Good morning, everyone.
You know, we speak once a month, each
of us.
And so you're always just kind of got
your antenna up, just kind of trying to
listen for the voice of the Lord.
What would he have me speak on the
next time?
And this time, it actually kind of happened
late.
I think it was maybe Wednesday or Thursday
even.
I don't know.
But the thought came to me pretty strongly.
The children of Israel in the wilderness before
the Lord, that phrase, before the Lord.
And that took me to numbers 16, which
is what I'm going to share on this
morning out of.
And it's really a story of man's response
to God's designated authority.
That's what it's really about.
That is the underlying storyline and lesson for
us today.
But just to bring it into context so
we can kind of get it in our
minds where this happened at in their time
in the wilderness, let me just kind of
go over the history of it.
Of course, it began.
Moses ran for his life and spent 40
years in the wilderness.
And towards the end of that time, the
Lord appeared to him at the burning bush
and spoke to him and called him and
ordained him and appointed him to accomplish a
mission.
And Moses went back to Egypt and confronted
the Pharaoh.
And of course, there were 10 different times
that Pharaoh refused to let the people of
God go.
And God just rained down his judgment on
Egypt until he relented and let the Hebrews
leave.
And of course, they went through the Red
Sea and all of that.
And you guys watched the movie last night.
And then there were 10 provocations by the
people of Israel.
10 different times they murmured against God's designated
authority.
And 10 different times they rebelled against the
Lord himself.
And it reached its peak, I suppose you
could say, when Moses sent the 12 spies,
one from every tribe representing the 12 tribes,
sent these 12 spies into the land to
get a sense of what was there before
the nation moved in and took it over,
the promised land.
And you all know 10 of the spies
came back with an evil report.
And the people believed the evil report.
They did not believe the Lord.
And that all comes to a head in
Numbers 14, just trying to get you in
your mind where we're at.
So this is pretty close on the heels
of that experience.
In fact, what's it say here?
Really, Moses is pleading with God on behalf
of the people.
And the Lord pardoned them, 14 verse 20.
And he said, but every man above 20
will die in the wilderness except for Joshua
and Caleb, because they believed me.
Something like that.
So this is coming right on the heels
of that.
And then not long after this is when
the last thing that happened.
See, that's in the end of chapter 19.
And then there's a 40-year stretch break
between 19 and 20, if I remember right.
So this is at the end of that
first period of about 18 months.
And then we come to this story in
chapter 16.
And I'm going to read 35 verses.
Wow.
Thank you, Pastor Steve, for being so dedicated.
And that doesn't even really encompass the whole
story.
It's actually a part two to this story
afterwards.
I'll probably just mention it in passing somewhere.
Let me just go through this.
I'll make a couple of comments as I
go.
Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son
of Kohath, the son of Levi.
Let me just stop to say that Korah
was a relative of Moses.
May have been his cousin.
That's what some say.
But he was a Levite.
And then with Dathan and Abiram, the sons
of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth,
sons of Reuben.
So these guys were Reubenites.
Korah is a Levite.
And these guys are Reubenites.
And they took action.
That's the way the word action is supplied.
The King James and some of the others
say men took men.
But whatever, it's supplied.
And they rose up before Moses.
Now that phrase is used throughout scripture.
And it always, no, not always, but it
almost always refers to men rising up against
God's authority.
Or against a godly man.
That might be a better way of saying
it.
Genesis 4, Cain rose up against Abel, his
brother, and killed him.
Second Samuel 22, David thanked the Lord for
subduing those who had risen up against him.
Second Chronicles 13, Jeroboam rose up and rebelled
against Solomon.
Acts 5, the high priest rose up against
the disciples.
Acts 6, some of the Jews rose up
against Stephen.
Acts 16, the crowd rose up together against
Paul and Silas.
And Acts 18, the Jews with one accord
rose up against Paul.
It's just in the nature of people to
rise up against authority and to rise up
against godly men.
All right, so let's get back on track
here.
And they rose up before Moses, together with
them some of the sons of Israel, 250
leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly,
men of renown.
They assembled together against Moses and Aaron and
said to them, you have gone far enough
for all the congregation are holy, every one
of them, and the Lord is in their
midst.
So why do you exalt yourselves above the
assembly of the Lord?
When Moses heard this, he fell on his
face.
And I'll just mention in passing that three
different times in this chapter, Moses falls on
his face before the Lord.
And that really says something about this man
and the spirit he was in.
I don't know how long he was on
his face, but when he got up, he
had a word from the Lord.
And he spoke to Korah and all his
company saying, tomorrow morning, the Lord will show
who is his and who is holy.
And will bring him near to himself, even
the one whom he will choose, he will
bring near to himself.
And I'll just keep going.
Do this, take censers for yourselves, Korah, and
all your company.
That was supposed to be just the priests,
but this is what the Levites were after.
These ones that were with Korah, they were
after the priesthood.
That's what this was really all about, is
they were usurping the authority over them and
they wanted it for themselves.
Anyway, and put fire in them and lay
incense upon them in the presence of the
Lord tomorrow.
That word presence is panim in the Hebrew
and it is sometimes used before, before the
Lord or in the presence of the Lord
or even in the face of the Lord.
It's an act of defiance, really, most of
the time.
They're doing something right before the Lord, right
in his face.
And the man whom the Lord chooses shall
be the one who is holy.
You have gone far enough, you sons of
Levi.
Then Moses said to Korah, hear now you
sons of Levi, is it not enough for
you that the God of Israel has separated
you from the rest of the congregation of
Israel to bring you near to himself, to
do the servants of the tabernacle of the
Lord and to stand before the congregation to
minister to them?
In other words, he has honored you before
this entire 1 million people.
You have been honored to serve the Lord
in the tabernacle, but that's not enough.
You want more.
And that he has brought you near Korah
and all your brothers, sons of Levi with
you.
And are you seeking for the priesthood also?
Therefore you and all your company are gathered
together against the Lord.
But as for Aaron, who is he that
you grumble against him?
Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and
Abiram, the sons of Eliab.
But they said, we will not come up.
You just feel the defiance in them.
Is it not enough that you have brought
us up out of a land flowing with
milk and honey?
What?
You talk about delusion.
In their minds, they have so twisted everything
that they left a prison house, a concentration
camp.
But now they're remembering it as being a
place of where milk and honey are flowing.
Nor have you given us an inheritance of
fields and vineyards.
Would you put out the eyes of these
men?
In other words, are you gonna blind everyone
to your true intentions, Moses?
We will not come up.
Then Moses became very angry and said to
the Lord, do not regard their offering.
I have not taken a single donkey from
them, nor have I done harm to any
of them.
Moses said to Korah, you and all your
company be present before the Lord tomorrow.
There it is again, before the Lord.
And he gives them a day.
Back in the day when I used to
run the live-in program, I would try
to do that.
I would always try to give, when a
guy in his rebellion got to the point
where he just felt like there wasn't anything
else to say to him, I would often
give them a day, hoping and pleading with
God that they would repent and come to
their senses.
And that's what Moses, I'm sure that's what
was in his heart here.
All right, where was I?
16?
Yeah, both you and they, along with Aaron.
Each of you take this fire pan and
put incense in it.
And each of you bring his censer before
the Lord.
250 fire pans.
Also, wait a minute, what did I say
here?
Sorry.
Also you and Aaron shall each bring his
fire pan.
So they each took his own censer and
put fire on it, laid incense on it.
And they stood at the doorway of the
tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
I'm telling you, you talk about self-deceived.
Standing in the tent of meeting where the
glory of God often would show up and
speak to Moses face to face.
And they are there just in all their
haughtiness and arrogance right there before the Lord.
Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them.
Man, Korah must have been a man of
great influence.
He got all the people behind him at
the doorway of the tent of meeting.
And the glory of the Lord appeared to
all the congregation.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron
saying, separate yourselves from among this congregation that
I may consume them instantly.
But they fell on their faces and said,
oh God, God of the spirits of all
flesh, when one man sins, will you be
angry with the entire congregation?
Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak
to the congregation saying, get back from around
the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and
Abiram with the elders of Israel, follow him.
And he spoke to the congregation saying, depart
now from the tents of these wicked men
and touch nothing that belongs to them or
you will be swept away in all their
sin.
So they got back from around the dwellings
of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
You know, their hearts are still with these
wicked men.
That's the truth of it.
Their hearts are still with them, but they
don't wanna face their judgment.
And they have seen enough by this point
to know, I ain't taking any chances.
And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood
at the doorway of their tents along with
their wives and their sons and their little
ones.
Man, Moses said, by this, you shall know
that the Lord has sent me to do
all these deeds, for this is not my
doing.
That's what the accusation has been all along.
You saw it in the movie last night,
right?
You came up with all this, Moses.
How do we know that you really hear
from the Lord?
You go up on the mountain, you come
back and you tell us supposedly what he
said.
That is what the accusation has been all
along is that Moses has contrived all of
this.
He's just a power hungry demagogue.
That's what they want to believe about him.
So Moses is responding to that accusation.
If these men die the death of all
men, or if they suffer the fate of
all men, then the Lord has not sent
me.
But if the Lord brings about an entirely
new thing and the ground opens its mouth
and swallows them up with all that is
theirs and they descend alive into Sheol, then
you will understand that these men have spurned
the Lord.
As he finished speaking all these words, the
ground that was under them split open.
Can you imagine?
Man, and the earth opened its mouth and
swallowed them up and their households and all
the men who belong to Korah with their
possessions.
So they and all that belong to them
went down alive to Sheol and the earth
closed over them and they perished from the
midst of the assembly.
All Israel who were around them fled at
their outcry for they said, the earth may
swallow us up.
Fire also came forth from the Lord and
consumed the 250 men who were offering the
incense.
That's what you call judgment.
And I just want to bring out a
few things that stood out to me about
this story and rebellion.
I'll start with this.
Rebels are usually natural born leaders.
You look at verse two and it says
three things about these men.
They were leaders, they were chosen by the
assembly and they were men of renown.
Now that phrase, they're men of renown is
interesting because that word is what was used
to describe the wicked men during Noah's day.
The famous men, the men known far and
wide.
They were wicked men before the Lord.
And that word is also used to describe
what the people in the Tower of Babel,
Nimrod and his followers, that was what they
wanted.
They wanted to be known as men of
renown, men of reputation.
And apparently, these men were chosen by the
congregation to be the leaders, to be their
leaders.
250 of them chosen.
But what comes across to me, especially considering
that word, I can't remember what the Hebrew
word is for renown, but especially considering that,
it seems that their choice is all built
around human perspectives, personality, charisma, maybe their size
like Saul.
Saul was like seven feet tall and he
was the one that the people wanted to
be their king.
Just a superficial, shallow-minded perspective on what
is greatness.
But the Lord looks at the heart, doesn't
he?
He sees something completely different than what man
sees.
And when we choose for ourselves leaders that
kind of go along with the world's mindset
of what a leader should be, strong and
whatever, whatever it is that is so attractive
to people, that's when we get in trouble.
These were men of renown, men of acclaim,
men of distinction, men of influence.
And you know, this is the sad thing
about it, is that Korah probably was a
man of tremendous ability.
He probably was.
I mean, that's probably, these 250, I don't
know how they distinguished themselves to the whole
congregation, but there was something about these men
that real leadership abilities, you know?
Just the kind of men that you wanna
follow into battle or whatever.
Those kind of guys.
And you think of what Korah could have
been if he would have done things God's
way.
He could have easily been another Joshua, but
instead, because he was unbroken and full of
himself, instead of becoming a Joshua who could
one day maybe even lead the nation, maybe
he was far more gifted than Joshua as
a leader, probably was.
But just like Nate said, you know, he
had an unbroken nature.
He was, his loyalty was to himself.
And that's what the Lord can look at
in a man's heart and see.
Sometimes we don't even know ourselves.
What Korah could have been, that's the sad
thing, you know?
But what these men did not understand is
the kingdom of God is not the kingdom
of this world.
The world looks at outward things, but God
looks at the heart.
Jesus said, if you wanna be exalted, then
humble yourself.
He said, I did not come to be
served, but to serve.
And that is the way the kingdom of
God has been established.
It's not the men of great ability.
It's not the great preachers of the day
or the great authors of the day who
God uses.
It is the men who have humbled themselves
before him, who are meek before him, who
walk with him humbly and have a heart
after God.
Those are the men and women that God
uses.
And a lot of times, the people who
are the most well-known are the least
used.
I mean, they may have a big ministry
kingdom, but in the eyes of heaven and
hell, there's very little respect for them because
they just don't have any real influence, spiritually
speaking.
Number two, rebels are usually prideful and full
of themself, full of self.
When you look at verse 30, you see
it.
NAS says, these men have spurned the Lord.
And I looked that up in different translations
just to give you a more well-rounded
sense about the Hebrew word there.
These men have provoked the Lord, the King
James says.
These men have rejected the Lord, the new
King James says.
The New Living Translations, these men have shown
contempt for the Lord.
The ESV despised the Lord.
The contemporary English says, these men have turned
their backs on the Lord.
You know, however you frame it, it all
amounts to the same thing.
There is a sense of defiance before the
Lord in his presence to his face.
You know, these guys are totally focused on
Moses.
They're totally focused on him, but they are
not seeing the God behind him.
There are things that they don't see, but
they think in their folly and their foolishness,
they think they've got it all figured out.
But there's a couple of things that aren't
known to them.
They weren't there in the wilderness when God
appeared to Moses.
I mean, what a thing.
You talk about getting a call of God
on your life.
And God spoke to Moses and appointed him
to do this mission that they take so
lightly and treat with disdain.
And you know, the funny thing is Moses
argued with God.
He didn't want anything to do with this.
He was the last person that wanted to
be the leader.
Maybe that's why God chose him.
And they didn't see the heart of Moses.
Well, let me put it this way.
They could see things he did, but they
were just so out of it spiritually.
They had no comprehension for what was going
on inside that man's heart.
And as I said, three different times, just
in this chapter, he fell on his face.
It was only the intercession of Moses that
had saved this people time and time again
from God's overwhelming wrath.
It was only Moses.
They should have been thanking this man instead
of rebelling against him.
You know, the reality is you can't see
beyond your own level.
That is the reality.
You can't, I mean, if you have a
sincere heart, you can get a sense.
Like there was a time when my earlier
years of ministry, when I came in contact
with some real men of God and I
knew, even though I was still pretty much
a mess, I knew these men have something
I don't have.
And I sat at their feet for years
and I just absorbed and learned everything I
could learn from them.
Kathy was just listening to John MacArthur the
other day and he said something to the
same effect that, how do you say it,
that when he was a young man, there
was a man of God and he sat
at his feet and got everything he could
possibly get from that man.
And you see it later in his teachings
and his sermons and stuff.
You know, so it really depends on your
heart because even though you can't see beyond
where you are at spiritually, you can't see
beyond that, but you can get a sense
if you're sincere.
Pope of Cemetery said this, Korah was focused
on the honors and privileges of being the
leader.
Being a self-seeking, self-aggrandizing man, he
could see no higher feeling in others.
In other words, he just assumed that Moses
was in the same spirit he was in.
He wanted to be at the top of
the tree himself and seeing Moses and Aaron
there, he convinced himself that they got there
by audacity and determination.
What he was oblivious to was the price
that Moses had to pay to lead the
people in the right spirit.
He was completely oblivious to the burdens he
bore, the constant care he had over the
people, how difficult it was to lead a
multitude of rebels.
The interesting thing is that Moses would have
gladly taken Korah's place or even the lowest
place in the camp if God had not
put him where he was.
But of all of this inner life of
Moses, Korah knew and cared nothing.
He didn't care.
He wasn't interested.
He saw things the way he wanted to
see them.
You know, one of the problems with being
in leadership is that you have this constant
tension.
You know, as a Christian, you want to
be a humble person and you want to
interact with others humbly and certainly with the
Lord.
You want to humble yourself and be that
way.
But the reality is when you're around prideful
people, especially rebels, the more you humble yourself,
the more they rise up against you.
That is just a dynamic that's in place.
And I know for myself, you know, I
don't know where I'm at in all this,
but I know for myself when I get
out of here and I go and travel
elsewhere, I am a completely different person.
You guys see me as maybe cold and
aloof or whatever.
I don't know what you see, but I
can tell you I'm a different person away
from here because I don't have to worry
about it.
I don't have to carry the burden of
keeping a rebellion from breaking out.
I don't have to worry about that when
I go out and preach at some church
or something.
It's not my concern.
I'm just there to minister and be a
servant.
And I can be that.
I can just be just a Christian.
And it doesn't even matter to me if
I speak or whatever.
I just do what the people tell me
to do.
But it's hard, you know, to keep that
balance between humility and strength.
It's not an easy path to walk.
I can tell you that, especially when you
live in community and everyone can see you
constantly.
It's not the same as a pastor, you
know.
They face enough as it is for sure,
but they don't have to live with their
congregation.
All right, number three.
Rebels are usually critical of those who are
over them.
Korah built his whole case on a half
truth, and that is so often the case.
And in this situation, it was true that
God had said the congregation was sanctified before
him.
He had set them apart.
That's what the word means.
They had been set apart from the other
nations and so on unto himself.
And in that sense, it was true that
they were sanctified.
But to say, to compare them, this bunch
of rebels and all the provocations that they
had, you know, done, the murmuring, the rebelling
against God, to compare Moses with them was
absolutely ridiculous.
It was a half truth.
But this is so typical of someone with
a critical spirit over leadership.
They lock in on some perceived fault, and
that is what they focus on.
And they just play it over and over
and over and over again in their minds.
And of course, there's always some rebel spirit
more than happy to feed into that line
of thinking and just keep re-affirming it
or whatever in their minds.
The reason why rebels are vulnerable to the
enemy's voice in that way is because they're
unbroken.
You know, when you have been broken by
the Lord, you do not see the faults
of other people.
You just don't.
You are so all aware of your own
faults and failures and sin.
You can't see past that.
It's just the truth.
You can't.
Because you live in the awareness of the
fact you are the man.
The problem is that people with a critical
spirit, people who are in rebellion to authority,
they see everything through a skewed lens of
self and pride.
And they see their leader that way.
And they only have a certain part of
the picture.
But in their minds, they got all the
facts and they're all laid out.
And they know everything about that person.
And that person is failing in this way
and that way and so on.
You know, what's interesting, though, is when rebels
look at their own faults, it's all about
minimizing and discounting and elaborate explanations as to
why they do the things they do or
say the things they say or think the
way they think or whatever.
When they judge themselves, they are very understanding,
just full of benevolence when they judge themselves.
And they give themselves every benefit of the
doubt.
But when they look at their leader, they
immediately go to the worst case scenario in
their minds.
That man is guilty until he's proven innocent.
You know, I've been here for 30 years,
almost, Kathy and I.
And I've been the subject of a lot
of criticism in my day.
Some of it warranted.
Most of it has usually been just absolutely
crazy.
You know, I hear someone's been criticizing me.
Honestly, the first thing I do is I
start lamenting to God about what faults are
in me that people are seeing now.
You know, God, please change me.
Please set me free of this garbage that
apparently keeps showing up.
Help me, Lord, to be more humble, more
full of your love.
Help me, Lord, to know how to run
this place in a more godly fashion.
Help me to be more consecrated, whatever it
is, you know.
I'm just immediately go to myself and start
examining my heart.
And there's plenty there.
And I can promise you this, no one
can be as hard on me as I
am on myself.
And I know that's true of Pastor Ed
and these others as well.
But then I find out what the criticism
is.
It's just sometimes it is absolutely mind-boggling,
just crazy stuff, bizarre stuff.
And it really is a relief when I
hear it because it's just so crazy.
It's like, you really think that, right?
Is that really the truth?
You're critical of me because I parked my
car a little bit outside the line or
whatever, you know.
I mean, I can't think of any right
now.
It's been a while, but man, it is
just amazing.
But you know, for a rebel, in his
criticism, in his critical thinking, there's only two
people in the picture.
It's himself looking at that person, that leader.
And that's all he's thinking of.
And that's how Korah was, and Dathan, and
Abiram, and Ahn.
Apparently Ahn repented or did something because he
wasn't named as one of those who got
judged.
But maybe he repented.
But anyway, this is where this phrase, that
the Lord impressed on my heart.
I'm telling you, this is the way it
came to me one day.
It just came to me like this.
It's usually just, you know, when the Lord
impresses something in your heart, it's usually like
just a kind of a thought.
It's not even words exactly, you know.
But it was these people were doing all
that they were doing, and they were doing
it before the Lord.
In their minds, the Lord isn't even in
the picture.
They are so oblivious to God's presence.
All they see is what they are fixated
on, which is the faults of this leader.
And they're not understanding that their thinking and
everything going on in their minds and hearts
is being played out on a big screen
in heaven, being watched by some very holy
beings.
Let me read something right, Rex Andrews said
about this.
And he's referring to what Jesus spoke about
out of Matthew 7.
You know, judge not, lest you be judged.
For by the same measure you judge, so
you will be judged, and so on.
He said, all day long you are sitting
as judge in the court of your unseen
heart.
Unseen, that is, to men.
Judging others ceaselessly all day.
Day by day, and sometimes by night, you
are judging, judging, measuring everyone and everything.
You don't always need full and sufficient evidence
because you love yourself.
And in that self-love, you think that
you know.
You judge by whims and feelings and fancies,
by what you like and by what you
do not like.
You are the center.
Your judgment is according to what people do
or do not do in your favor.
And for your glory and for your satisfaction.
You judge by appearance.
And so they judged Jesus and drove him
to death, the guiltless one.
Number four, rebels are usually warned before God
judges.
And, you know, if you go back into
the previous chapter in verse 30, well, let
me just read it.
But the person who does anything defiantly, in
other words, in the face of someone, whether
he is a native or an alien, that
one is blaspheming the Lord.
And that person shall be cut off from
among his people because he has despised the
word of the Lord and has broken his
commandment, et cetera.
They had just been warned about this.
But you know what?
Went right over their heads.
This was a warning from the Lord.
But because it came forth from Moses, went
right over their heads, never really registered as
Nate was saying.
What did you say?
You said something like that about Judas, right?
Judas heard these things, same thing, went right
over his head.
It went right over their head because in
their unbelief, God was very tiny.
That's what unbelief does, is makes you huge
and God tiny.
And so God's warnings, God's commandments, they all
also become very small and your feelings become
all encompassing.
Your thoughts become all encompassing.
When you start hearing warnings, the wise thing
is to find a spot and get on
your face before the Lord and start repenting.
Even if you don't really understand what's what,
it's best to just go get off by
yourself and get before the Lord and repent.
That's the wisest thing to do.
Now, last Sunday, I came in here.
You know, I don't know how much you
guys realize that some of this stuff.
But I'm pretty oblivious to what goes on
here in the live-in program amongst you
guys and all that stuff.
I mean, sometimes I get a little tidbit
here and there in our morning staff prayer
times and stuff.
But generally speaking, I don't know what's going
on.
I really don't.
I mean, I sometimes will pray for guys
that are causing problems or struggling, but I
don't know your name.
So, you know, it doesn't mean anything to
me.
I mean, I just don't know what's going
on.
And I came in last Sunday, and I
was really just wanting to be in the
presence of the Lord.
I just wanted to enjoy the service, enjoy
His presence.
I was adamant, in my heart anyway, that
I was not going to get up and
speak.
I just, yeah, I just wanted to be
with the Lord and hear Pastor Ed's message
and stuff.
And I sat down and, you know, I
was praying for a while.
And then I opened my Bible and I
just was reading and I opened up to
2 Corinthians 10.
You remember that?
And man, it just came over me.
I don't know how to explain what it's
like, but when God comes over you in
this place, up here especially, there is no
sitting down and just staying seated.
I don't think I want to share that,
Lord.
I think I would rather just, yeah, just
take it easy today.
I think I'll take this morning off, if
you don't mind.
No, it ain't like that.
And the more you try to resist, the
more you start shaking and trembling inside.
You just get forced up here.
So I was completely oblivious to what was
going on here.
Honestly, I was.
I just read that passage in 2 Corinthians
10 and it went into me like a
rocket, you know?
And I just, all I could see, the
interesting thing, I took a look at it
this morning.
It uses that same phrase, rising up.
Speculations that are rising up against God.
Wow.
And Pastor Ed told me on Wednesday, he
said, I know you didn't know what was
going on, but I had three guys that
were sitting at work, sitting together every day
before they went to work, and just ripping
on this place, criticizing whatever.
And I don't know who you guys are.
And I heard that you guys repented.
I hope it's true.
I really do.
I hope it's true for your sake.
I hope it's true.
But he said, you couldn't have been more
exactly right on what you shared, you know?
And if you guys remember, I don't know
how much I remember, actually, because it was
like a whirlwind, you know?
I wasn't thinking anything.
I wasn't sitting there trying to come up
with something.
I just got up here and it just
flowed through me.
But it was a warning about something.
About rising up inside against leadership and against
what God is doing and, you know, allowing
that prideful thinking.
And apparently it didn't do the trick because
the Lord put this message on my heart
this morning to once again come back in
here and bring another warning.
So anyway, these rebels there with Moses were
warned and it went right over their head
and they just plunged ahead like fools always
do.
Number five, rebels are usually judged by giving
them over.
You know, now back in that day, the
Lord, this was a theocracy.
The Lord was, this was his nation.
He was over it.
It was a God-ordained government and these
people were going to face physical judgment.
But in the New Testament times, that has
largely changed as we all know, you know?
And now the Lord handles things differently.
But I did find a couple of things
in the Old Testament that were interesting to
me.
Solomon said, evil people are eager for rebellion
but they will be severely punished.
And this was an interesting verse in Proverbs
17, a rebellious man seeks only evil so
a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
And the Septuagint says, the Lord will send
a pitiless angel against him.
A pitiless angel, no pity.
And I thought about that a little bit,
you know?
And I remembered, yeah, you know, that's what
the Lord did with Saul.
He sent an angel to torment him, right?
And that's what happened with Ahab.
Remember, Micaiah told him that he saw all
this stuff going on in the throne room
of God and God sent a lying spirit.
Now I'm gonna tell you, I'm telling myself
here.
Back when I first came to the Lord,
came back to the Lord, I should say,
in 1982.
And the Lord called me into ministry and
Kathy and I moved back from Los Angeles
and, you know, I was a cop down
there and we moved back to Sacramento and
I entered Bible school, she worked.
And while I was in Bible school, you
know, the truth is that I had years
of deep rebellion.
I mean, I had been a rebel all
my life.
I was the kid that was always in
trouble and it just got worse and worse
and worse and, you know, that followed me
through for many years.
So there was a lot of rebellion in
me that needed to be dealt with.
But when I got in Bible school, I
went through a semester and I remember this
one teacher, Ms. Kimmel.
Ms. Kimmel was probably, you know, I was,
what, 29 or 30 then or something, but
Ms. Kimmel was probably about my age or
something, I don't know.
I just remember she was kind of a
droner when she spoke and, you know, I
was always, I just always had, how do
I say it?
Academics were always easy for me.
I just, you know, for some people it's
just extra hard and for some people it's
a little easier.
I was one of those people.
I could take tests.
I just had a sense about, yeah, I
could just get by.
And getting A's was never a lot of
trouble for me.
So in my arrogance, I thought I was
really pretty godly.
Yeah.
And I would sit in class, in Ms.
Kimmel's class, and I would just shred her
in my mind.
She's an old fuddy dud.
She don't know nothing, you know.
And man, get someone in here that knows
what they're doing.
And, you know, I just, man, over and
over I would say things to others, especially
this one other guy who's in the same
spirit as me.
We just kind of, that's what always happens.
Two people in the same spirit always find
each other.
And anyway, the end of that semester, I
mean within a week of that semester, I
was totally backslidden.
This is what happened.
I didn't know, and it took years before
I put the two together, that I was
attacking the Lord's servant.
I was attacking, I was pitting myself against
God.
I was being a mouthpiece of Satan, the
accuser, against this woman, this godly woman.
And little did I realize what I was,
the judgment I was bringing on myself.
And I went for nine months of hell.
It was horrible.
And I despaired that I would ever find
my way back to the Lord.
And even when I did come back, it
was a long process of a lot of
severe discipline because I foolishly attacked the Lord's
anointed.
And I paid a price for it.
And I don't want to see you guys
pay a price.
All right, I'm going to wrap up now.
You know, earlier I said that usually rebels
are leaders by nature.
But that's not really the whole truth of
the matter because those 250 men weren't the
only rebels here in this story.
Actually, the people had been rebels from the
beginning.
And they were only too ready to believe
the worst about Moses and Aaron.
They were too ready to believe the worst.
And they were too ready to be led
into rebellion.
In fact, as I said, as the chapter
goes on, after these men were exterminated by
God, even after that, they had the audacity
to come together and accuse Moses of causing
the death of those men.
Just incredible.
Sometime back, Pastor Ed mentioned in one of
the senior leader meetings, we meet every Wednesday
morning and pray about things and make decisions
for the ministry and stuff.
I don't know, it was about a month
or two ago, he mentioned this.
And I can't remember why or what the
context was.
But he said that there was a guy
who sat across his desk and made this
statement.
He said, I don't trust anything you or
you people say to me.
There is nothing you can say that I
will trust.
Now, I don't know if that guy is
still here or not.
I hope so.
I hope you have repented and humbled yourself
since then.
I really do.
But if you haven't, this is what I
will say to you.
If you don't feel like you can trust
us, and I'll say this to all of
you, if you don't feel like you can
trust the leadership of this ministry, then I
really encourage you to go find another ministry
where you can trust the leadership.
Really, that's the right thing to do.
If you don't trust us for whatever the
reason, then this isn't the place for you.
It'd be better for you to go somewhere
where you trust people.
But the truth is, at least for this
guy, I don't think he's ever trusted anyone
other than himself.
That's what I think the truth is.
And it doesn't matter how we live our
lives, how much we may sacrifice, how much
we may humble ourselves or show the love
of God or whatever, it is never going
to be good enough.
And it's really not us.
It's the Lord that you don't trust.
Pulpit commentary.
There is a sort of person who suspects
everybody.
And the better someone seems, the more for
that very reason they are to be suspected.
Thus, Jesus is called a gluttonous man and
a winebibber, one casting out demons by the
prince of the demons.
Paul is called a deceiver.
The defiled minds of such people pull down
everyone else to their own level.
There's no arguing with the man who believes
that every face is nothing but a mask.
Lord, as you know, your people are under
attack.
At a level never seen before in the
history of mankind.
They're constantly confronted by a kingdom that is
intrinsically evil.
The reality behind that syrupy smile is something
very evil and vicious.
Once we look behind the facade of Satan's
presentation that seems so appealing, I pray, Lord,
that you will give us eyes to see
what the enemy is doing.
The American church has been infiltrated and compromised.
When you become a man who will not
compromise, you become fearless.
So the day that we found out the
devastating news, something inside of me just said,
our only way to get through this is
to praise Jesus every day, every day.
No matter what our eyes see, our hearts
are going to praise the Lord through this.
The reason why the dominant spirit in the
culture is Luster Minkovitch is because that is
the mindset that the devil is giving.
If you want to be a Christian, an
overcoming Christian, this is the spirit that we
must overcome.
You know, anyone can say they're living for
Jesus.
When you examine your life, the question is,
is that really the true passion of your
life?
Or are those just words that you're saying
because you know it's the right thing to
say as a Christian?