In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the seriousness of rebellion against God. He warns the congregation that rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft and is punishable by eternal death. The preacher shares his personal experience of realizing his need for a savior and surrendering his life to Jesus Christ. He also highlights the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who lost him at the age of 12 and emphasizes the importance of not losing Jesus in our lives amidst the distractions and idols of the world.

They're going up. They are. Right now, we're paying $4.50 a gallon for gas, and it's going up. Isn't that nice? It's going to be $5. And you go and fill your gas tank up with 20 gallons of gas and pay just $100. He was promised a house for $200 a month, and when he got back into the city, they'd put it up to $600 a month. Apart from Israel, they have the highest rate of inflation in the world. And we think we're suffering because gas is what? $1.25 a gallon. And the other nations, my son in West Africa is paying $3.50 a gallon. My other son in New Zealand is paying over $2.50. We don't know how blessed we are. But you see, you can't make God rich. He owns the world. You can't make Him wise. He's the source of all wisdom. There's only one thing that makes glad the heart of God, and that is when we worship Him in spirit and in truth, and in the very beauty of holiness. And you know how precious worship is? You see, Satan had been up there in heaven, and he was majestic in those days. His garments were more wonderful than the garments of the high priest. And one day, he wanted to sit on the circle of the earth. He saw God had authority and power, and he wanted to have the same kind of thing. And he rebelled. No, he didn't get drunk. No, he didn't beat another angel up. No, he didn't murder another angel. He just desired to be filled with pride and rule as God. And don't you look down your nose at some prostitute or harlot, but for the grace of God, you might have been there. And the biggest sin in the world is not adultery, though it's a rotten sin. The biggest sin in the world is to say, I'll run my life and not God, because that makes you a rebel. And the Word of God says, rebelling is a sin of witchcraft, and witchcraft was punishable by death. You say, well, God hasn't killed me. My friend, you're going to die for eternity. Not die unconscious, you're going to die in relationship to God. I think one of the agonies of hell will be that people will be able to see into heaven and see the glory of heaven while they're in eternal misery, and wish to God they could crawl to the altar one Sunday morning or get right with God or repair all the vows they made. Lord, if I ever get over this surgery, I'll read my Bible every day, I'll never miss a prayer meeting, I'll never do this, that and the other. Come on. People in hell are full of regrets. People in heaven never know any sorrow. People in hell never know any joy. And the moment you're really born again of the Spirit of God, you'll have a heart of love, you'll love his word, you'll love the fellowship of the saints, you'll love to be obedient. Sure, Satan was some personality and all that entered was pride, and he fell from that place and he's made the world miserable ever since. And he inhabits human personalities and dominates human personalities. I can think of nothing more idiotic than dying wealthy and dying bankrupt. And having spent all your life seeking something which moths and rust can corrupt and thieves can break through and steal, and that eternal soul of yours which lives forever and ever, you've neglected it. You've gone to the doctor with every ache of pain to try and preserve this mortal body which is going to die anyhow. And I'm grateful for doctors. I spent quite a bit of time in hospitals this year. But I'm glad when I was 14 years of age, I was wakened up to the fact I was a sinner and needed a savior. And I was as respectful of anybody. I didn't drink, swear, smoke, do all the crazy things and fool around in sex. I lived a very respectable life. And one day I realized what my rebellion was, that I wouldn't let Jesus Christ rule my life. And again, when I hit that text, rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and witchcraft is punishable by death. And sin is punished by eternal death. No more communion with God. No more feeling uncomfortable. You won't feel uncomfortable in hell, you'll just feel miserable. You'll just feel lost and damned and forsaken and rejected. Just one thing, there's one thing just a little more troublesome in the Scripture to me than this. And it's the woman who was the most favored woman in the world, she gave birth to Jesus. And when he was 12 years old, she went to church to a big conference. And when she was coming home, and they stopped for a drink of water at the well, she went to her husband and said, Darling, my feet are burning. And he said, Mine are nearly off. And at the end of the day, I didn't even get a drink of water at the well. I was pushed around with all those sanctified people that were in the tabernacle yesterday. And he said, Yeah, well, you feel sore and I feel sore. How has Jesus got on? Now come on, don't tease me, I'm tired, let's go to bed. I'm asking how Jesus got on. Well, I don't know, he's been with you all day. No, he hasn't been with you. Now come on, let's settle this thing. Can you believe that they were given the most amazing gift this world has ever had? She conceived that child, and she knew that he was going to be the Savior of the world. And she lost him. When? Right after she'd been to church. And so have you, we lose all the blessing. Your idol is the cowboys, of course, in that dummy box that you have. Come on, the thing that takes most of your time is your idol. You're itching to get out. I'm a few minutes late. All right, maybe it'll save you being lost forever in eternity. But that idol is waiting there. Oh, the idols that we have in our lives. But they lost Jesus. He was 12 years of age. What did his mother do? Well, what would you do if you lost a boy 12 years of age? You'd cry yourself to sleep. And she searched all next day, and so the next night, and then the third day they found him. And they found him where? Not in the bazaar where the men sold goodly pearls. Not down at the pool of Siloam. They found him where? They found him in the house of God where they'd lost him. And there he was, asking questions of the learned men. And they went up and said, don't you care about us? They would have said, we're sorry we failed you. But selfishness is an awful thing, isn't it? You know, when the boat was nearly going down, the disciples walked in. Don't you care that we perish? I thought they were just afraid we were going to lose you. Don't you care that we perish? Are you the center of your world, or is Christ the center of it? They lost him, but they found him. One man went to church late. And when he got there, they were all rejoicing and praising God. And he said, what's all this about? He was standing right there where you're standing now. Who was? Jesus. Oh, so you fell for the story too, huh? There's a woman running up Main Street. They're screaming, he's risen, he's risen, he's risen. One of the crackpots, you know. They followed that man, Jesus, and they're trying to get a rumor that he isn't dead. He's wakened up from the dead. And Thomas said, you're not going to get me with that stuff. I'm not emotional like you, you know. Do you know when I'll believe? No, when? When I put my finger in his nail print. And when he lifts his robe and I put my hand in his side, then I'll believe. But you're not getting me on an emotional binge. And a couple of days after, he was at a meeting, and Jesus appeared. And Jesus smiled and said, Thomas, come forward. Thomas, no, no, forget it, forget it. Oh, no. Oh, no. Don't you think you'll be as embarrassed when you sat in the house of God and you had a praying mother and somebody else, and, my God, you've committed enough sin to damn a hundred people maybe this week. Never mind yourself. Oh, you haven't been into any violent sin, you just neglected him. And one day you're going to stand before a billion, trillion, quadrillion people and you say, I couldn't preach, I couldn't face a crowd. Listen, you better get your nerves ready because you're going to stand up before everybody that lived from Adam till the last person when the trumpet sounds. And you won't have your darling husband, and you won't have your sweet wife, and you won't have your good pastor, and you won't have a deacon there. You'll be there by your little self. And God has your life story written in one volume. He's been writing it ever since you were of the age of accountability. And He knows how many times you've heard the gospel, and He knows how many times you've heard praying, and He knows how many times you've seen TV and radio presentations of the truth of the Word of God. And this morning He looks with disappointment and says, and you live in a country, one of the most favoured countries in the world still, and the economy is fairly good compared to others, and you're not going home to an empty refrigerator, and you've got a new car on the list or something, and you all look nice and well-dressed this morning, and yet you haven't been at His feet one morning or one night this week with speechless adoration saying, My God, why am I so blessed? Why am I so favoured? Almost every day, not quite, I thank God for a godly father and godly mother. I was raised in a poor home. I didn't have a good education. I didn't go to high school. I didn't go to college. I didn't have much training. What I learned, I learned on my knees and reading and grinding and forgetting a lot of other things. And some of you have potential enough to go with the anointing of God in your own city or some other city and turn the thing upside down if, if you loved Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Now I finish here because so often we say to people when they're saved, Now look, you right away become a soul winner. No, don't do that. That's not the first requirement of God. The first requirement of God is thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength. One of Napoleon's greatest ambassadors, everywhere he went in the country, other countries, he brought a treasure home for his wife, and his home was like a palace. He had marvelous china. He had marvelous vases. He had beautiful gold things. All over the house, the house breathed wealth. And on one of his trips, he brought the most exquisite thing he'd ever brought. And he brought it in to his wife and she'd heard a rumor that he had another woman, which was very common in those days. It's common enough today. He brought this gift and said, Darling, look what I've got. And she pushed it on one side and I said, I don't want your gift. I want you. Hold me in your arms and tell me like you used to. I love you. I adore you. You're the center of my life. Your money's alright. When did you last get to the feet of Jesus and speechless adoration? Because He's not only saved you from a rotten life. You could have been a harlot this morning. You could have been divorced this morning. You could have been a criminal this morning. And He saved you from that. And He saved you from an endless hell of misery. But most of all, He's come and flooded your life with true reality and joy and peace. And you have something the world can't give you and you've got something the world can't take away from you. And the world can't take away. I want you to sing a hymn before we leave. I can't find it. Wait a minute. 339 339 When peace like a river attendeth my way Don't sing this as a closing hymn. If it's not true, don't sing a lie. The worst thing you could do, it's bad enough to tell them, but don't sing it in church. If it's not well with your soul this morning, keep your mouth closed, would you? If it's not well, come and put it right with God. If the sports page is more attractive than God's Word, you better come and tell God you've shelled His love and His Word and you prefer sports. Is it really well with your soul this morning? It may not be well with your bank account. It may not be very well with your body. It may not be well domestically. It may not be well economically. The greatest thing in the world is to be able to say, Lord, it's so well with my soul that if I died two minutes from now, hallelujah, I'd be glad to be in your eternal presence. Let's stand and sing. We love the trumpets too. Can you guys play this? Play the second, you know, in the chorus. Play the second part, the second. In the chorus, the women sing the third. When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrow's like sea near this way, when my soul... Sing the third stanza. If it's not true, make it true this morning. I can't think anything worse than I'd hear this week. Some of you died. After all, I don't think God owes any of you anything. I think many of us, like every other church, we've insulted God. We've kept up a facade with no vital living relationship. He has no joy. It's not exciting to speak about Him. Boy, I'm never ashamed to talk about my wife. I love her. I'm not embarrassed. Do you love Him so much that you tell all your cronies about Him and you get a word in the office? You get a word when you're having lunch somewhere? Or do you go to places where you don't open your mouth? You shouldn't be there anyhow. God is looking for people who have a fever of love for Him, to read His word and to do His will. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. If it's true, sing it as though your lungs were bursting and make the angels envious. And if it's not right, well, come on, put it right. And I'm not going to say another word right to the end of the meeting now. Okay, sing it.