I want you to consider with me on page 404 the sin of Jeroboam. Jeroboam's sin is mentioned over and over and over again in scripture. Every single king of Israel was wicked, without exception. The northern kingdom was marked by evil men ruling over the people of God, without exception. You know, it's interesting as you read descriptions of them, some are better than others. The very best king of Israel, Hoshea, The very last king of Israel is the very best king of Israel, but still the epithet of him is that he did evil in the sight of the Lord. I want you to see that the sin of Jeroboam is something that is recited over and over again. And if you're curious sometime in a concordance, and in today's world with electronics it's easy to do, you just go down the list. King after king is named as following in the sin of Jeroboam, Nadab, Basha, Zimri, Amri, Ahab, Ahaziah the son of Ahab, Jehoram who was the son of Ahab, Jehu who destroyed the dynasty of Amri, Jehoiah has his son, and going right on down. Jehoash, the son of Jehoiah, has. Zechariah, Menachem, Pekahiah, and Pekah, along with Hoshea. What is it? They all are indicted for the sin of Jeroboam. I want you to see, and we may look at this within the next week or two, that God went out of His way to send a messenger, to send a prophet, to say, Jeroboam, your sin is a terrible, terrible sin. It's bringing judgment on your people. So what is the sin of Jeroboam? The sin that marked the course of an entire nation for its entire existence. For there were many good kings of Judah, but not one good king of Israel. What is his sin? His sin is rooted in one thing, unbelief. His sin is rooted in one thing, unbelief, which always yields to fear. What's the root of fear? The root of fear is unbelief. If we trust God, we're not afraid of people. We're not afraid of tomorrow. We're not afraid of circumstances if we're trusting God. I think about the wonderful testimony that Barbara shared of our friend Haney who was here this summer, medical doctor from Egypt, traveling in the territory where ISIS has been. How'd he do that? He just believed God. He had prayed and felt led by God's Spirit to leave Egypt for a season and to travel and to try to encourage the believers who were suffering under radical, radical Islam. Was he afraid? Every time he got afraid, I'm sure he prayed. And every time he prayed, he felt assured again. Our God reigns. Our God reigns. You know, Hanni was as secure behind the lines of radical Islamists in Syria and Iraq as he was in his crib in his mother and father's house when he was a baby. Because when you're where God wants you to be, you are absolutely secure. What was the problem of Jeroboam? Unbelief which begot fear. We see it clearly here on page 404. He says, In verse 26, 1 Kings 12 and 26, "...now the kingdom may return to the house of David. If these people go to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their Lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." Now, you know, why did he need to fear that? Did he lead this revolt under the will of God? And the answer to that is crystal clear. Yes, God sent a prophet to Jeroboam to tell him that because of the sin of Solomon, he was going to split off the northern tribes as a separate political entity. And so Jeroboam was doing the will of God. When Jeroboam led the revolt against the son of Solomon, Rehoboam, he was doing the will of God. God authorized a political division. God authorized a civil division. But God did not authorize a division in worship. And this leads me to a very profound truth. And the profound truth is this. It's possible to be a Democrat. And it's possible to be a Republican and worship in the same church and love each other. But you know the Republican Party wants you not to believe that. And you know the Democrat Party wants you not to believe that. Politics has poisoned America. So you know, Rob, you're always preaching politics. Well, it depends on what you mean by politics. If you mean by politics, endorsing candidates and political platforms, you'll find I'm the most non-political preacher around. But if you mean applying Bible truth to political principles, well, yes. Why? Because if I don't do that, I'm not being faithful. And what I'm telling you is that when political platforms and parties divide the people of God one from another, America is weakened. America's in trouble because there's division between Christians. because I have moved across denominational and racial lines throughout my ministry. And most of you know this, I attended Dr. King's funeral in 1968. So ever since then, I've always tried to be a person who listened to what other people were saying. Trying to be swift to hear and slow to speak. I came to understand something. Do you realize that in many churches, I'm talking about Bible believing, gospel preaching, Christian churches, they believe that if you're a Republican, you can't really be saved. You say, whoa, wait a minute. How in the world could they be so blind? It's the other way around, Brother Bob. How can anybody be saved and be a Democrat? Think about it. A house divided against itself cannot stand. What I want you to see is in the case of Jeroboam, spiritual unity was to remain even where civil and political division occurred. See, it's there, it's plain. Jeroboam is fearful. that the political division that God himself ordained would spill over because of the religious unity. The religious unity would spill over to destroy the security of his kingdom and it would lead to his death. And so in fear, he did what politicians almost always do. He decided to be religiously innovative. What is the sin of Jeroboam? Well, the root is fear, and the root behind all fear is unbelief. But the sin of Jeroboam is religious innovation. Religious innovation? Absolutely right. Look at what his sin is. So because he's afraid that people are going to turn on him, because he's afraid they're going to switch political parties, if you will, he decides, after advice, in verse 28, 1 Kings 12, 28, he made two calves of gold and said to the people, it's too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt. Now, where did he get that idea from? Well, that's exactly what Aaron did. When Moses is on the mountain, Mount Sinai, and Aaron's down below, the people are getting restless, and the people are ready to just overthrow God's rule. What does Aaron do? Well, he tells Moses what he did. You know what he did. He got the gold from them, and he simply threw the gold in the fire, and miraculously out came a golden calf. Do you believe that? Well, that's what Aaron told Moses. He said, I just took the gold and I threw it in the fire and out came this golden calf. You know, it's kind of like sounding like a kid. Mama has baked a couple of pies for the Women's Missionary Society. And the kid went in there where they were cooling off and saw those pies and said, I just want to try some. And so he put a little hand in there and got some. It tasted good. And he saw the other pie was different, tried some of that too. And there are drips and drops of blueberry and apple across the table, across the floor, and there he is with it on his face. And how did that happen? And he's confronted, he says, I don't know. I've just been sitting here and this stuff came on my mouth. You know, it's ridiculous. That's what Aaron said. But what Aaron did was to make a golden calf. Now this is what I want you to understand about the golden calf. The golden calf is not the rejection of God. It's not worshiping a different God. It's not, we're going to turn away from the worship of Yahweh, the God of the Bible, and worship Baal, another God, We're going to worship the God of the Bible according to our own imagination. See, biblical faith is too abstract for carnal people. And therefore they need something tangible, something they can see with their eyes, something they can touch and handle. And that's what Aaron gives the people at the base of Mount Sinai. He creates a golden calf. They're not content to have a God they cannot see with their eyes. They want to see a God with their own eyes. They want an image of that God. So understand that the worship of the golden calf that incensed God and caused Moses to throw down the Ten Commandments and break them as he's coming down the mountain. I want you to understand. that it isn't rejection of the God of salvation. It isn't rejection of the God of the Bible. It's rejection of God's way of worship for a way that appeals to the flesh. Let that sink in for a moment. It isn't the rejection of the true God. It's the rejection of the true God's way for that which panders to the flesh. So that's the sin of Jeroboam. He goes back to Israel's history, and in going back to Israel's history, He says, well, if it worked once, we'll just do double, you know, double or nothing. So he creates two. He's going to make worship easy for people. He's going to pander to their needs. We're not just going to have one central shrine, we're going to have two way up north in Dan and the other at Bethel. Two calves. I want you to understand that the kings of Israel never departed from the sin of Jeroboam. But yet you find again and again that it's only in the time of the Amorite dynasty, Amri is the father of Ahab, that it's only when Ahab who marries that Lebanese beauty Jezebel, it's only in Ahab's time that the people reject the true God. Israel still was loyal to Yahweh. Israel still worshipped the Lord God who had delivered them out of Egyptian bondage. But they worshipped Him according to the imagination, innovation, inventiveness, and brilliance and aesthetics of King Jeroboam. And under Elijah and Elisha, the people reject the worship of the false god Baal, brought in by Jezebel, and return to the worship of the Lord. But they return to the worship of the Lord after the pattern of Jeroboam. Now, let that sink in because it's a very profound truth. There are two profound truths so far I want you to see that we've hit. The first truth is this. Politics should never be the source of division between Christians. Because God initiated a political division among His people with a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. But He regarded it as deeply sinful that there was a spiritual division between the people after that political division. I want you to understand something about politics for a moment. The solution to the world's problems are not political. The solution to the world's problems are found in worship. People get all hot and bothered. You need to understand something. Never in the history of humankind have political parties had more ability to manipulate people into being mindless robots. And that's true whether you're Republican or Democrat or green or whatever. In other words, it's about finding out what your hot button issues are through various methods of polling and then emotionally appealing to those things where you end up absolutely hating people in the other party and thinking they are benighted, depraved, debauched. They are my enemies. And what I want you to understand is it works both ways. America's problems are exacerbated as politicians pander to the hot button issues of the various people to galvanize their own base. But God says, come together in unity of worship of God and you will find that political things are really not all that important. Here's why. Who elected George W. Bush? Who elected Barack Obama? Who elected Bill Clinton? God's the one who's put all those people over us. God's the one who's put them all in power. And if our nation falls before radical Islam, who ordained it? All you gotta do is read Isaiah chapter 10 and discover that Israel, the nation of Israel, and the nation of Judah come under the oppression of Iraq because Iraq is said by God in Isaiah 10 to be the axe that He, God, is wielding against His own people to correct them, to chasten them, and bring them where they want to be. I want you to understand this. It's vital and essential that worship is the key to the welfare of this nation, the welfare of your family, and your own welfare. It's the key. Politics is a diversion. I'm not saying don't vote. I vote. I'm not saying don't ever contribute to a politician. I've contributed to politicians. I'm not saying don't ever put a yard sign out. I've put yard signs out. But I'm telling you that's not where it's at. It's like getting upset over an LSU loss or victory. or a saint's victory or loss or whatever. That's fun. That's nice. It's entertaining. But in terms of the essence of your life and your future and your welfare, that's not the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is worship God. Worship God and work for the unity of God's people. So I want you to see how clearly this is laid out in Scripture. Jeroboam sinned. is rooted in unbelief which manifests itself in the fear of man that then results in evil action. What is the evil action? The evil action is he creates his own way of worshiping God. You see it clearly right here. He makes the golden calves. He makes shrines on every, verse 31, on the high places. He made priests from every class of people who were not of the sons of Levi. Think about that for a moment. God had a very specific plan for His people. He had separated the tribe of Levi from the other 11 tribes. to be the people who serviced the temple, first the tabernacle, for the worship of God. And he put Levites throughout all of the tribes. And the cities of refuge were cities of the Levites. And then he took the sub-clan of Kohath, the Kohathites, to be the line of the high priests. And the line of the high priests then narrowed down to Aaron and his sons. But I want you to see that unity is the key, and it transcends politics. But what does He do? He appoints anybody. Anybody who wants to be a leader can be a leader. I'm struck with that. Aren't you struck with that? God regards worshiping Him, the true God, according to what you want and I want as an abomination. You ever thought about that? God regards the worship of Him according to what you want and I want as over against what He specifies to be an abomination. It's the root sin of Jeroboam and that root sin is replicated in every succeeding generation. And they're all killed off. So politics, it's not really that important. When we're worshipping God the way He wants to be worshipped, God's going to take care of the rest. He always has and He always will. And kingdoms rise and fall according to Acts chapter 17 because God has a saving plan for the human race. The geographical territories of nations changes from time to time, and they rise to power and fall. For one purpose, says Acts 17, God is arranging things so people won't trust in their government, but trust in Him. They won't trust in their bank accounts, but trust in Him. They won't trust in the properties they own, they'll trust in Him. They won't trust in relationships with other people, they'll trust in Him. God is engineering things in the life of people in the world. You can look at China. China went through a bunch of changes. There was the initial revolution, Sun Yat-sen. And in the course of time, as World War II began to come up on the horizon and China was occupied by the Japanese, eventually the forces that had come under Sun Yat-sen began to split into two groups. You had the Communist group under Mao Zedong. That's how it can be pronounced and that's my preferred pronunciation, Mao Zedong. And then you had the Kuomintang under General Kashmachek. Oh, wait a minute, Shankashek, not Kashmachek. Shankashek. And eventually after the war, the Communists won. with a little help from our State Department. Why, I don't know. General Chiang Kai-shek invades the island of Formosa, occupies it, and it becomes Free China, or Nationalist China. And they had a seat in the UN Security Council. And that was the China with whom we had dealings, Nationalist China. Until, under Richard Nixon, we switched alliances and eventually we displaced nationalist China, which was Christian friendly, with communist China. So they have a seat on the Security Council. Is that history wrong? Anybody challenge that history? Okay. Now, think about it for a moment. You look at all that history and you think, why did we support Mao Zedong over Chiang Kai-shek? But yet and again, we supported Chiang Kai-shek with lots of tax dollars and military support. Why did we do that? You want to tell you the real reason? Because God had a plan for the people on mainland China. And that plan would not have been carried out without the violent mass murderer Mao Zedong coming to power. You say, what? Do you know that what Hitler did was terrible in World War II? And yet Hitler can't hold a candle to Joseph Stalin. in Russia. And yet Joseph Stalin can't hold a candle to the butchery and violence of Mao Zedong. He's the greatest mass murderer in history. So why would God ordain that? Here's why. At the time that Mao Zedong seized control of communist China, there were perhaps four million people and the whole of the geographical territory of China who named the name of Christ. And they ranged from every kind of cult to regular Orthodox Christians. How many Christians are there in China today? At least a hundred million Christians, full of the Spirit of God, seeking Christ, sharing Christ. Think about it. Have you ever thought what God's plan is for radical Islam? Do you know that God has a plan? And that radical Islam is on the move? You know why? God wants garden variety, moderate Muslims to realize, man, this stuff is not good. Did you ever think about that? You heard the testimony before the sermon? God's doing something? God is taking radical Muslims and bringing them to Jesus Christ, even in the places where ISIS is? Because where ISIS is, people look at that and say, if this is Islam, and it does represent a strand of Islam going back to Mohammed, don't let anybody tell you that's not true. I earned my doctorate studying this stuff. It does represent a strand of Islam. But when Muslims see insanity and beheadings and this kind of thing, what do they do? They begin to cry out and say, Oh God! There's got to be more to it than this! And they begin to be open to Jesus. Do you know that revival has taken place in some places in Egypt? It didn't take place under a time of toleration. It came about under the Muslim Brotherhood, when all of the violence and persecution began. See, what I'm telling you is that God ordains the political because He has a spiritual goal. God wants you to be saved. God wants your sons and daughters to be saved. God wants your grandchildren to be saved. And God will sacrifice anything and everything in their lives so that they might say, Oh God, there's got to be more to it than this. So politics is not the key. Not only is politics never to be the source of division within the church, because God expected there to be spiritual unity. even where there was political division that he ordained. But politics is never the real issue. The real issue is seeking God. Because politics is simply the window dressing in which God is working out His plan to save people, to save people, to draw them to Christ. Acts 17. So as we close today, just introducing Jeroboam, what is his sin? It's religious inventiveness. He gives a visible representation of the true God in the form of not one but two golden calves. He creates his own holy days. And he appoints the people that are loyal to him to be priests. Wow. I'm struck with one thing in closing. I look at the history of Christianity. And I discover that when the persecution ended in the fourth century, and when Christianity became first tolerated under the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, and just over a decade later became the established religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity changed. Be afraid of politicians. Well, of course, not fear them. That's the very thing I said, don't fear. But what I mean by that is be aware that political favoritism always comes at a price. What is the opposite of a bride? It's a woman of the streets, and that's the very description that God uses to describe his people when they have gotten in bed with the politicians. Revelation 17, the scarlet woman. God wants us to live our lives with one goal in life, and that is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, and then to share that God with others. So what is it that's keeping you from enjoying God today? If you're here today, is there anything holding you back from fully surrendering your heart to Him and enjoying Him? If God's chief will for your life is that you would glorify Him and enjoy Him, what's keeping you from your joy? It's God's will you deal with it. Ask Him to show you what it is. And God forbid for you or me that we would replicate the sin of Jeroboam by saying, I gotta have it my way. Because having it my way is ultimately to lose God's way. And it's to lose the very thing you want in life. Do you know the Lord? If you don't know Him, I'd love to share with you today how you can know Him. May we pray. Lord, as we search the Scriptures to discover what this terrible sin is, the sin that marked the northern kingdom of Israel throughout its centuries of existence. Lord, we discover it isn't worship of Baal or other false gods. It's worshiping You. the way we want to, as over against the way you command. Lord, would you deliver us from that? And we also pray for our nation, which is so politicized and so torn apart. And Lord, it has driven a wedge between Christians on one side and the other, when in the final analysis, you put into power whom you choose. You expand an empire for a season and then bring it crashing down in spite of the best efforts of that empire. And that's the story of history. And you do that so that men and women and boys and girls would do what I pray would happen here this morning at this very time. We would seek you and we would find you because we sought you with all our heart. In Jesus' name, amen.