The Sin of Rebellion- Part 1

The Sin of Rebellion Part 1

Text: 1 Samuel 15:23 (KJV 1900)

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord…

Introduction:

* The entire Bible is the story of one massive rebellion- A rebellion against God that began before the creation of the earth.

* The first personality in this long story of rebellion against God, the original rebel, and the instigator of all rebellion that would come thereafter, was the one we call the Devil, Satan- Lucifer.

* The Scriptures tell us that Lucifer was the ultimate of all God’s created creatures.

* In the book of Isaiah, Lucifer is called the son of the morning.

Isaiah 14:12 (KJV 1900)

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

* Evidently, from what we can see in the book of Job, the oldest book of the Bible, Lucifer existed before the earth and mankind were ever created.

* Speaking to the man Job, God askes the question of Job in Job 38:4-

Job 38:4–7 (KJV 1900)

4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

* We gather from Job, that the morning stars were the angles, and the angles were called the “sons of God.”

* We also gather that angles, spiritual beings, witnessed the creation of the material universe from the grandstands of Heaven.

* From the Scriptures we gather that the angles existed before man and the earth were created, and that Lucifer was the prize of God’s creation, second only to God on his throne in heaven.

Isaiah 14:13–15 (KJV 1900)

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

* Speaking of Lucifer, or the Devil, the prophet Ezekiel reveals to us that the Devil was originally an angel, a cherub, who was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and created by God.

* Ezekiel speaks of the Devil as being in the Garden of Eden and that he was a created being…

Ezekiel 28:11–18 (KJV 1900)

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God;

Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. – (referenced in the Book of Enoch)

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick;

therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

* Satan was not satisfied in his rebellion against God himself, but he began to spread, or “traffick” his rebellion to the other angles in heaven.

Ezekiel 28:16

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. –

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick;

* We gather from the scriptures that the Devil rebelled against God, and that during this rebellion in Heaven, Satan took a third of all the angels of God with him in this rebellion against the authority of God.

* The apostle John in the book of Revelation was given a vision of the history of this great rebellion and he reveals the details to us in Revelation chapter 12:

Revelation 12:1–9 (KJV 1900)

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:

and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:

and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

* But leading a third of the angels in Heaven in a rebellion against God was not enough for Lucifer; he then began to spread his rebellion to the men who God had placed upon the earth.

* We see this in Genesis chapters 2 and 3, how that Satan caused the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden to rebel against the authority of God over them.

* Notice that it was what God had said, the “Word of God,” that the Devil caused them to rebel against.

* The “Word of God,” represents the authority of God. That is why the Devil hates the Bible this morning, because it represents the authority of God over the lives of man and angelic beings alike.

* Satan has rejected God’s authority, and Satan’s chief occupation is to cause men to rebel against the “Word of God.”

* And so Satan has recruited mankind to rebel against the authority of God, and man’s default behavior is to rebel against the rule of God over himself.

* In the Garden of Eden the Devil said to Eve “Hath not God said?” And the devil caused her to rebel against the Words of God.

* The chief end of the Devil here in this congregation this morning is to cause you to rebel against the “Words of God” in your heart like the Devil did,- like a third of the angels did,- and like Adam and Eve did!

* and that’s why the Devil hates this Bible this morning- because it represents the authority of God over him, and that’s why men hate the Bible this morning- because the Bible, the “Word of God,” represents the God’s authority over them!

* And so God hates the sin of rebellion this morning, and the entire Bible is one continuous story of a rebellion against God, and the judgment of those who rebel against Him and His Word.

* God hates the sin of rebellion this morning and that is why our text verse says:

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord…

* Now let’s look at together our text again this morning and put it in its context.

* First of all I want you to see that God uses a comparison of two things to show us how evil the sin of rebelling against God’s word is- 1). Witchcraft and 2). Idolatry.

* The Holy Spirit here is creating a visual image in the mind of the reader of how evil the sin of rebellion is, by comparing rebelling against the Word of God to things that we all agree, are extremely greivious and evil in the eyes of God-

Witchcraft and the worshiping of Idols.

* Look at our text again:

Text: 1 Samuel 15:23 (KJV 1900)

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord…

* The rebellion in the full context of this verse is the rebellion of Saul. And what has king Saul rebelled against?

* Look again in the last part of verse 23-

Text: 1 Samuel 15:23 (KJV 1900)

“Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord…”

I. King Saul rebelled against the World of God by only obeying the parts that were ok with him, and rejecting the rest of God’s Word.

* Now the story goes that God had spoken to the prophet Samuel and gave instructions to king Saul…

1 Samuel 15:1–3 (KJV 1900)

Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.

2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

* Now Saul acted like he had obeyed the “Word of God,” but in reality, Saul did not do exactly what God had said.

1 Samuel 15:12–16 (KJV 1900)

12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.

14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites:

for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

* Now King Saul had not fully followed the “Word of God.” Saul only did the part that “suited himself,” or that he “felt like” obeying.

* How many Christians make the same mistake as King Saul this morning!- They only obey the parts of the Bible that suit them well, the parts they like, but the parts of the Bible that don’t suit them, well they leave off to obey those parts!

* Just as the judgment of God fell on King Saul in the context of the story of our text this morning, so will the judgment of God fall on the lives of those Christians who name the name of Jesus, but refuse to completely follow the Word of God!

* Woe to those who are ok with preaching all the “God is Love” passages in the Bible, but they reject, and they rebel against the “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand- Prepare ye the way of the Lord and make his paths straight- bring forth fruits meet for repentance!” passages of the Bible!

* When John the Baptist preached these words he boldly proclaimed that the judgment of God would be poured out on those Pharisees who had acknowledged the parts of the Word of God that they liked, but rebelled against rest of God’s Words …

* Jesus said it best in Matthew 23:

Matthew 23:23–33 (KJV 1900)

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

* Now this is the perfect example of legalism- straining at handpicked, nitpicky, rules and regulation, while the entire time ignoring the more important parts of the Bible.

* We are perfectly willing to preach John 3:16,” for God so loved the world,” but we will not mention John 3:17-

John 3:18 (KJV 1900)

but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

* Jesus continues this condemnation of those who pick and choose those parts of the Bible they want to believe and rebel against the rest in Matthew 23.25:

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

II. King Saul rebelled against the Word of God by making excuses.

1 Samuel 15:20–22 (KJV 1900)

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed,

to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said,

* Woe unto the Christians this morning who make excuses for not obeying the Word of God this morning!

* Just as it was with King Saul here in the story of our text, God will have none of your puny excuses!

* Why you have not obeyed the Words of God in this Bible!

* King Saul was judged by God, and rejected by God, and he suffered a great loss from what could have been- all because he did not strictly following the commands of the Word of God that had been given to him by the prophet.

* Oh Christian, who do you think you are, that on the outside have the appearance of serving God, but refuse to obey the Words that are written in this Bible by the prophets of God, and the Apostles of God?

* Do you really think that God would reject King Saul for not fully obeying the Word of God, and then let you off the hook for your partial obedience to the Bible, the Holy Word of God?

* It’s not going to happen! Not back in the days of King Saul, and not in the day in which you live right now either! Not going to happen! Not then, not now, not ever!

* God will judge every Christian by the same standard of judgment that He judged king Saul by when it comes to obeying the commands of the Word of God!

* Let me remind you this morning of the chastening had of God on His people when they do not obey the commands of His Word:

1 Peter 4:17–18 (KJV 1900)

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God:

and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

* Just as God judged king Saul and Saul suffered great loss, so will the New Testament Christian suffer loss because he fails to obey the Word of God contained in this Bible!

1 Corinthians 3:13–15 (KJV 1900)

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Hebrews 12:5–29 (KJV 1900)

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,

nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way;

but let it rather be healed.

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word,

Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

* In the context of the story of our text this morning, Saul pleaded for Samuel to take his side with God, but God refused to accept Saul’s excuses for his partial obedience to the Word of God …

1 Samuel 15:24–35 (KJV 1900)

24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. 26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee

from being king over Israel.

27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.

32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

* In the story of our text verse this morning, after that king Saul willfully disobeyed part of the Word of God, God would not accept any of Saul’s excuses for why he did not fully obey all the commands of the Word that God had given him by the prophet.

* In the same manner, those of us who claim to be saved, but refuse to obey parts of the Bible, the Word of God, will be judged by God and suffer the consequences of our disobedience.

Hebrews 10:26–31 (KJV 1900)

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again,

The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Conclusion:

* Well, I have not come to the entire conclusion of this sermon on the sin of rebellion, but because of time constraints, we have come to a stopping place.

* I want you to these hold the thoughts in your mind this week until I can finish this sermon.

* I have laid the foundation today for next Sunday, when I will directly address the areas in the Christian life where many people who claim to be Christians, like King Saul, fail to obey all of Word of God.

* Because we partially obey the commands of God, and live in rebellion to those parts of the Bible that we don’t like, we as Christians, suffer the judgment of God, and the loss of God’s blessings on our lives.

* So this being said, let’s end with a summary of what we need to know for next Sunday:

1). The Bible is one continuous story about the sin of rebellion against the authority of God.

2). God hates the sin of Christians refusing to fully obey the Bible, God’s Word, as much as he hates the sins of witchcraft and Idolatry.

3). Partially obeying the commands of the Word of God, is the same as outright rebelling against all of the Words of God.

4). When we partially obey the Word of God, God will not accept our lame excuses for not fully obeying His Word, the Bible.

5). Like with king Saul, partially obeying God will result in angering God, causing the chastisement of God upon our life, and will result in great loss to us.

* These things being said, keep these things in mind as we stand and pray together.