Billy Ingram: 1 Samuel chapter 15 this evening, the book of 1 Samuel chapter number 15. This has been a great blessing thus far. My heart has been stirred.

It's been a great challenge. And I'm thankful to have this opportunity to be with you and to see you young people here in the churches that are here.

I'm very humbled to have this opportunity. I have a great affinity towards this conference, these truths. This is the Teen Revival Conference.

But it was a holiness conference that God really stirred my life. And the truths that were presented, the same truths which you're hearing, were truths that changed me, changed my marriage, changed my ministry.

I'm forever indebted to Bible truth. and as we travel people will ask where are you from where did you come from I was born in Florida I moved with my family at the age of five to North Carolina and I was in North Carolina until I got

married at the age of 25 and people ask where did you grow up my answer is I grew up here I moved here about the age of 29 And I began to go through an education

That put me on the revival pilgrimage And I haven't gotten off yet And so I'm thankful for it

And I'm thankful to have this opportunity with you And I'm looking forward to what God's going to do tomorrow But I believe

I really believe what God wants to accomplish tomorrow And what God will do Will hinge upon what we do

Even in this service tonight 1 Samuel 15 out of respect for the reading preaching of the Bible

join me in standing we'll look at one verse to begin with verse number 23

1 Samuel 15 verse 23 for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry

because thou has rejected the word of the Lord he hath also rejected thee from being king. If you'll remember, this passage gives us three individuals.

Number one is King Saul. He's the king over God's people. Then we have King Agag.

He's the king over the enemies of God, over the Amalekites. And then we have number three, the preacher. His name is Samuel.

Now long before Saul became king, there were a group of Amalekites who laid wait and ambushed the people of God and brutally massacred them.

God said, I'll never forget the crime which they had committed against my people. And when Saul ascended to the throne, God sent word, as he always does, by way of the preacher.

The preacher told the king, here's what God wants you to do. God wants you to destroy all the Amalekites.

Don't leave any of them alive. Kill them, kill everything they have. Saul set out to obey God,

but he only did so partially. And because of his partial obedience, God concluded that he was a complete, full, and entire rebel.

And for that reason, I want to preach on this thought tonight, the rough road of rebellion. The rough road of rebellion.

Thank you. You may be seated. October of 1999, four adults climbed to the top of El Capitan's mountain peak.

Standing at about 3,600 feet tall, the height of three Empire State buildings, these four adults went to the top for the sole purpose of jumping off. They were participating in a sport that is known as base jumping.

Now base jumping is similar to skydiving, yet it's different. Skydiving, you have about 14,000 feet approximately in which you can jump and you have a minute to a minute and a half before your chute opens

and you have not just one parachute but two. Base jumping is similar yet it's different in that you only have a few hundred to a few thousand feet to jump.

You don't have a minute to a minute and a half. You only have seconds and you cannot have two chutes. It will not do you any good.

You'll never have time to deploy the second. And because of that, base jumping is banned and illegal in many places in the U.S. So these four adults were simply protesting this ban.

They felt that it was their right to jump when they wanted to jump and where they wanted to jump. So they went to the top of this mountain peak wearing prison uniforms. They recognized that once they hit the ground, they'd be handcuffed and carted off to jail.

They did not wear their best gear. They wore their second best. They did not want their best gear to be confiscated.

The first three that jumped did so successfully. The fourth that was to jump, her name is Jan Davis. She's called the queen of base jumping.

Her husband was a movie film stunt maker. He's down at the bottom videoing this attempt. As he is looking through the lens of his camera,

he noticed that something was wrong when his wife left the precipice of the mountain. His assessment was correct. For Jan Davis hit the ground without her parachute ever opening.

Now, I missed the entire point of the CNBC article. The CNBC article in which I read stated, had there been no ban,

had there been no restriction on the mountain that day, perhaps Jan Davis would still be alive. Because she would have worn her best gear.

And perhaps she would still be alive today. You know, I didn't see that point. All that I could see was that a mother did not come home to her children

and a wife did not return home to her husband because she broke the law. But to be honest with you, what is a greater tragedy in my estimation is not so much a woman losing her life, jumping off of a mountain because of breaking a law,

but it would be one who would sit in this auditorium tonight who has heard the words of the Lord preached so clearly and you will still transgress the love of God and the law of Almighty God

as you deem convenient and appropriate to your life and schedule. Hear me. God was against rebellion in 1 Samuel 15.

God is against rebellion in 2009. See, God is against rebellion because of what rebellion is. Rebellion is an allegiance to the wrong master.

You are either in submission to God or you are not. And a rebellion is an allegiance to the wrong master. It is getting your marching orders from someone else,

the one who did not create you, one who does not love you, one who did not die to save you from your sins,

and one who cannot revive and restore you back to Him. It's an allegiance to the wrong master. But rebellion is not just an allegiance to the wrong master.

Rebellion is an act of disobedience. Or it is an act of partial obedience. So rebellion is an allegiance to the wrong master.

It is an act of disobedience or partial obedience. But rebellion is also an attitude. It's an attitude that says, I will not yield.

I will not budge. I will not get right. That is why the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 9 and verse 7,

Ye have been rebellious against the Lord. Numbers 14 and verse 9, Only rebel not against the Lord.

Joshua 22, 29. God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord. Isaiah 30 and verse number 1.

Woe to the rebellious children of Israel. Isaiah 63 and verse number 10. They were rebellious and vexed His Holy Spirit.

Rebellion is an allegiance to the wrong master. It's an act of partial disobedience or partial obedience. Or it is disobedience.

And it's an attitude that says, I will not yield. I will not budge.

I will not get right. Hear me. This is a teen revival conference.

It is a conference that is based around the will of Almighty God. It is God's will that every child of God be in revival. If you are not in revival this evening,

in complete total surrender and submission to Him, experiencing the abundant Christian life, the leadership and lordship of the Holy Spirit,

then you are in rebellion. You can go out of here tonight in revival. You can go out of here with a clean heart.

You can go out of here right with God, or you'll go out of here in rebellion. Now you may come in here tonight and think that you're alright with God.

I understand that. And that is why the preaching of the Word of God is extremely important. You can be here this evening and the Spirit of God can put a finger on an area in your life

and tell you that is true in your life. This is what you're guilty of. This is what I'm trying to address.

This is what I'm trying to help you with. This is what I want you to see. And you can respond to God tonight.

You can yield to Him tonight. For if you do not respond to Him tonight, as the Word of God declares,

as God Almighty desires, then you will leave here a rebel in defiance against Almighty God. And hear me,

if you're going to rebel against Almighty God, if you're going to go out of here in disobedience or partial obedience, if you're going to go out of here with your allegiance to the wrong master,

if you're going to go out of here with an attitude that says, I will not yield, I will not budge, I'm not responding, hear me. You better be man enough to at least understand the consequences.

You better be woman enough to at least understand the consequences. It's a rough road. I want you to see three things about it, then I've got to go.

Number one, I want you to note the cause of rebellion. The cause of rebellion. Where does rebellion come from?

In this passage of Scripture, we can see at least two things that will cause rebellion. The first we can see in verse number 12, the first thing that cultivates the heart of a rebel,

the first thing that causes rebellion to exist within our life is in verse number 12. The Bible says, And when Samuel, remember he's the preacher,

rose early to meet Saul, he's the king, in the morning, It was told Samuel saying, Saul came to Carmel and behold, now notice the phrase, he set him up a place. What is it that causes rebellion?

The first thing in verse number 12 is pride. This phrase, he set him up a place, perhaps I can describe it this way. If you were to go into most any academic institution,

you may find somewhere a case. And we recognize it to be a trophy case. Within that trophy case will be all kinds of awards

displayed for either academic or athletic achievements. What Saul, I believe, is doing in verse 12 is setting himself up a trophy case

for people to see what Saul hath done. What is it that causes rebellion? It's pride.

We remember that pride existed in Saul's life. prior to this chapter, when He numbered the people against the will of God.

Why did He do so? Because of His pride. That's why the Bible says in Proverbs 6 and verse 16,

these six things that the Lord hates, yea, seven, are an abomination. And the first one on the list,

that tops God's list, is a proud look. You know that there is a look of arrogance?

That there is a look that betrays our heart many times? And it is a proud look? The Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 16 verse number 5,

everyone that is proud in heart, everyone that is proud in heart, everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 16, 18, pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before the fall.

The Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse number 4, and high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked,

they're all sin. James 4, 6, a tremendous revival text. James 4.6 and 1 Peter 5.5

both tell us the same truth that God resists the proud. What we're here for is for God to revive the humble.

But God cannot revive anyone as long as He is resisting them. And it is pride that causes God to resist us.

1 John 2 and verse 16 All that is in the world the lust of the flesh

the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of this world.

In other words, what exists within our lives that God labels as pride is not from God. It is not okay. It is not a small deal.

It is a big issue. This is a tremendous issue because it is anti-God. And it ought to reveal to us that a rebellious heart is being cultivated as we sit here this evening

until we deal with that which nurtures and cultivates a rebellious heart. It's pride. See, we hear it so often.

We know that pride is a no-no. But we minimize it because we fail to understand the significance of pride. Why is God against pride?

What is so bad about pride? Pride is simply an independence of Almighty God. You know, a person cannot get saved apart from dependence upon Christ.

And a person cannot be revived apart from dependence upon Christ. And so, God is resisting the independent. The proud are those who are independent of God.

Hear me, the reason why some of you miss church on Wednesday nights when you could be in church is not because you're too busy at home. It's not because you got a headache.

It's not because you had to work later. Many times it's because you don't think you need God. It's pride.

It's independence. The reason why some of you didn't pray this morning, but you made sure you filled your belly is because of pride.

You don't think you need God. The reason why some of you haven't cracked your Bible except to fill out some sheet you needed for Sunday school class

is because of pride. You don't think you need God. And what I'm trying to say is if we could see what causes rebellion,

we can deal with it before the rebellious heart sets in and gets within our life and grabs a hold of us and strangles the very life out of us

because it's a rough road that we head down the road of rebellion. Pride. When I was in high school, I participated in two sports.

One I loved, the other one I hated. The one I loved was football. I loved football.

I loved everything about football. Fall time, you know. The smell of fresh cut grass, that excites me.

It's football time. And I loved everything about football. I loved the clashing of the pads and the smashing of the helmets.

I loved the breaking of the bones and the spurting of blood. I loved all that. It was just exciting.

It was wonderful. The other sport that I was participating in that I hated, I hated it. I just hated it.

It was wrestling. Now, for some of you who are wondering, it's wrestling with an E, not wrestling. It was wrestling.

It was a real sport. But I hated it. I hated everything about it.

It was miserable. I dreaded every single day. I remember we'd have to put on these clothes.

We'd put garbage bags on, and you'd put all these sweatsuits on, and you're going into a room that's about 95 degrees

because you're trying to get down to a certain weight, and you're trying to get down lower than what you really are. And it was just a mess.

I think the most weight I ever lost in about an hour and 45-minute practice was 14 pounds. It's just water weight is all it is, but it was miserable.

You know, you lose all that weight. What do you want to do? You want to go drink water, but you can't drink water.

You drink water, you gain it all back. It's nuts. It's just insane.

Loony people do that, and I did it. Someone said, why did you do it? Well, because the coaches said it'll help you stay in shape for football.

And so I did it. But I got a little bit good at it. I hated it, but I got a little bit good at it.

We would have these tournaments on the weekend, and you get first place, you get a gold medal, second place silver, third place bronze.

I don't think I ever got a gold medal, but I got a few silver and bronze medals. They're about yay big.

And I'd take those medals and I'd line them on my letter jacket. I'd line them in such a way that

long before you saw me coming, you could hear me coming. Because they would jingle and they would jangle.

What was I doing? Well, I was setting myself up a place. We so often want people to see us.

And it's us that gets us. in trouble. Pride.

Independence. Not only does pride foster rebellion,

nurtures and cultivates a rebellious heart, but the second thing that I believe we can see that will

cause rebellion to exist is found in verse number 24. Saul, he's the king,

said unto Samuel, he's the preacher, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord

and thy words. Here it is Because I feared thee

What's the word? And obeyed Whose voice?

What is it that causes rebellion? Pride And peer pressure

Pride is independence of God Peer pressure is simply the influence of others Had Saul been like Daniel

He'd been alright had Saul been like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego he would have been alright

but Saul said preacher the reason why I did what I did is because

of the people they're the ones who wanted me to do this

sometimes we think that peer pressure is just what the young people go through you know I believe that moms and dads

are more influenced with peer pressure than many times young people are influenced with peer pressure

you know many times a business meeting that takes place in a church is because people are putting their finger in the air finding out what everyone else thinks about it someone said you know the church voted this way it must be god's will no it mustn't no you're you're voting in the

church is not to determine god's will but you ought to discern god's will and cast your vote and as long as we're looking around trying to find out what everybody else thinks then what we're doing is what Saul did.

We're being influenced by others rather than what God said. God's word was very clear.

But Saul was one who allowed pride to exist and he was influenced by others.

Peer pressure existed. Sometimes you see it.

People come in for, in a meeting, a revival meeting. After the service

they walk out and they'll say to somebody else they always find the ones that will be in agreement with them.

But they'll say something like this. What did you think of the preaching?

I tell you you ought to ask God what he thinks about it But when you've got rebellion in your heart you don't really care You'll facebook somebody else and find out what they think about it

Why don't you get out of facebook and get into the book and find out what he says about it See what i'm saying is that pride and peer pressure is that which cultivates and causes rebellion People stay in their seat because of pride people stay in their seat in the invitation

because of peer pressure. How many times do people look around during the invitation to see who else is going?

Listen, if you have to look around to see who else is going, then just forget about it.

God's not going to use you anyway. God's not going to help you. He's not going to bless you

because you've got pride and peer pressure influencing you. You're being controlled by the fear of man

rather than the fear of God. It causes rebellion. I think it's important that we understand that

because if we can see these things existing within our life, It may help us see the tragic sin of rebellion.

The first thing we notice is the cause of rebellion. The second thing I want you to note this evening is the course of rebellion. What does rebellion do?

Well, rebellion always does at least two things. Two things that we can see in chapter 15 that rebellion will do. The first thing that rebellion does, notice verse number 3.

The Bible says, now go and smite Amalek. This is what God is telling Saul. Here's what I want you to do.

Now go and smite Amalek and… What's the next two words? Try it again.

Now go and smite Amalek and… Utterly destroy. Now look at the next word.

Utterly destroy. What is it? All.

You know, you don't even need another version to understand what God means. God says, utterly destroy all. What does rebellion do?

What is the result of pride and peer pressure taking over within our lives and creating a heart of rebellion that has its allegiance to the wrong master, that has an act that is not complying with God entirely,

and that has an attitude of refusing to get right or refusing to yield? What does rebellion do? Well, look at verse number 9.

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, and the oxen, and the fatlings, and the lambs, And all that was good.

And notice the phrase, and would. What's the word? Not.

He would not utterly destroy them. What does rebellion do? Rebellion always disobeys God.

Rebellion disobeys Almighty God. Here the word was plain. Saul, utterly destroy all.

And the Bible says in verse number 9, that he refused to destroy all. He would not utterly destroy all.

Understand that rebellion is disobedience. But understand the disobedience that we're talking about. Saul is not a drug dealer.

Saul, in this passage of Scripture, is not addicted to pornography. Saul is not one who's gone out and he's raping and murdering. He's not a child molester.

Saul, in chapter 15, is one who obeys God. But he obeys God partially. Yes, he went out and killed some.

Yes, he did part of what God said to do. But Saul is one who is not right. He is one who is living in rebellion

because he is living in disobedience to Almighty God. In other words, a rebel can be one who goes to Bible college,

but he goes to the wrong Bible college. See, God's will is not go to Bible college. God's will is to do what He says.

So just because you choose a college does not mean you're doing what is right. It may be obedience.

But if it's partial obedience, then you're a full rebel. See, a rebel is one who comes to church, even on Thursday night. But a rebel is one who obeys in coming to church because your local church is having a service.

But you don't obey God entirely and respond at the invitation. It's rebellion. What area of your life are you living in disobedience tonight?

What area of your life are you maybe partially obeying? I used to think that a rebel was one that was obvious. You could see a rebel.

A rebel was one that had earrings if he was a guy hanging out of his nose and off of his eyebrow. A rebel was one who wore pants that were ten sizes too big. And the two hands that God gave him, one of them had to keep his pants pulled up.

You know, it concerns me going into some of these fast food restaurants. As much as I love them, it concerns me. If the guy can't keep his pants up,

I'm sure he's not going to get my order right. It is always a guess as to whether or not it's going to come out right. I don't know why if God gave you two hands

and you could buy a belt that you would choose to walk around holding your pants up. So I used to think that rebellion is one that you can clearly see

and say, oh, that person's a rebel. But you want to know what a rebel looks like? It looks like me.

And it looks like you. One who is living in disobedience or partial obedience? What area of your life tonight are you living in disobedience to Almighty God?

Some of the things you've heard preached, you've not responded. It's disobedience. Sometimes people have the idea, well, you know, I can just take care of it in my seat.

Well, you sure can. One woman said to me, you know, you don't have to go to the altar to be spiritual. That's true, but I believe if you're spiritual, you'll want to go to the altar when God says go.

See, going to the altar doesn't make you spiritual, but humbling yourself to get there will. You heard last night, disobedience and dishonoring to parents. Probably the message that I preach the most when I go to a college,

and I'll preach maybe at a couple colleges a year, but if I go to college-age students, not even teenage students, I go to college-age students, the message I'm going to preach is

if you're not right with mom and dad, you're not right with God. You'll never be right with God until you're right with mom and dad, even in college. I was preaching not too long ago, and a 35-year-old man stood up to give a testimony.

He said, last night you preached about honoring your parents, and last night as a 35-year-old I had to go out and call my mom and get right with my mom. Why?

Because you're still commanded to honor your parents because it is right. You don't honor them because they are right.

And some of you are living in disobedience. Thou shalt not steal. Some of you have stolen.

You pocketed the candy bar and the drink not because you needed it. You just want to see if you can get away with it.

You stole. some of you stole in school you cheated you took somebody else's answers you put them on your paper with your name and you turned it in you cheated you plagiarized you stole

we were in a school several years ago with dr jim i preached and a young lady walked by and said I enjoyed your message. Well, I thought she's either lying or she's lying.

And so I said, well, what did God deal with you about? She said, what are you talking about? I said, I'm asking the questions.

What did God deal with you about? She said, well, God dealt with me about loving him more. Well, I'm sure you need to love him more,

but what did God deal with you about? She said, cheating. I said, what class did you cheat in?

She said, Bible. Can you believe people cheat? on God?

So you cheat in Bible class, you cheat on God when you get older. Rob God.

Rob Him of tithes and offerings. I thought about putting a sign

over my trailer door asking, do you tithe? Because if you rob God, you're probably going to

rob me. I don't want you in my trailer. She said, I cheated.

I said, what are you going to do about it? She said, what should I do about it? I said, what does God want you to do about it?

She said, go down and get right with the principal. I said, that's a good idea. She and a friend walked down to the principal's office and got right.

There were 30-some students lined up behind her. So I figured if one cheated, maybe another one cheated, so I thought I'd try it again.

The next one came right up and said, can you sign the Bible? I said, sure. What class did you cheat in?

And they told me. I asked all 30-some students what class they cheated in. All 30-some told me.

That's why it doesn't surprise me that there are some of you who didn't get clean hands and a pure heart today because you cheated.

You didn't get right. I preached at a camp just two weeks ago. A senior in high school stood up and said,

I cheated all the way through school. She walked out and borrowed someone's cell phone. She made some phone calls.

She went back and she got right with others. So you don't get the clean hands and appear hired until you utterly destroy all.

You cheated. Some homeschooler came up to me and said, I can't cheat, I'm a homeschooler.

I said to you, you're a homeschooler and you can lie, that's for sure. so what class did you cheat in

some of you cheated you sit here tonight you wonder why this conference is not hitting it for you

you wonder why God seems to be a million miles away you wonder why it just seems like you're going through the motions and it's all mechanical

because you haven't utterly destroyed all you cheated you're not right with your parents

you cannot be right with God until you're right with mom and dad stolen

a young lady came up one day in a school and said I stole I stole some glasses and some earrings

from a department store what should I do I said what does God want you to do she says I need to go and get right

I said get right with who she said mom and dad I said who else

she said the store I said that sounds good what are you going to do about it

she says I can't and she didn't she just skipped school

didn't come back the rest of the week she's a rebel she refused to utterly destroy all

I was preaching in a college opening revival a young man sat in the front row

and he amened three services in a row fourth service he didn't amen

after the service was over he said brother ingram before god called me to preach i had stolen something and god reminded me of it tonight i'm going to get right the next night he came in and he asked the the uh president of the college if he could give a testimony he gave a testimony

that he went out that night and he went to that store he found the owner and he told the owner here's what i did i want to be right with god i don't want to be in rebellion i want god to use me i don't want god to set me aside and he dealt with his sin he utterly destroyed all and he went

back to shouting amen utterly destroy all i shall not commit adultery that somebody says i i'm i'm not married so i can't commit adultery but jesus said if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her he's committed adultery already with her in his heart which means this every time you sit down

in front of that internet site no one else is around god is there hagar thought no one else was there but god was there thou god seest me you sit down and you look at the filth you look at the wickedness it makes you feel bad you get to feeling guilty you begin to sweat and it bothers you it

should bother you but you do not get the clean hands and a pure heart until you utterly destroy all you think your parents don't know how to find it they may not be able to find the history they may not be able to track it down but god knows god knows all about it you'll never you'll never

experience the revival that we're talking about that we're that we're preaching for you will never experience the revival that god is offering to give you until you're willing to come clean and not only destroy all sometimes i think i ought to ease up on this pornography issue i ought to

ease up on it but it never seems to fail it seems like it's at least once a month that a youth pastor or a pastor or an assistant pastor or a deacon

will come to me and ask me to pray with them because they're struggling with pornography.

See, if we've got it in the pulpit, I know we've got it in the pew. A deacon's wife called some time ago.

She got my name from the pastor and she called. She said, my husband has left me.

Left our four little kids. Moved in with another and he's planning on marrying her soon. Good church, good man.

But he never utterly destroyed all. All the while his wife was unaware of the fact that he was going on the internet and he was filling his brain with trash

and he was wallowing around in the sewage of the world. He was committing adultery in front of an internet site. I know that we have the technology so available

and it sits in front of us and you're around it all the time. But I'm telling you this.

I told my wife, I am ready to go back to a stone and start writing on a stone tablet

if that's what it's going to take to get away from the junk. I don't want to be a statistic like these men.

There have been great men. Men have started colleges. Men who have been used and wrote books.

Men who have spoken in conferences. Men that have been nationally known have lost their ministries and lost their marriages

and even lost their lives because they would not utterly destroy all. It is a big deal.

You sit here tonight, you're scared to death of what your parents will think. I'm scared to death of what will happen to you

if you walk out of here rebelling against God, refusing to get right. It's disobedience.

A rebel always disobeys. See, what it means is that the rules are not the issue. The rule isn't the problem.

You think maybe it's because you're in a strict environment. You think it's because your youth pastor is always harping on certain… The rules are never the issue.

It's always the rebellion in the heart that's the issue. What is it that a rebel does? He always disobeys.

But the second thing that a rebel does, we can see this in… Let's look at verse number 20. And Saul the king said unto the preacher, Samuel,

Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek,

and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. Question, is that true? No.

What is it that a rebel does? What does rebellion do? Always disobeys and always deceives.

Listen to me. I've never, in my knowledge, in my recollection, I've never given an invitation.

I've never given an invitation. I never, never, never, I've never given an invitation. But what I am fully aware that God has been dealing with people in the service.

God is truly, genuinely knocking on your heart's door. He's ringing the doorbell. He's speaking to you.

He's doing His job of convicting you. He's prompting you about what you can experience tonight. This matter of revival.

But I'm always aware that there are people who are about to lie to God in the invitation. Saul could have ceased being a rebel once the disobedience became apparent

and he just got honest. You know why clean hands and a pure heart, a clean heart didn't work for you this afternoon?

It's because it never works if you're dishonest with God. the message was agree with god how do we respond to god how do people respond to god so often

people respond this way they accuse the one who is confronting them well who do you think you are if you knew my pastor i can tell you times he's blown it well that's not the right response that's not agreeing with God

if you're going to have clean heart if you're going to experience revival blessing you cannot accuse

the confronter how do people respond wrongly

some get angry they just flat out get angry they'll pound the pew

they get mad they grab their bible and notebooks just walk right out in the invitation

They just get angry They storm off That's not of God

That's not agreeing with God Some They make an accusation

Some get angry Others argue Just argue about it

Get defensive Isn't that what the people of God did in the Old Testament? The preacher who's trying to help them,

he talks to them about the windows of heaven that God wants to open up, and he confronts them with their sin. He comes right to their front porch,

and he says, you've robbed God, and their response is, where have we robbed God? You've wearied God.

Where have we wearied God? A rebel, it's hard to get anywhere with them, because he's arguing.

What is the right response? Just agree with God. Stop disagreeing.

Stop arguing. And begin agreeing with God. In other words, what you ought to do is draw a line.

Imaginary line right where you sit. On one side, imagine God. On the other side, there you sit.

Agreeing with God is going across that line. It is saying, God, I do agree with you. I agree that my sin is a wicked, heinous, ungodly crime against you.

And I agree that my position of covering it is a wicked, terrible, filthy, godless, out of the pit of hell attitude. God, I'm leaving my side. I'm coming to your side.

And I am agreeing with you. That's agreeing. You don't get clean hands and appear hard.

You don't get it over there. You get it over on God's side. See, a rebel stays on his side.

Here's why I haven't done this. Remember what Saul said? Saul said, here's why I have Agag.

Because the preacher said, now listen, if you're really right with God, why do I hear the bleeding of the sheep? And why is King Agag still in your life?

And Saul says, because I'm going to sacrifice to God. Well, doesn't that sound spiritual? Do you know that even people who are not right with God,

they know how to counsel right? You remember David? David the adulterer.

David the murderer. David the one who's on the run from God. Far from God.

Remember the preacher comes to him and says, David, I want to tell you this story. You know the story.

Tells him about a man who has all the sheep that he could ever want. He told about another man who had one little pet sheep. And the man who had all the sheep, the great sheep farmer,

stole that one little sheep. And David was incensed. He was outraged.

And he said, that man ought to pay. And the preacher did his job and said, you are that man. But it's interesting that David counseled correctly the man ought to pay.

Even in the midst of his rebellion. Why? Because a rebel not only disobeys, a rebel deceives.

Why is it that we deceive? Because we've been deceived That's why the Bible says

Stop being deceived Stop being deceived God's not mocked

Stop it Stop thinking it's okay Stop thinking because you're having

Your token devotions at home Stop thinking because you have a position Stop thinking because

You look pretty good in the eyes of others And no one else knows stop thinking it's okay

be not deceived God's not mocked a rebel always disobeys

and he deceives see the invitation is very easy tonight it's very simple

it's revival or rebellion it's not difficult in a church not long ago

some people came forward to the altar and there they stayed at the altar and there they stayed at the altar

and I turn it over to the pastor. I typically give one stand of invitation and I turn it over.

The pastor dealt with some people and concluded the service. I remember there was one lady

who stayed at the altar for 45 minutes after the service was over. We're all in the back.

Her husband was a deacon. He had keys. So we turned out the lights

and left one on and walked outside. I went back to my trailer. The next night she gave testimony.

She was probably at the altar for about two hours. She went all the way with God. She began to talk about the hurts and the wounds and the bitterness that took place.

The grudges. She had to get right with her husband. She stood and she got right with the pastor the next night.

Do you know she did more in her testimony than what I did in four nights of preaching my heart out? Because she went from rebellion to revival. And a clean heart is contagious.

We see the cause of rebellion. It's pride and peer pressure. The course of rebellion, it disobeys and it always deceives.

I want you to see the last thing and we're done. And that is the condemnation of rebellion. What does God really say about it?

The condemnation of rebellion. Notice verse number 23. The Bible says for rebellion, this is God's estimation,

for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Stop there.

I used to think that God was saying that rebellion is witchcraft. So that anytime we talked about rebellion, we're talking about witchcraft. But that's not what he's saying.

What God is telling us is that rebellion is equally as wicked as the sin of witchcraft. You remember how God felt about witches? What was God's remedy for witches in the Old Testament?

Kill them. Burn them. Kill them.

I wonder how long Harry Potter would have made it in those days. God said, kill them. God does not even pretend to think it's alright

to worship the devil God says rebellion is equally as wicked as witchcraft

let's suppose tonight we turn out all the lights and we have an invitation a little bit different we turn the lights off and we bring out the communion table

and we bring in thousands of candles and line the front with candles everywhere The lights are turned out, no lights peering through the windows.

And we line the platform with thousands of candles. And we can smell the incense coming from the candles and all different smells and colors. And we bring out on this communion table the communion cups.

And we bring out some dead, worthless animal. Some animal that really has little value upon planet earth like a cat. And we bring out this dead cat.

I'm not against cats. I'm for them. It just depends upon how you cook them, that's all.

And so it tastes like chicken, in case you wonder. And so you bring out the cat. We cut it open.

We take the communion cups and we dip it in the blood of the cat and we disperse the communion cups. We sit and drink the blood of a dead animal.

we smell the incense we look at the candles and and then to close the service i decided i ought to pray and so um i pray to the uh god of the revival banner oh great god of the revival banner god of the revival banner that stands on a black platform and oh god of the revival banner would

Would you bless us this night on this Thursday night of many have come, many teenagers from all across the country. Lord, would you bless these young people,

yea, even adults who have come as we drink the blood of the cat, we smell the incense from the candles.

Oh, great God, the devil that you are. No one would go up to Dr. Jim and say,

hey, can we do that one again tomorrow night on the final night? Why? Because it's witchcraft.

we would never never never

come close to honoring Satan I'm just trying to make a point

a silly illustration gives us a glimpse

into God's thoughts about pride peer pressure,

resulting in disobedience or partial obedience, would not utterly destroy all.

And deception. And God says it's equally as wicked as worshiping Satan tonight.

The great news is that if you came in here and God said to you tonight, you're a rebel,

the great news is that you can leave here revived. The message of the clean heart is a wonderful

truth. You know what that thought that hit me some time ago about

that message? Is that the truth I believe that is being preached and taught

is that whenever I utterly destroy all, and I agree with

God and take God's side in the matter, then I can be as right with God as

Jesus is. What thought.

You don't need a map drawn to the altar tonight. But the question is, what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do

about your rebellion? Heads bowed and eyes closed. Heads bowed and eyes closed.

I'll ask the young people, if you put your back up against the pew, this is perhaps to me the most important part of the service

because this is where you begin to choose to be doers instead of hearers only. If you are a hearer only, you're deceiving your own self. I told my wife, I am going to start responding at every invitation,

even if I am preaching, when God speaks to my heart, because I don't want and I cannot stand to be deceived. I cannot afford it, and neither can you.

So I'm going to help you. The invitation is not for us. You understand that it is for you.

It is critical. I know God's dealing with some of you. I know God is all over you

and God is bothering you because He loves you. But I know the deception that exists and I know the danger that exists at this critical moment

that if you try to lie to God, it's going to be a rough road. Before I ask you the question,

and I want to make a statement. Somebody asked me some time ago, why do you preach the way you do?

With this message, I carry in it a clipping from a magazine. I carry it around.

It's in my Bible most of the time. And I have with that a list of certain names. Names of people just like you

that I've come across. This magazine clipping came from a pastor and a pastor's wife.

I held a meeting for them and they sat me down and they said, would you please pray for my son? They handed me this magazine clipping.

Their son tonight is on a primetime television show. He's in Hollywood. He's made his millions.

But the son went to a Christian school. Just like some of you. he went to the wilds every summer

for seven summers he set through two to three revival meetings a year in his church

because of pride and peer pressure not being dealt with the heart of a rebel set in and he disobeyed and he deceived

he said goodbye to his mom and dad he said goodbye to his mom and dad's God and he went on the run

you don't come across too many people too many times before your heart breaks

and before you become grieved and recognized it ought not take an illustration to get you to wake up

it ought to be sufficient that God says it be not deceived

rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and your stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Isn't that sufficient?

But I'm reminded by these illustrations. I'm reminded by these people. I'm reminded by some of my friends

who ought to be in the ministry who'll never be able to stand behind a pulpit. I'm reminded that we've got to get serious about this matter.

Listen, dear friend, God is serious tonight. It's just that some of us are not. God is urgent tonight.

It's just that we're not. We have an invitation because God resists the proud. However, He gives grace to the humble.

Humble Christians are honest Christians. That's why we ask these questions. It helps you to access grace.

It helps you to get honest so that you can be humble. How many would say tonight, preacher, God did deal with me. He put His finger on an area of my heart and life tonight.

He pointed out some form of pride and independence. He pointed out some aspect of being influenced by someone else in a negative way. He pointed out some area of disobedience or partial obedience.

He pointed it out tonight and He pointed out deception within my life. And as much as I don't want to raise my hand, I have to be humble and honest because God resists the proud.

God did deal with me. Yes, preacher, God dealt with me. If that's the case, would you put your hand up good and high?

God dealt with me. Thank you, may put your hands down. How many of you would say God dealt with you about the matter of getting right with mom and dad?

You know you ought to do it. You knew you ought to do it before this message. You knew you ought to do it perhaps before the conference.

But God did deal with you about it again. You've got to get right with mom and dad. It's not enough to talk to God about it.

You have got to get right with mom and dad. And some of you dealt with you specifically tonight about this matter of your rebelling against mom and dad.

If that's you, would you be honest and put your hand up. God dealt with you about that in particular.

Put it up good and high. All right. God resists the proud.

He gives grace to the humble. Amen. You may put your hands down.

I wonder how many would say, Preacher, God dealt with me about my media. I watch trash.

I look at junk. Just call it what it is. I look at filth.

And I listen to some things that displease and dishonor my parents. Or more importantly, it dishonors your God. God dealt with you about some of your media choices tonight.

You've watched the American Idol. You've watched America's Got Talent. You've watched these things.

You listen to music because it seems innocent. Maybe your parents will let you watch a little bit of it, but it has hurt you, it's wounded you, and it's deadened you.

But God's dealt with you about it tonight. You're humble and honest about it. God dealt with you.

If that's you, put your hand up good and high. Put it up good and high. God dealt with you about your media.

All right, thank you. Put your hands down. Some of you cheated.

In fact, many of you have cheated. you say how do i know because of your expressions you've cheated i'm so thankful that god gives grace to the humble

and the clean heart is awaiting you tonight i'm talking about god's kind of clean heart the reviving can start tonight you say i don't know if i can live it well mark it down you can't but god can so if you will get

honest and take his side tonight you can experience his abundant life what are you do about it god dealt with you about cheating how many would say preacher don't don't don't don't deceive don't lie preacher god dealt with me about cheating i've got to get right at that

you put your hand up good and high put it up all right thank you may put your hands down others say preacher i pledgerized i cheated I've got to raise my hand too

Who else? Put your hand up Alright, thank you

Thank you, sir Thank you May put your hands down

You don't have to leave here A rebel tonight this invitation time

if you need to get saved you can get saved but most of us just need to get right with the Lord

the line is already drawn God drew the line will you take God's side

and agree with Him and utterly destroy all all

will you do it tonight heads bowed and eyes closed and standing to your feet while heads are bowed and eyes are closed.

In just a moment, the piano will play. In just a moment. In just a moment, the piano will play.

And when the piano plays, let me urge you to respond to God like Saul should have.

Do you know that Saul, as a rebel, ended up committing suicide. He said before he died,

I played the fool. A person who rebels does not have the peace and the love

and the joy of God within their heart and life. God never leads you to think about taking your life.

God leads you to experience the abundant life. Some of you are so depressed.

You're down. You're discouraged. You're frustrated.

You're bitter. You're angry. You're mad.

But God loves you. God's for you. I'm for you too.

But we've got to be honest with you, dear friend. Will you respond to Him? In just a moment, the piano play.

Here's what we want you to do. You know what you ought to do. Some have already responded.

I want to ask that you open your eyes, head to the nearest aisle, go right back to the back, and come clean. Come clean with the counselors.

You say, they don't have any business knowing what I'm going through. Well, but God knows. and God wants you to get honest

and they're going to help you they can take a Bible and they can show you how you can unload the whole truck tonight

and utterly destroy all will you do it as the piano plays pride and peer pressure

is not of God. Disobedience and deception is not of God. Adults,

it applies. Revival is just as essential for us and rebellion is just as wicked.

You don't want to go out the back, that's fine, but you can come forward to the front. Let me ask you this,

those who are standing right where you are, you've not responded. I just want to make sure that there's an understanding that is correct between you and God and this pulpit.

You stand there tonight. You've not budged because you're in revival. You've not responded because you're right with God.

There's no pride and peer pressure that's undealt with. There's no disobedience and deception. You're right with God.

Your conscience is clear between God and man. You're right with God. I'm just assuming that that's why you're standing there

so let me ask you the question how many would say preacher that's right I'm standing here tonight God didn't deal with me

I am right with almighty God if that's you would you put your hand up good and high put it up good and high

I'm right with God I'm right with God thank you may put your hands down the conclusion is that some of you

are just like Saul Saul said yes I've obeyed the voice of the Lord you're not right with God

you're not in revival it's easy to get in revival it's easy to get saved tonight

if you need to get saved it's simple it's easy it's a choice you've got to make

and as a Christian it's equally as easy his yoke is easy

his burden is light but you've got to deal with the rebellion pride is what's keeping you in your seat

you say I responded last night I responded today respond again if God's dealing with you

He's the issue