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Of course, a real familiar chapter, at least part of a real familiar story. Previous chapters when, of course, they had sent in the spies into the land and they came back. They sent in the 12 spies and they came back to the new world court. Joshua came back and they were the only ones that gave a good report and tried to encourage the people to go into the land. And then of course we see this story here where the children of Israel become scared. They refuse to fall into the land. They decided they want to turn back to Egypt. It's a great story. It reminds us of the importance of having a man of God on your side. That's one thing we can talk about when we look at this chapter. God here is ready to just wipe out these children of Israel and start over. He's ready to be done with them. They've been put up with them long enough. It wasn't something you just decided to drop a hat. You have to remember at this point he's been dealing with them after they saw his mighty works in Egypt and the Red Sea and the wilderness and all these things. And God's ready to just wipe these people out. And of course it's the man of God. It's Moses who stands up and objects and pleads for them. And God, as it says there in verse 20, and the Lord said, I have pardon according to thy word. So we see the influence that a man of God can have in our life for our good. And that's one thing we can talk about. And then another thing we can also remember from this passage is that although God did give heed unto Moses, it's not like they got off scot-free. He goes on and he says there, But as truly, in verse 21, as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land, which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it. So of course we know the story that God goes ahead and lets all those that were 20 years old and upward die in the wilderness. God said, you know, you guys have provoked me. So even when God is merciful and long-suffering, he might hold back his punishment. He didn't destroy the children of Israel. There was still a punishment. We don't always get away with sin. Maybe in God's mercy we don't suffer to the full extent that we should, but a lot of times, you know, sometimes we do. That's really not where I want to go with this sermon tonight or this morning, but that is something that's always good to point out when we read through this. But really, what was it that led to that? What was it that led them to bringing God to such a point, to making such a strong decision to say, I'm going to wipe them out? Had it not been for Moses, you know, then to go on and say, well, you know, only the older generation is going to pass away. They shall not see it. The children should go and inherit it, but not them. What brought God to that point? What was rebellion? And that's the title of the sermon this morning is Rebellion. Rebellion is something that, you know, we can all fall into. It's something that can affect every single one of us. And we see here that it affected God's children, the children of Israel, people who really should have known better, people who had seen God work, I mean, do great things in their presence, and yet still they rebelled. If you look there, before we even get into it, I just want to talk about what do I even mean by rebellion? Because I think we all kind of have an understanding of what rebellion is. But just in case we don't, you know, rebellion is defined as an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler. I mean, we think about people who would rise up against the government, you know, and overthrow it. That is considered a rebellion. You know, some of the synonyms we would use for that are uprising, a revolt, an insurrection, mutiny. You know, we think we've heard of mutiny on ships, where a crew will actually overthrow the captain and take charge of the ship. We hear words like revolution, insurgency, rising, rioting, a riot, when people are rebelling against the authorities. It's also defined as the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention. So it's not necessarily maybe just a certain institution or a governing body or a certain individual that a person can rebel against, but it's also resisting authority of any kind, any kind of control in a person's life, or maybe even, as it says here, convention. You know, there are certain rules and standards or, you know, rules of convention that a society will put in place, and people say this is how a civilized society ought to conduct themselves, and people rebel against that, and they'll rise up against it. And we can use words like defiance. They'll disobey. They'll be rebellious, insubordinate, mutinous. They'll subvert. They'll resist. They'll dissent. They'll be non-conformist. They'll be, you know, we think about within a church where people can rebel. You know, that's where you'd see things like heresy. That's how it would manifest itself. Heresy, apostasy, schisms in a body. People were having divisions. And really, those are accurate, you know, and perfect. Those are good definitions of rebellion and what they are. That's probably how a lot of us understand them. But, you know, another way we can think about rebellion is the fact that, you know, rebellion is a consistent and willful and intentional disobedience. It's something that's done on purpose. You know, it's more than just backsliding. I think every one of us in our life, we have the, you know, potential and ability and probably every one of us do, from time to time, maybe backslide a little bit. We might fall into an old habit. We might fall into an old sin. We might stumble and get into a bad and doing something that we shouldn't. Or maybe we stop doing things that we should. Now, does that necessarily mean that you're in rebellion? No, not necessarily. I mean, just because you mess up and slip up and you try to get that right, I wouldn't say that that type of a person is a rebellious person, somebody who, you know, gets out of the way a little bit and they, you know, make a mistake, they get into some kind of a sin and then they say, whoa, I'm way out of line here. Let me get this right. And they fix it. That wouldn't necessarily be a rebellion. And, you know, that's important to understand that because we are all sinners. You know, we all are going to sin, we're all going to make mistakes, nobody's perfect and we all are trying to get better every day, at least we should be. But rebellion, on the other hand, is something that's consistent. It's something that you, it's a willful, it's intentional disobedience. It's more than backsliding. It's actually turning your back and walking in the opposite direction on purpose. You know, there's a difference between a person kind of losing their way, trying to live for the Lord, and a person just deciding to go their own way and just say, you know what, this isn't for me. I don't want anything to do with it and walk away from it. That would be a rebellion. To say, I don't care about the things of God, I don't care what the Bible says, I don't care what the preacher says, I don't care what, you know, any of the authorities in my life say, I'm going to do my thing. That's a rebellious attitude, that is a rebellious spirit. And it's important that we have a sermon like this because we are living in a society today that promotes an attitude of rebellion. I mean, they're all about rebellion and throwing off the norms of convention and trying to do their own thing. I mean, we think about some of the slogans that we hear in our society. You know, the question everything. You know, I can't remember what that advertisement was for, but that was an advertisement I remember hearing, question everything. You know, you should never trust anybody. You should always, you know, question everything. And I'm for being a skeptic in some degrees, but there's some things that are not to be questioned. There's some things that we should just understand are true, kindless truths from the Word of God that are not to be questioned. I'm not saying we shouldn't be inquisitive, I'm not saying that we should try to understand why things are that way, but a lot of times this question everything is just to try and find a way around it, to cast a doubt upon it and to get out from under it. That's why people want to question things. What's another one of these kind of slogans that our society promotes today that's really just, you know, a veiled rebellion? There's no fear. I remember when I was younger, that was the big thing. Like, guys would get, wear the shirts, no fear. They'd have the bumper sticker in the car, no fear. And I always kind of thought, well, that's kind of dumb. You know, there are things that we should fear. You know, and it was just kind of this daredevil attitude. You know, no one's going to tell me what to do. Now this one, I know where the slogan comes from. It's Burger King, right? Your way right away. Your way right away. But that's kind of, that's a slogan, that's an attitude really that our society has adopted about just about everything. They want to do it their way. They want to do it when they want to do it. They don't want anybody, we don't want people to tell us what to do. That's the kind of culture that we're living in. Let's do whatever you want. Do whatever feels good. Don't let anybody tell you anything's wrong. But let me tell you something. That attitude and that philosophy is a philosophy of rebellion. It's a philosophy that goes against the Word of God. And we're living in, you know, in a society today where legitimate authority is mocked and ignored. I mean, if we hold up, we say here that the Word of God is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice, and amen it is. But look at how much the Word of God is mocked today in our society. How much it is ignored. And how open people are to just call it an archaic book. Oh, that Stone Age book that you believe in. And they'll just mock the Word of God. They'll mock anybody who preaches the Word of God, anybody who believes the Word of God. They mock legitimate authority today. So rebellion is something that really can affect us because of the fact that we're living in the midst of a rebellious people. Now, why is it that people rebel? I mean, we see here what rebellion, I mean, it brought these people to the brink of destruction. They almost lost an entire nation. The wives, the husbands, the children. I mean, everybody. God was ready to wipe them all out. Why? Because of rebellion. So how is it a person, even though understanding those consequences and knowing how severe consequences rebellion can bring into our lives, how is it that people still end up doing it? Still end up going and becoming rebels and being rebellious? Well, I won't get a whole lot into this first point, but I think a lot of it is pride. I think that's where most of it stems from, is pride. Because I don't want anyone to tell me what to do. I want to show everybody that I'm in charge, that I'm the boss. That's a very proud and arrogant attitude. And here's the thing. Everybody has authority. Everybody. Every single person in this room this morning has an authority. Whether you're a child, whether you're a wife, whether you're a husband, whether you're a church member, whether you have a job. I mean, if you have a job, you go to work. And you have a boss, you have authority. We all live in a civilized society. Go try and take this attitude and say, No one's going to tell me what to do. Get on the freeway and go as fast as you want. And see what happens. And see if you don't get pulled over. And when you get pulled over, just tell the cop, Hey, you're not my boss. I can do what I want. I'm my own man. And just be a rebel. And see how far you make it in this life, without having authority coming and correcting you and reminding you that no, actually you are under somebody's authority. And I don't care who it is. We all have an authority in our life. So it's important that we understand that we ought not to be rebels or rebellious or have this attitude that just wants to cast off authority in our life. Because we all have it and there's severe consequences when a person bucks authority and decides to rebel against their authorities. Now specifically what we're going to talk about is when a person is rebelling against God, rebelling against the authorities of the Word of God and the authorities that the Word of God puts into our life. There are severe consequences that come with that. But I think one of the reasons why people rebel, despite how bad it is and despite how bad of consequences it will bring into a person's life, is because they doubt God. And that's kind of what we see happening here. Look at Numbers chapter 14 and verse 1. And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night and all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God that we had died in this wilderness. We find a few verses later that God's about ready to oblige him on that. You want to die in the wilderness? Okay. He goes on and says, And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be to pray? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? Now that's a very ungrateful attitude that they have right there. To say that it would be better for them to go into Egypt. Remember what they left in Egypt? The labor, I mean the Egyptians were all over them. But at this point I'm sure the Egyptians are not, after everything that God did to the Egyptians for the children of Israel's sake, they would not be welcomed back with loving and open arms. They would probably have a pretty vengeful spirit. They would probably say, well it's time for us to get back at these people. But that's their attitude here. This rebellion that stems up from their heart and what does it really stem from? From a doubting of God. They don't think God can take care of them. They think that maybe God has failed them in some way. And so as a result it says there in verse 4, and they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return. Let us return into Egypt. I mean they're ready to just cast off God, cast off Moses, cast off the word of God. Deny his promises, forget the promised land and go in. Because they doubt God. Now people doubt God maybe not necessarily just in his ability to do what he said he's going to do. Like they are here, well God can't deliver us from these Amalekites. God can't deliver us from these people over on the other side of Jordan. They're doubting God in that sense. But a lot of times I think people today even, they doubt God in the sense that they don't think God's really going to rain down, cloud up and rain on them like he says he will. They think, oh yeah God's just this guy in heaven, this big old gentle giant with a long gray beard. He's just an old man in a rocking chair that couldn't hurt anybody if he wanted to. And we have this image and this idea that God somehow isn't really paying attention to us. And that we're going to get away with whatever we want to do. Look, we're not going to get away with it. God is a person who is an authority in our life and he ought not to be rebelled against. So a lot of reasons, one of the main reasons people rebel despite the consequences that it brings into our life is because they doubt God. Another big reason I think that people rebel is because of outside influences. Outside influences that come into their life and they care more about that than about what they ought to do. And they rebel. We see that there in Numbers chapter 14, look at verse 5. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, read their clothes. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed through to search it is exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into the land and give it us. A land which floweth with milk and honey, only rebel not. So they knew what they were doing. They knew that the attitude that the children of Israel were showing here was an attitude of rebellion. They say, Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land. It was an outside influence. These people of the land, when they saw what was awaiting them on the other side of Jordan, they doubted God and they allowed an outside influence to stir up rebellion in their hearts. And I think the same thing can happen to us today. People today rebel because of outside influences. You know, we think about people who, let's be perfectly honest, what we believe today isn't exactly popular. It isn't exactly mainstream to say that husbands should be the leaders of the home and that women should keep the house and bear children and that we should dress a certain way and we should look a certain way and we should talk a certain way and we should have a certain kind of entertainment. We should be separated from the world and different. That's not popular. And sometimes when we come to a point in our life where we have to start to make, take that stand, we'll let what other people think about us start to influence us. Say, well if I start to believe like the Bible says, people are going to think something of me. They're going to think I'm weird. They're going to think I'm funny. They're going to think, as the Bible calls it, a peculiar people. And the Bible does say that we ought to be a peculiar people. That we are strangers and pilgrims in this present world. That we are not of this world. That we're passing through, that we're seeking a city whose builder and maker is God. So we're not to be at home in this world. And a lot of times, you know, if we try to fit in, we try to get along and just conform to the world, what we end up doing is rebelling against God. And we let outside influences affect us and we find ourselves rebelling against the very God that it is. And that's what happened here. They saw the people. They feared them. And they said, well God can't do this. We're not doing this. And they're rebelling against God. You know, people who are dissatisfied with their circumstances, they will rebel to improve them. And that's another reason why people rebel sometimes. They don't like the way things are going for them in their life and they think they can do it better or they can get better if they would just, you know, buck an authority in their life. People get out of church, they say, you know what, I mean, I know I'm living for God, but man, you know, we're trying to, God says that we should do X, Y, and Z, but you know, if we didn't go to that church, then there wouldn't be anybody to tell me that my wife can't work or that we can't do this or we can't do that. We could make more money. We could get out of these circumstances. And people who are dissatisfied with their circumstances, they'll rebel against the word of God to improve them. They'll be more concerned about an outside influence and what others think or what they can gain or what they think they're missing out on and they'll actually end up rebelling against God. And this can affect any one of us. I mean, we think about all the different areas that we have in life where there's an authority over us. As employees, you know, we say, man, I could do a lot better at another job, you know, if I could just, you know, or if I could get that certain position and we're willing to, you know, maybe do something we ought not to do in order to gain that, something that God would disapprove of and rebel. Spouses, children, church members, just citizens, you know, there's all these different areas where we can end up rebelling against an authority. And, you know, often people who are dissatisfied with their circumstances, you know, that dissatisfaction, it's not legitimate. It's an illegitimate dissatisfaction. I mean, I know sometimes in life that things are hard and difficult and we're not satisfied and the things that we want and desire maybe aren't necessarily bad or evil, but a lot of times I think people rebel and they want different set of circumstances that there's something they want for themselves in life and what it stems from is it covets his heart. They want something that isn't theirs, that isn't lawful for them to have, whatever it is, and what that does is they'll say they're willing to buck an authority to get it. They're willing to rebel in order to have that. And, you know, rebellion is something, those are just some reasons why a person might rebel. And I'm sure we can think of other reasons why people would be willing to rebel against an authority, be it God or a church or a job or a spouse or a parent or whatever the situation is, but rebellion will manifest itself. You know, if we are rebellious in our hearts and we're going to go ahead and carry through with this and we're going to buck the authorities in our lives, you know, rebellion is going to make itself manifest and it's going to do it in different ways. And that's what we see here. We see how it manifests itself. It says there in verse 5, it came to pass, actually, I'm sorry, go to Numbers chapter 17. Go to Numbers chapter 17. Numbers chapter 17 verse 1, the Bible says, the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers. Of all their princes according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods, write thou every man's name upon his rod, and thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi. For one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers, and thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass that the man's rod whom I choose shall blossom, and I will make to cease for me the murmurings of the children of Israel, where they murmur against you. So, of course, if you remember the story, this is right after the story of Korah and Nathan of Irem come and they accuse Moses of Aaron and they say, you know, all the people, all the children of Israel are holy, and they desire the priesthood also, they desire to be leaders, and God ends up trying to prove them, you know, swallowing them up in the ground in the previous chapter, and then God actually decides to make a point to say, I'm going to show you who it is that is the legitimate authority here, that it's Aaron, and he has them bring these rods and he causes one of them to miraculously bloom. But why is it, why does he do that? It says there in verse 5, towards the latter half it says, and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. Look down at verse 10, and the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, this is after it had blossomed, to be kept for a token against the rebels, so these are rebellious people, and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me. So, you know, a lot of times when we think about somebody being a rebel, we think, well that just, you know, we think of, you know, who's that old actor? James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause, right? Never saw it. You know, but I know that one movie just because of that title probably. But we think about, you know, someone being a rebel, they got their hair cut different, their dress different, they're just going against, you know, conventions, they're going against the norms, they're just really unique individuals, and we think about, you can think about like the punk rockers, you know, how they were just rebels. Well, really, you know, that might be an idea that you have about rebellion, but rebellion really shows itself in the other way here. It shows its way through murmurings. Now, what is murmurings? Murmuring just simply means complaining. I mean, if someone was murmuring, they'd be kind of like talking to them. Like, a lot of times you'll see this with children, you know, if they have a rebellious heart or a rebellious spirit. Mom and dad will say something, tell them to go do something, and they'll walk away and do it, but they'll do that. They'll be in the room and they'll be murmuring complaining. I mean, I remember doing this, I remember being on a job site with my dad, he was a builder, and he probably got annoyed with me following around the job site, trying to get a tool belt all day, and he decided to get me some work to do, right? Because I just wanted one of those big leather tool belts. I didn't understand that it would even fit on me. But he's like, well, go over to that pile of dirt over there and get all the rocks out of it. You know, that is a fruitless endeavor. There's no point to that. It's just that you keep me busy. But I remember being so mad at my dad for giving me this dumb job. I didn't realize how stupid it was, but I just didn't want to do the work. I just wanted to have him make me a wooden sword and go around and hit things. He used to give me a throwing knife, I used to get to throw that. There was a lot of cooler things I could have been doing. He told me to go pull rocks out of a pile of dirt. Not exactly what his plan was to do. I want to run the nail gun, I want to run the saw, I want to be one of the guys in the crew. And I get this menial, low-level job. Probably the only one I'm suited for. And I can remember being in that rock pile, pulling those rocks out, pushing them down, and I'm just murmuring. I don't know, my dad did that. I'm just stupid. I'm just saying that. And I remember saying that, out loud saying it. And I remember turning around and looking at my dad sitting on top of that rock pile. And he didn't get mad, he didn't get angry. He just kind of looked at me and shook his head. But you know, that's a display of rebellion in my heart. And how did it manifest itself? Through murmuring, for me complaining, for me whining, for me saying negative things. So really, that's a big, tale-tale sign of somebody being a rebel. It's when they start to murmur and complain against the authorities in their life. When they start to talk bad about themselves and say mean and evil things against them. And that's something we have to be on guard for. You know, and as parents, it's something that we better correct to children, early on. You know, you can even show itself in just a look. You know, and my old pastor used to say he used to correct his children for their attitude. Not just the things they did, not just the things that they said. But the way they behaved, just the look on their face sometimes. And those of you that have children, you know what I'm talking about. They can get that look on their face. They're thinking something. They know better than to say it. But they know they're thinking something. They think about the look. It comes down, they're just staring daggers. You know, that's how this rebellious spirit, this rebellious attitude a lot of times will manifest itself in a person. Now, really rebellion, all rebellion is, is refusal to obey. It's refusing to go along with authority. And obviously there's times where, you know, there are authorities that we, at times, we probably should resist. You know, we ought to obey God rather than men. I'm not saying we should always just go along with whatever wicked agenda an authority has. You know, there are times, but I think there are few and far between. And I don't think there's ever been an instance of it, probably, in a Christian home where mom and dad have asked their child to do something that would be against the word of God. You know, so don't bother looking for that kids. But, obedience, I mean, rebellion really is the lack of obedience. And it shows itself through murmurings. Now, a person who's going to be obedient, you know, obedience doesn't allow for complaining. It doesn't allow for murmurings. Or not to be that way. If you would, turn over to Philippians chapter 2. And a lot of times if we would just get our complaining under control, if we would just get our murmuring and our backbiting and our evil speaking under control, our heart would follow. The tongue is an amazing thing. A lot of times if people would just focus on the things that they say and the things that they think, and they should get those things out of life, they'd probably find a lot of times how quickly their attitude changes. And as a result, their actions change. But look at Philippians chapter 2, look at verse 1. Which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. Again, what's one of the big sources of rebellion? It's pride, isn't it? And it says here that he humbled himself and he did what? Became obedient unto death. He didn't murmur, he didn't complain, why? Because he was obedient. Look at verse 12. Wherefore? Wherefore? Because of this, because we have the example of Christ who is obedient unto death. I mean, how far should our obedience take us? How far are we willing to obey the authority in our life? Unto death? I mean, that was the example that Christ gave us. And it says there, wherefore? Because of this example that we have. My beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. I mean, that's really when obedience, you know, when people really find out what you're made of. If you're able to obey not only in their presence, but in their absence. You know, and that's kind of, you know, to a certain degree, that's the position we find ourselves in. I mean, of course we have the word of God and we have the local church, but the Lord Jesus Christ isn't physically reigning here today. And we can say, oh, I obey God, I love God, you know, and we might say that, but when He shows up, we might find out we've actually fallen a little short. I mean, it would be a lot easier to just go along with the things of the word of God if Jesus were here. We'd probably have a lot easier time obeying the things of the word of God if we knew that the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean, if He was here with us. And you know, in a sense, He is through the word of God. But that's really where obedience, we really see how obedient a person really is. If they're willing not only to obey to presence, that's easy. It's easy for my children to obey when Dad's standing there in the room. It's easy for them to make sure they talk to their mother in the right tone, that they don't get an attitude, that they don't have to be told to these two things three, four times in a row when they know that there's somebody there that's going to hold them accountable. But what about in my absence? What about when I'm gone? Is it the Dad? Do they, are they maybe thinking, well, Dad's not here. Mom doesn't see me. We can get away with it now. So, obedience really is something that has to be consistent. And it goes on and says here, verse 14, do all things without murmurings and disputings. There it is again. You see consistently that being obedient is coupled with not being a complainer, not being somebody who murmurs. Because these are things, this is something that is a sign of rebellion. When a person is murmuring and disputing, they are not obedient. They are rebellious. And, you know, the last thing we would want for ourselves, I would hope, and the last things we would want for, you know, our families is to be known as rebellious people. And here's the thing. You know, the reason why we were so easy to remember James Dean this morning as the guy from Rebel Without a Cause, even though he's from several generations ago, is because he has that reputation as a rebel, right? That movie, Rebel Without a Cause. You know, being a rebel is going to get you a reputation. You're going to be known as the rebel. You know, that guy is trouble. Stay away from him. You know, that girl, she's wild. Stay away from her. You know, you get that reputation. That reputation will precede you. If you become a rebellious person, someone who does not obey, somebody who is a vermer, a complainer, who casts off the authority in their life, you know, you're going to end up with a rap sheet. You're going to go get a job one day, and your reputation is going to precede you on the application. You know, I don't necessarily agree with the concept of felony charges for people. I think people should be able to, you know, our whole criminal justice system deserves, you know, a whole other sermon in and of itself. But the fact is, we live in a world today that if you get in trouble with the law, you're going to have a reputation as a rebel. And you're going to go apply for the job and say, oh, sorry, we don't hire felons. Oh, you got a misdemeanor? Sorry, you can't work here. You know, we become rebels, we're going to have a reputation as rebels. That's what we're going to be known for. And, you know, proof of this is found over in Isaiah chapter 30. Look at Isaiah chapter 30. I mean, is that how we would define the children of Israel several times throughout the course of history? As rebellious people? I mean, did they not rebel against God time and time and time and time again? Do we not read the stories in the Old Testament of things that they did and just shake our heads and say, why were they doing that? What was wrong with them with a bunch of rebels? I'll read to you from Deuteronomy 31. You go to Isaiah 30. God says in Deuteronomy 31, for I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck. I mean, God knows it. He says, I know what you're about. I know how you are. I know what you're like. You're a rebel. I mean, that's what it became to define these people. They became defined as a rebellious people. Look at Isaiah chapter 30 verse 1. Woe to the rebellious children that sayeth the Lord, that take counsel but not of me, and that cover with the covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Verse 8, Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, that will not hear the law of the Lord. I mean, did that not come to pass? Was it not written down in a book with a pen forever and ever? That this is a rebellious people? I mean, that's the reputation they have forever. They will be ever, this group of people will be ever known, because of the word of God, that they are rebellious. You know, if we think we can just go out and rebel, and just do whatever we want, and no one's going to know, and we just get away with it, you're wrong. And when it's found out, you're going to get a reputation as being a rebel. And that's not something we should want. It's not cool. Sorry, James Dean, to be a rebel. You know, it's not cool, you know, punk rocker, to be a rebel. You know, I know the world lists it up and says it's cool, but you know why it's not cool? It might look cool, and a lot of times people look at it and say, man, I would like to just do that, just, you know, do whatever I want, do whatever feels good, and just not worry about whether or not I'm pleasing to God or not, and I have to obey the commandments of God, and I'd have to obey my parents, and I'd have to obey the preaching of the word of God, and I'd have to obey the Lord and His laws, and I'd have to obey society. I would love to just do whatever I want and just rebel, and it looks cool, it looks fun, but you're going to get a reputation, and not only that, you're going to understand something real quick, that rebellion has consequences. You don't just get away with it. You don't just get away with it. There are consequences for those who rebel. Rebellion has consequences, and one primary group that's going to suffer those consequences are those who choose to rebel. If you would, turn over to 1 Samuel, chapter 12. 1 Samuel, chapter 12. I'm going to read you from Proverbs 29. You know what, go to Proverbs 29. We'll look at both of these. If you're already in 1 Samuel 12, keep something there, but go over to Proverbs 29. I remember the first time I ever read this verse. It wasn't in the Bible. I just got insane. I was living a very worldly, sinful lifestyle, and I was living with a guy who was a Christian, or claimed to be, and grew up in a Christian home. We were living together. I didn't know him real well, but we had rented. We just started renting a house, and he ended up just... I don't want to go into all the details, but he ended up having to back out and go live with his parents, more like in our early 20s. It's like December in Michigan, and I don't want to be out in the cold, obviously. So this family actually opened up their home to me. There's a lot to that story. They were a major influence on me and my Christian life, and really opened my eyes to some things. What they had is come into their home, me and their son. You want to talk about a rebel. This guy was a rebel. If he wasn't supposed to do it, that's what he did. He was living a rebellion, and I remember the first time I read this verse. I don't know what he and I were up to, but it was no good. We were up to no good, and his dad knew it. I came down, and they actually had in the basement, we had bunk beds. That's where we slept. I mean, 20-year-old men living like little boys. In a lot of ways, that's what we were. I remember coming down, and there was a little note card taped to the bedpost of that bunk bed. It was this verse. It said in Proverbs 29, verse 1, He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. I mean, that's talking about the consequences of being a rebel right there. I mean, that's what a rebel is, is somebody who hardens his neck. Somebody is told, being often reproved, and says you're doing wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're in sin, you're not right. And instead of bowing the head, and humbling themselves, and saying, you know, you instantly think about what a person does when they admit to doing wrong. There's an element of shame a lot of times, and they can't look up, and their head bows. But here we see that it's somebody who hardens their neck. They get that proud look. They lift their chin up. They're not going to bow the head. They're not going to feel shame. They're not going to admit wrong. And they're being told, they're being reproved, and reproved, and reproved. Often being reproved, they harden their neck. And what's the result? They eventually get away with it. Eventually they're left alone to do whatever they want. No, it says eventually, it says, shall suddenly be destroyed. And I remember pulling that card off, and reading that verse. First, I had never even read the Bible. I had never read the book of Proverbs. And reading it, wow, that's what the Bible says. And it started to work on my heart. I mean, it wasn't like you flip the switch, and I got everything right. But I'm telling you, being that friend that I was living with, shortly thereafter started going two different paths. And I can tell you that he went down a path where it was just destruction, and misery, and woe. I'm not saying my life has been, from that day forward, a bed of roses either. That I haven't suffered consequences for things that I've done. But I'll tell you what, we're in two different places today. Was it because of the goodness of me, or my heart? No. It was because somebody decided to harden their neck, and somebody decided not to. And somebody decided, I'm going to continue to be a rebel, and suffer the consequences. And somebody else said, you know what, I'm tired of this life. I'm tired of living like a rebel, doing whatever I want. I'm eating the fruit of my own way. So there are consequences for those who rebel. And it sounds pretty severe, to be suddenly destroyed. Oh, I know the Bible says we shouldn't drink. I know the Bible says, you know, I shouldn't be out at the bar. But you know what, I'm going to go out anyway. I'm going to drink. I know the civil authorities, I know the law says I shouldn't drink and drive. But I'm going to do it anyway. Well you know what, don't be surprised when you climb behind the wheel of that car drunk, that you don't end up getting suddenly destroyed. Ending up getting in a fiery wreck, suddenly, and being destroyed. That kind of thing happens to people. And why? Because of the rebellion of their own heart. Their refusal to obey the word of God, and their authority. If you would turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 12, if you're not there already. 1 Samuel chapter 12, look at verse 15. It's 1 Samuel 12 verse 15. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you as it was against your fathers. I mean, I could think of a lot of enemies in this life that I would prefer to have over God. Over the Lord. I mean, you know, if God before us who can be against us, but if God be against us. Good luck with that. I want God on my side. But you know, that doesn't just come because I put on a suit and showed up to church one day. It's because I walked out that door, I said, you know what, I'm going to obey the voice of the Lord in my life. I'm going to do the things that God says I ought to do. Every day of my life. And when we live in a life of obedience that God can bless, then we don't have to worry about God's hand being against us. You know, when we resist God, you know, of course no one's going to come out and say, well, I'm just going to resist God. You know, a lot of times we do resist God when we resist God's ordained authority. I mean, God puts certain authorities into our lives. Every single one of us, and we've already talked about it. Whether it be an employer, whether it be a husband to a wife, whether it be a parent to a child, God has given us authorities in our life that we are to obey. And we would never openly just say, well, I'm going to resist God. But when you resist the authority that God has put in your life, mark it down, you're a rebel. And you're resisting God ultimately. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 15. Another famous verse. Say, oh, rebellion's not that big of a deal. Okay. Well, what about witchcraft? Would you say witchcraft's a pretty bad sin? Yes. You know, one of us got into, it was found out that there was a member in the church that was, you know, I don't know what witches do, fighting off the heads of pigeons and skinny cats and throwing chicken's blood all over the place. And you were painting pentagrams and doing tarot cards and, you know, reading your horoscopes. I mean, real genuine witchcraft, not just, you know, the Hollywood, you know, black hat cauldron. But I mean, there's people who actually practice witchcraft. They get gemstones, they do that, I'm a good witch, I'm a bad witch, you know, I'm a white witch, whatever. You know, people that get into this stuff. I mean, it was found out we would deal with it. We'd say, look, you can't be a Christian and be a witch at the same time. It just doesn't mix. And we would say, oh, man, you got to deal with that. That person's got to go. They got to get right or get out. No one's going to let that in the house of God. We're not going to let witches around. I mean, the Bible says thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Amen. You know, that's what it says. We'd say, oh, yeah, destroy that wicked person. Well, look there at 1 Samuel 15. Keep that same attitude in mind. The Bible says in verse 23, 1 Samuel 15, 23, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Boy, we'd come down hard on the witch this morning, say, string her up, burn her with fire. What about the rebel? The Bible says it's just as bad. It's as the sin of witchcraft. And stubbornness. I mean, isn't that what rebellion is? Being stiff-necked, being stubborn, not obeying, going your own way, refusing to obey authority. And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. I mean, we're not allowed to allow idolaters into the church. And it was found out that someone in the church was bowing down the six-armed God of Hindu and pouring out whatever drink offerings. They had some idol in their house. They'd say, you gotta go. And then we'd smash that idol. But what about the person who's stubborn? The Bible says it might as well be the same thing. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Of course, this is referring to King Saul, the first king of Israel. I mean, a man who started out very humble. Saul started out good, didn't he? He was humble in his own sight. They tried to make him king. They had to go find him because he was hiding. He didn't want to do it. He was little in his own sight, but over time his pride got the best of him. And he became stubborn, and he became rebellious. And God ended up rejecting him. I mean, that's what happens to rebels. They end up just being rejected by God. I mean, Saul ended up, he's still in heaven, he was still saved. But God said, you know what? My hand's gonna be against you from now on, so I'm not gonna be with you. I'm not gonna help you. I'm not gonna provide for you. I'm not gonna protect you. And those are all things that we should want in our lives. You know, rebellion becomes, it might look cool, it might sound alluring, it might be nice to think that you can just do whatever you want and think you can get away with it. That's just not reality. It's just not reality to sit there and think that you can do whatever you want and you're gonna get away with it. It's foolish to think that. And really, it comes with consequences, and it's going to be the rebel that will bear the brunt of his sin. I mean, you're gonna be the one that bears the brunt of it. Whatever sins we get into, we get rebellious, we get into something, we cast off God, we cast off our authorities, we're just gonna go after something that we really want to do, we don't care what anyone says about it. I mean, whatever that is, it might affect other people around us, but mark it down, we're gonna be the ones that bear the brunt of it. The consequences are gonna fall in our lap, the person who rebels. And you know what happens eventually? Is eventually the rebel comes around, you know, not always, if they don't just get suddenly destroyed, you know that it's too late for them to realize this. But a lot of times, they'll suffer the consequences of sin for a year, for a decade, for decades, and eventually they come around in their life and say, you know what? The preacher's right. Mom and Dad were right. The boss was right. You know, turns out the judicial system was right. I'm a rebel. And eventually they come around and they see that everybody that tried to tell them the right way was right, and that they were the ones that were wrong. Go ahead and turn it over to Problems chapter 5. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4, Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. And then shall every man have praise of God. You know, we might think we're getting away with it, and people might think they're gonna get away with it their whole lives, and even Christians. But there's gonna become a time when God brings the hidden things of darkness to light. And I'm not saying He's gonna show everybody their sins. But we're gonna get to heaven. Some people are gonna be more rewarded than others. Some people are not gonna have anything through all of eternity. You know, they're gonna stand before God and their works are gonna be burned up. And all they're gonna have to show their life's work is a pile of ashes. They won't have any gold or jewels or precious stones. They're just gonna have nothing. And then we'll know, well that must have been somebody who just didn't care. Somebody who just must have been a rebel their whole life. And that will be their reputation. But there will always, and eventually at that time, the person who lived that way is gonna say, yep, they were right. I wish I could go back and change it all, and obey the authorities that were put in my life, and burn some rewards for heaven and not have to suffer this way. But often that doesn't happen. If we can understand that, if we can get that through our heads now, if we can get it through our heads now that there are consequences and that our authorities are there for a good reason, then we don't have to suffer that. Look there in Proverbs chapter 5 verse 1. It says in Proverbs 5, 1, My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thy ear to my understanding, that thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. Of course he goes on here and he warns them about the strange woman, you know, the loose woman, the woman who would want desire to just fornicate and live loosely. It says in verse 5, Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou should ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, thou canst not know them. Verse 7, Hear me now therefore, ye children, depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh at the door of her house. Lest thou give thine honor unto others, and thy years unto the cruel. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labors be in the house of a stranger. And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. And say, The rebel eventually comes around, and he says, in verse 12, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof, and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. Look, it's great that eventually this rebel here that he's talking about finally figures out that everybody else was right, but it's too late. It's too late. He's already suffered the consequences of his actions. And for a lot of people, unfortunately, that's how they're going to have to find out whether or not obedience is the way to go or not, whether or not being a rebel is worth it or not, when they finally have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Why don't we just get it through our heads now? Why don't we just take God at his word, and say, you know what? I don't want to have to be that guy. I don't want to have to labor in the house of a stranger. I don't want others to be filled with my wealth. You know, I want to hook up with somebody who's feet or take hold on the paths of death and the steps of hell. That's what it says about this moment. And why don't we just get it through our heads now? That rebels don't get away with rebellion. That you don't get away with being a rebel. It's as simple as the law of gravity. It's a law. Mark it down. No one in here is going to question gravity. I mean, unless you're flattering. Talk to me later. Actually, you know what? Don't talk to me. Just leave me alone. Just go watch more YouTube or something. But I mean, no one would say here, I would thank and question that law that if you jump off the roof, you're going to hit the ground. That if you drop something, it's going to fall. Well, you know what? You shouldn't question this law either. The law of reaping and sowing. That whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. And if we sow rebellion in our life, and disobedience, and murmuring, and complaining, that we're going to reap the punishment that comes as a result. It's going to come. The suffering that will come. The Bible says in Proverbs 17, I'll read to you, an evil man seeketh only rebellion. An evil man seeketh only rebellion. All you can think about is just doing his own thing. Not having to pay attention to anybody's rules. Doing whatever they want. Not having to be right about anything. Just whatever feels good. Their way, right away. An evil man seeketh only rebellion. He doesn't care about the things of God. And you know what? It goes on and says there, therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. And therefore a cruel mess... There's going to be something that comes into your life and says, guess what? It's time to reap what you sow. And it's going to be an evil messenger. It's not going to be a good message. The Bible says in Isaiah 1, if you refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. I mean, there was consequences for the children of Israel. When they rebelled against God, God said, if you rebel against me, and they have plenty of forewarning, if you don't follow me, if you don't keep my commandments, if you rebel against me, I will send in the heathen, I will send in the stranger, I will destroy your land, I will remove you from it, I will scatter you abroad. And they did believe him. Or they didn't care. They sought only rebellion. And what happened? They ended up in Babylon, destroyed, the nation just wiped out. Jeremiah 29 says, Therefore thus saith the Lord, though I will punish Shemaiah the Hellmite and his seed, he shall not have a man to dwell among his people, neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord. Why? Because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. You know, not only the people that rebel are going to suffer punishment and suffer the consequences of rebellion, but I think there's even a graver punishment for those that would teach other people how to rebel. I mean, this guy in Jeremiah 29 that he's talking about, this Shemaiah, you know, it says there that he shall not have a man to dwell among his people, neither shall he behold the good that I will do. He says that his seed shall not have a man, that his, you know, his generation is going to be wiped out. He's not going to have an ancestry. God's going to make sure that his, you know, just wiped out from the face of the earth. He's not going to be a grandpa. There's not going to be anybody to remember him. Why? Because he hath taught rebellion. Not only was he just a rebel, the guy taught other people how to do it. You know, there's severe consequences for being somebody, severe consequences for being somebody who is a rebel, but there's also, I believe, even more severe consequences if you're going to be the type of person that's going to go and influence somebody to be a rebel, or put it in their heart to be a rebel. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, it says in Jeremiah 28, Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of this earth, that this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. Somebody else is getting wiped out, killed, wiped off from the face of the earth because they taught it. You know, the problem with people who teach rebellion is they do more damage than just one rebel. They do more. That's what's so bad about our culture and our society of rebellion. I mean, you think about all the people who are promoting all this rebellion, promoting all this godlessness, and going against the word of God. There's a sore punishment for those people. Because it's not just them. They're influencing the entire generation of people. They're influencing the world to go against the things of God. They do more damage than just one rebel. They do a lot more. And that's why we have to guard ourselves against evil influences. I mean, make no mistake about it. There's people out there today that want to teach you rebellion. They want to put it in your heart to be a rebel. To not listen to mom and dad. To not listen to the word of God. To not listen to the man of God. To not listen to the civil authorities. And say, just go ahead and be a rebel. Do whatever you want. Don't let anybody keep you down, man. Don't let anybody trust you. You know, you've got to be free. You're a free spirit. You know? And that's what they teach. And they want us to be rebels, too. That's why we have to guard against evil influences. You know, we should be careful about the things that we watch. We should be careful about the things that we listen to. We should be careful about the people that we read, even. We should be careful about who we hang around with. I mean, the worst influences are going to come for people that you're around. You know, birds of a feather flock together. I mean, I'm not going to get up here and confess all my sins and my faults to you at this point, but I can tell you that anybody who's lived any kind of a life of sin knows that a lot of times that you can get roped into doing things that you otherwise never would have done, but, you know, you had a friend. You had certain so-and-so that decided it would be a good idea to do this or that. And got you into trouble. You know, because you decided to go along with it. We should guard against evil influences. Now, I want to say the last thing about rebellion is this. Go ahead and turn over to Go over to Numbers chapter 20. Actually, go to Nehemiah chapter 9. Nehemiah chapter 9. We'll end there. The last thing I'll say about rebellion this morning is that rebellion, as bad as it is, as severe of consequences it can bring in a person's life, and as severely as God will punish a rebel and those who teach rebellion, is that rebellion is something that can be forgiven. Rebellion is something that can be recovered from if it's caught early, if it's rejected, if a person gets right soon enough before the severe consequences come, if they get their heart right, if they learn to obey, if they get humble, is that rebellion can be forgiven. Look there in Nehemiah chapter 9. You have to remember where we're at in Nehemiah. I mean, he's bringing the children of Israel back into the land after their 70 years of captivity. They're rebuilding the temple, they're rebuilding the wall. And it says there in Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 17, it says, They refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them. But hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest of none. You know, even when they were the worst, even when they were just the most rebellious people they could be, were they appointed even a captain to return to their bondage. The Bible still says that God was ready to pardon, that He was still merciful, He was still slow to anger. Now don't take God's merciful kindness and the fact that He's slow to anger as wiggle room to think well I can just get away with a little hunger. I mean a lot of people they want to just push the envelope and see how close they can get before God starts to come down. I'd rather just not find out. I'd rather just accept the fact that God's ready to pardon and that God is slow to anger, that He's of great kindness, and that He's not going to forsake us. He might let us eat the food of our own way. But look, you know, the parent deals with a rebellious child or a disobedient child for that child's good. Because they know what that can lead to. You know, they say, the child they teach the child to come back to them. When I say your name and I tell you to come you come. Because a three year old will start running in a certain direction and if he hasn't been taught to come back to mom and dad when his name is called he'll run right out in the middle of the road. He doesn't know what the dangers are out in the world. Don't touch that hot iron. Don't touch that iron, it'll burn you. They don't even know what that means. They just need to be told what no means and to obey. And that's what we need to teach our children and ourselves even. And understand that rebellion has being a rebel is not as cool and alluring as the world tries to make it seem as severe consequences. And that we shouldn't want anything to do with it. And if we find ourselves in a place where rebellion is in our heart, where we find ourselves murmuring and complaining, when we find ourselves just wanting to cast off the things of God we better understand that there's severe consequences and if we're already going down that road, don't give up hope and understand that rebellion can be forgiven. It's just going to take some humility in our part and it's going to take some obedience and humility. Let's go ahead and pray.