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Christians Who Despise God

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• Proverbs 14:2. That's in the Old Testament. Proverbs 14:2. The title of the message is "Christians Who Despise God." Christians who despise God. Yeah? Proverbs chapter 14, and look, if you would please, at verse 2. The Scripture says, "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him." Now look how simple that verse is. "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him." If you were to ask the average professing Christian, "Do you despise God?"

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• Undoubtedly, you would get a resounding negative. In fact, you might even get more than a negative. You may even get looked at in a bold and hard and incredulous manner. You may even get hollered at or cussed out in a Christian manner, of course, you understand. But obviously most of them say, "Well, no, I certainly do not despise God." However, there's a vast difference between professions and action.

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• Each of us has used the old adage, "I can't hear what you're saying because of the way that you're acting," or we've heard it like this: "Actions speak louder than words." Our Lord made that truth abundantly clear in Matthew 7:16 when He said, "You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?" And then He said it again in Matthew 7:20, "Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them."

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• So in the strictest sense of the word, it really doesn't matter what someone says or what someone professes; what really counts is how he lives. Because even Solomon in Proverbs 4:23 said, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." And our actions and our conduct really and truly reveal our heart. So our text then is emphasizing truth. Look at it, if you would, in verse 2: "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord." Now I just finished 12 messages on walking with the Lord, and I did remind you about every one of those messages that walking indicates a way of life. It is your conduct. It is how you live. And if you look at the latter part of that verse, "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways." So again, your ways happens to be your life. It's how you conduct yourself and how you live. So the text is very simple: "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him."

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• So let me just show you how simple this truth really is. When one walks in his uprightness—and by the way, the word "uprightness" here refers to that which is right, that which is righteous and which is moral and ethical according to God's law—when one walks in that uprightness, it is indeed a demonstration that he fears and honors God. His life demonstrates that he is holding God in awe and reverence. His life demonstrates again that he regards God and he is bringing his life in submission to what He teaches.

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• On the other hand, when one is perverse—and the word "perverse" here literally means one that is crooked, one that is devious, one that is forward and disobedient—when a man is perverse in his ways, the Bible says, "he despiseth him." In other words, perverseness then is an evidence and a manifestation that a man has absolutely no regard for God. In fact, he dishonors him and he despises him. Now let me tell you what this little word in the Hebrew means when the Bible says in verse 2, "But he that is perverse in his ways despises him." The word "despise" means to hold in contempt, to scorn, to make contemptible, and to count as vile and worthless. So look at it: Proverbs 14:2, "He that walketh in his uprightness or in righteousness fears the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways counts God as vile, worthless, and contemptible." Now we know that the world as a whole disdains the Lord Jesus Christ and despises Him. In fact, the Bible says in Isaiah 49:7, "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One, to him whom man despiseth."

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• So in reference to Jesus Christ, He is called the one whom man despiseth. And everyone remembers Isaiah 53:3, talking about Jesus Christ: "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." The very fact that the Scripture says "we esteemed him not" simply means this: we didn't even count him worthy of being thought about. He was so despised, we would not even allow him into our minds. And basically, an unsaved man has no time for Jesus Christ. He has no time for the Bible.

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• He doesn't think about biblical things. He doesn't have time for that. He counts him as vile and worthless. Now, everyone understands that the unsaved, the heathen, the pagans, would count Jesus Christ as vile and worthless and contemptible. But the questions that you have to ask are these: Is it possible for a Christian, for a real genuine child of God, to hold his Heavenly Father in such contempt and derision and scorn and disdain? Is it possible that we might actually treat our Heavenly Father as vile and worthless? Is it possible for a genuine child of God to treat our Father with such contempt that God regards it as that we are despising Him? And the answer to each one of those questions is absolutely yes.

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• Now, our Lord makes it clear that we're either going to love Him or hate Him. We're gonna serve Him or we're gonna reject Him. He said in Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." So our Lord makes it clear.

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• There is no middle ground. There's no in-between. There's no neutrality. You either love him or you hate him. You either hold to him or you despise him.

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• Now, before I proceed any further, I suppose it would probably be helpful if I could give you an illustration in the Bible where a real, genuine, true believer actually despised God. When we talk about Christians despising God, that concept is so far from our minds it is almost inconceivable that we could consider the fact that a real genuine child of God could end up despising God. But yet, it is true.

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• I'm sure that each of you remember King David. The Bible tells us that David was a man after God's own heart. Now, let me emphasize something: when you read about David being a man after God's own heart, it was God himself who gave that testimony concerning David. Acts 13:22 says, "And when he had removed him, that is when God had removed King Saul, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to him also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." And that amazing God said, after you move Saul, "I found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, who shall fulfill all my will." So everybody knows David's love for the Lord. And of course, very obviously, everyone also knows that David was, by and large, most of his life, obedient to God.

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• Now, let me ask you a question. If it is possible for David, who is known for his love and obedience to God, to despise him, the question has to be asked: how much easier and more readily it is for you and I, who do not love him as much as David did, to despise him and hold him in contempt. So let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bible, hold Proverbs, but turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. Everyone understands that David committed adultery with Bathsheba.

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• He also had her husband Uriah the Hittite slain with the sword of the children of Ammon. You remember that. But look, if you would, in 2 Samuel 11:26. The Bible says, "And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was passed, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son." Notice this statement: "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." Now I'm not even going to explain the word "displeased" right here with the exception that everyone understands David's actions were certainly not in agreement and in conformity with the Word of God; they were contrary to God's Word, therefore God was very sorely displeased. But let's skip down, if you would please, to verse 7. 2 Samuel 12:7. You know how Nathan had come to David and told him the story about the poor man with the one little lamb and the rich man that had plenty, and how the rich man spared to take of his own flock, but he took that poor man's lamb. And David was—well, look at it in verse 5: "And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man."

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• And he said to Nathan, "As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." And Nathan said to David, "Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah."

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• Now look what he said: "And if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Now watch: Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon." Watch verse 10: "Now therefore the sword shall never depart out of thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun." Now I want you to go back and look at verse 9. He says, "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of God?" What did David first do?

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• He despised the commandment of God. What did the commandment of God say? "Thou shalt not commit adultery." "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife." "Thou shalt not kill." So David then despised God's law. I want you to understand something, I'm going to point it out: that God and His law are one and they cannot be separated. So he said in verse 9, "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord?" Now skip down to verse 10: "Now therefore the sword shall never depart out of thine house; because thou hast despised me." Well, did David despise God's law or did David despise God? And the answer is he despised both, because obviously when you have no regard for the law of God, you have no regard for the God who gave that law. So it's called a despising of God. God and his law cannot be separated.

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• You remember I've told you I don't know how many times, but a king rules by his law. The king's law is an expression of his will. Just to show you that this isn't only true in the Old Testament, let me quote a verse in the Old Testament, then we're gonna go to the New Testament. In Psalm 138:2, David said, "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." So God has placed his word on a very high pedestal, even above his name, in the sense that if God's word ever fails, then God would cease to be God. But God has said, "Here's my word, and my word is holy because I am holy." So David despised God's law, and therefore David despised God. Now listen to me carefully: it is impossible to maintain one attitude toward God's law and a different attitude toward God.

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• So let me break this down like this: it's impossible to maintain one attitude toward the Bible and a different attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. I've heard people say, "Well, I love the Lord Jesus, but I don't care for the Bible. I mean, I don't ever read it. It's hard for me to understand, and I just don't care for it. But now I love the Lord, really." That's impossible. You could say, "Well, I love the Bible, but I don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." That's impossible. Let me show you. Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 12 and look, if you would please, at verse 48. Look at what our Lord himself said. John 12:48, look at it. Our Lord says, "He that rejecteth me"—that's the living Word—"and receiveth not my words"—that's the written Word—"hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

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• Did you hear that? Jesus said it's impossible for you to receive my words and reject me, or it's impossible for you to reject me and receive my words. If you do reject me, if you do not receive my words, you're still going to be judged by my words. Why? Well, let me ask you: when he says here that you're going to be judged by his words, do you remember what our Lord said in John chapter 5? That the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. So when he says you're gonna be judged by my words, who's gonna be doing the judging? The Lord Jesus Christ is. So it's impossible to say, "Well, I love Christ, but I don't love the Bible," or "I love the Bible, but I don't love Christ." No, it's impossible.

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• Now, so here's what is happening. I'm going to show you before we get through today. But when, as Christians, we refuse to obey God, we are actually guilty of despising His law, guilty of despising His Word, and therefore equally guilty of despising God who gave that Word.

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• Now let me make a statement. I'm going to show it to you from Scripture. You might get upset when you hear the statement, but that's beside the point. It's still true. When we despise God, we're nothing more than an Esau. An Esau? Let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12, and at the same time, if you would, turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. We'll go to Hebrews chapter 12 first, then we're going to turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Okay, so look, if you would please, Hebrews chapter 12, and let's begin reading there with verse number—Hebrews 12:15: "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright."

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• "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." Now God says, "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau." Now when you hear the term "fornicator," each one of us normally thinks of the abuse of your body in a sexual relationship—a whoremonger, a fornicator. But I want you to understand something: the term "fornication" is exceedingly broad. Moreover, if you will look at it in the context, he said, "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." So the fornication of Esau has to do with his birthright. Well, how could he be a fornicator if it has to do with the birthright? Well now, let's think about this. The birthright meant, as the oldest son, he would be the heir, so to speak. He would be the one to follow in his father's footsteps as the patriarch of the family.

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• Moreover, he would get a double portion of the inheritance because it would be his responsibility then to take care of elderly mother who has left or elderly father who has left or anyone who needed help. That would be his responsibility. Moreover, in the birthright was also the lineage and the genealogy of Jesus Christ. So what did he do? He despised his duty. He despised his obligations. He despised the spiritual gift and the spiritual birthright that he had.

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• And he unlawfully traded that for something that would satisfy his body—a mess of pottage. Which is an unlawful use of the body. That's what fornication is. Let me show you. I'm going to come back to Hebrews 12, but look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Look at this now. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. First of all, I want you to look at verse 13. 1 Corinthians 6:13.

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• He says, "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." So God did not make us to use our bodies unlawfully for anything. The Lord made us for Himself. Our bodies are for Himself.

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• Now skip down to verse 15. Yes, there is an implication of illicit sexuality here, but notice, if you would, verse 15. We're not going to just read verse 15, but watch it. "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid." Perish the thought, don't even think that. "What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." Now watch: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." May I ask you, how much of you does

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• God own? Everything about you—body, soul, and spirit. We cannot use our bodies unlawfully in any way. And what Esau did as a fornicator, he said, "I'll trade you my birthright. I don't care about the blessing of God. I don't care about my duties. I don't care about my responsibilities. I don't care about my obligations. All I care about is that bowl of peas right there." And he traded all that for an unlawful use, that is just simply to satisfy his immediate hunger at that particular time.

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• And when he said, "I am at the point of death," he was not about to starve to death. He just, as Scripture says, despised his birthright.

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• Now watch, he said, "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person." You know what a profane person is? A profane person is someone who treats that which is holy as if it's common or unclean or unholy. So here's fornication and profanity. I don't know if you remember a message I preached a number of years ago. The title of the message is "Preaching Profanity." And I pointed out how you can be absolutely profane and never ever utter a curse word.

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• And this is—Esau was probably not necessarily what you and I would call a cusser. He may have been, I have no idea. But the Scripture doesn't label him as that. Well, how then is he called profane? Because he treated that which was holy as if it was unholy. He treated that which was godly and right as something that was common and unclean and could be easily disposed of.

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• So the point I'm trying to make is very simple. When we despise God's Word and refuse to obey God's Word, we become Esaus. We count God and His truth as something that is common, unclean, and unholy, and then we unlawfully use our bodies. We are treating God as if He's worthless and vile. We're holding Him in contempt. We are despising Him. Now, I want to show you something. Israel, in the Old Testament, often despised God or despised His law. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus, chapter 26. Leviticus chapter 26. And let's begin reading there with verse—oh, verse 14. Leviticus 26:14. Look, if you would, what he says. Leviticus 26:14. In fact, let's read verse 13. He says, "I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen;"—because they are going to be the bondslaves of God, because of His redemption He bought them—"that ye should not be

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• their bondmen, and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright." Now look what he says in verse 14: "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; and if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments"—and the word "abhor" is a very strong word for hatred—"and if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you."

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• "I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." But note what he said: "If ye shall despise my statutes." He's talking to the people that he just redeemed. He's talking about the people that he just brought out of Egypt. Look in verse 43 of the same chapter, Leviticus 26:43. "The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes." Wow. Turn right over to the book of Numbers chapter 11. Numbers 11. And look, if you would please, at verse 20. Numbers 11:20. Remember now, the people had been complaining that they did not have any meat to eat.

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• God had been giving them manna, and the manna was perfectly suited to sustain them. It was nutritionally perfect. It was everything they needed. They wanted meat, and so they whined and bellyached and complained. And so in verse 19 of Numbers chapter 11, God says, "Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord who

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• is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?" You know what we often do? And each one of us is as guilty as we can be. We whine and we complain and we bellyache against God's divine providence. And we don't like how God leads us and directs us and how he supplies us. And here it's called a despising of God.

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• Wow. Look in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 14, verse 31. Numbers 14:31. You remember how the people said, "Oh, you've not only brought us out here to die in this wilderness, you brought the little ones out here to die—our children." Oh, Numbers chapter 14 and verse 31, God says this: "But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised." I want you to note: when they refused to obey God and refused to go in and conquer the land, God said, "What you're doing is despising my gifts. I gave you the land. You didn't want it. You despised it. Your children are gonna go in and get it, but you will never get it." Look at Numbers chapter 15, beginning there with verse 29. Numbers 15:29. He says, "Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them."

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• Now, each one of us sins through ignorance. We do things that are wrong sometimes without even knowing they're wrong. That's why I normally tell people—I hear Christians say, "Well, I remember I repented when I got converted." Really? I know I repented when I got converted; my life has been a continual repentance, because as God opens my eyes, I see more and more sin and wickedness and rebellion in my own life. Repentance does not change. But the truth is, we often sin through ignorance, and sometimes we sin not only without knowing it, we do it without thinking about it. And the next thing you know, "Oh, I realize what I've just done." Now, the reason I'm telling you this: there's a difference between a sin through ignorance and a sin of presumption. So look in your Bibles to verse 30. Numbers 15:30. And he says, "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people."

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• Why? "Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off." What is the sin of presumption? Do you remember how David prayed in Psalm 19? He said, "Keep me from the sin of presumption; let them not have dominion over me." So here's the sin of presumption: Steve has a rifle. I like it. I want it. So I say, "Steve, sell me that rifle." "No, no, I don't sell it." "Well, Steve, give me that rifle." "No, I'm not going to give you that rifle." But I want that rifle. And I know when he's going to go off and visit his relatives.

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• And so I plan and I premeditate. And while he's gone, I go in and steal that rifle. Was that a sin of ignorance? No, that was presumption. I knowingly, willingly, premeditatedly violated God's law. And God says when you do that, you're despising my commandment. It's a sin of presumption.

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• Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 5, verse 24. Isaiah 5:24. You could multiply scriptures, but look at this one. Isaiah 5:24. God is here talking about Judah and Jerusalem. All you got to do is read chapter 5, verse 1, and then skip down, if you would, to verse 7, and it tells you, "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant." So he's talking about Israel. He's talking about Judah and Jerusalem. And look what he says in Isaiah 5:24.

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• "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." So when you pay no attention to the law of God, you take the law of God and put it to one side over here, God says that's despising me. You're not paying any attention to me.

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• Now, someone's going to say, "But wait a minute, Brother Weaver, everything that you've just showed me is in the Old Testament." So far, yes. You say, "Everything you've just showed me usually referred to Israel or Esau or somebody like that." So far, yes. But may I remind you, the Old Testament is just as much the Word of God as the New Testament. We have one Bible, not two. And there is one God, not two. The same God who is the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament. So I want you to turn to two passages right now. The first one is Romans 15, and then the second one is 1 Corinthians chapter 10. So go to Romans chapter 15 first, and then we are going to go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. So Romans chapter 15 first.

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• Now I want you to look at what the Apostle Paul said in verse 4. Romans 15:4. Paul writes and he says this: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime"—that's the Old Testament, because now the New Testament is being written—"were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Now God says everything that happened to Israel, everything that happened in the Old Testament, all of that was written for our learning and our admonition. We better make application. We better benefit from it.

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• Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Corinthians 10:1. He says, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." So what is he talking about in verses 1 and 2? He's talking about the crossing of the Red Sea. He is talking about the deliverance from Egypt, right?

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• Now watch verses 3 and 4: "And did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." So now we are talking about Israel in the Old Testament wanderings in the desert. Now watch verse 5: "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

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• You remember all those people who died because they bellyached and complained and disobeyed God? Now look in verse 6: "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." Now wait a minute, stop. "These things were our examples." There are many examples in the Bible, in the Old and New Testament, that we are to emulate. There are also examples that we are to stay as far away from as we possibly can.

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• This is some of them. So he says in verse 6, "Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not follow their example, we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer." Watch: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples"—or examples—"and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."

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• So what is he saying? Everything that happened to them is for our benefit. We have to consider what God did in their lives.

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• Now there are warnings that are scattered throughout Scripture concerning despising God and his word. For instance, go in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 1. The book of Proverbs chapter 1, and look at verses 29 through 31. Proverbs chapter 1, beginning there verse 29. And look what God says about these people. Watch: "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord." Verse 30:

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• "They would none of my counsel"—that is, they would have none of my counsel—"they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices." What did they do? They despised all of God's counsel and all of God's reproof, all of his warnings. God says, "OK, you can eat the fruit of your own ways. You can be filled with your own devices. That's what you want. You can have it."

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• Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 13 and verse 13. Proverbs 13:13. The Bible says, "Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded." Now I don't know about you, but I'd rather be rewarded than destroyed. So he says, "Whoever despises the word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth the commandment"—and if you fear it, you will obey it—"shall be rewarded." It's just that simple. I've told you this before, but it fits so well right here. When my youngest grandson was about five or six years old, I asked him to do something, and he looked at me and he said, "Papa, I don't want to do it."

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• I said, "Son, I appreciate that. So I'll give you a choice. You may either do it, or you may get a whipping and do it." He looked at me and said, "Papa, I think I'll just do it." I said, "I think you're a wise son." Well, that's what the Bible says. So I'd much rather be rewarded than I had be punished. So look in Proverbs chapter 19 and verse 16. Proverbs 19:16.

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• "He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways"—that is, God's way—"shall die." So God said, "If you keep my commandments, you're keeping your own soul. If you're despising my way, then you're going to die." Now, let me show you a general principle. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 2 and look at verse 30. In this passage, God is speaking to Eli, and you will remember Eli honored his sons above God, Hophni and Phinehas; in fact, they were so wicked God killed them both in one day. But I want you to see what God told Eli. 1 Samuel 2:30. Here is the general principle, I'm going to apply it. The Lord speaking to Eli, and he says, "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will

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• honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." If you'll go back to verse 29, look what he said to Eli: "Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?" I told you, said God, "I would bless you and you could be my priest, but now be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." So here is the principle: if we honor God, God is going to honor us.

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• I've been trying to tell you: if you keep the commandments you will be rewarded; if you don't keep them you will die, you will be punished, it's just that simple—chastened, however God wants you. You say, "But I'm a Christian." Well, may I remind you the Bible says in 1 John chapter 5, even for the child of God there is a sin unto death. Sure there is.

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• So let me ask you a question in light of this. Is it any wonder, for the most part of Christians, that their prayers are unanswered? That their lives are unblessed? Here's my question: Who wants to honor a dishonorable child? Who wants to bless a disobedient, hateful, impudent, arrogant, rebellious child? What father would look at his son and say, "Son, you've insulted me. You've insulted your mother. You've stolen from me. You violated my confidence. You've done everything that I hate and despise. But son,

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• I'm gonna buy you a new car." Would you do that? No. Neither would I. Do you think God's going to do that? No. No. "Those that honor me will I honor. Those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." I want you to listen to this. Here is what God asked the priest in Malachi 1:6. He said this: "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?" God says, "You are despising me." We despise the name of God by holding God in contempt. We despise the name of God by refusing to honor Him and obey Him. We despise the name of God by counting His service and counting His worship as something that is absolutely vile and worthless.

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• You look at the average Christian. He'll lay out of church for any reason in the world. I understand there's many churches that need to be laid out of. I understand that. But do you realize the average Christian, if he has a toe ache, he's going to lay out of church. Or if he has a desire to go fishing, or go to the beach, or go somewhere, he'll do it.

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• And this is exactly what God is saying in Malachi chapter 1. We despise God by holding Him and counting Him as worthless and vile. We read, what's Hebrews 10:25 say? "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Wow. Let me show you something. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. You say, "Well, I need a New Testament passage. All these Old Testament passages, I don't know." Well, okay, I'll give you one. I want you to look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Thessalonians 4:1. You're talking about despising God? Wow. Here it is. 1 Thessalonians 4:1: "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren"—notice "brethren," he is talking to Christians—"and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more."

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• So Paul said, "We instructed you. We told you how to walk and please God. And our prayer is that you will do this more and more." Now watch verse 2: "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus." So we are talking about commandments now. "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified." Watch verse 7: "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." So he said, "We've given you these commandments." Now watch verse 8: "He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit." Did you see that? Paul said, "We told you what is biblical and what is right.

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• And if you despise, you're not despising man. You're despising God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit." So it is impossible to despise the Word of God without at the same time despising the God who gave the Word. This text makes it clear that if we despise God, we also despise the Holy Spirit that He gave us.

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• Now, before I try to make some applications, there's one more thought that I want to connect to this. I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 36. 2 Chronicles chapter 36. I want you to listen carefully and I want you to see this from Scripture. We've already talked about despising God's Word. We've already talked about despising God. When we despise those who declare and teach His Word, we not only despise the messengers of God, but we despise God who sent the Word as well. So, in 2 Chronicles 36:15, watch: "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them"—that is, to His people—"by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place."

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• Now let me just stop there. When God has compassion upon a people, He sends them His preachers. He sends the men who will teach His law, who will declare His Word. So, verse 15: "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they"—that is the people—"but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand." Now let's take this. Look at it. Look in verse 15: "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers"—that's plural. He sent more than one preacher. Look in verse 16: "But they mocked the messengers"—that's plural—"but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his"—that's singular—"and despised his words." That's God's words.

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• They despised his words and misused his prophets—that's plural. So all of the messengers, all the prophets were preaching and teaching God's word. And when they rejected those messengers, they were despising his words. Unhappily today, so many people, like the Israelites of old, will stick their fingers in their ears and like a little child say, "I'm not listening. I'm not listening. I'm not listening." And you're despising the Word of God. Now only two more scriptures.

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• I want you to look in Luke chapter 10 and verse 16. I don't see how this could be made any plainer. Our Lord said this with his own mouth, and you will either receive it or you will reject it, but here it is in black and white. Luke chapter 10, and notice, if you would please, at verse 16. Look what he tells his preachers. Look what he tells those whom he sends out to teach and preach. He says, "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."

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• So when we refuse to hear men who are declaring the truth of God, wow. Well, you're refusing to hear God who gave that truth. And when you despise the man who preaches the word of God, you're despising Jesus Christ. And when you despise Jesus Christ, you despise the Father who sent Christ. Now, here's my question: Is it possible for a Christian to despise God? Yes. Is it possible for a believer to hold God in absolute contempt and count Him as vile and worthless? Yes.

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• Even while we profess to love Him, because of our disobedience. Which leads me to this application: It's not just that which we say that counts. It's how we live our lives. It's our attitude and our actions. What does he say? "When a man walketh in his uprightness, he feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him." It's all a matter of how we live, whether we're obedient or disobedient. Now, one last passage.

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• I want you to look in Hebrews chapter 10. If you don't think this message today is serious, I hope this passage will impress upon you the seriousness of it. In Hebrews chapter 10, I want you to look at verse 28. A very simple statement, a very simple truth. Hebrews 10:28: "He that despised Moses' law"—that is the law that God gave through Moses—"died without mercy under two or three witnesses." So in the Old Testament, when you sinned, you had to have a minimum of two witnesses for the death penalty. And when a man was testified against by two or more witnesses, he died. The Bible says without mercy, because the law of God said, "If you do this, you're going to die." It's just that simple. So he that despised Moses' law, what does he say? "Died without mercy under two or three witnesses." Now look at verse 29: "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

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• How he said, back in the Old Testament when there was this limited knowledge and it was just given in writing, you died without mercy under two or three witnesses. How much sorer or worse punishment should you be thought worthy of now, since God has given the full and final revelation in Jesus Christ, and now you're trotting him under your feet. You're counting him as vile, worthless, and as a filthy rug, and you're filing in covenant and doing despite to the Spirit of grace. I tend to think, when we do things like that, it's kind of like what God said to David when he committed adultery and murder. But God was not well pleased. He was displeased. And how can we expect the blessings of God in our lives if we're living a dishonorable life and treating Him with contempt and treating Him as He is unholy and something common and someone that we can just throw away and throw around at our leisure.

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• "He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him." Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for your word, your truth. And Lord, we confess our need of grace and mercy. And we confess and acknowledge our sin. We have despised thee so many times in so many ways, though thou hast blessed us immeasurably. And we do love Thee, Lord, but we are sinners, and we are frail, and we are weak. I pray, Lord, that You would help us to be obedient, to be holy, to be godly, and to bring our lives in greater conformity to Your Word. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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• ♪

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:01:25Z