If you have your Bibles, turn
with me to 2 Samuel, the 15th chapter. I want to read the first
six verses. And it came to pass after this,
that is, that he was received back to the king and kissed the
king, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and fifty
men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early and
stood beside the way of the gate. And it was so that when any man
that had a controversy came to the king for a judgment, then
Absalom called unto him and said, Of what city art thou? And he
said, Thou servest one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom
said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right, but there
is no man deputeth of the king to hear. Absalom said, Moreover,
O that I were made a judge in the land, Every man which hath
any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice.
And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him
obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the
king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of
the men of Israel. Let us pray. Our God and our
Father, We come to you in the blessed name that is above every
name, the only name under heaven given among men whereby we might
be saved, that blessed name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords. We ask, Lord, in that name, for
those who are sick and going through trials, we remember Jenny,
as you continue to minister her and strengthen her, for Wayne who's about to go have
his teeth taken and also for Ethel who's about to have this
cataract surgery. We remember Stephen as these
new problems have been found with his heart. We pray, Lord,
you'd be with him, with Gloria and Dave also as they minister
to him. Father, for all those of our company who are sick and
going through various trials, we ask, Lord, your help for them.
You know it is our desire that they be healed and strengthened
and brought back to a good measure of health. We also know that
these things that come to your children come according to appointment.
And we bow to your wisdom and your will in these things and
say, as much as we are able, thy will be done. Father, we pray tonight as we
gather here that you might be pleased to give us worship, that
you might teach us things that are before us and open up our
hearts and minds to see and understand that which is before us. We thank
you for your word, which so clearly sets forth man as he really is,
and you as you really are. We ask, Lord, that you would
cause us in our hearts to see the glory of your person and
also see the wickedness, rebellion, and frailty of humanity. Help
us, Lord, now to worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray
these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen. The title of my message tonight
is Rebellion. Rebellion. If you were reading along with
me, you saw the heart of it displayed right here in front of you in
the Son of David named Absalom. And as we begin to look at these
sinful efforts of Absalom, which will cover several chapters of
Scripture, that effort to overthrow the king, we are made aware of
the heart of rebellion. All sin. Every sin. Whether it's
called a transgression or a sin or iniquity, all sin is rebellion
against God. It's rebellion against God. And at the heart of it is a hatred
for authority. That's the heart of all rebellion.
From the beginning when Eve was deceived and Adam rebelled, it
was an enticement of one who owns the title of rebellion incarnate. The serpent deceived Eve by calling
into question the veracity of God, and thereby calling his
authority into question. All sin, all transgression, and
all iniquity is against God and therefore is an assault on the
person of God and His authority. Now in the end, no matter what
it is, it will come to naught and will instead, against the
will of those who rebel, fulfill the sovereign purpose of God
in government and the disposal of His creation. Sin will serve
God. not willingly, but nonetheless
according to His purpose. He is God. The person who has
been given life in Christ alone has an understanding of what
rebellion is. Only the person who has spiritual
understanding, who is made alive by the Holy Spirit through regeneration
through the Word of God, only that person has an understanding
of the source and the heart of rebellion. The believer knows
what is in man, and because he has the mind of Christ, sees
all things in a spiritual perspective. That which knows the mind of
man is man himself. That which knows the mind of
God is the Spirit of God. But we understand men because
we are one. We understand the frailty, the
weakness, and the rebellion of humanity because As far as our
carnal nature goes, that's what we are. So we understand it. Sometimes when we read the Bible,
we forget to look at the actions of rebellious men with the understanding
we have of our own flesh. And we need to do that. When we read a passage of Scripture,
we just don't need to read it and cast it off. We need to ponder
it and think about it. Why did Absalom do what he did?
Why? You know. Because you are absent and I
am absent. We understand if we'll just give it the time to give
it a little bit of thought. You see, rebellion operates according
to a pattern. A pattern. And it always has
a singular intent. It may take a thousand courses.
It may appear with a thousand faces. But no matter how it rears
its ugly head, it means one thing. It means to dethrone God. and
put man in his place. That's what rebellion is about.
To dethrone God and put man in his place. Whether it is the
papist priest who can make men believe he has the power of absolving
a man from his sins. Or the fundamentalist pastor
who tells his hearers that God loves everybody or that Christ
died for everybody. Or that man has a free will and
that free will can thwart God's will. or whether that sin itself
can be categorized into venial or mortal acts, or that man must
and can establish an acceptable righteousness for acceptance
by God by keeping the law, or by doing the best he can with
the light that he has, or by various formulas whereby man
can loose the power of the Holy Spirit and by doing so have power
over the elements, over poverty and over sickness, All these
are simply rebellion against the authority of God and the
denial of God's Word and His clear direction. Mark this well. Mark it well. Any insertion of
man into the government of this universe or the salvation of
the elect is a wholesale affront against the sovereign God. That's
what it is. No matter how innocuous it might
seem, it is still a wholesale affront. No matter how small
and insignificant the sin might seem, it is a wholesale affront
against the authority and sovereignty of Almighty God. And though it
will prove an utterly foolish endeavor, always, all sin will
be done away with one day. All rebellion will be put down.
All of them. You know this is the case in
your own heart. That if it were not for the subduing grace of
God, your rebellion would take over in every case. You know
that to be the case. So it's true in your life and
you understand that where other people don't. You understand
that. This matter of rebellion is precisely
described in the life of Absalom, precisely described for us. And
it shows the heart's design of a man as he's born into this
world. This is the way we come forth from the womb. And don't
pass over these reports of rebellion, but ask this question, reading
about Absalom, ask yourself, why would I do that? Because
you would, apart from a work of grace. Or what is in me that
would cause me to act thusly? Because you and I would. apart
from the work of Christ. The Bible must be read and understood
personally. When we read the Bible, we need
to read it for ourselves. We need to read it for ourselves.
Now that doesn't mean we're to look at it according to personal
interpretation. Scripture interprets itself.
But with an understanding of what we are in nature, and what
we are by the Spirit of God. When it deals with nature as
it's dealing here, we ought not divorce ourselves from this and
look at it as if, oh, that's sorry Absalom. Well, that's sorry
me. We ought not get too indignant
against Absalom because remember, the only difference between what
Absalom did and what we do is the grace of God. That's the
only difference. And employing that understanding,
we will see that the actions of Absalom are our own actions,
were it not for the grace of God overriding and subduing our
carnal flesh. A look at Absalom ought to result
in a thankful and praising heart that our gracious God did not
and does not suffer us to be what we are. And what that is, is sadly, but
most willingly by nature, a pretender to the throne. That's what we
are. That's how it's been since the beginning. Eve was not promised Alexis.
She was not promised health and wealth. She was promised deity. The Lord God knows that when
you eat that fruit you'll be as God. You will be God. That's the enticement. And that's
the carnality of humanity. We won't be God. We don't want
nobody to tell us what to do. We want to run our show and,
if possible, run everybody else's show too, so it will fit in well
with our show. Every act of Absalom reveals
the true heart of rebellion. As we have seen in Absalom's
actions thus far, he operates from a sense of entitlement.
A sense of entitlement. The only one who has true entitlement
is the one to whom something is entitled. And God's the only
one that is entitled. So He can act like one who's
entitled because He's entitled. He can demand obedience because
He's entitled to obedience. He can demand praise and worship
because He's entitled to that. You and I are not. But carnality
operates from that sense of entitlement. The rebellious man's goal is
plain, and his subtlety does not hide his intent. Absalom
was subtle here in what he was doing, but he didn't hide his
intent. He believes the throne is rightfully
his, and he means to have it. The more I see of his character
revealed, the more I think that the murder of Amnon was inevitable.
and the rape of his sister only served him with political expediency
toward his goal. Amnon and Tamar were collateral
damage on Absalom's road to the palace in his own mind. In the first verse, and I want
us to look at these things tonight, a few things, about seven of
them I think, that's picture Rebellion that show a kind of
course it takes it shows a kind of pattern that it follows And
in the first verse of our passage as absolutely seem to gather
forces around himself in direct rebellion against God God said
don't do that in first Samuel when he said you know what kind
of King Saul's gonna be He's gonna be the kind of game to
take your sons and your daughters and build himself up chariots
and war They're gonna use against you God said don't trust in chariots
and so forth over and over again. It's an act of rebellion against
God. Look over 1 Kings 1. Here's an example of another
person. Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself,
saying, I will be king. And he prepared him chariots
and horsemen and fifty men to run before him. That's exactly
what Absalom did. That's what we read back in our
text. Absalom prepared him chariots and horses and fifty men to run
before him. Why? Because he's going to be the king. That's
a pattern to gather forces. Look at Psalm 20. David here describing this attitude. In Psalm 20 and verse 7, it says
this, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will
remember the name of the Lord our God. Some trust in chariots,
some trust in horses. Look over at Proverbs chapter
17. Proverbs chapter 17 and verse
19 says, He loveth transgression that loveth strife. You ever
wonder why people who like to fight all the time and scrap,
you know why they do that? Because they love sin. He loveth
transgression that loveth strife. And he that exalteth his gate
Seeketh destruction and Absalom what he did he went by the gate
of the city and exalted that gate for himself and made himself
the judge of the city He that loveth strife Loveth strife or
leave that love of transgression. He loveth transgression that
loveth strife This is what Absalom is doing and the Bible is clear
that he's in rebellion against God. God said these things We
know that when we react against authority It is better logistically
speaking to circle our ways and gain pursuant power by sheer
numerical advantage. People believe that. People believe
that numbers are power. So he got to himself church and
he got to himself men because to him that meant power. Don't
think it's strange when people ask you how many people you have
in your church because they equate that with power. I told you the
story when I was in St. Lucia or maybe it was Tortola
when when Moose Parks left me in the room with that English
preacher and went out with Henry Mann to buy some island suits
and left me there on purpose and walked out the door and just
as he walked out the door he says, fellas, what do y'all think
about the evangelical movement? And just walked out the door.
He didn't stay for the answer. He knew that he left a fire right
in the middle of the living room and there's going to be a fight
between me and this fella. And this fellow began to talk
and he talked with a very good English accent. He was very austere. He was a very right kind of fellow.
And he was a pastor of a church that had 800 people. And he began
to tell me about his church and about evangelicalism. He told
me that there was a weak church down the road. And so I listened
to him for a little bit. And I said, excuse me, pastor.
I said, you said before there was a weak church down the road.
What do you mean by that? He said, well, they only have
50 people. We have 850. I said, so those 50 are weak
and your 850 are strong. Is that what you're saying? He
said, yeah. I said, well, you don't know
anything about Scripture. I said, you're just talking about
numbers. Talking about numbers. Then he went on to say that everybody
who believes anything, pretty much in the Bible, is a brother.
And I said, well, we got different fathers. And he got really mad
at me and left. But nonetheless, people equate
that. And every time we want to rebel,
if God don't stop us, if God lets us, suffers us to go, we
will try to gather people with us so we will not feel alone
in this matter. That's rebellion. To gather people
against God. Secondly, in verses 2 and 3,
we see that rebellion is dedicated and it's diligent. It says in
the first part, "...and Absalom rose up early." He's getting
about the business. He rose up early. The Lord talks
about people who are prone to follow the lust of their heart
and rebel against Him as those who get about it early in the
morning. They don't waste no time. They're
not lazy like me. They don't sleep till 10. They
get up at sunrise. No, they've had breakfast by
sunrise and they're about the business because they must diligently
pursue their end. Look at a few passages of Scripture.
Turn over to the book of Job. Job chapter 24 and verse 14. Verse 14 says, The murderer,
rising with the light, killeth the poor and needy, and in the
night is as a thief. He rises with the light. Look
over at Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4, and I believe
it's verse 16. For they sleep not, except they
have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away unless they
cause some to fall." They sleep not unless they've done some
mischief. The only way they can sleep is if they've done some bad things.
And they sleep not unless they can cause some to fall. That's
what Absalom is planning. He gets up early in the morning.
When did those priests get up to come and arrest the Lord Jesus
Christ? at the break of dawn. That's what it says in Matthew
chapter 27. At the break of dawn they got up to arrest Christ.
You see, when we get in a bad way, pursuing our own lusts,
our minds know no rest. We are consumed with our own
rebellious intent. We get up early in the morning.
I have been in situations when I was in religion where there
was some kind of fight going on in the church and I was on
one side of that fight. And I didn't get no sleep. I was thinking
about how to win this thing, how to make my voice known, and
how to gather my troops, and who to look for, and what to
look for, and use the psychology necessary to get somebody to
join on my side. Rebellion is a very diligent
thing. Man does not rebel carelessly against God. He rebels purposefully
against God. We are consumed with our rebellious
intent and so was Absalom. Thirdly, in order to gain influence,
we must set ourselves up to a place where we can begin to assume
authority. Begin to assume authority. When
men approach the palace to seek the king to adjudicate some matter
of law, Absalom put himself between the true authority and the one
who is in need. kind of stepped in as a mediator. You see, carnality
thrives on the principle of cutting men off before they get to Christ.
Religion does not want you to know Christ. They want you to
know religion. They don't want to know, I remember
a story about a lady back when I was a meat cutter years ago,
a lady was talking on the radio to a preacher. And she said,
I asked you to pray for my husband to get saved because he was a
drunk. Her husband was a drunk. She
wanted him to get saved. Well, he went to hear somebody
preach and evidently had a transformation of some sort. Well, he not only
stopped drinking, he got a job and he started trying to be a
good husband and hanging around and stuff like that. And she
really got fed up with it. She said, I just wanted you to
get him to stop drinking. I didn't want you to start living right. Because
she was living wrong too. Religion doesn't want you to
know Christ Because then you won't listen to religion anymore
You won't have anything to do with it. You won't be part of
your life in Matthew chapter 23 one of the 23 in verse 13
one of the aspects of the Pharisees was that they actually stood
by the temple door They would not go in themselves. They were
too holy. There's a bunch of riffraff in
that outfit But they would not let anybody else enter either
They stopped them, and talked with them, and tried to convert
them to themselves rather than to God. Absalom set himself up
at the place to meet the needs of men, to decide their matters,
and notice this, he exalted the seeker, told him that what he
did was right and good, and would surely end in favor of the seeker. Let's read that. And Absalom
rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate. And it was
so that when any man that had a controversy came to the king
for judgment, then Absalom called unto him and said, Of what city
art thou? And he said, Thy servant is from
one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See,
thy matters are good and right, and there is no man deputeth
of the king to hear thee. And Absalom said, Moreover, O
that I were made judge of this land, that every man which hath
an suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice.
See anything strange about that? Where are you from? I'm Cherokee.
Well, your matters are good. That's some judge, ain't it? That's some judge. Sound more
like a politician than a judge. Well, I think he is a politician.
He has political designs here, doesn't he? He exalted the seeker. The judgment was made without
hearing both sides, so the fiction is already in and the reason
is clear. Gather support. Gather support. In truth, carnality declares
that it is in the place of the king. That's what he was declaring. Don't go to the king. The king
hadn't even assigned nobody to do this kind of work. I'm here
for you. I'm here for you. And men are
like that. Religion is like that. Men often
proceed their beginnings of rebellion with the words, I prayed about
this. When somebody says that, I cut
them off just like that in my head because I know They're going
to tell me that they're going to do some kind of rebellion,
and they prayed about it, therefore they've got an okay. Listen,
God says it in His Word, you don't have to pray about it.
God's clear, you ain't got to pray about it. You might pray
for grace to follow it, but you ain't got to pray about the thing.
What a person is saying when he says something like that is
that they have a leg up. They have an inside with God. They have a word with God. I
mean, you know, have you prayed about it? No. Well, I've prayed
about it. And I've got an answer. Well, I don't know what you're
doing now. Let's see if your answer is in the word of God. If your answer
is in the word of God, you ain't got an answer. You've got to lie.
Fourthly, in order to further your rebellious cause, you must
somehow diminish the value of the king's judgment. Preferably be that the king is
not doing his job and therefore does not truly care about his
creation That's what it says in the last part of verse 3 But
there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee God hadn't
deputized anybody to do this job So there's just me and I'm
here for you You hear ever hear that people say that we're here
for you Thanks a lot The world is full
of critics who, when faced with some tragedy, say things like,
where is God? Or, why did God let this happen? This tactic is employed by the
unregenerate carnal mind and is designed to suddenly say,
I would have handled it better. That's what Absalom is saying,
where's the king? The king hasn't sent anybody to do this for you,
I'll do this for you. So what's he doing? He's diminishing
the value of the king. He's diminishing the value of
the king's judgment. He's saying, well, he's just
a king in name only. People are suspicious that God
is little more than a casual observer of what goes on in His
universe. And the rebel likes that. They
want them suspicious of God. In 2 Peter chapter 3, it says
that in the last days, Moccas will come denying His coming. because he hadn't come yet. It's
been a long time and he hadn't showed up. You sure God's going
to do that? You sure God's going to do that? People say, why did
God let such and such happen? Let me tell you this, God doesn't
let anything happen. He doesn't let anything happen. He makes
things happen according to His purpose. Now the things that
take place are all working within those things for the good of
God's people. This world is about God's people.
History is about God's people. It's about no one else. It's
as simple as that. Everything that's happening and
will ever happen and ever has happened is for your good and
for God's glory. Everything. And there's some bad things that's
happened. Wars and earthquakes. But he said, I gave Sheba for
thee. I gave Ethiopia for thee. I give nations for you. I wiped
them off the face of the map for you. Those are horrible things. Indeed
they are, but none are horrible to God. They're just a thing
He uses to bring you to a full salvation and an understanding
of who Christ is and give you the glory that comes with being
in the body of Jesus Christ. If you can make the king look,
however, to be lacking in control, you have the ear of the masses. That's what Absalom did. The
king's not in control. He's not deputized to anybody
due to this stuff. He's just sort of out there.
Just sort of watching. He's not a... He's a spectator. Not a participator. Not a participator. Fifthly, Absalom's rebellion
was designed to make him a mediator between the king and the people.
Somebody between us and Christ. Anything happen like that? All
the time. All the time in religion. Verse
4, Absalom said, Moreover, O that I were made judge in the land,
that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto
me, I would do him justice. O that I might be. He wanted
to be a mediator. whether it's Mary as a mediatrix
or some priest who mediates with Mary and then who then mediates
with the king of kings or the religious rock star who make
men believe that his prayers have more authority with God
than other men. The design is always the same.
Why do you think these clowns who are able to stage these healing
ceremonies and the healing things have such power with people?
Because people actually believe they have God's ear. Actually
believe that. They put themselves between the
sick person in need and Jesus Christ. You got to come see me. You'll get healed if you come
to our thing. Come to me instead of the king. That's the design. And I will
do right by you. I will do right by you. Proverbs
chapter 25. Verse 6, Put not forth thyself
in the presence of the King, and stand not in the place of
great mean. Put not thyself forth. This is
rebellion. To put yourself between Christ
and a person in need. And that's what Absalom is doing.
They come to the King to adjudicate matters of law. It was the law
that that's the way it was done. You remember when the woman They
had her baby stolen in the middle of the night. And they came to
Solomon to adjudicate the matter. And one woman said, No, this
is my baby. The other said, No, this is my baby. And Solomon
said, Well, let's cut him in half and give him to each one of them.
And the true mother said, No, let him live. They had wisdom. But that's what the king did.
He adjudicated in matters of the law. And what Absalom is
doing is taking his place. Putting himself in between the
people and the king. And this is rebellion throughout
Scripture. I mean, it's a clear definition
of rebellion. Let's look at a few passages
of Scripture. Numbers chapter 16. Here was Dathan and Abiram. They went against Moses. Because
Moses was the one who adjudicated matters in Israel. And they gathered
in verse 3, themselves together against Moses and against Aaron,
and said to them, You take too much upon you. Moses didn't take
anything upon himself. He was assigned the job. Somebody
in a burning bush told him to do it. And he went and did it.
Seeing all the congregation are holy, we all got good sense and
common sense. Every one of them and the Lord
is among them. Wherefore then lift you up yourselves against
the congregation of the Lord. Now did Moses do any of that?
No he didn't. But that's the heart of rebellion. It's rebellion
against authority. against authority. That's what
Abbasidon is doing. That's what we do every time
we sin. We rebel against authority. Sin
is wrong. Sin is against God's law. And we might as well just come
to the recognition of the fact that when we sin, and we always
sin, it is rebellion. And at the heart of it, and this
should make us all ashamed of what we are by nature, The heart
of it is that we want to be God and we don't want God to be God.
That's the heart of it, no matter what shape it takes. Look over
at Daniel, the prophet Daniel. Chapter 11. Look at verse 21. And in his estate shall stand
up a vile person in his place, to whom they shall not give the
honor of the kingdom. But he shall come in peaceably
and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." That's how it works. He shall
gain the kingdom by flatteries. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2. But chiefly them that walk after
the flesh, and he's talking about these ungodly men. Chiefly them that walk after
the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government. Presumptuous
are they self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Absalom wasn't afraid to do that,
was he? Look down at verse 17. These are wells without water,
clouds that are carried with tempest, to whom mist of darkness
is reserved. They speak great swelling words
of vanity. They allure through the lust of the flesh, through
much wantonness, those that are clean escaped from them who live
in error. In all this, Absalom was breaking
the commandment of God. Everything he did in this was
at the heart of this. Behind it all was a simple basic
principle that is carried from the Old Testament to me. Honor
thy father and thy mother. He was doing this against his
father, which pictures our rebellion against God. Sixthly, Absalom
feigned love for the people. He feigned love for the people.
Rebels just love their followers. But in Scripture it says they
really hate the people they lie to. They really hate them. And in the end they will discard
them because they know that in their rebellion they rebelled
against the king and it might just happen again. It might just
happen again. So they really hate those that
follow them. But Absalom feigned love for the people who came
to him, not because he was interested in their welfare, but that they
would be beholding to him. Look back at our text at verse
5. And it was so that when any man came to him
to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him and kissed
him. Now those are actually two acts there that are put together
in one sentence. Here, Absalom has gained such
power among the people that when they came, they bowed to him. They get down on their face and
he sticks out his hand and lets them take his hand. In all probability,
they kiss his hand. But then he picks them up and
embraces them and kisses them. He kisses them. Rebellion is
not about exalting anybody but the rebel. That's all it's exalting about.
That's what we read last week in Psalm 55. Let's read a few
passages. Psalm 55 and Proverbs 26. It's
not got much longer, and I know you've used your Bibles a lot
tonight, but that ain't gonna hurt your leg. Psalm 55, verse 21. We read this last week. This
Psalm was written at the time of the rebellion of Absalom. Verse 21 says, The words of his
mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His
words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. They were drawn swords. Now he
was all about supposedly helping these people and adjudicating
their matters. But it was all about, he was
using these words because his design was to stick a sword in
the heart of his father. both literally and figuratively,
break his father's heart. Proverbs chapter 26. Proverbs chapter 26 and verse
25. When he speaketh fair, believe
him not. For there is seven abominations
in his heart. Pure abomination. in his heart. You see, ultimately the rebel
begins to believe his own lies. He puts confidence in his own
press reports. By putting forth his hand to
be kissed and embracing his minions, Absalom set himself up as the
king. Read 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. That one who sets himself up in the church of God and acts
as if he's God. In the equation of government
and salvation, This has got to be the case. Salvation involves basically
two characters, God and man. Doesn't it? God and man. The triune Godhead in humanity. Salvation involves those two
characters. And in the equation of government
and salvation, somebody is going to be God. Either God is or man is. Both of them can't be God. But in that equation, that's
how it's got to be. And if God's in charge, man has
nothing to do with it. And if man is in charge, God
has nothing to do with it. Finally, rebellion works and
garners carnal admiration for a time, but it is ultimately
doomed to utter failure. It says clearly, and in this
manner did Absalom to all of Israel, that came to the king
for judgment and Absalom stole the hearts. He was a thief. He
was a heart thief. He was an emotion thief. He was
a mind thief. He stole the hearts of the men
of Israel. All these little ploys that he
puts forth are simply many ways to rebel. And that's every one
of us. Thank God that God has subdued
ours. Thank God. He will subdue all
of them. In Psalm chapter 2, in Psalm
2, when it says, Why do the heathen rage? The kings of the earth
imagine a vain thing. They say, Let us break out his
cords from us. Let us cast down his sovereignty. He can't rule us. He can't be
God to us. And it says, God shall sit in
the heaven and laugh at them. and vex them in his sore displeasure,
and declare unto them, Yet have I set my king on Zion's hill,
and I have given every one of you to him to dispose of, as
he sees fit." He's going to rule you. He's going to run your show
with a rod of iron. You get out of line, he'll get
you right back where you're supposed to be. You say, what if I'm supposed
to be a criminal? That's where you're going to
be. He'll put you right where you're supposed to be. Because you're going to
serve his purpose. He's the Lord. God has set him
on Zion's holy hill, and that's not going to change. That's not
going to change whatsoever. Isaiah 52.7 says this is the
gospel. The good tidings of glad things.
The man that comes upon the mountain and publishes peace and publishes
salvation that saith unto Israel, thy God reigneth. 1 Corinthians 15 says he must
reign till all his enemies be made his footstool. Rebellion
seems like it's working. But it never does. It ends in
utter and absolute failure because the Lord is going to reign. Revelation
11 said His kingdom, there is no end of His reign and His royal
reign. You see, rebellion is nothing
more than the musings and decisions born of the delusions of vanity.
That is what we are. We are vanity, emptiness, We
have no substance, we're just a reflection of evil. That's
what vanity is, it's a reflection. That's why we call those vanity
mirrors, because they reflect. They reflect. That's not us there.
That's just a reflection. We don't have no substance. Vanity
has no substance. Vanity can never in any way,
shape or form ever produce anything substantial. It can't produce
substance. It is always just a myth. Rebellion
is a myth. It's real in this sense that
men believe it and practice it and our carnal nature still is
rebellious against God. But it ain't going to end that
way. Now for some men, they will be punished for their carnal
nature. They'll go to hell for it. They'll spend eternity separated
from God for it. But for the child of God, One
day he's going to leave his carnal nature behind. That will not
be an issue ever again. When we cast off this mortal
coil and are put in the grave and they throw the clods on our
face, that's where our carnality stays. And we go on to be with
the Lord. But right now, when we read these
instances of this rebellion, don't pass it off. And just get
indignant at the guy who did it. I get indignant at him. Then
I realize. If I was Absalom, I'd be doing
exactly the same thing except for the grace of God. Praise God and thank Him daily
that He doesn't suffer you to be what you are in nature. Because that's the only thing
that's keeping you from being what you are in nature is His
sovereign, sweet, sustaining, subduing grace. Father, bless
us to understand and pray in Christ's name.