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Transcript

Well, good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to see all of you.

A man was cleaning his gutters while standing on a very tall ladder, and his wife comes out to him and says, “Honey, that ladder doesn’t look very stable.” He shoots back, “I know what I’m doing.” Well, a few minutes later, his wife says, “I don’t know. Looks like that ladder is going to slide.” And he says, “I’ve done this a thousand times.”

Finally, his wife says, “You know what? Why don’t you come down, move the ladder a little closer before you fall?” He barks back, “I’m fine.” About thirty seconds later, the ladder falls. The husband goes tumbling down, he falls into the bush. His wife runs over, “Are you okay?” He looks up and he mutters, “Like I said, the ladder is fine.”

Brethren, we all know people who are stubborn. In fact, those who are stubborn among us, may not have gotten that joke.

But we all know people who are stubborn. It can be a child, it can be a spouse, it can be a co-worker, it could be the person looking back at us in the mirror. Human beings have a remarkable resistance to instruction and guidance.

But we all face the ability to be stubborn. It’s something that we all have to fight through, and we can have fun with it, and we can all laugh about it, but the Bible is actually quite serious about the subject of being stubborn. In fact, let’s turn to First Samuel chapter fifteen. First Samuel chapter fifteen. The Bible is quite serious when it comes to being stubborn. This is a familiar account. This is the account with Saul, and he’s being confronted by Samuel.

We can go down to verse twenty-two, First Samuel fifteen verse twenty-two, and we’ll pick it up, the context First Samuel fifteen twenty-two, and Samuel said, “Has the Lord has great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord.” Saul did not follow the instructions as they were given. “Behold,” Samuel continues, “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”

Now, that part of the verse always catches me. You think about, okay, rebellions, witchcraft. Wow, that’s quite a comparison. And we often do talk about that, and even preach sermons off of that phrase. But if we continue, it says, “And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Makes you swallow kind of hard. Stubbornness is being compared to iniquity and idolatry, those two very, very bad things.

It’s one of those things that especially if you battle stubbornness, like we all do, it’s one of those things that make you makes you squirm in your seat a little bit. Like, “Wow, when I’m being stubborn, God is saying that’s being compared to iniquity and idolatry?” Why does God make such a strong comparison? Especially, with something like being stubborn. We all can get stubborn, get dug in on certain things. Why does God make such a strong comparison? What makes stubbornness spiritually dangerous?

When does determination and conviction become being stubborn and dug in? You’re just dug in, standing on principle. No, you’re just dug in, you’re being stubborn. How can you, how can we stand fast on something, stand fast on it, yet not go so far as to become stubborn? How can we tell the difference? Well, brethren, today we’re going to learn the difference between sinful stubbornness, and Godly steadfastness. There is a difference.

I’ll repeat that. We’re going to learn the difference between sinful stubbornness, and Godly steadfastness, and how to remain firm while being teachable, moldable, and easy for God to guide us. It is possible to do that. I often like to start my messages by defining my subject. It’s good for us to all be on the same page, to all understand what we’re talking about. And we all have a pretty good idea of stubbornness, especially having probably been stubborn a time or two in life.

But a stubborn person, as defined here, a stubborn person is determined to do what he or she wants, and refuses to do anything else. A stubborn person, if you’re writing it down, a stubborn person is determined to do what he or she wants, and refuses to do anything else. Stubborn people are resistant to correction, resistant to change, driven by self-will, difficult to guide, and they refuse to yield.

Now, stubbornness as I alluded to in my statement earlier, stubbornness is different than having strength and conviction about something, or it’s different than perseverance. This can seem a little related, but those two things are very different. Stubbornness is refusing to yield even when yielding is required, when yielding is the best path. Despite yielding being the best path, a stubborn person refuses to yield. Big difference. Big difference.

Perhaps, we’re starting to see why God compared stubbornness to two very serious charges that of iniquity and idolatry. I want to be very, very clear, there is nothing wrong with being steadfast and firm. Nothing wrong with having convictions. We should all have our own convictions. We should all stand for something. There’s a saying, “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” You’ve probably heard that.

We all have to be willing to stand for something, and be firm and convicted about it, but there’s a big difference between that, and stubbornness. Turn to Jeremiah eighteen. Jeremiah eighteen.

Verse two, we’re going to read about the potter and the clay. Jeremiah eighteen, verse two, it says, “Arise,” so speaking, God speaking to Jeremiah, “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. Then, I went down to the potter’s house and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.” So, he approaches the potter’s house, the potter’s busy, he’s doing what potters do. He’s working the clay on the wheel. The clay is turning and he’s molding and shaping the clay. We have a potter in our midst.

I’m sure watching him work is something that’s interesting to behold. But it says, he went down and he saw the potter at work, verse four, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred, it was disfigured in the hand of the potter.” So, what did he do? “He made it again into another vessel.” So, the first vessel got marred. It wasn’t quite the shape that he wanted, so he made it again. And this time, it says it seemed good to the potter to make it. Second time he got it right. It ended up being the shape that he wanted it to be.

So, now you have this illustration in Jeremiah’s mind. Then, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, “Oh, house of Israel.” So, we go from a pot, a clay pot, to the house of Israel. “Can I do with you as this potter, says the Lord? Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, oh, house of Israel.” What a remarkable, remarkable illustration.

You see this potter working and working and working the clay. Even had a little trouble with it, apparently, because it got marred. But the second time, he worked with it, and it came together. God says, “Look, Jeremiah, that clay pot, that’s the house of Israel. I can work with that. I can mold that. I can shape that.” It’s a perfect illustration for my point. A clay vessel starts out soft. It’s very moldable. It’s easy to shape, but what eventually happens? It hardens.

It hardens into the shape that the potter intended for it to be. Brethren, there is nothing wrong with being firm. Nothing wrong with having our convictions. But the key is our convictions and being firm, come as and after God is shaping us. When we’re shaped into the thing that God wants us to be, that’s when being firm, that’s when being hardened, that’s when it’s okay. But if we make the mistake, and we harden ourselves before God is through with us, before we’re shaped into what God wants us to be, that’s when we run into problems.

If we harden too early, the potter is no longer able to shape us. We’re hard. Yes, there is a time to be firm, but brethren, there’s also a time to be moldable and shapeable, and easy to work with. Spiritually mature people are not rigid when it comes to the things of God. Spiritually mature people, they’re not stubborn when it comes to the things of God. God is the potter, we are the clay.

The danger of stubbornness begins when self-will hardens us before God is finished with us, or even as God is working with us, or hard. You almost get this image of, the only way to work with a hardened person that’s not quite finished yet is to do what? Got to break him and start over. None of us clearly want that, especially when it comes to being clay in God’s hands.

Now, let’s go back and take a look. Let’s go back to First Samuel fifteen. Let’s go back and take a look at what led Samuel to compare stubbornness, and to compare it to iniquity and idolatry. First Samuel fifteen, it’s the same account, but we’re just going to go a little more into it, so we can get the right idea. First Samuel fifteen, we’ll begin at the start of the chapter. “And Samuel said also unto Saul, ‘The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over this people, or over his people, over Israel.’” So, God is the ultimate king of Israel, but he sent Saul to be the king in his stead, to in effect be God’s representative.

“Now, therefore, listen or hearken you unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt.’” God remembers how the Amalekites mistreated Israel, and now God was going to deal with it. And he was going to use Saul, and all of the people to deal with it.

Verse three, “Now, go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not,” that word “spare” is notable, “spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” The instructions were very clear. I don’t want you to spare anyone. Here’s what I want you to do. This man is representing God and God’s judgment. Here’s what I want you to do.

If he wasn’t clear, he didn’t ask any questions, or, “God, I’m not sure is that what you really want me to do.” The instructions were given, and the instructions were received, or at least there was no indication that they weren’t. Verse seven, and Saul did what? “He smote the Amalekites,” okay that’s a good start. That’s part of what he was instructed to do. “He smote the Amalekites from Havilah, until you come to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

“Then he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive.” He spared the king. He took him alive, “And utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared,” see that term there, “spared”? God told him to spare not, he spared. “Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. But everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” Where was the stubbornness in that?

For some, it may be screaming. But where was the stubbornness in that? Saul substituted his own judgment for God’s judgment. God told him what to do. He gave him the instruction. God was judging the Amalekites. He told Saul how to handle it. He was representing God as the leader of Israel. He told him what to do. Saul did not do that. He substituted his own judgment instead of God’s judgment.

Remember, it says, Saul and the people did what? Spared Agag. God was the one who was supposed to determine who was, and who was not to be spared. God said, “Spare not.” Saul said, “No, I will spare. I decide who gets spared, and who doesn’t get spared.” God’s decision was to not spare. Saul’s decision was to spare. God’s instructions were clear. Saul decided to alter them. The instructions were not misunderstood. They were very clear.

But Saul essentially thought that his version, his way to handle it was better, “My way is better than your way, God.” He didn’t say that, but that’s what he did. Actions spoke louder than his words. That is stubbornness. That’s being stubborn. That’s being dug in. Stubbornness appears when people edit what God expects. They know what God expects, they read what he expects, they’re told what he expects, but they edit it. “Well, no, I’m going to do it this way. Okay, I’ll do most of it, but I’m going to do the rest of it this way.” Brethren, that’s being stubborn. That’s being dug in. That is a form of idolatry. Very serious, very serious.

How is it idolatry? When we’re stubborn against certain things, that is us stepping into God’s position, in effect, sitting on the throne of God, and deciding that we know what’s best in this situation, or that situation. That is extremely, extremely serious. Very, very serious. Idolatry is putting something in God’s place. We know what an idol is, when people bow down to them, they’re made of wood and stone and metal. I mean, people bow down to idols. We all know what an idol is. An idol is substituting, or putting something in God’s place, is it not?

Does it not count if we put ourselves in God’s place? Our decision-making instead of God’s decision-making, does that not count for being idolatry, the form of idolatry? According to scripture, it’s certainly idolatry. A stubborn person eventually places themselves, and occasionally places themselves on the throne of God. I know it sounds heavy, like, “Wow, I was just kind of being stubborn about that, I didn’t I didn’t think I was being like an idolater. I didn’t think it was that serious.” It can be. It can be.

What about iniquity? Remember, it’s iniquity and idolatry. Verse thirteen. First Samuel fifteen, thirteen. “And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him, ‘Blessed be you of the Lord.’” Saul was in a great mood. “Hey, Saul, how’s it going?” Or, “Samuel, how’s it going?” He’s feeling good. “I’ve performed the commandment of the Lord.” Don’t you know? Saul was delusional. He was delusional. Let’s keep reading.

“And Samuel said, ‘What means this then, the bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the ox, which I hear?’” You killed all the animals, yet I hear the sheep bleating and the ox lowing. What are you talking about? You obeyed the voice of the Lord. Saul was delusional. He was proud, “Oh, yes, hey, Saul, how’s it going? I did exactly what God told me to do.” Well, Saul, not even shaken at all. Verse fifteen, Saul says, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen…” Oh, boy, the blame game, here we go. They brought them from the Amalekites, the people brought the sheep and the oxen, “…to sacrifice unto the Lord they brought...” We probably kept them alive because we’re going to sacrifice them to the Lord. We’re going to kill them.

Just like you said, but you know we wanted, we kept the best of them to sacrifice to the Lord. He’s delusional. “And the rest we have utterly destroyed.” Despite being caught red handed, the sheep are bleating, the oxen are lowing, instead of owning up to it, he was stubborn. He was dug in. “Oh, no, no. We did exactly what God said to do.” Brethren, iniquity is likened to being crooked, or not. You think of a stick that’s just, it’s crooked. It’s not straight. It’s not straight like it should be. Stubbornness will cause us to not be straight. It’ll cause us to be crooked.

We’ll get so dug in, even though we know that that’s not the right way to go, we’ll stick with it. Why? Because we’re stubborn, we’re being stubborn, we are dug in on this matter. It’s a heavy subject. It is, it’s heavy. It’s a heavy subject. I tried to start it with a joke. Kind of fell flat, but I tried.

I knew where I was going. I knew that this was going to be kind of heavy. But, of course, brethren, it’s for our good, and it’ll pick up a bit. But iniquity is being crooked, warped, and distorted. Stubbornness can distort our thinking. We don’t see things as we should see them, because we’re dug in, we’re being stubborn. The longer we resist correction, the more distorted our point of view becomes. The longer we resist correction, saying it again, the more distorted our judgment becomes.

Saul justified himself. He blamed people. He, rather than obedience, he got stuck in the way that he wanted to do it. He thought his way was the better way. Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Very serious. And the scary part is that stubbornness can often hide itself. You know, Saul was just open, and just bald stubbornness. He got called out by Samuel. He was a lot more open, but stubbornness can sometimes hide itself. We don’t always recognize it.

Turn to Jonah. Turn to the Book of Jonah.

All right, we’ll start at the beginning of Jonah. We all know Jonah, he’s a familiar person here. Jonah chapter one, verse one, “Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, or Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me.’” So, like Saul, Jonah was sent and told to follow a set of instructions. Well, we know that Jonah did not agree with what God was doing. He had some better ideas. He had a different way to handle it, so he ran.

We’ve all been there, you don’t quite want to do something, you just take off, as if the person doesn’t see you running away.

So, Jonah ran, he thought, “Okay, I can get away from God.” Who knows what he maybe thought? God would change his mind, maybe God would think like, “Wow, he really doesn’t want to do this, he’s running. So, okay, I’ve changed my mind.” Jonah decided to run. He ends up on a ship. So, he runs, he gets on this ship, and he’s just going to, I guess, sail away till somehow God won’t find him, or see him. I don’t know. Remember, stubbornness makes you delusional, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

So, he got on a ship, and he wanted to get away from God, and the men on the ship, they knew better than him, and they were fearful, and it was not a smooth ride. It was very tumultuous, and the men started to get really concerned. This fellow on board here is causing us a lot of problems. And if we don’t get rid of him, we’re all going to go down. So, what do they do? They pitch him. They throw him overboard.

Jonah, what happens? He ends up inside of a fish. Verse seventeen. Take a look at it here. “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish.” That’s interesting, prepared a fish. God knew what was going on. Says, “God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” And inside of the fish, he had some pretty interesting experiences. He had the opportunity to kind of think through everything that he had done.

Verse two, or excuse me, chapter two, verse ten. “After three days and three nights, the Lord spoke unto the fish, and the fish vomited Jonah upon dry land.” Now, Jonah’s back out, his feet on dry ground. He can breathe again. It probably smells a lot better than it smelled over the last three days and three nights. So, his mind, you would think his mind is clear. I’ve seen the light, literally. The fish spit him out.

Jonah appeared ready to comply. He ran, was inside of a fish, he gets spit out, he has a new perspective, he can see things a little bit differently. He went to Nineveh, he ended up going to Nineveh, as he was originally instructed to do. Chapter three verse ten, what happened after he went, and did what he was supposed to do in the first place? “And God saw their works,” referring to the Ninevites, “that they turned from their evil way, and God repented the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.” Mission accomplished.

Jonah went, preached in Nineveh, the people repented, they listened, they weren’t as stubborn as Jonah was. They listened, and God ended up sparing the city. What was Jonah’s reaction? “Yes, I obeyed God. Took me a while, but I finally got it.” Was that his reaction? Chapter four verse one. Now, God had just spared Nineveh, right? They repented, they listened to God. What was Jonah’s reaction? “But it displeased Jonah.” He didn’t like it. He didn’t like the fact that what God had spared this city. “It displeased Jonah exceedingly, he was very angry.”

I’ll add, he was very stubborn. Remember, he didn’t want the Ninevites to continue. He didn’t want them to continue, because he knew, Jonah knew all of the problems that they were causing the Israelites. He didn’t want them to be spared. He wanted God to destroy them. Jonah had a different plan. He was very angry. “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, ‘I pray you, O Lord, was this not what I said would happen?’” That’s what that means. “Was not this my saying? Isn’t this what I told you would happen?” That’s a bold man, maybe a foolish man, I don’t know.

“Isn’t this what I said would happen? When I was yet in my country, therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repented thee of the evil.” That is a bizarre prayer. I knew you were merciful. What? Well, hopefully, you’re still merciful while I’m giving you lip. “I knew you were merciful, and slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repented thee of the evil. Now therefore, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Okay, just kill me.

Yes, he’s being dramatic. But he’s also being stubborn. He hid it. Once the fish spit him back out, he went to Nineveh. He did what he was supposed to do. But in his heart, he was still resisting. Once God did, once God spared the city, what happened? What was in his heart, that stubbornness, being dug in, it came back out, it came out. Brethren, that’s what’s scary. Sometimes on the surface, we can appear very compliant. “Do this.” “Oh, no problem, sure. How quickly would you like me to do it? I’ll do it, no problem.” Inside, “Aargh. I knew that.”

That’s not the best way to do that. And this man was saying that to God, but we’ve all been there. We have all been stubborn. We’ve all gotten dug in. A person can comply outwardly, while remaining just as stubborn inwardly. Brethren, why are human beings, why are we as human beings so naturally drawn to being stubborn? Turn to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight.

Why is it so easy... Maybe another way I can put it, why is it so easy to be stubborn? And hard not to be stubborn. Romans chapter eight, verse seven, memory verse, “Because the carnal mind, the fleshly mind,” that’s a mind that is not driven by the Spirit of God, that is a fleshly or carnal mind. “The carnal mind is enmity or hostile against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” So, is this verse saying that this carnal mind that’s hostile toward God, it’s not subject to the law of God, but it actually can’t be. It can’t be.

When we find ourselves hostile toward the things of God, not compliant with the law of God, recognize, at the very least, recognize where we are. I’m being carnal right now. I have a carnal mind. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking like, “Oh, everything’s fine. I’m being spiritual.” No. No. We’re being carnal. The carnal mind fights. It’s hostile toward God and his purpose. That’s why it’s so easy to be stubborn, to be dug in, to not yield even though we know yielding is the better course of action.

Jeremiah seventeen, Jeremiah seventeen, verse nine. Jeremiah seventeen: nine, another memory verse, but I think it speaks so well to this question of, why it’s so easy to be stubborn, or why human beings are naturally stubborn. Jeremiah seventeen: nine, “The heart is deceitful,” so it’ll fool you. The heart will fool you. The heart, my heart will fool me. “The heart is deceitful above all things.” It never ceases to amaze me when I pause, and I just really think, and read, and meditate, you know, we heard about meditation not long ago, a few weeks back.

“The heart is deceitful above all things desperately wicked.” I just, I imagine this person, they’re trapped, and they’re just clawing, trying to escape. Desperately wicked. Who can know it? As the verse says, brethren, that’s our hearts. Our hearts are deceitful. So, not only are they desperately wicked, they fool us into thinking that it’s not. Which is worse, that it fools you, or that it’s desperately wicked? I mean talk about a bad connection, or a bad combination, it’s a better way to put that.

That’s a bad combination. Not only is it desperately wicked, but then will fool you on top of that. “I’m fine, everything’s fine. I’m not deceived.” Yet you are. Human nature, that’s all that’s describing. That’s all Romans eight, and Jeremiah seventeen: nine, they’re just describing human nature. We know whose nature is human nature, certainly not God’s nature, it’s Satan’s nature. Human nature is Satan’s nature, we’ve all heard that.

But human nature is the source, or that’s where stubbornness comes from. That’s where being dug in comes from. It’s a part of human nature. Human nature wants control, autonomy, and self-direction. I decide which way we’re going to go. Things that contribute to stubbornness are pride. I don’t want to admit that I’m wrong. Fear. Changing or listening to someone. That makes me uncomfortable. I’m not used to that. That’s a part of what drives stubbornness.

Ignorance, a stubborn person can sincerely believe that they have the facts, and that they’re right, but they’re ignorant, they don’t know. Dug in. Doesn’t he see that bus coming right at him? “I’m fine. I’m ignorant to the fact that I’m in any kind of danger.” That can drive stubbornness as well. Emotional attachment. Brethren, when we get attached to certain things, we’re attached to what’s familiar to us. We’re attached to our own opinions. We’re attached to the way we like to do things. Attached so much so that we refuse to let it go when we should.

Another contributor to stubbornness is just flat-out self-will, “It’s my way, not your way, my way, my timing, my preference.” Brethren, we all battle self-will. We all battle self-will to some degree or another. We all battle it. Stubbornness is self-will that refuses to surrender. You may want to write that one down. Stubbornness is self-will that refuses to surrender. It’s got the death grip. It won’t... I ain’t going down. The Bible uses some pretty vivid imagery to describe this kind of thinking.

And turn to Deuteronomy chapter nine. Deuteronomy chapter nine. The Bible is very graphic, it’s very interesting imagery to describe this stubbornness Deuteronomy chapter nine verse six. Deuteronomy chapter nine verse six, “Understand therefore, that the Lord your God gives you not this good land to possess it for righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Stiff-necked. I just like... That’s just a such a funny word. You’re thinking like a stiff neck. I don’t know if it’s like a bodybuilder that’s got this really thick neck.

You know, he’s... It’s hard for him to kind of turn his head this way, or that way. He’s just got a stiff neck, I guess, as opposed to a rubbery neck, but this people is being called a stiff-necked people. Who is this talking about? Who is this talking about? Let’s go back to Exodus. Exodus. Hopefully, your neck is not too stiff to look down at your Bibles and find where we’re going. Exodus chapter thirty-three. Exodus thirty-three verse five, who is this being referred to as stiff-neck?

“For the Lord,” Exodus thirty-three: five, “For the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Say unto the children of Israel.’” Okay, so we know our audience. “Say unto the children of Israel, you are a stiff-necked people.” Wow, God has a just a way of just getting your attention, doesn’t he? Israel, the children of Israel are being called stiff-necked. The Israelites among all the people in the world at that time, there are people all over the world at that point, big population, people everywhere.

God looks at those people and says, “You are stiff-necked. You are a stiff-necked people.” What an image. What an image. Stiff-necked, the concept comes from an animal. Of course, that was an agrarian society. Back then, they had donkeys and oxen, and these animals that you would put a yoke on the animal’s neck, or you’d have a leash. And, of course, you’re out with the animal, maybe you’re plowing the fields, and you’re trying to get the animal to go in a certain direction. You know, as you pull one way, and the animal will go one way, or you pull the other way, and the animal would go the other way.

Well, some animals were stiff-necked. You’d pull on them to go one way, and they just wouldn’t go. They wouldn’t go. And then now the lines are, you aren’t able to do what you got up so early in the morning to do. The animal’s not cooperating. That animal is being stiff-necked, hard to move, hard to control. Very difficult to work with. Resisting turning or resisting direction.

A stiff-necked animal refuses or fights against the pull of the master. Seeing where this is going. You are a stiff-necked people, Israel. They refused, or made it difficult to turn and go the way that God wanted them to go. It’s very, very powerful imagery when it comes to stubbornness, and thinking about being stubborn. A stiff-necked animal is difficult to guide, and fights against the yoke. They’re fighting against it. So, not only difficult to pull one way, they’re actually fighting against it, and trying to go in a different direction.

You’re pulling it, and it’s trying to go in a different direction, and you’re pulling it and it’s... I’m sure it was extremely frustrating. That’s what the children of Israel were being called. Brethren, who are we? What are we? We’re spiritual Israelites. That’s interesting. We’re spiritual Israelites. Spiritually speaking, stubbornness and resisting God when he attempts to direct us, that is also being stiff-necked.

When God is pulling us one way or nudging us another way, and not only are we not complying, and going his way, we’re fighting against the direction that he wants to go. That’s us being spiritually stiff-necked, spiritually stubborn. But I said I had some, or things would pick up a little bit, I have some encouraging news. Like, man, “Mr. Winkfield, you’re beating us down today. What is going on?” I have some very encouraging news, especially if you have to fight being stubborn like the rest of us. Especially if you individually have to fight it like all of the rest of us do, I got some great, great news for you. God specializes in working with stubborn people.

Isn’t that wonderful? God specializes in working with stubborn people. In fact, he chose to work with stubborn people. Would any of us choose to work with a stubborn person? I don’t know if I’m that spiritual, or that godly. You know what? Who’s the most stubborn person in here? I want to work with them. No, no. God specializes in working with stubborn people. In fact, he chose to. Deuteronomy chapter seven. Deuteronomy chapter seven.

Being facetious, this actually is good news. This actually is really good news. Especially, if as we were going here, you, like me, can see some areas to work on. This is great news. Deuteronomy chapter seven, verse eight. Deuteronomy chapter seven. You know what, let’s start in verse seven. Deuteronomy seven: seven, “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor chose you.” This is a very helpful verse. People wonder, “Okay, the children of Israel are God’s chosen people. What does that mean?” What we’re reading here, God did not set his love upon you, or choose you because you were more in number than any people. God didn’t pick the Israelites because there were just so many of them.

“For you were the fewest of all people.” You were tiny. You were small. So, why did he choose them then? “But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, or from slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.” God chose Israel. He selected Israel from amongst other people on the planet. He actually chose Israel. That’s the people that I want. That’s the people that I set my love on. Those are the people I want to work with.

Now, you might wonder, did God know what he was getting into? Let’s go to Deuteronomy chapter nine. Just one couple chapters over. Maybe God didn’t know what he was getting into. You know, I just love this little tiny nation. I just feel so sorry for them. Maybe God didn’t know what he was getting into. One may wonder. We already kind of read it, but let’s hit it again. Deuteronomy nine, verse six.

“Understand therefore that the Lord, your God, gives not this good land to possess for your righteousness.” I’m not giving you this land. I’m not promising you this land, because you’re so righteous, because, you know, you’re just such... You just do everything so well. “God is not giving them the land because they’re righteous, for you are a stiff-necked people.” God knew what he was getting into. Verse thirteen.

Furthermore, “The Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.” These people are very challenging to work with. Yet God chose them anyway. God specializes in working with stubborn people. Now, part of me doesn’t want you to read verse fourteen. You can look at it.

Let’s skip that part. That’s God’s reaction to them being stubborn. Okay, I can’t help it. I’m going to read it. “Let me alone that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven, and I’ll make you a greater nation, a mightier nation greater than they.” Even God can get frustrated sometimes with stubborn people. So, I don’t want anyone to walk out of here aiming to be stubborn, so God can work with me, so God can choose me. No, that’s not the point. That’s not the point.

But God did choose to work with the stubborn people. That should give us some comfort. God did not set out his plan to fail. God is not a failure. He accomplishes what he set out to do. He picked the most difficult people in this regard, the most difficult people to work with, in order to accomplish his plan. Brethren, we should see ourselves in that. That should give us... That should invigorate us. God chose to work with us. He chooses to work with us, despite our faults, despite where we fall short.

God does not only work with naturally easy people. We all have things about us that are naturally easy, but we also have areas where we get dug in, but God did not choose to only work with naturally easy people, he works with stubborn, difficult people as well. He’s willing to do that. He wants to do that obviously for a purpose. Second Chronicles chapter thirty. Second Chronicles chapter thirty.

Verse seven, Second Chronicles chapter thirty, verse seven. “And be not you like your fathers and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation as you, as you see rather, but be you not stiff-necked as your fathers were,” but do what? “Yield yourselves unto the Lord.” If you’re wondering, “Okay, well, okay, we don’t want to be stiff-necked, well, what do we want to be? We want to yield ourselves unto the Lord. God wants people to yield unto him, to be easy to work with.

When you’re pulling in certain directions, back to the animal reference, easy to work with. I get this idea, this image of a person who has the ability to break a wild horse, or to train a wild dog. There was a movie, The Horse Whisperer, how many remember it? I never saw it, but I kind of get it. I think there was this crazy acting horse. This man has these skills and this ability to communicate with a horse in order to calm the horse down. How many remember the television show The Dog Whisperer? I definitely know that one. That’s I think Cesar Milan, and he just had this ability. You know, the dog will be, grrr-grrr [dog growling] and he’d have this ability, he’d just come in, and he’d just look at the dog.

And the dog would just be calm. I’m like, “Man, this man has magical powers. How can he do it?” I have fun with it. But when you think about a horse whisperer, or a dog whisperer, and the ability to be able to break, and take a wild animal, a wild stallion, or a dog that’s just going around biting people, and jumping all over them, that person who has the skill and the ability to be able to make that animal to be calm, and to be under control, that is just amazing to watch.

When we see God can take a wild person like we all were, various parts of our lives, various times in our lives, the ability to take a person who needs to be broken, if I can use that term, and to now suddenly be calm and easy to work with, there’s few things like it. Any minister will tell you there’s few things like it. A person who’s easy to work with, not stubborn and dug in and “Aargh.” Very difficult, very difficult.

God wants us to go from being stiff and rigid and rebellious and having our own way, to being very easy to work with. I have to share this. It’s from the scriptures, but as you know, preparing for this, and thinking it through, I couldn’t help but to think about Balaam and the donkey. You all know Balaam and the ass, right? Let’s go to the verse here. It’s Numbers twenty-two. Turn to Numbers twenty-two. You know, think about a donkey, hard to work with, sometimes people get called those names, certain names related to donkeys, because they’re not always easy to work with, but a donkey is known as being what? Stubborn. It’s like pretty... it’s kind of a normal thing, right? Everyone knows.

Well, Numbers twenty-two, see if I can get there. Numbers twenty-two, and picking up in the context you had Balak, who was the king of Moab, and he was afraid Balak, or Balak, was afraid of the children of Israel. Israel had been defeating and fighting in wars and had been defeating all the people, and Balak was concerned that his people, the Moabites, would also be affected. So he wanted Balaam, and Balaam was like a prophet for hire, if you can put it that way, like a mercenary prophet, you know, he kind of... he was a diviner, so he had certain powers and God would sometimes, you know, use him in certain ways. So Balak, or Balak, wanted Balaam to curse the children of Israel.

So at first, you know, Balaam wanted to do it, and God said, “No, no. I’m not going to let you do it.” Well, things continue, and Balaam goes again, and he practically asked God again, I’m saying begging Him, but just asking God again, and God says, “Okay, go ahead and do it. Just go ahead and do it. I have a purpose. I have a purpose for this,” God goes on to say. So, let’s pick it up, verse twenty-one.

Actually, we can, I think, cut to the end here, one second. Yes, verse twenty-one. “And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.” So God said you can go. “And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass...” Let me pick back up here. “God stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

“And the ass...” the donkey, actually, “saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way.” He could see that the angel of the Lord was standing in front of him and Balaam, who was on his back. And not only was he standing there, he had a sword in his hand. The donkey could see that. “And the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.” The donkey’s trying to get out of the way, Balaam’s like, “No, go forward.” Who’s being stubborn now?

Verse twenty-four, “But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.” So they’re in a narrow corridor, and they’re trying to work it through. “And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall.” He’s trying to get him to get it. We can’t go that way. It is not in your best interest for us to go forward. “But Balaam smote her again. And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

“And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.” He’s just beating the animal at this point. Who’s being stubborn? So what did God do? “And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said unto Balaam,” so now the donkey’s talking, “What have I done unto you, that you hast smitten me these three times?” Why are you beating me? “And Balaam said unto the ass,” Balaam just talks right back like everything’s normal, “Because you mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill you.” If this was a sword instead of a stick, I’d be walking the rest of the way.

“And the ass responds right back unto Balaam, Am I not your ass,” am I not your loyal servant animal, that’s me adding, “upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Was I ever wanted to not do what you wanted me to do?” And Balaam says, “Well, no. Actually, now that you mention it, no.” This is actually rather unusual. “Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand.” And what did Balaam do? “He bowed his head and fell on his face.” Oh, that’s why you didn’t want me to go... you didn’t want to go forward.

Who was being stubborn, Brethren, in that scenario? This man was so stubborn, so dug in, he didn’t even recognize that his donkey was talking to him. He’s just talking back like, “Oh, yes.” Stubbornness can cause us our thinking, our judgment to be distorted.

Now, before we get into overcoming stubbornness, I want to make it abundantly clear that all firmness, I hit on this earlier, but I’m going to go deeper here, all firmness standing for something is not wrong. That is not wrong. I mentioned the potter and the clay analogy earlier, and eventually first being moldable, but eventually becoming firm. Remember that? Being firm and standing for something is not wrong. There’s a big difference between soft, being soft and moldable, and spineless or political. Sometimes people get political. They say what they think others want to hear.

Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six, verse thirteen. Ephesians chapter six, verse thirteen, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to,” do what? “withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to,” do what? “stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” We are reading about a warrior willing to stand, to withstand, firm.

First Corinthians fifteen. First Corinthians fifteen, verse fifty-eight. First Corinthians fifteen, fifty-eight. “Therefore, my beloved Brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Brethren, what are we to be steadfast and unmovable with? Well, the context there is doing the work. We are to be steadfast and unmovable when it comes to doing the work. Brethren, we are to stand for truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. Big difference between being steadfast and being stubborn.

If anything, if I had to put quotes around it, “We are allowed to be stubborn for the truth.” Stubborn when it comes to doing the work. Steadfast sounds a little better. Some people buckle when it’s time to stand for truth. I’m all for keeping the Sabbath until my boss asks me to work on Saturday, otherwise, I get fired. Did that person stand, or did they buckle? I agree with tithing until my rent is due. Did that person stand, or did they buckle?

First John four. We must do the work and follow truth and be steadfast about it. Big difference from being stubborn. First John chapter four, verse six. First John four, six. “We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears us not.” Here’s the point. “Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” Brethren, we must know how to distinguish truth from error. The apostates counted on and banked on the fact that the people would not know the difference between truth and error. And it blew up the Church. Now, God allowed it for a purpose, but it blew up the Church.

They got people to do what? Compromise on truth. Those people were not steadfast. They were not unmovable. They were just the opposite. They folded like a blanket. Many of you experienced that. I’ve heard the stories. They folded. Those of us, many of you in this room, many around the world, were steadfast. You were unmovable when it came to doing the work of God, when it came to the truth. “You were stubborn,” if I can put it that way, in heavy quotes.

Stubbornness is, I refuse to change no matter what. Steadfastness is I refuse to abandon God and his truth. Very different. Very different. There is nothing wrong with being firm and convicted about the right things. God simply wants us to be moldable in His hands, not moldable in the devil’s hands, or in the hands of the world. God wants to be moldable and shapeable in His hand. He’s the potter. We are the clay.

Revelation fourteen. Revelation fourteen. Actually, you know what? Let’s go to Proverbs chapter nine. I want to spend enough time here on some ways to overcome stubbornness. This is back to the bad stubborn, not the good one, being steadfast and unmovable. So Proverbs chapter nine. I want to spend a little time here. Proverbs chapter nine. The first way, Brethren, to overcome being stubborn is to be teachable. Be teachable. Proverbs chapter nine. Be and remain teachable. Proverbs nine. Pick it up in verse eight. Proverbs nine, eight. “Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

Wise people accept correction. They accept it. Stubborn people do not. They get dug in. Brethren, if you do something wrong, whether you realize it on your own or someone tells you, just admit it. Just admit it. “You know what? I got that one wrong. I didn’t get that one right.” The last thing you want to do if you’ve done something wrong... this applies to me as well, the last thing we want to do when we’ve done something wrong is make it worse by getting dug in. Now we’re making it worse. Just admit it quickly and do what? Move on. We all get stuff wrong from time to time. In fact, be wise and do what? Learn from it. Be teachable.

Related to being teachable is to yield quickly. We talked about yielding, Psalm fifty-one. This is the second way to not be stubborn. Yield quickly, Psalm fifty-one. One of the best pieces of advice that I got back to being teachable is just admit when you’re wrong. It’s so much easier. It’s actually, in your mind, you feels like it’s difficult or someone’s going to think what they think. Just admit it and just move on. Psalm fifty-one. This is David, and it’s after his sin with Bathsheba.

Psalm fifty one, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” In other words, forgive me. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Here we go. “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” I read that there and it’s debatable how quickly did David you know repent and come to his senses and know that he did wrong. I can tell you, David was a very tender-hearted man. He was very easy to work with, and he yielded to God. And he yielded to God quickly. I think that’s what made him a man after God’s own heart.

Brethren, the more quickly we yield to God, the more quickly we do that and the more deeply we do that, it allows God to now be able to pull us in the direction that He wants to pull us. We are no longer stiff-necked. We can be worked with, because we did what? We yielded. We weren’t like that ox that was just so difficult. If you sin, repent quickly. Excuse me, when you sin, repent quickly. All have sinned and fallen short. It happens. If you offend your brother, apologize as soon as possible. Don’t sit on it. The longer you sit on it, the more difficult it becomes.

Number three, learn to separate identity from being right. You, I don’t want my identity to be tied into, I must be right. Learn to separate the two. First Corinthians chapter eight. First Corinthians chapter eight, verse two. First Corinthians chapter eight, verse two. “And if any man think that he knows any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.” We’ve all heard him. When you think you know everything, you know nothing. Learn to separate your identity from being right.

Stubborn people get stuck because they think that people expect them to know everything. They may not fully think it through that way, but that’s what we can do. Well, everyone expects me to know. If I admit that I don’t know something, then that just... people won’t see me the way I want them to see me, even though most people can tell when you don’t know. That’s the strange thing about it, they don’t know immediately, they eventually find out. Learn to separate your identity from being right. There is no shame in not knowing. The shame is pretending that you do.

And finally, stay soft toward God, pliable toward God. Psalm one thirty-nine. Psalm one thirty-nine. You think about being stiff, the opposite of stiff is to be pliable. Easy to work with. Psalm one thirty-nine, verse twenty-three. Psalm one thirty-nine, twenty-three. A couple of verses here. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Ask God, Brethren, ask God to reveal your blind spots. Now, it takes courage to do that, because guess what? He may just do that. We want him to, but it takes courage. God show me my blind spots.

But, Brethren, that is one of the best ways to avoid being stiff-necked, to avoid being stubborn, to avoid being dug in. Ask God to identify your weaknesses, and do what? Help lead you away from them, back to the oxen analogy, to lead you away from danger. Brethren, we can be firm, convicted, and unwavering without becoming harsh, defensive, and impossible to work with. There’s a difference. Firm, convicting, unwavering, without being harsh, defensive, and impossible to work with.

As we begin to conclude, don’t confuse harshness with strength, or defensiveness with conviction. Don’t confuse the two. Clay that hardens too soon becomes impossible to work with. Yes, it eventually does harden, but if it hardens too soon, it’s impossible to work with, and guess what? You might as well just break it and start over, like we saw earlier. God wants us to be firm in truth yet approachable, meek, and teachable. I’ll say it again, God wants us to be firm in the truth, firm and doing the work, yet approachable, meek, and teachable.

God is not looking for weak people. He’s looking for teachable people. There’s a big, big difference. There is the right kind of firmness, being steadfast in truth, unwavering in obedience, uncompromising towards sin, but there is also very dangerous stubbornness, being stubborn and being dug in, resistant to correction, attached to self-will, refusing to yield when God is trying to guide us to a better place and guide us in a better direction. Brethren, may we never become so rigid that God cannot shape us, yet may we become so firm that nothing can pull us away from his truth.