Father in heaven, we are thankful for the ability to come together to worship Thee and to sing praise to Thy name and to give unto Thee. Father, we come now to study Thy Word. We confess we have no book like this book. This book is forever settled in heaven. This book is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. We would ask our Father as we come to this book that we would know the help and power of Thy Spirit, that He would give us understanding into the things of Christ that he would give a word and season fashion for each of our hearts. May we know what it is to hear thy voice speaking to us. May we know what it is to have our hearts drawn out after thee. For we ask this in Jesus name and for his glory. Amen. A good teacher will stress by his repetition what he thinks is important. The Holy Spirit in the book of Chronicles is giving to us something of what is important for us today when he stresses that these kings sought the Lord, or in fact, when he stresses that these kings did not seek the Lord. By speaking on seeking the Lord, he is giving to us what each of us need this day. Now, when you think of seeking the Lord, you're seeking the one who does not change. Each one of these kings, although they are in Judah, faces new obstacles, faces a new set of circumstances. The kingdoms around Judah were constantly changing. Some were coming to power. Some were losing their power. Even in the nation of Judah itself, there were changes going on. The nation was growing. That in itself produced changes. There was godliness at some times in the nation. We would find godly men and women seeking the Lord. At other times in the nation, we found that the nation was not seeking after Him. There were times the king was seeking the Lord and the people were not. There were other times that The people were seeking the Lord, and the king was not. And so, in Judah, there were times of great change. The one thing that was not changing was the Lord. He remains the same. Because He remains the same, His righteous judgments are the same. Because He remains the same, what He demands out of men and women, boys and girls, remain the same. And so, as you study these kings, though the surroundings were changing, Nevertheless, the Lord remained the same, and He demanded out of the people that they would seek Him. Well, you and I can say, well, we live in a changing world. Why, just in the short time that I've been on this earth, we have seen great changes in the United States, great changes in the world. Nations have come and gone. Politicians have come and gone. Great church leaders have come and gone. In all of this change that we find ourselves in, the thing that remains constant is that we still serve the same God who made the world, and we are to seek Him with all of our heart. The promise in the book is that if we would seek Him with all of our heart, He would be found of us. This morning, I want us to consider again another king, a king who sought the Lord, a king that was very important in his day. Four chapters of Scripture in Chronicles is given over to the life of this king. This tells us that the Holy Spirit has a great deal he wants us to learn from this king. Basically, we can divide this man's life into two areas, his success in seeking the Lord and finding him. And then we can look also at his sin. This king sinned and he sinned in such a fashion that he would destroy the nation that he loved. He sinned in such a fashion that his heritage would be marred and what would come after him would be a great reproach upon the name of the Lord. I want us to consider both aspects of this man's life, because there's so much here we can't do in one message. And so like we did with Asa, we will do with Jehoshaphat. We will look, first of all, at the positive seeking of the Lord that this man is known for. And then secondly, in another message, we will look at his sin. This morning, I want us to consider the many times in these four chapters it says that he sought the Lord. On five different occasions, his seeking of the Lord is brought to our attention. The first occasion here is at the beginning. You'll note in verse three at the end, it says that he sought not on the Balaam. And then at the beginning of verse four, it says, but sought unto the Lord God of his fathers. He sought the Lord according to the covenant that God had made with the people. It was God who determined that you were to seek him. And it was God who said how you were to seek him. Now, there's not much said about the blood of a lamb. in these four chapters dealing with Jehoshaphat. There is a reason for that, I believe. Jehoshaphat did keep the law of God, and he gloried in that law. We know that he kept, therefore, the ceremony in the Old Testament, and he gloried, therefore, in the blood of the Lamb. You could not keep the law. You could not glory in the law without making mention of the blood, without thinking on the blood, without glorying in the blood of the Lamb. But the stress in these four chapters is not so much upon that. Jehoshaphat did that, but so did the kings in the northern tribes. That is, they too gloried in sacrifice, but their sacrifice was to another God and their sacrifice was presented in another way. So the author of Chronicles is stressing this vision of Jehoshaphat, this single vision of serving the Lord. And by doing so, he is stressing also that the sacrifices that would be given by this king would be according to the Scripture and to Jehovah, not to Baal. He did not seek after Balaam. That is after Baal. But he did seek after the Lord. Now, to do so according to the covenant that God had established, he would have to refuse bad influences that are all around him. There was another part of those who are descended from Abraham in the north, the ten northern tribes. In those northern tribes, there were two idols set up, one at Bethel, which was close to where Jehoshaphat ruled, and then one in the far north in Dan. Those idols were set up by the first king, Jeroboam. They were never removed. Every king in the north after Jeroboam was an idolater. Some were better than others. Some gave themselves more freely to idolatry, but they were all idolaters. There was never a revival in that sense, a revival of turning back to the Lord and overthrowing idolatry in the ten northern tribes. And so when Jehoshaphat came to the throne, you had this false religion established by Jeroboam in the north that would be an influence upon him and his kingdom. Not only did he set up these idols, one in Bethel and one in Dan, he also set up priests, his own priests. He made men priests and he set up his own feast days. Jeroboam had done that in the north, but Jeroboam was no longer king. There have been several kings between Jeroboam and the times of Jehoshaphat in the north. The king now in the north is Ahab. Ahab. When we think of Ahab, we have to think of Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel were one. They were almost inseparable in their designs for the nation in the north. They were idolaters that made Jeroboam look as if he were a righteous man. Ahab provoked the Lord to wrath. Ahab was more wicked than all the kings who had ever been in the north. Jezebel herself was wicked and known for her wickedness. She killed the true prophets. So we have a man and a woman, a king and a queen in the north who are exerting a great deal of wicked influence. When we think of Elijah, that's the prophet who stood against Ahab. But now we're in the south. We're dealing with Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat was not immune to what was going on in the north. In the very first verse, it said he strengthened himself against Israel. He strengthened himself against Ahab's rule, Ahab's reign. He had to Seek the Lord and overcome the bad influence that was coming from those who also call themselves Israelites in the north. But as we were thinking last week, he also had to overcome the influence of his own father. His father, at the end of his reign, stopped seeking the Lord. His heart grew bitter toward the Lord. He put the prophet in prison. He oppressed the people. Asa, at the end of his reign, was diseased, and in his disease he still would not seek the Lord. God chastened him, and his heart hardened to the Lord rather than came back to the Lord. Jehoshaphat had to overcome that. Most of those who write a chronology of the Old Testament place Jehoshaphat's reign as beginning at the end of the reign of Asa. That is, they overlapped. Asa, at the end, in his disease, could not reign. And so Jehoshaphat, for one, two, maybe three years, reigned with his father. Reigned with him, a co-regency. It wasn't unusual. That happened at other times in the Old Testament. And most commentators are going to overlap this reign for three years. Asa stopped seeking the Lord. And Jehoshaphat could have himself done that. If Asa had stopped seeking the Lord and he was the king, then the people in looking at Jehoshaphat, perhaps they would have expected the same out of the son. You know, there's many a son who comes and he says, I'm not going to seek the Lord. I'm not going to walk in the Lord's ways. Why, my dad was a hypocrite. My dad did this and my dad did that. And he blames the fact that he won't seek the Lord on what his dad did or what his mother did. Jehoshaphat, rather than letting his own heart become bitter like his father's, Rather than let his own heart not seek the Lord like his father. Instead, he overcomes that influence and he immediately begins his reign by seeking after the Lord. Jehoshaphat overcame his family's influence. He was not governed by it. Brethren, today, you and I have influences all around us that would encourage us not to seek the Lord. They're coming from the paganism of our land. They may be coming from within our own family. And you have to overcome that influence if you're going to seek the Lord rightly in our day. There are children here and you say, well, you know, my parents aren't perfect, so why should I seek their God? We know no parent has ever been perfect. And on the day of judgment, God is not going to allow that as an excuse for you're not seeking after the Lord. Even a parent who is trying to seek after the Lord with all of his heart is still imperfect. And you could say, because they're not perfect, I'm not going to seek the Lord. That's not an excuse that's going to stand you in the day of judgment. God demands that you seek the Lord, that you seek the God of your fathers, that you seek this true and living God. And if your parents are not perfect, then you strive for perfection. And if they stop seeking the Lord and become hard-hearted and bitter, then you seek the Lord with all of your heart. You're not responsible for what your parents do, but you are responsible for whether or not you seek the Lord. God demands that each of us seek him, whether we have righteous parents or no, whether we have parents that seek the Lord or no. God demands that we all seek him and we have to overcome as Jehoshaphat did. And this man then becomes a great encouragement to us. He didn't let the influences around him stop him from seeking the Lord with all of his heart. He not only refused the bad influences, we find he removed bad influences. He took away that which was a hindrance to himself and to his people from seeking after the Lord. There were perverse objects of worship. We see this in 2 Chronicles chapter 17. He speaks there about not seeking after Balaam. Look at verse six. It says he took away the high places and groves out of Judah. Now, didn't we read that about Asa? Asa removed the groves? Did Nasa take down the idols? Did he remove those places of idolatry? He did. When the heart backslides, when the heart stops seeking after the Lord, then we find idolatry coming in and filling the void, whether it be in a nation or in a church or in an individual's life. You will fill the void if you don't Seek the Lord and you will fill that void with something else. Something else will become the object of your affection. Something else will control the life. And whatever is controlling life has become your idol. Paul says that covetousness is idolatry. Well, covetousness is not something you can reach out and touch. It's not something that you can see that is standing before you. And how can you say that covetousness is idolatry? It's because it controls the life. rather than the Lord controlling the life. These strong desires for what he prohibits us from having that controls the life that governs the life that takes us in the wrong direction. What is it that controls our life this morning? We have here in Jehoshaphat's reign, the removal of things that his father had removed, but now they had come back into the land. You'll also know he removed immoral influences in the land, perverse practices in worship. You find this insect in First Kings, Chapter 22, which deals with his reign there as well. In verse 46 of First Kings, Chapter 2, we read, and the remnant of the sodomites, which remain in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. He removed them out of the land, the sodomites. This word for sodomy in the Old Testament is a special word. It's also the same root from which we get the word holy. There were immoral practices connected with pagan worship, and there were those who gave themselves to immoral practices around the temples of pagan worship. And so you had sodomites who were devoted in worship. That is, they were set apart to the evil of sodomy in worship. You say, how could the nation fall so quickly? from the days of Asa's righteous reign. Asa had stopped seeking the Lord. And when you stop seeking the Lord, there are things that are going to come into the land. There are things that are going to come into the land with great abundance and great power. Rehoboam would not remove the sodomites from the land, those who were part of this temple worship, this pagan worship. He wouldn't touch them. Asa removed them, but now at the end of his reign, they've come back. And now Jehoshaphat has to do battle with those same evil influences. We read in Romans 1 that when men and women turn their backs upon the living God and what they know of that God, God gives them over. He gives them over to uncleanness. He gives them over to that which is unnatural, that which is wicked, that which is perverse. Jehoshaphat, when he came to the throne, not only had to deal with spiritual adultery, he had to deal with physical immorality as well. The two go hand in hand. If you were to ask me what the great cause of our physical immorality in this country is, I would put it down to the spiritual adultery that is taking place all through our land. When you turn your back upon the living God and you stop seeking after Him, there will be something that fills that void. That is, it will be idolatry. There will be some God that is worshiped and there will be some practice that will govern the life. If your heart's not going after Him, then you'll follow their lusts, your passions. You'll follow that which is evil. As we look through our land today, we find those who are worshiping idols and we see hand in hand with that worship, great immorality. He not only removed that which was evil as far as the spiritual realm and the moral realm, he also reinstated good influences in the land. In the third year of his reign, we see this in verse seven. He did something very special again. This third year might have been the first year he reigned by himself. If those who are right in the chronologies are correct. If it's not the first year he reigned by himself, it's still early in his reign. He did something very special. What is it that he did? He sent princes, Levites and priests through the land to teach the people the word of God. He was concerned that the people were following the Lord as he was following the Lord. It was not enough that he follow the Lord with all of his heart. He wanted them to follow as well. Speaking to parents now, you've got children. One of your jobs as the parent is to instruct that child in the ways of the Lord. He expects that out of you. You bring the child to church and Sunday school because you want them instructed. You bring the child to the worship service. You want them instructed. You are responsible to God for what goes in that child's head. You are responsible to teach them in the ways of the Lord, to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. That's your responsibility. You are a teacher. You are an instructor and it's not enough. You say, well, I'm seeking the Lord. You must instruct your children in the ways of the Lord. You must teach them to pray. You must teach them the scriptures. You must teach them the way of salvation. You must teach them by your life and your example what it is to walk with the Lord so that they know firsthand from the home what it is to walk with him. Joshua took pains to instruct the nation in the ways of the Lord. This morning, If we would seek the Lord as Jehoshaphat did, there must be the instruction, the education, the teaching, ministry in the church that will instruct the people as to how to walk according to this book. You know also that in his reinstating good influences, he brought back people to the land. Turn to chapter 19. You'll see here in chapter 19, in verse 4. And Jehoshaphat dwelled at Jerusalem and he went out again through the people from Bersheba to Mount Ephraim and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers." Here's an evangelistic zeal in this king when he sought the Lord. He's gone all the way to Mount Ephraim as well as down in the south of Bersheba. Mount Ephraim would generally be considered that area that was reigned over by the northern kings. You say, why did he have to go there to bring them back? One of the reasons was because of his own sin. He had just made a treaty in the chapter before, and in that treaty with the king in the north, with Ahab, perhaps the people seeing that he was now friendly with Ahab started making their journey back into the north, that is, going back to that pagan worship, and he had to go back and bring them. He came to repentance. He was rebuked for what he did. He repented of it. And now one of the things he has to do in his repentance is go back into the north and bring back out those that had wandered there because of his own influence. He restored the people, he took great pains to go after them and bring them back to the Lord, and then we find he enforced that which he had established, that which he had started the seeking after the Lord. He enforced it by sending up judges throughout the land. In 2 Chronicles 16, in verse 18, we see the judges in the land. We see them in chapter 17. And throughout this, we have mention of these judges that he set up in the land. Jehoshaphat sought the Lord according to the covenant. God determined what was right and wrong. God determined how he was to be sought. And Jehoshaphat said, I'm going to seek the Lord and I'm going to, as far as my influence will go, determine that others seek the Lord with me. I'm going to teach them the ways I'm going to enforce those ways as much as I can. Part of the. Job of the parent, we have said, is to teach the children the ways of the Lord, sometimes just going after those children and trying to restore them to the Lord's ways. Other times is bringing enforcement upon the child's life as much as we can, that they might seek the Lord. I pray. Pray that this day that. in your own heart and soul, that as a parent, that is your desire, that you're going to teach those children God's ways, that you're going to restore them when they fall back, you're going to go after them and try to bring them back, and that you will try to enforce, reinforce, and even discipline the children when they stray. All those things are necessary as a parent. And because our children have hearts like ours, because our children are prone to wander as we are, we find that that's a job that we take with us all of our days. Something we labor in is something we pray over. It's something that we do from now to the time we go to the grave. We are wrestling with our children that they might seek the Lord as we have. Jehoshaphat did that with the whole nation. The whole nation was under his influence, and he was not content until the whole nation would be seeking after the Lord with him. What is the sphere of your influence? If it's in the home, that's where we exercise this influence like Jehoshaphat. If it's in the church, that's where we exercise this influence like Jehoshaphat. If it's in the nation, in our communities, we exercise this influence as much as we are able to cause men and women, boys and girls to seek after the Lord. Jehoshaphat did that. He did that. And God blessed him for it. The second time we see Jehoshaphat seeking the Lord is when he was getting ready to go into battle before he came into combat. You see this in 2 Chronicles chapter 18. Look in 2nd Chronicles, chapter 18, verse 4, we find and Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. The word inquire there is the word speak the same word that we found earlier. We find in Therefore, in verse five, the king of Israel gathered together the prophets, 400 men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for the Lord, for the God will deliver it into the king's hand. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of the Lord beside that we may inquire, that we may seek of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is but one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil, the same as Micaiah, the son of Imlah. Now, if you were a true prophet in that day, and you were going to prophesy concerning Ahab, you would only prophesy evil. That's all you could prophesy concerning that king, because he was a wicked king. Jehoshaphat looked at the prophets that Ahab brought in, and he knew there wasn't a prophet of the Lord among them. And he said, is there not yet a prophet that we can inquire of? Jehoshaphat in this time in his life was trying to seek the Lord, without the encouragement of anyone else. Where he was now standing, where he was now sitting, there was not another believer nearby. His closest companion, as it were, the one with whom he had just made a confederacy, was Ahab. And Ahab not only was not seeking after the Lord, Ahab didn't want anything to do with the prophets of the Lord or those who would give him the message of the Lord. And yet we have Jehoshaphat here seeking the Lord without the encouragement of others, and seeking the Lord, even when others were trying to discourage him from seeking the Lord. This tells us something about the habit of his life. He was seeking the Lord at this time in his life before he went to battle. Now, if you look carefully at this chapter, and we'll do this next Lord's Day, we can say that he shouldn't even have been here. In fact, the prophet later on will rebuke him for joining sides with Ahab in this war. This is one of the great weaknesses in this king's life, and we'll see this weakness over and over and over again. And this weakness that he has to the enemies of God would destroy the nation. But even in this weakness, he was in a position where he should not have been, yet we find him in that position doing what? Seeking the Lord. He wants an answer from the Lord. Jehoshaphat's sinful alliance brought him into battle that was not necessary. The Lord gave him a merciful answer. The prophet came and gave him the word that he desired, the word that he wanted. He wanted to know how the battle would come out. Micaiah came and told him how the battle would come out. And yet, when the king Ahab then took Micaiah and put him in prison, you don't have Jehoshaphat interceding for Micaiah. When Micaiah is out of their presence, you don't have even Jehoshaphat believing the word of Micaiah, at least not initially. Jehoshaphat goes into battle. More than that, he allows Ahab to convince him to dress like a king in battle. When Jehoshaphat really begins to act by faith in what Micaiah gave him, is in the midst of battle, when he's been singled out by the enemy, and they're getting ready to put Jehoshaphat to death. At that point, Jehoshaphat says, what Micaiah said is true. And we see some repentance in Jehoshaphat at that point. We see him calling on the Lord, and the Lord had mercy and spared his life. He asked for a prophet. He got a prophet. And when the prophet came and gave him the word, he wouldn't listen to the prophet. He listened instead to Ahab and Ahab's prophets. He lived his life based upon what they said, rather upon what Micaiah said. Sinful alliances will blind us to the truth. Sooner or later, they will have an influence upon us. And we have to steel ourselves against those influences. Yes, it was good that Jehoshaphat sought the Lord when no one else would. Yes, it was good that Jehoshaphat sought the Lord when there are companions round about him that were not seeking the Lord. But Jehoshaphat in all of that was influenced much by Ahab, and it almost cost him his life. Brethren, there are times when you're going to be forced to be among those that are not seeking the Lord, perhaps at family reunions. Perhaps at gatherings at work. Perhaps at gatherings in a political or social setting. And those companions are going to want to do things. They're going to want to do things that you and I would not approve of, God would not approve of. And perhaps sometimes they're going to want to do things and you're not sure. What are you going to do? You seek the Lord. You say, but they aren't interested in seeking the Lord and doing His will. But you must. You're His people. In that sense, Jehoshaphat is an example to us all. The problem with Jehoshaphat is that he was not just among sinners. He had made an alliance with them. He had brought himself into covenant union with them, that he would act as one with them. And because of that, he was being turned away from walking with the Lord. And it almost cost him his life. Our Lord said that if we abide in him and his word abides in us, we can ask what we will and it's going to be done unto us. We're going to have answers to our prayer. At this point, we see Jehoshaphat abiding in the Lord. He's saved. But at this point, we see his word is not abiding in him. He's not being led by the Lord. He's not being governed by the word. So he asks for something, and really, he doesn't get it. He thought he was going to get victory in battle. The Lord said, no, there's not going to be any victory in battle. But he thought there was going to be victory in battle. Until he was in the midst of the battle, and he saw it turning against him, and he saw him closing in upon him. And he almost died. Brethren, if you want answers to your praying, you must seek the Lord. Yes, you must abide in Christ, but you must do more than that. You must let this word govern your life. You must walk according to this word so that when you pray, you're asking things the Lord wants to answer. If Jehoshaphat had been walking according to the Lord, he wouldn't have had to ask for an answer in this realm. He wouldn't have been there. And how often it is our walking in sin and being governed by sinful desires makes us cry for things that we wouldn't normally cry for. Had we walked with him? You know something else? He sought the Lord and he sought the Lord with some degree of consistency throughout his life. Turn, if you would, to 2 Chronicles 19. Chapter 19, in verse 3. This is after the battle. Jehu the prophet, the son of Hanani, went out to meet Jehoshaphat. Jehu is the son of Hanani. We heard of Hanani last week. Hanani rebuked Asa. Asa put him in prison. That was his response. Now you've got the sun speaking to the sun. You've got J.U. prophesying to Jehoshaphat. And look at their different responses. In verse three, Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, and thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and thou hast prepared thy heart to seek God. Jehoshaphat didn't put him in prison. Jehoshaphat's heart didn't grow bitter. Jehoshaphat listened to the rebuke of the prophet. That's what follows after this rebuke. There was something good in Joseph and the prophet recognized that he said, Thou has prepared thine heart to seek the Lord. You put the groves out of the land. There's something good found in your heart. I think when we rebuke and we have to rebuke as God's people, one on one from the pulpit, there must be rebukes given. It's always good in the rebuke if you can find something good in the one that you're rebuking. Paul did that. He wrote some stinging letters to churches. He did that to the Corinthians. He did that to the Galatians. He did that to the Colossians. But even in the midst of that, we find Paul finding something good among God's people. That they did know the Lord. They did walk with the Lord. They did speak with the Lord. They were indeed his people. Now he has some sting and rebukes for them. But in doing so, he has, as it were, given a proper assessment. Here was the prophet, and he's speaking to Jehoshaphat, and he gives a proper assessment. Yes, he was a good king, but he did this evil. And Jehoshaphat listens. I'm not sure why Jehoshaphat didn't listen to Micaiah. Micaiah certainly, when he came to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, came with a mocking in his prophecy. Many of the prophets were that way. I don't fault him for that. I think if I had been in Ahab's presence and Ahab was asking me for a message from the Lord, I'd probably want to mock him too. Micaiah gave a stinging rebuke to Ahab. He basically ignored Jehoshaphat, but he gave a stinging rebuke to Ahab, and he said to Ahab, you're going to die in this battle. Did Jehoshaphat get offended because of the demeanor of the prophet? Is that why he didn't listen? We have those who tell us today, you know, if you fundamentalists, if you would just hone it down a little bit, if you'd learn to be more gracious, if you'd learn to be more or less abrasive, we would listen to you. Brethren, that doesn't change the truth of the message if the prophet happens to be abrasive. If God sends a donkey to you with a message, you listen to that donkey. Balaam found that out. God chooses his own prophets, and some of them will have a silver tongue, and they can speak like an orator, and others are going to stammer and stutter when they speak. Brethren, you have to decide if it's the message of God or not, according to this book. And if it is, you listen. You say, but his message is abrasive. It may be. But is it the message of God? We find that Jehoshaphat didn't listen to Makai, but he listens now to Jehu. He almost had lost his life. God had humbled him. And now this prophet comes and he listens. The prophet did find something good in Jehoshaphat. He couldn't have said this if you were standing before Ahab, but he found something good in Jehoshaphat. What was it? He had prepared his heart to seek the Lord. This is the exact opposite of what is said concerning Rehoboam. It says he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord, therefore he did evil. But Jehoshaphat prepared his heart. That is, he established his heart. This is the word that is used oftentimes of one establishing the throne. That is, he's taking away the hindrances to his rule. He's establishing and strengthening the throne. He's, as it were, put it in place and he's making sure it's going to stay in place. The root meaning of this word is to bring something into being with a consequence that its existence is a certainty. He began seeking the Lord. And whatever it took, he made sure that all of his life he was going to seek the Lord. That's the prophet's assessment. That's God's assessment of Jehoshaphat. He was consistent in his seeking of the Lord. You and I need to seek the Lord continually. It's necessary that we seek the Lord, even when we are separatists, even when we take a stand against that which is evil. There are some who take a stand against that which is evil, but have no use for Christ. That's not biblical. That's not right. That's what the Pharisees did. They were separatists. They separated from things. They had their laws. They had their traditions. They were separate from the world. They were distinct from the world, but they had no use for Christ. We, in our separation from the world, must seek after the Lord with all of our hearts. And it's not enough that we merely separate from that which is evil, even in the spiritual realm or the moral realm. We must also, with all of our hearts, seek after the Lord. Jehoshaphat did that. He was commended for it, even though he was rebuked at this time for his sin. He was a seeker who sought the Lord with all of his heart, and the prophet commended him for it. Turn, if you would, to 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. We see the fourth time it is mentioned that this king sought the Lord. This time he's cornered, and when he's cornered, he seeks the Lord. Verse three, Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaim the fast through all Judah. What had made him fear? It was man's power coming against him. You had the children of Moab, verse one, the children of Ammon coming against him and this large multitude coming from beyond the sea, Syria coming in. This large multitude had him penned in. He was cornered. There was no way out. If God didn't intervene, he would be destroyed. His kingdom would be done. You ever feel like that? God puts you in a box, as it were, where there's no way out. You feel like you're at the bottom of a well, and you turn to the left, there's a wall. You turn to the right, there's a wall. You look behind you, there's a wall. And there's nowhere to look but up. That's where Jehoshaphat found himself. Brethren, that is where you're to go when there's nowhere else to go. Sometimes God puts us in such a situation that we might understand and see His glory in a way we never would. He sometimes strips away everything else from us that we can't look any other direction but up. There's no help to the right or left, forward or backwards. We can't get help from man. We can't help ourselves. That's where Jehoshaphat felt himself. And he went to the Lord and he sought Him at that hour, at that time. Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaim the fast throughout the land. Would you note the prayer that flowed from that heart? We see what a man of God he is. In verse six and seven, we see that he understood the greatness of the Lord. In verse six and seven, he speaks of that greatness. O Lord God of our fathers, art thou not God in heaven and rule us not over all the kingdoms of the heathen, and in thy hand is not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee. Art thou not our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest to the seed of Abraham to thy friend forever?" What was he doing? He was rehearsing. He was rehearsing in his own mind the greatness of his God. God knew who he was, but you didn't have to tell God what God is like. But God's not offended when you come before Him and with your heart you rehearse before Him His greatness. You see the apostles doing that in Acts chapter 4. They come and they give Him the glory due His name. They come and ascribe to Him greatness. This is what Jehoshaphat's doing. He had a great God that He was coming to. He had that upon His lips as He came. Would you note something else? He also rehearses the history of Israel when He comes before His great God. You say, well, God knows that. Yes, but He desires that you know it. He desires that you trust in his greatness, how he's manifested in the past. And so we find here that this great king rehearses the history of this covenant people before the Lord. In verse seven at the end, he talks about you gave this land to the seed of Abraham, my friend, forever. And they dwelt therein and have built the sanctuary therein for thy name's sake. If when evil cometh upon us as the sword, judgment or pestilence or famine, we stand before this house and in thy presence. For thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and the Mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not. Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit." He's rehearsing the history before the Lord. He's being very specific. There are two instances here he brings to the Lord's attention. One of the instances when they came out of Egypt and they came for that 40 year wilderness wandering, he would not let them attack the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Mount Seir. He wouldn't let them do that until they were first attacked, until they were first attacked by them. He said, Now, Lord, they're trying to throw us out of the heritage. You wouldn't let us throw them out, but they're trying to throw us out. Would you also note that he speaks earlier? In verse nine of something that took place in Solomon's reign. Solomon said, when your people turn their back upon you and then they come back and they repent, they come to this house and they pray unto you, Lord, from this house here, you put your name in this house, Lord, here, when they come and seek your face at this house. He is referring to that in verse nine. He knows the history. He knows the book. Here's a man who studied the Word, and as he prays, he comes to God in the terms that God has dictated. He comes to God according to the Word of God. The Word of God is upon his lips as he prays. It's flowing from his heart as he comes into God's presence. And because the Word of God is controlling him in the place of prayer, he can come to God and say, God, you must do this. This is your will. This is according to your Word. It's quite different than what we saw just a few chapters earlier when he's before Ahab. He is now praying with the word of God upon him, with the word of God governing him. He's cornered and he comes to the book and he says, God, I've got this covenant. Lord, this is the way you are. You revealed yourself this way. Lord, this is what you've done in the past for your people. Lord, you must act now. God has given the act on behalf of his people. When we're cornered, we have promises given to us by the Lord, and those promises are real and our God will act on our behalf. He's not the God of the deist who wound up the world and never interacts with that world again. No, our God lives and he moves and he's interacting with the world continually and especially on behalf of his people. Yes, there are times you feel cornered, you're boxed in, there's nowhere you to go. You've got a God who has given you a great knowledge about his greatness. He's given you a great knowledge about the history of what he's done in the past. And this God will act on your behalf as you seek him, according to the word. That's what Jehoshaphat found. You know, they never had to even do anything in battle. This is one of the most unusual battles you'll find anywhere in the Old Testament. They actually have a sing-spiration at the battle. They come with their hymn books, and they open their hymn books, and they begin singing. And when they do that, God sets ambushes against the enemy. I don't know what they were in the ambushes. The Scripture doesn't speak concerning that. But he set ambushes against the enemy. And the enemy begins to be routed while they are singing. Psalm 22, which was referred to earlier this morning. We have the statement by our Lord when he's on the cross that Jehovah inhabits Israel's praise. The Lord inhabits eternity. The Lord inhabits Israel's praise. Praising of the Lord is never wasted time in worship. The Lord comes and he manifests himself to his people during that time. And in battle, In private, in public, when things are going smoothly, when things are going terribly, it's always good to be able to sing to the Lord. Many of the Psalms are written for such occasions as when you feel hemmed in and there's nowhere else to go but the Lord. Indicating the Lord wants to be praised at that time. The Lord wants you to sing to him at that time. The Lord wants you to express to him praise and worship at that time. And when you come before the Lord in praise, how often at that time he opens the heart, at that time he manifests his glory, at that time he draws near, he inhabits Israel's praise. Jehoshaphat in faith, praise the Lord. Now if he didn't believe, what would he be doing? He'd be getting the captains together saying, now at this point in the battle you do this, at this point in the battle you do this, at this point in the battle you do this. But no, the Lord's already told them there's going to be victory. And he believes the Lord to such an extent. Nothing has changed other than he's got a promise from the Lord. And that promise enables him to lift his heart in praise and get the people to come and worship and praise the Lord because he's got this promise. God can't go back on the promise. The Lord acted on Jehoshaphat's behalf and he fought the enemy and he protected Jehoshaphat. You'll note in verse 29, after that, the fear of the Lord fell on Jehoshaphat, on the enemy's roundabout. Joshua that that same thing was said earlier in chapter seventeen before whatever reason, God left the fear as it were leave the enemies and if enemies were willing to come against Joshua, but now in this great battle. The glory of the Lord has been seen even by the enemies and they're afraid to come against this. Great victory was wrought because he sought the Lord when he was cornered when there was nowhere else to go. Rather, if the Lord takes all the props out from under you that you have to seek the Lord One of the reasons he might be doing that is that when he does act, you'll know he did it. And all the glory will be going to him. Going to him. He will not share his glory with another. You can write that down in the flyleaf of your Bible. It's there in the Bible. It's in the book of Isaiah. He will not share his glory with another. And there are times when he kicks all the pops out from under us. So that when he acts, we know that he did it. And we had nothing to do with it other than the fact that we just asked him to work. The fifth time it's mentioned before us that he sought the Lord is actually in two generations after Jehoshaphat is dead. If you'll turn to chapter 22 and verse 7, verse 9, actually, chapter 22 and verse 9. He says, and he sought Ahaziah, that's Jehoshaphat's grandson. He sought Ahaziah and they caught him. For he was hid in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu. And when they had slain him, they buried him, because they said he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom." God destroyed the grandson of Jehoshaphat for his wickedness. The only good thing about Ahaziah was that he had a good granddad, a grandfather. And when they caught up with him, Jehu put him to death. Now, Jehu had already killed Jezebel. He killed her in such a way that he left her for the dogs to eat. But he wouldn't do that with Ahaziah, because Ahaziah was related to Jehoshaphat. And here is this king, who himself is an idolater. He's not as bad as Ahab. He executes Ahab and the Baal worshipers. He does the Lord's will against the Baal worshipers, but he still commits idolatry, Jehu did. But this king, recognizes that this one who means just executed rightly executed is the son of the great King Jahashaphat. Two generations later. In the north there is a king who remembers Jahashaphat as the one who sought the Lord with all his heart. There are a lot of things about Jahashaphat he could have remembered. He could have remembered as well. He could remember the buildings he put up. The cities he rebuilt, he can remember the extent of Israel, the battles that he fought and won. He can remember all of that. But the thing that stuck in his mind as a distinguishing factor when he thought back on Jehoshaphat, he thought back about a king who sought God with all his heart. Two generations from now, when they remember you and they remember me, what will they think of? For some, they might think, well, you know, he had that nice house. He had that well. You know he did these things with his own strength and his own ability his own power Is that what will be remembered for? Or will be there be those like Jay who himself is not a true believer an idol worshiper But he knows this is so much a part of our life that he knows this person sought the Lord I Went to a secular Monument for the Civil War and I saw there a video they had on some of the generals in the Civil War, and one of the generals that they were dealing with was the man who's called Stonewall Jackson. He was a general from the Virginia area, and he fought in the South, in the Southern Army. This was a secular video. It was put up by secular men, and the thing that they noted throughout the video was that Stonewall Jackson sought the Lord. Now, if you read his life, you're not going to agree with all of his decisions, all of the things that he did. But when you look at him, two generations, three generations, four generations later, when the secular world looks at his life, they say, you know, he prayed with his family at seven in the morning. They can take you to his house and they can show you where he stood in the house, where in the middle of day he would seek the Lord's faith and pray. He was such a prayer warrior, there were generals who are converted, noting that he prayed. two generals came to him in the midst of what was to be a battle, and they asked what they were to do, and Jackson asked them, what's your advice? And these generals both gave their advice, and he said, fine, I'm going to pray about it, you can go and I'll tell you later what my decision is. As they were leaving, one of the generals turned to the other general and in a mockery said to that other general, sure he's going to pray about it, right. Well, the other general had left a sword back in the tent. And he remembered his sword was there, and he went back to get the sword. And as he went back to the tent, he heard Jackson praying. The Lord so smoked that general's heart that in the several days later, he was converted, hearing this man pray. I'm not saying you're going to agree with that general and everything he did or said or believed. But I'm saying that when four generations later, they still know him as a man of prayer who knew the Lord, what will they note you and I for? generation from now, two generations from now. Is your life so marked by your seeking after the Lord that everyone has to say, here's a man who devoted his whole life to seeking the Lord? Or is it just going to be the wealth that you attain, just going to be the house that you lived in, just going to be, what is it that they're going to know? that governed your life, that drove you, that motivated you, that controlled you, that was such a factor in your life that you couldn't get away from it. What is it that they will remember? But Jehoshaphat was the fact that he sought the Lord with all his heart. Where are you this morning in your seeking after the Lord? There may be those here and you say, I'm saved and I've been trying to seek Him with all my heart. Well, the Bible says in Psalm 119, verse 2, blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart. You are blessed. Keep after seeking with the whole heart. If this morning you say, well, you know, there's some parts of my heart I'm not seeking in it. There's some parts of my life that are being governed by the world, governed by sin, governed by Satan. Then in those areas of your life, you need to repent and come back to seek the Lord. To the backslidden, we have these words in Hosea, sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground, for it's time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon us. It's time to seek the Lord. It's time to break up that fallow ground, that hardness of heart that will not allow you to seek the Lord in every area of your life. Could be this morning you come and you say, I've never sought the Lord. He's not my Lord. He's not my Savior. But the Scripture says in Isaiah 55, verse 6, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. You see, the instruction this morning to all of us is the same. If you're seeking Him with all your heart, keep seeking Him. If you're not seeking Him with all your heart, it's time to break up the fallow ground and seek Him with all your heart. Have you never begun to seek the Lord? Then seek the Lord today. Make today the first day of the rest of your life where you're going to seek Him day after day after day. He will be found of you. Jehoshaphat sought the Lord and found Him. May the Lord give us grace, each one today, to seek Him. and to find it. Gracious Father, as we come to thee, we come as those unworthy to step into thy presence because of our sin. Lord, we have rebelled against thee in the past. We've done that which is evil and not right in thy sight. And yet, Lord, you've had mercy upon us in drawing us graciously to yourself. Lord, like Jehoshaphat, we can look at times in our life when we have done foolishly, when we, like Asa, have done foolishly, when we, like the other kings, have sinned against thee and we've rebelled against thy law and we've done that which is not right in thy sight. Yet, Lord, you bid us to break up our fallow ground and to come and seek you again. We're thankful, Lord, that there's mercy with thee. We're thankful, Lord, that that mercy is new every morning. We ask this day that you would help us with our whole being to seek after thee in the place of prayer, in the place of worship, in private and in public, give us grace, Lord, this day that we would seek Thee with our whole being, and none would be left behind. Each of us would be found seeking and encouraging others to seek after Thee. Father, we would ask for those who have never found Thee, who perhaps this day, for the first time, would seek after Thee. We would ask our Father this morning that You would have mercy upon them, that You allow Yourself to be found of them. that they, too, would find that mercy that we have found. They would know that grace that we have known, that they would know what it is to have their sins forgiven, to have thee as Lord and Savior, as the King of their life. Lord, we pray that thou would have mercy upon them, that thou would give to them that same grace, would draw them graciously to thyself, that they might this day taste and see that thou art good. Help us, Lord, to seek thee in such a way that the community round about us would know that we are seeking thee. that generations later, our life would still be a testimony to the fact that we have sought Thee. Do this for Thy glory. Do this for Thy people, for we cannot do it for ourselves. Give us that strength and power to seek after Thee, for we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.