Clean Transcript

Teaching Rebellion

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• 28 and we'll begin with verse 15 and then we'll read also from Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 28, beginning there with verse 15. The title of the message is "Teaching Rebellion." So notice, if you would, Jeremiah chapter 28 and verse 15: "Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month." Now if you will look in Jeremiah chapter 29, and let's begin reading there with verse 30. Jeremiah 29 verse 30: "Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord."

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• Rebellion, in one sense of the word, does not need to be taught, since all are sinners and all are rebels against God by nature. It is our nature, it is our tendency, and our inclination to rebel and to do our own thing. We wish to transgress, and we wish to rebel, and when we do, it does not matter right and wrong, and it does not matter about authority, because we always simply want to follow our own determinations. So, the very first thing I would point out today is this: you have to remember that first and foremost, rebellion is against God and His law. Even godly people sometimes commit rebellion, sometimes unknowingly, sometimes knowingly and just simply through emotions and circumstances.

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• But even Moses and Aaron rebelled against the Lord. For the Bible tells us in Numbers 27 and verse 14, God spoke to them and said, "For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin." So even Moses and Aaron, in this instance, rebelled against God. Rebellion to God and His law was the preeminent sin of the Israelites through the Old Testament; that was their leading sin. Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 26, says this: "Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations." So Nehemiah said, they rebelled against God, they cast His law behind their backs.

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• Now, rebellion may take many and various forms. Sometimes we may not necessarily recognize rebellion at the beginning, but inevitably it is going to manifest itself and inevitably the judgment of God is going to be upon it. Let me just begin by saying this: in a general sense we could state this truth—rebellion can only be to lawful authority. If there is no lawful authority, it is not rebellion. It would just simply be resistance to tyranny and usurpation. So, just mark this down and hold this thought in your mind because I'll make an application from it at the end of the message. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. There are many different ways to rebel. One may attempt to seize lawful power and lawful authority unlawfully, and of course that is rebellion. Likewise, one could use lawful authority and lawful power unlawfully and still be guilty of rebellion.

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• And here is the reason why: because God has ordained and set the boundaries and set the limits for every institution that He ordained. We have what is taught in the Bible as sphere authority. God created the family. He created the church. He created the state. And God delineated their limits and their boundaries. Thus when you read about these kings in Psalm 2, verses 2 and 3, the Bible says this: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." So the kings there did not like the limitations that God had set upon them. They did not like the boundaries that God had enclosed them in. So, "Let's cast away their cords. Let's break their bands."

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• We'll do what we want to do. We will define our own power and define our own authorities. So obviously, when you have now a denial of God's ordained limits and a denial of God's ordained boundaries, that in itself is rebellion. And it does not matter if it is done individually, scholastically, familially, ecclesiastically, or nationally.

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• Now let me just point out what I'm going to call scholastic rebellion, and I could really put that down and say educational rebellion. So, let me ask you a couple of questions. I want you to think this through. I know the answers, and I know the answers you will give me, but here's some questions. Would you send your children to a place where your rightful authority as a parent was denied? Would you pay someone to teach your children rebellion? Would you consider sending your children into an unsafe environment where perverse sex acts are taught as normal? Would you place your children in a situation where they had to use the bathroom with transgenders and expose them to all kinds of unsafe and abusive situations? Now, the average parent is going to say, "No, of course not. I would never do that to my children." However, if you send your children to a government school, that's exactly what you're doing. You're paying someone to teach your children rebellion against God, and against the Bible, and against your parental authority.

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• Moreover, you're putting them in an unsafe environment. For instance, in June of '16, just six months ago, Howell, Michigan—I want you to listen. The Howell School District says President Obama is forcing them to allow the opposite sex in the bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers. District leaders wrote an explanatory letter to all school parents stating the United States Department of Justice and the Department of Education found that Title IX prohibits discrimination against students based on their transgender status. The Obama administration announced that all public schools in the nation must allow males who identify as females to use the girls' intimate facilities, and vice versa, or else lose millions in federal funding.

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• So, there you have it as far as educational rebellion. But let me just go on to say, absolutely there is no place in the Bible, and there is no place in the Constitution, where the United States government has the power to educate anyone. If you remember over the years, I've told you that God created only three institutions. He created the family, which is a ministry of education; the church, which is a ministry of grace; and the state or government, which is a ministry of justice. Nowhere in the Bible has God granted government the authority or the power to educate. Nowhere in the Constitution. And let me point out the fact that the Constitution is usually known as an express powers document or limited powers document. Now, when you call the Constitution an express powers document, all that means is simply this: all of the power or all of the authority that the federal government has is expressed in the Constitution. If it is not in the Constitution, they do not have that power. That's why Article 10 says that all other powers are reserved to the states or the people thereof, respectively.

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• When you call the Constitution a limited powers document, all it is saying is that the federal government is limited to those powers that are enumerated and enunciated in the Constitution. So, the federal government, then, oftentimes assumes power and authority that is not delegated to it. And when it assumes that power and authority that has not been delegated, it is usurpation and it is rebellion. Here's a quote from Vice President and United States Senator John C. Calhoun. Calhoun said, "The Constitution has admitted the jurisdiction of the United States within the limits of the several states only so far as the delegated powers authorize.

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• Beyond that, they are intruders and may be rightly expelled." Wow! How would you like to have a vice president like that today, or a federal senator like that today, who says that any time that the federal government goes beyond the Constitution, it is a usurper, and it is an intruder, and it may be lawfully expelled. So, rebellion can take place in the government, but rebellion can also take place in the home.

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• Children can rebel against their parents. Wives can rebel against their husbands. Husbands can rebel against Jesus Christ, who is their head. In fact, most people have never ever really thought about 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 3, where you have God's delegated order of authority. In that passage the Apostle Paul wrote, "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." So God's delegated order of authority is God, Christ, man, woman. Or you could say God, Christ, husband, wife. That is why in Ephesians chapter 5 God speaks both to the wives and the husbands. When He says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

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• So wives can rebel against their husbands. Husbands can rebel against Jesus Christ. So rebellion can take place in government. Rebellion can take place in the home. Rebellion can also take place in the church. There are many professing Christians that have rebelled and are still in rebellion against a lawful, godly preacher. I have known men, good and godly men, that have been simply run off from the church because the people did not want to hear the truth.

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• The pastor was trying to teach them. Their minds were made up. They said, "No, we're not going to listen and you're not going to do this." And they thus end up running the man off. Christians are admonished in Hebrews 13 and verse 17 when God says, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." So let me put it to you very plainly: I will give an account for each one of you. I will give an account for everyone who comes to hear me preach. And if I say, "Lord, they listened well, they applied the truth, they did what you commanded us to do through your Word," God said that will be for your joy. But if I have to say, "Lord, they wouldn't listen, they were stubborn, they were rebellious, they were hard-headed," God said that would be for your grief.

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• So rebellion can take place in the government, it can take place in the home and in the church. Rebellion also works both ways. It's not just sometimes that people rebel against a godly pastor. Sometimes an ungodly pastor or church officer rebels against God and the people. Jeremiah ran into a number of such individuals, especially in Jeremiah 28 and 29. You have to understand that rebellion then works both ways. Sometimes it can be the leader that is in rebellion to God. Now in order to set the stage and for you to understand the context of Jeremiah 28 and 29, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 24. The context in this passage is dealing with what God has shown and taught Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 24 He's giving Jeremiah a picture and he sees baskets of figs. Some of the figs are very, very good. Some of the figs are very, very bad. The good figs, which I'm going to show you, represent those people who've already been sent into captivity in Babylon. The bad figs happen to be Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and the people that were left.

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• So, let's begin reading with verse 1, Jeremiah 24: "The Lord shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

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• For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart." So God says, "Look, here are the good figs. The good figs happen to be Jeconiah, the king, and all the people that I've sent into Babylon for their good." Now God said, "I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to build them up. I'm not going to pluck them down. I'll give them a heart to know Me. They'll be My people and I'll be their God." Now, skip on down, if you would please, to verse 8: "And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell

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• in the land of Egypt: And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers."

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• So very obviously in this passage now God is saying that Zedekiah and his kingdom, that is his people that are left, are corrupt and they are vile and God intends to destroy them. Now here is what God has done. God has taken Nebuchadnezzar, who happened to be the king of Babylon—or sometimes Chaldeans as they are called, they are one and the same—God has taken Nebuchadnezzar and has given him all the kingdoms of the land. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar is called in the Bible by God, "my servant." Now Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen king. But God still calls him "my servant," which shows that God has absolute sovereign power and control even over the heathen. So God is going to send Nebuchadnezzar into the land to chastise and to judge Judah and Jerusalem. So let me just show you how that God has ordered now Nebuchadnezzar to capture, to control Judah and Jerusalem.

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• Look in Jeremiah chapter 25 and verse 9. In fact, let's read verse 8. God is telling them why He is sending Nebuchadnezzar. He says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them

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• an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations." So God says, "Nebuchadnezzar, My servant, I am sending him against all of these people." Look in Jeremiah chapter 27, Jeremiah 27, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Jeremiah 27, verse 4, God says, "And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched

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• arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him." So God says, "Look, I've given everything into his hand."

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• Now the interesting thing is, when you go back to Jeremiah 25, God tells Jeremiah that the people of Judah and Jerusalem are going to be in captivity for 70 years, plain and simple. So look in Jeremiah 25 in verses 11 and 12. God says, "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." Now God says, "Look, everybody is going to be serving him for 70 years until I take him down, it is just that simple." So, here are the good figs that have been sent into Babylon, according to Jeremiah 24, for their good. Jeremiah now knows that this captivity is going to be 70 years long. So Jeremiah writes to the captives in Babylon and tells them what to do. So look in Jeremiah 29 and let's begin reading there in verse 1.

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• Jeremiah 29 verse 1: He writes a letter and he says, "Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused"—note what God said—"whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

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• Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace."

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• So Jeremiah says, "Here's what you might as well do. You might as well make sure that you build yourself a good house, plant yourself a good garden, some vineyards, and you're going to be there a while. So you need to marry. You need to make sure your sons and daughters marry. Do not diminish yourselves. Just continue to go and live and pray for the peace of that city there. And you're going to be having peace yourself."

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• Now, everyone in this room understands Jeremiah was God's prophet. Jeremiah had been sent by God. He is also known as the weeping prophet. He wept over the people, he preached to the people, he taught the people, but unhappily no one would listen to him. In fact, the truth of the matter is no one wanted to repent and no one wanted to do what was right. If you will go back to Jeremiah 26, look, if you would please, Jeremiah 26 and notice what he says in verses 12 and 13: "Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you." Jeremiah said it's very simple: if you don't repent, you will perish. God sent me. God gave me all of these words. Now therefore, amend your doings. And they refused to listen. It's amazing to me how many people will refuse the plain words of God now.

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• Here's what has happened so far, watch carefully. God has sent the good figs into Babylon for their good for 70 years. The bad figs are still in Jerusalem. Zedekiah is their king. Everything that Jeremiah is preaching is against the flesh. "We've got to go through this for 70 years." And it happens to be also against Zedekiah and his government. And of course Zedekiah does not like that. So in light of Jeremiah's preaching the truth, there arises now what I would call some governmental preachers, or state preachers. Or you could call them false prophets, which they were. Or you can call them ear-ticklers, which they were, because they were now preaching contrary to Jeremiah. And they were preaching and teaching that which King Zedekiah wanted to hear, and that which the people wanted to hear. So if you will look in Jeremiah chapter 28, let's begin there and let's see what Hananiah has done since we read about him in the latter part of this chapter. Watch verse 1 of Jeremiah 28: "And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the Lord,

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• in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord, Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place."

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• Now just stop there for a moment. Hananiah is preaching and teaching what the people want to hear. And when he says, "Look, within two years everything is going to come back, even the vessels that he stole from the temple, all the people." Jeremiah said, "Amen, I'm for that. That's what I'd like to have happen." But Jeremiah knew that it was not true. God had already told him. How long were they going to be there? Seventy years. So I want you to watch how Jeremiah answers Hananiah, and the answer is classic. Look at it, if you would please, verse 7: "Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;

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• The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him."

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• Now, here is what Jeremiah is saying: history is on my side. There have been a lot of prophets, some have preached peace, some have preached war and pestilence. But he said the test of a prophet is if his words come to pass. "Then shall the prophet be known." Well, obviously Jeremiah would be content to wait two years—I mean, but he knew better already, because Hananiah had already said within two years they shall come back. So Hananiah is so arrogant, and so sure of himself, that God had instructed Jeremiah to make a wooden yoke and place it around his neck. And the wooden yoke, of course, just symbolized the truth that God had placed that yoke upon all the nations and they were going to serve Nebuchadnezzar. So if you will look in verse 10 of Jeremiah 28: "Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.

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• And the prophet Jeremiah went his way." Well, Jeremiah had already said, "If your word comes to pass we will know whether or not you are God's man." And so he impudently takes the yoke from Jeremiah and breaks it. Now remember, God has already said 70 years. Hananiah says two years. Well, look what God does. Verse 12: "Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him:

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• and I have given him the beasts of the field also." Now, I want you to know what God has said. He said, "Jeremiah, Hananiah took that yoke of wood and broke it very easily. It was just a symbol anyhow. And he broke it saying, 'Well, I'm going to break the yoke of all these nations' neck within two years.' But God says, 'Now you make a yoke of iron and you put it on, because My word is absolutely sure and they are going to be there 70 years.'" Obviously Hananiah cannot break the yoke of iron. False prophets are ultimately going to be exposed. Their prophecies will ultimately be revealed as nothing but lies. But I want you to note something. After God tells Jeremiah, "You replace that wooden yoke with the yoke of iron," because obviously the implication is Hananiah is lying.

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• His prophecy is not true. And look at verse 15: "Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month."

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• Now, note if you would these things. First of all, Jeremiah tells Hananiah, "The Lord hath not sent thee."

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• Secondly, he says, "You are a liar." Thirdly, "You are causing the people to trust in a lie." And fourthly, "You are teaching rebellion against the Lord." And fifthly, "God is going to kill you." And that is exactly what God did. He died in the same year in the seventh month.

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• Now, this was just one man that opposed Jeremiah and his preaching. The same thing falls upon the false prophet Shemaiah. Look in Jeremiah 29 and verse 30. We read this earlier but I want you to watch what God says. Jeremiah 29 verse 30: "Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not." Now watch what he did: "and he caused you to trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people;

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• neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord." In other words, God said, "I'm going to cut off his line. He'll not have any children come back. Neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people"—that is, he will die in Babylon, saith the Lord. Why? "Because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord." Now, I want you to note, again, God says that this man hath taught rebellion against the Lord. Here are two men that opposed Jeremiah. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 20. It's not going to take too long to tie all of this together for you. But in Jeremiah chapter 20 there was another prophet by the name of Pashur.

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• And he likewise was teaching a lie. Jeremiah 20 verse 1: "Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib." Now the name Magor-missabib literally means "terror on every side." So you'll understand the name once you look at verse 4.

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• "For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies."

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• Now, I want you to hold the book of Jeremiah, but look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28. Deuteronomy 28. Let me ask you a question. Why did God send the Judahites and the Benjamites and the Simeonites into captivity into Babylon? Why did He send the entire southern kingdom there? You could also ask, why did God send the northern kingdom into Assyria? Well, here is why. You remember how I showed you in Jeremiah 26 verse 13, Jeremiah told the people, "Amend your ways, change your ways, and if you repent God will not do the evil that He is planning to do to you."

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• But of course they wouldn't listen. So if you will look in Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 45, you have the blessings and the curses in this passage. In verse 45 he is ending the curses and he says this: "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee." Now God says, "Look, this is very simple. You can serve Me and have joy and happiness and plenty, or you can not serve Me and you can serve your enemies by being enslaved in hunger, in terror."

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• In other words, God is showing the difference between His service and the service of His enemies. And so God says, "Look, here you go, I'm going to send you over there so you will understand. It would have been very simple just to obey Me and be blessed. But now you've disobeyed Me and now you're cursed." Now here's the thing. These men—Shemaiah, Pashur, Hananiah—were all teaching rebellion against the Lord.

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• Now, I want you to pause and think with me. It was some time ago that I was reading through the book of Jeremiah, and I got to this passage, and the thought hit me. And all I said to myself was, "Wow, most people have never thought about it in this light." Hang on. Here is the first thing I want you to consider. There are many individuals like Pashur, Hananiah, and Shemaiah that have forged a commission from God and preach a counterfeit peace and a counterfeit gospel.

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• They are not preaching the truth, they are preaching a lie. And you say, "Well, how do I know whether they are preaching the truth or whether or not they are preaching a lie?" Well, the answer is found in Isaiah 8 and verse 20. Isaiah said, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." So in order for you to know whether or not a man is preaching or teaching a lie, you must know the Word of God. You must read it. You must study it. You must know it, or else you will likely be led astray by one of these individuals who's preaching a lie. It's just that simple.

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• Secondly, now I want you to think with me. This is a thought that I had. Preaching a lie is bad enough in and of itself. And by the way, you would have to know that you're preaching a lie. Why would I sit here and say, "Well, God spoke to me and God told me this," when God hadn't said a word to me? You follow what I'm saying? I understand a man can be deceived. And I understand that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. But if you are preaching and teaching a lie, you have to know that it is a lie. So it is bad enough to preach and teach a lie. But what is even worse is when you get people to believe in and trust in that lie. Now think about this. It's bad to preach and teach a lie. It's even worse to get people to believe and trust in the lie. But when you understand that the heavy sin, the main sin, is they were teaching rebellion against the Lord.

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• Let this sink into you. The Word of God is not being preached. The preacher is preaching rebellion against the Lord. That is a heavy, awesome thought. Do you realize that one of the reasons that most Christians are so confused and so ungodly and so unbiblical is usually most Christians assume that anyone who calls himself a preacher or a reverend is so and has been sent by God, when in reality that's not the case. One of my good friends as a young man was really thinking about entering the ministry, seriously. And so as a young man he went to his pastor, whom he admired, and he told him, "I'm really thinking about entering the ministry. I have a hunger to know the Word of God and to teach the Word of God." But he said, "Can you give me some counsel and can you give me some advice?"

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• And he said, "I've never forgotten what he said." He said, and I quote, "It's a good living and an easy profession." Of course, this fellow did not become a preacher. But there he was. Here was a man who entered the ministry as a profession, and it's an easy living and a good living. So many people listen to all the radio preachers and all the TV preachers, and they get so confused, they have no idea which end is up.

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• And the truth of the matter is this: unless someone is actually teaching and expounding and applying the Word of God, they are teaching rebellion against God because they are teaching the people to resist God, His rule and His reign and His law. That's exactly what these other men were doing. So lies, falsehoods, and untruths teach people to disobey God, and hence they are being taught rebellion against God. So let me just spell this out for you. It does matter where you attend church. It does matter to whom you listen. It does matter what you hear. And it does matter as to whether or not the Word of God is being taught in its purity. It does matter, because anything else is teaching rebellion.

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• I told you when I first started this message that rebellion could only be to lawful authority. Okay? If there is no lawful authority, it is not rebellion. It is resistance to tyranny or usurpation. If rebellion can only be to lawful authority, the implication is very clear, that God and His Word are our lawful authorities. That's what Jeremiah was trying to teach these men, and they would not hear. That's what he was trying to teach those people, they would not hear.

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• And when in the New Testament, when the religious leaders of those days caught Peter and the other apostles and said, "Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." And Peter, with the others, answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Why? Because God is the lawful authority. And whenever you teach anything other than the Word of God, you're teaching rebellion. Can you imagine the churches in this country that do not really truly teach the Word of God, and yet what they're doing is they're teaching their people to live contrary to God and contrary to His law? They may be some of the sweetest, kindest, most civil, most likable, most lovable preachers in the entire world, but yet they're teaching rebellion against God.

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• And by the way, it's only common sense that will tell you, if you want people to trust in a lie and believe a lie, you better be likable, you better be lovable, because folks are not going to follow someone who's mean and ugly and hateful and lying to them. Probably, Hananiah, Shemaiah, Pashur were all likable men. They were just teaching a lie. And in doing so, teaching rebellion against the Lord.

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• So let this thought stay with you all week. If it's not the Word of God, it's rebellion. If it's not the Word of God, it's rebellion. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to you this day. We thank you for your Word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that thou art indeed the one true and the living God, and besides thee there is none other. Thou art the sovereign, omnipotent ruler of the universe. And we bow to Thee, and recognize Thee and Thy law as our lawful authority. Help us, Lord, to be obedient unto Thee, in all that we say and do, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T22:11:01Z