurt you.
It hurts the Lord God. It vexes His Holy Spirit.
And as I said, point number 2, brethren, to overcome rebellion
is to be instructed by the Holy Spirit.
You're in 1 John chapter 2, verse number 27.
1 John chapter 2, verse number 27, which reads,
There is no lie, and even as He hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
Brethren, if you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit of God.
You have the anointing of God dwelling in you.
You don't even need to go to a man.
You've got the Holy Ghost. You've got God's Word.
And He will guide you into all truth.
So why do we come to church?
Well, this is one way that God teaches you all truth.
But again, when you come to church and you're a preacher,
you need to be checking.
I'm a preacher saying, line up with God's Word.
Sometimes I've heard preaching behind the pulpit,
and there's something in me that goes, that doesn't sound right.
That doesn't sound right at all.
And you know what it was? It was the prompting of the Holy Ghost
saying, that wasn't quite right, and the Lord's shown me some other passages.
And here's the thing, I'm not against a preacher that might get a few things wrong
because we can all make mistakes. None of us are perfect.
But listen, if you want to overcome rebellion,
you need to stop vexing the Holy Spirit
and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, to teach you.
If you go back to Nehemiah 9 and back to verse 20,
Nehemiah 9 verse 20, it said,
So we know the story where God rained manna from heaven
to feed the children in the wilderness.
And so the third step that I have for you, Brevin,
to overcome rebellion and stubbornness is to eat of the manna.
You can eat of the manna as well.
You know, the Bible says, if you can turn to, actually,
actually, yeah, go, no, stay in Nehemiah, stay in Nehemiah.
I'll read to you from Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse number 2.
Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse number 2.
It says,
To know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no,
and he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not,
neither did thy fathers know,
that he might make thee know,
that man doth not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord,
doth man live.
That's what manna is. Bread.
It's to represent bread that man is supposed to eat.
And then Jesus Christ uses the same words here in Deuteronomy
and he says it in Matthew chapter 4 verse number 3.
It says,
And when the tempter came to him, he said,
If thou be the Son of God commanded, these stones be made bread.
And he answered and said, It is written,
this is where it's written in the book of Deuteronomy,
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
And so when we look at the manna in the Old Testament,
how God would rain manna from heaven,
it represented two things.
Number one, it represented Christ as the bread of heaven,
that we are to partake of Christ in order to be saved,
but it also represented God's word.
It represented that we as people,
how Jesus Christ said that man should not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Brethren, thank God we've got a King James Bible.
We have an every word Bible.
Brethren, you've got to eat of this bread every single day.
Every single day.
You know, you go and you feed your body, don't you?
You feed your body breakfast, lunch and dinner,
maybe a few snacks, maybe a few drinks during the day.
Your spirit needs to be fed as well.
The new man needs to be fed as well.
Your soul needs to be fed as well with the manna of God
to contain your Bible.
Brethren, you eat of this Bible.
You eat of this manna every day.
You consume his word.
You chew on it.
You digest and you grow thereby.
It's going to help you overcome rebellion,
help you overcome stubbornness.
Back to Nehemiah chapter 9.
It says, verse number 20,
Thou gave us also thy good spirit to instruct them,
and withheld us not thy manna from thy mouth.
And gave us them water for their thirst.
Gave us them water for their thirst.
So, brethren, the fourth thing you need to do
is to satisfy your thirst.
You need to drink the water of the Lord.
You need to satisfy your thirst.
I'll quickly read to you from John 4.14.
Jesus Christ said,
And whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst,
but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life.
Brethren, this water represents everlasting life.
So this is what you need to do to overcome rebellion,
to overcome stubbornness,
is understand you have an everlasting life.
There's more to life than these 70, 80, 90 years
that you're going to live on this earth.
There's more to life than the employer
that gives you a hard time.
There's more to life than the pastor
that you disagree with.
There's more to life than this temporary life
that we live.
You've been given everlasting life.
God has given you water that you'll never thirst again
because you're going to live forever with the Lord God.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4.17.
I want you to notice these words.
2 Corinthians 4 verse 17.
It says,
For our light affliction.
Brethren, you know what?
We live our life
and all the inconveniences we go through,
all the trials and tribulations we go through,
the Bible says it's a light affliction.
Light affliction.
And here's the thing.
When we start getting afflicted,
what do we want to do?
Ah, rebel.
Ah, become stubborn.
You know what?
You need to realize that the hardships
you go through in life,
they're just a light affliction.
You see, in comparison to what?
Well, for our light affliction,
which is but for a moment,
worker for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory,
while we look not at the things which are seen
but at the things which are not seen,
for the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Brethren, to overcome your rebellion,
you need to focus on eternity.
Stop focusing on the temporary.
Stop focusing on this earthly thing,
the earthly things that frustrate you
and start thinking about eternity.
You're going to live forever.
You're going to rule with Christ for a thousand years.
Do you believe that, brethren?
I mean, sometimes it feels like it's so far away.
You know, it just feels like,
you know, is that really going to happen?
It's going to happen.
You're going to walk this earth once again
in new resurrected bodies,
and you're going to have authority over this earth.
So stop thinking about
all the little inconveniences you have here.
You're going to be ruling for a thousand years with Christ.
Think about eternity
and then the new heavens and the new earth,
a world without sin,
serving God faithfully,
worshipping God for all eternity,
never having to deal with all the struggles
we're dealing with this earth.
If you just focus on eternity, brethren,
all the problems you have here,
all the times you want to rebel and become stubborn,
you know what?
You just realize this is just a light affliction.
Who cares?
I've got a greater life to live for.
I've got greater things to aspire to.
I've got a greater hope to look forward to.
So, brethren, those four things,
you're still in the admire?
You're still in the admire?
Let me just tell you once again what those four things are.
Number one, if you want to overcome rebellion,
you have to follow the Lord's leading.
Number two, you have to be instructed by the Holy Spirit.
Number three, you need to eat of the matter.
You need to eat God's Word.
Number four, you need to satisfy your thirst,
have your eyes on eternity.
Now look at verse number 24, Nehemiah 9.
We'll end on this one, the conclusion.
Nehemiah 9, verse number 24.
So once God did all this for them,
led them, fed them, gave them water,
gave them water, okay?
It says in verse number 24,
So the children went in and possessed the land,
and thou subduest before them the inhabitants of the land,
the Canaanites, and gave us them into their hands with their kings
and the people of the land that they might do with them as they would.
Brethren, do you see, if you can overcome rebellion,
God's going to give you the promised land.
You're going to have a great, happy Christian life.
Or if you are someone, I'm going to rebel,
I'm going to be stubborn, I'm going to rebel against authority.
Well, you know what?
You're just going to continue wandering the wilderness for another 40 years then.
You're going to continue living a life,
a Christian life in the wilderness with seemingly no direction,
with a lot of struggles and difficulties that otherwise you could have avoided.
But brethren, if you overcome rebellion, you overcome stubbornness,
I'm telling you, I promise you, you're going to be a very happy person.
You're going to have a happy Christian life.
It's going to be a pleasure for you to even go through light afflictions
when you understand, well, who cares
when I've got so much more to look forward to,
so much more to live for.
So brethren, as I said, the title of the sermon was Rebellion and Stubbornness.
And again, I didn't plan to preach this sermon until, you know,
some of the things that happened this morning.
But this is a sin that we can all struggle with.
You know, I'm not here just to point fingers at others,
I'm here to point fingers at ourselves.
You can be stubborn, you can be rebellious.
I've been stubborn, I've been rebellious.
But thank God we have a merciful God.
Thank God we have a God that we can press the reset button,
go to Him, humble ourselves, and ask God to feed us His manner.
You know, to ask God for the waters, the satisfying waters of eternity.
And He can turn our hearts and lead us back into that promised land
where we can live profitable, enjoyable Christian lives.
Let's pray.