Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002742
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00:08 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about the 00:16 character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:22 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:26 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:31 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:36 The message this morning I've titled Where Is Micaiah? Where 00:44 Is Micaiah? It's based upon a couple of passages in the Bible 00:50 that you'll find it's one of these examples where the story 00:55 can be found in two places. One is I Kings chapter 22. 00:59 That's the last chapter in I Kings. The other place you're 01:03 going to find the story we're talking about this morning is 01:07 II Chronicles 18. And in both places the entire chapter pretty 01:12 much is the theme for our story. Now I'd like to start with an 01:17 Amazing Fact. Have you ever heard someone use the expression 01:22 before they had a bullet with their name on it. During World 01:28 War II it was not uncommon for people to write names on their 01:32 bombs. They might write the name of Adolph Hitler. During the 01:36 Gulf War they wrote Saddam Hussein on the bombs when they 01:40 came from the air force factories or warehouses where 01:43 they were loaded up and they had bombs with people's names 01:47 on them. You know soldiers do that. But there is a very 01:50 interesting story about a young man who found a bomb with his 01:55 father's name on it. Back during World War II there were a couple 02:01 of American GI's in Australia and they were riding a patrol 02:06 that happened to be down a long air strip, a dirt air strip, out 02:10 in the outback somewhere and Japanese planes suddenly were 02:15 heard approaching to bomb the air strip. Well the GI's knew 02:19 there was nowhere to drive the jeep off the road in time so 02:24 they parked it real quick, jumped out of the jeep, 02:26 dove into the ditches on the side of the air field just in 02:29 time. They could hear the bombs whistling down and among the 02:33 many bombs that hit the air strip one made a direct hit on 02:36 the jeep that they had just been driving in. Pretty soon the 02:40 Japanese planes hummed off in the distance and left. And the 02:44 soldiers crawled out of the ditch and they could see the 02:47 smoldering ruins of their jeep that had suffered this direct 02:50 hit of one of the bombs. And as they were picking through the 02:54 rubble right in the vinyl seat they saw a large piece of 02:59 shrapnel. One of the soldiers as it cooled off he pulled out 03:02 this piece of shrapnel that struck the seat where he was 03:05 sitting. And he noticed there was something engraved on the 03:09 shrapnel and it was the name Ray Ewing. Well this really got 03:14 his attention because this young man was Curtis Ewing and his 03:19 father's name was Ray Ewing. And he tried to figure out how 03:24 in the world did somebody with the same name as my father get 03:28 his name etched on a piece of shrapnel here in Australia. 03:32 And they put two and two together and they realized that 03:36 back just before World War II his father had sold an old 03:41 Plymouth that he had. He had etched his name on a piece of 03:45 the engine, oil lid or something underneath the hood. That was 03:49 then sold to scrap which much of it went to Japan before the war 03:54 and somehow that piece of shrapnel, that piece of scrap 03:58 iron was put as ballast in this bomb and the reason that bomb 04:02 could not hurt him is because it had the love of his father's 04:06 name written on it. At least that's the spin I'm putting on 04:09 the story. However you want to spin it that's fine with me but 04:13 that's a pretty amazing fact. Well before our story's over 04:16 today you're going to find out that there was another missile 04:19 with someone's name on it. Just park that and we'll get there. 04:24 Turn with me to our passage in I Kings chapter 22, a very 04:30 important piece of biblical history. For most of the time 04:34 the Northern Kingdom, the 10 tribes, and the Southern 04:39 Kingdom of Judah were at war. But eventually there was a 04:43 delicate peace that was forged between the Northern Kingdom 04:47 then ruled by Ahab, does that name sound familiar, and the 04:51 Southern Kingdom then ruled by a good king called Jehoshaphat. 04:56 Sometimes confused as jumping Jehoshaphat. Nowhere does it say 05:00 he jumped. But that's the man. It turns out that Ahab's 05:07 daughter, Ahab and Jezebel's daughter, Athaliah, married the 05:11 son of Jehoshaphat and so they thought well since we're kin we 05:16 probably need to stop warring together. Now it was during this 05:21 time it tells us that Jehoshaphat went down 05:25 to Samaria to visit Ahab. It says in verse 2 chapter 22: It 05:30 came to pass in the third year, this was the third year of this 05:34 tenuous peace they had. It may also be the third year after the 05:39 marriage of Jorum with Athaliah, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah 05:43 went down to visit the king of Israel. Israel was now deeply 05:47 involved in idolatry. You remember Elijah with the 05:51 prophets of Baal? That happened just before this event. And the 05:55 king of Israel said to his servants, Do we not know that 06:00 Ramoth Gilead is ours but we hesitate to take it out of the 06:04 hand of Syria. So he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with 06:07 me to fight against Ramoth Gilead against the Syrians? 06:11 Now Ramoth Gilead was one of the cities of refuge. It used to be 06:15 part of the territory of Israel. It had been captured by the 06:19 Syrians. Ahab was very upset about this and he said the 06:22 Syrians have had this city that is part of our territory. 06:25 We need to fight and get it back. They were constantly at 06:28 war with each other. Matter of fact if you read the headlines 06:32 they're still at war today, Israel and Syria. And he said 06:36 to Jehoshaphat, look this used to be part of the 12 tribes. 06:40 Why don't you join me in this battle. The Syrians are common 06:45 enemies. And Jehoshaphat, he's at this visit with Ahab, he's 06:49 surrounded by Ahab's court and he wants to sound generous and 06:54 he says, I will go. He says, I am as you are. My people as your 06:58 people, my horses as your horses. We're with you. And then 07:03 he started reflecting and he said, well we want to make sure 07:08 the Lord is behind this. And he gets into trouble. Now you know 07:12 the reason he gets into trouble; Jehoshaphat nearly gets killed 07:16 before the story's over is because he got into a 07:18 compromising alliance. He got himself into a compromising 07:23 alliance. The Bible tells us that we should not be friends 07:28 of God's enemies. Jesus said, Can two walk together unless 07:33 they are agreed. And again, the Bible tells us, Do not be 07:37 unequally yoked. Christians sometimes go into business 07:40 partnerships with unbelievers and you're going to find 07:44 yourself in a compromising situation when that happens. 07:47 Ahab was worshipping Baal. The prophets of Ahab were 07:51 worshipping Ashtoreth and different pagan gods and here 07:55 Jehoshaphat, he had the priests, the Levites. They were 07:58 worshipping Jehovah. He said this is going to be a problem. 08:01 So for him to say, we're going to go to war together, that was 08:04 a mistake. And he realized that maybe this didn't feel right and 08:08 so he said well let's pray about this. Let's inquire of the Lord. 08:12 That's always a good principle. Before you're going to make any 08:17 big decision inquire of the Lord Before you're going to go to 08:21 battle... every so often we just run off to war and we don't say 08:26 is this really what God wants us to do? Pray about it. So he says 08:31 let's consult with the Lord and let's pray and so Ahab said, hey 08:35 no problem. We've got priests here we've hired. They're on the 08:39 payroll, let's put them to use. Now let me remind you about the 08:44 difference between the priests in Judea and the priests in the 08:49 Northern Kingdom of Israel. In Judea the priests were the 08:53 Levites, the sons of Levi or they were the sons of Aaron. 08:58 They worshipped in the temple. They went by the word of God and 09:02 they did not pray to idols. In the Northern Kingdom, they had 09:05 turned to idolatry as soon as the Northern Kingdom separated 09:10 during the time of Jeroboam. He set up these golden calves and 09:14 they began to worship the calves and pray to them. Then by the 09:17 time of Ahab they were praying to Baal, they were praying to 09:20 Ashtoreth, they were praying to all the pagan gods that Jezebel 09:23 was setting up. You remember when Elijah had the showdown 09:27 on Mount Carmel between him and 400 prophets of Baal and 450 09:31 prophets of Ashtoreth and there was this big showdown. This just 09:35 happened. Evidently there were still some false prophets left. 09:39 And so Ahab said no problem, I'll call in my prophets. 09:46 In verse 6 the king of Israel gathered the prophets together 09:51 about 400 men... In the 10 tribes they had about 40 09:54 assigned per tribe. And he said to them, shall we go against 09:59 Ramoth Gilead to fight or shall I refrain? Well you know 10:04 prophets don't like to give bad news when they're on the payroll 10:07 they want to tell the king what he wants to hear. Everybody 10:11 heard Ahab say we ought to get Ramoth Gilead back. That's ours, 10:14 I want it back. So they didn't want to tell the king something 10:18 that he didn't want to hear so they preached something pleasing 10:23 to him. And they said to the king, go and prosper. Go up for 10:27 the Lord will deliver it into your hand. Well we don't know 10:31 where they got their information but it wasn't from the Lord. 10:35 They didn't serve the Lord. And Jehoshaphat noticed something 10:40 was wrong. He saw all of the fanfare, the way the prophets 10:43 were carrying on and he realized these are not prophets of 10:46 Jehovah. They don't act like that. Remember how the prophets 10:49 of Baal acted. They danced on the mountain, they cut 10:52 themselves with lances, they carried on, they beat the drums 10:55 and they put on this big ceremony and said go and 11:00 prosper and he said this doesn't look right. This is not how they 11:03 worship Jehovah. These are not prophets of Jehovah. I can't be 11:07 getting my message from these prophets of Baal or these 11:10 prophets of Ashtoreth. You know we don't know who they were 11:13 exactly because Elijah we thought had eradicated most 11:15 of the prophets of Baal. It didn't take long for new ones 11:19 to come in. But they were all Ahab's false prophets. Jezebel 11:22 probably sent out for resumes as soon as Elijah had killed all 11:26 the prophets, she began to hire a whole new crew, a whole flock 11:29 of other prophets. And Jehoshaphat said, notice this. 11:35 Verse 7, I'm in I Kings 22 verse Is there not still a prophet 11:41 of the Lord, and the word Lord there means Jehovah, that we may 11:47 inquire of him. I mean you know just out of respect for me have 11:54 you know that I worship Jehovah. The temple is still in Jerusalem 11:56 and not to say anything unkind about your prophets but I'd 11:59 really like to have Jehovah's word on this. Don't you have any 12:03 prophets of Jehovah left in Samaria? And listen to Ahab's 12:08 response: The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is 12:15 one man. How sad that Israel had come to the place where there 12:20 was only one man left. When it came to false prophets how many 12:26 were there? At least 400. When it came to true prophets there 12:31 was only one left. You now that statement when I read it gives 12:37 me goose bumps. There is still one man. How did the church get 12:42 to the place where they could have 400 false prophets that 12:45 would tell the people what they were itching to hear and only 12:49 one true prophet? And that's not the first time that it's 12:53 happened. You remember Nebuchadnezzar. He brought in 12:57 all of his wise men and counselors and none of them 13:00 could interpret what the dream meant, but there was a man and 13:03 they called for Daniel. The Pharaoh, he brought in all of 13:06 his wise men and counselors to help him understand his 13:09 prophetic dream. Couldn't find anybody and then all of a sudden 13:13 the butler remembered. He says you know there is a man left 13:17 that does understand dreams and they sent for Joseph. Through 13:22 history it seems like the majority often goes with 13:24 conventional wisdom and false prophecy but God still has his 13:29 people out there that will tell the truth. Now he had all of 13:33 these false prophets lined up that were saying go and prosper. 13:37 But Jehoshaphat said you know this just doesn't sound right, 13:41 it doesn't feel right. They're not worshipping their God the 13:45 way we worship Jehovah. But they were doing it in the name of 13:50 Jehovah. Has the church come to the same place today as back in 13:55 those days? You've got a lot of people who are telling the kings 14:00 what they're itching to hear, telling the people. This was 14:03 sort of like a military war party. I could see it now. 14:06 All of them together beat the drum and say go and prosper, go 14:10 and prosper, prosper, prosper, go and prosper. And they carried 14:15 on and they called it a praise song. You know it just didn't 14:21 sound like what Jehoshaphat was used to hearing in the temple 14:27 back in Jerusalem. And he said can't we bring a prophet of the 14:32 Lord? And it's interesting. Ahab knew there was still a prophet 14:36 of the Lord but he said he's a party pooper. There is one man 14:41 left but I really don't want to call him. Now I want you to 14:45 make sure you've got a picture of what's going on here. It says 14:50 in verse 10: The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the King of 14:54 Judah having put on their robes, they sat each on his throne. 14:58 They set up a throne for Jehoshaphat and of course Ahab 15:00 had his throne and here they are at this great threshing 15:03 floor. Those were great big flat areas where they would thresh 15:06 the wheat and it was not being used for wheat then because it's 15:09 spring... big threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of 15:12 Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them and the 15:16 military is there and all the courtiers and the regalia and it 15:19 is a very impressive scene. Two kings of Israel, finally 15:22 together at last after all these years of civil war. And now they 15:27 are going to show their unity because they're going to go 15:30 fight together the same battle. But it's not what God wanted. 15:33 So everyone could get caught up in the scene. And as the 15:39 musicians played and the prophets prophesied 15:42 Jehoshaphat's squirming. He says maybe I shouldn't have come. 15:46 This doesn't feel right. Am I getting roped into something I 15:50 shouldn't be involved in? He had just made this vow, my horses 15:54 are like your horses, my chariots are like your chariots, 15:57 my men are like your men. We're going to be with you in the war. 16:02 Why would the king of Jerusalem and Judah want to hand over his 16:07 soldiers to a king that's married to Jezebel. 16:10 That wouldn't seem like a safe thing to do. Why would you want 16:14 to put your forces at the disposal of someone that had 16:17 been rebuked by Elijah for his wickedness. He got caught up in 16:23 what was politically correct. I can't think of any better way to 16:29 say it. This was an example of the king of the Lord getting 16:33 caught up in what was politically correct. This is a 16:35 politician's fall. And he says isn't there are prophet of the 16:41 Lord left. And the king says, there is still one man. His name 16:47 is Micaiah the son of Imlah by whom we might inquire of the 16:52 Lord. Now I want to just pause here for a moment. When he talks 16:57 about Micaiah the name Micaiah means who is like Jehovah. It's 17:02 similar to the name Micah or Michael. It means who is like 17:05 God, who is like Jehovah. And he's the son of Imlah. Imlah 17:09 means full and basically his name means who is like Jehovah 17:13 and he is full of the Holy Spirit. Now how many of you have 17:18 heard of Elijah before? How many of you have heard of Elisha? 17:23 Heard of John the Baptist, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Daniel? 17:28 How many people really know about Micaiah. You know one 17:34 reason you don't know much about Micaiah is because every time he 17:38 told the truth Ahab would throw him in jail. And it's probably 17:42 where he spent a good time of his prophetic ministry but even 17:45 after he got out of jail he still was going to tell the 17:49 truth. Now talk about an introduction; if you were going 17:54 to be brought out to be the after-dinner speaker. He says 17:59 there is one prophet left. His name is Micaiah the son of Imlah 18:04 by whom we might inquire of Jehovah, but I hate him because 18:08 he doesn't prophesy good concerning me but evil. I don't 18:13 like him one bit. He never says anything good about me. 18:17 I suppose he could have said the same thing about Elijah, right? 18:20 You remember what Ahab said about Elijah. Have you found me 18:24 oh my enemy? Why was he the enemy? Because Elijah told him 18:29 the truth. Galatians chapter 4 verse 16, 18:38 Paul says to the church: Have I therefore become your enemy 18:44 because I tell you the truth? Truth is usually the enemy of 18:50 the world. Jesus said in Matthew 24 you will be hated of all 18:56 nations for my name's sake. If you tell the truth, if you 19:00 preach the truth, if you live the truth, you're going to be 19:04 hated. And the world will look upon you as their enemy. Matter 19:08 of fact, the Bible tells us whoever is the friend of the 19:10 world is the enemy of God. And don't try to be popular with the 19:15 world. That's not very good because Jesus said Woe unto you 19:19 when all men speak well of you for so they did of the false 19:23 prophets. True prophets are almost never popular. And if you 19:27 live in the truth and if you're speaking the truth, you can't 19:31 do that and also run for a popularity contest. But we're 19:34 living in the days where instead of preachers reading the 19:37 word of God they're reading how to make friends and influence 19:41 people. Instead of the pulpit being a place where the truth is 19:45 proclaimed it's becoming a sounding board where people 19:48 can hear what they want to hear echoed back at them. And that 19:54 doesn't save people. Woe unto you when all men speak well of 19:59 you. Somebody said one time, I don't judge a man by the friends 20:05 he keeps, I judge him by his enemies. And it's actually a 20:11 compliment when Ahab says he's your enemy. I mean would you 20:16 want to be a friend of Goliath or the enemy of Goliath? 20:21 Not only should you choose your friends very well but choose 20:25 your enemies well. You know what I mean by that? Friendship with 20:30 the world is enmity with God. You can't serve both. So if you 20:34 want everybody to love you, and I'll be the first to admit, I 20:38 like to be liked and I think if you're honest you would say you 20:43 like to be liked too. But you can't be liked by everybody in 20:47 this world if you're living for truth. If you stand up for truth 20:51 some are going to count you their enemy and you just got 20:53 to get used to it. You can't make everybody happy. I'd go 20:56 crazy if I tried to please everybody. Now I get a lot of 20:59 mail and I get a lot of very nice mail. People say kind 21:03 things, encouraging things and I really do appreciate that. 21:05 I can't keep up with it all. I do my best to try to respond 21:10 as much as I can. But not all my mail is nice. Some of the 21:14 mail is criticism and I try to read that. Matter of fact, I 21:17 value that in some ways even more. You know you stand at the 21:20 door after church and people want to be courteous. They say 21:23 thank you very much, good sermon and you know what else you 21:25 supposed to say. So I appreciate that. But when someone comes to 21:29 me at the door and they say pastor you made a mistake, that 21:33 gets my attention. And sometimes there's a critique and I 21:35 appreciate that. Sometimes they're wrong and I say well 21:38 thank you very much but I just don't agree with them. Sometimes 21:42 they're right and I have to store that and try and process 21:46 it. But you can't live where you're a slave to everybody's 21:50 likes and dislikes. You've got to make up your mind what truth 21:54 is and follow the truth and just realize you're not going to be 21:59 popular with everybody. Micaiah made up his mind he was going 22:04 to live for the Lord. And you've got to pick your enemies very 22:07 well. I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning 22:12 me. Why didn't he prophesy good concerning Ahab. Because Ahab 22:16 was bad. You can't prophesy good concerning a bad king. 22:23 And evidently he had been put in jail more than once for that. 22:28 You know it was too bad that Ahab thought of Micaiah as his 22:34 enemy because really Micaiah was the best friend that Ahab had 22:40 because if Ahab had listened to Micaiah his whole reign would 22:44 have been different. It's your friends that tell you the truth 22:49 even when the truth hurts. Isn't that right? It's like if you've 22:53 got a friend and they're getting ready to get in their car and 22:56 they've been drinking and you don't say anything, you're not 23:00 their friend. You want to keep your friends from destroying 23:05 themselves. You know what I'm saying? Friends do tell you when 23:10 you're doing wrong. Proverbs 27 verse 6: Faithful are the wounds 23:16 of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Back to our 23:21 story. So Ahab is complaining to Jehoshaphat and he says I hate 23:26 him. He never says anything good concerning me but only evil. And 23:30 Jehoshaphat said Ah come on, give him a chance. So the king 23:34 of Israel called an officer. He said bring Micaiah the son of 23:38 Imlah quickly. Now we don't know if he was just living in Samaria 23:42 or they knew where to find him because he was still jail. The 23:45 Bible is not clear on that but they knew where to find him. 23:48 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, they're on their 23:51 thrones and in the meantime while they're waiting to fetch 23:54 Micaiah this is turning into quite a pep rally. All the 23:57 prophets are saying go and prosper, God's going to give you 24:01 victory over the Syrians. And one of the false prophets, his 24:04 name is Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah. He made horns of 24:09 iron for himself and he said thus: With these you shall 24:13 destroy the Syrians, you shall push the Syrians till they are 24:17 destroyed, the same way that a bull pushes and gores his enemy. 24:22 He made these horns and boy it was quite a show. He began to 24:26 push and say this is how victorious you're going to be. 24:29 And they were all applauding and hooting and saying amen, this is 24:34 wonderful. It all sounded good but that service that they had 24:40 that day was embedded in a lie. It doesn't matter if you've got 24:44 400 people saying something, it doesn't make a lie the truth. 24:49 It doesn't matter if you've got 10,000 denominations that say 24:53 something and they all agree and they have a meeting and they 24:56 vote it, if it's different from the word of the Lord it doesn't 25:02 make it true. A lie is a lie no matter how you cloak it. But the 25:08 truth is not always popular. People want smooth things 25:11 preached to them. As they're fetching Micaiah the messenger 25:17 brings him and he says look Micaiah you've got a reputation 25:22 for being a real party pooper. They're having a good time there 25:27 everybody's there, the kings are dressed up, the music is great. 25:31 Folks are excited. We're going to go fight the Syrians, we're 25:35 going to win, we're going to get back Ramoth Gilead. So something 25:38 positive, be up and positive. You know, periodically I have 25:44 people come to me and they say Pastor Doug you know we 25:48 appreciate your preaching but you're just a little bit too 25:52 works oriented. We'd like to hear more grace. You know we 25:57 have enough problems during the week. When we come to church we 26:01 need encouragement. And I want to be encouraging and I believe 26:06 in grace but I don't think it should only be grace. If all you 26:10 do is play one note on the piano all the time then pretty soon 26:14 it might be a nice note, it might be a major key but if 26:19 that's the only note you play it doesn't make music after a 26:22 while. So many sermons that I hear these days are just so 26:28 insipid, I got that word from Pastor Mike I've been waiting 26:32 for chance to use it and they're so watered down and everything 26:38 is just positive thinking and prosperity preaching and people 26:43 aren't just... There's no grist, there's no fiber in the food. 26:48 It's all so hyper refined all they get is empty calories. 26:54 Smooth things. And so this messenger says let your word be 27:00 like the word of one of them and speak what is good. It reminds 27:05 me of Isaiah 30 verse 9: This is a rebellious people. By the 27:08 way the reason I'm preaching this message is I believe that 27:12 we're living in a generation right now that is repeating the 27:16 history of ancient Israel. God's people like Jehoshaphat, he was 27:20 a good king, Southern Kingdom, and by wanting to be popular 27:24 are compromising our convictions with the other tribes that used 27:29 to worship the Lord and we're wanting to be accepted. We're 27:34 wanting to be like them. We're making alliances and so we're 27:39 inquiring of these false prophets. It reminds me of the 27:44 time when the King of Israel got sick and he sent his messengers 27:48 to Beelzebub the god of Ekron to find out whether he was going 27:52 get well or not. And Elijah interrupted the messengers. 27:55 He said you go back and tell the king of Israel you're going 27:57 to die. Is there no God in Israel that you would inquire 28:00 of the God of Israel that you're going to Beelzebub, the god of 28:04 Ekron to get the truth? And you know I wonder sometimes the 28:09 things I hear in the background noise. It's like I hear the 28:13 pastors are consulting political parties to find out what the 28:17 truth is. Or they're looking and finding out what churches are 28:20 growing irrespective of what they believe and they say let's 28:24 go and study under these pastors to find out how we can 28:29 grow. And they're going to Beelzebub the god of Ekron to 28:34 find out how to grow God's church. And we end up getting 28:39 caught up in their battles and God has given us our mandate. 28:43 It's the three angels message. Babylon is fallen, come out of 28:47 her. How can we give the message Babylon is fallen, come out of 28:50 her if we're now fraternizing with Babylon. While we're 28:54 supposed to be calling people out of Babylon we're drifting 28:59 in. This is a rebellious people. Lying children. I'm still at 29:04 Isaiah 30 verse 9. Children who will not hear the law of the 29:09 Lord who say to the seers, the prophets, do not see and to the 29:13 prophets do not prophesy to us right things. Speak to us smooth 29:19 things. Prophesy deceits. You know one of the biggest crises 29:25 that we have in North America right now is obesity. Sorry, 29:30 don't want to be unkind. I'm not picking on any one in particular 29:36 because you realize according to the statistics now it's 60 per 29:41 cent and above. And not just adults, children. How'd we get 29:47 that way? Cause we like smooth things. We want an easy life. 29:52 We want autodial on our phones, remote controls and cruse 29:55 control and the only muscles we've got in our bodies are our 30:00 forefinger and thumb for dialing our PDAs and because we don't 30:06 rough it anymore we're killing ourselves. Smooth things. 30:11 I heard about years ago this missionary was working down in 30:16 some of the South Pacific Islands and they worked among a 30:20 noble people there and through his labors the chief who was a 30:25 wonderful physical specimen, tall, strong, muscular, well 30:30 defined and mouth full of pearly white teeth and noble high cheek 30:35 bones and physique and his whole tribe ended up embracing 30:39 Christianity and the mission was prospering and so the pastor 30:42 said you know we need to go on a furlough and I need to bring 30:46 you back to the states with me because if we go from church to 30:49 church we can do fund raising, we can build a new school, we 30:52 can build churches all over the islands and the king Ajit said 30:56 okay I'll go. This is a true story. He flew back to North 31:03 America and of course he could barely get his feet in American 31:08 shoes. He kept all of his regalia that he wore, you know 31:12 the feathers and the dress so that when he'd do a presentation 31:15 in the church and talk about the mission work and this is what we 31:18 used to look like and we were a war-like people and we were 31:21 cannibals and Christianity came and now here I am. I'm dressed 31:25 up in a suit and I can fit my feet in these shoes and. Boy it 31:29 would really impress people when they saw the transformation that 31:33 the gospel would make. But in the six months they were on this 31:36 furlough as they made their circuit across the country with 31:39 this denomination, visiting their different churches and 31:41 fund raising for the mission work was very successful. But 31:44 something started happening. The king was eating all this mush 31:47 that we eat. I mean, he was used to breaking coconuts with 31:52 his teeth and chewing on palm fronds and things and now all of 31:57 sudden he was just eating all these Twinkies. And instead of 32:01 hiking around the island and working with his people and 32:04 fishing and rowing now he's just sitting in a car and a bus and 32:09 sitting in a church and he started getting a little rotund 32:13 very quickly. Some of his teeth started getting loose on him. 32:18 His color changed, he began to look kind of hollow. By the time 32:23 he came back to his people after six months they barely 32:25 recognized their king. He was just a shell of the man he used 32:29 to be and what nearly killed him was the smooth living that we're 32:32 so accustomed to. Our idea of success. Well that same 32:37 principle applies to theology. If we don't have enough fiber 32:42 in our messages it destroys us spiritually. You not only need 32:47 to hear about the grace, you need to hear about the law. 32:49 You not only need the promises, you need the warnings. What you 32:52 need is the whole truth because it's the truth that sets you 32:56 free. But it's part of my personal entertainment 33:01 is cruising around the radio stations and the television 33:04 stations Sunday and listening to the different messages and 33:08 messengers and you hear some good things. But prevalently it 33:13 is peace, peace. It is smooth things. It is feel good. It is 33:17 how can I have what I want from God now in this life to make me 33:22 comfortable? How can I feel good about myself and have my esteem 33:26 bolstered? Instead of hearing what Jesus said and what John 33:30 the Baptist said. You know what they said? Repent of your sins. 33:33 If you do not repent you will perish. Do not make unholy 33:39 alliances with the world. Come out, be separate, be different. 33:43 Don't be conformed, be transformed. 33:46 And Jehoshaphat was beginning to conform. Very dangerous. So the 33:54 messenger gets Micaiah and he says don't ruin the party. Say 33:59 good things and you know what Micaiah's response was. I Kings 34:04 22:14, you might underline this. And Micaiah said, As the Lord 34:11 lives whatever the Lord says to me that will I speak. I am going 34:16 say what the word of God says. And he might have gotten taken 34:20 out of jail in order to give this message but he still gave 34:26 the message. I'm going to tell the truth. Truth's not always 34:31 popular. Lies are pretty popular Who was it, Mark Twain, that 34:34 said a lie can travel half way around the world while truth 34:39 is putting on its shoes. A lie will usually have 400 prophets 34:42 where the truth will have only one. And if you're waiting for 34:46 the day for the truth and God's church to be popular, to be 34:50 accepted, God have mercy on us if we ever get to that place. 34:53 Because Jesus said if they've hated me they're going to hate 34:58 you. I'd like to read something from the book called Historical 35:04 Sketches page 290. Where are the soldiers of the cross of 35:09 Christ. Let the god-fearing, the honest, the single-hearted look 35:12 steadfastly to the glory of God prepare themselves for the 35:16 battle against error. There are too many faint, cowardly hearts 35:21 in this hour of spiritual conflict. Oh that out of 35:23 weakness they might be made strong, they might wax valiant 35:28 in the fight and put to flight the armies of the aliens. 35:32 You know Jehoshaphat said is there a prophet of the Lord that 35:36 we can find out what the Lord wants. Do you really want to 35:40 know what the Lord wants? And are we willing to do what he 35:45 says? Micaiah said As the Lord lives whatever the Lord says 35:50 that will I speak. Verse 15: Then he came to the king and the 35:54 king said to him, Micaiah, this is Ahab speaking, shall we 35:58 go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall we refrain. Go fight, 36:03 don't fight. Now he saw what was happening when he got there. 36:08 The floor show was still in full swing. He saw the prophets, he 36:13 saw Zedekiah running around with his iron horns. He heard every 36:17 one shouting go and prosper, go and prosper as he was 36:20 approaching the assembly. He saw the kings there with their 36:23 sequins glittering in the sun and the band and all the royal 36:28 courtiers. I mean, it was a very impressive scene. And then this 36:32 one lone man is brought into this pep rally saying we're 36:35 going to win, we're going to beat them, we're going to 36:37 trounce them. And they said what do you want us to do. What's 36:42 your message from the Lord. Talk about pressure. Boy it takes 36:45 real courage to be in an environment like that where what 36:49 you say is going to be just a wet rag on the whole party. 36:53 And so you know what he did? He was very clever. He used a 36:57 little bit of humor and sarcasm to show them what they were 37:00 doing. They weren't really asking him what the Lord was 37:03 going to say. They were asking him to say what they wanted him 37:08 to say. You tell us what we want to hear. Preach smooth things. 37:13 So you know what he said? Shall we go up to fight? And he 37:17 answered go and prosper for the Lord will deliver it into the 37:21 hand of the king. And he looks around at all the false prophets 37:25 and evidently it was obvious from the way he said it that 37:28 there was something wrong. That he didn't really mean it. 37:31 He said you really want me to say the truth or do you want me 37:34 to just say what you want me to say. Here, let me tell you what 37:38 you really want me to say. Go and prosper. There's sarcasm in 37:42 there. You know how I know that? King Ahab, next verse, the king 37:46 says how many times shall I make you swear that you tell me 37:49 nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord. Boy, of all 37:52 people to say that, Ahab was the last person that had the right 37:54 to say that. You know there's a lot of preachers in other 37:57 churches that preach lies and they say the word of the Lord. 38:00 We go by the word of the Lord. They say that but they don't. 38:03 They don't really mean it. I mean, here's Ahab of all people 38:07 saying you tell me what the word of the Lord is. What right does 38:11 he have to say that? But he knew that Micaiah was being sarcastic 38:15 didn't he? Or he wouldn't have said that. Micaiah said okay you 38:19 really want the truth? Do you really want the truth? Let me 38:23 ask you. Do you really want the truth? Do you want the truth 38:26 because you're curious or do you want the truth because you want 38:30 to live it? He said all right. Here's the message from the Lord 38:35 Verse 17: I saw all Israel, that's the 10 tribes, scattered 38:39 on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord 38:44 said, these have no master. Let everyone return to his house in 38:48 peace. What does that mean? The shepherd, the king, no more king 38:53 he's gone, he died. It's a very clear message and as soon as he 38:57 says that Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat and he stomps his 39:01 foot, I threw that in, it doesn't say that. And he said 39:04 didn't I tell you that you wouldn't say anything good 39:07 concerning me but only evil. He's bad news. I mean isn't the 39:11 gospel supposed to be good news? What's all this about judgment? 39:16 Bad news. The Micaiah said look I'm not done yet. Micaiah said, 39:21 and now he tells an allegory to help illustrate what's going on. 39:26 And Micaiah says therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw 39:30 the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven 39:34 standing by on his right hand and on his left. Right and left 39:38 would mean the truth and falsehood. And the Lord said who 39:43 will persuade Ahab to go up that he might fall at Ramoth Gilead. 39:47 So one spoke in this manner and one spoke in another. Evidently 39:51 all these angels, these spirits are up there and they're making 39:55 suggestions to the Lord about how can we ensnare Ahab to fall. 39:59 By the way, friends, does the Lord need counselors? Trick 40:07 question. Does God need to learn anything? Does God ever go to 40:12 school? Does the Lord need counselors to tell him what to 40:17 do or is this an allegory? I mean only one of the few times 40:20 I can think of in the Bible where Jesus asked anybody's 40:23 advice was when he, for the purpose of teaching a lesson, 40:26 he said to Phillip, where will we find bread for all this 40:28 multitude? But Jesus already knew what he was going to do 40:32 didn't he? I mean, he doesn't need counselors. So this is an 40:35 allegory to teach a lesson. Who will persuade Ahab to go? 40:38 One said this, one said that, then, verse 21, A spirit came 40:42 forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade 40:46 him. And the Lord said, in what way? He said I will go out and 40:50 be a lying spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets. And the 40:55 Lord said you shall persuade him also and prevail. Go out and do 41:00 so. Now Micaiah still speaking, therefore look the Lord has put 41:04 a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours and 41:08 the Lord has declared disaster against you. You're going to 41:12 listen to the majority of the liars instead of the few who are 41:15 teaching the truth. What's going to happen in the last days? 41:19 It says that three unclean spirits like frogs come out of 41:22 the mouth of the beast, out of the dragon and the false 41:25 prophets and they go forth, false prophets, to the kings of 41:28 the earth. They're the majority and they persuade them to go 41:31 to the battle of Armageddon where who's going to perish 41:33 there? They're going to perish. This is a repetition revelation 41:39 of what you're reading here in I Kings. He knew he wouldn't 41:44 listen. Oh, by the way, you might be saying Pastor Doug 41:48 I'm still struggling with that spot where it said the Lord sent 41:51 a lying spirit. Why would God send a lying spirit? Again, 41:54 we're speaking in allegories here. Only good and truth comes 41:58 from the Lord, but the Lord withdrew his Spirit from those 42:01 prophets and he allowed the lying spirits on the left side 42:05 to go and to persuade Ahab. Is that clear? The Hebrews often 42:08 spoke in this language believing that God is ultimately 42:12 sovereign and so he would take credit for everything because 42:15 God must at least withdraw his power for the devil to do 42:19 anything. Remember the story of Job? And so Micaiah basically 42:23 in the presence of all these 400 prophets he says they're 42:28 filled with the spirit of the devil. They are filled with a 42:33 lying spirit. They are not telling the truth. They're lying 42:37 Boy that's pretty bold to do that. It certainly won't get you 42:41 a raise as a prophet on the king's payroll to say something 42:45 like that. But there's a lot out there that are saying Lord, Lord 42:48 and they're doing their own thing. So Zedekiah one of the 42:53 false prophets who had just put on the show, he's feeling 42:56 convicted by this and so to resist the conviction he... 43:00 it says he struck Micaiah on the cheek. You remember when Jesus 43:05 stood before the high priest when he was being tried and the 43:09 soldier standing by when Christ told the truth, he was struck on 43:14 the face. And Jesus said look, if I'm lying tell me what I said 43:19 wrong but if I'm telling the truth why did you hit me? 43:21 Why did Zedekiah hit Micaiah? Because Micaiah told the truth. 43:26 And then he says sarcastically, Zedekiah says, which way did 43:31 the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you? I've got the 43:34 Spirit of the Lord. I don't remember him leaving me to give 43:39 you any message. And Micaiah said, Indeed you will see on 43:44 that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide. You have 43:48 been so bold in claiming that you've got the Spirit of the 43:51 Lord and this is the message of the Lord and when you are proven 43:55 wrong you're going to go be hiding and quivering, not only 43:57 from embarrassment but because the Syrians are going to sweep 44:02 across the land. Then the king of Israel said... Now he's got 44:07 to make a decision. He's trying to get the additional forces. 44:10 You see Ahab's got a dilemma. He wants to fight the Syrians, 44:14 he wants to get Ramoth Gilead back for himself. He can't do it 44:18 without the additional forces of Jehoshaphat. Here he's got 400 44:22 prophets that are saying go and win. One prophet who says I 44:26 serve Jehovah that says it's going to be a disaster and Ahab 44:30 is going to die. And he says look, this is one out of 400. 44:34 What are you going to do Jehoshaphat? And now 44:36 Jehoshaphat's in a dilemma and Ahab sends off Micaiah. He says 44:40 he's crazy. I told he never says anything good. It's always bad. 44:44 Don't listen to him. Negative, Negative, Negative. We don't 44:48 want the listen to him. But he was telling the truth even 44:52 though it's not popular sometimes. And the king 44:56 of Israel said, put this fellow in prison. Take him and return 45:00 him to Amnon the governor of the city and to Josiah the king's 45:04 son and say thus says the king: Put this fellow in prison and 45:09 feed him with the bread of affliction and the water of 45:11 affliction until I come again in peace. That's not a very good 45:15 sentence. Not only is he saying bread and water, he's saying 45:19 bread of affliction and water of affliction. That means he's 45:22 probably put in a dingy cell, put in the stocks, given bare 45:25 survival rations. The king doesn't want to kill him 45:29 because of course there's always that remote possibility that he 45:32 is right. Did Ahab have that experience before where he's 45:35 got one Elijah who's right and hundreds of prophets that are 45:38 wrong? He said just in case. Don't kill him, put him in 45:42 prison. And Micaiah is very bold He said, if you ever return in 45:49 peace the Lord has not spoken by me. And then for all the 45:53 people to hear Micaiah says Listen to me now people, you've 45:57 all heard this people, you've heard the truth. And you know, 46:02 my question for you, summed up in the sermon title. Where is 46:06 Micaiah today? Where are the prophets who are telling the 46:12 truth. They are talking about sin and salvation. They're 46:16 telling us that we shouldn't be involved in these unholy 46:20 alliances with unbelievers and the world or even Christians in 46:25 apostasy. That we shouldn't be seeking for popularity but we 46:30 should be living for Jehovah. Fighting in the wrong battles 46:35 that are not ours. You know the devil's got so many diversionary 46:39 tactics out there and if everything else fails the devil 46:45 will try and get us to just waste our time. So, verse 29: 46:50 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah 46:54 went up to Ramoth Gilead. What are you doing Jehoshaphat? You 46:57 asked for a prophet of the Lord. You got a prophet of the Lord. 47:00 He said don't go and you're still going. Evidently he felt 47:04 the peer pressure and he said well you know maybe Micaiah is a 47:09 little negative and he went against his conscience. 47:14 Now Jehoshaphat was a good king but he shouldn't have been there 47:17 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat went up to 47:20 Ramoth Gilead. They're going to battle anyway. And the king of 47:24 Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I'll disguise myself and go into the 47:28 battle but you put on your robes Now I would have been real 47:32 suspicious. Why do you think Ahab said that? He said you know 47:36 if I'm dressed up like the king and if the prophecy said the 47:39 king is going to die maybe if I'm dressed up like a common 47:41 soldier and I'll stay on the outskirts of the battle. I'm not 47:44 going to go right on the front lines. I am going to play it 47:48 safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to me. If I see 47:51 them starting to approach me, I'm in my chariot, I've got the 47:54 fastest horses. We're out of here. He's being extremely 47:58 cautious. He's thinking that he's going to somehow confound 48:00 the prophecy of Micaiah. He should have known better. 48:03 After all his experience with Elijah. I'll disguise myself and 48:11 then he tells Jehoshaphat you put on your robes. Now Ahab 48:15 might be thinking to himself my daughter has married the 48:20 son of the king of Judah. Why I could get all of Judah, southern 48:23 and northern kingdom all under me if Jehoshaphat dies. Yeah you 48:26 go ahead, put on your crown Jehoshaphat. You put on your 48:29 robes. Jehoshaphat was a good man but he maybe wasn't very 48:33 smart this day. And he does it. Now little did he know, verse 31 48:38 the king of Syria had commanded his 32 captains of his chariots 48:43 saying fight with no one small or great but only the king of 48:48 Israel, that's Ahab. He especially hated Ahab. 48:51 He said if you can get rid of that king the people will lose 48:54 heart. Don't mess around with all the other forces. Find out 48:57 where the king is and get him. Strike the shepherd and the 49:00 sheep will scatter. So it was when the captains of the 49:03 chariots, the Syrian chariots, in the midst of the intensity 49:07 of the battle the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat 49:10 and they said to themselves, this is the king of Israel. 49:13 They could not tell from a distance. He was in royal robes. 49:16 Therefore they turned aside to fight against him and all these 49:20 captains are charging and just trying to get Jehoshaphat. He's 49:23 totally outnumbered and Jehoshaphat cried out. 49:26 That might be when he started jumping, jumping Jehoshaphat. 49:31 He was praying. Well he prayed earlier about what to do and God 49:36 said don't go to battle. And now he's disobeyed the Lord and he's 49:40 gone to battle. Don't forget that sometimes you disobey the 49:45 Lord can you still pray that God will get you out of the trouble 49:48 you're in because you did the wrong thing. Ah God is so 49:52 patient. He could have just withdrawn his protection and 49:56 said I told you not to go. But God heard his prayer again. 50:01 He cried out and it happened when the captains of the 50:05 chariots saw him that he was not the king of Israel that they 50:08 turned back from pursuing him. Maybe when he was praying they 50:12 realized that's not Ahab. Ahab doesn't pray to Jehovah. Turn 50:17 away. And it happened when the captains of the chariots saw him 50:21 they turned back. Verse 34, this is the amazing story about a 50:26 bomb with your name on it. Now a certain man drew back a bow 50:32 at random and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of 50:38 his armor. You know, you can't miss this. He drew his bow at a 50:44 chance. That almost sounds like they're just firing into the air 50:48 in the general direction of the enemy. He's not aiming at any 50:52 specific target and the way it's worded makes it sound like this 50:56 arrow was almost a stray arrow. It's almost like it was... 50:59 You know sometimes they had buzzards beginning to circle the 51:02 battlefields even before the battle was over. It's like the 51:07 arrow ricochets off the beak of a buzzard and God guides that 51:11 arrow with the little wisps of the wind and the configuration 51:15 of the feathers, God guides that arrow. Ahab is on the outskirts 51:20 of the battle. He's covered from bow to stern with armor, but he 51:24 had a little joint in his armor in his side and that arrow 51:29 managed to find that one spot because it had his name on it. 51:33 It was an arrow of prophecy and an arrow of judgment and you 51:37 can't escape the word of God. There's nowhere, you can be at 51:40 the bottom of the ocean. He's going to find you. He found 51:44 Jonah out in the middle of the sea. You can't run from the 51:49 word of God. And it says he drew his bow and it struck him 51:54 between the joints of his armor and he felt it and he said to 51:57 the driver of the chariot, turn around take me out of the battle 52:01 for I am wounded. I am seriously wounded. And the battle 52:05 increased that day and the king was propped up in his chariot. 52:09 They thought look if my soldiers see that I'm down they're going 52:13 to get discouraged. Ahab was so stubborn. Instead of going and 52:16 getting medical attention. Who knows what would have happened 52:19 if he had humbled himself. Stubbornly he propped himself up 52:24 so everyone could see him and there he was propped up bleeding 52:28 to death pierced in the side. That's interesting to think 52:34 about. And finally around the setting of the sun he died. You 52:40 know, Ahab is really getting what he deserves as a wicked 52:45 king but you can't miss the point that here you've got a 52:51 king that laid aside his royal robes and he came down dressed 52:54 up like the common soldier and he gets pierced in the side and 52:58 he's propped up and he bleeds to death and then the war is 53:03 over when he bleeds to death. In a sense even Ahab is a type 53:08 of Christ here in that story. I mean you find all through the 53:12 Bible even Absalom was when he dies suspended between heaven 53:16 and earth. God has these little vignettes, these shadows, there 53:22 through the Bible. Well that was a guided missile. You know you 53:26 don't need to be afraid of those arrows of judgment if you're 53:31 following God's word. If you're listening to Micaiah you're safe 53:35 Psalm 91 verse 5 said you'll not be afraid of the terror by 53:40 night nor what? Nor the arrow that flies by day. You won't 53:43 have to worry about covering up every chink in your armor 53:47 because if you're in the middle of God's will that is your armor 53:50 and you're safe. But today God is looking for his Micaiahs. 53:56 Education chapter 57: The greatest want of the world is 54:02 the want of men. Men who will not be bought or sold, men who 54:06 in their inmost souls are true and honest. Men who do not fear 54:11 to call sin by its right name. Men whose conscience is as true 54:15 to duty as the needle is to the pole. Men who will stand for the 54:21 right though the heavens fall. Did Micaiah go to jail? And I'd 54:25 like to think that after the battle somebody came slinking 54:29 up the corridors with the keys in his hand and said, you know, 54:33 Ah you were right. I'd like to think that they let him out. 54:38 It could be that Ahab's son just to be vindictive left him there 54:44 till he died. Sad truth is you never hear about him again. 54:50 One thing I know is he was willing to die rather than lie. 54:54 He was willing to die in order to tell the truth. The word of 54:58 God was so precious to him no matter how popular it was, no 55:02 matter what it did for him personally, he was going to tell 55:06 the truth about God's word. You know I almost need to add a 55:10 little caveat at the end here about Jehoshaphat. You remember 55:15 Jehoshaphat was not supposed to go into this battle. 55:18 As Jehoshaphat's on his way home a prophet rebukes him. 55:22 He's coming home with his tail between his legs. God told him 55:25 not to go. He shouldn't be listening to these prophets of 55:29 Baal, he shouldn't be fraternizing with Ahab and 55:34 Jezebel. And Jehu the son of Hanani he went out to meet 55:40 Jehoshaphat and he said to king Jehoshaphat, should you help the 55:44 wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of 55:48 the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless good things are 55:52 found in you in that you removed the wooden idols from 55:55 the land and prepared your heart to seek God. You know, it says 55:59 here you've got a king and God says I blessed you, there are 56:02 good things in you but I'm mad at you, I'm upset with you 56:08 because you dishonored me by getting into a confederacy with 56:13 this apostate kingdom, the kingdom of Israel. Blessed is 56:19 man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, and that's what 56:23 Jehoshaphat had done. God has sent us the truth. This is our 56:27 Micaiah, the word of the Lord and God is looking for more 56:31 people like John the Baptist and Elijah and Micaiah in the 56:33 last day who will stand up for the truth and not wait for it 56:36 to be popular. Even though we know we're hated by the world. 56:41 I want to be a follower of the truth. I want to seek first his 56:44 kingdom. You're going to be tested. You think we're in bad 56:47 shape now friends. You just wait in the last days when the 56:51 final test comes it's going to be so deceptive to go with the 56:54 crowd that if it were possible that even the very elect would 56:58 be deceived. We've got to take a stand for the word even though 57:02 the heavens fall. Let's bow our heads. 57:04 Our high King of heaven, Lord I pray that our mind's eye will 57:10 be fixed upon thee. There are so many forces in the world that 57:15 want to impress us to say what is politically correct and the 57:20 pressure is going to increase Lord to compromise our 57:23 convictions. Help us be resolved to keep our eyes on Jesus, to 57:28 seek to be like him. I pray that you'll wake us up and shake us 57:32 up and help us to come out of this hypnosis of seeking after 57:37 smooth things that's really suicide. I pray Lord that we 57:41 will embrace the truth whatever the cost. Send us more Micaiah's 57:46 and then I pray that we'll be willing to listen. Bless each 57:50 person. I pray through the Holy Spirit we'll know how to apply 57:54 the things we've heard today in our lives and may we reflect 57:58 Jesus as we go from this place. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17