And I Spoke To You, But You Would Not Listen

"And I Spoke To You, But You Would Not Listen" – Deuteronomy 1:43 “So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.” God speaks; the question is not whether He speaks, but how obedient we are in listening to His voice. It is easier to listen to the soul than to God, because our own voice fits us comfortably, while Scripture is a two-edged sword that pierces and destroys what must be destroyed. The message exposes man's rebellious nature — born of pride and dressed as presumption — and traces the price of refusing to hear: Deuteronomy 1:43 and 1:45, Isaiah 28:12-13 and Isaiah 30:15 with their “but you would not”, Luke 19:14 and the delegation that rejects the Messiah, 2 Peter 2:10-12, Psalm 95:8, Proverbs 28:14 and 29:1, Romans 2:5 with Revelation 20:11, and Hebrews 3:13, where the antidote is mutual exhortation while it is still called “today”.

I. God's voice and our hearing.

A. If you read Scripture every day, you will see how God speaks to you in it.

1. The question is how obedient we are in listening to His voice.

2. It is easier to listen to the soul, because your own voice fits you comfortably.

3. Scripture is a two-edged sword, and much in us needs to be destroyed.

B. We deceive ourselves more than anyone else deceives us.

1. “Why are you in despair, O my soul, and why are you disturbed within me?”

2. We bleed more from ourselves than from any attack of the enemy.

3. If you pity yourself, the soul destroys you and you develop no self-mastery.

C. Nothing in this world produces happiness.

1. Only pride produces a kind of happiness, and that pride kills the spiritual life.

II. The pleasure of being rebellious.

A. Rebellion is stamped on the whole being of man, and the reason is pride.

1. It shows up in whether the cup of coffee is too hot or cold.

2. If the day's demands are not met, we turn into rebellious people.

B. It is resistance: we know what must change, we delay it, and we even defend it.

1. While one resists, he is a problem to himself.

2. Every human being is stubborn with himself.

C. Rebellion is a failure to obey, and the blessing lies in obedience.

1. With the years one grows harder and treats his defenses as authority.

2. Half an hour of rebellion a day becomes the habit of not obeying.

3. You did not come to earth for material things: you came to obey God.

III. You rebelled against the command of the Lord (Deuteronomy 1:43).

A. How often does God speak from the altar and we do not lend Him our ear?

1. No one can destroy you: not powers, not principalities, not people.

2. Lend your ear to God and you will see the good of your future if you begin today.

B. “Acting presumptuously”: standing firm in pride and in attitude.

1. That pride claims superiority, and that attacks the soul.

2. That is why you cannot love, nor serve anyone, nor pray for anyone.

3. Christ, being Immanuel, was struck and despised with no sense of superiority.

IV. And you wept before the Lord (Deuteronomy 1:45).

A. God did not listen, because they were tears of regret over the consequences of sin.

1. Knowing the good and not doing it became sin.

2. Instead of an abundant life, we end up in weeping.

3. And we only have one life.

V. Here is rest, but they would not listen (Isaiah 28:12-13).

A. “Here is rest… and here is repose”: that is how strength is restored.

1. The word was there and God's voice was there, and they would not listen.

2. So they live from pain to pain, from battle to battle, from war to war.

B. “Order on order, line on line, a little here, a little there.”

1. We like to set down what we want to say, not what we ought to hear.

2. The enemy wants you not to read the Word, so you gain no maturity.

3. Without hearing there is no way to function, and the hands end up empty.

VI. In repentance and rest you will be saved, but you would not (Isaiah 30:15).

A. “But you would not”: man is stubborn and presses on regardless.

1. What waits further on is more violent than what you refused today.

2. We arrive at clumsiness, negligence and the absence of wisdom.

B. You do not harden your own heart: God hardens it through your deeds.

1. For a heart God hardens, no one can bring a remedy.

2. God offered salvation and strength, if only they would trust restfully in Him.

VII. We do not want this man to reign (Luke 19:14).

A. The citizens represented the nation that rejected the Messiah.

1. They did not merely reject Him: they sent a delegation after Him.

2. That delegation is fulfilled in the treatment of Christ's servants, like Stephen.

B. Messengers are sent so that people will hear, and they do not hear.

1. They do not pray, do not fast, do not read the Word: they become wandering souls.

2. Life is lived only for material things.

VIII. Wicked daring (2 Peter 2:10-12).

A. They pursue corruption, following the desires of their sinful nature.

1. “They despise authority”: at that point there is no fear left.

2. Daring, arrogant, boastful, proud and self-centered.

B. False teachers defiled by filth, who argue for rebellion against authority.

1. “Like unreasoning animals, led by instinct”: a lack of wisdom.

2. What should be an army is lived out as a cave of cowards.

IX. Do not harden your heart (Psalm 95:8; Proverbs 28:14; 29:1).

A. Do not do as at Meribah, lest you be excluded from the eternal rest.

1. They doubted God was among them, and when they sinned nothing convicted them.

B. “He who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”

1. To harden it is to reject the fear of God and despise His chastening.

2. The more reckless the person, the deeper the fall.

C. “He who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken.”

1. They refuse to bow the neck in submission.

2. Whoever will not bend to the rod will be broken by the axe.

X. Storing up wrath (Romans 2:5; Revelation 20:11).

A. God's judgment is measured according to accumulated guilt.

1. Unrepentant sinners store up wrath as one who piles up gold and silver.

2. What fortune will that be at the judgment of the great white throne?

3. Jesus went to the cross once, not twice nor three times.

XI. Encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13).

A. The antidote is mutual exhortation, above all in days of distress.

1. Do not leave Christ for religions that cannot deal with sin effectively.

2. It is not limited to a ministerial class: it is the duty of all the brethren.

3. To consent to sin is to enable it.

B. “While it is still called Today”: today is the acceptable time.

1. To draw back is to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

2. Sin looks beautiful beforehand; then come shame, pain and loss.