A Spirit of Rebellion

I'm going to talk about something today that plagues every single human being. It plagues me, it plagues you, it comes up. In the worst possible time, it always rears its head when there's trouble. It's like kick you when you're down. The world is just not fair. And it's something that we try to avoid, but it's just built into our nature.

What is this thing that all of us have? It's a spirit of rebellion. A spirit of, don't tell me what to do, I will determine for myself what is right and what is wrong. A spirit of rebellion. A little bitty baby has no idea what's good and bad for them to put in their mouth. But when mommy says, don't pick that up, that little stink bug, and put it in your mouth, what does that baby do? I want to put it in my mouth.

And that baby cries with a temper of rebellion. It's just built in our nature. Or when mommy tries to give the baby something good to eat. Like mashed green beans. Mmm. And that baby, before ever trying that baby food, what does that baby do?

Close its mouth. Mmm. I don't want to eat that. And we never grow out of that. What is that spirit of rebellion? It's throughout human history. Example after example. So let's talk about that today and how to overcome it. How to not rebel against our father who created us, who loves us, he wants us to be children in his kingdom, and we close our mouths and we say, Mmm. I don't want that. When really we do. Lucifer was the first rebellion.

We rebelled against God and drew a third of the angels with him and they became demons. Lucifer is the father of rebellion. But then there was Adam and Eve. Weren't they? And what did they do? They were influenced by Satan. The serpent came in and oh, he said, look at this tree. God gives you everything in the entire garden except one little tree. You could eat from thousands of trees and all kinds of probably berries growing on the ground and all kinds of things they could have eaten.

It was a smorgasbord. They didn't even have to plant it. It was a buffet. Oh no, they wanted the one thing. God said, don't touch because they had within them the spirit of rebellion. They rebelled against God. And then not long after that, Abel, Cain and Abel. Cain was not satisfied with what he had and he disobeyed God and God did not accept his offering.

So what did Cain do? He rebelled, killed his brother Abel. Eventually, the entire world, the entire planet became in a state of rebellion, so wicked and so violent that God deluged the entire planet with a flood and killed every air-breathing creature, animal or bird or man, except Noah and those that were on the Ark. Then fast forward in history.

God rescues ancient Israel from slavery, where every day they're whipped. Their children, imagine their children, first-born sons. Their sons are thrown into the river and killed by their taskmasters. And yet, what do they do the entire time they wander in the wilderness? They rebel against God. So much so that God had them die in the wilderness and had their children go in and accept the Promised Land. In Numbers, Chapter 14, we see a rebellion. We won't turn there for time's sake, but God despised it.

The spies had just come back and reported on how great the Promised Land was, but it's not for us, 10 of the 12 said. It's not for us because there would be giants in the land. And we can't take those people. And so the people of Israel rebelled. We'll pick our own leaders and we'll go back to Egypt, back to the place where they killed their babies. And then not too long after that, they lose a battle very badly, and a bunch of them die for that first rebellion.

In Numbers, Chapter 16, you have Korah's rebellion. Korah, who was the first cousin of Moses and a man of renown, and 250 other men of renown stand up against Moses and say, we're picking our own leaders. You're no longer in charge. You take too much on yourself, Moses, and they rebel against a leader that God Himself put in place. And so they all stood in front of their tents. And they were going to rise up and they were going to become the priesthood. And God just opened the ground and swallowed them alive. And they died being crushed under earth.

You'd think that would be enough of a message. Two rebellions, two mass executions. God made it very clear, you follow my authority. I'm in charge here. I love you. I'm bringing you towards a promised land. But you have to do what I say. The very next day! Right? All the people of Israel ran away from Korah when the ground started to open up. And they didn't walk away.

They ran screaming. Ah! The ground is opening up! And what did they do the very next day? They all went to Moses and complained. Who were you to kill Korah and the 250 renowned men? That man circumcised my son on the eighth day! Who were you? Moses, to kill them. And what did Moses do? Fell down flat on his face. Now, if Moses was an arrogant man, he could have gotten angry and pronounced a curse on them. But Moses was a very humble man.

He knew he wasn't perfect either. And he begged God for forgiveness. Remember, this is the same Moses that gave up living in the house of Pharaoh, just so he could be with his people. He loved these people. But they were a pain in the rear end, because they had a spirit of rebellion. And so God knew, absolutely, Moses didn't kill Korah.

God killed Korah. God started sending a plague through the people of Israel. And Moses sprinted over to Aaron and said, go and get a censer, and take it and stand in between the plague and the people. And Aaron sprinted into the temple and grabbed some fire from the altar into the censer and ran with that fire out and stood in between the people, and the plague stopped. Which is symbolic of what Jesus Christ does for you and me.

He pays for our sin. Pays for our rebellion. But God does not tolerate that spirit of rebellion that's in us. Before Aaron could get in between the plague and the people, 14,000 more people died. You know, we need to take this personally, you and I do. Because that example right there, and we're not going to go through it in detail. We're going to go through another one in just a minute.

But that example right there should tell us, each individual is personally responsible to God for not rebelling. Go back and read number 16 on your own time. Read how, yes, okay, the ministry rebelled against Moses, so to speak.

If you want to bring that into modern vernacular, the ministry rebelled against Moses, and God put his stamp of disapproval on that. But that's not where the rebellion stopped. Because in the face of that ministry rebelling, the people rebelled, and God put his stamp of disapproval on them, on us, when we rebel. He made it very, very clear. Do not rebel against me, God says. Fast forward in time. Israel becomes a nation.

And then they rebel against God and say, we don't want to judge anymore when Samuel was their judge. We want a king! Samuel felt so heartbroken, and God said, hey, they're not rebelling against you, they're rebelling against me! God takes it personally when we bad-mouth his leaders. And it's not that his leaders are always good. We're going to go through that in just a minute. Sometimes those leaders are seriously corrupt.

Usually not. Usually they are not. Sometimes they are. How do you handle it? How do we deal with that corrupt heart that's inside us? So they reject Samuel, and they want a king. So they get a big, tall, strapping man, a handsome man, someone anyone would be proud to have as their king, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, King Saul. And at the beginning, he was a humble man. And he did what was right in the sight of God. But Saul lacked faith, and he didn't see God for who God was, and he didn't trust God, and he ruled from his own carnal, human, selfish perspective.

And you know what he did? He let the people get to him. And he loved praise, and he loved that affirmation that you get from other people, and the people pat you on the back and say, "'Hail! Be the king!" And we do that, too. Oh, we love the compliment. We love the praise. We love the attaboy, attagirl, that affirmation that we get from other people.

And the danger is we lose sight of the great God and his authority and power and the rules that he put in place. In 1 Samuel 15, Saul finally rebels, and God has absolutely had enough. Let's go there, 1 Samuel 15. What we're going to do is we're going to contrast Saul and David.

We're going to contrast Saul, King Saul, and King David. Two men who were intertwined with each other, their lives were interconnected, and they are a great example of rebellion and yielding to God as the sovereign king. And then, after we look at these two examples of Saul and David, let's go take a look at the core reason behind rebellion.

Why do we do it anyway, and how can we solve it? That's what we're going to do today in this sermon. 1 Samuel 15, 1 Samuel also said to Saul, The Lord has sent me to anoint you king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore heed the voice of the words of the Lord. That's all he was asking him to do. Just do what God tells you to do.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, verse 2, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel. He has ambushed him on the way when he went to camp up from Egypt. And now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them.

Kill both men and women, infant and nursing child, ox, sheep, camel and donkey. God had had enough with a very corrupt people, and it was time for them to go. Now God can do that. Man cannot. But this is God ordering it. And then in verse 8, dropping down, Saul doesn't obey. Oh, but he mostly obeys. And oh, we make this excuse all the time. We do exactly what Saul did constantly. Well, I mostly obeyed. Oh, I have a few faults. Oh, I fall down once in a while. But I most of the time obey God. Is that good?

Or is that evil? Can you have your toes on the line? Can you straddle the line? Verse 8, he also looked at Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. So he didn't kill the king as God told him to.

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the ox and the fatlings of the lamb and all that was good and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. Oh, but they wanted stuff. Oh, so I mostly obey. But I want this one. How do we do that in our lives, brethren? They were unwilling to utterly destroy them, but everything despised and worthless they utterly destroyed. Okay, so they partly obeyed. That's pretty good, right? Listen to the excuses that Saul makes. Or should I say that we make when we rebel against God. Verse 10, now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.

And it grieved Samuel and he cried out to the Lord all night. The next morning, Samuel wakes up and he goes to see King Saul. And verse 13, then Samuel went to Saul and Saul said to him, blessed are you of the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord. Oh, he knew he didn't. He knew he didn't. But he excused himself anyway, didn't he?

Verse 14. But Samuel said, what is this bleeding of sheep in my ears and the lowing of oxen that I hear? And Saul said, well, they have brought them out from the Amalekites where the people spared the best of the sheep in oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God. And the rest we have utterly destroyed. So he makes an excuse and absolutely lies and says, oh, we're going to sacrifice them to God.

No, they weren't. They said they were good. They desired them. That's why they kept them. And all of a sudden he gets caught, he gets busted. And what does he do? Oh, he quickly makes an excuse. Oh, but the excuse doesn't fly. So listen to what he does next. And then Samuel said to Saul, be quiet, and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me last night.

And he said to him, speak on. So Samuel said, when you were little in your eyes, when you were not the head of the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel, doesn't your authority come from God? Doesn't your life, your source, isn't it God? Who do you think you are? That's Saul's opening statement, Samuel's opening statement. And now the Lord sent you on a mission. Said, and go utterly and destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.

Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord? But Saul said to Samuel, but I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and gone on the mission which the Lord sent me, and brought back a gag the Amalekite, but I've utterly destroyed the Amalekite.

This arguing attitude that we have where we justify everything that we do, I can do nothing wrong. That's what Saul did. That's what we do.

But the people took the plunder, the sheep, and the oxen, and the best. Oh, but it was the people, Saul said, and the things which have utterly destroyed to sacrifice to the Lord your God and Gilgal. And in verse 22, Samuel's reply, is very poignant as to God's attitude about our heart, our heart of rebellion. So in verse 22, Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offering and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to heed than the fat of rams, to submit, to yield, to say, Okay, you're the boss.

It's better than any sacrifice you could give. God said He didn't want those sheep, and they weren't going to give them to God anyway. They wanted those sheep for themselves, and when they got busted, they said, Okay, we're going to give them to God.

23. For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as the iniquity of an idolater.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king.

That's an interesting statement. Samuel, inspired by God, says, Rebellion is demonic. You are behaving like Satan himself. It's the sin of witchcraft, where they conjure up evil spirits. Witchcraft involves a lot of taking of drugs and conjuring up wicked spirits. The word for witchcraft, I believe in the Greek, is the word we get pharmacy from today. So it had a lot to do with drugs.

The practice of witchcraft. They would snort something, or smoke something, or drink something, or chew something, and get really high. Then they would conjure up these demonic spirits, which God absolutely hates. And He says, You know what rebellion is like? Conjuring up demons.

You are not my children. You're demonic. Why? Because you didn't do what God said to do.

Oh, even partly doing what God says to do, and leaving a little part out is rebellion.

And it's idolatry. It's breaking the second commandment. It's putting something else in place of God. There's something else in the New Testament that's equated to idolatry. And we're going to get to that, because that is the source of rebellion. And it's inside everyone of you and me. So let's take a look at the opposite now. Let's look at King David.

So Saul is rejected as king in a shepherd and a musician. As Mr. Thompson said in his sermonette, the youngest, the runt of the litter, David, he was disregarded, disrespected, too young to be worth anything. And when Samuel told Jesse to bring his sons because one would be anointed king, he didn't even bring David. You watch the sheep, you little runt. One of your brothers is going to be king. If Samuel stands before all of Jesse's sons and looks at the oldest son, he's strapping and handsome just like Saul was. And he says, surely the king stands before me. God says, no, I've rejected all these guys. The one you're looking for is not even here because I look at the heart. I don't look at the external like men do.

And so Samuel goes to Jesse, hey, dude, where's your other son? Because you didn't bring the one who's going to be king. Jesse must have been floored. What? You mean the runt? Are you kidding me? Yes, God looks on the heart. And so David gets anointed king. But a good two decades go by before he becomes king. And he goes through a tremendous trial after being anointed king of Israel, the leader appointed by God. But there's a current leader on the throne who God said he was going to get rid of. God said Saul must go. Now, a lot of people right there would have taken that as license to do away with Saul. But David knew about the spirit of rebellion, and he knew that it was the sin of witchcraft. As he was growing up, he watched his king rebel against God, and he watched God reject that king. Then David must have said to himself, I will not make the same mistake my predecessor made. I will not rebel against the Almighty, the Most High God, the creator of the entire universe. Who am I to turn to the left or to the right? From what God says to me, King David made a commitment to do everything God said to do. He fell down and made all kinds of mistakes, too. But he didn't rebel. And in 2 Samuel 24, we see David's first opportunity to really excuse himself and rid himself of persecution and living on the run as a fugitive. You see, he starts out as a shepherd and a musician, and he ends up being a fugitive and a warrior, something he probably never thought he would be, never wanted to be. And that's who he is, a man on the run. And he and his band are hiding in a cave in 1 Samuel 24. Now it happened when Saul had returned from the Philistines that it was sold to him, saying, Take note. David is in the wilderness of Ngedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men from Israel and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats. Now David had about 600 guys with him. So Saul brings a number five to one. So he can lose four out of his five guys to one of David's commandos, because David's men were mighty men. But Saul outnumbered him and would surely defeat them. So Saul took 3,000 chosen men in verse three. So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, and there was a cave.

And Saul went to attend to his needs. Okay, so he had to take a leak.

And David and his men were staying in the recess of the cave. And then the men of David said to him, This is the day which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver you from the enemy into your hand.

David, God has delivered Saul to you. Take him out. Do you remember what Saul did when he rebelled?

He mostly obeyed God, but he didn't obey God all the way. And you know one of God's rules?

Don't murder. So, in order, Saul was standing there in the cave, in the dark, relieving himself, completely unaware that 600 swords were around him. And all David did was cut the garment of his cloak to prove that he could have killed him. And he even felt guilty about doing that.

David considered the cutting of the cloak of the rebellious king, a sinful king, a terrible leader.

Just cutting his cloak was rebellion against God. He repented of it. He was sorry he even cut his cloak. His mighty men saw the opportunity to take his life. David was embarrassed that he cut the corner of a garment, which is nothing. It didn't hurt Saul. It just embarrassed him.

And David was sorry he embarrassed the king. And he walked out and he told him, hey, I could have killed you. And for a brief moment, Saul repented, oh, David, my son.

And he let him go, took the 3,000 men and went away. Oh, but Saul quickly changed his mind, because he was a rebellious and very self-centered, sinful king. He went after David again.

And then in 1 Samuel chapter 26, we pick up the second time. David could have taken him out easily. Saul must have been a heavy sleeper. Must have snored like I do. 1 Samuel chapter 26 and verse 1. Now the Ziphites came to Saul and Gibeah, saying, Is David not hiding in the hill of Hakkalia?

Totally butchered that, sorry. Opposite of Jeshom, or whatever it is.

And then Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having 3,000 chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped in the hill of Hakkalia, that is not how you pronounce that, which is opposite of Jeshom by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and Saul saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness. David, therefore, sent out spies and understood that Saul had indeed come. So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay. And Abner, the son of Nair, was the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped, all around him. And David answered and said to Amalek the Hittite, Go down to Abishai, the son of... I can't pronounce these names, and it's just chock full of them... the brother of Joab, saying, Who will go down to me with Saul in the camp? And somebody said, Hey, I will go down. And David said to him, sent him down at night, and there Saul lay sleeping, verse 7, with the camp, and with his spear stuck in the ground by his head, and Abner and the people lay all around him. So Saul lays down his bedroll, puts his spear in the ground by his head, and puts his canteen on his spear. And he goes to bed.

Now Abishai says to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please let me strike him at once with the spear, right into the earth, and I will not have to strike him a second time. So they sneak in through Saul's 3,000 men, unheard, and have a conversation. They're whispering to each other. These guys are so stealthy. They're standing right over an obviously snoring king. Nobody hears a thing.

Let me take him out. One blow. We won't have to hit him a second time. We're out of here.

Your problems are solved.

And David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him. Who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed? It's rebellion! We will not rebel against Saul, against the human leader.

Was that David's point? No. David saw over the shoulder of King Saul. Saul was a mess of a man, an absolute mess of a man. But King David could see past Saul that God was behind him.

David wasn't going to rebel against God. He wasn't even going to put his hand on King Saul. So, the Lord forbid, verse 11, that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed.

But please take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head. And let's go.

So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul's head, and they got away.

And no man saw or knew it or awoke. Well, these are good soldiers. Verse 13, for they were all asleep, because deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them. Okay, they did get some help. Verse 13, now David went over to the other side and stood on the top of the hill, far off, a great distance being between them. You know, David didn't have to do this.

He could have ended. He could have been self-centered and said, I'm going to fix this right here and right now. And that's human nature. And that's what we do. And it comes from a spirit of, nobody tells me what to do. I am my own guide in life. And David saw, as he was growing up, a king, lead Israel in rebellion and not follow God. And he saw his country fall apart. And he made a commitment. I will not rebel against God. No matter what, I will trust that God will work it out. A lot of people will criticize us to this day when we say, no, let God work it out. They will say to you that you're irresponsible, that you're a coward, that you're a people pleaser. No, brethren, you're a God pleaser when you trust God to work it out. David pleased God. Verse 14, and David called out to the people and to Abner, the son of Nair, saying, Do you not answer Abner? And answered, answered, and said, Who is calling out to the king? And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you guarded your Lord the king? For one of your people came in to destroy the Lord your king.

In other words, you're a lousy guard, General Abner. You're a lousy guard because I was standing over your king and I could have had him to this day. You want proof? Here's his spear and here's his canteen. And they were all amazed that they did not guard their king. And so what happened was Saul, again, temporarily repented. And David said, Okay, send one young man. I don't want an experienced soldier, one young man from your camp, to collect Saul's spear and canteen. He didn't even keep the spear and the canteen. He gave it back. You know why? Because that was the spear of the man God anointed king over Israel. Even though David was anointed to be the next king, he wouldn't keep the spear and he wouldn't even keep his canteen. No souvenirs, no gloating, no embarrassing one who God had appointed. Why? For Saul's sake? Saul was a ridiculous man, a faithless man, a sinful man. He eventually goes to soothsayers and he eventually ends up in a battle where he falls on his own sword and dies. And David ended the line of Saul right then and there because Jonathan died with him. There was no chance for there to be a king from the line of Saul. And David was made king instantly and immediately. And there were lots of problems after that. But you know, David understood that when God puts a man in charge, it's God who's doing it. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 10 through 13. You've heard the expression, salute the uniform if you can't salute the man in the uniform. That means salute the authority behind it. King David understood what Paul explained in Ephesians chapter 4.

He who descended is also the one who ascended, verse 10, from far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And verse 11, and he himself gave some to be apostles.

The authority came from Jesus Christ down. And when you rebel against that, you're not rebelling against the man. You're not. We don't say that much anymore. You know, this used to be preached a lot way back in the day when you remember, you know, ministry would wield a lot of authority and they would use this. But now we hardly ever say it. And we need to have a balance in between those two. We need to have a balance that says, you know what, we won't rebel against God no matter what. We won't have the spirit of rebellion. But we will follow as they follow Christ, as the Apostle Paul also said. And there does need to be that balance there. That we're looking to God and we're looking to Jesus Christ for direction. And we're not following that spirit of rebellion. That's like that little baby that closes his mouth and says, I don't want to eat carrots because that's what we do. David saw God as being his sovereign, his leader. He yielded his life to God and said, okay, I'm yours. Show me what to do. Remember David's psalm of repentance? David didn't make the excuses that Saul made when David sinned with Bathsheba and had Uriah the Hittite killed and then it was shown to him by Nathan. What did David do? Psalm 51 says, forgive me, clean me, wash me with hyssop, which is like jalapeno oil, and I will be clean.

He wasn't like, well, I obeyed God mostly.

Right? I teach people to keep the laws of God and I make sure that there's no idols in Israel and I've laid up treasure for God to build a temple, even though God said, I can't build a temple. I've done all these good things. Okay, yeah, I slept with a guy's wife and I had him killed. But that, I mean, in the grand scope of things, no, that's a small thing. That's what Saul would have said. What did David say? Oh, you know, I'm not even worthy. Forgive me, clean me, don't cast me from your presence. David understood God was his sovereign. Notice some of his Psalms. Psalm chapter seven and verse 14. Psalm chapter seven and verse 14, behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity. Iniquity is lawlessness, and that was Saul. The wicked have no rules. Nobody tells them what to do. You want to know the difference between a rebellious heart and a godly heart?

Watch for the rules. People who follow the rules.

The wicked bring forth iniquity. Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He made a pit and dug it out and has fallen into the ditch which he made. It always comes back to bite you.

His trouble shall return on his own head and his violent dealings shall come down on his own crown.

Verse 17, I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness. I will follow his rules, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who most high. In David's opinion, God was the most high. He wasn't the most high. God was the most high. The people praising him, they weren't the most high. God in his life was most high. What is the root cause of rebellion?

Is there one thing, overall other things, that we can fix so that we don't rebel against God?

You know, there is that one thing. Believe it or not, it's covetousness.

It's covetousness! Rebellion is equal to covetousness. I'll show you. Let's go back and look at the very first rebellion, the original rebellion, and look at what was behind it. When Satan or Lucifer at the time rebelled against God, Isaiah 14, please turn there and read this with me. Isaiah 14, verse 12. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations.

For you have said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, the angels, in other words. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest side of the north. I will ascend to the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.

Satan was a carib, a caribim. He was one of the greatest angels in the universe, far more powerful than we are today. He had so much, but that wasn't enough. Not for him. He wanted what God had.

He didn't want what he had. He wanted what somebody else had. He wanted what God had. He coveted God's position. He rebelled because he wanted to get something that belonged to another.

Coveting is at the heart of rebellion, and it is a matter of the heart.

You know, Jesus said this in Mark 7. In Mark 7 and verse 21, he said, From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts. Adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

All these evil things come from within and defile a man. They're inside us.

It's by nature that we are self-centered, self-seeking beings. What can we do about it?

There is something. This is an overcomeable problem. I want to read from the booklet, the Tenth Commandments. Coveting is an immoral longing for something that is not rightfully ours.

That is usually because the object of our desire already belongs to someone else.

But coveting can also include our wanting far more than we would legitimately deserve, or that would rightfully be our share. The focus of the Tenth Commandment is that we are not to illicitly desire anything that already belongs to others.

So what is the opposite of coveting? The opposite of coveting is the desire.

It is also a desire, but it is a desire to help others, to be a blessing in their lives, to help them gain the most from the blessings that God has given them.

Coveting is actually the exact opposite of God's nature.

We are by nature selfish, aren't we? We look out for what we desire. When we wake up in the morning, if we don't put a cap on it, what do we do? I need coffee. I need to do I, I, I, I, I. What am I going to accomplish today?

The Tenth Commandment is about stopping thinking about yourself before other people.

Coveting is a root, if not the root, of all sin. James chapter 1 and verse 14. James makes this point. James chapter 1 and verse 14.

Coveting is at the heart of rebellion. It's a selfishness rebellion is. It's me. Do it my way. I'll get God's forgiveness later.

James chapter 1 and verse 14. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.

And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Where does sin come from?

Elicit desire. Coveting. See, covet sin. It's like a mathematical equation.

We see something, we want it, we try to get it.

Human conflict in a mathematical equation. The whole sum of human problems summed up in a word problem.

Add sight to wrong desire and you get death.

Sin starts with coveting. James points out that coveting can be the root of all human conflict, dropping down to chapter 4 and verse 1. He says, where do wars and fights come from among you?

Do they not come from your desire for pleasure that wore in your members?

This is a heart issue. You lust and you do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war and yet you do not have because you don't ask. It's not like you won't get some yourself. It's not like God won't take care of you, but you're too impatient to wait for God.

No, you go take it on your own and you go take somebody else's. And that's where conflict comes from.

We all have this nature inside us and we can't deny it. And if you don't see it, if you don't see this fundamental basic thing, then brethren, I sincerely ask you to question if you're baptized and you don't see this inside you. Question whether or not you're actually converted. Why? Am I judging you? No. Am I criticizing you? No! So that you will believe and repent and get baptized again and actually become converted. If you cannot see your corrupt human nature, maybe you didn't really get baptized. Maybe you just took a bath.

This is fundamental stuff. This is Christianity 101, the basics, the starting point.

All of us have this. You don't believe me? Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3. I have this. You have it.

Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh. How many of us did?

All of us did. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. You are not an exception. We must guard against covetousness. Rebellion against God usually starts with a wrong desire.

Romans chapter 3 and verse 10. As it is written, Paul says, there is none righteous, no, not one. Drop down to verse 23.

Same Romans chapter 3 verse 23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, which means all have coveted by nature and fall short of the glory of God. But you know what? We weren't called to stay in sin. We weren't called to just admit that we covet and that's good enough.

That's not good enough. We have to do something about it. And that's why we walk this Christian walk. And that's why it's a lifetime adventure. It's not just a get baptized and woohoo!

That's all we have to do. No, it's a lifetime adventure. How can we overcome a covetous heart? Step one is be aware of it. Be aware that it's inside you. Luke chapter 12 and verse 15.

Luke 12 and 15 says, and he said to them, take heed and be aware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in its abundance of things he possesses. Be aware, he said, take heed and beware. The very first thing you need to do to overcome covetousness is be aware that it's in me. It's in you. You can't fight an enemy. You can't see.

Point one is to ask God to show you that covetousness is inside you and ask Him to help you root it out.

You can't fight an enemy. You can't see. Brethren, let's open our eyes and see the corrupt human nature that's inside us and ask God to root it out. The Apostle Paul said, oh wretched man that I am. And he was already an Apostle because he was aware. He was aware of it.

The next thing we need to do is ask God to replace coveting with His loving nature.

Like in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 3 and 4, we won't go there, where it says, you know, you're supposed to esteem other people better than yourself. We've read that enough times in sermons and sermonettes over the past year. You've probably got that.

The reason that is such a great saying is because you never hate yourself. And if you esteem other people better than yourself, you're going to treat people pretty well.

Because people never really hate themselves. Oh, there's this whole self-loathing and psychosis that goes on with some people, but that in and of itself is actually selfishness at its core.

When you get down to the nitty-gritty, it's still not hating the self. Even suicide, to which I am sympathetic, is the most selfish thing that one can do. Suicide is the most selfish thing one can do. And I'm not mocking people's pain if you've had members of your family commit suicide. But what does suicide do? What does it do but leave other people in pain?

Well, they'll finally realize that I was somebody when I'm gone. It's selfish.

You don't actually hate yourself. There's actually selfishness even in suicide.

So why is Philippians 2, 3, and 4 such a great verse? Esteem others better than yourself.

Because nobody hates themselves. And if you esteem other people better than yourself, you're going to treat them really well. Romans 13, verses 9-10.

Ask God to replace covetousness in your heart with His love, the exact opposite of covetousness.

Romans 13, you know, the Apostle Paul in Romans is talking about the conversion process.

Going from a carnal person to a spiritual person. And he's about to wrap it up here in chapter 13. He says in verse 9, For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you will not bear false witness, you shall not covet. And if there's any other commandments, they're all summed up in this one saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to neighbor, and therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Ask God, He will put it in you. He will. It's not He might put it in you. You ask Him, and He will put it in His converted children. Luke 11, verse 13. Jesus said, If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, and we do, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? He will give you His love right inside you. Ask!

The third thing that you need to do to combat covetousness is trust God. Have faith in Him. Rising up and overthrowing authority is a lack of faith.

Rebelling against anything that God says to do. Thinking that you know better, that God is somehow unfair with this one particular rule that He has. You're going to do everything else like Saul did, but this one or two little things, because you desire those things. You covet what's not yours.

It's a lack of faith that in due time, God is not going to give you what you deserve, so you have to go take it yourself. You have to go and fill in whatever is your habit, whatever you still haven't overcome, whatever that might be. Fill in the blank.

And it's a lack of faith that God's not eventually going to fill that need for you. We all fall down. We all have these habits. But trust Him to fill it.

Romans 11, verse 26. Isn't God our deliverer? Deliverer? Won't He deliver us from all of our challenges, including the biggest challenge of all, overcoming our selfish heart? Yes!

He delivers us. Trust Him. Romans 11, verse 26. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written.

The deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

And he will turn away ungodliness from you and me. How? He's our deliverer. He's on our side. It's like, have you ever seen a proud parent at a sporting event? It's terribly embarrassing.

But they're like, that's my boy! Did you see that? And they're shaking their neighbor. Did you see scored? That was my son. That was my daughter. That's God. God, about us on our side, cheering. You did it! You overcame! I'm proud of you!

He is our deliverer. Have faith in Him. You want to overcome covetousness?

Trust your deliverer to deliver you, to turn you away. You and I do not have the power to turn away on our own. You've got to trust Him. You've got to put all of your effort into it, but that's not going to be enough. It won't. You've got to trust God to deliver you.

So your effort and then your trust equals deliverance.

Point number four. Something we all need a little bit more of. Combat covetousness with gratitude. Gratitude, thankfulness.

Accepting God's authority is the opposite of rebellion. Notice how David combines God's authority with gratitude. He thanks God for being the Most High. Psalm 97 verses 9 through 12.

Psalm 97, 9 through 12. For you, Lord, are Most High above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods. You who love the Lord hate evil. He preserves the souls of His saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. The light is sown for righteous and gladness for the upright in His heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

Just the mention of God's name should bring the feeling of gratitude. And it doesn't always, because we have that nature inside us that says, I don't like mashed peas. I'm not going to eat what you tell me to eat, just like we did when we were babies. And yet, we're supposed to be the opposite. When we hear the name of God, it's like Moses. We drop our face to the ground, if not literally, in our heart and say, thank you. Thank you for your plan. Thank you that you're going to deliver all of mankind. Thank you that you love. Giving thanks for what we have, not coveting what we don't have. And that's our nature, isn't it? Self-pity is generally covetousness. Jealousy is generally covetousness. You're coveting what other people have instead of being grateful for what you have. It's like, I don't remember how that saying exactly goes, but the man who's sorry that he doesn't have shoes until he sees a man without socks, the man without socks is sorry until he sees a man without feet.

Be thankful for what you have. At least you have socks. At least you have feet, so you don't have the best shoes, the best car, the best house.

We, human nature, we look at what we don't have and we covet what other people have. Oh, and that's just the boiling pot for conflict and sin. And instead, we should be grateful at the very mention of the name of God. Oh, God, my deliverer. He healed me. When I was very sick, he delivered me from financial collapse. He forgave my sins that I did over and over and over again. Every time we hear the name of God, it should be like dropping on our face to Moses, like Moses did, and saying, thank you. So point number four, to combat covetousness, your bullets are gratitude. Arm yourself. Point number five, you can't just root out covetousness and not put anything in its place.

So point number five, redirect your desires in the right direction. Redirect your desires in the right direction. Desire the right things. You want to not covet? You want to not have wrong desires? Have right desires. It's not enough just to stop coveting. You've got to replace it with something. What's our chief desire? Somebody tell me what our chief desire is supposed to be.

Seek the kingdom. Matthew 6, verse 33. And that does please God. Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. You don't seek what you don't desire. This is talking about having a desire for the kingdom. And when we desire the kingdom, it really helps us to not desire the wrong things. When we really desire to have peace within our own families that will eventually spread to peace on the entire earth, you know, you're not so worried about keeping up with the Joneses. You're not so worried about all the silly things we fight and argue over because you're looking a different direction.

Matthew 6, up a little bit in verse 20, backtrack just a little bit.

Jesus said, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Oh, we desire money, don't we?

That's a desire. And he says, lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Seek it, cry out for it. Cry out that God's understanding will be instilled in you. Proverbs 2, verse 3, says, Proverbs 2, verse 3, yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, really desire it and search for it as hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and you will find the knowledge of God.

You will replace covetousness with seeking the right things. You know what? You'll actually find them. It will not be a search in vain. You will not come up empty-handed. Nothing else is worth more than God's way. Proverbs chapter 8, verse 11. Proverbs chapter 8, verse 11, For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that one may desire cannot compare to her.

You can't compare what God offers you and me to the things that you might fulfill your lusts right now, today. Those things are temporary and leave you destitute in pain and eventually dead.

How can you compare that to eternal life, eternal health, eternal vigor and energy, and peace with everybody walking down the street and everybody knows your name and you know everybody's name? And everybody gets a hug and everybody gets an encouraging word. People like to spend time with each other. They give gifts to each other. Sounds like a fantasy, because we live in this world. But that's the world we seek, and you cannot compare any wealth, anything you possibly desire with that. How do you overcome covetousness? Replace it with something else.

God will reward those who turn from their self-exalting, coveting heart.

In Proverbs 8 and verse 19, last scripture, God's reward is sure. He says, My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of the righteous and in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasures. Rebellion is an empty promise.

Rise up, and don't do what God says to do, and end up destitute. Follow God and get rid of that root cause of rebellion, covetousness, and end up full in a happy, happy life.

Brethren, from the time we're little babies, we have instilled in us a selfish human nature that says, I don't want to be told what to do. It's rebellion against God. And all through human history, we see examples of rebellion. And at the root cause of that rebellion is our heart. Let us turn our hearts not away from rebellion, because that's not enough. Let's go deeper. Let's turn our hearts away from covetousness and become the loving, giving, concern for other people, children of God.