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1 Kings 20 (Part 2) Bible Study (A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad's Release) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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First Kings chapter 20 Please meet me in verse 22.
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And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and
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Chariots and struck the Syrians with a great blow.
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This summary of Ahab's miraculous and quite frankly
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undeserved victory over the Syrian invasion is located in
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First Kings chapter 20, verse 21, which was where we ended our
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study last week. Nevertheless, that narration of
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Ahab's victory is not the final thought of this chapter, nor is
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it the signal for the end of the conflict between Ahab, king of
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Israel, and Ben Haddad, the king of Syria.
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When we come to verse 22 and read it, we will quickly learn
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that the Spirit of God has provided for us a banquet of
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sanctifying truths that are still connected to the themes
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that you and I explored last week.
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Prepared for you and I are yet more glistening gems of the
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grace of God, sobering warnings of particular sins that we tend
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to overlook. Fascinating observations
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concerning what man is capable of in their sin, what man can
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achieve in their obedience to God and who God is in our
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obedience or lack of obedience. And there are other fresh
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insights that await to be discovered.
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So I encourage you tonight come with excitement as you and I
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continue to tour through this passage of Scripture and trust
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of the Holy Spirit will guide us perfectly to glean from what I
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believe is not really touched on much even in a a study for first
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kings. So I want us to read 22 and
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pause right there at 22. If you haven't been following
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us, we archive everything. Everything is on YouTube.
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You can you can track with us at another time, but hopefully
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where we're going to start off will make sense to you.
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Verse 22 reads, Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel
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and said to him, Come, strengthen yourself and consider
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well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Syria
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will come up against you. This prophet is very likely to
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be the same unnamed messenger that we were introduced to in
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verse 13 of this very same chapter where this man of God
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approached Ahab and assured him, gave him a promise and a plan of
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how they can no victory over the Syrian coalition.
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And we concluded that the appearance of this prophet in
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verse 13 is nothing short of a wonderful demonstration of the
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grace of God. Since Ahab, who was a very
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wicked king, did not seek the Lord at all, did not inquire of
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a prophet, and there were thousands of prophets in the
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land of his time, He didn't do anything.
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And yet God granted heavenly wisdom nonetheless.
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And the shocking grace of God appears once more at this very
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moment. Here we see that this prophet
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came near to the king of Israel and warned him.
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And why this is merciful on God's part is because there is a
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unique vulnerability that you and I enter into, especially
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after we experience A level of success, even spiritual success.
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I'm reading my devotions in the Psalms and I read something in
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Psalm 30, verse six. You don't have to turn there,
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but it's a confession that David made.
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David, a man after God's own heart, even admitted this.
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He said, As for me, I said in my prosperity I shall never be
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moved. That's dangerous.
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That's dangerous. As for me, I said in my prosper,
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in my success, in my long lasting achievement, nothing
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will shake me, nothing will move me, nothing will tempt me.
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And if you and I are not careful, the varying temptations
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on the other side of obedience will surprise you, and they have
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a tendency of overtaking even the strongest of men and women
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of God. And so you and I must always be
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alert and mindful of what? Check this out.
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Renewed attacks. They are guaranteed.
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They will come. You might not know when, you
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might not know how, but as long as you have breath and you are
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serving the Lord Jesus Christ with your life, attacks will
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arrive. Yes, you overcame sin yesterday,
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but if you are not mindful of this aspect of spiritual
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warfare, you will be caught off guard.
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And this is precisely what the Lord is trying to convey to
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Ahab. He is reminding him not to get
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too comfortable. He is informing him to be
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prepared because while he is enjoying, yes, even the grace of
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God, yes, a supernatural provision from God, the enemy is
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in the background planning and scheming for his next
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opportunity. And that is exactly what you and
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I are going to read in a moment. But I want to tell you that the
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instructions of the prophet toward Ahab are totally
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applicable for you and I in the context of spiritual warfare,
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because you and I are in spiritual warfare, whether you
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are aware of it or not, whether you are engaged in it or not,
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it's always happening. That's just a paradigm that you
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signed up for when you said yes to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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It's nothing to be afraid of because we are guaranteed
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wonderful victory as long as we discipline ourselves and apply
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certain truths. So here's some things that we
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can take from this one verse. Come again to verse 22 with me
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and notice what the prophet says.
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He says, come #1 strengthen yourself.
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Yes, and in like manner, you and I are constantly called to
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nurture, develop and receive strength from the Lord, because
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what we knew yesterday will not suffice for today or tomorrow.
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The only way that we can arrive to the possibility of longevity
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in victory over sin, over the temptations of the flesh and the
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persuasions of this world is if you abide, if you abide only in
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abiding in Christ, can you draw from his power that will flow
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through your veins. So he tells him, yes, you
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overcame this thing, but I'm calling you now to strengthen
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yourself further. You can't depend upon the power
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that you tapped into last week, Ahab.
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You need renewed grace today. And so my connection to the
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Lord, my receiving from the Lord, my sitting at His feet is
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not optional if I want to know strength spiritually.
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But that's not the only thing He says.
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Come, strengthen yourself and consider well what you have to
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do. So in other words, remain in the
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mindset of strategic warfare. Don't dismiss yourself.
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Don't get distracted. Now consider well what you have
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to do. And if we are convinced, as I
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said earlier, that we are in this constant wrestling with
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this flesh, with this world, with an invisible force, then
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you and I are going to be more likely to be disciplined and
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careful and aware and not caught by surprise.
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That's what he says. Lastly, For in the spring, the
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king of Syria will come up against you.
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In other words, be mindful of upcoming battles.
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Whether they are going to be unforeseen persecutions or
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familiar temptations, they will surely come as the Syrians.
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We're studying. What to do next.
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Satan studies. Satan and his minions study.
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They've been studying human behavior since the beginning of
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time. And they are so conniving and
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they are so astute and so aware that people tend to mistaken the
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ability of the realm of darkness with God's ability like
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omniscience and ineptantance. It's not that they share in
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those qualities. It's because they have observed
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human behavior enough to realize that there are patterns where
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they have almost perfected their abilities to make others trip.
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But you know what the Bible says?
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Greater as he was in US than he was in the world, no matter what
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kind of plans that they've come up with, no matter what has
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worked throughout human history, it doesn't have to work for you
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and I if Christ dwells in your life, if he dwells in your
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heart. So here's what we see.
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As Ahab was receiving heavenly instruction from a prophet, Ben
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Haddad was receiving his own set of advice, but from a different
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source. Look at verse 23.
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And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, him being Ben
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Haddad, their gods are the gods of the hills.
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And so they are. They were stronger than we, but
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let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be
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stronger than they. And do this, remove the kings
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each from his post, and put commanders in their places, and
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muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for
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horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them
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in the plane, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
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And he listened to their voice and did so.
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So they're regathering and they are thinking to themselves, all
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right, we lost that one, but we're not going to give up.
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How do we sharpen ourselves? How do we come up with a more
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effective plan? And here here's, well, let me
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put it this way, you can take a lot from this passage, but
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let's, let's make this one major observation.
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And, and I want to do it in this fashion.
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What do they believe about God here that stands out to you as
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being erroneous? The God of Israel, What's that?
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He's limited to geographical boundaries.
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Yes, that's one. What else?
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Yeah. There's not just one God of
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Israel. Notice that they said here
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they're gods, plural. They're gods are the gods of the
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hills. And they thought to themselves,
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well, because we fought in that kind of terrain, they're gods
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assisted them. But if we if we make it to the
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plane, then we will be at an advantage.
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Here's the big picture of the section of Scripture.
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Though many things can be said, isn't it obvious how their
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theology is impacting their methodology?
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That's what you're supposed to see here.
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In other words, what these Syrian servants believed about
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who God is and what he can or cannot do determined how they
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interpreted events and how to respond to them.
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So you, you have to see that when they look at this, it's
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actually determining their operations.
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And as our sister said, what they believed about the God of
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Israel was a common belief in ancient religion, an ancient
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religion. There was this idea that there
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were a wide spectrum of gods, and these gods are supervised
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and were in charge of different facets of the world.
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And so you had the God of rain, you have the God of the sun, you
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had the God of agriculture, you had the God of fertility.
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And so you had all these idols. And this explains in part why it
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was such a great temptation to adopt all these false deities
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into your system, into your nation, into your religious
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experience. Because the more gods that you
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adopted, the more you covered your bases and the more you are
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in an advantage, because now you appease these gods and they can
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help you economically, they can help you in military strategy.
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So this was a very real and constant appeal of having this
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plethora of different deities that apparently supervise a
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variety of regions and aspects of the universe.
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But don't get too stuck on the cultural interpretation of this
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text. Don't do that.
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See the application of it. Here's the application of it.
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Misconceptions about God are not harmless.
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They're not, they're not harmless.
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This idea, your truth is your truth.
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My truth is my truth. That comes at a high price
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because this is a prime example that what you believe about God
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will determine how you behave, how you think, how you act, how
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you plan, what you invest in, what you do, what your
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convictions are. AW, Tozer famously said.
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What comes to your mind when you think about God is the most
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important thing about you, and I agree with him wholeheartedly.
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What comes to your mind when you think about God is the most
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important thing about you. And what these poor souls
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thought about God would lead them into great trouble.
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And listen, misconceptions or misunderstandings about the
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character of God are not limited to those who believe in false
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gods or have their own subjective portrait of who God
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is. It's possible for Christians,
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Christians who do that daily, engage with the worldview
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shaping power of the Word of God.
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And so in the same way that these Syrians believe that God,
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the God of Israel at least, was the God of the hills, another
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God of the plains, you have some even within the church, who
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believe God is relevant to some areas and not others.
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I've bumped into people who think that God is completely
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concerned and exclusively concerned with deeds of love and
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not faithful doctrine. I know other Christians who
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believe that God has the power to save their soul from hell but
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not save them from the power of pornography.
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I know others who believe that God is to be sought for these
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particular predicaments, but he doesn't seem to offer much help
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in these kind of situations that that God will show favor and
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blessing to those who have more public gifts.
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But not for me, unnoticed and obscure churchgoer.
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So in the same way, you have people who think that God is
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applied here, Goddess capabilities here, but not here
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and not there. And I would add to Tozer's
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incredible commentary about the importance of what we think
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about God with this, that the most important thing to shape
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your thinking about God is God's word and God's word alone.
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You limit that to experience. You limit that to what you feel.
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My friend, you are signing up for a disastrous way of life.
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Do you realize that these Syrians are planning their own
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suicide on the basis of them thinking that God is limited to
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the mountains? This is their own death
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sentence, and equally deadly is you finding the liberty to
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define God in a way that He does not define Himself.
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And before you and I move on from this point, let me
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highlight to you yet another danger of skewed theology.
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Not only is it dangerous in the obvious sense, but it's
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dangerous because it offends a holy God.
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Look at verse 26 with me. In the spring Ben Haddad
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mustered the Syrians and went up to AFEC to fight against Israel.
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And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned
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and went against them. The people of Israel encamped
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before them like 2 little flocks of goats.
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But the Syrians filled the country.
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Verse 28 And a man of God came near and said to the king of
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Israel. Thus says the Lord.
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Because the Syrians have said the Lord is a God of the hills,
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but he is not a God of the valleys.
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Therefore, in other words, because of that, I will give all
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this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I
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am the Lord. So the Syrians thought that they
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were planning behind the scenes. And you know who was there in
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their meeting room? God.
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God hears everything. And that alone right here proves
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that He's not just the God of the hills.
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He was the God in their board meeting as well.
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He's omnipresent. Listen, it's a dangerous game to
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play when men intentionally distorts who God is.
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At the same time, God is extremely patient with the
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unsaved who are warped in their thinking.
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And God is very much kind and long-suffering toward His
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children who are developing in their understanding, though
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steadily in their knowledge of the truth.
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But the Lord does not have long tolerance for those who in their
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arrogance attempt to May God something what he is not and
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inform others about what he will or will not do.
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And I'm reminded of a New Testament principle because the
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temptation of studying the Old Testament and seeing something
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like this is to say, well, the Old Testament was God in a bad
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mood and the New Testament is God in a good mood.
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And what I want to tell people who think that.
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And if you have conversations with people who believe that,
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who are maybe limited to the Gospels, and we rejoice in the
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gospel accounts, ask them if they finished the New Testament,
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ask them if they read the last book.
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And I want to show you one place where the Lord Jesus Christ
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directly condemns one of the local assemblies.
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In John's day. It was a church in Pergamum.
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And I want you to see His language towards those who
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tolerated false teaching because this tolerance that I'm speaking
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about concerning the Lord and those who propagate falsehood is
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especially irksome to the Lord when it is being done within His
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church. Revelation chapter 2.
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You can turn there if you want to know what Revelation is, it's
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after Genesis. Revelation chapter 2.
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I don't want you to come here with me to verse 12.
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Revelation 212 And to the Angel of the church in Pergamum write
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the words of him who has the two, that the sharp 2 edged
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sword rather. And verse 13 reads, I know where
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you dwell, where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name,
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And you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my
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faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
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I can hardly get by this passage whenever I quote it without
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making this specific. Observation, one that I love
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making. I just so give God glory that He
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informs us indirectly that wherever Pergamum was and
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whatever inhabited that place in the physical realm, at least it
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made Satan so comfortable that at this time he made his
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headquarters there. He's saying, why would you
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praise God for that? Because at the same time, God
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raised up a church in that very same region, a real, genuine
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church, a local assembly of believers can even be known,
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raised up on the same street where Satan has his command
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center. There are people who think, how,
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how can you have a church in Chicago?
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Well, I'm not sure where Satan's throne is today.
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I know Chicago is pretty bad. But even if Satan does have his
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headquarters here, evidently a church can can exist.
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And so I rejoice in that. God can do a work anywhere.
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And he praises this church because they experience a great
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level of persecution. And there's this one individual
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named Antipas who some believed to be one of the elders of this
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church who was martyred. And so he acknowledges that.
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But things quickly turn in verse 14.
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But I have a few things against you.
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Pause. I never want the Lord to be able
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to say that of me. Never.
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I believe we are saved by grace and grace alone.
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I believe it's faith in what Christ has done that secures our
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salvation. But it's possible, even in
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having faith in the sufficient work of Christ to disappoint the
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Lord. I'm not looking to live my life
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to just get a ticket into eternity while I break the heart
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of my Master. So when I read this and I read
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these seven churches, I often think to myself, Lord, if you
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were to write a letter to Maranatha Bible Church, would
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you have commendation or condemnation or mix of both?
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I want only commendation. But he tells this church, I have
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a few things against you and here are the things.
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You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who
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taught Balaac to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel
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so that they might eat food, sacrifice to idols, and practice
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sexual immorality. Isn't it amazing how the Lord is
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using the Old Testament and the New Testament?
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How he's using an Old Testament reality and applying it in a new
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covenant sense? One more reason to be encouraged
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to know the Old Testament. But he tells this church, you
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have some who hold to the specific teaching, and whatever
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the essence of this teaching was, it was producing a way of
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life, the sense of freedom to worship in other temples and to
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actually perform these gross sexual practices.
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And it's not just that. Look at verse 15.
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So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the
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Nicolaitans, and that specific doctrine is not spelled out for
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us. But whatever it is, God hates
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it. And then here's the warning in
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verse 16. Therefore, repent.
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Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon.
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And this is the language here. War against them with the sword
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of my mouth. So he tells the church that's
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tolerating this false teaching. There are some who may not be
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participating in it or even believe in it, but they know of
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others who do, and they haven't confronted them.
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They've allowed them to remain. They've allowed false teachers
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to come in and to hold Bible studies about things that are
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not right. And so the Lord has a warning
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for those who allowed it and for those who are sharing it.
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He says to those who are tolerating it, I'm going to come
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to you soon. So there is an urgency there,
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but there's also a time gap. I'm giving you time.
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I'm giving you time to repent. And if you don't repent, I will
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come to you and then to those who are the instigators, the
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main instruments of this problem, he says, and war
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against them with the sword of my mouth.
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This is not Numbers. This is not Deuteronomy.
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This is Revelation, post resurrection and ascension of
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Jesus Christ. And he tells a particular group
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of people who are poisoning a local church, I will go to war
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with you. I will personally go to war with
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you. And the fact that he says the
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sword of my mouth, that speaks of severe judgment.
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If you look at the sword of my mouth in the context of
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revelation, it's it's grave, it's heavy.
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And so he's telling this church, listen church and Pergamum, your
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job is not just to extend love. It's not just to endure
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steadfastly the persecution outside of your assembly.
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It's to make sure that my house is clean and pure.
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And if you don't deal with it, here's what the Lord says, I'm
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going to deal with it. If the elders of the church will
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not fulfill their duty, then I myself will step in and do
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something about it. Why?
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Why is this so serious to the Lord?
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Because it is detrimental to the testimony of the church, not
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just in their misrepresentation of the truth, but also what lies
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and fallacies lead to. Notice in verse 15, again, look
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with me, He says, so you also have some who hold to the
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teaching of the Nicolaitans. So he is.
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He's upset at the fact that they are holding to false doctrine.
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But look back at Revelation 2 when he speaks to the church in
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Ephesus, and look what he says in verse 6.
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Yet this you have. He's speaking to another
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assembly, yet this you have. You hate the works of the
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Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Notice with the Church of
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Ephesus, he doesn't highlight the doctrine or the teaching of
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the Nicolaitans, but the works. When he comes to the church and
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program, he underscores the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
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What are we supposed to make of that?
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I think one thing you're supposed to make is what we
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already discussed, that what you teach and what you believe will
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determine how you live and what you do.
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The works of the Nicolaitans didn't come from the thin air.
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It came from a system of belief and understanding of
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spirituality that is wrong, that is skewed, that is poisoned,
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that is dark. And so this is This is why the
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Lord steps in in the way that he does.
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We see it here in First Kings. We see it in Revelation and you
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see in so many other places. But let's come back to our main
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study tonight because the Syrians have said this, I'm
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going to give these people into your hands and for what purpose?
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Look at the last part of verse 28 and you shall know that I am
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the Lord. So I'm just blown away by the
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mercy of God. He said the same thing back in
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verse 13. They overthrow the Syrians in a
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miraculous fashion, and yet there's not a peep of praise or
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acknowledgement from Ahab. And the prophet comes again and
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he says, look, they're coming back in the spring, so get
27:30
ready. He promises him victory, and yet
27:34
he gives the same purpose, the same desired goal from the mouth
27:37
of the Lord. Why am I going to let them be
27:40
defeated? That you will know that I am the
27:43
Lord? He's still pursuing after Ahab's
27:46
reluctance to acknowledge that the Lord is a true God.
27:51
Don't tell me that God is not persistently patient and
27:55
long-suffering and yearning for sinners in the Old Testament to
27:59
come to himself. He's still chasing after this
28:03
guy. He's still willing to
28:04
demonstrate 1 miracle after another to prove to him that I
28:10
am the truth. And they encamped verse 29
28:15
opposite one another seven days. Then on the 7th day the battle
28:19
was joined and the people of Israel struck down of the
28:23
Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day and the rest fled into
28:30
the city of AFEC and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were
28:34
left. That could most likely mean that
28:37
the wall was brought down and that made way for those who are
28:40
hiding to be slain. Why is this an astounding feat?
28:46
Go back here to verse 27. And the people who were mustered
28:50
and were provisioned and went against them, the people of
28:53
Israel encamped before them like 2 little flocks of goats.
28:57
So if you had aerial view of this, you would see just like
29:00
just two, two bands of soldiers on the side of Israel, whereas
29:06
the Syrians filled the country. And yet God comes through.
29:11
He brings deliverance. He does something that cannot be
29:14
deemed natural. And this sounds like it would be
29:18
a wonderful end to the story. You would think, OK, now Ahab
29:22
has seen way more than he needed to see.
29:26
He bends his knee. He acknowledges that the Lord is
29:29
the true God. Happily ever after.
29:33
Israel's transformed. There's renewal, there's
29:35
revival, at least during his monarchy.
29:38
And you might be disappointed because that's not where the
29:43
chapter ends. That's not where this section of
29:44
thought ends. It takes an ugly turn, verse 30
29:52
tells us. And the rest fled into the city
29:54
of AFEC, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.
29:57
Ben Haddad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city.
30:02
Verse 31. And his servant said to him,
30:06
Behold, now we have heard the kings of the House of Israel are
30:11
merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our
30:15
waist and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of
30:18
Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.
30:23
So Benedict servants who gave him the previous strategy and
30:27
failed, now come up with another plan.
30:29
This time it's not to produce another skillful scheme.
30:33
It's to just surrender. Benedict just.
30:37
We have nothing else to lose. Why don't we just make our way
30:41
towards them and humility and hope that they will?
30:44
They will spare our lives. But I have a question here.
30:48
Where did they get the idea that the kings of the House of Israel
30:51
were merciful? I mean, we can only speculate.
30:58
I think 1 plausible way of explaining this is that in their
31:03
comparative evaluation of the neighboring nations, because
31:07
there was some Intel, obviously even at that time they
31:09
understood how things worked in different nations and different
31:13
beliefs. But as they contrasted, perhaps
31:21
the nation of Israel did develop a reputation of being merciful.
31:26
History will testify of the brutality like graphic,
31:32
unspeakable acts that some of these ancient rulers performed.
31:38
And honest historians who look at the Scriptures, namely the
31:42
Old Testament, from an historical standpoint would
31:46
admit that though things like what we read in Leviticus and
31:50
Deuteronomy might be foreign to our context, we're
31:53
countercultural in their day, countercultural.
32:00
And so it could be just that. It could be them realizing that
32:04
in their distant observation and what they've heard, they've
32:09
concluded that the people, namely the rulers, were merciful
32:12
because their God is merciful. And there's a gospel ring to
32:18
this, is there not? Here you have these Syrians who
32:21
have rebelled against the people of God, who have resisted and
32:24
challenged the God of Israel. And once they found themselves
32:28
defeated, they were also comforted by the potential
32:32
thought that God will extend mercy to them rather than wrath.
32:37
And it's no different for the Sinner today that though they
32:41
have lived all their lives fighting against God, the news
32:48
of what Christ offers can provide the hope to change
32:53
everything. But here's here's where it's
32:57
different. What Christ offers in his good
33:00
news is better than whatever news they heard.
33:02
Why? Because though they did think
33:05
that there was a potential crumb of mercy available to them, it
33:09
was not guaranteed. Look here how they say it at the
33:12
end of verse 31. Perhaps, perhaps He will spare
33:17
your life. Perhaps it's not guaranteed.
33:23
We can't be confident. We can only gamble.
33:26
That's not true with Christ. What does he say here in John
33:30
637? All that the Father has given to
33:33
me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will
33:40
never castaway. I will never castaway from the
33:45
lips of the King of kings himself.
33:49
See, the king of Israel, this time they didn't have the
33:53
assurance. The true king, he gives you
33:56
assurance. Notice that Jesus says whoever,
33:59
whoever, he qualifies and makes that availability possible for
34:06
all, Whoever comes to me, and he says I will never cast out.
34:10
So no matter how dark your sins are, no matter how polluted your
34:14
soul is, if you stumble into his presence, he promises to accept
34:19
you. He promises to wash you.
34:24
He promises to change. He promises to secure your
34:27
eternity. He promises.
34:31
And if your heart ever condemns you or tells you otherwise,
34:34
first, John tells us that God is greater than our hearts.
34:38
He's greater than our hearts. So they come up with this plan
34:45
and whatever was promising concerning Ahab will prove to be
34:51
short lived in the next verse. Look at verse 32.
34:54
So they tied sackcloth around their waist and put ropes on
34:57
their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, your servant
35:01
Ben Haddad says please let me live.
35:05
And he said, does he still live? He is my brother.
35:12
Come on, what is going on in here?
35:20
Ahab for you to identify yourself with this enemy as a
35:27
brother and one might object and say, well, Ben had dad repented,
35:33
did he? Is this repentance on Benedict's
35:37
part? Tell me why it's not true
35:43
repentance. OK, why though?
35:46
Why? OK, so this is this is
35:50
manipulation and this isn't true penitence.
35:53
This isn't a person who acknowledges that they've done
35:55
wrong. There seems to be no evidence of
35:58
crowning the Lord to be the true, the true God.
36:03
There seems to be no brokenness. There's not even basic apology
36:06
for the recent harassment. It's just this desperate shot in
36:12
the dark, say, hey, would you let me live?
36:17
So there's there's even an absence of sorrow.
36:19
It's just, it's just this, let's just see what happens.
36:24
And this is in part why what Ahab does is wrong.
36:29
But there's even more to that. And you would only know it if
36:32
you actually read this chapter in advance and are familiar with
36:34
this passage. Because what Ahab does in
36:37
relieving and rescuing this man's life is in direct
36:40
disobedience to God's command. Look at verse 42 of the same
36:44
chapter and you'll see it. Another man of God will come
36:47
shortly. And here's the proof that what
36:50
Ahab did flied in the face of what God asked him, and he said
36:55
to him. Thus says the Lord, because you
36:58
have let go out of your hand the man whom I devoted to
37:01
destruction. Therefore your life shall be for
37:04
his life, and your people for his people.
37:08
So though it's not plainly written, it's disclosed to us
37:11
that somewhere in the instructions given to Ahab, God
37:15
had told him and given him a similar charge as he did to Saul
37:18
with the Amalekites. Eradicate them completely.
37:22
Deal with them once and for all. And I know, especially if you
37:27
haven't been here regularly, this might be startling to you.
37:30
But let me just make a brief comment on that.
37:32
Whenever the Lord, especially in the Old Covenant, gives such a
37:35
charge for a people group to be eliminated, it is always because
37:42
he knows something that we don't.
37:44
And in great part, their continuing presence poses a
37:48
major threat to the people of God.
37:50
And you're going to see that in this very same chapter, or at
37:54
least in this book. But it's true in every case.
37:59
And what Ahab does here is what many people do when they face
38:02
temptation. They immediately recognize some
38:05
rewards in disobedience. Look at verse 34.
38:08
And Benedad said to him, The cities that my father took from
38:11
your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for
38:15
yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.
38:18
And Ahab said, I will let you go on these terms.
38:22
So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
38:26
So recap here. They said, why don't we just ask
38:29
him to to spare your life and see if he does?
38:31
They approach him. They said, hey, your servant
38:33
Benedad asked, please let me live.
38:35
He goes, is he still alive? He's my brother.
38:39
Like that should shock you. You know why I should shock you?
38:42
It shocked the messengers of Benedad.
38:43
Look at verse 33. Look what they say.
38:46
Now. The men were watching for a
38:47
sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, yes, your
38:50
brother Benedad. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:53
Your brother Benedad. Yeah, then Benedette came up to
38:57
him and he caused him to come up into the chariot and they come
39:00
up with a plan. He negotiates, he goes, look,
39:03
I'll, I'll give you the cities that we took from you and I'll,
39:06
I'll even let you do some trade within the the territory of
39:10
Damascus. So Ahab's there.
39:13
He knows what God told them, but he's thinking to myself, this
39:16
will boost Israel's economy. This, this, this will be an
39:19
alliance that might help us in future times where there will be
39:23
greater threats, perhaps from rising empires.
39:27
And so he gives in. And listen, you know very well
39:32
that this is just yet another example to store in our hearts
39:35
among the many illustrations in the Bible, that you can never
39:39
make a deal with sin and come out conquering unscathed and
39:46
blessed. Never.
39:50
You can never, whether your negotiation is the duration of
39:53
that sin, the extent of that sin.
39:57
You can never make a deal with temptation and not get robbed.
40:04
How was Ahab robbed here? I mean, this seems pretty simple
40:07
here. The city's back and you can
40:10
bring some of your products into Damascus and you can make a
40:13
little bit more money. It's not until you go to 1st
40:16
Kings 22. But let's do it now just to make
40:18
this point. Look at First Kings 22.
40:21
And look at verse one. For three years Syria and Israel
40:29
continued without war. But in the third year,
40:32
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.
40:37
And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you know that
40:40
Ramoth Gilead belongs to us? And we keep quiet and do not
40:44
take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?
40:49
You guys catch it. So back in chapter 20, the King
40:53
of Syria says we're going to give you back all these cities.
40:56
Three years go by and obviously the king of Syria holds back one
41:02
city, at least a very strategic one.
41:04
He broke his promise. He broke his promise, and this
41:10
was now going to instigate another war.
41:15
Listen. Sin disappoints.
41:16
Always, always, always, always listen.
41:20
It will always fail you. I know you think that that
41:23
adulterous relationship will add some zest to your life, but it's
41:27
going to bite you back. And I know you think that
41:30
cheating and being dishonest might make your pocket a little
41:33
fatter, but I guarantee you the consequences of that sin will
41:37
cost way more than if you had just paid upfront.
41:40
Whatever sin promises you, it will always lie to you.
41:46
I've sat before Christians enough to know that sin is a
41:52
terrible thing to negotiate with.
41:56
Don't do it. Don't do it especially when the
41:59
thought whispers in your head or in your heart, God will forgive
42:03
you. You'll be fine.
42:05
It's going to be OK. Just do it once, it's not going
42:08
to happen again. Lies, lies, lies.
42:13
So he makes a deal with sin and three years go by and would you
42:15
know it, the king of Syria lied to him.
42:21
And this is just another thing for you and I to embed in our
42:24
hearts so that we would not forget in our opportunity to
42:26
make a deal with that which breaks the heart of God.
42:31
Let's see if we can finish this tonight, shall we?
42:34
Put your seatbelts on verse 35 of First Kings 20.
42:38
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow
42:42
at the command of the Lord, Strike me, please.
42:47
But the man refused to strike him.
42:49
Then he said to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the
42:52
Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall
42:55
strike you down. And as soon as he departed from
42:58
a lion met him and struck him down.
43:02
It's a little intense, so let's make sense of this because for
43:07
some this might seem unreasonable.
43:09
You have a certain man of the sons of the prophets.
43:11
The sons of the prophets are going to appear more than once
43:14
in this narrative of the kings. They were essentially a school
43:18
of gifted messengers who heralded the word of God.
43:23
And like any school, you had different tiers.
43:25
You had teachers and here we see that one of them from the sons
43:29
of the prophet said to his fellow, implying that he is
43:33
speaking and asking this of another son of the prophet.
43:39
So he's saying to a companion, strike me please.
43:44
And further evidence, I believe that the person who is being
43:48
asked to do this, as crazy might seem, is a prophet is because of
43:53
the consequence for disobedience.
43:54
What was the consequence? He didn't strike him so a lion
43:58
would meet him and destroy him. Have we seen that before?
44:02
We've seen that in First Kings 13 with another unnamed man who
44:05
went to speak to a king. He was supposed to go back a
44:09
certain way, not stop, not eat bread.
44:11
He refused. And what was the consequence?
44:13
A lion met him on the road and destroyed him.
44:17
So I would say that perhaps this is designed to bring to our
44:20
minds of similarities to further confirm the prophetic identity
44:24
of this person. Why is that important?
44:28
Because if you're a prophet at this time and you're being asked
44:30
to do something like this, you you should already know that God
44:34
asks of strange things sometimes.
44:36
So this isn't so outlandish. Prophets did things to almost
44:41
perform sermons in action, and so when this prophet tells
44:45
another prophet, strike me, and he doesn't your prophet, you
44:49
should know better. More than that though, why else
44:52
is this a sin? It's pretty plain.
45:00
Did this come from the prophet's idea?
45:04
What does verse 35 say? He said to his fellow at the
45:07
command of the Lord, So there was a thus says the Lord behind
45:11
this and it came from a prophet, a reputable prophet, obviously,
45:14
because Ahab is going to recognize him at the end of this
45:16
chapter. So he says, listen, the Lord is
45:18
asking you to do this to me because I have to send another
45:21
message and it's going to require a black eye.
45:25
And he goes, I won't do it. It goes, OK, you didn't disobey
45:28
me, you disobeyed God and you're going to pay a price for it.
45:34
And you think, OK, well, that's helpful, but how does this make
45:37
sense for us? I think it's very simple.
45:41
When God's will is made known to you and I, it always demands
45:45
obedience. Whether that demand is small or
45:47
great, it doesn't matter. This is strategically woven into
45:53
this part of the Scripture, Not by accident, right?
45:56
We're dealing with Ahab's disobedience and now you have
45:59
this prophet who disobeys and God doesn't show any favorites.
46:03
If a prophet disobeys or rebellious king, it will always
46:08
displease him. And that's the point.
46:12
Whether the command is to destroy an entire army or to
46:15
punch somebody in the face. As strange as that command might
46:17
be, if God wills it, then we must comply with it.
46:23
And whether we are gifted or whether we are in full time
46:27
ministry, or whether we are in the political sphere or we are
46:29
in the business world, God's heart is the same for all of us.
46:33
He he desires our submission to him and our trust in His Word.
46:37
So what happens? One prophet became lunch for a
46:42
lion. In verse 37 we read of another.
46:46
Then he found another man and said, strike me please.
46:50
And the man struck him, struck him and wounded him.
46:53
I wonder if this prophet heard what happened to the previous
46:55
one. So when he really hit him, he
46:57
hit him. I that's the feel I get at this.
46:59
Texas struck him, struck him and wounded him.
47:06
So the prophet departed and waited for the king, by the way,
47:09
disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
47:14
And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, Your
47:17
servant went out into the midst of the battle.
47:19
And behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said,
47:23
Guard this man. If by any means he is missing,
47:26
your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent
47:30
of silver. And as your servant was busy
47:33
here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him,
47:37
so shall your judgement be. You yourself have decided it.
47:42
Have we seen this playbook before?
47:45
Where have we seen it before, David.
47:47
And who's the prophet Who did this then?
47:49
Nathan. Nathan came with a story to
47:52
disarm David. Nathan came with a parable to
47:56
position David as a judge of this story.
48:00
And he's doing the same thing with Ahab.
48:02
He's separating Ahab from the very same sin that he is ready
48:05
to condemn himself with. And he is going to make this
48:11
declaration, and indirectly he's making it about himself.
48:15
The prophets were brilliant at finding ways for people to be
48:19
convicted. And so Ahab, he hears this and
48:23
he goes, look, you made a deal. You yourself have decided it, so
48:27
this is going to happen to you. And though that is the main
48:31
point, I can't help but see something tucked into this.
48:34
This is a fabricated story. It's not a true story, but I
48:37
just find it interesting here that you can even see a
48:39
principle that applies to us, namely in verse 40, when this
48:43
prophet explains how he was supposed to supervise a captive.
48:47
He, he says, and as your servant was busy here and there, he was
48:55
gone. The king of Israel said to him,
48:59
so shall your judge and be yourself have decided it.
49:03
This man admits again, though this isn't a true story, what he
49:08
says, nonetheless it's very, very, very true of so many.
49:12
He had a duty and he failed to perform that duty because he got
49:17
distracted. That's what he's saying, right?
49:19
He got busy here and there and it cost him.
49:25
And I would say here that you and I have to be careful if we
49:28
find ourselves using busyness as an excuse to not perform what
49:33
God has asked of us. It's it's really common these
49:38
days and, and I get it, but I also find it amazing with all
49:42
these technological advancements and all these tools that are
49:45
disposal. Does anybody else disagree that
49:49
we feel busier than ever and there is that temptation to take
49:56
distractions in our lives to negate our responsibility as
50:01
Christians? You know, there are some people
50:07
who will not come to the House of God because they're busy here
50:09
and there. You have some people who do not
50:13
use their gifts for God because they're busy here and there.
50:18
Can I tell you something? Forgive me for being so
50:20
simplistic. Just honor God and watch out.
50:23
He'll honor you. Honor Him.
50:26
Put Him first. Make worship your priority.
50:31
Seek first the Kingdom. Put yourself of making your
50:34
existence about glorifying Him in the way that He has fashioned
50:38
you to glorify Him and watch how He'll take care of everything
50:40
else. I could testify this 12 year
50:43
after 12 years of walking with the Lord that when I was a
50:45
college student, single with a full time schedule in need of
50:49
money, got took care of me. And when I graduated school and
50:54
also trying to save up money, got took care of me.
50:59
And now that I'm married and still by God's grace wanting to
51:02
serve the Lord, He's taking care of us.
51:06
You do what God told you to do and watch how God will take care
51:09
of you. And I'm not saying you negate
51:14
responsibilities or you go overboard.
51:15
We talked about Elijah, how he exhausted himself even in the
51:18
place of serving God to his own harm.
51:21
I'm speaking about your heart posture, being positioned to say
51:24
everything orbits around me, honoring what the Lord asks of
51:29
me. I'm not abandoning my post no
51:30
matter what comes or goes. That tenacity that that fight,
51:36
that zeal is, is is strangely missing in most of America,
51:43
American Christianity. I wasn't even planning to go
51:46
here, but let's just do it. Since you're here and your
51:47
seatbelts are still on. Go to Titus 3.
51:57
Titus three. Titus is with all the other
52:02
letters that start with T. So Timothy, if you're there,
52:05
you're close. If you're passing Thessalonians
52:10
equally close, look at Titus. Why did Jesus Christ die on the
52:17
cross for our sins? Here's one reason.
52:21
Look at verse 14 of chapter 2. Who gave himself for us to
52:25
redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a
52:28
people, for his own possession. Who are what?
52:31
Please say it to me. Zealous for good works.
52:36
Zealous. Zealous for good works.
52:41
You're excited to serve God. You're preoccupied with serving
52:46
God. You have a passion to serve God.
52:52
One of the outcomes of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and
52:55
redeeming a people is that they would be zealous for good works.
52:59
You think it would end there? It doesn't end there.
53:02
Look here at verse eight of chapter 3.
53:07
The saying is trustworthy. And I want you to insist on
53:10
these things that so that those who have believed in God may be
53:14
careful to devote themselves to good works.
53:19
So what is he saying, Pastor Titus, tell your people to be
53:24
careful, implying that if you are not careful, you're going to
53:28
get careless, to be careful to devote themselves to good works.
53:34
Well, we're the gospel of grace. Yeah.
53:36
That gospel of grace teaches you to be zealous for good works.
53:40
Doesn't teach you to be idle, doesn't teach you to sit on your
53:43
hands, doesn't teach you to be busy about absolutely everything
53:46
except the things of God. How?
53:49
That's not the gospel. You think it ends there?
53:54
It doesn't end there. Look at verse 14 and let our
53:58
people learn to devote themselves to good works.
54:02
Like he's not getting off of it. Jesus came for this.
54:06
Be careful to do it and let people learn to do what?
54:09
Devote themselves to good works so as to help cases of urgent
54:13
need and not be unfruitful. God's will for you is to be
54:17
fruitful. It's not to be the same person
54:21
you were when you accepted Christ five years ago.
54:25
It's for you to grow and increase and advance.
54:29
And one of the things that you and I are called to grow and
54:31
increases in good works doesn't mean you're going to serve God
54:34
the same way that the next person does.
54:35
Doesn't mean you're going to serve God the same way the full
54:37
time minister does. But there is observable things.
54:40
Can I ask you something like, what can you point to in your
54:43
life and say I do this for the Lord, I do this for the Lord?
54:49
You're saying I don't want to hear that?
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No, no, no. Go back to the how God's grace
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was rescuing Ahab. OK?
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When God rescues you with his grace, you're supposed to do
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something. It's supposed to do something in
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your life. So the same people who want the
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gospel, who want to protect the gospel, and I'm one of those
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people. Well, look what Titus says as he
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has proclaimed the truth of the gospel.
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There's consequence to the gospel, glorious, holy
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consequence. Well, that wasn't planned in
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Bible study, but let's finish our last few verses of this
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chapter together. First Kings chapter 20, verse
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41. Then he hurried to take the
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bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized
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him as one of the prophets. And he said to him, Thus says
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the Lord, because you have let go out of your hand the man whom
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I had devoted to destruction. Therefore your life shall be for
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his life, and your people for his people.
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You know, Ahab had not responded to the splendid grace of God as
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he defended him, undeservingly, protected him, and interceded,
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or rather intervened for him. So now it's time for discipline.
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Listen, this is not coming randomly.
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This is coming with a backdrop of mercy being showered over
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this man. And you would think that, OK, if
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you didn't catch on to God's goodness, maybe now this
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discipline, this warning is going to awaken you.
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You would think, yes, OK, maybe now Ahab will fall to his knees
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and cry out to the Lord. Here's what you read in verse
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43. And the king of Israel went to
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his house, vexed and sullen, and came to Samaria.
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He was upset. He was upset, sulking, dragging
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his feet unchanged. Unchanged.
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So what's the take away from this?
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It's a sad take away that despite all that the Lord has
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done for this man, He wouldn't give himself to him.
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That's what you and I are supposed to see at the end of
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the study. That man is capable of doing
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such heinous things, though. This holy God does so much to
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reach us and to gather us to Himself.
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And that is why the greatest judgment is reserved for those
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who, on the other side of the cross, have despised and denied
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the Lord after he sent His Son Jesus Christ.
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It's no small thing to think small about what Christ has
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done. It may be small in your eyes,
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but it is not insignificant in the eyes of God the Father.
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And there is a day of reckoning where those who have turned
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their back against God will have to explain it.
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And no explanation will do for why Jesus Christ was not
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received to forgive your sins. So if you're a person here who
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is unnecessarily delaying your acceptance of the gospel, why?
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It's a message of love. It's a message of mercy.
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It's a message of tender compassion where you and I, who
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are enemies of God, are made righteous because of the
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initiation of God in reaching out to you and me.
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I pray that if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, that
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tonight, even on this Friday night, you would accept Him and
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receive Him by repenting of your sin and embracing Him as the
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sole means of your salvation. St.
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May you be equipped for war may be mindful that this is a
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lifelong battle with sin. May also be encouraged to know
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that as long as you strengthen yourself with the supply of
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grace that God has given us and are mindful of this, and you put
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on that armor, you will know victory.
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You don't have to be identified with a scandal like many people
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are. You don't have to be known as a
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person who did not have a glorious graduation throughout
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their existence on earth. You don't have to be numbered
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among those. God has given us everything that
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we need to know wonderful testimonies in Him if we but
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trust Him, obey Him, seek Him, wait on Him, love Him, worship
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Him, and serve Him. Amen.
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Let's seek Him together. In closing, we do bless the name
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of the Lord. We thank you, oh God, for your
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wonderful provision of truth in this chapter.
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And we ask, Oh God, that you would be gracious to bind these
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things on our hearts and keep them in remembrance.
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Lord, we see Your relentless love and grace in this chapter,
1:00:04
and we pray that the Holy Spirit would make it real for us.
1:00:08
Please, Lord, if all of this has been interpreted as simple
1:00:12
lessons or moral maxims and proverbs, forgive us.
1:00:17
Lord, we ask instead that our hearts would burn with love for
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the God of this word. Let that be the fruit of this
1:00:25
Bible study tonight. Let our hearts be softer towards
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you. Let there be a genuine
1:00:32
evaluation, introspection that will cause us to grow closer to
1:00:38
you. May your Holy Spirit do that.
1:00:40
Oh God, we've done all that we can in our own ability.
1:00:43
Yes, depending on you. But Lord, a change life can only
1:00:47
occur by your power. So we we ask that you would make
1:00:50
it happen and all of us. And we ask these things in the
1:00:53
living, matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:00:56
Amen and Amen. Let's stand, let's worship the
1:00:59
Lord, honour the Lord, thank him, thank him for this
1:01:02
spiritual bread and spiritual drink.