MARCH 11 "SECOND REBELLION PUT TO A HALT"

  If there's one thing that is for sure, that is, not "if" men will rebel, but when! It's an unfortunate circumstance of life to know, that often those that we have invested in and others loved, will often come back and oppose us. Whether that's are own children, whom we've loved & sacrificed everything for and now you're watching them with rage, confronting you, cussing at you as if you are their sworn enemy, or it's people in the church you've loved and invested in, or an employee at work, one thing is for sure, men do rebel. It hurts, it hurts really bad. This is not to say we go through life with a jaundiced eye and live as a cynic, but it is just to know, men rebel and many times it has nothing to do with the one they are rebelling against. As Pastors it is very disheartening to see the men we've appointed, to see the men we've raised up, we gave responsibility; the men we invested, it hurts when they rally unto themselves another group of men and march into our office and oppose us, accuse us and come against us. We're the ones that loved them and even gave them the positions of authority they have and now they are now going to use those very same positions of authority to turn against us.....; happens all the time! And of course that's when they get very spiritual and say, "you didn't give me my position of authority, God did!" It's amazing how we commit the most heinous of crimes, all in "the name of God". It's amazing how spiritual men can act when they are acting quite like the Devil himself. Rebellion is "the heart of the Devil". If only God would come down and swiftly deal with rebellion as He did in our text today. How wonderful it would be if when men rebelled God quickly separated those that were right from those that were wrong and swallowed up in the eyes of everyone; those that were in rebellion...but we know He does not. People get confused in rebellions, as in our text, "these were respected men of affluence in the community". If only it was the demoniac who lives outside the camp, then nobody would follow and they would shut him down, but often it's men/women that have affluence to some degree. There are few churches in America that have not experienced the travesty of a "church split". Aside from divorce, it's one of the worse things you could go through in life. Families are divided, long term friendships blown up, people lost in the mix, it's a horrible experience to ever have to live through, but if you've been around long enough, sadly, you've probably experienced it. Already in the early history of "the Church" so to speak, we are reading about rebellion and church splits. The souls and care of men is the "heart of Jesus" and rebellion and the destruction of lives is the "heart of the devil". There's only two sides of the equation you can find yourself on and if ever you find yourself on "the dark side" do all you can to get your heart right, before it's too late, "for stubbornness is as idolatry and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft". The truth is, we are all rebels within, to some degree or another and it is a side of our sinful nature we must constantly beat down and bring under the submission and authority of Jesus Christ. In 2000 I was in a church that got brought into a rebellion by our Pastor, at the time. Twenty something years later, that Pastor has retired and moved on to some small community to live out his days happily ever after. However, the damaged relationships, divorced couples, churches closed, souls lost, families divided; all that remains. The warning is clear, be careful who you follow in to rebellion. One day, they will move on and you will be left, carrying the baggage.