1 Kings 15:25-16:34 (16:31-34)

 

In March of 1887 a controversy started in England known as

“The Downgrade Controversy”

 

Charles Spurgeon published the first of two articles called

“The Downgrade”

 

Due to neglect and disrespect of the Word of God,

Spurgeon assessed that the Churches in England

Had began to slide away from Truth and into error.

 

In reference to the downgrade, John MacArthur wrote:

“Biblical truth is like the pinnacle of a steep, slippery mountain, Spurgeon suggested. One step away, and you find yourself on the down-grade. Once a church or individual Christian gets on the down-grade, Spurgeon said, momentum takes over. Recover is unusual and occurs only when Christians get on the “up-line” through spiritual revival.”

(MacArthur, John “Ashamed of the Gospel” [Crossway Books, Wheaton, Ill; 1993] pg. 21-22)

 

The idea is simple to understand.

It is always easier to follow the way of the world, than the way of God.

When a person makes a decision to drift away from God,

He is very likely drift further than expected.

 

We have seen that Spurgeon’s warning to England was warranted.

Their evangelical churches traveled down the slippery slope and to this day have not recovered.

 

MacArthur sited the controversy to warn the American church

As he has seen worldliness and pragmatism chip away at the gospel.

 

This morning, I REMIND YOU of the down-grade,

Because that is what we see taking place in the nation of Israel.

 

The decent began in the latter years of the reign of Solomon.

 

Solomon had been given a solid Kingdom by David,

And for many years Solomon carried on in the tradition of David.

 

But toward the end, he took a slight step onto the down-grade.

 

1 Kings 11:7-8 “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.”

 

ONCE THE BALL STARTED ROLING, IT NEVER STOPPED

• Rehoboam split the Kingdom

• And then Jeroboam built the golden calves

 

1 Kings 12:28-30 “So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.”

 

What Spurgeon said is about to come true.

Gravity is about to take over, and by the time we are finished today,

You will see that Israel is a nation running out of control.

 

With each new King, their dissent will merely pick up speed,

And their apostasy will become that much more incredible.

 

We pick up today with the death of Jeroboam and cover the next 36 years in the nation of Israel. A span that will see 7 different kings.

 

1 KINGS 15:25-26

 

There you learn that Jeroboam’s son became king,

And he was chip off of the old block.

 

He just kept right on traveling the path that was marked out before him.

 

You will also notice that his reign only lasted “two years”

 

1 KINGS 15:27

 

God had promised he would sweep Jeroboam off the face of the earth,

And Baasha was the man God used to do it.

 

NOW BAASHA WILL BE KING

1 KINGS 15:33-34

 

His kingdom did last longer, but the results were still the same.

Even though he knew of God’s judgment on Jeroboam and Nadab,

Baasha didn’t change a thing.

 

Because of Baasha’s rebellion, God sent a prophet to rebuke him

And to reveal that Baasha’s fate would be just like Jeroboam’s.

 

And then Baasha died.

 

THEN BAASHA’S SON – NADAB

1 KINGS 16:8-13

 

Baasha was Jeroboam’s servant,

And he killed Jeroboam’s son, in order to reign in his place.

 

“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap”

Now Baasha’s servant kills his son, and reigns in his place.

 

Elah reigned only two years, but he also followed in the sin of Jeroboam,

Only now it is called by a different name.

 

(13) “provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.”

 

What Jeroboam started has begun to spread.

 

NOW ZIMRI BEGINS TO REIGN

1 KINGS 16:15-19

 

So Zimri gets to reign 7 days, but even in that brief time (19) “he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which h did, making Israel sin.”

 

THEN WE SEE JOCKEYING FOR THE THRONE

1 KINGS 16:21-22

 

NOW WE GET TO THE 7TH KING, AND IT IS OMRI

 

• Omri is popular outside of Israel’s history.

• Assyria called Israel – “The Land of Omri”

 

In a political sense, he was quite successful, but as far as the down-grade is concerned, he only followed suit.

In fact, he took the dissent to a whole new level.

 

1 KINGS 16:23-26

 

Omri led the people even further away from the LORD.

 

BUT OMRI WOULD DIE, AND HIS SON WOULD BECOME KING.

 

And his son holds a unique description.

His son would be the absolute most wicked king

To ever rule on the throne of Israel.

 

HIS NAME WAS AHAB.

1 KINGS 16:29-30

 

Ahab did more evil than even his father Omri had done.

In fact, at the end of his life, this summary is given:

 

1 Kings 21:25-26 “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel.”

By the time Ahab would finish his reign,

Israel would be considered just as immoral

As the godless nations that were driven out of the promised land

By Joshua over 500 years prior.

 

Solomon took the first step, and it snowballed.

They hit the down grade, and with each King, the picked up speed.

(And in a period of 57 years, Israel no longer resembled God’s people)

 

It is the danger of the down-grade.

• It happened in Israel…

• It happened in England…

• It can most certainly happen in America…

AND IT CAN HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFE

 

So this morning, we are going to look at Scripture

To see what the indicators of being on the down-grade are.

 

• If we are taking the wrong step, what does it look like?

• If we are in danger of sliding, what are the symptoms?

 

That is precisely what I want you to see this morning.

 

I want you to see the 3 symptoms of life on the down-grade.

And at the end, if this is you, I will show you how to fix it.

 

You can know you are on the down-grade:

#1 WHEN SIN BECOMES TRIVIAL

1 Kings 16:31a “It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,”

 

“trivial” translates in the Hebrew QALAL

It means “insignificant”

 

Ezekiel 8:16-17 “Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.”

 

That is precisely how Ahab and Israel looked at the sin of Jeroboam.

• Sure he had made two golden calves…

• Sure he had proclaimed a feast to them in the eight month…

• Sure he had run the Levites out of the land, and made his own priests…

 

IT’S NO BIG DEAL

That was the attitude in Israel.

And anywhere you see that attitude involving sin,

You can be certain you are seeing someone on the down-grade.

 

Paul spoke of them in Romans 1.

Romans 1:32 “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

 

When sin becomes trivial in your life,

You are most certainly on the down-grade.

 

WHY?

If there is anything that marks a person walking close to God,

It is both an awareness of sin, and a hatred for it.

 

Isaiah 6:5 “Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

 

Paul

Romans 7:14-15 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

 

Was Paul aware of his sin? – absolutely

Did he see it as trivial? – absolutely not

 

He would go on to say:

Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

 

Those who are walking close to the Lord,

Both have a heightened awareness of sin, and they truly hate it.

 

They rightly see sin as the destructive force that it is.

James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

 

And they know it must be removed, not tolerated.

Matthew 5:29-30 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

 

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ARE ON THE DOWN-GRADE?

– How do you view sin?

 

Is sin no big deal?

• Sure I cuss a little…

• Sure I drink a little…

• Sure I tell an occasional dirty joke…

BUT IT’S NO BIG DEAL

Then let me introduce you to the down-grade.

 

It is not that those who walk with God never sin,

But they hate it when they do,

And immediately go to God to get it corrected.

 

One of my favorite verses in this regard is found in:

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

I continually remind God of this wonderful verse.

Not because of the “forgive us” part. (although I desperately want forgiveness)

 

I remind God of this verse because of where John says that God will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

Yes I want to be forgiven,

But what I really want is to be cleansed so the sin never surfaces again.

 

Anything less than that puts me on the down-grade.

 

You can know you are on the down-grade when: Sin becomes Trivial

#2 WHEN GOD IS REPLACED

1 Kings 16:31b-33

 

Replacing God is precisely what Ahab did.

 

First, he married a woman of the Sidonians named Jezebel.

Her father’s name was Ethbaal which means, “Baal Lives”

 

Most likely it was Omri (Ahab’s dad) who arranged this marriage,

But let us not forget that it was Solomon who formed an alliance

With the Sidonians for timber to build the temple.

 

THE RESULT: Ahab “went to serve Baal and worship him.”

 

Idolatry in any form is totally unacceptable,

But Ahab goes even farther than that.

 

(32) “So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.”

Remember, his dad Omri built Samaria.

It is on a hill surrounded by mountains, very similar to Jerusalem.

So Ahab built his own temple, for his own god, in his own capital city.

He is replacing God with Baal.

 

Not only that.

(33) “Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”

 

Ahab had replaced God in Israel with Baal.

Ahab saw God as generic, and One who could easily be replaced.

 

Those who walk close to God, see exactly the opposite.

They see God as vitally important to every aspect of their lives,

And One who could never be replaced.

 

Asaph said:

Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

 

Isaiah said:

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”

 

With such men, it was always about God.

He was seen as exclusive, as irreplaceable,

And as absolutely necessary for every walk of life.

 

They are those who would sing:

“I need Thee every hour, Most precious Lord; no tender voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee. O bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee.”

 

But if you don’t need God every hour,

Watch out, you are probably on the down-grade.

 

MANY ARE THERE.

God is replaced in their lives with some sort of man-made substitute.

(We talked about BAILOUT last week)

 

• Maybe the government is their provision…

• Maybe their doctor is their healer…

• Maybe their big-screen TV is their source of joy…

 

Their lives are geared and engineered in such a fashion

To where they don’t have to depend on God ever.

 

 

You are on the down-grade: When Sin becomes Trivial When God is replaced

#3 WHEN JUDGMENT IS IGNORED

1 Kings 16:34

 

“In his days”

 

The writer is giving you insight as to exactly how Israel lived in this day.

 

“Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”

 

As Joshua destroyed Jericho, he pronounced this curse:

Joshua 6:26 “Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.”

But Hiel wasn’t afraid.

 

• Apparently he thought those old prophecies were just a bunch of non-sense.

• Apparently he didn’t think God would really do it.

• Obviously he was hard-headed, for most would have stopped the building after losing their first-born while setting the foundations.

 

BUT YOU SEE THE POINT.

Those on the down-grade

Think judgment is a joke and hell is a myth,

And this belief is proved by their actions against the Lord.

 

But those close to God see it just the opposite.

They are motivated by the judgment of God.

 

1 Peter 1:17-19 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

 

Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

 

Those who truly believe God, know that He is holy,

And that there is a day when all of their deeds will be recompensed.

 

Romans 14:12 “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

 

Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

But those on the down-grade live like God is only kidding.

• They continue in their sin,

• They continue in their worldliness,

• They do it all like they will never get caught.

 

THAT IS THE DOWN-GRADE.

And that is precisely where Israel was.

 

Sin had become trivial

God had been replaced

Judgment was being ignored

 

But as Paul told us about the Old Testament participants:

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

 

 

 

WE ARE SUPPOSED TO LEARN FROM THEM.

 

FIRST: AM I ON THE DOWN-GRADE?

• Do I treat sin in my life as trivial?

• Is there any area in my life where I replace God?

• Do I live like God will judge my disobedience?

 

If you honestly admit that this is you,

I told you I would tell you how to fix the problem.

 

Spurgeon said you had to get on the “up-line of revival.”

 

That is precisely what God is about to do in Israel.

In fact, if you look at the first four words of chapter 17,

You see a new hero being introduced.

 

“Now Elijah the Tishbite”

 

God was about to send a prophet to Israel to cause them to see

The effects of their sin,

Their need for God,

The certainty of judgment.

 

Elijah was about to confront Israel with the word of God.

They had forgotten God, and they needed to remember.

 

That is the secret for you as well.

 

 

• Recognize the danger of sin.

• Confess that you need God.

• Live your life motivated by God’s righteous judgment.

 

We call it revival.

 

We see a small part of this here this morning,

As we partake of the Lord’s Supper.

 

It’s just juice – It’s just a cracker

There are no redeeming qualities here whatsoever.

Rather, these serve as a symbol to help us to refocus.

 

Jesus said: “do this in remembrance of Me”

 

Perhaps this morning,

You aren’t walking as close to Jesus as you need to be.

 

This morning, return to the cross of Jesus.

 

Remember that SIN is so serious it cost Jesus His life…

Remember that His sacrifice is absolutely IRREPLACEABLE…

Remember that HELL is so real, that Jesus died to keep you out…

 

Remember Jesus,

Charge back up the hill,

Determine to live wholly devoted to Him.

 

As always, we are about to have a time of preparation.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.”

 

We are going to have a time of preparation,

Then afterwards we will approach the table of the Lord.

 

Pray

 

1 Kings 15:9-24

 

Picking back up in our study of the Kings

 

At the present time, we have two kingdoms, dwelling simultaneously.

We have then northern Kingdom (Israel), with it’s first King: Jeroboam.

 

We have the southern Kingdom (Judah), 5th King just died: Abijam.

 

And of course Abijam was the fortunate King.

There really wasn’t a whole lot good you could say about Abijam,

Except that he was fortunate to have David as a great-grandfather.

 

But at this point, Abijam has died,

And it is now time for his son to take the throne.

 

The sixth King is ASA.

 

Now before we dive in to our study of Asa,

I want us to embark on a little memory exercise.

 

I just want to ask you to travel back in your mind to a day in your past.

 

What day would you consider to be your signature day as a Christian?

Maybe it was a day of great obedience…

Maybe it was a day of great seeking…

Maybe it was a day of great submission…

Maybe it was a day of great sacrifice…

 

Because this morning we are going to see a King

Who had not just one but several big days in his past.

 

On many days, Asa was a follower of God like no other.

 

Yet, when we see his life as the complete picture,

We will learn that despite all his victories,

His life didn’t end in obedience, but in a state of spiritual decline.

 

We would call it backsliddenness.

 

This morning, I want us to learn from Asa,

What it means to live with your best days still in front of you,

And not behind you.

 

 

We will be taking our outline this morning from the book of Kings.

However, I have told you that when studying the Kings of Judah, we can also find helpful information from the book of 2 Chronicles.

 

But in looking at 1 Kings 15, there are three major points of remembrance

I want you to see in Asa’s life.

 

#1 HIS PURE DEVOTION

1 Kings 15:9-15 (9-10)

 

As is common with the listings of the Kings,

The writer begins with an overall evaluation of the life of Asa.

 

(11) “Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father.”

We are dealing with a good king here.

 

Asa was a saved man,

He truly loved God, he genuinely desired to serve God.

 

Now, like David, Asa was not immune to some bad decisions,

But when the final judgment is passed,

It is important to note that Asa passed the test.

 

All in all, Asa was a good king.

He “did what was right”

 

IN THE CONTEXT OF THE KINGS,

THIS MEANS THAT ASA DID NOT WORSHIP OTHER GODS.

 

This is echoed over in 2 Chronicles.

2 CHRONICLES 14:1-5

 

So there is no doubt to the type of person Asa was.

• He believed in one God.

• And He believed that one God should be worshiped alone.

 

He was not given to pluralism in the least

In fact, he actually made it a command to seek God, and God only.

 

No more idols, no more foreign deities.

Asa was wholly devoted to God.

 

Let’s take a look at some of his “Banner Days” as King.

 

1) HE REMOVED IMMORALITY

(12-13) “He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron.”

 

He was definitely a man of conviction.

He goes on a rampage to clean up Israel.

 

The “male cult prostitutes” who led in worship to foreign deities, were removed.

The “idols” that Abijam had made, were gone.

 

But if you want to see conviction.

“He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah”

 

It’s one thing to claim to love God, but Asa is taking it serious.

No doubt many today would call him a fanatic.

 

This guy is devoted to God.

 

Matthew 10:37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

 

He was referring to people like Asa.

Even his own grandmother could not get away with idolatry.

 

WHY WAS ASA SO COMMITTED?

 

2 CHRONICLES 15:1-8

 

God had warned Asa, and Asa took the warning to heart.

 

Now there was one chink in his armor.

 

(14) “But the high places were not taken away”

 

It is not that Asa worshiped on them, in fact, he had already removed their priests.

The problem is that he didn’t destroy the sight,

And it would prove to be a nagging temptation for future generations.

 

But despite this one mistake.

(14b) “nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days.”

 

The point here is that throughout Asa’s life,

He never turned to worship another God.

 

A devoted husband never goes to another woman,

A devoted follower never serves another master.

Asa was wholly devoted to God, he would never bow his knee to another.

 

He Removed Immorality

2) HE REEMPHASIZED WORSHIP

 

(15) “He brought into the house of the LORD the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold utensils.”

 

On this day, Asa gave an offering.

 

Asa had some good days in his past.

Days of conviction and days of consecration.

HERE HE GAVE GOD THE BEST THAT HE HAD

 

He Removed Immorality

He Reemphasized Worship

3) HE ROUTED THE ETHIOPIANS

 

2 CHRONICLES 14:9-15

 

So at this point, we could pick the day that Asa did best.

• The day he Removed immorality

• The day he Reemphasized Worship

• The day he Routed the Ethiopians

 

He could easily look back on any one of those days

And see it is his best day as a Christian.

 

He had a definite devotion about him.

And that is important for us to understand.

 

First – His pure devotion

#2 HIS POOR DECISION

1 Kings 15:16-22 (16-17)

 

We know this man has commitment to the LORD

 

But we also know that even committed men mess up from time to time,

And that is precisely what Asa did.

 

There was war between Asa of Judah and Baasha of Israel.

We have not talked about Baasha yet,

Just know that he will become king in Israel after Jeroboam.

 

And if you go back and read 2 Chronicles 15,

You will notice that a considerable number of Baasha’s subjects

Had deserted him and were pledging their loyalty to Asa.

 

Speaking of Asa

2 Chronicles 15:9 “He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.”

 

No doubt this bothered Baasha, and so Baasha goes to war with Asa.

 

The Bible says that Baasha fortified a town called Ramah,

And used it as a means to put the squeeze on Asa.

 

Now based on Asa’s track record, we would all expect him

To do the same thing he did when he routed the Ethiopians.

(Call on God)

 

But that is not what Asa does.

(18-19) “Then Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

 

Asa didn’t seek God, Asa sought Ben-Hadad.

He offered him God’s treasure in return for help against Israel.

 

Scripture doesn’t tell us why he did it.

• We don’t know if he got deceived with bad counsel.

• We don’t know if he doubted God would come to his aid.

• We don’t know if he just didn’t think about it.

 

And just so you know, this is NOT acceptable to God.

He continually calls us to not find our hope in man, but in Him alone.

 

Psalms 20:7 “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.”

 

Psalms 118:8 “It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man.”

 

Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

 

God expects for us to trust Him and Him alone.

 

(One of the times that Israel wanted to seek Egypt for help)

Isaiah 31:1-3 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers And against the help of the workers of iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; So the LORD will stretch out His hand, And he who helps will stumble And he who is helped will fall, And all of them will come to an end together.”

 

Today people do the same.

I heard that they recently named this year’s “Vocabulary Word of the Year”

BAILOUT

 

It started with banks.

You don’t see banks humbling themselves of their greed and crying out to God.

 

Now the auto industry has followed suit.

You don’t see General Motors humbling themselves before God because of the pornography they support.

 

You don’t see Ford humbling themselves before God because of the gay agenda they support.

 

Instead you see them running to the government for a “bailout”

 

And people are just as bad.

We expect the government to take care of my healthcare…

We expect the government to make sure my job pays me enough…

We expect the government to make sure my retirement is safe…

We expect the government to make sure my home value remains high…

We expect the government to make sure we are safe from attack…

We expect the government to make sure my children are educated…

 

People today turn to the government like crazy.

THEY TRUST IN MAN, WHEN THEY OUGHT TO BE TRUSTING IN GOD.

 

Adrian Rogers said, “All the government can do is make the world a better place to go to hell from.”

 

Yet people seek help from man.

 

For whatever reason, that is precisely what Asa did.

 

And first let me show you, that his wish was granted.

 

(20-22) “So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard of it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah. Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah — none was exempt — and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built. And King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.”

 

From a political perspective, it appears like Asa made a good decision.

 

But in a spiritual sense, he was in great danger.

It made God angry.

2 CHRONICES 16:7-10

 

Asa didn’t make a good decision,

All he really accomplished was to let Aram escape.

 

And the real sad part is that instead of repenting,

He got angry at the preacher, and decided to grow bitter.

 

His pure devotion His poor decision

#3 HIS PROBLEMATIC DISEASE

1 Kings 15:23-24

 

Now these last two verses just sound like

A necessary closing to the life of Asa.

 

However you will notice that the writer

Adds just one little tidbit of information about Asa.

 

“But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.”

 

I always find little tidbit statements like that fascinating in Scripture,

Because you know there is a whole story behind that little statement.

 

AND THERE IS A STORY BEHIND THIS ONE.

2 CHRONICLES 16:11-12

 

And now we see why the writer of Kings mentioned this illness.

He mentioned it because it gives evidence

To the stubbornness that Asa died with.

 

Even when a sickness hit,

Asa did not allow it to drive him closer to God,

Instead Asa continued to seek for his salvation in man.

 

There is no doubt that Asa ended on the decline.

 

We look at Asa as the backslidden king.

• He was the King whose best days were behind him, not before him.

• He was the King who lived on his past obedience.

• He was backslidden.

 

When I read about him, he reminds me of a church

Listed in the book of the Revelation.

 

The Church at Ephesus

Revelation 2:2-5 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent.”

 

Ephesus was backslidden.

No way would Ephesus worship other gods.

They just weren’t as committed as they could have been

To the God they claimed to worship.

 

That is Asa

 

Asa was “WHOLLY DEVOTED” but “UNDER COMMITTED”

 

He was “wholly devoted” in the sense that he would not have dreamed about worshiping another god.

 

He was “under committed” in the sense that he wasn’t very committed to the God that he claimed to worship.

 

DOES THAT MEAN HE WASN’T SAVED?

(No, the text said “he did what was right in the sight of the LORD”)

 

Asa was a Christian, he just wasn’t a very good one.

 

Asa was a man who would never even think of worshiping a foreign God,

He just didn’t worship the true God as much as he should have.

 

I WONDER HOW MANY CHRISTIANS FALL IN TO THIS CATEGORY.

They would never even consider entering a Muslim Mosque,

Or a Buddhist Temple, Or a Hindu Shrine.

They believe there is only one God, and Jesus is His name.

 

They just aren’t as committed to Jesus as they should be.

 

• They rely on the world for their provision and protection…

• They rely on the world for their security…

• They seek the world to solve their problems…

• They did some good in the past, but today, they aren’t committed.

 

It is to be “wholly devoted” but “under committed”.

 

You see, when we talk about having a relationship with God,

We must understand a very important aspect to that.

 

RELATIONSHIPS ARE ALL ABOUT THE PRESENT

God is not nearly as concerned about how you loved Him in the past, as He is about how you love Him today.

 

God will forgive your past.

God will protect your future.

GOD JUST WANTS YOUR “TODAY”

 

Psalms 95 “O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

 

The writer of Hebrews used that very passage in Hebrews 3.

 

Hebrews 3:12-15 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”

 

God is interested in how committed you are to Him today.

 

This past week I watched some videos.

I watched some of the old Mission Trip Highlight videos from our church.

 

As I watched I rejoiced at what God has done

In and through our church over the past 4 years.

 

In four years:

11 mission trips

7 different countries

47 different people participating (some on many different trips)

 

And I rejoiced at all that God has done.

 

But I will admit, that rejoicing was short lived.

I soon found myself in prayer,

Begging God that He wasn’t finished.

 

I don’t want to be an Asa.

I don’t want to accomplish something great for God,

And then try to live on it the rest of my life.

I want “Today” to be the best day I ever lived for God.

 

What day do you consider to be your signature day as a Christian?

 

Now live the rest of your life in an attempt

To make that day the 2nd best day of your Christian life.

 

Be wholly devoted, but also be totally committed to God until the end.

• Don’t retire early…

• Don’t live on your past obedience…

• “Today” make an effort to serve God and trust God with everything you have.

 

 

 

Paul said:

Philippians 3:12-16 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”

 

Make that your passion as well.

Forget what was behind, and love “Today” for Jesus.

 

 

1 Kings 15:1-8

 

This morning we are studying a rather unknown King

 

Admit it, If I were to ask you to name past Kings of Israel or Judah, would anyone have remembered this guy?

 

He is the great-grandson of David

The grandson of Solomon

The son of Rehoboam

You would think he would be notable, but he most certainly is not.

 

In fact, this king slips through history

With hardly any recorded information at all.

 

Even our text this morning seems to be lacking.

• We saw David for the whole book of 2 Samuel.

• Solomon got the first 11 chapters of 1 Kings

• Even Rehoboam and Jeroboam intertwined to get in 4 chapters.

But all Abijam gets is 8 verses.

 

And aside from a brief description about his character,

His entire reign is summed up in verse 6 like this:

 

(6) “There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.”

YOU READ IT RIGHT.

Here we are in the section on Abijam, and when recounting his reign,

It isn’t even him, but his father who is listed.

 

He is sort of written in as an afterthought in the book.

WHY?

 

Because he represented nothing that was worthy of history.

He failed to make a mark.

 

In the New Testament I assume he would be described

Much like the church at Laodicea.

 

Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

 

Abijam was a dud, and he made no difference in the world.

 

Yet you have noticed I have called him THE FORTUNATE KING.

To see why, we examine our text this morning,

To learn a little bit about this almost forgotten king of Judah.

There are three things we see in our text this morning.

#1 HIS FOLLY

1 Kings 15:1-3

 

To give just a little informative background on the boy.

 

He became King “in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam”

 

So while Jeroboam is worshiping his golden calves in the north,

Abijam now takes the throne in the south.

 

Since he only “reigned three years in Jerusalem”

JEROBOAM WAS STILL KING WHEN HE DIED.

 

Another interesting note

He is named differently here than in Chronicles.

 

Here he is “Abijam” which means “father of the sea”

In Chronicles he is called “Abijah” which means “my father is the LORD”

 

And so it is possible that he never lived up to a previous name,

And his name was changed.

 

You will also notice this fact:

“his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom”

 

There are actually two interesting things about this.

 

1) “Abishalom” is an alternative spelling for Absalom.

 

Therefore both of Abijam’s grandpa’s were sons of David.

His paternal grandfather was Solomon.

His maternal grandfather was Absalom.

 

2) The second interesting thing is that Abijam probably only received the throne because of his mother.

 

2 Chronicles 11:18-22 “Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.”

 

In other words, Abijam was NOT Rehoboam’s oldest son,

But he was the oldest son of Rehoboam’s favorite wife.

 

HE WAS FORTUNATE TO RECEIVE THE THRONE.

The only problem was that while Abijah did receive the throne,

He most certainly did not act kingly in God’s eyes.

 

For verse 3 gives us significant insight into his character.

(3) “He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David.”

 

Abijam was a chip right off of the old block.

He acted just like his father did.

 

In fact, Abijam practiced “all the sins of his father”

 

WHAT WERE THE SINS OF REHOBOAM?

1) IDOLATRY

1 Kings 14:21-24 “Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with the sins which they committed. For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree. There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.”

You will remember that this idolatry was so bad

That God eventually appointed Shishak, King of Egypt to wipe him out.

 

Of course at the last minute Rehoboam humbled himself

And God only permitted Shishak to plunder Judah, not destroy it.

 

Which of course led to the second sin of Rehoboam.

2) HYPOCRISY

1 Kings 14:25-28 “Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and he took everything, even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the LORD, that the guards would carry them and would bring them back into the guards’ room.”

 

It was the hypocritical display of “POLISHING BRONZE”

 

3) SELF-SUFFICIENCY

2 Chronicles 12:13-14 “So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.”

 

Rehoboam was too proud to seek God.

Idolatry, Hypocrisy, Self-Sufficiency

And it says here that Abijah followed right in line.

 

He kept the idolatry going, he kept polishing bronze,

And he also saw no need for seeking God.

 

BUT IN ORDER TO BE FAIR, and to gain more understanding

We need to see the whole story.

 

While Kings doesn’t really tell us much about Abijam,

2 Chronicles does record one incident in his short reign.

 

TURN TO: 2 CHRONICLES 13:1-12

 

Abijam’s argument even makes good sense.

 

Now, if you keep reading, you will find that Jeroboam plotted an ambush behind Abijam and trapped him in the middle of the battle.

 

(READ: 2 Chronicles 13:13-17)

 

There we have a day in which Abijah really appears to get things right.

By that story, he sounds like a warrior for God.

His theology sounds good, and he appears to be a man of faith.

 

Yet the writer of Kings acted like he never really did anything good.

 

That is admittedly confusing.

It is almost like we are not talking about the same guy.

Or maybe the writer of Kings didn’t like him and the writer of Chronicles did,

After all, they did call him by different names.

 

But that is not really the case.

Later in 2 Chronicles, while dealing with the next King: Asa,

Here is what the prophet says:

 

2 Chronicles 15:1-7 “Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. “For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. “But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. “In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. “Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. “But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”

 

There the prophet is speaking to Abijam’s son and he is recounting

What life was like when he father and grandfather were kings.

LOOK AT SOME OF THE DESCRIPTION.

 

“For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.”

 

That means that while Abijam gave Rehoboam this great speech

About having the true temple worship

And all the Levites and real devotion to God,

HIS DEVOTION WASN’T AS SINCERE AS HE MADE IT OUT TO BE.

 

Abijam really didn’t worship God any more than Jeroboam did,

It just sounded good before the armies.

 

“But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.”

 

It is apparent that the only time Abijam truly sought God

Was when his tail was in a pinch.

 

And the only reason God came to their aid is not because Abijam was sincere, but because God was merciful.

 

“In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. “Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.”

 

So when the writer of Kings said that (6) “There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.” He was correct.

 

PUTTING THE WHOLE PUZZLE TOGETHER WE LEARN THIS

 

Abijam certainly knew all about God,

And that He was a God with power who could deliver.

 

But he never sought God on a personal level.

 

Personally he was an idolatrous, self-sufficient hypocrite,

Who only sought God when he was in over his head.

 

And now you know exactly what the writer of Kings means in

Verse 3, “his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David.”

 

ABIJAM WAS A HALF-HEARTED FOLLOWER OF GOD.

He certainly had head-knowledge of God,

For he knew where to turn in times of danger,

 

He just didn’t have any true commitment to Him.

There is a great picture of what Abijam was in the New Testament.

Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

 

That is Abijam to a “T”.

 

And God has never accepted that type of commitment from people.

Jeremiah 4:1-4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.” For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

 

God has always demanded more than lip service.

God has always demanded more than half-hearted commitment.

 

Jesus said, we must be willing to leave everything to follow Him.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

 

Yet that is precisely what Abijam tried to do.

He called on God when he needed God, otherwise God was not a priority.

 

In a lot of ways, he is not that different from Jeroboam.

Jeroboam didn’t need God, until his hand was withered,

And then he was ready for God to heal him.

 

And as soon as God did, Jeroboam returned to his sinful ways.

 

And we know what happened to Jeroboam.

God promised to completely remove his line from the face of the earth.

 

You and I would expect that to happen to Abijam now as well.

But I told you that Abijam was “The Fortunate King”

 

First – His Folly

#2 HIS FORTUNE

1 Kings 15:4-5

 

By all accounts God should have done the same to Abijam’s house

That He promised to do to Jeroboam’s house.

 

But God didn’t. – WHY?

 

“But for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;”

 

The only reason God didn’t role Abijam up into a tight little ball

And fling him off the planet

Is because God had high regard for Abijam’s great-grandfather.

 

God made a promise to David.

 

DO YOU REMEMBER IT?

Psalms 89:19-37 “Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. “I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him.”The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. “But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him.”My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted. “I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.”My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven. “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments, Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.”My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.”Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. “His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me.”It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.”

 

That is why we call Abijam the fortunate king.

By all accounts he should have been blotted out,

And yet he was not, only because God is faithful to His word.

 

Abijam’s life is a testimony

To God’s unfailing commitment to keep His word.

 

This covenant with David will never be broken,

And God proved it by not forsaking David here.

 

This promise saw it’s fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ,

And some day Jesus will return and reign upon the throne forever.

 

God made a promise to David & even Abijam couldn’t mess it up.

 

Don’t you rejoice in the faithfulness of God

To know that nothing and no one

Can thwart the predetermined plan of Almighty God!

God made a promise, and He keeps His promises.

 

Now, it is fitting to ask, why David was so special,

For the writer does tell us why God was so pleased with him.

 

Verse 5 tells us THREE REASONS why God made this promise to David.

In the LORD’S SIGHT, David was COMMENDABLE

(5) “because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD”

 

David was a man who generally lived in a way that pleased God.

 

In the LORD’S SERVICE, David was DEPENDABLE

(5b) “and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life,”

 

David was a man that God could count on to obey His word.

 

He wasn’t just a fair-weather Christian,

Or one who only wanted God when he needed out of a jam.

 

In the LORD’S SCORN, David was CORRECTABLE

(5c) “except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.”

 

But even in that case, when God chastised David, he repented, accepted the consequences and even praised God in the midst of the punishment.

 

From that repentance we get the beloved Psalms 51.

 

But you can see why God loved David so much.

David loved God with all his heart.

 

In fact, listen to a couple of David’s prayers

Psalms 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

 

Psalms 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

 

The point is that David was wholly committed to God, and that, coupled with God’s faithfulness, are the only reasons

Abijam was not totally destroyed.

 

We have heard the promise before.

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

 

And we see here that Abijam ought to fall to his knees and praise God

For a faithful great-grandfather who caused his family to be so blessed.

 

He was fortunate that David was his great-grandpa.

 

His Folly His Fortune

#3 HIS FUTILITY

1 Kings 15:6-8

 

Abijam’s life is not summed up by great devotion.

Abijam’s life is not remembered by some great revival.

 

Abijam’s life is remembered by the fact that

There was never any peace at any time when he reigned.

 

“There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. Now the rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.”

 

We have a word for reign’s like his. FUTILITY

 

WHILE HIS LINEAGE CONTINUED,

HIS LEGACY WAS FORGETTABLE.

 

There would be nothing to show for the reign of Abijam.

He goes down as the King who existed, and that is about all.

 

The only good thing we can say about him is that

At least he was David’s great-grandson.

 

WHAT A PITIFUL LEGACY!

 

NOW IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

The writer of Kings was on a mission in these 8 verses.

 

He wanted you and I to compare the legacy of two men.

 

He spelled it out in verse 3 “He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David.”

 

AND THEN THE QUESTION OBVIOUSLY COMES TO US.

WHAT KIND OF LEGACY DO YOU INTEND TO LEAVE?

 

I think we can all honestly agree

That none of us desire to be like Abijam.

And yet many people are.

 

The only source of blessing in their life

Is because of the obedience of others around them.

 

• They are disobedient kids, who benefit from their parents obedience.

• They are disobedient parents, who benefit from their kids obedience.

• They are disobedient husbands or wives, who benefit from their spouses obedience.

• They are disobedient church members, who benefit from their fellow members obedience.

 

There is actually a picture of this in Scripture. (in regard to marriage)

1 Corinthians 7:13-14 “And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.”

 

And their only legacy is that they were blessed

Because someone else was obedient.

 

Instead, determine to leave a legacy like David.

He loved God so much, and he was so obedient

That God would never let his lamp go out.

 

That is the kind you and I desire to leave.

We desire to leave our mark upon this world.

 

THAT LEGACY IS DETERMINED BY A CONTINUAL DECISION

TO BE WHOLLY DEVOTED TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

 

Not some sort of Sunday only devotion…

But a devotion that never fades.

 

That is the type of devotion David had, and 3,000 years later,

God still hasn’t forgotten about his devotion.

 

 

 

The lesson is this:

DON’T BE FORTUNATE, BE FAITHFUL

It makes all the difference.

 

Luke 8:14-15 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”

 

1 Kings 13:33-14:20

 

This morning, we are picking back up

With the life and legacy of Jeroboam.

 

“The King who caused Israel to Stumble”

 

We initially saw him two weeks ago,

As God approached him and said,

I will tear 10 tribes from the son of Solomon and give them to you.

 

If you will follow Me like David did, then I will make you an enduring house, just as I have made for him.

 

But of course, Jeroboam did not.

He was afraid that as long as people continued to travel to Jerusalem to worship, then they would return to Judah’s King (Rehoboam)

 

So Jeroboam built two golden calves.

One in Dan, and one in Bethel, and told Israel that this was their new place of worship. He made priests who were not Levites, and changed the calendar for the feasts.

 

It was a horrible display of rebellion against God.

 

As we saw last week, God was not at all pleased

And so He sent the “man of God” to Bethel

To prophesy against Jeroboam’s altar.

 

He prophesied that some day there would be a King named Josiah,

Who would sacrifice the pagan priests and burn their bones on that altar.

 

Now you may remember,

That Jeroboam was not all that enthused with this sermon.

 

1 Kings 13:4 “Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.”

 

And you may also remember that his tune was changed.

 

1 Kings 13:6-8 “The king said to the man of God, “Please entreat the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.”

 

And at that point, the “man of God” leaves Jeroboam to go home.

 

We are left then, wondering what Jeroboam did with the warning.

THAT IS WHAT WE SEE THIS MORNING.

 

For as we saw last week, the “man of God”

Was deceived by a lying prophet,

He did indeed return and eat bread, and God killed him.

 

And that is precisely where the text picks up for us this morning.

 

There are two main points I want you to see as we close out the life of Jeroboam.

 

#1 THE STUBBORNNESS OF JEROBOAM

1 Kings 13:33-34

 

And really everything in regard to the stubbornness of Jeroboam

Is seen in the first sentence of verse 33.

 

“After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way,”

 

• He had built two forbidden high places – he did not remove them.

• He had ordained priests who weren’t Levites – he did not remove them.

• He had changed the feast schedule – he did not cancel them.

 

(33) “After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places.”

 

Everything he had done, was offensive to God,

And Jeroboam did not care.

 

The man had preached…

The man had performed a sign…

The man had shown him mercy…

BUT JEROBOAM DID NOT CARE

 

It was overwhelmingly obvious what God wanted and expected,

But Jeroboam did a great job of ignoring it.

WE CALL THAT STUBBORNNESS

Sometimes the Bible refers to it as being “stiff-necked”

 

It is anytime a person refuses to see their sin,

Or refuses to repent of it, when they do see it.

 

There are several classic examples.

Esau was an example:

Hebrews 12:15-17 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Israel in Jesus day:

Matthew 11:20-24 “Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon inthe day of judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

 

And in reality, it is seen in anyone who refuses to repent of their sin and confess Christ.

Romans 1:18-23 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

 

They are all just like Jeroboam.

Men who have been warned…

Men who have been told…

But men who loved their sin too much to depart from it.

 

They are stubborn.

And let me just say that God is infuriated by such rebellion.

 

Jeremiah 6:15 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.

 

Isaiah 3:8-9 “For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence. The expression of their faces bears witness against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.”

 

God has always promised to judge the stubborn.

And so it is not surprising what we see occurring here.

 

First, the stubbornness of Jeroboam.

#2 THE SENTENCING OF JEROBOAM

1 Kings 14:1-20 (read 1-5)

 

After Jeroboam’s rebellion, the Bible says that his son became sick.

 

 

Scripture does not say that God did it,

But there is no doubt the sickness was meant to get Jeroboam’s attention.

 

And so, he contacts Ahijah, the same man who anointed him.

But even then, he does so in an interesting way.

His approach still screams of stubbornness, pride, and rebellion.

 

1) He does not go, he sends his wife

2) He has her dress up, namely because he doesn’t want a lecture

3) He doesn’t request anything of the LORD, he only wants to know the future.

 

This is not a man who is ready to repent of sin,

This is just a man who wants to know the future.

 

He is not humble, nor is he broken.

He is just as stubborn and hard headed as ever.

 

But of course, God was light years ahead of Jeroboam,

And the prophet was expecting his wife.

 

And now we see how God responds to this stubborn king.

 

3 things

1) GOD’S PROSECUTION (6-9)

 

As soon as the woman shows up, the prophet exposes her

And lets her know that the message is a harsh one.

 

The child would die, and God wanted the woman to know why.

 

The child would die because of the extreme rebellion of Jeroboam.

 

(READ 7-8)

Jeroboam had been UNCOMMITTED

 

David served with a whole heart, Jeroboam did not.

 

(9a) “you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourselves other gods and moldten images to provoke Me.”

Jeroboam was also UNFAITHFUL

 

Jeroboam was a spiritual harlot.

 

(9b) “and have cast me behind your back.”

 

Jeroboam was also UNINTERESTED

 

He did not care what God thought, and did not care if God was pleased.

Jeroboam carries all the attributes of a bad spouse.

One who seems to enter covenant,

But is uncommitted, unfaithful, and uninterested.

 

When God approached him and offered him the kingdom,

Jeroboam quickly accepted it,

but never intended to keep his end of the bargain.

 

His religion was for show and it was a sham.

All he really cared about was his own personal comfort and glory.

 

He is seen today in those who accept an offer to go to heaven,

But then return to the sin they once enjoyed.

 

2 Peter 2:20-22 “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

 

That was Jeroboam.

Jeroboam was a liar and a fraud,

And God prosecutes him on those very grounds.

God’s prosecution

2) GOD’S PROMISES (10-16)

 

(10) “therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone.”

 

Now if you are one who likes powerful imagery,

The prophet Ahijah gives some to Jeroboam’s wife.

 

Suppose God had a house that He lived in, and it was one that He liked to keep clean. Then suppose God had some animals who were in that house, who pooped on the floor.

 

No, Jeroboam is not the animal.

Jeroboam was the poop.

 

God says, “I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the LORD has spoken it.”‘

 

How would you like it if that is how God saw you?

 

And incidentally , it has already begun.

First on the list, is the child you are inquiring about.

 

(12-13) “Now you, arise, go to your house. When your feet enter the city the child will die. All Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him something good was found toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.”

 

This boy had a good heart before God,

And so even though he was a victim of Jeroboam’s stubbornness,

He gets a privilege. After he dies, he will be buried.

 

And that is more than can be said for anyone else in Jeroboam’s line.

 

In fact, God is so angry that He is about to completely remove them all.

 

(14) “Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day and from now on.”

 

To play with the imagery,

God is about to hire a carpet cleaner to remove all the poop from Israel.

 

Back in chapter 11 God said:

1 Kings 11:38 “Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.”

 

That word “if” was a pretty big word.

Jeroboam was stubborn in sin, and God was removing him.

 

THE FIRST PROMISE OF GOD IS THAT HE WILL SWEEP THE POOP

But that is not all that God was promising.

 

READ VERSES 15-16

 

We sort of expect God to be angry with Jeroboam,

But here He is angry also with Israel.

 

God had promised to sweep the poop,

Now God promises to scatter the weeds.

 

The imagery here is of a weed messing up God’s land.

 

 

So God is going to STRIKE IT.

(15) “For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water”

 

God is going to STRIP IT.

(15) “He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave tot their fathers,”

 

God is going to SCATTER IT.

(15) “and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger.”

 

WHY IS GOD DOING THIS?

(16) “He will give up Israel on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he committed and with which he made Israel to sin.”

 

God is judging them,

Because they participated in what Jeroboam did.

 

That’s not fair, I thought they were the victims.

Wrong, they were his companions.

 

1 Kings 12:28-30 “So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.”

 

God was judging Jeroboam for starting it,

And God was judging the people for participating in it.

 

NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU SIN

James 1:13-15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

 

Just because a king or government may make sin legal,

Does not mean you have the right to participate in it.

 

God requires you and I to have conviction,

Even when everyone around us give in to temptation.

 

AND SOME DID

2 Chronicles 11:13-17 “Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts. For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD. He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made. Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.”

 

There were some who would not follow Jeroboam’s sin.

They left Israel and returned to Judah.

 

Sure, they had to leave their houses and pasture lands to do it,

But obedience to God was more important than personal comfort.

 

And it turns out they made the right decision,

For now all those who stayed in Israel were going to be judged.

 

They were like weeds that God was going to scatter.

That was a promise from God.

 

God’s prosecution God’s promises

3) GOD’S PROOF (17-20)

 

This child’s mother never saw her son alive again.

He died just as God said he would.

 

And the next thing we read of is the death of Jeroboam.

Jeroboam was stubborn, and God was serious.

 

SO WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS TEXT?

 

The point is so obvious, you could almost miss it.

 

Being stiff-necked and stubborn

Never leads to success before Holy God.

 

He can break the stiffest neck,

And he can crack the most stubborn mind.

 

I am always reminded of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel’s day.

He was the arrogant king who refused God.

 

God caused him to lose his sanity,

And eat grass like a cow for seven years.

Finally, after 7 years he lifted his eyes to heaven and God had mercy.

 

The final statement he would make after the event was this:

Daniel 4:37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

 

God can break a stiff neck.

And at the very least God will judge one.

 

Those who persist in iniquity

Will only guarantee judgment for themselves.

 

• Jeroboam was king for 22 years before the judgment played out, but the judgment was never in doubt.

 

• Israel would exist another 200 years before the judgment played out, but the judgment was never in doubt.

 

• There are those today who think that they are getting away with their sin. BUT THEY ARE NOT

 

Judgment is certain, for those who rebel against the Lord,

And if not today, then know that it is coming.

 

THE POINT IS:

DO NOT RESIST THE WILL OF GOD

 

The writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

 

Jeroboam was stubborn in idolatry,

Today many are stubborn in refusing to submit their lives to Jesus

 

• They have been warned…

• They see the evidence…

• But they are too stiff-necked and proud to submit to it…

 

Today if that is you,

I want to ask you to quit rebelling against God

And submit your life totally to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Give Him your life, and obey His will.

Don’t end up like Jeroboam.

 

1 Kings 13:1-32 (1-6)

 

Once again the timing of God is absolutely amazing.

 

When we planned to have this commissioning service,

I assumed I would have to post-pone our study of Kings for a week

In order to preach a “missions type” sermon.

 

But that is not the case,

For as we are studying through the book of Kings,

What we find here is nothing short of a missionary story.

 

As you know we are in the middle of studying the Kings,

And last week we began the study of Jeroboam.

 

We learned that Jeroboam committed a great sin before God,

And one that the nation of Israel never recovered from.

 

Instead of sending the people to worship God at Jerusalem,

• He created new worship sites in Bethel and in Dan.

• He then made priests of anyone who wanted to be a priest,

• He re-wrote the sacrificial calendar.

 

WE LEARNED LAST WEEK WHAT JEROBOAM TAUGHT:

God’s requirements are too EXHAUSTING

God’s requirements are too EXCLUSIVE

God’s requirements are too EXPLICIT

 

He led the people into disobedience

And 209 years later when Israel would be destroyed by Assyria,

It would be this sin of Jeroboam that was given as the reason.

 

But none the less, we are in the middle of the reign of Jeroboam.

And next week we will finish our study of him.

 

But this morning, we get a momentary break in the action.

By God’s sovereign will, we have a short narrative story

Inserted into the Biblical record.

 

God has seen fit to include this one incident

That occurred during the reign of Jeroboam.

 

The incident that God reveals is

One of the first missionary efforts mentioned in Scripture.

 

A prophet from the south is about to travel up north

And deliver a message from the Lord.

 

In the midst of this evil kingdom, God has sent forth a missionary.

And interestingly enough, we have no idea who he is.

 

His name is not given, but he does have a simple title.

He is called “a man of God”

 

A title reserved for only 8 men in Scripture:

 

76 times in the Old Testament only given to 7 men:

Moses, Samuel, David, Shemaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and this man here.

 

It is only used twice in the New Testament,

Both times it is a title in which Paul gives to Timothy.

 

It is a title that reveals a person

Whose very identity is bound up in the will of God.

 

He is not a man of this world,

Nor is he a man who is looking out for his own personal interests.

Instead this man has God’s interests at heart,

And his only concern is that God’s will be accomplished.

 

And it is this type of man we see here.

We don’t know his name, we don’t know his tribe,

We don’t know if he was wealthy or poor.

 

All we know is that he is from Judah,

And he has traveled north to Israel in order to fulfill the will of God.

 

“there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.”

 

He had God’s will on his mind, and God’s message on his lips.

Who he was did not matter,

What he had to say was of the utmost importance.

 

And so this morning, as we send off these 5 missionaries

We study this “man of God” who embarked upon a similar journey.

 

And the main thing we learn is the importance of fully obeying God.

 

Now this is a very self-preaching passage,

But it is necessary to read it all, in order to grasp the entire story.

 

6 things

#1 THE SERMON

1 Kings 13:1-2

 

Now of course you notice that this “man of God” showed up in Bethel.

Which of course is the site of one of Jeroboam’s calves,

and he goes while Jeroboam is there sacrificing.

 

And this man came with a message from God.

(2) “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.”

 

It was a short sermon, it was simple sermon

And it was a prophetic sermon.

 

God was angry about what Jeroboam had done,

And vengeance was coming.

 

Incidentally about 300 years later, there would be a King named Josiah,

And he would do this very thing.

 

But we see our missionary traveling to another country

In order to declare the word of God.

It is indeed a missionary effort.

 

The Sermon

#2 THE SIGN

1 Kings 13:3-6

 

This of course is a demonstration of the prophet’s authority.

 

They did not have a copy of the Bible as we do,

And so when a man claimed to be speaking the word of God,

HIS MINISTRY NEEDED SOME VERIFICATION.

 

That verification came in the form of signs and wonders.

We know they are real because they prophesied a sign that came true.

 

And this man’s sign was that the altar would break in two

And the ashes would fall to the ground,

Thus negating the effectiveness of the sacrifice.

 

Now, when Jeroboam heard this,

He was ready to kill the young “man of God”,

 

But God intervened,

Jeroboam’s hand “dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.”

 

And then (5) “The altar was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.”

 

And the point here is clear.

What God has revealed through this prophet is certainly from God,

And will certainly come to pass.

 

God’s fingerprint is all over this young man.

 

Not only by his POWER, but also by his MERCY.

In verse 6 Jeroboam asks for healing, and the man of God grants it.

 

There is no doubt now that his message has come from God,

And that what God has declared will come to pass.

 

The Sermon, The Sign

#3 THE SPECIFICS

1 Kings 13:7-10

 

And this is a crucial part of our story.

 

Now you will notice that Jeroboam has a great idea.

His plan is to draw the young man in and eventually corrupt him.

 

Jeroboam offers him what we only seek from God and no man.

(7) “Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

 

Of course “rest” and “reward” come only from God,

But Jeroboam has a plan.

 

BUT THE YOUNG MAN KNEW BETTER.

 

(8-9) “But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. “For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.'”

 

And then the young man leaves, headed for home.

 

NOW, IF THE STORY WERE TO STOP HERE,

We would have a good old fashion example

Of what a missionary is supposed to do.

 

Go where God sends you…

Say what God gives you…

Obey what God tells you…

 

And all will be well.

 

That is certainly the calling of you who are headed to Ethiopia,

But is also the calling of everyone in this place.

 

Just be fully obedient to God.

That is the command for this young man,

And up to this point, all is well in the story.

 

But then something unexpected happens.

 

The Sermon, The Sign, The Specifics

#4 THE SEDUCTION

1 Kings 13:11-19

 

Now it is obvious that we have an old carnal prophet in our midst.

 

The fact that he is living in Bethel and is silent about what is going on

Is obvious that this old prophet has fallen far into complacency.

 

And when he hears that another prophet has come and done his job,

He is intrigued, and wants to know where he went.

 

No one really knows why.

But whatever the reason, he goes after him, and invites him home.

 

But, the young prophet has clear commands from God.

(16-17) “He said, “I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. “For a command came to me by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.'”

 

This young “man of God” is sticking to the commands of God.

 

And then comes the seduction.

(18-19) “He said to him, “I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'” But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.”

 

This old prophet showed up

And played the classic role of a false prophet.

 

He invented his own story,

And even claimed that it came from God by way of an angel.

 

That is just like the false prophets of old.

Jeremiah 23:16 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD.”

Ezekiel 13:6-7 “They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The LORD declares,’ when the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word. “Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The LORD declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”‘”

 

That is precisely what this old prophet did.

 

And that is not surprising, we can all expect to have false prophets

Tell us things that they claim to be truth.

Heresy and deception are promised through the Bible.

 

We overcome such heresy by relying not on what they say,

But on what we know that God has said.

 

It is called DISCERNMENT

We take what others tell us and run it through the filter of the word of God.

 

Paul told the Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

 

God had told his people this very thing through Moses.

Deuteronomy 13:1-4 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”

 

Don’t get caught up in smoke and mirrors of deception.

 

When God speaks, and we know it is God, listen to it.

But do not get duped by someone who claims to speak from God,

Especially if their message contradicts the word of God.

 

It would have been good if that young prophet

Would have headed those warnings.

 

BUT FAILED TO USE DISCERNMENT

And “he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.”

 

NOW LOOK, HE’S NOT A CARNAL MAN.

If he were, he would have taken Jeroboam’s offer of a reward.

He’s not carnal, he’s naïve.

 

It is like he didn’t think deception was real.

Deception is real,

That is why we have to make sure we know the word of God.

2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

 

Learn the word of God

So you won’t be seduced by the devil’s messenger.

 

The Sermon The Sign The Specifics The Seduction

#5 THE SENTENCING

1 Kings 13:20-25

 

Now, we see God shows up.

 

All of a sudden the old prophet is no longer quoting angels,

God actually delivers a message through Him.

(God did the same through the lying prophet Balaam)

 

And the message is because you disobeyed,

You will “not come to the grave of your fathers.”

 

And certainly he did not,

For God commanded a lion to kill him on the way home.

 

We know this is of God, for the donkey and lion are both acting very peculiar. The donkey is running and the lion isn’t eating.

 

God poured out divine judgment on this “man of God”

 

If it sounds a little harsh, that is because it most definitely is.

 

This man had become a public icon.

His message was nationwide,

And his sin was detrimental to the message he preached.

 

When God sends a public messenger

He is concerned about more than just the message he preaches.

All aspects of faithfulness are expected.

And when public spokesmen sin, they are judged publicly.

 

This man forsook discernment, believed a lie, disobeyed God

And found himself in the midst of God’s judgment.

 

The Sermon The Sign The Specifics The Seduction The Sentencing

#6 THE SUMMARY

1 Kings 13:26-32

 

Now you will notice as soon as the traveling men show up with the story

The old prophet immediately knows who it is.

 

And he goes to get the young man’s body and buries him,

Instructing his sons to bury him next to the prophet when he dies.

 

Possibly he felt guilty.

 

But one thing is for certain,

Since God judged this young prophet’s disobedience,

The old prophet is certain that the message he spoke

Was directly from God.

 

(32) “For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria.”

 

And there we see that God will get His point across,

Either by you or in spite of you.

 

AND SO HERE WE ARE TODAY

 

We are about to send 5 missionaries to Africa on mission.

If I could drive home any point to you this morning it would be this.

 

OBEY GOD FULLY

 

Certainly when you preach to others

You will tell them to fully obey God.

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 

We know you are going to tell them to obey.

 

THE COMMAND IS THE SAME FOR YOU.

• Be obedient to go.

• Be obedient to proclaim the gospel.

• And be obedient to the gospel that you preach.

 

You may have heard it put differently in our modern terms.

 

“If you are going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk.”

“Practice what you preach”

 

God is not only concerned about you proclaiming His message,

God is also concerned with you obeying His message.

 

 

When you go to this foreign country,

God expects nothing less of you than faithfulness.

 

CHRISTIANS KILL THEIR MINISTRY

BECAUSE THEY DO NOT OBEY THE MESSAGE THEY PREACH.

 

Our world is literally overcome with empty confessors.

Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

 

James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

 

What this world is desperate to see is a Christian

That preaches truth and follows Christ.

 

BE THAT TYPE OF CHRISTIAN IN ETHIOPIA.

 

BUT I ALSO THIS MORNING WANT TO PREACH TO US ALL.

 

We may not all be going to Ethiopia,

But we are all called on mission.

 

And this morning, I want to encourage you

To learn from this young prophet as well.

 

HALF-WAY OBEDIENCE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.

You cannot preach the message of truth to others

If you will not obey it in your own life.

 

You can’t tell people to repent – if you won’t.

You can’t tell people to submit – if you won’t

You can’t tell people to trust – if you don’t

 

YOUR OBEDIENCE MATTERS JUST AS MUCH AS YOUR MESSAGE.

If you don’t believe me, ask this “man of God”

 

 

 

THESE FIVE ARE FORCED TO COMMIT TO TOTAL OBEDIENCE.

This morning will you stand beside them

And commit to obey God unconditionally as well?

 

Every command has a purpose, and every command matters.

 

James 1:22-25 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”