1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,440 Let's pray together, shall we? Well, we thank you that we get 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:10,360 to be here as a family. This hunger for the word, this 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,880 thirst for righteousness, it comes from you. 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,880 And the fact that we get to sit here out of a desire, with joy 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,600 and anticipation, we give you the glory for that because we 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,480 know what we're capable of. We know, some of us know what we 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,240 were like before we were saved and what our appetites were and 8 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,080 what our longings and passions were. 9 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,200 But Lord, you changed us. And we pray, Lord, that you 10 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,560 would continue to change us tonight as we come to these 11 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,840 concluding verses of this amazing book in your book. 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,800 So, Lord, we ask that you would apprehend every way we're 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:51,040 thought, every rebellious conviction, anything that would 14 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:52,800 grieve the Spirit. We pray that all of that would 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,040 be dealt with by the fire, the water, the sword of Your word. 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,840 We want to know the full power that this word has to give to a 17 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,440 willing vessel. So we yield to you. 18 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,520 Now we do ask that in this delivery that there would be 19 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,000 liberty, that there would be unction, that there would be a 20 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,160 grace so that Christ would be exalted, and that our hearts 21 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,120 would be drawn to Him individually and as a as a 22 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,240 whole. We ask these things in Jesus 23 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:19,240 name. Amen. 24 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,440 Mimi, please, in First Kings chapter 22 and today in our time 25 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,720 together, we will be covering verse 13 down to verse 28. 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,200 So meet me at verse 13. And if you are a student of the 27 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,760 Bible, you know this very well, that there are many instances in 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:42,400 the Scriptures where we catch a glimpse of how our world 29 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:50,280 parallels with an unseen realm, a spiritual realm to be exact. 30 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,600 And based on what the Word of God declares, this spiritual 31 00:01:54,600 --> 00:02:00,600 realm not only exists, but it interacts with and it influences 32 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,400 events and people in this physical world. 33 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,360 And there are staggering examples of this throughout the 34 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,720 Bible. And one of the strongest samples 35 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:19,120 of the supernatural colliding with the natural is here in this 36 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:25,880 very chapter. And at times this realm works in 37 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,560 obvious ways, ways that are undeniable, ways in which we 38 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,320 with these senses perceive. But one thing is for certain, 39 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,400 whether we perceive what is happening or not, there is 40 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:40,640 always a functioning, there is always an operation that is 41 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:45,240 behind the scenes. And the framing of that, the 42 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,280 window in which we're going to be able to look through to 43 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,080 perceive that reality is provided here in summary as a 44 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,920 platform in verse 10. We've touched on this last week, 45 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:57,600 but let's look at verse 10 once again. 46 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,840 We read now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of 47 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,720 Judah. We're sitting on their Thrones 48 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,920 arrayed in robes at the threshing floor at the entrance 49 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:09,560 of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were 50 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:15,560 prophesying before them. You and I, with the king of 51 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,480 Israel and the king of Judah, await the arrival of another 52 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,680 prophet, a man by the name of Micaiah. 53 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:26,720 Micaiah had a special reputation. 54 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,080 He was known as a true prophet of the Lord and he had a 55 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:36,120 tendency of speaking what Ahab did not like to hear, not for 56 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,040 any other reason other than that he spoke with the Lord, told him 57 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,480 to speak, and nothing else. And we're going to learn a lot 58 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:49,200 of things about this man of God named Makaya, including what you 59 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,640 just heard at the introduction of this study, that there is an 60 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:59,080 unseen realm that is very real and very relevant to our 61 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,880 day-to-day experience. So let's begin by reading the 62 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,560 1st 5 verses of this portion of Scripture and then we will do 63 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,600 what we always do and take time to explore every verse in 64 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,400 detail. And the messenger who went to 65 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,840 summon Micaiah said to him, Behold, the words of the 66 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,399 prophets with one accord are favourable to the king, let your 67 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:23,680 word be like the word of one of them and speak favourably. 68 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,080 But Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me 69 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,600 that I will speak. And when he had come to the 70 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,800 king, the king said to Micaiah, Shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to 71 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,600 battle, or shall we refrain? And he answered him, Go up and 72 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,080 triumph, the Lord will give it into the hand of the king. 73 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,480 But the king said to him, How many times shall I make you 74 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,080 swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the 75 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,200 name of the Lord? And he said, I saw all Israel 76 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,000 scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. 77 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,880 And the Lord said, These have no master. 78 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,080 Let each return to his home in peace. 79 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,600 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you 80 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,520 that he would not prophecy good concerning me, but evil? 81 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,600 Let's stop there. Have you wondered in studying 82 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,520 this text that when Jehoshaphat inquired about a true prophet of 83 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,320 the Lord, that Ahab did not bring up Elijah? 84 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:31,600 Did that ever cross your mind? Why didn't he include Elijah as 85 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,920 a possible prophet to bring a true word from the true God? 86 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,760 I think the best explanation is this, that Ahab can never figure 87 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,920 out where Elijah was, right? He just arrives unannounced and 88 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,560 shortly after he disappears for an undisclosed period of time, 89 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,960 then he arrives again. So Elijah was very difficult to 90 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,360 locate and that was purposely done. 91 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,600 So I believe the reason why Ahab brings up Mikaya is because he 92 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,280 knew exactly where Mikaya was. Where was he? 93 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:06,800 Well, you're going to discover in the same study that Mikaya 94 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,640 was apprehended by Ahab, more likely that he was under house 95 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,120 arrest and then he would later be put into jail because of his 96 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,840 unpopular sermon as we're about to study together. 97 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:24,120 And so Mikaya was the choice servant to bring a word, a word 98 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,160 from the Lord. And on his way, after this 99 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:31,000 messenger was sent to Mikaya, this unnamed individual attempts 100 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,280 to persuade Mikaya. Hey, look, you're going to head 101 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:38,680 into this atmosphere and there are 400 prophets who are all 102 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,480 saying the same thing, and you're going to see the king of 103 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,280 Israel and the king of Judah sitting on their Thrones and 104 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,280 their splendor. I suggest that you you say what 105 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:49,840 these other messengers are saying. 106 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:54,520 And we paused on that thought, wondering, is this scene going 107 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,760 to bend Makaya in another direction? 108 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,160 Will the pressure of these prophets finally persuade him to 109 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,280 cave? Will the pomp and the grandeur 110 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:11,400 of these kings as they sat there with their their robes sway him? 111 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,760 And we're going to discover that it's not going to move him an 112 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,120 inch. You see, the temptation that 113 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,520 Makaya is facing here is not a unique, it's not a unique 114 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,360 temptation. It is a temptation that every 115 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,640 single individual who believes and shares the truth will face 116 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:34,720 at one point in their lives with a variety of pressure with it, 117 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,080 different degrees of intimidation and persecution or 118 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:42,360 even persuasion. And this request that this one 119 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,920 individual makes to Makaya actually ends up becoming a 120 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,840 national request of the people of Israel in the days of Isaiah. 121 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,200 I want you to see it in Isaiah chapter 30 and look here at 122 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,240 verse nine of Isaiah 30. They're going to be a lot of 123 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,840 jumping around here with different references. 124 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:06,240 I couldn't help it just to see how the Bible complements every 125 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,760 passage is so moving to me and so I want you to see it with me 126 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,040 and Isaiah 30 is one place in verse nine. 127 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:15,880 Look at the Holy Spirit says about that particular 128 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,400 generation. Are you there with me? 129 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,040 Good. For they are a rebellious 130 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:27,800 people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the 131 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,880 instruction of the Lord, who say to the seers. 132 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:36,159 Seers is another word for prophets do not see, and who say 133 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:39,000 to the prophets do not prophesied to us what is right? 134 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:43,039 Speak to us. Smooth things, prophecy, 135 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,400 illusions. Leave the way, turn aside from 136 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,720 the path. Let us here know more about the 137 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,680 Holy One of Israel. There's so many things to draw 138 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,560 out of this devastating commentary. 139 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,640 The 1st is what caught my attention is how the Prophet by 140 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,480 the Spirit identifies this generation as lying children. 141 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,080 What are they lying about? I believe the context tells us 142 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,000 exactly what they're lying about, That they claim to 143 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:18,160 acknowledge God, but they refuse to know Him and to understand 144 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:19,960 Him the way he desires to be understood. 145 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:25,440 They claim allegiance, but they refuse to apply how he presents 146 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,960 himself in his true form. And it's complete character. 147 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,760 They're liars because notice here that their protest is not 148 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,240 that they didn't want to hear from the prophets at all. 149 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,840 Is that what they said? Look here again at verse 10, who 150 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,360 say to the seers do not see, and to the prophets do not Prophecy 151 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,000 doesn't stop there. Do not prophecy to us what is 152 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,480 right. So the issue here is not with 153 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:52,120 preaching, it's what's being preached. 154 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,160 It's not the fact that there's a presence of a messenger. 155 00:09:56,160 --> 00:10:02,520 It's the message, it's the content, and that is why they 156 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,720 requested for a specific subject matter to be omitted from the 157 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,640 prophets message. What is it? 158 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:13,640 Do not tell us any more about the Holy One of Israel. 159 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,920 Even up to this point, God has identified Himself and 160 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,920 manifested himself in many ways as a Father, as a savior, 161 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,600 Redeemer, rock provider, miracle worker, so many ways. 162 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,160 But there is one particular message that these people did 163 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,040 not want to hear about. And I say it's the same message 164 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,680 that people don't want to hear about today, the holiness of 165 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,560 God. The holiness of God. 166 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:41,360 We don't want to hear about how He is transcendent and different 167 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,240 and pure. We don't want to hear it. 168 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,040 We don't want our sin to be exposed in light of His 169 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,960 character being expounded and declared. 170 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:53,960 We don't want to hear, in other words, don't disturb our 171 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,120 consciences, speak to us smooth things. 172 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,920 You know, there are entire ministries who operate under 173 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:05,080 that philosophy that we just want to give smooth things and 174 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:11,000 let people leave here coddled and and encouraged purely and 175 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,200 not even a true encouragement. And this is what they're asking 176 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:15,640 for. Give that to us. 177 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,280 That's what we want in this menu. 178 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,920 That's what we want from these profits. 179 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,920 Has the demand change in 2024? It hasn't. 180 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,040 You know this passage very well. In Second Timothy 4 three where 181 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,600 Paul prophecies, he tells Timothy was a pastor. 182 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:37,760 There is coming a time, Timothy where a people will not endure 183 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,480 sound teaching. That that tells me something 184 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,320 that at one point they were able to endure it. 185 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,320 At one point they were listening to it, but they'll come to a 186 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,440 point where they can no longer endure it. 187 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,000 Enough is enough. And what would they do as a 188 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,920 result of that? They themselves will accumulate 189 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,680 teachers to suit their own passions. 190 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,920 You know, people know this verse, but they misinterpreted. 191 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,000 Generally, people tend to think that what Paul's saying here is 192 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,600 that there's coming a time where prophets will arise, false 193 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,160 prophets, and they will persuade people away from the truth into 194 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,040 myths. That's not what Paul is talking 195 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,160 about. Paul is not pointing the finger 196 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,680 at wolves on platforms who are going to deceive the masses. 197 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,760 He's actually condemning a people who out of their desire, 198 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:33,120 out of their wanting to be deceived, further encouraging 199 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,800 false prophets to arise. They will ask for these. 200 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,200 Have you ever watched something, a ministry that you know is 201 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:44,520 questionable, it's heretical, and you think, how are so many 202 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,760 people in attendance? Why is there an audience? 203 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,400 And we would think, oh, because they're naive and because of the 204 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,040 the charisma and the false promises and the false signs and 205 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:55,800 wonders. That's why. 206 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,720 Not always the case. Paul indicates that, yes, in 207 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,000 other places, some are duped because of their naivety, but 208 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,840 others are there because they want to be there. 209 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,720 They want that. They want exactly what's being 210 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,280 preached. Though it's false, it caters to 211 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,440 exactly what they desire. And so as much as the Bible 212 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:22,480 condemns false teachers, the Bible also condemns a people who 213 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:27,920 make false teachers successful. Who are these false preachers? 214 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,560 If they didn't have an audience? The only reason why they get the 215 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:33,640 continuous people still send their money, they still sit in 216 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,760 those meetings, they still support them in various ways. 217 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,600 And Paul speaks about a time where people will make a demand 218 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,920 to be cemented in their deception, and there is no 219 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,560 shortage of people who will help make that possible. 220 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,320 We come back here and we realize that Makaya was not one who 221 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,880 would bend to any demand that calls for doctrinal dilution. 222 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,000 I mean, with all the disappointment in the Book of 223 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:04,520 Kings, this man is exhilarating and he's refreshing, is he not? 224 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,080 Here's this individual telling him, listen, just just say what 225 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:10,920 they have to say. And he goes, I'm only going to 226 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,760 say what God tells me to say. And the integrity of this 227 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,480 individual, I believe, is expounded upon by Paul and his 228 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,320 teachings. There is a particular place in 229 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:28,200 an epistle where Paul tells us the motives that a man of God 230 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,240 will reject in his ministry in order to be effective and 231 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,720 pleasing to God and truly fruitful to those who would 232 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,160 benefit under his ministry. And in three sequential verses, 233 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,200 you have 3 motives that Paul spells out. 234 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,080 That a true leader in the church, a true man of God, will 235 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,400 denounce, will fight, will resist, will reject. 236 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,600 And though the context applies to preaching and preachers, it 237 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,720 can be applied by any of us who serve the Lord in any capacity. 238 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,440 Would you like to know the three motives that a man of God will 239 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,680 reject as he stands in integrity before God and God's people? 240 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,640 It's in First Thessalonians chapter 21 is found in verse 241 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,040 four and other is found in verse five, and the other is found in 242 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,040 verse six. And what's interesting is that 243 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,720 following that, Paul speaks in the positive and he says these 244 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,440 these are the qualities that a man of God will adopt, but we 245 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:25,840 don't have time to go into the positive. 246 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:26,800 Let's just deal with the negative. 247 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:32,720 What will, like Micaiah, a true servant of God, reject and his 248 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,880 faithful service to the Lord? Let's read beginning in verse 4. 249 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,160 But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted 250 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:50,520 with the gospel, so we speak not to please man, but to please God 251 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:52,960 who tests our hearts. That's the first thing. 252 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,240 The first motive that a man of God will reject is the ambition 253 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,920 to please man. And what Paul is speaking about 254 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:05,040 here is an all out absorption, a priority to satisfy the wishes 255 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,800 of others at any cost, even at the expense of disappointing 256 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:12,280 God. But a true man of God will have 257 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,360 the goal of satisfying God's heart. 258 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:20,080 Ultimately, that's going to be his drive and what he prepares 259 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,600 to speak and how he deals with God's people, how he manages the 260 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:29,560 resources of the ministry, how he lives with his family 261 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,280 privately before the unbelieving world. 262 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,920 What drives him in the morning, The energy of his soul is I want 263 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,240 to please my God, even if it means I'm going to drive other 264 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:44,760 people away. As a result, he will know total 265 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,600 contentment in that. That will be where he finds his 266 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,720 true pleasure in the decision that he makes and whatever he 267 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,640 accomplishes, he knows that this brought true delight to God. 268 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,720 Whether people smile as a as a result of that or whether they 269 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,440 frown is no concern to the true servant of the Lord. 270 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,040 That doesn't that doesn't influence him because he's 271 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,319 absolutely intoxicated by this one goal and that is making sure 272 00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:18,520 that his God and his will was made true. 273 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,280 That's not the only thing. Look at the second thing, verse 274 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,000 5. For we never came with words of 275 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:29,600 flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. 276 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,520 So the first thing that a man of God will reject and maintaining 277 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,080 the integrity of his ministry is he's not going to please man as 278 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,600 his ambition. The second thing is that he will 279 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:45,480 not use ministry as a means to become wealthy. 280 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,200 He will not have this aspiration to become rich through his 281 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,200 ministry. Notice that flattery is 282 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:56,840 mentioned in the same breath, right? 283 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,360 He speaks about not using words of flattery, and then he talks 284 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:05,920 about not coming with the pretext for greed, indicating 285 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,880 that there are some who put on a mask of kindness, who will lace 286 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,640 their words with unusual encouragement and uplifting 287 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:20,400 comments as a deceptive tactic to gain some support from others 288 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:24,880 on an individual basis, in simple conversation and even 289 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,040 from a public stance where they they preach in a manner in which 290 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,800 they know that they will win more support, they will win more 291 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:34,680 financial support more specifically. 292 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,720 And a true man of God listen to this very carefully when he 293 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,400 enrolls in ministry and when he endures the ministry, his 294 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,720 ambition is not money, it's not promotion, it's not a salary, 295 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,200 it's not royalty fees. It's none of that. 296 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,040 It's the salvation of souls and the glory of God. 297 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,880 That's what he's consumed by. And a true man of God, at the 298 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,240 same time as he surrenders in his service to the Lord, will be 299 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,600 completely at rest and trusting in God's providential provision 300 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,120 for him. I could testify on a personal 301 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:10,200 basis, God has taken care of me all these years. 302 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,240 God has taken care of me and I've seen Him taking care of so 303 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,160 many others. And it's true for you whether 304 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,680 you're in full time ministry or not, is it not? 305 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,520 But this is specifically about those who fall into the 306 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:28,280 temptation of catering to the donors in the church, especially 307 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:33,720 the bigger donors, or to his salary to try to impress the 308 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,360 board. He will never allow such 309 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:41,960 influences to alter his allegiance to the Word of God. 310 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,880 Never. If he's if he's going to speak 311 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:47,280 somewhere, he's never going to allow the amount of an 312 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,960 honorarium, whether that is even given in the 1st place, to 313 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,560 determine the degree of his sacrifice as he serves. 314 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,920 In that context, money doesn't move a man of God. 315 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,400 It doesn't. If it's there, it's there. 316 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:01,960 If it's not there, it's not there. 317 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,480 What consumes him are eternal things. 318 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,640 And the greatest men of God, the men of God who have been free 319 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,720 from scandal and who had the greatest empowerment of God upon 320 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,520 their ministries, were those who knew how to have appropriate 321 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,200 understanding and relations with this thing called money. 322 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,440 That's not the only thing that a man of God will reject in order 323 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,880 to maintain the integrity of His ministry to be effective for God 324 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,080 and fruitful for God's people. Look at verse six. 325 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,520 Nor did we seek glory from people, echoing what He says in 326 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:37,920 verse 4. But there's something else here, 327 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:43,400 whether from you or from others. Though we could have made 328 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:50,320 demands as apostles of Christ. So where Bible study? 329 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:51,680 I have every right to ask these questions. 330 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,000 What is the first thing that a man of God will reject as he 331 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,840 serves the Lord in order to maintain the integrity of his 332 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:00,240 ministry? He will not seek to please man. 333 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:05,160 What's the second thing? He will not use his ministry or 334 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:11,200 his gifts to satisfy his greed. He will not allow the aspiration 335 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,480 to become wealthier to influence his service to the Lord. 336 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,880 And the third thing is this. A man of God will reject 337 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:25,240 leveraging his authority to make burdensome demands on the people 338 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:31,000 that he is called to serve. In other words, a man of God 339 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,560 will reject the lust for power, the lust for power. 340 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,400 And it's a very real lust. You think the lust for money is, 341 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,200 is a real temptation for ministers. 342 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,600 No, power is up there. Power is up there. 343 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,360 And, and there are some who, when they are entrusted with the 344 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:52,600 gospel, they taste the respect that they get from people. 345 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,520 They begin to realize the admiration that comes just by 346 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:01,600 virtue of their position, and they now manipulate others 347 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:05,360 through it. And some do so through spiritual 348 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:12,240 abuse, some by guilt tripping. But the real way that a servant 349 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:17,000 of God will encourage people in any direction is through 350 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,440 humility, is through humility. I can't help about one instance 351 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,800 where Paul spoke to an individual named Philemon. 352 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,360 Philemon had a servant named Anusimus. 353 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:31,280 An SMS escaped him, he hurt Philemon. 354 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,320 He became a believer under Paul's preaching and Paul's 355 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:37,320 writing to Philemon encouraging him to receive his servant 356 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,360 again. And he says this in Philemon 357 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:42,400 verse eight. There are no chapters in verse 358 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,840 8:00 and 9:00. This just echoes Paul's attitude 359 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,880 and what he says here in First Thessalonians 26. 360 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,360 This isn't, this isn't part of the Bible study, but it came to 361 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:55,760 mind. And Philemon verse 8, I want you 362 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,720 to see what he says to this man. If it's not going to come up 363 00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:58,920 there, then we'll just read it here. 364 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,880 Accordingly, though, I am bold enough in Christ to command you 365 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,960 to do what is required. You see what he's saying there. 366 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,040 As an apostle, I can write to you with a different tone, and I 367 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:16,320 can demand. I can command you to comply with 368 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:21,840 my desires, with my leadership. But what does he say instead? 369 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,080 Look at verse 9. Yet for Love's sake, I prefer to 370 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:29,960 appeal to you. I'm not going to twist your arm. 371 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,080 I'm not going to threaten you. I'm not going to intimidate you, 372 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,080 but I'm going to appeal to you. Do you see how he lowers 373 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,440 himself? Do you see that he doesn't 374 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:45,000 utilize his authority? I mean, an apostle, one of the 375 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,720 apostles who would lay the foundation of the church. 376 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:49,800 And this is how he is speaking to others. 377 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,280 I, Paul, an old man. I love that. 378 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,280 An old man, old man. And he's a prisoner. 379 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,440 If God makes me an old man, I don't mind having the same 380 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,880 future as Paul. For the gospel sake. 381 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:03,760 You see that? Yeah. 382 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,040 For Love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you, to appeal to you. 383 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,720 Remember at the end of there in Corinthians when he, he asked 384 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,120 Apollos to visit the Corinthian church and Apollo said, I don't 385 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:15,560 want to go. And Paul says there at the end 386 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:17,120 of the letter, I I didn't force him to go. 387 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:19,880 He'll come when he's ready. That's a true leader. 388 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:25,000 He's a push and shove. He doesn't stand above. 389 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,000 He comes down and he serves and he appeals, and he persuades 390 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,800 with gentleness and humility. But not all ministers operate 391 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,160 that way. And Paul says we didn't come to 392 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:42,520 you in this manner. And he says our demands even 393 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,960 influence our refusal to request glory from you. 394 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,520 You know, there are people who, when they're introduced, they 395 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,120 want all the accolades they want. 396 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,360 They want just this amazing kind of presentation. 397 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:56,960 And Paul, we weren't like that. We didn't. 398 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,120 We don't want anything from you. We're not fishing for anything. 399 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,600 We're not moved by your praise or lack of praise. 400 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:09,360 We don't care about titles and what you call us and listening 401 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:11,560 about what we've accomplished and telling other people about 402 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,160 it. We do not care. 403 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,360 My satisfaction is from the Lord alone. 404 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:21,800 And we can continue to discuss the positives, but we have to 405 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,840 come back to our main text so we can finish. 406 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,080 So we come back to First Kings 22, right? 407 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,520 And we read here in verse 14 what Makaya says. 408 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:32,880 I believe the New Testament expounds on this kind of 409 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,760 mindset. And Makaya finally arrives, 410 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,800 verse 15. And when he had come to the 411 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:45,520 king, the king said to him, Makaya, shall we go to Ramoth 412 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,880 Gilead to battle, or shall we refrain? 413 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:50,680 And he answered him, go up and triumph. 414 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,720 The Lord will give it into the hand of the King. 415 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,280 Do you think Makani is being serious here? 416 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,200 No, he's being sarcastic. I wonder how he said it. 417 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,960 This is one of the places where I wish there was an audio 418 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,000 version of it. The original audio. 419 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,160 How did he say it? I wonder if it was like go up 420 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,080 and triumph. The Lord will give it to the 421 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,680 hand of the king. However, he said it Ahab and had 422 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,560 enough sense to realize that he wasn't meaning what he was 423 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,280 saying because of his response. He says, but the king said to 424 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:26,400 him, how many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me? 425 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:28,000 Nothing but the truth and the name of the Lord? 426 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:30,240 How many times? You know what that indicates? 427 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,640 This isn't the first time Makai has spoken to the king in this 428 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,480 way. So already we have an idea of 429 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,000 his personality. He has a humorous personality. 430 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:43,200 So Makai has pulled this stunt off before where he's like, I 431 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,040 know what you want to hear, so let me just tell you what you 432 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,520 want to hear and he just cuts him off. 433 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,920 There he goes. How many times do we got to tell 434 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:50,800 you? Now look at this. 435 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,520 Whatever you feel about Micaiah's strategy here, it 436 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:59,160 exposes something about Ahab and Ahab's answer. 437 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,760 He indirectly confesses something terrible about 438 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,200 himself, right? Because he says, how many times 439 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,320 shall I make you swear you speak to me? 440 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,960 Nothing but the truth. This is why we have to read our 441 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,320 Bible slowly. Do you see what he's saying 442 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,440 here? I'm asking you to speak to me 443 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,360 the truth in the name of the Lord. 444 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,640 So let's step back here. Micaiah initially echoes what 445 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,120 the 400 false prophets said, And they all said go up to battle in 446 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:36,680 Ramoth Gilead. When Ahab hears it, he rejects 447 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,480 it and he says, I'm asking you to speak the truth to me, 448 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,400 Micaiah. So what's the equation? 449 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,920 Based on this demand, he is obviously implying that what the 450 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,640 false prophets are saying was false, right? 451 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,920 Which tells me that Ahab knew it was false and he still wanted to 452 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:03,840 abide by what was false. Some people are naive, 453 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,280 unlearned, simple, and they get deceived. 454 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,400 Other people are deceived because they want to be 455 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,880 deceived. I know that's hard for you to 456 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,240 imagine, but it's it's not it's not. 457 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:17,720 You see instances of it in the Scriptures. 458 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,640 And it's only become going to become increasingly true as we 459 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,280 approach the culmination of the age. 460 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,600 And if you doubt that this is how Ahab is thinking, Scroll 461 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,000 down to verse 30 very quickly. And this is when him and 462 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,560 Jehoshaphat and the armies of Israel are ready to go to 463 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,520 battle. And notice what King Ahab says 464 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,760 to Jehoshaphat. And we'll explore this next 465 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:40,200 week. And the king of Israel said to 466 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:44,400 Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle. 467 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,160 But you wear your robes. And the king of Israel disguised 468 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,760 himself and went into battle. What a snake. 469 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,840 So you dress up as a king, Joe Osifat? 470 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:57,640 I'm going to dress up as a soldier. 471 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,080 So I'm camouflage more. And if they're obviously going 472 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,360 to be looking for the king, it'll be harder to find me. 473 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,680 Now, why would you do this unless something about what 474 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,280 Makaya said resonated with you down deep inside, you knew that 475 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,040 there was something true about Micaiah's prophecy, as we're 476 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,920 about to read in a moment here, essentially where he says if you 477 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,080 go to battle, you're going to die. 478 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:26,120 So Ahab and his pride still goes into Ramoth Gilead, but he feels 479 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,440 as though I got, I got to do something to make sure that what 480 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,680 the Lord said about my faith will not come to pass. 481 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,120 So you're essentially admitting that it's true. 482 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:40,480 It's true. There are many who are in their 483 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,240 sin. There are many who are also in 484 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:49,360 false beliefs, and they know it. And for a variety of reasons, 485 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:53,160 whether that be pride, whether that be persecution, whether 486 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:58,400 that be pleasure, they are willing to stay in that sin. 487 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:02,280 They are willing to remain in that false belief even if it 488 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,640 kills them, even if it kills them. 489 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,480 And so don't look at Ahab as just a unique case, as an 490 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,840 anomaly. No millions are thinking the 491 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:19,280 same way Ahab is thinking. So he says speak to me the 492 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:20,640 truth. You want the truth, Ahab, you're 493 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,520 going to get the truth. Look what he says in verse 17, 494 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:30,200 Makaya and he said I saw all Israel scattered on the 495 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,480 mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. 496 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:39,640 Does that sound familiar to you? Should I saw Israel, all Israel, 497 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,960 scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd? 498 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,840 And the Lord said these have no master. 499 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,920 Let each return to his home in peace, pawns. 500 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:53,680 Micaiah now switches from sarcasm to seriousness, and he's 501 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,680 going to answer Ahab's request for truth by giving two visions. 502 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:00,560 The first one is what we just read here. 503 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:05,480 The next one is going to explain the reason for why this parable 504 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,240 is going to be fulfilled. And the parable is very obvious, 505 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:10,600 is it not? He says. 506 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:14,960 I see the people scattered like sheep without a shepherd, 507 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:20,440 without a leader. And Ahab was smart enough to 508 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,560 understand what Makai was trying to convey. 509 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,080 Israel will be scattered, though. 510 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:26,440 They're going to be OK though, right? 511 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,200 Because they're going to be able to go home in peace. 512 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:33,240 Israel will be scattered, but they will have no master. 513 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:39,400 So what's the code? Why will they have no master? 514 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,560 Why will they have no leader? Because he's going to die. 515 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,000 He's going to be removed from the scene. 516 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,560 And that's why I right after this he goes, see, then I tell 517 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,200 you, George about this guy doesn't say anything nice about 518 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,280 me. So he understood what he was 519 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:57,440 saying here. And we find similar language 520 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,920 being used about the condition of the nation of Israel during 521 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,280 the days of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. 522 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:06,960 It's found in Matthew 936. If you write down these 523 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,800 references, but let me just read it to you to remind you. 524 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:15,400 Says here in Matthew 936, when he saw the crowds, he had 525 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:21,080 compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like 526 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:27,560 sheep without a shepherd. Just as Ahab's death would 527 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:32,600 create an instability for the people of Israel, the spiritual 528 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:36,760 deadness of the religious leaders in Jesus Day would have 529 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,120 clear consequences and a significant impact on the people 530 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,760 as well. What's more dangerous? 531 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:49,040 What's more dangerous when you have weak politicians who leave 532 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:53,520 the people vulnerable in the natural or when you have 533 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,240 spiritually dead leaders who endanger the souls of people? 534 00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,000 I hope you know the right answer. 535 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,600 And I I argue that a nation is in greater peril not when they 536 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,960 have inadequate people in the White House, but when you have 537 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:16,040 inadequate leaders in God's house, when you have hirelings 538 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,680 instead of true shepherds. Because whatever is happening in 539 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:22,760 this election year, in the future elections to come only 540 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,000 deals with this life and this life alone. 541 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,480 What happens with the truth being heralded and explained or 542 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,400 lack thereof deals with your eternity. 543 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:37,200 So like sheep without a shepherd. 544 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,040 In the context of of First Kings 22, though there is an element 545 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,280 of spirituality there because they were a theocracy mainly 546 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,640 speaks about a king being removed and now the people 547 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,080 feeling the obvious consequences of that. 548 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:52,000 When Jesus saw the people the the nation of Israel, his heart 549 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,360 was moved with compassion because they had no spiritual 550 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,520 leadership or guidance. And that has far greater 551 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:04,400 ramifications than if you don't have somebody at all in or as 552 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:10,320 the commander in chief. I don't want my heart to be less 553 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,120 stirred about what's happening in the spiritual aspect of this 554 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,560 nation than what's happening in the political world. 555 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,360 Micaiah gives us first parable. He says, look, you're, you're 556 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:24,639 going to be out of here very soon. 557 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:27,600 And how does he answer? Look at verse 18. 558 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,080 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, did I not tell you 559 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,360 that he would not prophesied good concerning me about evil? 560 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,880 Well, you asked for it. You asked for the truth. 561 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,159 Are you willing to receive the truth no matter how it makes you 562 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:43,560 feel? Now there are some people who 563 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,760 say, I want biblical exposition. I want verse by verse. 564 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,560 And then when that Sunday comes along where they speak about 565 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:53,719 something that affects you personally, then then you're 566 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:59,160 upset, right? If you're if you're going to 567 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:01,000 want the truth, you have to take the whole truth. 568 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,040 But now he comes to his second vision. 569 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,760 And this is not a parable. This is a real event that's 570 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,560 going to explain why what's about to happen is going to 571 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:17,960 happen. Let's read it in its entirety 572 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,520 from verse 18 or 19 rather down to 23. 573 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,680 And Micaiah said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord. 574 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,240 I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of 575 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:34,120 heaven standing beside him, on his right hand, and on his left. 576 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,040 And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up 577 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:43,440 and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said one thing, and 578 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:47,920 another said another. Then a spirit came forward and 579 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,040 stood before the Lord, saying, I will entice him. 580 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,240 And the Lord said to him, By what means? 581 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:58,200 And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth 582 00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:01,440 of all his prophets. Notice that he's saying all his 583 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,040 prophets, they're not God's prophets. 584 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,120 And he said, you are to entice him, and you shall succeed. 585 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,600 Go out and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord 586 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:18,920 has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your 587 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:22,080 prophets. They're not my prophets, your 588 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:26,200 prophets. The Lord has declared disaster 589 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,920 for you. There are many ways to go about 590 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:34,640 this very staggering picture, this vision. 591 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,440 I want to approach it by providing for vital 592 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:42,080 observations. For vital observations. 593 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,080 There are many others, but I want to just present for, for 594 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,600 the sake of time, the first thing that you and I can take. 595 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,280 First truth that we can take from this passage is obvious. 596 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:53,080 It speaks about the sovereignty of God. 597 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,400 So here's Micaiah, right? And he's standing before 2 kings 598 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,200 sitting in their portable Thrones at the gate at Samaria. 599 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,560 And the first thing that he says here in verse 19, I saw the Lord 600 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:11,800 sitting on his throne. I'm speaking to you, but I'm 601 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:16,920 telling you that I appealed to and I saw a throne greater than 602 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,080 yours. The one sitting on that throne 603 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:22,240 is greater. The throne itself is greater. 604 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,760 And so right away he makes this call and He reminds these two 605 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,520 kings that there is one who sits above them, and there is one who 606 00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:34,520 demands and governs whether they agree or not. 607 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,520 I'm reminded of Isaiah 6. What happened in Isaiah 6, the 608 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:43,240 year that King Uzziah died? Isaiah has a vision of one who 609 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:46,760 is sitting upon the throne, and he is high and lifted up. 610 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,440 And he had that vision in the Revelation of what when King 611 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,280 Uzziah was brought down, when he was removed from the throne. 612 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:56,600 And that's a picture of God being in control. 613 00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:01,600 Even when leaders that we depend on fall, he's still in control, 614 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,920 but now Makaya, Not Isaiah, but Makaya. 615 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,120 He sees the same Lord on the same throne, but in a different 616 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:10,840 context. Not when Thrones were vacant, 617 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:15,560 but when evil, incompetent, compromising kings were ruling. 618 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,560 And as much as God was in control when there was no one on 619 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:23,160 the throne, God is just as much in control when people who 620 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:24,520 shouldn't be on the throne are on the throne. 621 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:28,560 He's sovereign all the way through. 622 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:31,080 He's sovereign all the way through. 623 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,440 When leaders are living the way they should be living. 624 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:35,800 When they're not, or when there are no leaders, He's still on 625 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:38,760 his throne. So the first vision, the first 626 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,480 thing from this vision is the truth of God's sovereignty. 627 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:45,280 But that's not the only thing. Secondly, we learn about the 628 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:51,880 wide range of Gods resources and instruments and executing his 629 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,640 will. So Makaya has this vision of 630 00:38:55,640 --> 00:39:00,760 what really heavenly counsel he walked into this heavenly board 631 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:05,080 meeting, so to speak. And interestingly, he, he sees 632 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,760 the Lord on his throne and he sees a vast amount of angelic 633 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:11,520 beings on his right and a vast amount of angelic beings to his 634 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:16,760 left. And he wants to summon an agent 635 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,560 to be the means of judgement against Ahab. 636 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,280 So he asked who will do it? And some are talking and there's 637 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:27,560 conversation happening. Finally, one spirit, we're told, 638 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,680 approaches the throne and he says, I'll entice him. 639 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:36,000 And the Lord says by what means I'll, I'll be a, a lying spirit. 640 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,160 He was a lying spirit. But I, I will put these lies in 641 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,960 the mouths of His prophets, and they will convince him to his 642 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,840 own demise. What do we make of this? 643 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:51,280 Here's what we make of it. First things first, this is not 644 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:54,200 the Lord, and this would be a terrible way to apply this text. 645 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:58,160 This is not the Lord showing that He requires the counsel of 646 00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:00,840 others, even if they're supernatural creatures. 647 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:03,400 Why? Because the Bible testifies 648 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:05,720 otherwise. This is the reference that came 649 00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:08,120 to mind when I was reading this. If anybody would try to use this 650 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:10,800 as ammunition against the omniscience of God, they don't 651 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:14,800 know their Bibles because in Isaiah 40 verse 13 and 14, 652 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:18,320 here's what the Spirit says about the Spirit of the Lord. 653 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,200 Who is God? Who has measured? 654 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,640 He's who has measured the Spirit of the Lord? 655 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:25,680 Who or what man shows him his counsel? 656 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:31,400 Isaiah 40 verse 14, Whom did he consult and who made him 657 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:33,240 understand? Who taught him the path of 658 00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:35,760 justice and taught him knowledge and showed him the way of 659 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:40,960 understanding? Answer No one, no one, no one 660 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:42,400 can tell God something that he doesn't know. 661 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:44,920 Nobody can give God instruction. He knows everything. 662 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:47,040 He knows how to do everything perfectly. 663 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,520 And so the idea that God is there in heaven because he's 664 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:53,920 missing some information or he feels like he doesn't know how 665 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:56,880 to deal with this AHAB issue, it's totally wrong. 666 00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:58,320 It's erroneous. It's crazy. 667 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:05,800 Instead, what you do see here is that God, as the Lofty One, is 668 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:11,440 sovereign and supreme over all things seen and unseen, holy 669 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:16,720 angels and demons, because these are not all holy angels in His 670 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:18,240 presence. You understand that, right? 671 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:24,160 You have a mixed attendance. You have some who are holy 672 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:26,120 creatures and you have some who are evil. 673 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,160 And that kind of baffles people's imaginations because 674 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,280 they think, how can evil beings be in the presence of God? 675 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:34,400 Tell me a book where that's that happened. 676 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:40,520 Exactly, Job. And that is continually going to 677 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,440 be the case where you have Satan and his minions access to the 678 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,640 throne until you read the Book of Revelation where they're 679 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:48,920 going to be cast to the earth and they're going to know that 680 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,320 their time is short. And so his venom is only going 681 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,480 to intensify before we come to the return of Christ. 682 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,840 So you have this demonic being saying, I will be a lying spirit 683 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:04,760 in the mouth of his prophets. And the Lord, not the author of 684 00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:11,200 sin, the Lord, not the author of evil, will often allow evil to 685 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:16,400 be a means to a righteous end. And so he permits it. 686 00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:20,560 And if you think this is the only time that God will do 687 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:24,080 something like this, there is coming a time that Paul 688 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:27,400 prophesied about in another place, when the Antichrist will 689 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:31,000 come and the masses will be deceived. 690 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:37,480 And you think people are deceived now you have no idea 691 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:42,240 the confusion and the spiritual anarchy that's coming. 692 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:44,040 Why? Can I tell you why? 693 00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:47,320 Because Paul said in 2nd Thessalonians 211. 694 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:54,160 Therefore God, God sends them a strong delusion. 695 00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,760 Who permits the strong delusion? God. 696 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,040 Is God a deceiver? No God. 697 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:05,240 God is pure, He's light, He's holy. 698 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:08,560 That's what you have to interpret the Bible carefully. 699 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,480 God will send him a strong delusion so that they may 700 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:13,600 believe what is false. Why would God do that? 701 00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:15,040 Does he want all men to be saved? 702 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:16,480 He does all want all men to be saved. 703 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,000 But there's a reason why. In order that all may be 704 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,880 condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure and 705 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:28,800 unrighteousness. So this is God's response to a 706 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:34,200 continual hardening against the truth, where what they 707 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:39,200 ultimately desire will be given by God as an act of vengeance 708 00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,640 and judgement. Which is the third observation 709 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:44,200 of our passage in First Kings 22. 710 00:43:44,720 --> 00:43:46,640 The first one being God's sovereignty, the second one 711 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:51,280 being the vast way, the wide spectrum of God's sovereign will 712 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:55,800 being executed on the earth. But thirdly, God will give men 713 00:43:55,800 --> 00:44:00,200 what they want. Is this the first time that God 714 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:01,760 is dealing with Ahab? No. 715 00:44:02,360 --> 00:44:05,720 We've studied week after week after week of how much Ahab 716 00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:08,760 witnessed the manifestations of God's goodness, His power 717 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:11,400 proving himself over and over. I'm the truth. 718 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,760 Your beliefs and your behavior are way off, Ahab. 719 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,760 And Ahab continually stiffened his neck and refused to 720 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,800 surrender to the Lord. And we discovered about Ahab 721 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:24,040 that by his own admission, what these false prophets are saying 722 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,880 was untrue, and he's still willing to believe them. 723 00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:29,240 So God says you want to be deceived, Here's some more 724 00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:32,680 deception. You want to reject me over and 725 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:34,760 over again. You want to refuse to repent, 726 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:38,160 though my light has shone favorably upon you time after 727 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,720 time after time. If you want to live in a lie, if 728 00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:43,200 you want to still live in that place of darkness, then here you 729 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,840 go. What this teaches us is that God 730 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,400 will eventually give men over to their desires. 731 00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,320 And that's not a gracious thing, that's an act of judgment. 732 00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:01,040 And that's in part why church discipline is church discipline 733 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:04,560 the way it is, that if a person is unrepentant in the church and 734 00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:06,120 they want to remain in that state, though they've been 735 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:09,040 approached by 1 believer, then a set of believers, then the 736 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:13,520 church, what does Jesus say? If they don't want to embrace 737 00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:16,600 the law of the Kingdom of God, then let him go into the domain 738 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:20,120 of darkness and let them see what it's like to be in that 739 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:22,440 domain of darkness. Ultimately for them to repent. 740 00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:23,880 And unfortunately, some people don't repent. 741 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:29,000 So it's, it's his law in the way God works with man that he is 742 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:32,840 intensely gracious and merciful and he persuades and he pulls 743 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:36,320 and sometimes he moves in power. But when you continue to say no, 744 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:41,160 no, no, OK, if you don't want me, here's your alternative 745 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,280 option. If you don't want truth, here's 746 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,120 lies. If you don't want holiness, 747 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:50,080 here's unholiness. That's why when you read the 748 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:53,640 Book of Revelation, near the end, he says, let him who is 749 00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:57,080 filthy still be filthy. Have you ever read that verse? 750 00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:02,200 Let him who is holy remain holy as though at the end of the 751 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,000 book, at the end of describing the end of all things. 752 00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,120 If a man has been exposed to all those things and still wants to 753 00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:11,920 be in sin, OK, then stay in sin, stay in unrighteousness. 754 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:17,680 But the 4th and final point of this passage that I want to draw 755 00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:20,560 for you and I is that God is merciful. 756 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:25,680 How would you, how would you explain God's mercy in this 757 00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:27,480 proclamation of judgement against Ahab? 758 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:35,040 Any idea he's still alive? He's still alive. 759 00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:43,400 Sure, He warned him. He's telling him what's about to 760 00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:47,200 happen. He's he's telling him. 761 00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:50,240 I had a vision of the Lord. These are the false prophets. 762 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,400 There's a demon operating through them. 763 00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:56,760 Like Ahab is hearing this and they're going to convince you to 764 00:46:56,760 --> 00:47:00,840 your own detriment, Ahab. So Ahab is Ahab is receiving one 765 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,880 final appeal from God. Don't miss that. 766 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,840 The Lord could have executed this plan without Ahab's 767 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:09,320 knowledge. But instead he pulls away the 768 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,800 curtain and he says, I'm showing you what this is really about. 769 00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:14,880 I'm letting you know that your fate has been sealed. 770 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,120 But will this move you in any way, Ahab? 771 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:22,520 Like imagine of a true prophet coming to you saying this 772 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:24,920 afternoon, you're going to die because of your sins. 773 00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:26,840 You love lies. So God's going to give you over 774 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:28,640 to a lie that will actually kill you. 775 00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:33,040 If that's being conveyed to you, that's that's meant to stir you, 776 00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:36,600 surely. So what? 777 00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:40,240 What's Ahab going to do? How is he going to respond? 778 00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:44,280 Because as much as you see the Lord seated on his transcendent 779 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,000 throne, governing both the scene and the unseen, you also see a 780 00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:52,720 God of immense grace communicating to Ahab even in 781 00:47:52,720 --> 00:47:58,280 this extending mercy. Because God, God gets more 782 00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:02,320 pleasure in extending mercy than than thundering his judgement. 783 00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,440 You would think like you're almost like exhausted with Ahab. 784 00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:11,000 I am. At least it's it's Ahab and 785 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:12,480 Saul. Those two are still on the top 786 00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:17,680 of my list of guys that just they take my breath away, not in 787 00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:21,200 a good way. So you think, OK, after this, 788 00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:25,240 after this vision is wrapped up, Ahab's going to fall to his 789 00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:27,000 knees. He's going to rip his robe. 790 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:29,440 He's going to cry out to God. No, look at verse 24. 791 00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:36,920 Then Zedekiah the son of Canaan came near and struck Makaya on 792 00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:41,320 the cheek and said, how did the spirit of the Lord go from me to 793 00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:46,480 speak to you? And Makaya said, behold, you 794 00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:49,600 shall see on that day when you go in in a inner chamber and to 795 00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:51,280 hide yourself. So that's what he tells 796 00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:53,920 Zedekiah. So imagine like you, you just 797 00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:55,520 share what the Lord told you to speak. 798 00:48:56,120 --> 00:48:59,400 And somebody gets out of the Pew and they extend their arms and 799 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,320 you think they're going to give you a hug and instead they slap 800 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:07,360 you in the face and composed. He looks at Zedekiah and he 801 00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:10,480 goes, You're going to realize that what I said is true, and 802 00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:13,960 you're going to find yourself in fetal position in the corner of 803 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:19,360 your inner chamber. How does Ahab respond? 804 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:25,160 Verse 26 And the king of Israel said, seize Makaya and take him 805 00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:28,480 back to aiming the governor of the city and to Josh, the King's 806 00:49:28,480 --> 00:49:33,680 son, and say, thus says the king, put this fellow in prison 807 00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:39,320 and feed him meager rations of bread and water until I come in 808 00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:44,240 peace. I can just envision this, this 809 00:49:44,240 --> 00:49:47,320 last part. And Micaiah said, if you return 810 00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:52,040 in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. 811 00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:54,560 And he said here, all you peoples. 812 00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:58,880 I wonder if he said that while he was being dragged by the 813 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:04,400 heels and dust is flying up in the air, but go back again to 814 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:07,760 what he originally said to him in verse 26. 815 00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:14,400 And the king said, seize Micaiah and take him back, take him back 816 00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:16,640 to him and the governor of the city and to Jewish, the King's 817 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,560 son. So he came from somewhere. 818 00:50:20,240 --> 00:50:23,000 So he was obviously apprehended. He was obviously being 819 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,040 supervised by this administration. 820 00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:28,040 And he's not telling him only go back. 821 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:31,960 He's saying when he goes back, put him in worse conditions and 822 00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:33,560 make sure he gets meager rations. 823 00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,120 That's going to be his payment for this prophecy. 824 00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:41,040 Now if that is the case where Makai was already arrested and 825 00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:45,600 under unpleasant circumstances and he came out because he's 826 00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:49,400 supposed to give a word to Ahab, that just adds to this man's 827 00:50:49,400 --> 00:50:51,960 integrity and credibility and character. 828 00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,240 Because on top of the pressure of the false prophets were 829 00:50:55,240 --> 00:51:00,000 saying go and you will devour, you will win, you will subdue 830 00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:04,840 and the presence of these kings, you also had the potential 831 00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:08,760 opportunity of escaping house arrest. 832 00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:12,000 So it's not just those two things. 833 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:14,440 It's not just the prophets and the kings, it's your present 834 00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:17,640 circumstances where now you have this little window of 835 00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:21,480 opportunity to just say what they all are saying and to 836 00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:24,080 reinforce it, even if he doesn't believe you at 1st and 837 00:51:24,080 --> 00:51:28,480 potentially Ahab would say Micaiah, this is the first time 838 00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:29,920 that you said something that I like. 839 00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:37,480 Tell Amon and tell my son to release Micaiah. 840 00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:41,800 He's free to go. I wonder if that's swirled in 841 00:51:41,800 --> 00:51:47,320 his mind at any point. But it doesn't influence him one 842 00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:50,120 bit. None of those. 843 00:51:50,120 --> 00:51:53,000 The fact that after he gives us prophecy, he says you're 844 00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:55,440 actually going to go into a real jail and this is what your daily 845 00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:59,160 diet is going to look like. You would think that somebody 846 00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:04,040 who receives even a worse sentence would say, did I say 847 00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:06,480 that was a vision from the Lord? Actually, no, no, no. 848 00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,760 Go up to Rhemoth, Gilead, King Ahab. 849 00:52:10,680 --> 00:52:12,960 Imagine being in jail for two years and then you have a chance 850 00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:15,040 to stand before the judge and after what you said is to go to 851 00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:18,160 jail for 20 years now, now you feel a little bit more. 852 00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:20,520 It's not just a Sunday school story. 853 00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:24,360 Feel it. Put yourself in his shoes. 854 00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:30,840 How is he able to do this? How is he able to endure despite 855 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:33,440 all the external, even internal potential struggle? 856 00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:37,320 How is he able to still with boldness and courage and 857 00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:39,280 faithfulness, say this is what the Lord said? 858 00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:41,160 I'm going to stick with it no matter what it costs me. 859 00:52:41,720 --> 00:52:45,480 Can I tell you what I believe? One major contribution is the 860 00:52:45,480 --> 00:52:49,200 vision he had. Surely that played something. 861 00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:52,200 Surely that influenced him as much as it was supposed to 862 00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:55,440 influence his audience. The Lord sitting upon his 863 00:52:55,440 --> 00:53:01,240 throne. He's the one who ultimately 864 00:53:01,240 --> 00:53:03,160 determines the fate of this whole thing. 865 00:53:03,160 --> 00:53:05,640 He's the one who writes the story, not these kings. 866 00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:09,040 And that's true for Israel and the people of Israel. 867 00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:12,040 Surely it's true for me as an individual servant of his. 868 00:53:14,840 --> 00:53:18,280 Listen, I'm ending here. Your perception of God will 869 00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:25,160 influence absolutely everything, even how you suffer, how you 870 00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:28,240 experience the suffering, how you endure the suffering, what 871 00:53:28,240 --> 00:53:30,840 will make all the differences, how you see the one that you 872 00:53:30,840 --> 00:53:35,920 serve. This man saw the Lord sitting on 873 00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:40,040 the throne. And so when more punishment was 874 00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:44,960 granted to him, it didn't push him, didn't pull him. 875 00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:48,360 He was exactly where he was when this thing all started. 876 00:53:50,360 --> 00:53:53,080 And so the way to end this Bible study is to ask the Lord to 877 00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:57,280 sharpen our perception of Him for that to really have an 878 00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:00,480 impact and not to give you a greater chance at winning Bible 879 00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:07,560 trivia to actually have it move your soul to the point where 880 00:54:07,680 --> 00:54:10,520 when you're visited by persecution problems, 881 00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:16,000 prosperity, even I serve God doesn't move me. 882 00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:20,600 All for men and even woman of God like that in this day. 883 00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:23,680 In the same way Makaya was refreshing to us. 884 00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:26,520 We need great refreshment in this time and hour. 885 00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:31,800 That's going to ultimately derive from servants of God who 886 00:54:31,800 --> 00:54:33,600 say what the Lord says. That's what I'm going to do. 887 00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:37,400 Whether it comes with reward or not, whether I feel like it or 888 00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:40,040 not, it does not make a difference to me. 889 00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:44,800 Oh, that there would be more of such in this place and beyond. 890 00:54:45,280 --> 00:55:08,920 Let's pray as you have your head bowed and 891 00:55:08,920 --> 00:55:11,480 your heart bound, before the Lord can ask you a question, a 892 00:55:11,480 --> 00:55:16,200 reflective question. What part of the Bible study 893 00:55:16,200 --> 00:55:20,680 touched you? What part spoke to you? 894 00:55:24,040 --> 00:55:27,360 Now identify that and then pray it. 895 00:55:36,920 --> 00:55:41,720 Identify that and then pray it. Pray it to be true of you. 896 00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:47,000 Pray for it to be not true in you. 897 00:55:54,310 --> 00:56:02,760 Lord, we ask you tonight that you would make us like this man, 898 00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:12,320 immovable and steadfast. Lord, perhaps for some of us in 899 00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:14,640 here, all it takes is the opinion of our fathers, our 900 00:56:14,640 --> 00:56:18,200 mothers or siblings to make us doubt our faith. 901 00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:26,520 For others, it's a certain amount of money that will cause 902 00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:40,240 us to dwindle in our devotion. Lord, for others, humble service 903 00:56:40,240 --> 00:56:46,200 is unattractive and we want position and power and authority 904 00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:50,040 because we couldn't get in the world. 905 00:56:50,360 --> 00:56:53,960 We might take advantage of the church to satisfy our our 906 00:56:53,960 --> 00:56:59,520 desires or just wash over us. Please cleanse us and make us 907 00:57:00,160 --> 00:57:05,200 clean, completely clean. Lord, in the same way Paul could 908 00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:08,040 say, God is my witness, God, who tests our hearts. 909 00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:12,280 Regardless of what men may say or not say, may you be able to 910 00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:20,160 look upon us and be pleased. Thank You that your son's 911 00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:22,480 righteousness is ours. But Lord, we want to live out 912 00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:26,760 His righteousness. Make it possible for us. 913 00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:32,120 Finally, Lord, help us see that you are high above all else. 914 00:57:33,800 --> 00:57:36,800 Help us believe that not just over the affairs of this world, 915 00:57:36,800 --> 00:57:41,440 the politics, the banks, the education system, the wars 916 00:57:41,440 --> 00:57:43,960 happening in this very day and hour, though we're asking for 917 00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:46,360 our own lives. Help us really believe that 918 00:57:47,720 --> 00:57:51,240 you're got you're governing every single aspect of who we 919 00:57:51,240 --> 00:57:54,760 are. And for this we rejoice in Jesus 920 00:57:54,760 --> 00:57:56,600 name, Amen. Amen. 921 00:57:57,160 --> 00:57:59,080 Let's stand together. Let's worship the Lord Almighty.