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Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – Stop Resisting and Start... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We're dealing today with a subject that is not easy
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Speaker 1: to address and is rarely even mentioned in a church.
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Speaker 1: We're talking about stopping the resisting and starting to submit.
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Speaker 1: One of the characteristics of the God of Glory is
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Speaker 1: that he expects his children to obey him. We have
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Speaker 1: a classic example of a man who never got that.
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Speaker 1: His name was Saul, not Saul of Tarsus in the
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Speaker 1: New Testament, but Saul the King, the first of the
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Speaker 1: three kings of Israel. Saul, followed by David, followed by Solomon.
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Speaker 1: Saul is a man who was a rebel at heart
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Speaker 1: and became increasingly more obvious as he got older. Unlike
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Speaker 1: the old saying, you grow out of those things, actually,
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Speaker 1: when it comes to rebellion, you only get worse. And
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Speaker 1: therefore I find in this fifteenth chapter of First Samuel
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Speaker 1: instruction that applies to us in all ages and all
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Speaker 1: stages of life. Once you locate First Samuel, which I
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Speaker 1: will be reading today from the New Living Translation, I
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Speaker 1: will read randomly through these first twenty three verses. Please
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Speaker 1: stand with me for the reading of the Word of God.
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Speaker 1: One day Samuel said to Saul, it was the Lord
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Speaker 1: who told me to anoint you as king of his
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Speaker 1: people Israel. Now listen to this message from the Lord.
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Speaker 1: This is what the Lord of Heaven's armies has declared.
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Speaker 1: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of
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Speaker 1: Amelek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. Now
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Speaker 1: go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation, men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels,
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Speaker 1: and donkeys verse seven. Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from
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Speaker 1: Velah all the way to shore east of Egypt. He
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Speaker 1: captured a Gag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else.
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Speaker 1: Saul and his men spared a GAG's life and kept
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Speaker 1: the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the
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Speaker 1: fat calves, and the lambs, everything in fact that appealed
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Speaker 1: to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of
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Speaker 1: poor quality verse thirteen. When Samuel finally found him, Saul
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Speaker 1: greeted him cheerfully. May the Lord bless you, he said,
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Speaker 1: I have carried out the Lord's command. Then what is
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Speaker 1: all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing
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Speaker 1: of cattle? I hear? Samuel demanded, It's true that the
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Speaker 1: army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,
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Speaker 1: Saul admitted, but they're going to sacrifice them to the Lord,
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Speaker 1: your god. We have destroyed everything else. Then Samuel said
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Speaker 1: to Saul, stop, listen to what the Lord told me
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Speaker 1: last night. What did he tell you? Saul asked, and
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Speaker 1: Samuel told him, Although you may think little of yourself,
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Speaker 1: are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel.
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Speaker 1: The Lord has anointed you king of Israel, and the
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Speaker 1: Lord set you on a mission and told you go
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Speaker 1: and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites until they are
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Speaker 1: all dead. Why haven't you obeyed the Lord? Why did
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Speaker 1: you rush for the plunder and do what was evil
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Speaker 1: in the Lord's sight? Verse twenty two. Samuel replied, what
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Speaker 1: is more pleasing to the Lord, your burnt offerings and
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Speaker 1: sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen, Obedience is
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Speaker 1: better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the
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Speaker 1: fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness,
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Speaker 1: as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected
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Speaker 1: the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.
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Speaker 2: Please be seated.
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Speaker 1: Maybe a bow together, please for a few moments of prayer,
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Speaker 1: Our Father, we acknowledge that we live in a rebellious day,
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Speaker 1: and we also admit that that whole spirit of stubbornness
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Speaker 1: and resistance has washed over us. We find it in homes,
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Speaker 1: in schools, at the workplace, even in churches. It is everywhere,
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Speaker 1: and it impacts every age and stage of life. And
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Speaker 1: we come to a section like this, and we're caught
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Speaker 1: up short to read that rebellion is as the sin
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Speaker 1: of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry. It is easy,
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Speaker 1: in the midst of a world in which we live
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Speaker 1: that is bent on these things, to realize how serious
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Speaker 1: you are in warnings like that. I pray that you
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Speaker 1: would speak to all of us today. Some who hear
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Speaker 1: this will find it very difficult to acknowledge. Others will
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Speaker 1: acquiesce and readily admit there I am portrayed on the
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Speaker 1: pages of scripture. Give us sensitive hearts, Lord, to see
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Speaker 1: what is here and to hear what it is saying.
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Speaker 1: May we be swift to hear, slow to speak, reluctant
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Speaker 1: to rationalize. May our time together be so searching as
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Speaker 1: we realize the relevance of revealed truth preserved from centuries past,
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Speaker 1: for this very day, this very hour. How grateful we
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Speaker 1: are our Father, for a place where truth can continue
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Speaker 1: to be taught, and where it will be heard, and
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Speaker 1: where upon hearing. We seek to find ways to obey
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Speaker 1: which begins with a change, and I pray that you
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Speaker 1: would help those who find that change difficult. It is
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Speaker 1: not easy for anyone, but especially for those who have
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Speaker 1: formed the habit of resisting rather than submitting. Give us
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Speaker 1: teachable hearts, open minds, willing wills. Thank you for the
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Speaker 1: privilege of spreading the message of truth beyond our own walls,
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Speaker 1: for the opportunity of touching the lives of those in
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Speaker 1: our community. May that happen in a special way as
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Speaker 1: we meet many who have come from around us who
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Speaker 1: are not normally in attendance. May our church be known
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Speaker 1: for its warm welcome, for its gracious and genuine, heartfelt friendliness.
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Speaker 1: May love mark our steps. May it be that which
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Speaker 1: characterizes our lives our congregation, Minister, we pray in a
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Speaker 1: special way as our hearts are turned towards the things
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Speaker 1: of the Lord, and we think about the suffering of
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Speaker 1: his life and the death on our behalf, and the
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Speaker 1: glorious resurrection that has set us free from the jaws
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Speaker 1: of sin and the grip and fear of death. We
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Speaker 1: give our gifts today that we might know the joy
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Speaker 1: of reaching out through these gifts to those in great need.
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Speaker 1: Minister through them. As we give these gifts for your
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Speaker 1: glory and by your grace, we commit this offering to
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Speaker 1: you with gratitude, in the name of Jesus, our Savior
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Speaker 1: and Lord.
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Speaker 2: Everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 1: I speak to all of you today, but especially to
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Speaker 1: you who are rebels. I address my words to you
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Speaker 1: who have rebelled in the past, those of you who
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Speaker 1: are currently living in rebellion, and the others of you
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Speaker 1: who have plans in the future to rebel, probably all
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Speaker 1: of us. Truth be told. By the time I have finished,
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Speaker 1: you will realize there's nothing funny about its. Matter of fact,
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Speaker 1: you can actually trace rebellion back as far as our
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Speaker 1: nation is concerned, to the sixties. The mantra of the
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixties could be described in two words, question authority.
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Speaker 1: Those of us alive at the time remember that those
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Speaker 1: words began to appear on large placards carried by those
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Speaker 1: who resisted the thought of remaining at war in the
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Speaker 1: eastern part of our world, the Vietnam War. It appeared
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Speaker 1: on campuses as well. The words questioned authority finally came
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Speaker 1: out on bumper stickers and T shirts. It wasn't long
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Speaker 1: before the scene got ugly. Our nation, in the words
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Speaker 1: of more than one historian, became unhinged. Not even the
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Speaker 1: president had the respect of the people, for he had
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Speaker 1: committed a criminal act. Into the seventies, I'm referring to,
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Speaker 1: the voice of the parent was no longer respected by
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Speaker 1: children in the home. The sight of a police officer
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Speaker 1: on the street corner drew cynical looks. The warnings of
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Speaker 1: a school faculty and administration were mocked and ignored. I
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Speaker 1: remember when Cynthia and I were driving up toward Boston,
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Speaker 1: where I was to begin a past through it in
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Speaker 1: the city of Wolfham, one of the outskirts of cities
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Speaker 1: of the greater Boston area. We looked ahead and we
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Speaker 1: saw plumes of smoke coming up from the area that
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Speaker 1: was to be our destination. Had no idea what it
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Speaker 1: meant till we arrived and we discovered that the students
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Speaker 1: of Harvard were burning the administration building. Another example of
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Speaker 1: questioning authority. It wasn't uncommon in the sixties for campuses
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Speaker 1: to burn, or even for residential areas to be set
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Speaker 1: on fire. Back then, the reprimand of a boss was
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Speaker 1: not something to fear, but the making of a lawsuit.
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Speaker 1: It was then that the respect for the aging began
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Speaker 1: to fade. We were seldom treated with dignity and respect.
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Speaker 1: Even the role of the pastor, interestingly, back then began
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Speaker 1: to be suspect for some reason. It was an era
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Speaker 1: of when pastors forfeited the right to be respected, as
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Speaker 1: many of them deliberately rebelled against what they knew to
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Speaker 1: be true to their calling. I remember learning that pastors
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Speaker 1: moving into a neighborhood is not always something the neighborhood enjoys,
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Speaker 1: but you're viewed with suspicion rather than respect. Some scenes
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Speaker 1: were shocking. Ours became a talkback, fight back, get even society.
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Speaker 1: We began to be known as a nation in defiance,
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Speaker 1: the people of resistance, violence, retaliation, and ultimately rage, which continues.
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Speaker 1: One of the exasperated television news reporters I remember when
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Speaker 1: Evening made a comment. Instead of the obedient minute man
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Speaker 1: representing our national image, there's a new statue that ought
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Speaker 1: to be built the faces with a curled lip mouth
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Speaker 1: open screaming obscenities with both fists raised, as we saw
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Speaker 1: even in the Olympics of the sixties. I read recently
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Speaker 1: Robbie Zacharias's booklet Recapture the Wonder. I recommend it to
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Speaker 1: you when you want to think. It is a book
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Speaker 1: that cuts to the heart of the issue, among many
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Speaker 1: other meaningful things, Zacharias writes, in the nineteen fifties, kids
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Speaker 1: lost their innocence. They were liberated from their parents by
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Speaker 1: well paying jobs, cars and lyrics in music that gave
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Speaker 1: rise to a new term, the generation gap. In the
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, kids lost their authority. It was the decade
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Speaker 1: of Protest Church state, and parents were all called into
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Speaker 1: question and found wanting. The authority that once surrounded children
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Speaker 1: was now rejected, Yet nothing ever replaced it. In the
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Speaker 1: nineteen seven when these kids lost their love, it was
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Speaker 1: the decade of miism, dominated by hyphenated words, beginning with
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Speaker 1: self image, self esteem, self assertion. It made for a
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Speaker 1: lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about
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Speaker 1: sex and forgot everything there was to know about love,
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Speaker 1: and no one had the nerve to tell them there
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Speaker 1: was a difference. In the nineteen eighties, kids lost their hope,
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Speaker 1: stripped of innocence, authority, and love, and plagued by the
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Speaker 1: horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of
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Speaker 1: this generation stopped believing in the future. In the nineteen nineties,
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Speaker 1: kids lost their power to reason less and less were
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Speaker 1: taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic as
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Speaker 1: they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.
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Speaker 1: In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out
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Speaker 1: that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they
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Speaker 1: lost their imagination. Violence and perversion entertained them till none
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Speaker 1: could talk of killing innocent people, since none was innocent anymore.
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Speaker 1: Good for you, It's good to sit silently and let
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Speaker 1: that sink in. We didn't just happen to find ourselves
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Speaker 1: in the times in which we live. We've sown the wind,
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Speaker 1: we're reaping the whirlwind. I remember the scene that appears
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Speaker 1: in one of the great volumes on the Civil War.
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Speaker 1: It's a real account of Robert E. Lee, by then
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Speaker 1: a broken hearted general who had been defeated in the
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Speaker 1: war but still was revered by those living in the south.
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Speaker 1: One woman brought her little baby to General Lee and
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Speaker 1: placed the little child in his arms. And Lee held
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Speaker 1: the child and looked at the mother who had wanted
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Speaker 1: him to bless her boy. And he said to her,
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Speaker 1: teach this child that he must deny himself. If you
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Speaker 1: are teaching your child that he must deny himself, you're
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Speaker 1: a rare parent, and I commend you. You are preparing
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Speaker 1: your child in the right way as he or she
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Speaker 1: enters this world which is filled with resistance and lacking
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Speaker 1: in submission. Now, having said all of that, I need
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Speaker 1: to set the record straight and clarify that there are
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Speaker 1: times when resistance is not only good, it's essential. Not
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Speaker 1: all resistance is bad. I've made a quick list in
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Speaker 1: my own notes of several examples when it's right to fight,
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Speaker 1: when it's best to resist. Among them, when personal property
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Speaker 1: or prophecy is invaded, its right to resist. When our
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Speaker 1: national liberty is threatened, it's right to resist that threat.
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Speaker 1: When our religious convictions are denied, its right to resist
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Speaker 1: and resent that. When there is brutality and other forms
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Speaker 1: of abuse forced upon you. It is right to resist.
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Speaker 1: When the enemy of your soul attempts to have his
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Speaker 1: way or assaults you in any way. Resisting the devil
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Speaker 1: is always right. When you or your child is being
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Speaker 1: mistreated by a bully, resisting is the only language that
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Speaker 1: a bully understands. Teach the child to defend himself or herself.
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Speaker 1: When doctrinal error is being promoted, resistance is right. There
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Speaker 1: are others, but this is enough. Just keep in mind
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Speaker 1: there is a big difference, get this, between standing for
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Speaker 1: what is right and having a fight back attitude. It
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Speaker 1: is wrong to resist when it represents an attitude of
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Speaker 1: defiance disrespect toward proper authority. And it's always wrong to
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Speaker 1: disobey the living God. To put all of that in
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Speaker 1: two simple words, I call it cardnal rebellion. Carnal rebellion.
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Speaker 1: It's the opposite of genuine humility, the kind of submissive
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Speaker 1: spirit modeled by none other than Jesus, the Christ. James
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Speaker 1: tells us, humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord,
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Speaker 1: and he will exalt you. Peter adds, younger men, be
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Speaker 1: subject to your elders. All of you clothe yourselves in
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Speaker 1: humility toward one another. God is opposed to the proud,
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Speaker 1: but gives grace to the humble. God desires that we
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Speaker 1: be a people known for true humility and faithful submission.
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Speaker 1: Get this clearly, a defiant spirit is never from the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Resisting God's will is never appropriate or acceptable. Choosing to
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Speaker 1: go our own way is never pleasing to God. Your
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Speaker 1: title or your position, no matter how powerful or important,
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Speaker 1: never justifies defiance. All of this provides the perfect balance
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Speaker 1: for the biblical story we're going to examine, and for
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Speaker 1: Samuel fifteen. The man's name is Saul has an interesting background.
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Speaker 1: When he began his life as a leader, he was
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Speaker 1: little in his own eyes, he didn't feel deserving of
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Speaker 1: being appointed and anointed king. Nevertheless he was, and he
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Speaker 1: entered the role reluctantly, but by and by something seemed
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Speaker 1: to snap. King Saul is an example of a man who,
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Speaker 1: in the words of my father, just got too big
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Speaker 1: for his breeches. He was a man who was in
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Speaker 1: fact a king, but it led him to make decisions
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Speaker 1: on his own, and as he grew older, those decisions
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Speaker 1: invariably were inappropriate. And finally he is on his last leg,
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Speaker 1: for he is given an opportunity to prove his willingness
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Speaker 1: to obey the God who had appointed him to this
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Speaker 1: role as the monarch of the nation. It wasn't too
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Speaker 1: many years before Saul began to model the very things
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Speaker 1: I've described as a defiant spirit and an unsubmissive Will
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Speaker 1: you recall this is the man who ultimately turned against David.
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Speaker 1: When David slew the giant and the people sang his praises.
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Speaker 1: Saul is slain his thousands, David his ten thousands. Saul
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Speaker 1: hated that and wasn't a big enough man to realize
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Speaker 1: he had a better man than himself.
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Speaker 2: In his court.
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Speaker 1: Saul turned on his own son, Jonathan. Saul rushed and
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Speaker 1: offered a sacrifice on the altar. Though Saul is a
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Speaker 1: king and not a priest, And now we find Saul
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Speaker 1: openly delivered defying the command of God of all things,
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Speaker 1: a man who had been anointed and appointed king. Now
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Speaker 1: the instruction that Saul is given is as clear as
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Speaker 1: a belle you decide as I read it. One day,
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Speaker 1: Samuel said to Saul, it was the Lord who told
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Speaker 1: me to anoint you as king of his people. Now
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Speaker 1: listen to the message from the Lord. This is what
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Speaker 1: the Lord of Heaven's armies has declared. I have decided
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Speaker 1: to settle accounts with the nation of Amelek for opposing
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Speaker 1: Israel when they came from Egypt. May I pause and
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Speaker 1: say here that that is God's sovereign right. It is
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Speaker 1: his sovereign right to make decisions like this. He doesn't
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Speaker 1: have to explain himself. He is an obligated to clarify
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Speaker 1: all of the wise or any of them. He makes
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Speaker 1: a statement to the king, and now he expects the
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Speaker 1: king to carry it out. King Saul is given explicit instructions.
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Speaker 1: Let me ask you. If you don't agree Verse three,
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Speaker 1: I would say, is awfully clear? Now listen to the command.
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Speaker 1: Go completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation, men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels,
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Speaker 1: and donkeys. I ask you, is it clear? Is clear?
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Speaker 1: You may not like it, You may have questions, But
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Speaker 1: this is the instruction from the Lord God Almighty, not
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Speaker 1: open for discussion, not appropriate to be questioned. Only one
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Speaker 1: response is appropriate, and that is obey exactly what God
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Speaker 1: has said. It is as clear as the day the
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Speaker 1: Lord said to Moses, lead my people out of Egypt.
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Speaker 1: It is as clear as the Lord wrote in his
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Speaker 1: command you shall not commit adultery. It is as clear
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Speaker 1: as God's word to Adam and Eve, do not eat
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Speaker 1: of this tree. It's as clear as the Lord said
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Speaker 1: to Jonah, go to Nineveh. It is as clear as
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Speaker 1: Jesus said, go into all the nations and make disciples
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Speaker 1: of them. It is as clear as Paul's words. Do
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Speaker 1: all things without murmuring and disputing. King Saul is given explicit, clear,
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Speaker 1: unmistakable instructions. There's no wobble room. There's no reason for confusion,
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Speaker 1: there's no excuse for disobedience. It looks good to begin with.
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Speaker 1: Saul mobilized his army at Telaim verse four. There were
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Speaker 1: two hundred thousand soldiers from Israel and ten thousand men
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Speaker 1: from Judah. Saul and his army went to a town
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Speaker 1: of the Malakites and lay in wait in the valley.
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Speaker 1: Good for him the beginning of obedience. He's setting up
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Speaker 1: a strategy for following through. He even shows compassion. Read on.
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Speaker 1: Saul set this warning to the Kennites. Move away from
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Speaker 1: where the Amalekites live, or you will die with them.
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Speaker 1: For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel
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Speaker 1: when they came up from Egypt. So the Kenites packed
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Speaker 1: up and left the Lord had not told him to
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Speaker 1: touch any of the Kennites. Saul made sure they're out
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Speaker 1: of a land, so that when there is a follow through,
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Speaker 1: they will not be injured, they will not be killed.
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Speaker 1: Verse seven. Again, so far, so good. Saul slaughtered the
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Speaker 1: Amalakites from Gabilah all the way to Shure, east of Egypt.
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Speaker 1: Next two words, he captured. We wait, wait, wait, wait,
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Speaker 1: wait just a minute. The word capture ever found in
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Speaker 1: the instructions given by God through Samuel, not once, So
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Speaker 1: we see the beginning of an incomplete obedience. He captured
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Speaker 1: a Gag, the Amalachi king, but he completely destroyed everyone else.
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Speaker 1: But don't stop reading. Saul and his men spared a
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Speaker 1: GAG's life and kept the kept kept the word kept
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Speaker 1: found anywhere in the in the instructions, in the in
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Speaker 1: the command never. So now we have another compromise. He
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Speaker 1: captures the king, He kept the best of the sheep,
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Speaker 1: the goats, the cattle, the fat calves, the lambs, everything
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Speaker 1: in fact that appealed to them. It isn't about what
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Speaker 1: appeals to you when you have been given a command
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Speaker 1: from God. They destroyed only what was worthless or a
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Speaker 1: poor quality, that is in their eyes. So they made
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Speaker 1: a distinction between the real healthy sheep and the other
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Speaker 1: animals name and those that were not, and so they separated.
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Speaker 1: Let me tell you something. Saul did not misunderstand the Lord.
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Speaker 1: He simply disagreed for whatever reason he intentionally, he deliberately
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Speaker 1: did as he pleased. It's called rebellion. It's called resistance.
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Speaker 1: He knowingly hedged in his response. Now, God saw everything
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Speaker 1: very clearly, and so did Samuel. The verses that follow
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Speaker 1: prove that. Verse ten. Then, when after Saul has deliberately
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Speaker 1: disobeyed observed the Lord's response, he had seen it all. Now,
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Speaker 1: he informs Samuel, the Lord said to Samuel, I'm sorry
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Speaker 1: that I ever made Saul king, for he has not
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Speaker 1: been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.
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Speaker 1: Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that
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Speaker 1: he cried out to the Lord all night. He grieves Samuel.
32:27
Speaker 1: He grieves him. Early the next morning, Samuel went to
32:31
Speaker 1: find Saul. Someone told him. Notice this, well, Saul went
32:36
Speaker 1: to the town of Carmel to set up a monument
32:38
Speaker 1: to himself. What is that about? I want to go,
32:43
Speaker 1: Why on earth are you setting up a monument to yourself,
32:48
Speaker 1: you dodo. Don't you realize what you've done. Look at
32:52
Speaker 1: what you've done. It's not time for your own monument
32:56
Speaker 1: now or later or ever. It isn't out you, Saul.
33:03
Speaker 1: But he never learns this, He never gets it. Not
33:08
Speaker 1: only is it inappropriate here, is inappropriate anywhere? This one
33:14
Speaker 1: as a leader to set up a monument to himself.
33:17
Speaker 1: Of course, if your ego is such, you could justify that.
33:22
Speaker 1: Who's to question you, especially when you're the king. So
33:27
Speaker 1: he set up a monument to himself, and then he
33:29
Speaker 1: went to Gilgal. When Samuel finally found him, look at
33:35
Speaker 1: the response. Saul greeted him cheerfully. May the Lord bless you,
33:42
Speaker 1: He said, I've carried out the Lord's command. You want
33:47
Speaker 1: to go? Is there something here? I missed? There's something here,
33:52
Speaker 1: Saul missed. I mean he's casual, he's cavalier. Hey's sam
33:56
Speaker 1: How you doing? Everything's great, man, I've carried out the
34:00
Speaker 1: Lord's command. How about that. One of the favorite methods,
34:06
Speaker 1: by the way, for excusing out and out of disobedience
34:09
Speaker 1: is rationalizing. And you will hear it right in front
34:14
Speaker 1: of our eyes. We're able to read it. I've carried
34:18
Speaker 1: out the Lord's command. And I like Samuel's response, Then
34:22
Speaker 1: what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and
34:25
Speaker 1: the lowing of cattle? I hear, what's all of that?
34:33
Speaker 1: If you carried out the Lord's command? There's silence, but
34:37
Speaker 1: there are animals roaming and sounding forth, and Samuel demands,
34:44
Speaker 1: what is that? Now? Now listen to the rationalization. It's
34:49
Speaker 1: true that the army spirit, Oh, there you go. It's
34:52
Speaker 1: called passing the buck. You know, there's two hundred and
34:55
Speaker 1: ten thousand of them same. I mean, give me a break.
34:57
Speaker 1: I mean, all those people decided this is what we
34:59
Speaker 1: ought to do. The army's fared the best of the sheep,
35:02
Speaker 1: the gohasts, and the cattle sall admitted. But they're going
35:05
Speaker 1: to sacrifice them to the Lord, your God. We have
35:08
Speaker 1: destroyed everything else. Understand, Samuel, we are just keeping these
35:12
Speaker 1: We aren't going to slaughter them, and ethanm we're going
35:14
Speaker 1: to sacrifice them nothing but the best for the Lord.
35:18
Speaker 1: He misses the point entirely, And you do. When you're
35:22
Speaker 1: in rebellion, you live by rationalization. I checked the word,
35:29
Speaker 1: by the way, rebellion means opposition to one in authority.
35:37
Speaker 1: Open defiance of our resistance to an established authority. Rationalization
35:46
Speaker 1: means and I quote, to provide plausible but untrue reasons
35:51
Speaker 1: for conduct. Again, to provide plausible but untrue reasons for conduct,
35:58
Speaker 1: to attribute one's actions to rational motives without analysis of
36:03
Speaker 1: what is true. You and I have done it more
36:07
Speaker 1: time than we want to remember. That's how you live
36:09
Speaker 1: with your guilt. This is how Saul justifies what they
36:14
Speaker 1: have done or not done. He's going on and on
36:19
Speaker 1: and on, and I love Samuel's response. As they're talking
36:26
Speaker 1: about this further and further. Verse sixteen, Samuel said to Saul, stop,
36:36
Speaker 1: just stop quit talking. Listen to what the Lord told
36:45
Speaker 1: me last night. Saul is incredulous. What did he tell
36:48
Speaker 1: you couldn't imagine, Saul asked. Samuel told him, although you
36:54
Speaker 1: may think little of yourself, meaning when you began to
36:57
Speaker 1: reign as king or you're not the leader of the
37:00
Speaker 1: tribes of Israel, the Lord is anointed you king of Israel,
37:04
Speaker 1: King of Israel. The Lord sent you on a mission.
37:07
Speaker 1: He told you, go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites,
37:12
Speaker 1: until they are all dead. Why haven't you obeyed the Lord?
37:16
Speaker 1: Why did you rush for the plunder and do what
37:19
Speaker 1: was evil in the Lord's sight. That's the issue. Don't
37:23
Speaker 1: talk about sacrifice, don't talk about how you plan to
37:27
Speaker 1: use the animals. In fact, look at the response. It's
37:30
Speaker 1: an out and out lie. I did obey the Lord
37:34
Speaker 1: God blind he is Verse twenty. He insisted, I did
37:38
Speaker 1: obey the Lord. I carried out the mission he gave me.
37:41
Speaker 1: I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.
37:45
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not gonna kick at me over one.
37:47
Speaker 1: King and my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle,
37:53
Speaker 1: and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord God. This is
37:58
Speaker 1: a better plan. You will think of the sacrifice to him.
38:05
Speaker 1: Samuel had heard enough. Check out verses twenty two and
38:10
Speaker 1: twenty three. Let them say what they say. Some of
38:17
Speaker 1: you have never read the verses in all your life.
38:21
Speaker 1: Let them say what they say. What is more pleasing
38:26
Speaker 1: to the Lord You're burnt offering and sacrifices or your
38:34
Speaker 1: obedience to his voice? Listen In case Saul struggles with
38:43
Speaker 1: the answer, obedience is better than sacrifice. Submission is better
38:49
Speaker 1: than offering the fat of rams. He goes further. Rebellion
38:59
Speaker 1: is as sim full as witchcraft, stubbornness, as bad as
39:07
Speaker 1: worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of
39:15
Speaker 1: the Lord, he has rejected you as king. Let me
39:24
Speaker 1: summarize some of this and directly apply it to you,
39:28
Speaker 1: who still have small children in your home. Life is
39:34
Speaker 1: all about the Lord. It is not about Saul. It
39:37
Speaker 1: is not about you. Pleasing him and obeying his voice
39:43
Speaker 1: is the only way to live. Obedience is better than
39:48
Speaker 1: any sacrifice, Submission is better than any offering. And on
39:55
Speaker 1: the other hand, rebellion. Look at it as sinful as witchcraft, stubbornness,
40:06
Speaker 1: as bad as worshiping idols. It's not often you read
40:16
Speaker 1: something as bold as that in such few words. Next
40:23
Speaker 1: time you're tempted, mothers and dads to overlook either your
40:29
Speaker 1: child or the one that you're rearing, however that child
40:37
Speaker 1: may have come into the home shaping his life and
40:40
Speaker 1: guiding the will, will you remember those words? Will you
40:47
Speaker 1: remember that the seeds of rebellion are first sown in
40:50
Speaker 1: the home. That's where habits are formed to resist. That's
40:58
Speaker 1: where people learn not to submit, especially when parents release
41:07
Speaker 1: the authority, because it is hard work. Dealing with a
41:16
Speaker 1: defiant child. Is never pleasant, but it is a responsibility
41:26
Speaker 1: of every parent if it will help to look at
41:29
Speaker 1: it like this. If you do not, you are passing
41:32
Speaker 1: off to the school and the teacher your responsibility, and
41:37
Speaker 1: ultimately to the one they marry. A hell on earth experience.
41:46
Speaker 1: Living with a rebellious husband or an out of control
41:49
Speaker 1: wife is a dreadful way to live. Parents. It can
41:55
Speaker 1: be traced back to you, and when you deal with it,
42:02
Speaker 1: it it's a tough thing. Maybe it's time for us
42:12
Speaker 1: to loosen here a little before we all cut our wrists.
42:18
Speaker 1: Let's enjoy a story. Jim Dobson tells it in his
42:23
Speaker 1: Straight Talk to Men and their Wives. Dobson writes, in
42:29
Speaker 1: the absence of parental leadership, some children become extremely obnoxious
42:34
Speaker 1: and defiant, especially in public places. Perhaps the best example
42:41
Speaker 1: was a ten year old boy named Robert, who was
42:45
Speaker 1: a patient of my good friend doctor William Slunecker. Doctor
42:51
Speaker 1: Slunnecker said his pediatric staff dreaded days when Robert was
43:01
Speaker 1: scheduled for an office visit. He literally attacked the clinic,
43:06
Speaker 1: grabbing instruments and files and telephones. His passive mother could
43:10
Speaker 1: do little more than shake her head in bewilderment. During
43:14
Speaker 1: one physical exam, doctor Slneker observes severe cavities in Robert's
43:19
Speaker 1: teeth and knew that the boy must be referred to
43:22
Speaker 1: a local dentist. But who would be given the honor
43:30
Speaker 1: a referral like Robert could mean the end of a
43:32
Speaker 1: professional friendship. Doctor Slneker eventually decided to send him to
43:37
Speaker 1: an older dentist who reportedly understood children. The confrontation that
43:44
Speaker 1: followed now stands as one of the classic moments in
43:48
Speaker 1: the history of human conflict. How only Dobson could write
43:51
Speaker 1: it like that. Robert arrived in the dental office prepared
43:55
Speaker 1: for battle. Get in the chair, young man, said the doctor.
44:00
Speaker 1: No chance, replied the boy. Son, I told you to
44:06
Speaker 1: climb up onto the chair, and that's what I intend
44:09
Speaker 1: for you to do, said the dentist. Robert stared at
44:13
Speaker 1: his opponent for a moment, then replied, if you make
44:16
Speaker 1: me get in that chair, I will take off all
44:18
Speaker 1: my clothes. The dentist calmly said, son, take them off.
44:28
Speaker 1: The boy forthwith removed his shirt, undershirt, shoes, socks, then
44:33
Speaker 1: looked up in defiance. All right, son, said the dentist.
44:37
Speaker 1: Now get in the chair. You didn't hear me, sputtered Robert.
44:42
Speaker 1: I said, if you make me get on that chair,
44:44
Speaker 1: I'll take off all my clothes. Son, take them all off,
44:48
Speaker 1: replied the man. Robert proceeded to remove his pants shorts,
44:56
Speaker 1: finally standing totally naked before the dentist and his assistant. Now, son,
45:00
Speaker 1: get the chair, said the doctor. Robert did as he
45:03
Speaker 1: was told, set cooperatively through the entire procedure. When the
45:08
Speaker 1: cavities were drilled and filled, he was instructed to step
45:11
Speaker 1: down from the chair. Give me my clothes now, said Robert.
45:15
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, replied the dentist. Tell your mother. We're going
45:17
Speaker 1: to keep your clothing tonight. She can pick them up
45:21
Speaker 1: sometime tomorrow. Can you comprehend the shock Robert's mother received
45:31
Speaker 1: when the door of the waiting room opened and there
45:34
Speaker 1: stood her pink son, as naked as the day he
45:38
Speaker 1: was born. The room was filled with patience, but Robert
45:43
Speaker 1: and his mom walked past them into the hall, then
45:47
Speaker 1: went down a public elevator into the parking lot, ignoring
45:52
Speaker 1: the snickers of onlookers. The next day, Robert's mother returned
45:59
Speaker 1: to retrieve his cloth, asked to have a word with
46:01
Speaker 1: a dentist. However, she did not come to protest. These
46:07
Speaker 1: were her sentiments. You don't know how much I appreciate
46:12
Speaker 1: what happened here yesterday. You see, Robert has been blackmailing
46:15
Speaker 1: me about his clothes for years. Whenever we are in
46:19
Speaker 1: a public place, such as a grocery store, he makes
46:22
Speaker 1: unreasonable demands of me, and if I don't immediately buy
46:26
Speaker 1: him what he wants, he threatens to take off all
46:28
Speaker 1: of his clothes. You're the first person who has called
46:32
Speaker 1: his bluff, doctor, and the impact on Robert has been incredible.
46:39
Speaker 1: I use that story and a sermon many years ago.
46:42
Speaker 1: My youngest son was about six or seven. He listened intently,
46:51
Speaker 1: and over lunch he said to me, Daddy was the
46:54
Speaker 1: dentist assistant men or women. Saul, after all of this,
47:11
Speaker 1: after the initial and ultimate statement of rejection, finally comes
47:17
Speaker 1: around and says what he should have said at the
47:20
Speaker 1: very beginning verse twenty four. I have sinned and disobeyed
47:29
Speaker 1: your instructions and the Lord's command, for I was afraid
47:35
Speaker 1: of the people and I did what they demand. You idiot, Saul,
47:42
Speaker 1: You fool fearing what men say when God has so
47:48
Speaker 1: clearly declared your responsibility no wonder. Verse twenty six reads
47:54
Speaker 1: that the Lord has rejected you from being king. I
48:00
Speaker 1: speak today with a pleading voice to those of you
48:05
Speaker 1: who still have the responsibility of little ones. I speak
48:09
Speaker 1: not only to parents, but on some occasions here to grandparents.
48:15
Speaker 1: It isn't an easy task, but it is an essential one.
48:22
Speaker 1: No one believes more in the love of a home
48:25
Speaker 1: than I do. I'll take love over any other act
48:30
Speaker 1: in any life. But there are times when true love
48:34
Speaker 1: is tough love, and you have to do what you
48:40
Speaker 1: have been putting off, or resisting, or being blackmailed out
48:45
Speaker 1: of when you finally see the truth. Otherwise you release
48:50
Speaker 1: to society a monster. No one else has the authority
48:57
Speaker 1: you have over the child when the child is small
49:02
Speaker 1: under the roof of your home. The cop can't change
49:07
Speaker 1: the mind of your child. Only can punish wrongdoing. The
49:13
Speaker 1: teacher can do very little, especially in our day, as
49:19
Speaker 1: you deposit your child and the care of that teacher.
49:23
Speaker 1: A school cannot resurrect what the home puts to death.
49:28
Speaker 1: You have a responsibility, and I plead with you as
49:32
Speaker 1: the seeds are sown in your home. If I had
49:39
Speaker 1: the time, I could tell you stories from my own
49:41
Speaker 1: life for my mother and dad. Refuse to give up
49:45
Speaker 1: on me a rebel, and refuse to give up on
49:49
Speaker 1: my sister and my brother. All of us strong, will
49:54
Speaker 1: beyond belief. People who know us now as adults all
49:59
Speaker 1: want no, what kind of mother and dad we had?
50:03
Speaker 1: I will say this, They were consistent, and so I say,
50:08
Speaker 1: on the basis of that, having been raised right by
50:11
Speaker 1: the grace of God, which I did not deserve, I
50:16
Speaker 1: share these closing three points regarding childhood, adolescence, and adulthood,
50:22
Speaker 1: and I'm through in childhood. Get this down. In childhood,
50:30
Speaker 1: a rebellious nature is conceived in a home where parents
50:37
Speaker 1: relinquish control. A rebellious nature is conceived in a home
50:45
Speaker 1: where parents relinquish control. By that, I mean you will
50:51
Speaker 1: allow your child the role of authority he or she
50:55
Speaker 1: is not equipped to handle. Child is not made to
50:59
Speaker 1: be an authority. That's the role of the parent. If
51:04
Speaker 1: it is not dealt with at that level, the child
51:07
Speaker 1: doesn't stop growing. No, As a matter of fact, he
51:10
Speaker 1: reaches adolescence. Adolescence, and there a rebellious spirit is cultivated
51:19
Speaker 1: even further Among peers who have learned to resist control
51:26
Speaker 1: and been allowed to do so you see rebels run
51:29
Speaker 1: with rebels invariably. My choice of friends when I was
51:35
Speaker 1: younger were those who love to rebel invariably. My mother
51:40
Speaker 1: would point that out. Every time you are with those
51:43
Speaker 1: two boys, you get into trouble every time, and I'm
51:46
Speaker 1: going to tell you you are going to stop running
51:49
Speaker 1: with them. She had ways of changing my habits of
51:55
Speaker 1: running with the wrong crowd. By the way, I just
52:00
Speaker 1: covered early in the Marine Corps that I had very
52:06
Speaker 1: little to learn regarding discipline from a drill instructor, because
52:12
Speaker 1: I had learned it from a mother and father. But
52:15
Speaker 1: I was surrounded by young men wearing the same uniform
52:20
Speaker 1: who lived under the con constant harassment of a drill
52:24
Speaker 1: instructor because they never learned to obey earlier in life.
52:30
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, drill instructors, No, I won't tell you.
52:36
Speaker 1: I will go on to adulthood. Adulthood. Get this. A
52:42
Speaker 1: rebellious life is crushed by the lord when he finally
52:48
Speaker 1: gains control. Yes, the word is crushed. A rebellious life
52:57
Speaker 1: is ultimately crushed by the Lord when he finally gains control.
53:04
Speaker 1: It can happen in a prison, It can happen after
53:09
Speaker 1: several divorces. It can happen in a courtroom. It can
53:17
Speaker 1: happen to the humiliation of children who ultimately turn and
53:22
Speaker 1: tell you to your face, you never disciplined me as
53:26
Speaker 1: it should have been disciplined. It's a very, very difficult
53:30
Speaker 1: thing for a child to forgive. The reason I share
53:35
Speaker 1: that with you is because of his statement I learned
53:37
Speaker 1: years ago. When God wants to do an impossible task,
53:42
Speaker 1: he takes an impossible person and crushes him. Some of
53:49
Speaker 1: you are being crushed by the Lord aw proposed to
53:52
Speaker 1: put it in other words, it's doubtful God can use
53:55
Speaker 1: any of us greatly until he has hurt us deeply.
54:00
Speaker 1: Some of you are making your home miserable because you
54:04
Speaker 1: are stubborn, and you are proud of it. You say
54:08
Speaker 1: it's in your genes. That's called depravity. You excuse it
54:15
Speaker 1: because your daddy was like that, or your family operated
54:19
Speaker 1: like that. It is wrong. It is as the sin
54:22
Speaker 1: of witchcraft. It is as bad as idolatry. Until you
54:26
Speaker 1: face it, you won't deal with it. And when you
54:31
Speaker 1: deal with it, it is remarkable. It is remarkable what harmony
54:36
Speaker 1: can come all the scars. Notwithstanding we're now living not
54:45
Speaker 1: in the sixties, but in an era of when we
54:50
Speaker 1: have to say rebellion is a lifestyle. It's more ugly
54:54
Speaker 1: today than it's ever been. Crimes are committed without conscience,
55:00
Speaker 1: without a motive. Increasingly more criminals simply want to see
55:06
Speaker 1: you hurt as they assault you. More defiant, more violent,
55:12
Speaker 1: more aggressive than I've ever known it in my almost
55:17
Speaker 1: eighty years on this planet. The only way I know
55:22
Speaker 1: to address it is to speak of it to those
55:25
Speaker 1: I love the most. That would be this flock would
55:30
Speaker 1: to God that we, as a body of people would
55:34
Speaker 1: become known as those who love to obey God, whose
55:40
Speaker 1: lives are marked by affection and love for one another,
55:45
Speaker 1: but where necessary discipline of wrongdoing. Those two things, when
55:53
Speaker 1: balanced to create a maturity like little else I can
55:57
Speaker 1: think of, It may begin for you at the cross.
56:04
Speaker 1: You stop resisting Christ and submit to Him. Please bow
56:09
Speaker 1: your heads with me, sit very quietly for a few moments.
56:21
Speaker 1: Ever been a time in your life when you intentionally
56:27
Speaker 1: submitted your will to Christ and you release the throne
56:33
Speaker 1: of your life to Him as you acknowledge your own
56:39
Speaker 1: sinfulness and took the gift that He has provided for you.
56:47
Speaker 1: Ever been a time like that? No wonder you can't
56:52
Speaker 1: conquer your rebellion. Much of it goes back to that.
56:59
Speaker 1: For you, the most important decision you can make just
57:03
Speaker 1: to turn your life over to Christ. Let us help
57:06
Speaker 1: you connect with us. You may be a parent, and
57:12
Speaker 1: you have to acknowledge life has gotten too busy, Your
57:16
Speaker 1: responsibilities have become too many, and you've left off the
57:22
Speaker 1: most important that is rearing a child in the way
57:27
Speaker 1: he should go. Today's the day to repent to Day's
57:34
Speaker 1: the day to acknowledge. And if you're living with your partner,
57:38
Speaker 1: to say to your mate, you and I have to
57:42
Speaker 1: take care of this starting now. It could be that
57:52
Speaker 1: this has nothing to do with children. You may have
57:55
Speaker 1: begun to relinquish your role of authority. Let others take
58:01
Speaker 1: charge who have no business taking over. Disharmony is happening,
58:08
Speaker 1: the company is coming apart, and you haven't had the
58:13
Speaker 1: backbone to stop it.
58:16
Speaker 2: Today's the day to start Today.
58:27
Speaker 1: Our father never wants today. Have we used the word
58:30
Speaker 1: easy or simple? Life is in fact complicated, and as
58:38
Speaker 1: age stacks up, the simplicity flies out the window. We're
58:45
Speaker 1: living complicated lives. We're too busy, we're moving too fast,
58:52
Speaker 1: we're focusing on the wrong things and ignoring the right things.
58:58
Speaker 1: We have come face to face with the reality that
59:04
Speaker 1: not even sacrifices are more pleasing to you than obedience,
59:11
Speaker 1: but submission is better than any offering. Forgive us a rebellion. Father,
59:20
Speaker 1: May we no longer look past and rationalize around our
59:23
Speaker 1: stubborn nature. May we face it, and, having acknowledged it,
59:29
Speaker 1: may we repent of it and come to you on
59:33
Speaker 1: bend and knee, and place our wills before you and
59:40
Speaker 1: before those with whom we're living. Bring back the harmony
59:44
Speaker 1: that was once a part of a home. And whatever
59:49
Speaker 1: this message addresses to me, get my attention first, Dear Father,
1:00:00
Speaker 1: Now to him who is able to guard us from stumbling,
1:00:02
Speaker 1: and present us faultless before the presence of His glory
1:00:06
Speaker 1: with exceeding great joy, to the only wise God, our Savior,
1:00:12
Speaker 1: the glory and majesty and dominion and power now and
1:00:17
Speaker 1: forevermore through Christ.
1:00:21
Speaker 2: We pray everyone said, Amen.
1:00:27
Speaker 1: Amen.
1:00:33
Speaker 3: The preceding message stop resisting and start submitting was copyrighted
1:00:39
Speaker 3: in twenty fourteen, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
1:00:42
Speaker 3: twenty seventeen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are
1:00:47
Speaker 3: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
1:00:53
Speaker 3: strictly prohibited as a