Stubborn as Saul

This is Eric Loody, pastor of the Church at Ellersley in Windsor, Colorado. The Ministry of Ellersley endeavors to once again see triumphant Christianity stride upon the stage of time. You can see the Church of Jesus Christ built strong and stand in movable in these times of sinking sand. We hope this message is an encouragement to your soul. Alright guys, I got a fun picture. Did you guys see my keynote up there? I don't even know that I put it on the computer. Okay. I don't know why this isn't working. So maybe we need to affect that and push it forward one so I can at least see. Look at that. Isn't that a fun picture? Stubborn as soul. So you're expecting it to be stubborn as a mule, right? No, no. Stubborn is soul. That's God's illustration of stubbornness in the Bible. And this is such an interesting meditation and I'd say extremely important. Extremely important, not just in a global sense of the Church at large, but a specific sense of us because we can adopt the same attitude of the Church at large unwittingly. Because stubbornness is a very, very big player in the Church of Jesus Christ today. Most of us wouldn't call it that. Stubbornness doesn't sound that bad. It ranks, you know, in the territory of like anxiety or self-pity or frustration. It's like, well, it's not murder. However, it is an extremely dangerous and devilish thing. And it does not belong in the saints of God. And yet, if I could pinpoint one of the key things that we are assigned to as a Church, but very specifically as a ministry of Ellersley, is to deal a death blow in the Church to this. And now I wouldn't have ever said it that way. But this is the source. This is the fountain head of denominationalism right here. Now, I'm going to go in and explain that. But so, six months ago, we made a strong maneuver to actually stand against denominationalism in the Church of Jesus Christ today. Like, this is the hour. This is the time. Let's take it down. This does not belong. It is clearly unbiblical. I mean, no one can really argue. However, they do argue under the banner of contending earnestly for the faith, which ironically is a completely different context as Nathan discussed last week. That is talking about evil creeping in to the Church and us contending for the purity of the body of Christ. So, this becomes very, very important. Stubbornness, stubborn as soul. The word stubborn, fascinating etymology. It's from the Old English Stib meaning tree stump. A Stibborn thing is something fixed and movable and extremely hard to remove. Isn't that a fun etymology? So, what are the inner mechanics of stubbornness? I think you guys will find this extremely interesting. So, you go to the Hebrew and you start working with the word that is translated as stubbornness. And it seems to be associated with the ID. It's an idolatry, which is weird to think of stubbornness being idolatry. Idolatry is anytime we stick something else above God. And we treat it as if it is God in our life. It is higher than God. Therefore, it becomes our God. So, we are treating it with God-like status. Stubbornness is when you do that to your own opinion. And you take your own conclusion and you loft it even above God. And therefore, you will doggedly stand for your opinion no matter what the consequences. Because you are right. Stubbornness. Shouldn't we be immovable in our faith? I mean, it sounds like a good thing. And it is. There's actually nothing wrong with standing your ground. That isn't the problem. It's how you stand your ground and for what you're standing. So, shouldn't we be immovable in our faith? Yes. And that's why this particular study is very important. Discerning the difference between faithfulness and stubbornness is extremely important. The martyrs of the church throughout the ages were faithful unto death, not stubborn unto death. So, the distinction between someone exalting their own conclusion, their own opinion, and saying, "This is what is right, and I refuse to change." To someone saying, "God is right, and I will stand with him no matter what." There's a distinction, and that's why this becomes important. Stubbornness allies you with the enemy. When you choose stubbornness, you actually are an agreement with the enemy. Because the enemy wreaks havoc upon everyone around you when you are stubborn. There is no positive benefit that comes out of stubbornness. Faithfulness is a completely different thing. That's why I almost like need you to just move it over here. Stubbornness is what we're talking about right now. So, here's sort of a quote of a stubborn person. "I think I'm right, and I'm willing to make everyone else miserable until they acknowledge that I'm right." Now, it's highly likely that you've been around that or had that inside of you at some point in time. We are prone to this as humans, because it is a derivative and it flows out of something known as pride, which we all seem to natively be sensitive to, and it also is associated with idolatry. These are the root systems because we have a tendency and a propensity to loft ourselves above God. That's the whole issue with Eve and the garden. It is a propensity and a proclivity to desire Godship in our life. And so, we are vulnerable to this very thing that we are referring to as stubbornness. So, in the Bible, there are many words for this, but it's a fro-word person. Isn't that one of the weirdest words? A fro-word person. This is someone who is going to engage in battle very quickly. They are going to be able to split with people just because they don't like how they look that day. They are argumentative in their disposition. They're contrary. They're contentious. They're divisive. One who brings strife into the sacred sphere. There are certain spheres that God has defined, and they're supposed to be preserved from strife and division. Division and strife exist in this earth, and God will even divide people for their protection. However, we do not bring that strife into the sacred spheres. Marriage, family, the church. These are protected spheres where we are to labor to fight outward and not fight inward. Stubbornness brings the fight inward. If you guys could click me forward, I'd lost the whole thing now. Well, I'm at a very important part in my message, and it's over on the other side. Eric versus Barb. My mom's name is Barb. It's back over here. Two stubborn people make for many miserable people. Okay, I'm going to confess that I have been stubborn in the past. This is not something that's interesting because I don't know that I would have ever termed it that. My mom called it a strong will. That was, remember, James Dobson had the strong willed child that came out, and my mom and dad read that, and we're like, "Dear Lord, this describes Eric to a T." Well, I had a very strong will as the way it was termed. Actually, it was a mixture of pride, but not the arrogant pride that peacocks around, but just a strong desire to be right. Also, maybe a desire to make my mom prove wrong. My mom and I are like oil and water where the opposite side of every issue. So, what came up in life? If I said this, my mom would contradict it with something. If she said something, well, then I felt obligated to say the opposite. So, we were always at odds, and my mom and I, by the way, my mom passed on, and we had a great relationship when she died. So, I just want you guys to know that this wasn't a continuous thing throughout the rest of my life, but this is something that was a part of my youth. My mom and I have a lot of battles that we have. I mean, I don't know that they would be worthy of movies, like Godzilla versus King Kong type of a thing, but they were like that, because my mom had authority over me, so she could tell me what to do, which I didn't like, and we had multiple correction sessions where she went a little long in the correction, and I refused to acknowledge that I felt a twinge of pain. Okay, so I don't know if you guys can feel this storyline, but my mom, I remember one story where she wanted to go up to the mountains and get rocks. Okay, now that's something my mom would do. My mom would stop on the side of the road and go pick flowers out of a field. Now, my instinct is, you know, because I defaulted to being the legalist, the rulekeeper. I'm like, that's someone else's property. You can just walk on, hey, you shouldn't just walk on to their, don't pick their flowers. Honey, honey, no one cares. And I'm sure whoever does own it lives in California. And by the way, they wouldn't mind. I'm sure they would be happy to know that there are wild flowers that they aren't observing right now, or in our kitchen, in a vase. And so I'm stressed about this. And so this one time we were going to go up to the mountains and she wanted to get rocks. You know, like she sees these decorative rocks around her side. Well, they're in the mountains. So she's going to go up. Now, I am against this idea from the very get-go. How I ended up on this venture was an issue of obedience. I had no choice. Eric, you're coming. And my mom decided that she's going to have a good time. I'm going to have fun. And I decided I was not going to have fun. And I tell you, everyone else in the car, which is about four other people, we're absolutely miserable that day. When you are stubborn and you make your case and you stand your ground, even though you know it is hurting someone else and hurting other people around you, you are participating with the enemy. It is not something that is a good decision. It is something that is off from the design that you have been built in. Uh-oh. Guys, my clicker just seems to be having a problem today. Bees bedtime in the Broncos. The art of forming an opinion, but not having that opinion form you into a mullish, obstinate, bullheaded person. So my family's joked about the fact that I seem to have an opinion about bees and how you handle bees. And if you don't have my opinion, well, I think you should have my opinion. And it's weird because I don't give my opinion on bees anymore ever since some comedian came up and showed how ridiculous it was to have a strong opinion about bees. Because I think you should have just ignored them. Because they don't want to have anything to do with you. They'll just fly away on their own. And so I'll be like, yeah, just ignore them. And then, you know, I have two people in my family that go running off screaming. And it's like, this isn't helping. Now the bee is probably more antagonized by that than my mode. So we have these opinions, opinions about things like bees. Now, bedtime is another one. I have opinions about bedtime. My family has known my opinion about bedtime. I have stopped pressing my opinion about bedtime. Do I still have one? If you were to dig down deep, I'm sure you'd find one. We have a tendency to think that what works for us should work for everyone else. Okay, that's actually one of the definitions of what sponsors legalism more than anything else. Is when you take your convictions or your conclusions and you stretch them like Saranrap over everyone else. It's an unhealthy way to live, but stubbornness is a very real thing that can creep into our Christian life. Can creep into our families. Can creep into our churches and our relationships. And so when you are stubborn or you exalts or elevate your opinion above everyone else's, that's where it starts. I think I'm smarter than you. I think my conclusion is better than yours. Then actually above God's, you become an agent of division within the body of Christ. So the Broncos is the final one. Whether or not I was bullheaded about it, well, some of you might argue with my next story being on full display. I was passionate. And I believed that John L. Wei was the best quarterback in the NFL history. He was better than Joe Montana, better than Dan Marino, who was the other threat at the time. And I was convinced of that. And it really bothered me when anyone put down John L. Wei. That would bother me. So let's see if I can click to the next one. I can. Good. Some of you have heard this before, the wrestling match in the lobby. This is in Baldwin Hall in my freshman year of college. I'm watching a Bronco game on Monday night all by myself. I'm the only guy in the entire lobby because that's where the TV was. And I'm watching Monday night football. The Broncos are playing. I think it was a Washington Redskins. L. Wei is injured. And Gary Kubiak, who lived just a couple doors down from where my parents lived, was the backup quarterback and he was in. Now I wasn't excited that Gary Kubiak was in. That's actually very depressing as a Bronco fan. But Gary Kubiak is not just my neighbor. He's a Bronco. And this guy, the kicker from the Wentworth College football team, comes in and sits down as his who's playing. I'm like, who's playing? The Denver Broncos and the Washington Redskins. And then he sees Gary Kubiak come in and goes, Gary Kubiak. And then he curses Gary Kubiak. Saying that he's nothing, that he's weak, that he's a bad quarterback. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Gary Kubiak, right? But you don't say that about my team. And I, guys, this is what went wrong, okay? Eric went wrong. I was stubborn as I'll get out and I said, you take that back. Well, he was stubborn too. Remember football players and soccer players don't get along very well. And so he said, I'm not taking it back and he said it again. I go, you take that back and he wouldn't take it back. And I don't know what to do because I'm not a fighting guy. But I have to do something. An honor is at stake. And so I said, we're going to wrestle. That's what we did. We went into the middle room and we were going to wrestle. And we did. And I had so much adrenaline pumping through my body. I was so mad at this guy. I picked him up and he ended up landing on his head. I ended up going to, I don't know if it was the hospital, the doctor. He had this big brace on. He was out the rest of the football season. The soccer players were really supportive behind me. That didn't help me. This was a problem in my life. In other words, we could laugh at it, but it was a problem. It's called stubbornness. I exalted my conclusion and my opinion higher than even the health of relationship. We all enjoy engaging in a little faux stubbornness. I think you guys will understand what I mean by that. Having an opinion and having it differ from someone around you is actually fun. As long as you maintain the faux level of stubbornness. Like if I were to say the Broncos are great and then the Coleman's are going to say the Steelers rule. Or something like that. That's faux stubbornness. We actually have no animosity towards one another. I'm not going to challenge them to a wrestling match or anything. I've moved past that. Some of the most common fun arguments that people have today. So this is a quick survey on AI of some of the, I don't remember how I searched it, but this is what came back of some of the absurd things that people argue about today. So I have a list for us. Pineapple on pizza. How to eat Oreos, twist apart, dunk whole versus eat straight. People get upset about these things. They actually will argue and I'm calling this faux stubbornness though. Catch up on hot dogs. Some say it's a crime against hot dogs. Isn't that just weird? And then those of us that put catch up on hot dogs are like, excuse me, a crime. Milk before or after cereal. Now I didn't even know that was an issue. Serial first people think milk first people are crazy. Could you, that's even going through my mind. So what you're saying is you pour the milk in and then the cereal. It's just going to float on top. See, we could get into it already. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Correct way to eat corn on the cob. Typewriter style or spiral rotary method. Is cereal a soup? Soda versus pot versus coke. And then I thought it was funny. It says for all soda, which is giving its conclusion right there. Toilet paper over or under. Did you know that in the original description of toilet paper when it came out, it was described to go over. See, doesn't that make the under people upset? It's like, that is not true. How to load the dishwasher. Everyone thinks their way is objectively correct. Which way to hang clothes, hangers, and the closet. All face in the same direction or chaos. Sitting versus stand. Did not know this was an issue, guys. I'm sitting versus standing to put on pants. People are genuinely shocked others do it differently. I guess I sort of am. It's like, how do you sit down and do it? I've never even thought about that. Cutting sandwiches diagonally versus straight across. Triangle people versus rectangle people. Again, these are some things that I've never entered into debates on most of these things. How many spaces after appeared? Now, that is one that I feel very strongly about. I grew up with two spaces and still, I don't do after. I mean, I'm a typer. I've written books and then they change it. In the Chicago Manual of Style, it still offends me. I still, for every book, I still do two spaces. I'll let the editor take it out. Okay, that does sound a little like stubborn. How to pronounce. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, should I even say what I think? I have always pronounced it as a gif. Okay? And then someone says, "Gif," and I do think. Oh, that's not actually correct. You know that the originator of this called it a gif? The guy who made it and still people debate it. Well, how to spell "donut," is it's DOUGHNUT or DONUT? Scone pronunciation. Scone versus ironically. That doesn't look like scone to me. It looks like scone. So that's not even one of the two options that I would have. I would say scone. Whether it's called icing or frosting. Make that might be it. Foe stubbornness. So that's what I would call all of that. That is like a jocular, fun, affectionate ribbing. I think in our culture that's not considered rude. That's actually considered affectionate. And I don't see that as a danger. That's not what I'm talking about today. Foe stubbornness can be fun, but real stubbornness isn't fun for anyone. It's actually dangerous. What does real stubbornness look like? It looks like "sol." Now what's interesting about this is when I say "sol," there are two "sols." Well, there's actually more than that. But there's two main "sols" in the Bible. We have an Old Testament Saul who was King. We have a New Testament Saul who was an Apostle. We just don't know him as Saul. We do, but we know him mainly as Paul. And it's interesting because both of them have a parallel on this exact issue. Which is going to lead them to persecute that which is righteous. To seek to kill that which is righteous. Isn't that just an interesting thing that both of them are going to showcase the same exact behavior? One is going to die in his behavior. The other is going to be delivered from it and become a great model of Jesus Christ. So but real stubbornness looks like "sol." The meaning of the name "sol," one asked for, desired or requested. It's actually what the name means. So for Samuel 8.5, you're going to see the nation of Israel. They want to be like the other nations. They feel vulnerable as long as God is their loan protector. They don't have a physical man that they can follow into battle. The other nations have something they want it to. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. That is the request of Israel, the 12 tribes to the Prophet Samuel. So this is continuing after that. It says, "But the thing displeases Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the Lord and the Lord said to Samuel, "Heath the voice of the people." "And all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me." "That I should not reign over them." So we see that Saul is being put into position not because God is desiring this. It's out of a rejection of God's authority, ironically. And it's going to establish a man in a position of authority in Israel that God, it's a hard question to answer, did God intend ultimately for David to be king? Because that's going to be a parallel and a key revelation of who God is throughout history, even to us right now. I don't know the answer to that. All I know is this wasn't his intention. For Samuel 9, 1 through 2, there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, a mighty man of power, and he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. Remember, the name actually means desired, selected, asked for. We want him. Saul, if I was to give like a summary of this guy's life in what it represents spiritually throughout history, what it means to us spiritually, not just as a man in history, but he's a stubborn one. God is going to give him his word and he is going to think that he knows better. He is going to end up exalting himself above God, which is ultimately going to lead to his rejection. And when God establishes his purposes in and through David, he is going to refuse to give up what God has taken from him, which is his throne. And he is going to labor to fight against what God is doing, and he refuses to change. A stubborn one, holding a position of authority and/or influence and proudly concluding that it was gained, even if it be partially, due to one's own virtue cunning and brilliance. So, Saul, in the devious workings of the enemy in Saul's life, the enemy is going to say, "Look, it's not just God who gave you this, you also brought something to the table. Look what you have done. Look at the choices you have made. Look at the impact it has had on Israel." And so, it is going to begin to build up a perception in Saul's understanding of his ability, of his cunning, of his brilliance in battle, of his ability to win wars. So, Saul, becoming enamored with one's own opinion, personal method and unique perspective, so much so that when crowns their own opinion, method and perspective is king, putting it even above God's word. So, this is demonstrated vividly in and through the life of Saul. This actual concept is revealed in and through even when God is going to reject him as king. So, the results of this Saul-like behavior is persecution awakens towards those that see it differently. I don't know if you've ever been around someone that feels so strongly about their opinion, that they will not relent in an argument or in a discussion until they convince you. And they will not give up. They just keep pressing it until you agree. And there's nothing quite like being someone that can't agree with that person. I mean, that puts you in a very awkward place. Could we just agree to disagree? No. The opinion is so high that it becomes a righteous thing to pursue in their mind. So, it awakens persecution towards those that see it differently. Ultimately, it results in something known as subjective dogmatism that is manifested through this and division among the people of God is sure to follow. Think about what's going to happen in the reign of Saul. Saul is going to hold on doggedly to his perspective on the situation. Even though Samuel will say, "Here's God's perspective," he says, "I don't agree with that. I don't think that has to be God's perspective." And he's going to hold on to his throne. And ultimately, he's going to split the kingdom. So, there is a division that is going to come. He's God is going to select David. But I say, "God." I hope I did. God, I didn't say Saul is going to select David. God is going to select David. But Saul is going to reject both God and God's purposes in and through David. He's going to hold on to his own and it's going to split the kingdom. Saul's stubbornness. It's supplied to us as an example. For Samuel 15, 10-12, "Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, 'I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king.' For he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments." And it grieved Samuel and he cried out to the Lord all night. So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel saying Saul went to Carmel. And indeed, he set up a monument for himself and he has gone on around, passed by and gone down to Gilgau. So, context, God has commissioned Saul to go and annihilate the Amalakites to totally destroy them. Now, we are going to, in the context, assume something and that is that Saul understood what that meant because he's going to be held accountable to God's definition of that, which means everything is to be destroyed. I know that sounds pretty extreme to some of us with our modern sensibilities, but that means men, women, children, sheep, oxen, king, the whole thing. Saul is going to keep the king alive, king Agag, and he's going to keep the best of the sheep and the best of the oxen alive. And so, to many of us, we can be like, "Sounds harmless." However, it's not an obedience to the Word of God. Remember, Saul is exalting his own opinion. He thinks he knows better. He thinks he knows how he should do this. So, even though Samuel has given him the Word of God, he is going to take it and curtail it to match what he thinks would be best in this situation. And by the way, that's not a good thing to do. Then Samuel went to Saul and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord." But Samuel said, "What then is this bleeding of sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" And Saul said, "They have brought them from the amalachites for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God. And the rest we have utterly destroyed." And Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet. And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on." So, Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not the head of the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel." Now, the Lord sent you on a mission and said, "Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the amalachites and fight against them until they are consumed." "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the side of the Lord?" And Saul said to Samuel, "But I obeyed the voice of the Lord." Isn't that an interesting statement? "But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and his perspective, he is right." "But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and gone on the mission on which the Lord set me and brought back egg egg king of amalach." "I have utterly destroyed the amalachites." "But the people took the plunder, took up the plunder sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice to the Lord your God and Gilgal." So Samuel said, "As the Lord is great delight in burn offerings and sacrifices as an obeying the voice of the Lord, behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams." "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as aiquity and idolatry, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he also has rejected you from being king." So here's a key line in this. There's a lot of great lines in that that you'll recognize. I mean, there's many things that we quote even in our own lives, "Obedience is better than sacrifice." You know, those types of things are key lines for us, even as the church today. This one is an interesting one. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Now, Samuel is indicating that these two things are at work in Saul's life in this moment. Rebellion and stubbornness. Like I said, rebellion is as witchcraft. That sounds very bad. Okay, no one wants to mess with that. Witchcraft? Witchcraft is a way of controlling. That's what it is. It's sort of like, watch the watch. You know, it's like, and you're like hypnotized. You're under a spell. You are controlled. Witchcraft, if someone is in rebellion, they're trying to control their own life. It is as witchcraft. Yeah, I know. Witches, you know, might cast spells on other people, but this is the concept. It is to bring things under control, to manipulate and coerce to your end. So rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. And stubbornness is as aiquity and idolatry. It's interesting to think of stubbornness as idolatry. It doesn't seem like it. But when we recognize that it is taking an exultant and loft in your own opinion and your conclusions, so high that they become your God. This very function is what is leading to what we can call denominations. Where we are allowing a division into the sacred sphere of the church, because someone will doggedly hold on to their side opinion about the issues of, you know, you can fill in the blank, and we will divide over that issue. That person will not relent. And so what do you do? How do you continue to have close fellowship when you have a stubborn person? To stubborn people. And it's all the worse. Eric versus Barb. You know, this is when everyone around you starts to feel the pain. The remedy for stubbornness. I know this is going to be a shocker, guys. Humbling yourself. Acknowledging that the white knuckled grip you currently have upon your personal opinion isn't serving you, your family, or the body of Christ well. Let go of your opinion and grab a hold of the word. So the illustration I can give is Jacob, who was, his name means heel grabber, deceiver, supplanter, but it's a grabbing type of mechanism. When he was being born, he was grabbing the heel of Esau, which is how he even got his name. And what you're going to see in his life is he is going to be constantly at odds with his brother and his family until he lets go of that heel. It's something that he is stubbornly holding on to. And when he lets go of that and grabs a hold of God, and you could even say God's word because as we're going to see as a later revelation throughout scripture is that is, in a sense, Christ or Jesus that he's wrestling with. It's the manifestation of God and the flesh. And so let go of your own opinion and grab a hold of the word like Jacob stopped grabbing the heel of Esau and grabbed God instead. So here we are struggling with the idea of soul. I would say for my guess is it's not just me that is struggled with stubbornness in my life. Maybe some of us are more prone, some of us are more obvious in it because we express opinion stronger. And the loody family all growing up, we were like Jewish and Italian without being Jewish and Italian. We were just a very talkative and expressive family and everyone had an opinion on everything. My sister was a little quieter. But it's like me, my brother and my mom, especially, were very loud about what we thought and what we believed and what we thought was ridiculous. And we were very clear in that. And in so doing, it's almost like we were refining our personal thoughts, our personal conclusions, like we were aficionados of this, this, and this. And then we would let you know what we think is the best conclusion for it. It's a, it's the seed bed of stubbornness right there where you begin to be somewhat proud even though you don't think of it as pride in your ability to conclude something on the matter where other people have never even had a thought about it. And yet you do, you have cultivated a wonderful thought on the matter. And that becomes a danger to us when it is mixed with pride, when it exalts itself to a point where you cannot back down from it. You can't even hear if you ever talk to someone who is so set in their position that if you make an appeal about something like they hate a certain movie that you like. I can't even remember who it was. I can see the discussion in front of me. I remember they didn't like it's a wonderful life. Now, there are some really good reasons why someone shouldn't like it's a wonderful life. I mean some of the worst theology you've ever heard is in the movie it's a wonderful life, right? But I grew up with it's a wonderful life and I get a warm feeling I always sob at the end. And it's a fun tradition and I don't think my family is swept up in the bad theology and we think that every time you know a bell rings an angel gets his wings, you know, I don't think we're thinking that. But someone over here you know that I'm talking to hates the movie. It's like excuse me but then you try an appeal to that it's like no I refuse. So then you have the stubborn battle of wills it's like no this is a good movie and you must consider it a good movie unhealthy right it's not actually going to get anyone somewhere if someone doesn't like the movie it's a wonderful life well God bless them there's no harm in that. However, we have a tendency to make things that don't matter into things that do matter and that is part of the problem with stubbornness especially when it comes into the church of Jesus Christ. Saul in the New Testament is going to have a very high opinion of himself and his thinking and he is going to conclude things so sharply that it leads to the need to destroy that which opposes his conclusion. He is a persecutor of the church of Jesus Christ. He is a stubborn man. Now what's interesting is he thought he was fighting for that which is right typically the danger of this falls under the banner of religion. Saul is fighting for God's people he's holding God's throne everything is under the banner of Israel of God that has to be good that has to be blessed that has to be anointed but just because something is under the banner of it does not make it right does not make it godly. As you see with the Pharisees in the New Testament they are the conservatives of their day they believe what the Bible says but they stand directly opposed to Jesus he did not come as they thought he should they had an opinion and they held their ground he needs to come this way according to our doctrine they elevated their opinion above God's word. And when God's word came in the flesh they actually rejected it they persecuted they killed it Paul is a derivative of that he's a little stubborn man and he was a little guy so he's a little stubborn man who has dug his heels in and anyone who disagrees with him must die obviously an unhealthy conclusion. So guys here's what we all need to do we all need to become Paul it's interesting the distinction between the names the name Saul as a name you could brag about. Chosen desired wanted the name Paul is not a compliment it's like the little short guy the little diddly squat man over here it is the little man that's actually what his name means. Diminutive smallish so I don't know if it was a nickname I actually we don't know where the name came from we just know that it says Saul who was also known as Paul we then know him as Paul from that point forward so it's interesting to see this man who thinks highly of himself who is a very stubborn man a persecutor of the church morph into the little guy. He sees himself in a smallish way instead of in a bigish way he sees even his opinions his own personal opinions as small he was trained with the rest of him he's willing to come to Corinth and say I determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ in him crucified this is a man who is brilliant yet he is going to humble his own mind and submit to the word of God say that saying that God knows best I am going to submit to him. Acts 139 then Saul who also is called Paul that's all we know for Samuel 157 so Samuel said now this is the statement from Samuel to Saul when you were little in your own eyes when you were Paul where you not head of the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you King over Israel you see God chose Saul when he was Paul ish when he was little in his own eyes but when he became big in his own eyes he rejected him the day in which we live stubbornness has replaced faithfulness as the chief means of earnestly contending for the faith so stubbornness has become so commonplace in fact it is such an integral part of the church system that we have all grown up in that we may not recognize it is dangerous we may not actually see that we are holding on to systems and dogmas that God is saying let it go that isn't what this is about we even leverage the passage in Jude which Nathan taught on last week of earnestly contending for the faith once given Jude is going to write a letter that's probably going to exhort and encourage and study stops and he says I feel so burdened I need to write that there that is that which is sneaking into the church to distort the grace of God and to divide the church contend against that think about this contend against that which would divide we are to earnestly contend for the sacred sphere yes there are things that want to pollute and we need to keep it out yes there are things that want to undermine the integrity of the word of God and we need to be discerning to say no to it and I would call that faithfulness to the word but faithfulness has a different disposition it's like a different facial expression than stubbornness it has a different body position than stubbornness stubbornness you know stands probably like you would expect with the arrogant posture like no whereas faithfulness is intriguing it's like on its face humbly saying please we can work this out we need to stand with the truth we cannot go against that it has a different motive a different end it's not to prove oneself right it's to stand to make sure that that soul that you are communicating with does not fall off the cliff is not injured because of the darkness is attempting to consume their soul it entreats it doesn't berate it has a different facial expression to it stubbornness under the auspices of contending for the faith so is discord among brethren just like it says in Proverbs 16, 14 and 6, 19 I say 16 Proverbs 6, 14 and 6, 19 it stirs up strife as it says in Proverbs 15, 18 it generates strife as it says in 2nd Timothy 2, 23 it separates the best of friends Proverbs 16, 28 it's like a club assort in a sharp arrow as it says in Proverbs 25, 18 so when we allow a divisive or a contentious attitude in that wrangles over words and strives to defend a position instead of defending Jesus it actually will create a hindrance in our midst long and short it separates the body of Christ into factions divisions and camps stubbornness so I'm going to do a contrast on the same screen here at the top it says stubbornness at the bottom it says faithfulness stubbornness would be big in your own eyes and it leads to faith in your own opinion about God's word so your confidence strangely isn't in God's word it's in your opinion about God's word I don't know if you can see the distinction between that but it's like this is what I think it means and that's where you put your confidence instead of I could be wrong but I'm going to believe God's word I know he's right where you humble yourself before the word of God instead of exult yourself with the word of God faithfulness is a completely different behavior system it is when you are little in your own eyes a faithful person does not think highly of themselves they think highly of God they do not think highly of their own opinion they think highly of God's opinion which they are just so privileged even have access to and they don't want to mishandle it because they tremble before it and they recognize that throughout the ages many people have handled this word and they want to tremble and say dear Lord help me rightly divide this help me rightly apply this to my life it's a very different orientation towards the same thing little in your own eyes and it leads to faith to heed God's word with love faith working itself out through love is the essence of faithfulness where our desire is to be faithful or full of faith towards God not full of faith towards our own ability our own perspective our own method of doing things and our own conclusions that is putting our faith in a strange deranged way into man system into a denominational system into a package of conclusions instead of into God it is a replacement of what God intended for us and we are all prone to it denominationalism is something we are prone to as humans which is why it creeps in unaware it is a Trojan horse it speaks our language it sounds like a gift it sounds like a solution but inside of it is a divisive, faxious bunch of Greek soldiers I'm not against Greeks that just happens to be a relationship to the Trojan horse illustration so stubbornness its root system is pride and idolatry and it's quote if I could give a quote to it I must demonstrate that I am right and they are wrong faithfulness which its root system is humility and love has a quote I must preserve the glory of my God and the sacred fellowship of the saints if you were to think about what we fight for as the saints of God I mean we could say or were fighting for lost souls technically that is not not true that is true but this sacred sphere like for instance if you heard me describe my life of my first battles my first battle is to preserve the relationship I have with God and my unity my oneness with God my clarity and relationship with God that nothing would stand in the way that if there is anything in the way it would bulldoze it out of the way lord our connection me and you then it's my relationship with my wife this actually demands a significant focus in my existence to make sure there's nothing between me and my wife that there's a oneness and a wholeness in that relationship it's a sacred sphere then my family if I am effective in every zone of my life outside of those first three I'm a failure in life if I lose my relationship with my God my relationship with my God my relationship with my wife my relationship with my family these are battle fronts these are sacred spheres that the enemy is laboring 24/7 to violate and so therefore we as the saints of God want to fight for those zones why for the glory of God this is how he's revealed in this earth he's revealed through my life as an individual being healthy and godly he's revealed through my marriage being healthy and godly he's revealed through my family and then he's revealed through us the church of Jesus Christ is his significant revelatory device in this world we are called to reveal the manifold wisdom of God to the heavenly realms this funny little group right here is chosen to do that so therefore when we fight for our own opinion our own objectives our own conclusions and we are willing to divide within the boundary line of saints too in other words it's not like that guy is a pagan that person loves Jesus and loves his word just like I do but for me to divide because I disagree is a very very dangerous precedent to set and unfortunately we have grown up where that precedent has been accepted we live in a very very challenging time and it is very difficult to move in the opposite direction from stubbornness ruling the church instead of faithfulness because stubbornness has been redefined as faithfulness we need to separate out the terminology we need to recognize that stubbornness leads to death and division and destruction it is not healthy its root system is opposite the nature of god faithfulness is what we are after but it has a different end game and it doesn't care if it has spittle on its cheek it wants to remove the spittle from Jesus' cheek we recognize that we are not going to always be liked appreciated when we stand with Jesus but we're not here to defend ourselves we're here to defend him but also to defend what he has purchased and to make sure that the unity of the saints of god is not marred unnecessarily there is a version of division that god prescribes that's important to note it's not the absence of separation but it's when you separate it's not because of stubbornness it would be because of humility and love both stubbornness and faithfulness will divide but stubbornness divides for pride's sake while faithfulness divides for love's sake stubbornness so guys this is where it hits us personally I don't know exactly because I can't mine into your life I can walk through a message like this and I can see all sorts of things especially if I'm growing up but it's not just that this is a foreign thing to me now where it's like oh yeah I would never deal with that again that's like famous last words in a Christian life this is something we are prone to Saul was little in his own eyes but then as he succeeded as god blessed him he began to subtly take credit for it and you can just sort of see the enemy going well done Saul you're rather impressive and he went from being little in his own eyes to being bigger in his own eyes what I would like all of us to do is just freshly returned to being little this morning it's just like whatever big you may be having just think about a success you've had in your life just freshly handed over to god it's like don't let it make you big I don't know what you've accomplished I don't know what paths on the back you've received but the best place to be is little in your own eyes so that god can be big in your eyes the bigger you are in your own eyes the smaller god gets so let's just choose to rectify that this morning and return to the little place again so is stubbornness is there any of this disgusting thing in us are we clinging to anything Saul clung to his throne to his dignity to his like social dignity you know how embarrassing it would be for a king that is succeeded with such grand success in front of other nations to have to humble himself and relinquish his throne it's like there's mocking kings out there that he wants to look good in front of he has people in Israel that don't know the subtleties of what's happening inside this one discussion with Samuel they don't need to know about this and he doesn't want anyone to know about it he's clinging to his reputation he's clinging to his identity as king of Israel is there anything we're clinging to it's again just something we do guys I remember in the movie overcome it's one of the Kendrick movies it's the Alex Kendrick character I can't remember his name in the movie but he's in the hospital room with this one guy who's blind and the guy is asking him questions like so what do you do who are you and tell me about yourself and he goes through this whole list and you know about the 15th thing the guy says so are you a believer in Christ or something oh yes yeah I'm a Christian this is how come that's the 15th thing in your list is it 15th thing in priority oh no no it's not the 15th oh no it's way at the top well then why didn't you mention it first very interesting how other things will begin to crowd into our identity what do you want to be known as when you think about who you are is your identity first and foremost I'm in Christ I'm a believer this is what defines everything about me it defines my marriage it defines my parenting it defines my work it defines my skills and what I do or is it down the list if anything has crowded in and is beginning to state claim would we be willing to let go of that identity because it's false it is a counterfeit of what you are called to are we just to find anything is there anything in our life that we're like well it's not that big of a deal because I have a hold on it I'm in control of it God understands classic breakdown of the moral structure of a man or a woman right there it's like well I'm bigger these people you know they might struggle with this but I don't and it's like the the way that some people engage with alcohol it's just like well I can engage with alcohol and it doesn't control me I can control it you know you don't want to mess with the enemy that way you give the enemy an inch he'll take a mile are you justifying anything under the fact that you are in control of it because that's exactly what Saul was attempting to do on his terms not on God's terms I can do this this may be wrong for other people but it's not going to be wrong for me or we wanted to prove ourselves right that's a hard one it's a hard one because the spirit of God has to reveal that to us and it's a subtle thing but if so what do we do about it we have to humble ourselves we have to say Lord I relinquish that I don't need people to think of me as right I give that up as an agenda have we lofted our own opinion higher than God Father I ask that you would inspect us as the Church of Jesus Christ and that you would protect this sphere that you would train us up to fight valiantly for the oneness of the body of Christ today Lord there is a burden that we as a church have and that is to see this very thing eradicated in the church global but Lord how can we pray to see it eradicated in the church global if we are hosting it here in us so I pray Lord that you would investigate that you would you would remove from us we want to humble ourselves today we want to be Paul instead of Saul we want to be little in our own eyes again Lord Jesus we trust you and we praise you your ways are higher than ours it's for the glory of Jesus Christ that we pray this amen This message was brought to you by the team at Ellersley Discipleship Training at Ellersley we are laboring to rouse the Church of Jesus Christ out of its lethargy and build brave-hearted Christians for such a time as this if you'd like to learn more about Ellersley our discipleship programs or support the ministry financially please go to Ellersley.com