Rebels for Christ!

What does it mean to be a rebel? Do any of you know some rebels? If so who are they? What do you think would happen if they were rebels for Christ instead of the world or themselves? I can’t talk about rebels and not mention a teenager in the Old Testament named Josiah. Josiah lived in one of the darkest and most ungodly times ever in his day. He lived during a time where God’s people were so mixed up in sin and evil that they were doing worse things than the people that God had them kill.

They were committing adultery and all kinds of idolatry and prostitution and had no remorse or regard for God anymore. Fortunately Josiah was not all alone because he also had the help of the prophet Jeremiah. Josiah became king over Judah when he was only 8 years old and began to serve God at the age of 16. By the age of 20 he was so bold that he went out with the anger of God and tore down all the alters of false god’s and the Asherah poles. He smashed the carved idols and images and cut down the incense alters. He even burned the bones of the false priests on there own alters.

At the age of 26 he began to have the men repair and restore the temple of God. It was then that they found the Book of the Law of the Lord. When it was read to Josiah he tore his robes in disgust of his people’s disobedience to it because of their fathers not teaching them. So he gathered all the people of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord and read the Book of the Law for all to hear and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord for all to obey it. Then they began to serve God again and celebrated the Passover as well. Wow what a rebel!

I believe God is looking for more Josiah’s today to step up and make a difference. That’s right you can all be rebels for Christ. Rebels make good leaders because they don’t follow others. Instead they lead the way. Rebels are not mediocre or lukewarm as the bible would put it. They are either hot or cold. If a rebel is cold and far from God it won’t take long before his followers realize that he’s going the wrong way and leave him. Then he may begin to follow them to see why they left and what they found that could be better. Once he sees the truth then he will propel himself back to the front lines and begin to lead again.

That is why Jesus is not so concerned about the hot or cold, but warns about the lukewarm. As believers we want God’s purifying fire to keep us hot so that we stay on the right path and don’t become lukewarm or neutral. As rebels for Christ we can make a difference in the world we live in. But we must do it in love and through obedience to God. In John 13:34 Jesus commands us to love one another and by that he says that all men will know that we are his disciples or (followers.)

So it’s through our obedience to him that others will know whose team were on and not by religious rituals or practices. In 1st Samuel 15:22, 23 Samuel replied to Saul and said does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. What if you are the type of person that gets angry often or easily? Is there any love in anger? As a matter of fact there is it’s called righteous anger. Righteous anger comes from God’s Holy Spirit living in us and when we are surrendered to his will we cannot help but wage war with the sinful things that enslave God’s people from his love and truth.

In John 14:6 Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one gets to the father except through me. That is the boldest statement ever made. Now can you tell me that Jesus Was not a rebel! Of coarse not because he was. One time Jesus was so angered in the temple courts that he rebelled against the Jewish people who were selling animals for a sacrifice at a ridiculous price for personal gain. He took a whip and chased the animals out of the courts and then overturned the moneychangers table and scattered their money all over the ground. Think about that for a second because if they still wanted their money they would have to get on their knees before the lord to get it. 1st Timothy 6:7 says for we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

See Jesus was a rebel because he followed God and not men unless the men were following God, but most of the time Jesus was leading others to follow God as he did. He never gave into the world or any of its temptations. Instead he kept his eyes on the father and led the flock. He never turned to the right or to the left. Even when satan himself tempted Jesus he stood his ground and said it is written! That’s right he used his fathers words to put satan in his rightful place.

See Jesus knew the authority God had given men back in Genesis 1:26, 27 when he told them to rule over the whole earth and all the things in it because he was with him in the beginning. As a matter of fact Jesus was both man and God. Which made him the only rebel of his kind to ever live, and it was because of this Rebel and his rebellion to sin that we all have life today and will have it eternally if we follow him. He is the author and finisher of our faith the bible says and he will complete in us what he started as long as we remain submissive and obedient to him. So being a rebel can be an awesome thing!