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1 Kings 13 (Part 1) Bible Study (A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  First Kings chapter 13. Beginning in verse one, before
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  Jeroboam became king, he was known as a respected industrious
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  man. But very quickly after becoming
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  king, his reputation as being industrious was quickly changed
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  to becoming idolatrous from industrious to idolatrous.
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  And we learned here that he not wait too long after his
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  inauguration to engineer his own man made religious system that
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  would lead the majority of the tribes of Israel into a level of
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  heresy that would be so very difficult to recover from.
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  And all seemed to be going well for Jeroboam and his Kingdom
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  until we read the 1st 2 words of this chapter, which is the
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  object of our study tonight. And so we look and read in First
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  Kings 13, verse one and behold, pause whenever the Bible inserts
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  the word behold. In any context, it's meant to
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  capture your attention and to place it on something momentous
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  or someone significant and the object of our beholding.
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  In this place, let's read and behold, a man of God came out of
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  Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel.
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  Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings.
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  What is it that the Spirit of God wants?
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  To shift our attention to? A man of God?
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  That's the spectacle that we are to look at tonight, a man of
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  God. And what a sight it is to find a
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  man of God in a context of so much compromise and anemic
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  spirituality. It's as though by reading,
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  Behold, you and I are to sense this relief, this wind of grace,
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  in this circumstance of dense pollution and declension, we
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  find a ray of light. We find this man of God, And
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  what it was then is true in our day today.
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  It is something to behold, in an age of pollution, of idolatry
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  and sin, to locate and identify a man or a woman of God.
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  You know, I looked at this earlier, and I thought to
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  myself, that could be a title of a sermon in itself.
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  And behold, a man of God. There needed to be a man of God
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  at this time, and there needs to be men and women of God today.
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  And though we're not going to do a sermon about, behold a man of
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  God, let us relish and admire how the spirit of God puts this
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  verse together. And behold, a man of God came
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  out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel.
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  That's very specific and for a good reason.
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  This man of God came from the South, from the Kingdom of the
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  South, Judah, and went N to one of the central places of
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  idolatry, Bethel. And the reason why that's so
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  significant is because Jeroboam accomplished a lot.
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  With his clever mind and wicked heart, he was able to establish
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  his own religion that mimics so closely the true faith of God
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  under the Old Covenant. And this man was able to do what
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  he was able to formulate his own feast.
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  He was able to create his own centers of worship.
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  He was able to even recruit his own line of priests.
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  And and with all of that, you know what?
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  Jeroboam was not able to raise up a man of God.
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  Notice that the man of God didn't come from Bethel.
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  He came from Judah. Do you know why that's
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  important? Because we learned last week in
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  Second Chronicles 11 that all those whose hearts sought the
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  Lord trickled down to Judah. Because Jerusalem is where God
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  was truly worshipped. So you had the Levites, and you
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  had those who truly wanted to worship God, who moved South.
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  And the godliness of the North was so empty, so vacated, that
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  there was nobody from the northern tribes.
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  To be raised up to be a prophet, God had to send somebody from
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  the tribe of Judah. You know what empty religion can
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  do? Do you know what vain religion
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  can do? Do you know what worldly
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  Christianity can do in the context of ministry and local
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  churches? It can fill up calendars with
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  events. It can, or it can gather crowds,
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  or it can perform religious rituals and services.
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  But I'll tell you what empty religion can never do.
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  It can never foster men or women of God who are able to be
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  sensitive to the spirit of God and transmit the pure word of
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  God. Empty religion can never do
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  that. It can put on a show, It can
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  have buildings, it can have impressive, elaborate things.
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  But what it can never produce is what we see here, a servant of
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  God sold out for God in tune with God walking with God.
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  And that's what we find here. Jeroboam could have fabricated
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  much. He could have done much with his
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  abilities. But he could never, ever draw
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  out what came out of Judah, a man who knew God.
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  And that's what we see here, a man who knew God.
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  And Jeroboam was about to meet this man of God.
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  What does this unnamed prophet stumble upon as he arrives to
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  Bethel? Well, we read it, did we not?
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  Verse 2 tells us, And the man cried against the altar by the
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  word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, Thus says the
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  Lord, Behold, the Son shall be born to the House of David
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  Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of
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  the high places, who make offerings on you, and human
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  bones shall be burned on you. He comes to this altar because
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  in verse one we read that Jeroboam was standing by the
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  altar ready to make offerings on it.
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  Why is that an obscene description concerning Jeroboam?
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  Why is US finding Jeroboam by an altar ready to make offerings on
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  it? Something that should be
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  extremely offensive to us, knowing what the Bible has to
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  say about altars and sacrifices? Any idea he's not a priest, he's
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  a king. Yeah, and in his own man made
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  system, it's totally valid to be able to operate as a king and to
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  mingle to be a priest at the same time.
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  But that is illegal according to the mind of God and the law of
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  God. You will never find legitimacy.
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  You'll never find divine approval through all the Old
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  Testament of a king who attempts to operate as a priest.
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  Never. And whenever it does appear,
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  whenever any king pursues that it is met with swift and severe
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  discipline. The only exception is what we
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  studied in Second Samuel when we found David who was operating as
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  a priest and his sons were also designated as priest.
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  And if you want to know the deeper explanation behind that,
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  then find that in Second Samuel, I believe Chapter 8, where that
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  is described in greater detail and we expound upon that and
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  there's good reason why it's tolerated there.
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  Apart from that you'll never see it.
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  Do you know why it was wrong for any king to become a priest?
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  Any idea why was that hybrid position never to be entertained
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  or engaged? Then here's the answer.
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  Because it was reserved for one person only.
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  It was reserved for one person only.
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  In the Bible predicts that there would be one who would be on the
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  throne and he would also be a priest.
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  And the person who fulfills that office is the Messiah.
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  And the Messiah is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
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  So to attempt to operate in that role is to rob God of his
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  prerogative in the person of Jesus Christ, this elite, for
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  one person and one person alone. No one is ever able or tolerated
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  to entertain that same position. So this is what Jeroboam is
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  doing. He's king, but he's also
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  functioning in the office of a minister.
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  And now we see that this man of God in verse two does something.
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  He comes to this scene and he flashes in the surrounding of
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  abominable apostasy and he has a message to declare.
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  And interestingly, who did he speak this message to?
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  Look at verse 2 again and tell me who he's speaking it to the
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  altar. He's not speaking to Jeroboam,
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  is he? He's not speaking to the false
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  priest, is he? Can you imagine the sight?
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  Can you imagine me speaking to this, oh, pulpit, pulpit.
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  That'd be kind of strange, right?
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  But it's on purpose. The message is intentional.
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  The delivery is just as intentional.
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  But in speaking to the altar, not only is he calling out how
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  this is wrong and evil and he's he's highlighting the object of
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  a fence, but it's almost that. There is an indirect message in
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  the way that he is proclaiming this message.
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  It's as though Jeroboam has become so hard of hearing.
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  Though he was privileged to help himself to receive a
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  personalized message from another prophet at a previous
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  time, he's become so hardened, so spiritually death, so
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  indifferent, that God doesn't even honor to addressing him
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  directly. He speaks to the altar as though
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  to say these stones that you've gathered and put together have a
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  greater willingness of hearing what the word of God is than
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  you, Jeroboam, that's a rebuke. That's a rebuke.
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  And what we're about to find out by way of miracle is that this
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  altar in fact does respond to the word of the Lord, and
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  Jeroboam doesn't. What this prophet is going to
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  declare about this altar, the altar submits to, and here's
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  this man who's created in God's image, who still is stubborn.
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  So this is a stark contract between an inanimate object and
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  a person with flesh and blood created in the image and
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  likeness of God and stones are more willing to testify and obey
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  than a than a man. And you know what came to mind
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  when I looked at this when I thought about this?
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  A statement that Jesus made in Luke's version of the Triumphal
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  entry. We studied that a couple weeks
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  ago. And I want you to see it with
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  your own eyes because Luke adds a detail that Matthew and Mark
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  does not include. It's in Luke 19.
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  Turn to the New Testament. Look at this with me in Luke 19
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  verse 39 and 40. Where Jesus enters into the holy
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  City and the crowds are going crazy, there is ecstasy, there
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  is excitement, there is praises, almost deafening praises.
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  And who's there? The poor and pitiful Pharisees.
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  And they're so overwhelmed by what's happening, they can't
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  control it and all they can do, You can almost sense how
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  helpless they are. They can't deal with the crowd,
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  they can't control the roarings. So they look to Jesus and they
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  say this in verse 39, and some of the Pharisees in the crowd
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  said to teacher rebuke your disciples.
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  They're asking you to save them and deliver them.
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  They're declaring and providing you accolades and messianic
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  prophecies. And look what Jesus said, he
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  answered. I tell you, if these were
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  silent, the very stones would cry out.
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  Can somebody give me a one sentence explanation of what
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  Jesus meant by that? Anybody.
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  Anybody want to give a try? Here's how most people
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  understand this. If people will not give God the
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  praise, if people will not give Jesus the honor, then the rocks
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  will have the honor and the joy of doing it right.
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  In other words, Jesus saying if people will not acknowledge me,
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  nature will acknowledge me. I will not go without exaltation
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  and acknowledgement for who I am, right?
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  These people won't praise, Then these rocks will praise, and I
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  believe that's part of it. But I believe that there is
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  something else being conveyed here.
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  I believe another layer to understanding what Jesus meant
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  here is missed by most. What does he say?
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  I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would
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  cry out. Most understand this as
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  hyperbole. Most understand this to be just
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  a poetic way of making a statement.
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  But it's very likely that there's another way of
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  understanding this. A double layered meaning
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  perhaps. Perhaps when Jesus says that
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  these stones will cry out in the midst of the silence of the
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  people to mean something else than crying out songs or
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  accolades, That the crying out here is not about joy but about
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  judgment. Not that if the people won't
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  praise, then the rocks will fill in the void, but if the people
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  will not praise, then the rocks will cry out and condemn the
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  people. And this imagery of something
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  even like this in an eminent object being a witness or
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  testifying against the faithlessness of the people is
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  not foreign. Jesus didn't introduce it for
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  the first time. It's throughout the Old
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  Testament. So let's do this together
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  because we're in Bible study. So open your Bibles and go to
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  Joshua 24. I want to make this case in
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  Joshua 24, verse 27. This is at the end of the book
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  of Joshua and the nation of Israel, where is ready to enter
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  into a new season where the leadership of Joshua was coming
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  to an end. And so Joshua provides this
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  final exhortation for the people to remain faithful beyond his
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  lifetime. And this is what he says near
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  the end of his sermon. And Joshua 24 verse 27 We read,
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  and Joshua said to all the people, behold, this stone shall
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  be a witness against us, For it has heard all the words of the
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  Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness
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  against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.
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  So he wrecks the stone, and metaphorically speaking, says,
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  this stone heard what I said to you.
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  It heard you saying, Yes, we agree we will remain faithful to
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  God, and so it stands as a memorial and as a testimony, and
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  as a witness against you. Then whenever we look upon it,
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  we remember we made a commitment to God.
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  And if we fail to honor that commitment, the stone is here to
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  remind us you're walking away from what you said.
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  Here's another interesting passage in Habakkuk.
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  Go to the prophet Habakkuk in Chapter 2.
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  And here's another clear connection that perhaps even
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  Jesus had in mind when he made that statement in Luke 19.
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  So he's describing a series of sins, and the Prophet says this
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  in verse 11 of Habakkuk chapter 2.
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  For the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the
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  woodwork respond. Why?
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  Why will the stone of the home cry out?
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  Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on
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  iniquity. So you get to have this imagery
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  where when people are walking in darkness and in sin, you have
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  these objects, these furnishings, these materials,
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  who will in a sense call it out. They are in a sense witnesses of
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  it. They will speak out against the
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  injustices and in this context, a specific injustice, violence,
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  violence being committed. So I'm making a case, you're
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  very briefly that it's possible for this imagery, for this
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  proverbial thing of stones crying out in the context of
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  judgement. And here's Jesus saying, if
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  these people will not praise, then these stones will cry out.
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  And at this point in Luke chapter 19, the stones were
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  silent. Do you know why they were
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  silent? Because the people were praising
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  the people where crowning Jesus with their honor, at least to a
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  certain degree. But here's my question to you.
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  You know this very well. Did their praise persist?
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  No, no, no. In the very same week, a very
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  few days later, their praises of Hosanna were replaced with
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  hisses of crucify him. And when the Lord of Glory was
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  hanging, suspended in the air, drinking the cup of God's wrath
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  and coming to the final moments where it would be finished and
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  it still is finished today, did we forget Matthew's depiction
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  and description of what was occurring around that holy site?
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  Let me remind you in Matthew 27, you need to turn there to see it
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  with your own eyes. Matthew 27 and verse 50, Matthew
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  27, verse 50. And Jesus cried out again with a
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  loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.
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  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top
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  to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
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  This is the case I'm making the rocks.
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  The stones eventually did cry out.
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  They were silent when Jesus entered, but when the people
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  were violent, who committed the worst act of violence known to
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  human history? The Rocks testified.
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  The rocks split. Do you think Rocks split
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  silently? And I'd like to see this as a
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  connection to what Jesus said earlier.
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  If these people will not acknowledge me for who I am,
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  then the rocks will testify about who I am, but will also
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  testify against the people for condemning the wrong one and
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  from removing the crown that he deserves and placing a crown of
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  thorns instead. Here are the rocks crying out
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  and now we come back to our main text of First Kings 13 and we
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  see this altar. This altar would also cry out.
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  And we see here the deafness of Jeroboam.
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  And guess what? It's a warning to us.
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  Jeroboam's stubbornness is a call to you and I to be careful
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  that we do not become indifferent and irresponsive to
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  the word of the Lord. And let me show you a text that
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  tells tells exactly that. And Psalm 32, verse eight, you
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  don't have to turn that. Listen to this very carefully.
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  It's a very known Psalm, and this is very known passage of
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  Scripture. And Psalm 32, eight, the Psalm,
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  it says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should
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  go. I will counsel you with my eye
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  upon you. And then he goes on to say, be
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  not like a horse or a mule without understanding which
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  might be curbed with bit or bridle, or it will not stay near
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  you. So we have to connect those two
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  verses. Here's the psalmist.
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  Now speaking as a teacher, some would say speaking on behalf of
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  God. God saying I will teach you and
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  I will guide you. Whichever way you go with, it
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  still applies, still applies. With this principle, I will
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  teach you. I will instruct you.
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  And the primary way that God instructs you and I is through
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  what He has revealed. His word, His law, His
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  commandments, His promises, His warnings, and He's beckoning.
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  This is the means. This is the way in which I will
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  protect you and lead you and prosper you.
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  And then He follows it up with a warning.
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  As always, say, if you will not take heed to my instructions, if
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  your heart is not tender and soft to the word of the Lord
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  being declared over you, or as you discover it for yourself.
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  Don't be like this by refusing to uphold the word of God with
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  such authority in your life. Be not like a horse or a mule.
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  Horses and mules can be stubborn animals.
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  They can be obstinate. They can be difficult.
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  Like most animals, they have the tendency to move ahead when you
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  don't want it to go anywhere and when you actually wanted to
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  advance. They sometimes are rock hard and
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  stay in place and to the displeasure of the owner and to
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  the unpleasant experience of the beast.
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  Oftentimes what's needed is an instrument that may cause pain
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  and discomfort in order to get that beast to its desired
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  location or destination. And the Psalmist takes that
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  analogy and he applies it to us and he says, listen, if you're
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  not willing to take heed to the word of God, you know, like
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  getting distracted when the word of God is being declared and and
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  and thinking that it has no relevance to you.
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  And and not having that trembling before the Lord and
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  not having that desire to hear from Him.
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  If you are, if you're there, you're opening yourself up to
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  God, implementing and employing a different means to guide you.
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  And just like a bit or a bridle, it's not fun when he does it.
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  The parallel to the bit and the bridle is afflictions, painful
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  trials, loving wounds. To get you to where you need to
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  be, to keep you in the place that you need to be, or to bring
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  you back on the track that you abandoned.
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  So here's the warning. When you begin to feel that
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  hardness of heart, when you get bored with the Bible, right,
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  when you feel, when you are able to not grasp what's what's being
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  said, what's being read, what's being shared, what's being
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  counseled, you're opening yourself up to a different
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  delivery in your life. If you're truly a child of God,
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  If you're not a child of God, one of the worst things that can
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  happen is God leave you alone. But if you do belong to God and
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  he's trying to get your attention and guess what?
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  Here's Bible study and God is speaking loud and clear because
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  His word is opened. And here are circumstances, and
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  here are phone calls of people. And here are things happening in
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  your relationship where the Word of God keeps coming up.
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  Principles from the Word of God. You keep dismissing you keep
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  dismissing it. God in his love is ready to put
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  a bit and a bridle on you, and he's ready to harness you to try
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  to get you where you need to be. It doesn't have to happen that
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  way. It doesn't.
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  The only trials and and afflictions and seasons of
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  testing you want is while you're walking in obedience, not when
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  you are not sure yourself. Or you are sure that you are
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  lukewarm and you are careless and you are coasting along
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  without that tenderness and longing for God's word to
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  dominate and drive your life. And so we see Jeroboam here.
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  He's become so hard into the word of God that now this altar
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  is being addressed in his presence.
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  And then a prophecy goes out. Here's the prophecy.
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  You read it with me, O altar, Altar.
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  Thus says the Lord. Behold, a son shall be born to
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  the House of David Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on
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  you the priests of the high places who make offerings on
• 24:26
  you, and human bones shall be burned on you.
• 24:30
  This is a profound prophecy for two reasons, #1 because it is a
• 24:34
  powerful rebuke to Jeroboam, #2 because it is so precisely
• 24:40
  accurate in its prediction. So here's the rebuke.
• 24:45
  Jeroboam was promised by another prophet that if you are faithful
• 24:49
  to me, I will give you a promise like what I gave to David.
• 24:54
  You will have descendants occupying the throne for
• 24:56
  generations to come as long as you remain faithful.
• 25:00
  And now, after a season of disobedience and ignoring God
• 25:04
  and pursuing idolatry and leading others into that same
• 25:08
  way of life, a prophet comes and he says your altar.
• 25:11
  This thing that you set up and invented, it's going to be
• 25:14
  desecrated. And do you know who's going to
• 25:17
  desecrate it? One of David's sons.
• 25:19
  You know what you're saying? I'm preserving David's dynasty.
• 25:25
  I'm ready to put an end to yours.
• 25:28
  And so powerful is this rebuke that God, in his wisdom and in
• 25:35
  His Holiness, even names the person who's going to do it.
• 25:41
  It's not common for God to name people in prophecy when it's
• 25:47
  about to when it's going to happen far down the road from
• 25:50
  when it was declared. And that brings us to the second
• 25:54
  point, the power behind. This is how precise this
• 25:58
  prophecy is. Josiah comes on the scene as a
• 26:02
  king 3 centuries after this was prophesied.
• 26:07
  Can you imagine that just a little bit over 300 years this
• 26:11
  was declared Josiah, a son of David as a king will fulfill
• 26:16
  this very word that was declared by this unnamed servant of God.
• 26:20
  So let's rejoice at the supernatural reality of the word
• 26:23
  of God and turn to 2nd Kings 23 and see the fulfillment of it.
• 26:27
  You know skeptics and and theological liberals are so
• 26:30
  appalled by this that they believe that an author inserted
• 26:33
  this after the fact and not 300 years before.
• 26:41
  No matter how much evidence you give to some unbelievers, they
• 26:44
  will try to explain it away because they love darkness that
• 26:48
  much. Second Kings 2316.
• 26:52
  And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount.
• 26:57
  And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them
• 27:01
  on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the
• 27:04
  Lord that the man of God proclaimed.
• 27:06
  Who had predicted these things? Can you imagine that 300 years
• 27:11
  after God said he would do what He would do?
• 27:15
  And it happened. Some of us forgot what we ate
• 27:19
  three days ago. Some of us forgot what we ate
• 27:22
  this morning. God doesn't forget His word.
• 27:25
  He said it, and he'll remember it as though he just said it 300
• 27:29
  years after it was declared. So this is the fulfillment of
• 27:33
  it. This is what's so powerful about
• 27:35
  this message. But we have to continue, right?
• 27:37
  Look at verse three of First Kings 13 And he gave a sign the
• 27:40
  same day, saying, This is the sign that the Lord has spoken.
• 27:43
  Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on
• 27:48
  it shall be poured out. And when the king heard the
• 27:52
  saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at
• 27:55
  Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying,
• 27:59
  seize him, and his hand, which he stretched out against him,
• 28:03
  dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.
• 28:09
  Like many of the miracles in the Bible, God often authenticates
• 28:15
  his message through the supernatural.
• 28:17
  Some demonstration, some manifestation of the
• 28:19
  unexplainable, so that the hearers of the Word can say This
• 28:23
  has been surely authored by God. This message stems from the
• 28:27
  heavens, and this demonstration is just that.
• 28:31
  It's a confirmation that what the man of God just said was
• 28:35
  going to happen. But not only was it a
• 28:38
  confirmation to the prophet's word, it was another blow of
• 28:42
  mercy to that callous heart of this king, something that would
• 28:48
  collide with the ice in his chest.
• 28:53
  And what was the response? Right.
• 28:55
  Some people believe that if we just have more miracles, people
• 28:57
  will be more susceptible to believing.
• 28:59
  Not. So here's a miracle, here's a
• 29:02
  miracle ready to happen. Here's a sign.
• 29:04
  And this man, all he had to do was step back and say, OK, this
• 29:06
  is from the Lord, let's see this altar break in two.
• 29:09
  I want to see the ashes pour out instead.
• 29:12
  He doesn't even wait for the sign to be performed.
• 29:14
  He's so filled with rage at the word that was declared that he
• 29:17
  raises up his hand points at the man, and surely there was others
• 29:20
  around him. And he said, seize him, seize
• 29:24
  him. So the word and the miraculous
• 29:28
  that's about to take place didn't soften him.
• 29:30
  It hardened him. It didn't bring him to his
• 29:34
  knees. It caused him to raise his hand.
• 29:37
  And when I looked at this and I meditated on this, I thought to
• 29:40
  myself, what does this teach you and I?
• 29:43
  Because obviously he was disturbed by the fact that he
• 29:45
  heard that David's dynasty is going to overrule his dynasty.
• 29:48
  And here's what you and I have to remember.
• 29:50
  Faithfulness to God's Word does not promise favorable responses
• 29:55
  from men. Faithfulness to God's Word does
• 29:58
  not promise favorable responses from men.
• 30:02
  This man was faithful. This man travelled to the north.
• 30:04
  This man listen in the presence of the king who had the
• 30:08
  authority, as he's about to show, to try to kill someone.
• 30:11
  If you disagree with him who had all the armies, all these
• 30:15
  soldiers, all the weapons against one man, this is
• 30:20
  faithfulness. And look at the response.
• 30:24
  Even when this faithfulness was was going to be backed up with a
• 30:26
  miracle, this was the response. So that you know this right?
• 30:31
  The scriptures tell us that over and over again.
• 30:33
  Here's another reminder. Do not discount your
• 30:36
  faithfulness because of the lack of faithful response.
• 30:41
  You know what I'm reminded when I read this?
• 30:42
  A verse. I open my Bob.
• 30:43
  I'm like, I I know this. This is something an Amos here,
• 30:46
  and it's an Amos 5-10. You don't have to turn there,
• 30:48
  but just listen to what Amos declares in 5-10.
• 30:52
  They hate him who reproves in the gate and they abhor him who
• 30:57
  speaks the truth. You know what it doesn't say?
• 31:01
  They hate reproving in the gate and they abhor the truth.
• 31:07
  It doesn't say that. It says they hate him.
• 31:11
  It says they abhor him. You know what a whore means?
• 31:14
  Disgust. Not just with the message, but
• 31:18
  with a messenger. There are people who hate the
• 31:23
  truth so much that if you live the truth and tell the truth,
• 31:27
  they will hate you. You.
• 31:32
  Yeah. Your heart is filled with love
• 31:33
  because you know the truth sets free.
• 31:35
  You want to see other people know the freedom and the gospel,
• 31:37
  but when people hate the truth, expect to be hated with it as
• 31:41
  well. And listen, this man was
• 31:43
  faithful. Notice what he says here in
• 31:45
  verse four. And he gave a sign that same
• 31:47
  day. And they described a sign.
• 31:49
  And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which
• 31:51
  he What's the word here? Which he cried.
• 31:55
  When you read earlier when this man of God did come, it says he
• 31:58
  cried against the altar. You know what may be the
• 32:01
  temptation of a man of God who's stepping into enemy territory
• 32:04
  with a king who has in the snap of a finger the power to
• 32:07
  eradicate your life, probably to lower your voice as much as
• 32:12
  possible. You're still going to say it, to
• 32:14
  be faithful, but you want the least amount of people to hear
• 32:18
  what you have to say. Oh alter, alter, this is coming
• 32:23
  upon you and just I did my part, Lord, and back off.
• 32:25
  Is that what he did? No, he was not concerned who
• 32:29
  heard or who didn't hurt. He actually wanted as many
• 32:31
  people to hear as possible. He cried.
• 32:34
  He cried. I'm not going to do it now.
• 32:37
  I think I'm loud enough, so I let your imagination go.
• 32:39
  There. He cried.
• 32:41
  Here's this worship service that's taking place.
• 32:44
  And this man, this true prophet of God, comes and he heralds
• 32:48
  this truth. Unashamed, unafraid, filled with
• 32:51
  courage. And though the faithful response
• 32:57
  would not be guaranteed, here is your guarantee for faithfulness
• 33:01
  of the word of God. You win God's favor.
• 33:04
  You may not win a favorable response, but every single time
• 33:08
  you secure God's favor upon you. And how God manifests his favor
• 33:14
  depends from situation to situation, person to person.
• 33:17
  Really, God will get the most glory out of it regardless.
• 33:22
  And in this case, God brings divine intervention, divine
• 33:26
  defense. We see here that the invisible
• 33:29
  hand of God stays the hand of this king.
• 33:34
  And now this. This King's hand is frozen in
• 33:37
  the air. It can't move in any there.
• 33:39
  It's almost pathetic, right? Like what's more simple than me
• 33:42
  doing this with my ligaments and muscles?
• 33:45
  And now here's this king with all the supposed power, with
• 33:49
  this great mind, hard work, and he can't even move his finger.
• 33:55
  And it's for all to see. And when you look at this, you
• 34:00
  think this is remarkable. You see that the word reaches
• 34:05
  his ears, doesn't humble him. But when God touches his body,
• 34:10
  it awakens desperation. Look at verse 5.
• 34:15
  The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from
• 34:18
  the altar according to the sign that the man of God had given by
• 34:23
  the word of the Lord. Can you imagine that?
• 34:24
  Just imagine it. Here's this King sees him and
• 34:27
  his hand is frozen and right. In that moment the altar breaks
• 34:30
  open and the King's feet is buried with ashes.
• 34:35
  And you would think, right? You would think, OK, this altar
• 34:39
  split in two, maybe Jeroboam's heart will split in two.
• 34:44
  Let's read verse 6. And the king said to the man of
• 34:48
  God, entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for
• 34:53
  me, that my hand may be restored to me.
• 34:58
  And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the King's hand was
• 35:01
  restored to him, and became as it was before.
• 35:07
  So obviously embarrassed, probably frightened.
• 35:12
  This is supernatural. I can't.
• 35:14
  I can't bring my hand back. I can't move it forward.
• 35:16
  I can't point to my men. I can't do anything.
• 35:19
  And so in this place where now he becomes like a little child,
• 35:24
  this is, this is just to remind you and I that the very power
• 35:28
  you have to sit, where you're sitting to get up at the end of
• 35:30
  the service, to get in your car, to get a snack before you go to
• 35:33
  bed, to wake up the next day and open your eyelids, All of that
• 35:35
  is ordained by God. Even this, you can't do it
• 35:41
  without God. You can't move your nostrils if
• 35:45
  God doesn't permit it. So here's this man who can't
• 35:49
  move his hand, and he is so paralyzed with a mixture of
• 35:53
  emotions and the only thing that comes out of his mouth is
• 35:56
  listen, please ask your God to do something about this.
• 36:00
  Please entreat him. Do something for me here.
• 36:03
  You know why I find this so fascinating?
• 36:07
  It contradicts what this man said in the previous chapter.
• 36:11
  Like if I was, if I was a guy that bought into the idolatry of
• 36:16
  Jeroboam, I'd be like, there's something off with this guy.
• 36:19
  There's something off with all of this.
• 36:21
  Like that should have been the moment where the tribes realize
• 36:25
  who the true and living God is. Don't tell me that this doesn't
• 36:28
  make headlines after it happened.
• 36:30
  Frozen Hand. Here's a king who introduces
• 36:33
  golden calf worship again to the people of Israel.
• 36:36
  Let's look back at what he said when he brought this idolatry
• 36:40
  into the land, something that's never been known since the days
• 36:43
  of Exodus. First Kings 12.
• 36:44
  Look at verse 28. At First Kings 12.
• 36:49
  So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and he
• 36:55
  said to the people, you have gone up to Jerusalem long
• 36:57
  enough, Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out
• 37:03
  of the land of Egypt. Now if you said, behold your
• 37:07
  gods, OK, but you didn't just say, behold your gods.
• 37:10
  You said, behold your gods who delivered you, Behold your gods
• 37:14
  who saved you. Behold your gods who redeemed
• 37:16
  you. You know what comes to mind when
• 37:18
  I know that Jeroboam said this? Hey Jeroboam, why don't you call
• 37:21
  out to your golden calves and see if they can help you?
• 37:23
  Now you told everybody else that these gods saved them in the
• 37:28
  past and that, OK, if he was able to save him from Egypt,
• 37:30
  surely he's unable to save you from your hand coming down.
• 37:33
  Why don't you call up to your gods now?
• 37:35
  He doesn't. What does he do?
• 37:36
  He entreats The Lord, He asked The Prophet.
• 37:40
  Hey, listen, can you intercede for me?
• 37:43
  Now put yourself in the sandals of the Prophet for a moment.
• 37:46
  Here's this guy who who essentially would ruin the
• 37:50
  spiritual health of this nation, not just in this time, but for
• 37:54
  generations. Like this is serious.
• 37:56
  This this would split the narrative.
• 37:59
  This would split the story of Israel's relationship with God
• 38:04
  and their witness to the world until they're exile.
• 38:08
  What would you do as a man of God who had the backing of God's
• 38:13
  supernatural power behind your ministry at this moment?
• 38:16
  Entreat. Entreat.
• 38:17
  Please, please do something. Well, that's what you get for
• 38:22
  worshipping golden calves. Enjoy that for a few days and I
• 38:27
  might be back on another trip. And let's let let just marinate
• 38:31
  in this for a moment, Jeroboam, and learn your lesson, and then
• 38:35
  I'll come back for you. OK?
• 38:36
  All right. See you later, guys.
• 38:37
  You see what happened to you? Golden calves.
• 38:38
  All right. And he could have went back his
• 38:40
  merry way. He could have made a statement.
• 38:44
  No, he doesn't do that. Look at the rest of verse 6.
• 38:50
  And the man of God entreated. The Lord in the King's hand was
• 38:54
  restored to him, and he became as it was before.
• 38:59
  What do you have in this declaration and demonstration of
• 39:03
  judgment? Mercy.
• 39:07
  Mercy is reigning. So you have these clouds, right?
• 39:14
  Coming over Jeroboam's life, Jeroboam's future.
• 39:17
  And with those clouds come raindrops of grace.
• 39:22
  God didn't have to do this. Now you might be sitting there
• 39:24
  thinking, Why did God do this? If there was anybody who
• 39:28
  deserved to stay like a statue for at least a few hours, it was
• 39:33
  Jeroboam. Let him sit in the consequence
• 39:36
  of sin for a little bit. Do you know why God does this?
• 39:43
  Because yes, He attempts and he, with his perfect power and
• 39:47
  wisdom will try to draw you back with His chastisement, with his
• 39:52
  discipline, with his rod. But mercy is also his instrument
• 39:56
  of drawing you to repentance. Grace is also a means by which
• 40:02
  God softens. The heart of the worst of
• 40:04
  sinners doesn't always have to be a near death experience.
• 40:09
  It doesn't have to be you. In a tragic accident or overdose
• 40:12
  or something horrific for you to wake up, sometimes what wakes
• 40:16
  you up is undeserved. Grace is a gift from God is that
• 40:22
  despite all this, God still comes through, and still
• 40:25
  provides and still saves and still rescues.
• 40:28
  That's what we're seeing. You're seeing the multifaceted
• 40:31
  ways of God. He can Thunder his judgment and
• 40:35
  wake you up, drawing you and snatching you out of the fire
• 40:38
  with fear. But he can also melt your heart
• 40:41
  with his embrace and his warm mercies.
• 40:46
  So here's this man who has his hand lifted up, and the moment
• 40:51
  he asked for God to do something about it, it falls down because
• 40:55
  God heard his plea. What do you do with that?
• 40:59
  Here's what you do that you worship him.
• 41:02
  You stand in awe of him. You sent this prophet to rebuke
• 41:07
  this man, and with this man just cried out for help.
• 41:10
  You were willing to bring aid to him.
• 41:13
  This is the IT bothers me. It bothers me so much when
• 41:17
  unlearned people who who read a few blogs on the Internet say
• 41:21
  that the God of the Old Testament is not a God of mercy,
• 41:24
  or that the God of the New Testament, the person of Jesus
• 41:26
  Christ, is God in a better mood and God in the Old Testament for
• 41:30
  years is in a bad mood. You do not know your Bible.
• 41:33
  With all the respect, here's a God of mercy with a man who has
• 41:40
  caused so much havoc and destruction and still willing in
• 41:45
  the moment he cries out for assistance.
• 41:48
  God gives it, God gives it. But don't be fooled to think
• 41:56
  that Jeroboam's plea here is an indication of true repentance.
• 42:01
  This is not a cry from a penitent heart.
• 42:03
  This is a cry of a man who wants to escape punishment.
• 42:06
  Yeah, And here's what we're supposed to learn from this.
• 42:11
  Pay very close attention to this.
• 42:12
  This is a picture of a Sinner who wants the blessings of God
• 42:16
  but not God. This is, let me put it this way,
• 42:21
  There are millions of people, millions of people today who
• 42:24
  want salvation. Millions that get your
• 42:28
  attention, hold your breath. Salvation.
• 42:31
  They want salvation. Salvation from poverty,
• 42:35
  salvation from sickness, Salvation from loneliness.
• 42:40
  But not salvation from my sins. Not salvation from my
• 42:44
  disobedience. Not salvation from my heart and
• 42:47
  heart that hates God's law, that wants to be my own God.
• 42:52
  Not that kind of salvation. There are 1,000,000 upon
• 42:55
  millions, maybe billions, of people who want salvation, but
• 43:00
  from discomfort and from a hard life and from trauma and from an
• 43:06
  abusive environment who want what God can give but not God
• 43:11
  himself. That's what Jeroboam is
• 43:14
  showcasing. Here, give me my hand back.
• 43:19
  You know what he's asking Here, Look at this.
• 43:20
  This is this powerful imagery. He wants his hand to be
• 43:23
  restored, but not his heart. He wants his hand to be revived,
• 43:28
  but not his heart. Oh Jeroboam.
• 43:31
  No. Jeroboam has a picture of so
• 43:33
  many who even come to the Saints of God from time to time, who
• 43:38
  trickle in through the doors, never seen them before and all
• 43:41
  are welcome. And they just, you know, they'll
• 43:44
  come up to the preacher and say I'm in trouble, I need some
• 43:45
  help. My children are like this.
• 43:48
  My spouse is like this. My business is like this.
• 43:51
  They want God to answer a prayer, but they don't want to
• 43:53
  surrender to God. That's what Jeroboam is
• 43:59
  illustrating. And so God in his mercy still
• 44:05
  does it though. Isn't that amazing?
• 44:09
  Isn't that amazing? Saying why?
• 44:11
  Why? I wouldn't do it.
• 44:12
  God, they're not willing to. They're not.
• 44:14
  The heart is not in the right place, but perhaps in God, doing
• 44:17
  something, though they don't deserve it, will win their
• 44:19
  hearts. I thank God I'm not God.
• 44:25
  I'm sure you feel the same way. I hope you know what the Bible
• 44:30
  does say about God's mercy more than anything else.
• 44:34
  He's more merciful than you and I.
• 44:36
  That's what God's mercy, from cover to cover, teaches us.
• 44:41
  Let's read the rest of this. We're almost done.
• 44:43
  We're not doing this whole chapter.
• 44:44
  If you were worried that we were verse 7 And the king said to the
• 44:52
  man of God, come home with me and refresh yourself and I will
• 44:55
  give you a reward. And the man of God said to the
• 44:59
  king, if you give me half your house, I like this guy a lot.
• 45:05
  If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, and I
• 45:08
  will not eat bread or drink water in this place.
• 45:12
  For so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord saying, you
• 45:16
  shall neither eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the
• 45:20
  way that you came. So he went another way, and did
• 45:24
  not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
• 45:30
  We're not sure about Jeroboam's motive here.
• 45:34
  We know his reputation enough that he's a he's a bad guy.
• 45:40
  And we learned that his plea for help here was not truly from a
• 45:44
  repentant place. So if you have flags raised up,
• 45:48
  you have every right. If you have concern of this
• 45:51
  invitation, don't judge yourself and do be hard in yourself.
• 45:55
  You have right to be suspicious about Jeroboam's invitation
• 45:57
  here. We're not told why he's doing
• 45:59
  this. Maybe there's just a spontaneous
• 46:01
  gratitude that he's able to restore his hand.
• 46:03
  His hand is now back to normal and he just wants to show some
• 46:06
  surface level honorable gesture to this prophet and to just have
• 46:10
  him over his house. Regardless, this man of God has
• 46:14
  received 2 instructions from the Lord before this even happened,
• 46:19
  Unnamed unknown God spoke to this man.
• 46:21
  He says. Listen, when you go, I want you
• 46:23
  to also fast. When you go, I don't want you to
• 46:28
  eat there. I don't want you to drink.
• 46:31
  I don't want you to eat. And that makes sense.
• 46:34
  That is an obvious application to us, is it not?
• 46:36
  The picture here is that if the prophet were to come with such a
• 46:39
  strong word against this idolatrous people, namely the
• 46:43
  idolatrous leadership, and he has found eating and
• 46:46
  fellowshipping with him, that muddies the testimony, does it
• 46:48
  not? And you know where this goes in
• 46:50
  our context, right, of not being unequally yoked with people.
• 46:56
  I'm not associating with those who know the truth and still
• 47:00
  resist the truth and pursue disobedience and rebellion
• 47:04
  against God. We as the people of God have a
• 47:06
  mandate to disconnect ourselves from continual fellowship with
• 47:10
  such people for many reasons, and one of them is this, that
• 47:14
  you would not be tempted. There's the testimonial aspect.
• 47:19
  There's all of that too, but in this case it's obvious.
• 47:21
  Don't eat, don't trigger them. But here's another important
• 47:24
  point in the call of not being yoked with those who do not walk
• 47:27
  in the direction of the ways of God, You can be unequally yoked
• 47:30
  and still be kind and loving to such people, saying, what do you
• 47:34
  mean by that? Well, didn't he, didn't he
• 47:36
  intercede for him in verse six? Right.
• 47:39
  Didn't he say, entreat the Lord for me?
• 47:41
  And we're told here, and the man of God entreated the Lord.
• 47:44
  So being separated from the world doesn't mean that you
• 47:47
  scorned the world, disowned the world, disdain the world, hate
• 47:51
  the world. No.
• 47:52
  Here's a man who prays for this individual.
• 47:54
  Here's a man who lovingly is willing to stand in the gap for
• 47:57
  him, but we're still willing to not associate himself with him
• 48:00
  and partner with him and be mistaken with him.
• 48:03
  That makes sense. That's called balance in the
• 48:05
  Christian life. That's called the wisdom from
• 48:07
  God. To know how to navigate with
• 48:09
  relationships and family members.
• 48:11
  Enough what we show them that we love them and care for them.
• 48:14
  And also enough to say I don't agree with what you do because
• 48:17
  I'm a Christian. Don't eat or drink.
• 48:21
  Clear. What's unclear, not so clear is
• 48:24
  the second instruction. I've been told by God not to go
• 48:28
  the same way I came in. I have to take a different Rd.
• 48:33
  I have to change my directions on the GPS.
• 48:37
  Can't go back. We're not told why that was the
• 48:39
  case. We're not given a lengthy
• 48:41
  explanation, or any explanation, really.
• 48:43
  And perhaps that's on purpose, because God doesn't owe us every
• 48:48
  single explanation behind every single command.
• 48:52
  He gives us enough to know that every command is for his glory
• 48:56
  and for your joy, but not every single instruction he gives
• 49:00
  needs a reason behind it, at least extensively.
• 49:05
  And so perhaps God giving this instruction to this unnamed man
• 49:09
  of God was to simply win the aroma of obedience in a land
• 49:13
  filled with disregard for his word.
• 49:17
  Son, don't go back the way you came in, OK?
• 49:21
  Just trust me on that. No explanation given.
• 49:25
  OK, you told me to do that. I'm not going to do it.
• 49:28
  It's as simple as that. Simple obedience.
• 49:32
  And that is especially necessary to remember in times where you
• 49:35
  know the word of God and you're in a situation where it
• 49:38
  perfectly aligns or calls for that step of obedience, but it
• 49:41
  may not seem relevant or may not seem helpful.
• 49:44
  In those moments, trust and obey.
• 49:47
  Tell me why, for there's no other way.
• 49:51
  It's the best way. Trust and obey.
• 49:54
  Why can't I'm hey, man of God? Why can't you go back the way
• 49:59
  God told me to? That's enough for me.
• 50:03
  God told me to, OK, And so this man's willingness to obey God in
• 50:10
  this way would be a final rebuke before turning his back on this
• 50:14
  king and his men who have so disobeyed God, they are now
• 50:18
  staring at a man who obeys God. Something happened to me in my
• 50:24
  Bible study, in my personal study of this, these first 10
• 50:27
  verses, and Joel was there. Obviously she can testify to
• 50:30
  this. I'm coming near the end of the
• 50:33
  Bible study and I noticed something.
• 50:36
  I noticed something, I thought to myself, ah, that could have
• 50:39
  been a whole Bible study on its own.
• 50:41
  Do you know how many times the title man of God appears in the
• 50:47
  1st 10 verses? That's why.
• 50:49
  Because I, you know, you're reading it, you're reading and
• 50:50
  you're looking out. OK, what about this altar?
• 50:52
  What about it opening up. Oh stones.
• 50:54
  Jesus talked about stones. Who testify and witness.
• 50:56
  You get caught up in all these things.
• 50:57
  And then I just step back and I said, I've been reading these
• 50:59
  verses and all that keeps coming up is man of God, man of God,
• 51:02
  man of God, man of God, man of God.
• 51:03
  Seven times in 10 verses. We don't have his name.
• 51:09
  Now he could have been referenced by or identified as
• 51:12
  so many other things. So one might just explain this
• 51:15
  way simply saying, well, this is just to identify him.
• 51:18
  He's a man of God. We don't know his name, so he's
• 51:19
  a man of God. But again, out of all the ways
• 51:23
  you can describe somebody, the high honor of being referred to
• 51:27
  as a man of God, I believe there's something else in here.
• 51:32
  It's not just to give us a way to identify the man.
• 51:37
  Perhaps even in these 10 verses, we have the traits of a man, of
• 51:41
  God. We have some of the elements of
• 51:46
  what makes up a man of God. Not all of them, but some of
• 51:51
  them. And I I was like, maybe we
• 51:54
  should do that for the Bible study.
• 51:56
  Maybe look at this 7 verses of what this man of God does and
• 52:00
  doesn't do. Maybe there's something here
• 52:01
  about what a man of God is. And here's here's how this
• 52:05
  minister to me, because I'm far, too far deep into everything
• 52:09
  else to go in that direction now.
• 52:12
  So I have homework to do, and maybe that's something you can
• 52:16
  look into. Here's the Here's how I'm ending
• 52:17
  it. Isn't it amazing how in one
• 52:20
  passage God can speak in so many ways?
• 52:23
  That's what I took out of it. It says, do I got a nudge today,
• 52:27
  little nudge. You can look at this text in a
• 52:30
  completely different way and it's still be faithful to the
• 52:34
  text. And I just, I was getting ready
• 52:38
  and I was just like worshipping the Lord and just thanking the
• 52:41
  Lord for the Holy Spirit for just giving that.
• 52:44
  Not enough for me to change the whole thing, but enough for me
• 52:46
  to say you can look at the 10 verses of this chapter and get a
• 52:49
  completely different Bible, say completely different sermon, a
• 52:53
  completely different set of truths.
• 52:55
  My book is unlike any other. So that's what I leave with you
• 52:59
  in the ending of this. And maybe one day you'll get a
• 53:02
  sermon about what a man of God looks like according to First
• 53:06
  Kings chapter 13. Maybe not.
• 53:08
  But before I go into that Bible study, I'm going to end it so
• 53:11
  that you and I can go home. Let's pray, worship the Lord
• 53:23
  with me. Please honor him with me
• 53:25
  tonight. Please bestow upon him the
• 53:28
  exaltation that he deserves. Lord, you are mighty.
• 53:33
  You are awesome. Your word is greater than any
• 53:38
  other spoil that can be found, any other reward that can be
• 53:42
  achieved, any other experience that can be purchased or
• 53:47
  realized. Your word is our joy.
• 53:50
  It is our light. It is our sustenance.
• 53:54
  It is the window by which we see you.
• 53:57
  And we rejoice in your word tonight.
• 54:02
  Thank you for nourishing our faith tonight.
• 54:06
  Thank you even reminding us that we can never exhaust the Word of
• 54:10
  God. Then when we feel like we have
• 54:12
  mined a certain cave of the Word, there are other layers yet
• 54:16
  untouched. There are depths not yet
• 54:19
  reached. There are pieces of gold and
• 54:22
  silver not yet uncovered. Lord, your Word is unimaginable
• 54:28
  in the sense that we can't fully grasp it.
• 54:32
  And, Lord, if anybody ever comes to the point where they think
• 54:34
  they have a grasp on it, Lord humbled them to realize that can
• 54:37
  never be so. And if any person is bored with
• 54:40
  the word of God, Lord, infuse them with the revelation that
• 54:44
  your Word is your voice and that you're You have preserved this
• 54:48
  Word, and you have designated this Word to be a lifelong
• 54:52
  supply of truths and treasures that can keep us stable and
• 54:59
  satisfied until we see you face to face.
• 55:02
  What a word this is. What a book this is, what an
• 55:05
  author you are. We acknowledge you today, Lord.
• 55:09
  We cannot help but burst out and praise for your Word.
• 55:13
  And so we give you the glory that is due to your name.
• 55:16
  Revive us to the Word. Revive us through your Word.
• 55:20
  May there be a revival of the Word in the land again.
• 55:24
  Oh, we long for it, Lord. So open our eyes to see just how
• 55:29
  glamorous and brilliant the Word is.
• 55:33
  We thank you for this portion that you have provided us today.
• 55:37
  Help us be men and women of God. Help us, Lord, be men who are
• 55:44
  able to speak the truth despite the lack of response.
• 55:48
  Help us be men who also, yes, Thunder the truth, but like this
• 55:52
  man, were able to demonstrate grace and mercy and forgiveness
• 55:57
  and help to the center. Help us be men and women of God
• 56:01
  that were regardless of the command you give, whether it is
• 56:03
  clear to our context or not. We say He said it, so I will do
• 56:08
  it. Help us be men and women of God.
• 56:11
  We love you, Lord, we worship you.
• 56:12
  We adore you. You are the true and living God
• 56:15
  and Lord. We know that one day you will
• 56:18
  expose the foolishness of idolatry and man's innovations,
• 56:23
  and if you don't do it in this life, you will do it on that
• 56:25
  final day where everything that has been in your place by
• 56:31
  unbelievers will be exposed as nothing.
• 56:36
  Thank you that we walk in the truth.
• 56:38
  Keep us in the truth, lest you have to put a bit or less.
• 56:42
  You have to put a harness on us and force us, or painfully
• 56:45
  redirect us. We want your word to be enough,
• 56:48
  to be our guide and our compass in life.
• 56:51
  We give you thanks. In Jesus name we pray.
• 56:54
  Amen. Amen.
• 56:56
  The more I study this book, the more Psalm 119 becomes a reality
• 57:03
  to me. I want to challenge you to
• 57:06
  something as the Prestine comes up.
• 57:07
  Read Psalm 119. OK.
• 57:09
  It's all about the Bible. It's all about sentiments and
• 57:12
  emotions and realities and promises that come from knowing
• 57:16
  the word of God. And here's what I want to
• 57:17
  encourage you to do. If you can't resonate with the
• 57:20
  psalmist in Psalm 119, get on your knees before God and beg
• 57:24
  him for the insight that that psalmist has with the Bible.
• 57:29
  Beg him. If you can't read that, be like,
• 57:31
  I get that. Oh yeah, that's what I said.
• 57:33
  Oh yeah, that's what I feel. Oh yeah, that is true.
• 57:35
  If you can't get there, get on your knees with that chapter
• 57:39
  before your face. Say God, please.
• 57:41
  I want Psalm 119 to be something I can quote and say.
• 57:44
  This was not just true of him, it's true of me.
• 57:46
  Do it. If you mean it, watch the Holy
• 57:49
  Spirit do it. This book will come alive.
• 57:52
  You will see things in this book and you will hear the teaching
• 57:55
  voice of the Holy Spirit in a way that Will Rock your world.
• 58:01
  You got to get desperate though. And unfortunately so many people
• 58:05
  are satisfied with entertainment.
• 58:06
  You know, I heard a preacher say one time, this might offend a
• 58:08
  lot of people. So be it.
• 58:10
  Entertainment is the devil's substitute for joy.
• 58:16
  If your life's joy is in trivial things that man produces, you
• 58:21
  have not tasted of the wells of life in God yet.
• 58:24
  I'm not against fun. Some people believe fun is sin.
• 58:27
  Some believe it tastes good. If it feels good, if it looks
• 58:30
  good, then it must be of the devil.
• 58:31
  It's called legalism. I'm not in that camp, and nor
• 58:34
  will I would be by the grace of God.
• 58:36
  But I'm saying that there is something that this world can
• 58:39
  offer that no matter what is given to you, even if it's good
• 58:43
  and joyful, you give God glory for it because you see him as
• 58:45
  the source, the stream that it comes from.
• 58:48
  But if your life is just one adrenaline rush to the next that
• 58:52
  you have to pay for, or you have to travel to, or you have to
• 58:55
  gain, you have not yet known the joys of what God offers.
• 59:00
  And I'm saying open Psalm 119. Crack that chapter open.
• 59:03
  Get before God and say God, make this real to me, the word, the
• 59:08
  Word, and he can do it. If you guys don't start singing,
• 59:12
  I'll keep preaching. So let's stand and sing and
• 59:15
  worship the Lord.