 All right. Second Chronicles chapter 13. Second Chronicles chapter 13. So Second Chronicles chapter 13, just keep your place there. Second Chronicles chapter 13 is a trainwreck. Big time. Okay, and we're continuing our, this is our third sermon series in the trainwrecks in the Bible. At some point we're going to have to end this sermon series because there's just too many trainwrecks in the Bible, quite frankly, we could just have a sermon series for a year on trainwrecks in the Bible, but this is a big one in Second Chronicles chapter 13. So I haven't heard a lot of preaching on this particular situation and you say, well I've heard this story before, but I want to give you what we can take out of this particular situation in Second Chronicles chapter 13. So to understand what I want to apply this evening, first I want to give you a little bit of background on the history of what's going on here. So Second Chronicles chapter 13 is talking about this war between this king of Judah called Abijah and the king of Israel called Jeroboam. But first we need to understand what has happened here. Turn back to First Kings chapter 11 in your Bible. All of this mess that we read about in Second Chronicles chapter 13 begins with King Solomon. It begins with King Solomon. It begins with David's son. Solomon, in verse number 9 of First Kings chapter 11, the Bible says, And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice. And God commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, For as much as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statues, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from me. That means I will take the kingdom from you, and I will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Turn to First Kings chapter 12, just one chapter over. So this decision was made because of the actions of King Solomon. King Solomon turned from the Lord, he married all these hundreds of wives, and he started going after their gods. He started building temples for their gods and all these different things, and God basically takes the kingdom away from Solomon. God makes the decision under King Solomon's rule that, you know what, you're going to lose the kingdom. He said, but for your dad's sake, for David's sake, I'm not going to do it to you. I'm going to do it to your son. So when he basically prophesies, he tells Solomon what's going to happen under the reign of his son. And in First Kings chapter 12, look at verse number 20. And it came to pass when all Israel heard, so this is already to the point where, you know, Rehoboam has already just not listened to the people, and he said, you know what, you're just going to do what I say, and Jeroboam has already decided that, you know what, I'm just taking ten tribes with me, and this is the split of the kingdom that God told Solomon was going to happen. And it came to pass, verse 20 of First Kings 12, and it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him under the congregation and made him king over all Israel. And there was none that followed after the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin. So there's two tribes that really went with him and some of the Levites as well. A hundred and four score thousand chosen men, which were warriors to fight against the house of Israel to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. But the word of the Lord, now don't miss this, because this is the key to what I'm getting at here. Don't miss verse number 22 and verse number 23, where the Bible says, but the word of God came under Shemaiah, the man of God saying. So basically, Rehoboam has just lost the kingdom to Jeroboam. Jeroboam has said, no, I don't like the way your answer was. I'm taking the people with me. He takes ten of the tribes. This is the split between Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, right here. And Rehoboam, what does he do? We're going to war. He says, we're going to war. So he starts gathering men together to go to war. And they're going to go and they're going to fight Jeroboam and they're going to bring the kingdom back together. Makes sense, right? I mean, as soon as some person splits the kingdom, we're just going to go get them back, right? But God says, no, to Rehoboam. And he says, speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people saying, thus saith the Lord, ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel, return every man to his house, for this thing is from me. So what God tells Rehoboam is, don't go and fight them. This thing that has happened is my doing. He's like, it is my doing that Jeroboam has taken, it's judgment. This thing that happened is judgment. He's like, don't go to war. What do you think would have happened if Rehoboam would have went to war? He would have lost. The split was of God. They hearkened, therefore, to the word of the Lord and returned it apart according to the word of the Lord. So all of this, the split was of God. That was God's choice to do it. And then Rehoboam wants to bring the kingdoms back together and God says, no, don't do it. He's like, it was my choice. It was my judgment. It's payment for what your father did. But here's what wasn't of the Lord. So 2 Chronicles chapter 13, we see another war happening. And you're like, what? I thought they weren't supposed to go to war. What sense does this make? Look at verse number 26 of 1 Kings chapter 12 where you're already at. So you're in 1 Kings 12. Just look down a few verses at verse number 26. Now things start to go wrong. Okay, look, this was God's plan to split the kingdom. And it happened just the way God said it was going to happen. But in verse number 26, and Jeroboam said in his heart, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If these people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord of Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam, King of Judah. And they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam, King of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold and said unto them, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set one in Bethel, and he put the other he put he in Dan. And to this thing, and this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. He made the house of high places, and he made priests of the lowest people, which were not the sons of Levi. So here, Jeroboam basically is, he's paranoid, he's insecure, he's worried that his ten tribes are gonna run back to, you know, the kingdom of Judah because of the religious influence there. Because of the one true God, because of the temple. So he's like, you know what? I'll create my own gods. He's like, I'll create this golden calf here and a golden calf there. You know, he's gonna place him so people don't have to go too far. You have your own local golden calf, right? And he creates these golden calves, and then he makes, I need some priests. He's like the Levi's, you know, largely stayed with Judah, and the one true God. What am I gonna do? So he just creates priests. Okay, so look. Well, Jeroboam's rise to power was of God. His rebellion against God was his own choosing. You see? So that is the difference. And look, this results in war. This results in the war that we see in 2 Chronicles chapter 13. So notice how God tells, I mean, we just read 2 Chronicles 13. Brother Ryan just read it, right? Did you hear God say there, don't go to war? Did you hear God say in 2 Chronicles 13, don't go and fight him? No, you didn't, did you? Abijah was the son of Rehoboam. So Rehoboam, Rehoboam dies. Jeroboam is still the king of Israel. He's still in power. And Rehoboam was told not to go to war with Jeroboam, right away at the beginning. Abijah, his son, decides to go to war with Jeroboam. And God not only doesn't tell him to go, God wins the battle for him. What is the difference? The difference was the rebellion of Jeroboam. That was the difference. Look, and you say, well, why is it a train wreck? I don't know because it cost him 500,000 of his own people, of his most valiant warriors, of these mighty men of war. I mean, look, first of all, is a disaster when God's people fight each other? I mean, there's been a few times in history where God's people where Christians fight Christians. It reminds me a little bit of the Civil War in this country. So, I mean, in our Civil War, in the United States, 620,000 people died. And look, in that war, you had Christians killing Christians in that war. I mean, say what you want about, well, you know, the Civil War, but I mean, it was Christians killing Christians in most cases. So, these are not the wars of the promised land, you know, taking the promised land from the heathen. This is not the war we're looking at here. We have basically, you know, Christians killing Christians here to the tune of half a million dead. Think about it. Look, these are types of situations that are terrible judgments on nations. So, that's, I mean, we can look at this and we can see that God is judging the northern kingdom of Israel as we look back on this situation. Look, turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. And you say, what's the big deal? I mean, it was just, you know, he made a bad decision as a king. Why would God, I mean, think about this. You had 400,000 men on the Judah side and you had 800,000 men on the Israel side. So, they were outnumbered 2 to 1. I mean, look, I don't care how tough you are. If I have a guy myself and somebody else, I think I could beat you up. I don't care how tough you are. But look, they were outnumbered 2 to 1. That's a big deal. Not only were they outnumbered 2 to 1, if you read the story closely, they were ambushed. Jeroboam got, he pulled a flanking maneuver and got behind them. Go read up military history on how effective flanking maneuvers are. I mean, if you could successfully flank your enemy or get behind your enemy, because the full, look, the full power of your army is usually focused forward. That's why getting somebody from behind you or on the side of you is so effective. I mean, so many famous battles have been won just because somebody was able to ambush somebody or flank somebody, period. So, number one, Jeroboam had two guys to every one of Judah. And number two, he got ambushed. He got flanked from behind. Jeroboam was able to get his army in front of him and behind him. I mean, think about that. Just think about trying to fight somebody who's in front of you while trying to fight a guy behind you. Just three people. I mean, you're gonna lose. And all they did, so the same God that told Rehoboam, don't go to war, this is of me. The same God that did that, all they did was cry out to the Lord. And the Lord won the battle for them, period. Because of Jeroboam's rebellion. You say, well, okay, he was just a bad king, right? But why is the rebellion of Jeroboam such a train wreck other than the fact that all these people died? It was such a train wreck, because are you in 2 Kings chapter 17? 2 Kings chapter 17, we're looking at King Hosea here. The last king of Israel. Go do a search, a word search on the sins of Jeroboam in the Bible. It's a fun little exercise. You will see that the sins of Jeroboam, and whatever the sins of Jeroboam, were getting people to worship, to rebel against God and worship these golden calves. I mean, that was the main thing, the sins of Jeroboam. The sins of Jeroboam, how long did they continue? Because Jeroboam was wiped out, his whole family was wiped out. God sent, you remember the story of Jeroboam, he sends his wife to go to the prophet, a hyja, sorry, there's too many Je's in here, but a hyja, and he sneaks, Jeroboam's son gets sick, and he tells his wife, hey, sneak over to a hyja and ask if my son's going to get better. And a hyja, the prophet says, yeah, yeah, well here's the thing, your son's not going to get better, everybody in your family's going to die. Have a nice day. Talk about telling people the truth and not sugar coating messages. So as soon as she gets back in the city, her son dies, Jeroboam's whole family is wiped out by the next king of Israel, treachery, the whole thing, right? Look, look at 2 Kings chapter 17, the last king for the children of Israel walked in all the what, the sins of Jeroboam. This guy's like, you know, kings back, hundreds of years before, they walked in the sins of the sins of Jeroboam, which he did, they departed not from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight. That's how it stopped. As he said by his servants, the prophet. So Israel was carried out out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. Look, that's how the sins of Jeroboam stopped. God wiped them off the face of the earth, the whole nation. So he wipes out Jeroboam's family, and then the way God stops this sin that he started, this rebellion that he started is he wipes the whole nation off the face of the earth. The 10 lost tribes of Israel. That's how it ends, right there. So you say, you know, what are you getting at? Well, first of all, it's a train wreck, right? Would you agree? I mean that it applies in the Bible, but look, here's the application for us. Rebellion against the Lord will not be taken lightly. It's a serious sin. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 15. We talk a lot about the structure and the obedience that we are to have to God, but I think that sometimes we read the Bible and even in our own lives, we forget how serious it actually is. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 15. Look, Saul, Saul, he did not obey the Word of God. He was supposed on several occasions, but on one main occasion, he was supposed to wipe out an entire, you know, people and he didn't do what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to kill everything and not take anything and he takes cattle and he takes the good stuff and all this. And Samuel says to Saul, he says this, this is what he says about rebellion. I mean, this was just a situation where Saul kind of, he did like 80%, I mean, think about it. He did like 80% of what God said he should do. I mean, he pretty much obeyed, right? I mean, you're like, you know, I'm pretty good at obeying what God says in the Bible. I mean, I'm like 85%. Well, look at what Samuel says to Saul. He says rebellion, I mean, think about this. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord. He has also rejected thee from being king. He's like, hey, you do 85%, you rejected my word. No, it's all or nothing. Have you gotten that theme from Bible preaching yet? That it's all or nothing with God? So look, what does it mean, right? I mean, look, first of all, the first application here is directly rebelling against God. That's what Jeroboam did. That's what Saul did. Because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord is what Samuel said. So look, this is the worst thing about being in this church, right? Get ready, okay? If you know God's Word and you don't follow it, that is rebellion. You see? Oops. Joel Osteen's looking pretty good now, right? Look, here's the tough thing. Look, here's the tough thing about a Bible preaching church and why there's not 15,000 people in here. It's because knowing, you know, having the Word of God preached at you and reading the Word of God and having, you know, the idea that you should read the Word of God preached at you is going to put you in this weird position where you're either in compliance or you're in this open field called rebellion. You see? Jeroboam Saul Israel as the whole nation, the Northern Kingdom. They became a rebellion and God just took them down. He just took them out. I mean, how many more examples do you need of that in the Bible? So first of all, you could rebel directly against God. If you sit in church, if you read the Bible, if you know what the Bible says and you just, as a saved believer, you rebel against that, I want you to know that it's serious. And you don't have to worry about me or pastor or anything. I mean, God's going to take care of it. God will take care of it. It's that simple. But there's more. You're like, oh, what? There's more. God has a structure for your life. And if you get outside that structure, it's rebellion. So what are you talking about? Turn to Romans chapter 13. You say, what are you talking about? I'm in charge of me. Nobody's in charge of me except me. You say, well, let's look. Look at Romans 13 in verse number one. So we know that we're rebelling directly against God bad. But let's look at the structure that God has put in your life. Let's look at what the structure is, the different aspects of that structure, because maybe your structure is different than somebody else's structure, depending on who you are. Look at Romans 13 in verse number one. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there's no power but of God, the powers that be ordained of God. A lot of people just really mess this up too. And it's so stupidly simple. I mean, it's just so simple Romans 13. People are like, it means you have to listen to whatever the government says no matter what. What? What are you even reading? They're probably not saved so they don't even understand what they're reading. Look, it says, let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. So look, there's some kind of powers out there that are ordained of God. Whomsoever they resisted the power, resisted the ordinance of God. Underline that word ordinance in your Bible. And that they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. So let's talk about the ordinances of God. What is an ordinance? If you look at what the word ordinance actually means, an ordinance is a rule enacted by a local authority. So look, there's different kinds of authority, right? I mean, there's centralized like upper level authority but an ordinance is not like a rule from like, so let me give you an example. An ordinance isn't a rule from the federal government. That's not an ordinance. An ordinance is a rule that is local to you, meaning somebody like the city official or something like that puts an ordinance. I mean, how many ordinances have we seen, right? I mean, they change every day around here, right? You're not allowed to play ping pong anymore. It's an ordinance, right? You're not allowed to stare at the sun or you're not allowed to whatever. I mean, all these ordinances. It's a local authority by the authority right above you, right? So if there's an authority structure, it's the one right above you is the ordinance, all right? Look at Exodus chapter 18 in verse number 20. And I'll read for you Leviticus chapter 18 verse 3 while you're turning there. The Bible says, after the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwell shall ye not do. And after the doings of the land of Canaan, whether I bring you shall ye not do. Neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. So he's saying, look, when you go into these cities and you take over the, I mean, that's why God was like, you gotta get rid of these people. Or you're gonna become these people, right? But he's like, when you go into these cities and you meet these other people and you come across these people in the land of Canaan, he's like, hey, don't walk in their ordinances. Don't follow their rules, their local rules there. He's like, don't do it. Look at Exodus 18 verse 20. And now shall teach them ordinances and laws and now shall show them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do. So we see that this rule and structure is put, it's directly over you in Romans 13. That's what it's talking about. It's talking about, Romans 13 is talking about the biblical authority structure in your life. Okay, and it's saying that like, look, there's a structure that's put over you. So think of yourself, there's an authority structure over you. So it's not just God that's in charge of you. I hate to break it to you. There's a structure there, right? And these are the higher powers that are over everyone, all right? So look, whenever you willingly operate outside of that structure, it's rebellion. You say, I know the structure. I understand the structure because you're teaching me the structure right now. I'm gonna teach you the structure right now. So after tonight, you have no excuse. Does anyone wanna leave right now? Look, it's rebellion if you get outside God's structure. All right, especially, look, especially as a Christian, if you have problems with authority, you are gonna have a hard life as a saved believer if you have problems with authority. Everybody has people that are ordained over them in authority positions. You say, how? Not me. I'm in charge. No one's the boss of me. Well, let's take a look at it. Turn to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. Let's look at the family first. God has ordained a structure for your family. Did you know that? Look at Colossians chapter 3 and look at verse number 18. The Bible says in Colossians 3, 18, it says wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Did you know that men are to be the leaders of the household in the Christian family? That's what the Bible says. Men are to lead their wives in marriage. Women are to... I mean, I've heard that now there's weddings where I heard this 10 years ago, 15 years ago, where they don't read things like you have to submit to your husband during the wedding ceremony because it's offensive. It's like, okay, this marriage is going to go well. Let's just reject God's structure before we even get started. I mean, what could go wrong? Look, I believe that this is one of the major reasons even secular marriages fail right here. Because look, God has a structure and it's pragmatic as well. All God's laws, they are that way for our protection and it works because it's designed to work that way. So look, if the husband doesn't lead the home, it's just not going to work well. It's just not going to work well. Even worse, if the wife is in charge, you're saying, what do you mean? Look, you will meet men in this Christian life and I'm sure you know some where the wife is running the house. You will see it. And it sticks out like a sore thumb, by the way. Even in churches like this or Bible preaching churches, you will find this situation. Men who are ruled by their wives. You say, ah man, I can't believe you're saying this. It's in the Bible. Like over and over again. It's the structure of the family. But look, you will not meet people like this where it's working well. You will not see it because it's not God's structure. You can't turn God's structure on its head and think that it's going to work out well. It's not, I mean, he's the best designer that's ever been, that ever will be. He knows how things work. Because look, here's the thing. Here's the thing. And here's really the reason that it won't work well. You say, oh, you're just saying that. No, because it's a rebellion situation. That's why. You see how it applies? It's a rebellion situation. Because look, the man doesn't want it that way. I mean, he simply has a wife who is in rebellion and can't handle and he doesn't know how to handle the situation. I mean, that's the bottom line. But whenever, look, whenever you're swimming against the current of God's ordained structure, the results will be disastrous. I mean, rebellion is as witchcraft. Hello? I mean, that's a comparison. Think about it. Somebody who's rebelling against God's structure is like a witch. I mean, it's crazy. I mean, that's not no big deal. So I'm going to help the women this evening. I'm going to help the women. I'm going to address just the women for the next few minutes. I want to give you two points on how to handle this type of situation. You're just like, because women you could say you could be thinking right now, but my husband just, he just doesn't do what I want him to do. I mean, look, the Bible answers this for you on what to do. Okay, first of all, turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. You say, but I have to be in charge because I have to get him to do what I want him to do. And I'm right and he's wrong. Well, let's take a look at what the Bible says you should do. Look at 1 Peter chapter 3 in verse number one. Look, I'll give you two simple points on how to handle this type of situation. I'll give you two simple points on how to fix this problem, ladies. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 3 in verse number one, likewise ye wives be in subjection. There it is again to your own husbands that if any obey not the word, that they may without the word be won by the conversation of the wise. Look, who's it talking about not obeying the word? It's talking about the husband. It's saying that they may also without the word. So here you have a wife who's in subjection to a husband not obeying the word. We're going to get some direction here. Look, in verse number two it says, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. They may be won by the conversation of the wives while they behold your chaste conversation with fear. So here's point number one. You say, he's not doing what I'm supposed what I want him to do. First of all, he's not supposed to do what you want him to do. Point number one, you're supposed to be in subjection to him. That's the bottom line. So women that does this turn to Proverbs chapter 21. Look, here's what kills me. Here's what kills me. Bossing your husband, it won't work anyway. It doesn't work. Look at Proverbs 21 in verse number nine. The Bible says in Proverbs 21 in verse number nine, look, it is better to dwell in the corner of a house top than with a brawling woman in a wide house. Here's a guy with a huge house. He's got a brawling wife. He just wants to go and hide in the attic. And the Bible says elsewhere it's better to be in the wilderness. It's like, you know, that an angry woman is like a continual dropping. Look, he's just going to want to get away. He's just not going to want to be around that. He's going to hide from you is what's going to happen. So here's the thing. You're like, I'm trying to get him to do what I want him to do. It's not going to work to just try to boss him around. It doesn't work. The Bible tells you in verse number two, what to do. They say, but I have to get him to do what I want. Because he's doing things that are not godly. You say, I've got to get him to do what I need him to do because he's doing things that are not godly. Well, that's where verse number two and number three of 1 Peter come in. Because look, point number two is it tells you how to solve this. And it says, look, first of all, Romans 13 takes care of you if he's telling ladies. If he's telling you to do something that is not godly, you don't have to do it. Because you are in authority, the higher powers have authority over you. So if he's telling you to do something that is against what God tells you to do, guess what? God outranks him. That's why it puts in there, obey the higher powers. So your highest power is God. You say, okay, well, he's not trying to get me to sin, but he's just in sin. What do I do about him? Go back to 1 Peter chapter three. Bossing him's not working. I boss him around and then I can't find him because he's in the woods. So what do I do? Here's what you do. It says that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be one. That means be convinced by the conversation of the wives. Later it talks about how that conversation is to be chased in the same chapter here. It says a few verses down that a woman's beauty to her husband and single ladies take some advice from this because the Bible says a meek and quiet spirit. It talks about in 1 Peter chapter three how women shouldn't, hey, her beauty isn't of adorning herself with pearls and her hair. Look, it doesn't say don't do those things. It just says that's not to be your beauty. You know what your beauty is to be? Wives and single ladies listen. You say, well, you know, I don't know if I'm the prettiest girl. Look, it says that your beauty is to be a meek and quiet spirit. That is what is to be attractive to you and that will win your husband. That's how you win your husband. He's doing things that be chased, have a meek and quiet spirit. That your chased conversation, he may be one over to you. I've seen it happen. It works. It works. I've seen women turn their husbands around by this type of methodology. But it's, look, it's God's plan, right? So there's a structure. Women, they need to be, look, because no matter what, you can't exit God's structure. So you're like, I have a problem. Well, you have to operate. God tells you women, wives, how to operate and fix that problem within his structure. You see? Because look, if you're chased and your conversation is chased, which means pure, and you have a meek and quiet spirit and you're in subjection to your husband, look, that will turn him around. That will turn him around if he's in sin and doing that, or it has a better chance of turning him around. It's God's plan for you to turn around your husband. That's how you influence wives, your husband, by being in subjection and just being chased and having a meek and quiet spirit, which is the opposite of this brawling woman, this contentious woman that would just make him want to go dig a hole in the woods and just lay in it and bury himself with dirt. So look, that is the method. And it works. I mean, not nagging. So follow God's structure and then he gives women a little bit extra there to say, you know what, I can understand. I mean, look, God cares about women. God cares like he understands that if he puts a structure over a wife that there's going to be some husbands that mess that up and don't lead like they're supposed to lead according to the Bible. So he gives them an opportunity to influence there in a godly way. So follow that methodology. You might be surprised. Children, kids, turn to Ephesians chapter 6, whenever you step outside the authority structure that God has put in place for you, it's rebellion. And the results will be disastrous. You're like, hey, I'm just a kid. Well, this is a family integrated church, so part of this sermon is for you. Look at Ephesians chapter 6 and look at verse number 1. Children, look the Bible, children, the Bible talks to you. God talks to you in his word. He literally, I mean, he starts the sentence here. Children, children! So I'm speaking to the children. God is speaking to the children. Children, obey your parents and the Lord for it is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee. Don't miss this. Children, are you listening? Then thou mayest live long on the earth. What is that implying? It says, hey, kids, obey your parents that you may live long on the earth. What does that imply? That if children disobey their parents and children are in rebellion to their parents, that implies that it has something to do with how long they will physically live. Children, are you listening? Under your parents, you are under the authority of, as long as you are under the authority of your parents. Let me ask that. First of all, Hoffnay and Phineas, how long do they live? God killed them. Look, especially, this needs to be remembered, especially as children get a little bit older. Because you're like, well, it's pretty easy to keep a four or five, six-year-old under your authority. Look, as these kids get older and they turn into what we call teenagers and they start to become young men and young women, you know, they start to, especially, look, especially, and here's the rub, right? Especially if they know the Bible and they're following the Bible. And guess what? God throws a blessing here and there and they start having some, you know, putting some W's in their corner, some wins. They're like, hey, I'm doing what God says and like, things are working out. I know everything. Whoa, what just happened there? Right? But look, especially as kids get older and godly kids, okay, kids that are doing what they're supposed to do according to the Bible, there's danger there. Be careful. You still have an authority structure in your life and it is there to protect you. Look, Satan wants you to think you know everything and step outside that authority structure and rebel. But rebellion, it's funny, right? Because Satan wants you to do rebellion but rebellion is what? It's as witchcraft. It's funny that Satan is into that type of thing. So kids, as you get older, as you're 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, if you have parents that are still in authority of you, you listen to them because you don't know everything. And look, we're all just loving, not even seeing godly kids do what they're supposed to do and having those blessings upon them but just keep that authority structure over you and listen to it because rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. No matter what, if you get outside that authority. Let's talk about the church. So you see there's a lot of authority structure in the family. Just follow it. Look, it's the current. Don't swim against the current. You know, I always told the kids, I always went kayaking with Garrett and we went on these big kayaking trips on the Yellowstone and the Missouri River and I always told Garrett, even though we had so many people drown in rivers and here's why. It's not because they don't know how to swim. It's because they fall out of the boat or they fall out of the kayak and they try to get back to that spot that they fell out at. But you can't beat the river. The current is so strong. You will never get back to that spot that you fell out at. The current is moving at 7 miles an hour. You can never stop it. So I always taught the kids, hey, you fall out of the boat, you fall out of the kayak, you just swim to shore at a right angle. You may get there 5 miles down but I'll come pick you up. You just keep swimming toward shore and you'll make it. Don't swim against the current. It's the same thing here. God's authority is put there. When you go at the current, it's going to work out for you. When you go against it, it's going to be disastrous. It's going to be disastrous. Let's talk about the church. Did you know that there's an authority structure here at the church? Look, and here's the thing about the church. It's pretty simple. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. It's really simple. I mean, it's not complicated. We don't have a bunch of assistant, deacons and all this kind of stuff, especially this church. It's pretty simple. It's pretty simple. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 in verse number 11. You say, oh, here you go. He's going to say, you've got to do whatever I say. Ephesians chapter 4, look at verse number 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. For what? Look, first of all, it says he gave it to you. Right? I mean, like, he gave it to you. Like, do you ever really, like, give somebody a gift that's bad? Like, hey, brother, I got this $20,000 debt. You want it? Nobody ever does that. Right? People give you things that are good, that are good for you. Right? So the Bible said that you've been given pastors and teachers. For what? For the perfecting of the saints. For, look, you are the saints. Look, I mean, you've been given these things. It's a good thing. Hopefully it's a good thing in your life. You've been given these things for your own perfection. You've been given these things so you become better. Look, I'm not going to perfect you. I hate to break it to you. I mean, I'm imperfect myself. But look, I mean, the Bible says that God has given you this. And look, people, turn to Hebrews chapter 13, people that can't accept authority in their life are just, they're not going to, it's not going to go well for them in a church. I hate to break it to you. I've seen people throwing out a church for this one reason. They just can't accept authority in their life. I mean, they can't accept it with, you know, family at work situations in anything. And they certainly can't accept it at church. It's just not going to work out for people like that. I mean, just that one reason. It's like, what are they? Were they in? No, they just couldn't accept authority. It's that one reason. You know, that's it. It causes all kinds of problems. Look at Hebrews chapter 13. Look at verse number seven. It says, remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. So it says, remember them, remember who? The people that have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God. These are, look, there's just an authority structure in a church. If you can't deal with the way thing, look, it doesn't invalidate the authority structure that we've already talked about. I mean, you obviously, men, you're in charge of your family. That's your authority. You have authority over your family. So look, if you can't handle the way things are done in church, in a church, just take your authority structure somewhere else. That's the answer. Right? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that because, like, how the church runs is not your wheelhouse. Period. Right? I mean, look, maybe some pastors are really open to conversations and like, you know, letting, you know, getting people's opinions. But look, maybe some aren't. I mean, I have my opinions on the mix on how this should go, but I mean, they're just, I'm not a pastor. So my opinion is, what do they mean? They mean nothing right now. Okay? But look, whether a pastor, you know, believes that he should get people involved in every decision or whether he believes that he shouldn't, it's his call. I mean, that's his authority in the church. It's his structure. It's their ordained position. You see what I'm saying? It's up to the pastor. It's their responsibility. You say responsibility, what responsibility? Look at Hebrews 13 and verse number 17. This is the responsibility. Do you want, do you want it? Look at what it says in Hebrews 13 verse 17, obey them that have the rule over you. There it is, again. And what? It says, and submit yourselves. It's like, just submit yourself to that authority structure. Period. For they watch for your souls. It's like they're there to protect you. What are they watching for you? They're watching for your souls against this roaring lion that is walking around trying to pull you away into all kinds of sin and see you ruin your own life. This magnet is trying to pull you out of every authority structure in your life. So, you know, the devil would love to get you in rebellion against God, against your husband, against your parents. You would just love that. That's right. Because he knows that God, and you, look, he can't get you unsaved. God can't get you unsaved. I mean, I'm sorry, Satan can't get you unsaved, but he can get you in a situation where God will smash you into the ground. That's right. Because, look, God's not going to let rebellion go. I mean, look what he did to Jeroboam. He killed 500, he killed half a million people, children of Israel, which he eventually killed Jeroboam. He kills his whole family, everybody, even his children. There's no more Jeroboam family anymore. So, look, you, you are not accountable for what happens here. I am. The pastor is. I mean, look, I mean, I take that seriously because, look, that's between God and myself. If I'm letting something ungodly happen here, look, I have to answer for that. It says, as they must give account. But, look, here's the thing about this verse. I've heard this verse used a lot to be like, look, I have to give account about, look, Brother Matthew, I'm going to be talking to God about everything about you. So, you better be really nice to me. My birthday's on June 1st. You know, but here's the thing. That's, I have to give account on how this situation was running here. Right? And the Bible does say in the next verse, it says, look, if I have to give a bad account, like, you know, I messed it all up. I messed this whole thing up. And there was people in the church that just like, were just rebelling against me. I couldn't handle it. And there was sin and they just spread everywhere and the church has got wrecked and the candle state got removed. Look, that's on me, man. But look, it's unprofitable for you too. Because especially, you know, if you get into sin or you cause trouble or whatever, look, I mean, I'm going to give account of the whole story and it's on me, but it's unprofitable for everybody. Right? Right? If this ships, I mean, look, if the ship sinks, the captain hit the iceberg, right? But everybody dies. You see what I'm saying? It's kind of the same theory. I'm really into boat analogies today. I don't know why. They're just like popping in my head. But look, here's the thing. Here's the thing. So you're not accountable. I mean, look, there's rules here. There's a structure. But you're not accountable to God for how this runs. You know, the pastor is. The pastor is accountable to that. The leader is. You say, I want to be accountable. So go into the ministry. You say, man, I really want to be accountable for a church. Go into the ministry. Do you qualify? Go look in the qualifications and see if you qualify. And go into the ministry. Put in the work. Get ordained. Start your own church. Get sent out. You can. Look, I'm not being sarcastic. You could do that. If you're qualified, you want, you're like, I want to put in the work. I want to do all this stuff. I want to just, I want to just serve and serve and serve. And I want to go into the ministry. And I would like to be accountable. We need people that are going to do that. Right? We need men that are going to do that. Look, if qualified do it. But if not, and for now, just respect the authority ordained over you. And like, there, I think Pastor E. Men has said this like many times. Look, if you can't follow, you will never be able to lead. There, there is so many, I mean, that is so true. If you can't follow, you will never be able to lead. If you're this type of person that you get in every situation, wherever it is, you're just like, I know better than that guy. I know better than everybody. I know better than, you will never be able to lead. That's, that's the bottom line. There's so many people like that too. It's ridiculous. But look, disrespect the authority ordained over you in the church. Otherwise, guess what? It's rebellion. All right. So, everyone, turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Everyone has people over them, folks, everybody. Even at work, 1 Timothy chapter 6 says, let as many servants that are under the yoke master's worthy of all honor. Look, everyone is in subjection to someone. The believer especially has structure in their life for their own protection. Kids, wives, church members, employees. Look, it's not about this sadistic control or whatever. It's God's structure. I mean, look, look at what God says in John 14 is if you love me, keep my commandments. God says, if you love me, keep my commandments. So, if we're to love God, we're to show our love towards Him by listening to the Bible and listening to the commandments in the Bible. But here's the thing. He has showed, let's flip this thing on its head for a second. He's showed us how much He loves us by, of course, dying for us and giving us our salvation, but He's showed us first how much He loves us by giving us those commandments. You see what I mean? I mean, look, those commandments are there for our protection because He loves us. I mean, do you need, I mean, every commandment in the Bible is because God loves you. That's why He says, if you love me, keep those commandments. He's like, I loved you by showing you those commandments, by giving you these commandments, because guess what? I know better than you and I always will and I know exactly how to protect you. I know exactly how you should live your life to where you will you will get the most people saved where you will have the, you know, your actual life on this earth just follow all these commandments and He's like, I've done it because I love you. Now could you follow them and show me that you love me? It's kind of like being friendly to God, right? God was friendly to us by giving us all the commandments and we're just friendly back by following Him, right? So look, that is why when you get out, look, He put all this effort. He didn't just save us, right? He didn't just die for us. He put all this effort into managing us and helping us and protecting us. That's why when we rebel against that structure He takes it so seriously. Because look, I mean, He went through a lot of work here. He gave us a lot of direction here. That's why your Heavenly Father comes down so hard on you. So Jeroboam, He was given the 10 tribes. Like that was of God. He was given the 10 tribes. But then, just, and it was like right away, He was given the 10 tribes. He rebelled against the Lord and God destroyed Him for it. So we need to take this seriously. You think things are no big deal or I'm 85% of the way there. But look, if you're knowingly sinning against the Lord, you're in rebellion in all these areas of your life. You're like, man, that's a tall order. It is. He loves you and gave you that structure. All right. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.