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Amen the part of the chapter we're going to focus on is in 1st Samuel chapter 15 in verse number 22 where the Bible reads here 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 in the fat of rams for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry because thou has rejected the word of the Lord he hath also rejected thee from being king and the title of my sermon this evening is stubbornness versus being adamant stubbornness versus being adamant now what does it mean to be stubborn and what does it mean to be adamant well if you simply look up in the definition dictionary definition of what stubbornness means is simply someone who is obstinate someone who can't be appeased we would say someone who's difficult to manage right someone who's just like you tell them to do something and they just know I don't want to do it and then they fall flat on their face they get it wrong and it's just like well I'm still not going to change we would say that's a stubborn person because you know what you're supposed to do you know your way is not working but you're still choosing not to do it what we say you're stubborn right now what's the definition of adamant we're going to look in just a bit in Ezekiel where this term is used but to be adamant means to be utterly unyielding in an attitude or opinion in other words it's almost like having a good type of determination all right we would say or the Bible would say is to have a hard forehead okay and the world would say they're hard-headed now in the world's terms that's a negative connotation to it but in biblical terms it's actually a good thing okay it's to be bullheaded to be hard-headed not to be moved we're not going to change what we believe we're going to be determined to go forward for the Lord but often these two words they can be often mistaken one for another okay we could often look at someone say oh that person's just being stubborn but they're not being stubborn they're just being adamant or we can see someone who thinks they're being adamant and say no that guy's just being stubborn or that lady's just being stubborn okay both of these words are found in our King James Bible and we need to know both of these simply for the fact that these are two qualities that we need to adhere to or one of them is one we need to adhere to the other one we need to reject so we need to be able to see if we're being stubborn or not okay and by the way today tonight's the night that you really kind of basically look at yourself and say well if I'm stubborn then I need to change my stubbornness don't be the one as well I'm not I'm not stubborn I know I'm not you know I know brothers I know Chad is I know Marcus but not me no you might be the one that I'm talking to okay now I'm not I don't have anyone specifically in mind but this is just common for all Christians to be stubborn now but here's the thing is we need to learn also how to be adamant because there's a lot of Christians who went right when they get saved you know God expects us obviously after salvation to be committed to him to read the Word of God to be in church to live a life that's pleasing to him to do that which is right on the side of the Lord but you know what that takes that takes determination you can't be in and out of church or in and out of God's will in and out of doing the things of God you need to be adamant in your Christian life you need to be determined you need to do that which is right on the side of the Lord even when you don't feel like doing it it's easy to do God's will when you feel like doing it it's just like let's go ahead and do it man I'm gonna read my Bible 10 chapters today I'm gonna be in church I'm gonna watch all kinds of YouTube clips and sermons on on these kind of clips and these subjects and then the next week you're all discouraged or you're lazy you don't do it you know what you need to be you need to be adamant okay being adamant takes a mature person to say in spite of how I feel in spite of my circumstances I'm gonna get my butt in church in spite of what takes place I'm gonna read the Bible in spite of what takes place I'm gonna do my best to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord that takes someone who is adamant okay now let's look at the first quality deficiency known as stubbornness all right now you're in first Samuel so what's taking place here of course King Saul is the first king of Israel and Samuel comes to Saul with commandments from the Lord and he says look you need to kill the Amalekites and he says he wants Saul to do a thorough job he says kill everything don't leave anything alive child suckling lambs animals the king everyone everything needs to go okay that's all you have to do and it's not like he's this is something that's foreign to Saul but what does Saul do he goes yeah he destroys the Amalekites but what does he do he saves Agak and then the people and himself also saved the best of the animals right to sacrifice so what does he do he obeys the Lord but not completely he gives a partial obedience which by the way is disobedience and let me say this a common phrase that I used to hear back in the day that I agree with is this delayed obedience is disobedience but let me say this partial obedience is also disobedience you see God doesn't say well you know you could obey some of the Bible you don't have to be all of it no you're supposed to be all the commands of the Lord okay and if we esteem one commandment over the other it's not right to obey one command just to just complete disregard the other okay we need to be as fully committed and as fully going after the Lord as we possibly can but we don't see that with Saul what does he do he goes in there he cleans house but leave Agag alone why because he's like a trophy you know I want to keep him alive and go ahead and leave the best of the sheep and the flock and all those things so we can sacrifice them unto the Lord so he completely disregards the instructions given to them given to him and it's crazy because you would think man don't you have a fear of God in your heart you know what do you think God's just gonna bypass you and say okay well I understand you you got the best of the flock to sacrifice I could I could I can wink at that no he didn't obey the commandments of the Lord okay look at first Samuel chapter 15 so what was Saul guilty of well first the first thing he tells them is that he's guilty of rebellion okay that's strong words right there rebellion is when you're told to do something and you know you're supposed to do it but you don't do it okay it's like do this and you're like no and you still don't do it that's what rebellion is or you said don't do this and you do it anyways that's what that's what rebellion is first Samuel 15 verse 1 said Samuel also said unto Saul the Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people over Israel now therefore harken down to the voice of the words of the Lord thus saith the Lord of hosts I remember that which Amalick did to Israel how he laid weight for him in the way when he came up from Egypt now go and smite Amalick and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not but slay both man and women infant and suckling ox and sheep camel and ass and Saul gathered the people together numbered them in Telayim 200,000 footmen and 10,000 men of Judah by the way Amalick you say man I can't believe that God will give such a crazy crazy command but you gotta understand something Amalick had an opportunity to turn into the Lord long ago okay and most of the time when God would tell someone God would tell the judges or a king to go into the land to utterly destroy something it's because there are full of diseases because all these pagan nations and regions were full of sodomy they're full of just STDs like crazy all kinds of all kinds of diseases that would infect anyone who would come into that land so what would he say just clean it all out just destroy everything that's what he's telling them to do here verse 5 says and Saul came to a city of Amalek and laid weight in the valley and Saul said to the Canaanites go depart get you down from among the Malachites lest I destroy you with them for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came came up out of Egypt so the Canaanites departed from among the Amalekites and Saul smote he destroyed he killed the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to shore that is over against Egypt and he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword but Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep so he basically takes he's like man that's a good-looking sheep right there why don't we keep that one we'll destroy that one that one's too good to kill we can't waste that that's a waste just take it 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 everything that was vile and refused that they destroyed utterly see it's easy to get rid of that which is like not good you know what I mean I'm pretty sure it takes a little bit of discipline to look at a good-looking ox and say all right just just kill that thing you know instead of just saying and he should have just killed it instead of saying well you know what we can use this for something good we could use it to serve the Lord well God doesn't have any pleasure in burnt offerings he has pleasure in us obeying him is what he wants then came the word of the Lord into Samuel saying it repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king man that's sad for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments and it grieved Samuel and he cried unto the Lord all night so Saul was guilty of not performing the commandment of the Lord that's called rebellion okay you say well you know he kind of did though no you know we need to make sure that in our Christian lives that we're as thorough as we possibly can when it comes to obeying God okay thorough okay that means try the best you can to obey as much as you can and don't be half haphazardly trying to obey the Lord you have to make sure that you obey God as much as you can and don't make excuses as to why you can't he rebelled against the Lord now one thing that he said here that kind of caught my attention he says rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft now that's strong terminology right there okay so what is witchcraft witchcraft is obviously we know what witchcraft is right Harry Potter you know wizards and spells and all that stuff which existed in these days but why is he saying the rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft is that is that the I mean do they have like the same kind of connotation not necessarily this is what I think now hold your place there in 1st Samuel go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 33 he says rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft 2nd Chronicles chapter 33 in verse number 6 look at the Bible reads here and he caused his children to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom also he observed times and used enchantments and used witchcraft and dealt with a familiar spirit and with wizards he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord and look what it says to provoke him to anger so what does it mean when it says that rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft basically it evokes the same emotion in God so we like to get on the Wizards and the witches and all that stuff for the wickedness that they do and we say man God is mad at them he's angry with them but you know he's also angry with the Christian who's in rebellion it evokes the same emotion in God when you rebel against him now obviously rebellion and witchcraft are two different things but they evoke the same emotion in God they anger God okay now go back or go to a job 34 I'm just going to show you a quick verse here so it evokes the same reaction so before we hop on the witch and the wizard and yes we don't understand that the Bible says they ought to be put to death let's keep this in mind that evokes the same anger in the Lord as when we rebel against him and against his commandments okay why because and look the modern churches of today their major emphasis is what the relationship with God it's all about the relationship bro it's all about the relationship you know God doesn't care you know if you're involved in fornication if you're involved in drunkenness and all these things he just cares that you love him well the Bible says if you love me keep my commandments see this is a flat-out lie because what does God really emphasize he emphasizes obedience okay and by the way I'm not against having a relationship with God as long as it's founded upon your obedience to him because most people who say well it's all about a relationship what they're saying is basically you could live however the heck you want do what kind of whatever kind of sin you want to do and you can still be in church and read your Bible and be right with God and God can God's blessing could be in your life no it doesn't work that way sorry you know if we're gonna have a right relationship with God that means we have to confess our sins daily live a life that's pleasing unto him live a holy life be obedient to him that's what God correlates as being as loving him you know a lot of people say well you know I love God man yeah but are you obeying him because God says if you love me keep my commandments that condition is this don't say you don't don't give God lip service give him real service which is obedience okay now look at job 34 verse 37 in job we see that job had some really bad friends you know when he was going through a tough time one of them was named Eli who and a lot of the things that these guys said about job was was true but it wasn't true about job because you'll see a lot of biblical wisdom and what they say but it just wasn't true about job okay look what he says in verse 37 for he addeth rebellion unto his sin he clappeth his hands among us and multiplieth his words against God now we know that wasn't true about job but this is a true statement why is that because how do you add rebellion to your sin when you multiply your words against God what does that mean when you're rebellious and you make excuses as to why you couldn't obey the commandments of God you know and look one of the things that people are really good at go back to first Samuel chapter 15 is they're really good at making excuses you know oh I just couldn't you know come to church because of XY and Z you're multiplying your words you know if the Bible says forsake not the assembly assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is the Bible says it don't make excuses now you're sick you're throwing up your projectile vomiting okay stay home you know if you're dying stay home better you go to the hospital but you know if you obviously those are valid reasons but I'm talking about like like foolish reasons that you just make an excuse why you can't go to church okay that's at that at that point you need to be adamant don't be stubborn okay because any one of us can come up with a good excuse why we're not in church or we're not doing the things that we're supposed to be doing no we need to not multiply our words against God okay towards him don't make excuses why you don't do the things that you do you know and by the way this goes for even like habits and sinful habits whether it's smoking cigarettes or watching worldly things or cussing or any of those things oh you know you don't know my household they just cuss all the time well you know what the righteous addeth learning to his lips okay and we don't live in a perfect world all right so I mean I don't know what we're not in the Garden of Eden so just figure it out you know figure out how to live where you're at but still live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord okay and if you're having trouble cussing all the time and you're dropping f-bombs and s-bombs and all kinds of these profanity profane language then you know what you need to get into the Word of God you need to memorize some scripture and here's a good way to help you with your with your cussing get around people who don't cuss because it's easier to continue to cuss when you're around people who are cussing all the time it's just the bottom line you know you were you got your buddy who maybe maybe even be a Christian and what is he doing he drops f-bombs all the time so that makes it easier for you to drop f-bombs and then what do you what do you do you multiply your words against God oh that's because of my friend Lord you know I just I got cousins my primos and they just they cuss all the time and that's why I do it you're in rebellion okay you're multiplying your words against God you see we could come up with the excuse for all kinds of disobedience that we have in our lives we just cut that out just do what we're supposed to do because God said it okay first Samuel chapter 15 how does this look like for Saul well look at verse 13 and Samuel came to songs and Saul said unto him blessed be thou of the Lord I have performed the commandment of the Lord stinking liar he's like man your blood I performed the commandment of the Lord you see all this verse 14 and Samuel said what meaneth then the bleeding of the sheep in mine ears and the lowering of the oxen which are here he's like what are you talking about here like sheep that are still alive verse 15 and Saul said they have 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 okay just let you know we destroyed everything else though but they did it no Saul you did it right because you're the leader Saul you must all should have done if it really was true that the people are the ones who want to do it say hey no kill it I'll get you a sheep when you come home I'll get you something better we need to obey the commandment of the Lord kill all the sheep all the oxen all but Saul kill it but you know what he does instead he wants to keep the sheep he wants to keep the oxen and then when he gets caught by Samuel oh the people did it you always do he's multiplying his words against God he's making excuses by the way that's weak leadership as well that's like the pastor who gets behind the pulpit and he doesn't want to execute right discipline in his church and he blames his congregants for that you know I can't preach hard in my church cuz you know if I do I'll lose people what kind of weak pastor are you then you know you we ought to have the the guts to be able to get behind the pulpit said what needs to be said in spite of it if anyone gets offended okay not base what I'm gonna preach based off of the people if they're gonna get offended or not you know I'm sure I've preached sermons in this church where people have come for the first time or second time and they didn't come back ever again after that okay sorry you know we got to preach the whole counsel of God and that's what we got to stick with you know why because it's better to fear God than man okay now but what is saw dude that's not Saul's attitude he's like all the people there's the people's fault it's my church members fault they don't respect me you know they don't follow me or whatever you know well no Saul maybe they don't respect you because yeah you're a weak leader and maybe you actually led them into keeping the ox and the sheep okay look what it goes on to say skip down verse 19 wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord but this fly upon the spoil and dis evil on the side of the Lord and Saul said unto Samuel yea I have obeyed the voice of the Lord man this guy stubborn and have gone the way of the Lord the Lord sent me and have brought a gag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites but the people took of the spoil sheep and oxen the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God and Gilgal so what is he doing now he's making excuses for the people you see Samuel he kept they kept the best of the sheep to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God hmm isn't that a good reason why we should you know keep the sheep and oxen it's for thy God it's a sacrifice unto thy God they were in look this is a perfect picture anytime the leader messes up God doesn't go to the people even if it's the people's fault you know he goes to he goes to the leader he's like you you know in the Gospels when Jesus came when he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and he came to his disciples and they were sleeping there was more than one there but who did he get on Peter he says couldn't you watch with me for an hour Peter you know there's more than one disciple there but you know he got on he got on Peter okay and often even when Peter said you know we have to get on Peter because he said you know I will die with thee and all these things but you know what in another gospel it says likewise said also the other disciples so obviously he was a leader obviously he had influence so in that case God came to him so God is coming to Sam or to Saul he's saying look you disobeyed open the people no Saul you disobeyed okay a pastor can't blame his congregation for how weak his preaching is he can't blame the congregation for how much sin is involved in the church that's his fault okay like yeah but you know what we can't get on them you know for being in fornication or for being a drunkard we need to leave them time to grow and grace give them like five years or something you know because they're sacrificing to the Lord thy God no so you need to do what God tells you to do and stop trying to act smarter than God okay now again he's adding rebellion to his sin by multiplying his words you know what God wants when we get to this point just admit that you're wrong just say Sammy you're right man I don't know what I was thinking can you give me a second chance just give me a sword give me about five minutes and I'll kill all this real quick I'm really sorry about that you know and I honestly believe that God would have been merciful even to that because I've seen multiple times in the scriptures were like you let this guy just get away with it the Lord and he didn't let him get away with it but he was like so merciful to him you know think of Hezekiah for example but you know what he did no he just kept blaming the people okay now why was Saul guilty of stubbornness well simply for the fact that this wasn't his first rodeo of disobedience you know we look at the story like wow you know that was his first time no that wasn't his first time not doing what he was supposed to do go a couple chapters back go to first Samuel chapter 13 in verse number 8 the Bible says here in verse number 8 he tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed but Samuel came not to Gilgal and the people were scattered from him and Saul said bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings and he offered the burnt offering and it came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering behold Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him that he might salute him and Samuel said what has that done and Saul said because I saw that the people were scattered from me and that thou came not within the days appointed and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Micmash I mean just excuse after excuse after excuse verse 12 therefore said I the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal and have not made supplication unto the Lord I forced myself therefore and offered a burnt offering and Samuel said to Saul thou has done foolishly thou was not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which he commanded thee for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever but now the kingdom shall not continue the Lord has sought him a man after his own heart his own heart and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded thee so that's not his first time he disobeying the Lord you know why Saul was it was stubborn because this is the second time that God commanded him to do something or it commanded him not to do something and he did it anyways you know and look thank God for his mercies thank God that he's long-suffering and he's patient with us but don't test the patience of the Lord okay don't tempt not the Lord thy God oh you know he'll give me another chance how do you know that do you know that for a fact that God's just gonna give you chance after chance after chance just to keep getting it right you don't know that and by the way he made but at the same time he may not so better to just get it right stop being stubborn about about whatever subject whatever thing you're in and just get it right okay don't be like Saul you know after first Samuel chapter 13 if I was saw I'd be like oh man I blew it okay first time in 15 is coming up I got to make sure that whatever he commands me to do now I got to make sure I like handle it I mean from top to bottom leave nothing undone make sure I complete the word of the Lord and be thorough no what did he do he disobeyed again why cuz he's stubborn okay now stubbornness is a bad character quality to have it's not even a quality obviously it's the deficiency is what it is okay now we look at song we like man saw but you know what there's Christians that are like that as well it's just stubborn you know God gives you a second chance to do something or to clean up your life and you persist to stay in that sin that's stubbornness okay God gives you a second chance and whatever area that you're thinking about right now and you know what and you know what you do you just persist to be foolish to disobey the Lord you know the fact that he gave you a second chance doesn't mean give you a second chance to do wrong again oh here's another opportunity to sin no you know what it is it's a second chance to just make it right don't be stubborn and stubbornness is when you get a command and you say okay that's what God wants me to do and just do the complete opposite that's foolish okay let's grow up and do that which is right on the side of the Lord now let me take you to let's see here go to Jeremiah 17 there's a word there's a phrase that God uses for stubbornness of course rebellion and it's called being stiff neck okay Deuteronomy 31 I'm gonna read to you from Deuteronomy 31 you go you guys go to Jeremiah 17 and verse 27 says for I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck behold while I'm yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death Jeremiah 17 21 or 23 let's verse 23 says but they obeyed not neither inclined their ear but made their neck stiff that they might not hear nor receive instruction so what does it mean to have a stiff day you ever woken up with a stiff neck you know you sleep wrong or something and then you're just like Batman the whole day you're just like well stiff neck simply means that your neck won't do what you want it to do it won't turn to the left or to the right it's just being stubborn that's what it's doing so when you're stiff neck or you're rebellious you know what that means is that you're not doing what God tells you to do you're just like no I won't do it you know no I won't clean up my life no I won't I won't stop this sin no I won't do this you're being stiff neck you say well what's wrong with that Proverbs 29 one says he that being often reproved hardened at his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy says so you know what you want to be stiff neck okay you want to be rebellious all right the Bible says there you're gonna be suddenly destroyed and that destroyed little by little it's not like you know over the course of five years God's gonna just chip away at you little by little no suddenly it's just like like that because you know what at times that's that's the only way you learn you know sometimes it takes a car accident right sometimes it takes a disease sometimes it takes some sort of catastrophic event in your life to just wake you up and just say oh man I'm being stiff neck I need to get right I need to fix this I need to stop doing this I need to grow up in the Lord I need to get serious about the things of God but you know you don't need to let it get to that point you know you don't need to let it get to a point where some catastrophic event takes place in your life and it just puts you in the red when it comes to your finances you go into debt for thousands and thousands of dollars for you to wake up and say okay I'm gonna start obeying God now correctly no you don't need to get to that point but you can if you're stiff neck because the Bible says there you'll suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy man that's that's harsh words right there you know what that means there's no solution you'd be destroyed and there's no remedy there's no solution to fix it okay now switching gears somewhat but still on the same concept of being stubborn you know we see this a lot what's unsafe people don't we when they're stubborn you go out and preach the gospel or maybe you have unsafe family members and you've given them the gospel and they're just being stubborn they read they just don't want to adhere to the gospel which is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved it's not by your works not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us the Bible says in Psalms 95 verse 8 harden not your heart as in the provocation as in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your father's tempted me and proved me and saw my work 40 years long was I grieve with this generation and said it is the people that do err in their heart and they have not known my ways unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest and by the way in the New Testament the Hebrews chapter number four that's referring to salvation okay now this is dangerous okay let me explain why it's because when an unsafe person hardens their heart to the gospel they could actually get to a point where it's too late for them to be saved okay now I'm gonna share the story with you and this is this happened yesterday and it was it was a major blessing to me and I wanted to tell you guys about it when we went out soul winning I knocked on the door and this lady opened the door she speaks Spanish and I asked her you know 100% question just gave her the introduction and everything and she was willing to listen to me so I was giving her the gospel and halfway through when we were talking about her being a sinner and deserving help because of sin and all that she said I'm in sin and and I said okay you know just just trying to continue on the conversation and she basically said I've been bitter towards God for years you know for a long time and when someone says something like that you know red flags kind of go up a little bit simple for the fact of course we're not gonna get into the whole thing tonight but we obviously understand I think most of us understand the reprobate doctrine okay and so and a reprobate is someone who's been given who's basically has rejected the gospel and the Bible says they become haters of God and according to the Bible once you are a reprobate you can no longer be saved okay and the reason for this because the Bible specifically says that these do also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith reprobate simply means rejected we get that definition from Jeremiah chapter number six where it says reprobate silver shall men call them for the Lord hath rejected them so reprobate and rejected are used synonymously in the Bible well the Bible says in first or in second Timothy I believe it's chapter number four and says or chapter number two it says that these people are reprobate concerning the faith so they have been rejected concerning the faith okay and that's where sodomites come into play if you ever see a homosexual it's a person who's basically rejected the Lord according to Romans chapter number one and other portions of Scripture I'm not gonna get into all that we understand that if you have any question is about that you can see me right after the service but a major quality of a reprobate is someone who hates God it says that it says literally in Romans chapter one that they're haters of God okay they hate the Lord and the reason why is because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but their foolish heart was darkened okay that's what the Bible says so when she said I'm bitter towards God that's strong language that means she she has animosity towards the Lord and I said okay well why I said and she said I lost my children you know a five and a three-year-old I believe it was and they had some sort of heart condition where they and they passed away and but she was very very receptive to what I was telling her so I knew at that moment that when she was being receptive and her eyes kind of were watery a little bit I understood this is a very pivotal and sensitive time right here for this girl for this lady why is that because anybody who's ever become a reprobate get this obviously we understand in order for someone to become a reprobate they rejected the gospel but there's something that brought them to that point of rejecting the gospel which is bitterness for example we would say someone who's a sodomite obviously was recruited right so something when we say recruited that means they're potentially molested obviously well someone who's molested the reason many of them become a reprobate or a sodomite is because they it's because they actually become bitter towards God you let this happen in my life why did you allow this rape to happen in my life etc now when someone gets to that point they have one or two choices because the gospel will come to them and when the gospel comes to them in bitterness they can say no I don't want your God your God allowed me to get raped your God allowed me to get molested or in humility they can allow God to save them through Jesus Christ and then find consolation in the Lord and in his word that's why a lot of people even those who have been molested not everyone who's been molested is a reprobate there's some who have been molested and then they get saved afterwards and they live a just a successful Christian life you know because they find consolation in the Word of God they realize what the Bible says about these things and so talking to this lady I'm thinking man this is a pivotal point because if she rejects the gospel because she's bitter towards God this is just one step closer to her becoming a reprobate and I don't want that for her you know I hate reprobates but you know what I don't hate them before they become a reprobate I want that person to be saved I want that person to know Christ as their Savior I want them to go to heaven so I was very careful and meekness and fierce speaking to this woman and I started giving her the gospel and I said look I'm very sorry for what happened to your children I said but look let me tell you this according to the Bible now you believe the Bible right she says yeah I said according to the Bible your children are in heaven they're in heaven you know God loves your children and they're in heaven today you don't have to worry if any harm will ever come to them they're in the safest place in this life in the life to come you know and I gave her the gospel and she got saved with tears in her eyes she got saved and I said you will see your children again you're gonna see your children once again one day I said look it's gonna be a couple years we don't know how many years but let me say this you will be with them a lot longer than you were without them you know you're just taking there's just a small period of time where you're not going to see them but guess what now you will and she was so thankful tears in her eyes all this was in Spanish and and I said to her is there anyone else in your home that would like to hear this and she said yes I have two daughters she says please come in she sat me down at the dining table brought her 18 year old and her 14 year old Jasmine and Alejandra they both got saved very open got saved and I spent about 20 minutes talking to them and after I talked to them I said hey Alejandra Jasmine is there anybody else in the house do you think would want to get saved they said my brother yeah my brother she ran up she got her brother okay Giovanni he came he got safe now in thy house amen but here's the thing I think it was very pivotal pivotal for the mom to first get saved you know she was bitter and hard because of what took place in her life with her children and it's just that turning point she could either been have been stubborn and said no I don't want your God he killed my children and all these thoughts that people get into their minds when they lose a child or anything of that of that matter but you know what she didn't she allowed the gospel to come in she believed it and now she can get consolation from the Word of God and it's interesting because we actually know the same people you know she told me where she lived in Downey I said I lived in Downey I told her the cross streets she goes those are the same cross streets I said I lived in this trailer park she goes I live there too she said my manager was this I was like I know that manager I let her to the Lord too she's in church she's like she's in church I'm like yeah it was cool you know but praise the Lord we rescued someone from being a reprobate amen but you know what if she would have been stubborn that wouldn't have taken taken place so stubbornness often even for an unsafe person is dangerous very dangerous because there are deadlines in the Bible okay now go to 1st Kings chapter number 12 so this is true for for unsafe people but it's definitely true for unsafe people as well or excuse me for safe people as well what does that look like look at 1st Kings chapter 12 verse number 3 let's see here verse number 4 of course is a story of Jeroboam going to Rehoboam which is Solomon's son and it says here in verse number 4 thy father made our yoke grievous now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which it which he put upon us lighter and we will serve thee and he said unto them depart yet for three days then come again to me and the people departed King Rehoboam consulted with the old men that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived and said how do you advise that I may answer this people and they spake unto him saying if thou will be a servant unto this people this day and will serve them and answer them and speak good words to them then they will be thy servants forever so that's some good advice he says look Jeroboam is coming to me and by the way Jeroboam God had already given him the kingdom but he's kind of submitting himself under Rehoboam he said look if you just treat us good not like your dad did we'll serve you so he goes to the old men and the old men said look just serve them speak good to them and they'll serve you forever verse 8 but he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him and which stood before him and he said unto them what counsel give ye that we may answer this people who have spoken to me saying make the yoke which my which thy father did put upon his lighter and the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him saying thou shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee saying thy father made our yoke heavy but make thou it lighter unto us thus shall thou say unto them my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins now that sounds good you know but it didn't work out very well for Rehoboam now whereas that my father did laid you with a heavy yoke I will add to your yoke my father had chastised you with whips I will chastise you with scorpions man this guy's rough so Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day as the king had appointed saying come to me again the third day and the king answered the people roughly and forsook the old men's council that they gave him and spake to them after the council the young men saying my father made your yoke heavy and I will add to your yoke my father also chastised you with whips but I would chastise you with scorpions and by the way let me just say this it didn't end well for Rehoboam okay why because he forsook the council he was stubborn so how does stubbornness show itself when you ask for counsel and counsel is given and you just say nah I'll just do something else you're just stubborn then and let me say this don't ask me for counsel okay and then you just go on and do the opposite now if you want if you're entertaining doing something that is opposite of what I'm gonna say then just ask me differently let me give an example hey this is taking place what's your opinion on this because then at that point I'll just give you my opinion but if you say what do you think I should do I'm gonna tell you what I think you should do now I'm not gonna give you any counsel if I don't know anything about it if I have no experience I have no wisdom I'm just gonna be like you know I don't really know about that I would say you need to talk to so-and-so they're a lot older in the Lord or they've been through the situation like this but if I have experience in that area and you say hey what do you think I should do and I said this is what you should do this will really help and then you just go and do something else you're just stubborn is what you are okay cuz you're like yeah I'll just go do something else then why you come and ask me for it what's the point look I love everyone but don't waste my time okay don't waste my words don't waste my time don't waste the wisdom nothing unnecessary that I have but at least the people who are older than me had given to me because most of the wisdom that I give people are things that I learned from someone else I'm not this isn't like original none of the wisdom I give is original I learned this from my father-in-law I learned this from older godlier pastors who have been successful at different aspects of the ministry in their fathership and their marriage and their child rearing and in dating or courting whatever you want to call it I'll give you that wisdom if you want my opinion I'll give you my opinion but don't ask me say hey what do you think I should do as if you're gonna do it and then you do something completely opposite because this is what's gonna happen if it doesn't work out for you and you come ask me again I'm just gonna kind of blow you off I'm gonna be like you know you need to do what you think is best okay because I don't want to cast my pearls before swine I'm calling the people who got swine I'm just using that concept to say I want to invest my counsel and wisdom and someone who's actually gonna obey it okay it's not always I don't want it to be a waste is what I'm saying okay and I'm not saying I'm some sort of treasure of wisdom because I'm not but obviously if you're coming to ask me you know what I mean you're gonna get something that I think look just know this I have your best interest in mine okay I have your best interest in mine I don't want you to fail I want you to succeed you don't want the single men in our church to get married to have godly wives have godly children tons of them so we can fill up this church amen you know I want you to be successful at your job I want you to love the Lord see the tons of people saved so don't think if you come in and ask me for counsel I'm gonna give you something to shortchange you so you won't be as good as you think you know as I think you can be no I want you to surpass even my success okay I would love for you to surpass my success I want my son to surpass my success why because I got your best interest in mine okay but don't ask for counsel like this guy did so what do you think I should do and then he's like no I'll just go ask someone else you know what rare bone was doing he was looking for the answer that he wanted and you know what typically people want when they want counsel they just want you to give them what they want to hear okay that's not the way it works you know if that's what you want for me just tell me what you want to hear and I'll just tell you we'll save ourselves time yeah go ahead yeah sure you know but if you want biblical counsel and you're sincere I want you to succeed I'm gonna give that to you okay because I want you to succeed but don't be like Ray Baum you know Ray Baum he was stubborn that's stubbornness right there okay now go to Ezekiel chapter number three and look one way to avoid being stubborn is don't act like a know-it-all you know don't think you have everything in life figured out you know it's easy to be in a church like this where a lot of doctrines being preached and you know a lot about the Bible to think you just have life figured out in general I don't have life figured out you know I need older godlier men that I look to to learn from them and I still glean wisdom from the from the even the pastor who kicked me out I still glean wisdom from him I respect him and the wisdom he gave me I still use the wisdom that he imparted unto me in the time that he vested in me I appreciate that the wisdom that my father-in-law gave me even though we don't agree on certain doctrines I still esteem his wisdom look even my family members who have like just black bald me from my stance I still respect their wisdom and their strengths in their areas of life you know because I'd be a fool not to you know I have a brother-in-law I have a brother-in-law my wife's eldest brother you know we don't agree on a lot of things a lot of things okay we're agreeing about salvation and the King James Bible that's about it okay now there's probably more but you know what he is great when it comes to child rearing he is great when it comes to chastising his children he is great when it comes to the the principles of the home you know what I want to learn from that I don't want to be so stubborn and just so bullheaded that I'm not one I can't learn from them you know he's pre-trip yeah but I'm not learning pre-trip from him I'm not I'm not trying to glean end times prophecy from him I see he's successful with his kids having children having his wife in subjection and I say I want to learn from that you know but you know a stubborn person is gonna do yeah if he ain't right in my areas you know he's not writing anything else you know what Jack Heil said every man is my teacher right even the ones who are wrong in a lot of areas okay and look just because you learn a certain principle like a child rearing principle for someone doesn't mean you have to adhere to their doctrines necessarily now I'm not talking about reading their books don't read their books okay because they always insert their theology I'm talking about watching someone's life okay that's what I'm saying here so don't be stubborn now what is the opposite of being stubborn oh I'm sorry the thought where I was going with that sorry about that is this is one way to avoid being stubborn it just don't act like a know-it-all you know what I mean always understand you don't know everything especially if you're like between the age of 17 and 30 you probably don't know a whole lot even though you think you do because anybody between 17 and 30 things they know everything there is to know about life I was there I probably still am there though I'm 32 okay but the temptation is I know everything there is to know no one can tell me nothing yeah well then keep being stubborn and then when you reach 35 and you realize that you're wrong when you're 25 then you're gonna be behind better to just be a humble young man and say I'm want to learn from any person that I can learn in their areas of strength and be ahead of the game when you're 35 you know be ahead of the game when you're 30 be ahead of the game of these people about some of these old IFB pastors you see how stubborn they are you know when they're wrong there are the 25 year olds who didn't want to adhere to the counsel of the older man you know now they wanna they want us to adhere to their counsel that we're wrong well you know it's not gonna work because you're ripping what you've sown you get what I'm saying so these guys were the ones who were 20 25 years old who thought they know every knew everything don't make the same mistake that old I have beers have made you know what mistake they made they thought they knew the whole everything left to right you know and and they couldn't get counsel from anybody they're stubborn well guess what they're still stubborn till this day I don't want to be like that you know you said well you're not you're you're getting counsel from people your age no I'm not I'm getting counsel from people who are older than me who know the Bible you know my other pastor Anderson is older than me you know he knows the Bible so I'm gonna adhere to him pastor of Mercury is older than me I'm gonna adhere to the counsel that he gives people who are godly and successful in these areas I want to and I want to glean wisdom from their lives okay I don't want to think that I know everything all right now the opposite of being stubborn now is being adamant look at Ezekiel chapter 3 in verse number 1 since we chased that rabbit skinned it killed it cooked it ate it Ezekiel 3 verse number 1 says moreover he said unto me son of man eat thou that thou findest eat this roll and go speak unto the house of Israel so I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll speaking of the Bible is not talking about like California rolls verse 3 and he said unto me son of man caused I belly to eat and fill thy bowels with the with this role that I give thee then did I eat and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness and he said unto me son of man go get thee unto the house of Israel and speak with my words unto them for thou are not sent to a people of a strange speech or of a hard language but to the house of Israel not too many people of a strange speech and of in hard language whose words thou canst not understand surely had I sent thee to them they would have hearkened unto thee but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee for they will not hearken unto me for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted behold I have made thy face strong against their faces and thy foreheads strong against their foreheads as an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead fear them not neither be dismayed at their looks though they be a rebellious house moreover he said unto me son of man all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart and here with thine ears so verse number nine is where I get that word there it says as an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead okay what is he saying I made you determined okay now how many you've ever been head-butted before okay it doesn't feel really good especially you get it right in the nose you get CC stars and you start why because the hardest part of your head is like right here and I always tell people look if you don't know how to fight and someone's like robbing you or they're trying to beat you up say I don't know how to fight and just get them right in the nose and run okay why cuz it's a hard part and God is saying here hey I'm gonna have you preach some very hard sermons so I'm gonna make you as hard I'm gonna make you adamant as a flint a flint is a stone specifically it's a stone that you could actually use to cause fire so this is a very hard-headed man okay and let me say this in the Christian life we need people like this who are adamant hard-headed not in a bad way I'm talking about determined to do that which is right on the side of the Lord to adhere to certain doctrines and to not change okay no matter how many years pass how unpopular the message gets we need to be as adamant as a flint okay which is the opposite of being stubborn because stubbornness is when God tells you to do something and you do the opposite being adamant is when God tells you to do it and doesn't matter how hard it is you still do it right that's what adamant means okay now go to Joshua chapter number one now here's the reason why I say this because it does take courage to obey the Lord it takes courage to do that which is right on the side of the Lord sometimes you know look at Joshua 1 verse 6 it says be strong and of good courage front of this people shall that divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto thy fathers to give them only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee turn out from it to the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper with a server that goes he said be strong and very courageous what to observe to do everything that I've commanded you to do it takes courage it takes you being strong it takes you being adamant to do that to obey the commandments of the Lord okay now go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 we should be adamant when it comes to serving the Lord okay and look our church is not even a year old yet it's getting there okay what is it September 14th I think is when we started the church time flies you know and praise the Lord for all the work that's being done we've seen hundreds and hundreds of souls saved not through the effort of one man but through the effort of many people okay but look the the best years are yet to come but they yet to come if we have people who just stick it out who are adamant and serving the Lord you see a couple months ago and the prophecy was fulfilled a couple months ago I remember preaching and saying you know everyone's just excited yeah new church faithful word you know everyone's just like excited and it's just like this is great you know this is how it is when we first started church I was like but we'll see in a couple months we'll see in a couple months if people really stick it out okay because that's how it is with everything it's just like yeah and then it's just like yeah and then a couple just like hmm and then and then the next day is just like we'll go next week you know it was like we've been praying for this church to start thank you pastor Anderson six months later it's just like I'll just watch this verse on YouTube I'll just watch pastor Anderson on YouTube you were praying for this right the answer to prayer all these watered-down lame churches all these I can't believe you know emailing pastor please start a church in LA please help you know the Macedonian call come over and help us but then you know what the newness wears off now doesn't it you know that new car that you got is not new anymore six months later now is it and it doesn't have that new car smell you know so what is it gonna take now it takes you being adamant look I'm all for the honeymoon I love the honeymoon I enjoyed my honeymoon it was great hanging out with my wife just me and my wife honeymoon but you know what the honeymoon ends and we can't live from honeymoon to honeymoon okay that's not the way life is supposed to be done okay these guys are on their honeymoon right now just tune me out sorry to burst your bubble okay it's gonna end okay and it's not a bad thing it's just their stages in life you know what stage I'm in the the children's stage right now okay we're you know my son he's getting older and he's talking and my daughter's like she's just crying like non-stop I had the grouch his daughter I've ever met I call I don't know I was like man Kyla's like always stressed out like even when she's away she's just like I'm like what's wrong baby this should be the most enjoyable time of life for you she's just like she's just like freaking out you know look I love the honeymoon stage but you know what I'm enjoying life right now I love hanging out with my son I love my grouchy daughter this is great you know again my brother-in-law taught me this he said this just enjoy the moment when you're in the moment but don't know this the moment ends and then there's a new chapter okay but we got to apply that to church okay that takes mature Christians to just stick it out don't try to go from honeymoon to honeymoon because guess what the next honeymoon you go to is gonna finish too you know just stick it out be adamant look at the Bible says here it says in 1st Corinthians 15 57 but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ therefore my brother my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord the Bible says always abound be steadfast be unmovable you know don't live from honeymoon to honeymoon you ought to have that desire to just be faithful unto death okay just stick it out and I'm gonna say look if God relocates you somewhere else that I'm not talking about that I thought when people just get out of church right okay we're just like well I just want to go do something else instead you know well you know that's you're gonna you're gonna your life is gonna be a failure if that's what you do because in order to have any kind of success in life you need consistency diligence okay you need to be consistent in things that you do in order to have success okay go to 1st Corinthians the next chapter 1st Corinthians chapter 16 verse 15 says I beseech you brethren I like the house of Stephanas look what it says you know the house of Stephanas that it is the first fruits of Achaia and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the Saints these people were addicted we need some addicts okay some addicts of the church some addicts of soul winning some addicts of holy living some addicts of children having their own children obviously it's just like let's keep having more and more and more kids we need some addicts of just faithful word Baptist Church okay that's what we need but you know we have today we have like a bunch of detoxing Christians sometimes you know it's just like now I'm trying to lay off the Bible a little bit you know trying to lay off the soul and I don't want to do too much no we need addicts is what we need that's what God wants look it's only for it's for your own good right you're racking up the rewards you're helping your family you're learning how to become a man you're learning how to be in submission to your husband are you like ah maybe not I don't want to be a addict okay these are good things okay you're getting good preaching and look it's it's hard to fight the world when you don't have a good Bible believing church to go to where there's hard preaching don't let this preaching scare you either okay if I step on your toes look I'll give you the precursor I love you okay and if I didn't love you I wouldn't be preaching hard on these things okay I do it because it's necessary in order to keep us out of sin in order to have God's blessing in our life we can't have sin in our life well the way you get sin in your life is that you just get your face ripped every once in a while from the pulpit you're like I'm not gonna do that again then you know and guess what then God's like here's the blessing that's how that's the way it works okay not these liberal fund centers that gives you just this motivational speech every single week and you continue you continue in your sin you don't get God's blessing you don't learn squat from the Bible at least here you're getting some Bible teaching that you're gonna learn that you can apply okay now let's see here go to Acts chapter 5 so be adamant about serving the Lord be adamant about preaching the gospel being consistent Acts chapter 5 verse 26 let's start in verse 28 saying did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name and behold yet fill Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us then Peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than man you know these guys are adamant they're like I don't care what kind of laws you put in you know we're gonna obey God rather than man beat us do what you got to do but I'm still preaching the gospel okay and it doesn't matter what kind of laws California passes right oh you know the Bible is gonna become make it illegal make the Bible illegal if you want we'll still obey God rather than man we'll still keep preaching the gospel and you know what well we'll stop it then come stop us right come kill us do whatever you got to do but until then we're preaching the gospel we're doing that which is right on the side of the Lord why because because God is worthy to be feared and obeyed more than man is and what can man do unto you you know oh what if they come and kill you and your family well go to heaven for me to live as Christ and to die is game right okay no more sleepless nights my baby no I'm just kidding you know no more no you know we don't have to worry about anything else you'd be doing me a favor if that's what you did but you know what I benefit either way whether you kill me or you keep me alive I benefit both ways I win so don't let that scare you when they when they start saying what if they start passing these laws in California so who cares you know I'm not like I'm not a patriot I'm a Baptist I'm a Christian okay I adhere to a higher form I adhere to the Most High which is God's Word okay and that's the attitude we need to have be adamant because look if the tribulation starts you know within the next three years or something you know we need to have that attitude of being adamant right and say you know what gun hole let's do this you know if we do it just like just like I can't think of her name right now in the Bible she said if I perish I perish who is that Esther thank you like Esther said if I perish I perish but you know what we shall never perish we have everlasting life so just keep that in mind don't go to 1st Corinthians chapter number 9 but now that we have to be adamant about fighting the flesh right and you know the world we can come to church and the world is not in the church but we have to live in this flesh day in and day out look at the Bible says in verse 27 but I of chapter number 9 verse 27 but I keep under my body and bringing it to subjection lest by any means when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway go to Hebrews chapter number 12 Paul said man I keep under my body and bringing into subjection that's a constant battle he also said I die daily okay take up your cross and follow the Lord Hebrews chapter 12 in verse number 1 says wherefore seeing we also are compassed about well so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience patience to raise that is set before us look at unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against themselves lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds so you know often what happens when we give into our flesh or sin is because we're fainting in our minds okay that's what the Bible says to gird up the loins of thy mind right we can't faint in our minds we got to make sure that we're doing that which is right inside of the lower overcoming the flesh now what does this look like go to 2nd Samuel chapter 17 and what we're almost done 2nd Samuel chapter 17 because we're always gonna grow tired in our minds yeah you know it's just like man I don't feel like XY and Z I'm tired tired of fighting the flesh I'm tired of fighting the world I'm tired well look at 2nd Samuel chapter 17 verse number 1 says moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom let me now choose out 12,000 men and I will arise and pursue after David this night and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed and will make him afraid and all the people that are with him shall flee and I will smite the king only and I will bring back all the people unto thee the man whom thou seekest is as if as if all return so all the people shall be in peace and the same pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel then said Absalom call now Hushai the Archite also and let us hear likewise what he saith and when Hushai was come to Absalom Absalom spake unto him same that Ahithophel had spoken after this manner shall we do after his saying if not speak thou and Hushai said unto Absalom the counsel that Ahithophel had given is not good at this time for said Hushai thou knowest thy father and his men that they be mighty men and they be chaffed in their minds as a bear robbed over whelps in the field and thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people behold he is hidden now in some pit or in some other place and it will come to pass when some of them be overthrown at the first that whosoever heareth it will say there is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom and he is also that or excuse me and he also that is valiant whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man and they which be with him are valiant men you see David's tired the Bible says he's chaffed in his mind chaffing is just he's weary as a bear robbed of her whelps the Bible says but you know what they said doesn't matter how tired he is don't go for him because that guy is a man of war yeah that guy's a valiant man you know you ever seen a bear robbed of her whelps she could be tired as the day is long she'll kill you okay and this is the kind of attitude we need to have see someone who's chaffed in their mind someone who's tired there's two types one says I'm chaff so I'm not gonna do anything one says I'm chaffed but I'm gonna allow that chaff to my mind to just continue to help me to do what I'm supposed to do even when I don't feel like doing it I'm still a mighty man of war spiritual battles I'm still gonna I'm still gonna fight the battles even though I'm tired and look when you're tired go take a nap I'm talking about like a literal nap you know when my son gets out of kilter it's just like that boy needs a nap then he wakes up he's happy again okay but often we don't have that luxury to just go take a nap maybe we're just chaffed in our minds we're tired we're weary what do we do we just let it be known hey I'm like a bear robbed of her whelps okay I'm not gonna give in to the flesh I'm gonna keep continue to fight the world the flesh and the devil I'm gonna continue to do what I'm supposed to be do and have David's attitude obviously this is something that everyone knew about David he's like don't don't let him be chaffed in his mind deterred from thinking that you can't do anything to him that guy's still crazy like I still value man he'll still kill you doesn't matter how tired he is that's a great testimony to have okay and that's the kind of testimony that we as Christians ought to have as well and lastly go to Ezekiel 24 we're done this is very important right here be adamant in the midst of hardships I'm not gonna read this entire thing for the sake of time but basically what's happening here in Ezekiel God commanded Ezekiel to do some strange things for the sake of illustrating something that he wanted to communicate to Israel one of the things that he told him he basically let him know is like I was I'm gonna take the desire from your eyes away from you and the desire of his eyes was his wife okay now let's we'll read some of it this here I would just read it verse 15 says also the word of the Lord came unto me saying son of man behold I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep neither shalt thy tears run down for bear to cry make no mourning for the dead bind the tear of thine head upon thee and put on thy shoes upon thy feet and cover not thy lips and eat not the bread of men so I spake unto the people in the morning and I even my wife died and I did in the morning as I was commanded now if you read later on God did that just to illustrate to Israel a point now but verse 18 is a rough verse he's like so in the morning my wife died God took away the desire of his eyes but you know what the Bible says and I did in the morning as I was commanded that's a man who was adamant who even in the midst of hardships he do he did what God told him to do you see it's easy to do that which is right on the side of the Lord when everything is easy everything is going good it's hard when you're going through hardships so if you're not in that stage right now determine purpose in your heart like Daniel to do that which is right to obey God if that time ever does come if you ever lose your wife you ever lose your husband your children your health whatever it is you need to be adamant and say I'm still gonna get up and do what God commanded me to do okay and look hardships are gonna come they're always gonna be my father-in-law used to say you're either coming coming out of a trial you're in a trial or you're about to go into a trial because trials are just part of life what you need to do though is determine in your mind and in your heart say I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm supposed to be doing when I'm supposed to do it because hardships are gonna come be adamant don't be stubborn be adamant you know we need today we need Christians who are not stubborn okay humble yourself when you get counsel humble yourself into the mighty hand of God but at the same time have the character quality of being adamant determined hard-headed in the things of God to obey the Lord no matter what the circumstance amen let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word we're thankful for Ezekiel's example and there's so much more we could have got into that chapter there and we're thankful for his example that even though you took the desire of his eyes away from him he still did that which is right in the eyes of the Lord he did what you commanded him to do that takes a lot of fortitude that takes a lot of spiritual maturity a lot of trust and faith in you I pray that you'd help us all to be have that same adamant spirit and attitude in regards to the things of this life whether it's fighting against sin against the flesh the world the devil or even or even in the midst of hardships help us to be determined to do that which is right in your eyes in Jesus name we pray Amen