All right, we're there in 1 Kings chapter number 12. And of course, on Wednesday night, we've been making our way through the book of 1 Kings going verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And tonight, we're going to continue. Excuse me. Tonight we're going to continue this journey through the book of 1 Kings. And of course last week we took a break from 1 Kings because of Christmas Eve. But if you remember last time we were in this study we saw that due to Rehoboam's response to the people's request. Remember, Solomon has died. Rehoboam was supposed to become king or be coronated as king over the entire nation of Israel. But if you remember, the people made a request, and he responded rudely. He responded harshly to them. And as a result, there was a split in the kingdom. And 10 tribes split from the 10 northern tribes split from the two southern tribes. And we saw that last week, or last time we were in this book. Tonight we're going to see the aftermath of the split and what happens next. And what we're going to see is the response. We have two kings and two responses. And to be honest with you, I don't know how far we're going to get into the chapter tonight because I'm not going to preach till midnight, so we'll see how far we get and we'll get as far as we can and then we'll pick it up next time. But I want you to notice that there are two kings now. And there are two responses that we see to this new development, this new situation. The kingdom is now split. And I want you to notice the responses. The first response we see is from King Rehoboam. In 1 Kings chapter 12 and verse 21, the Bible says this, and when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem. Because remember, he went up to Shechem for this coronation event. They made the request. He said, give me three days. If you remember, he forsook the counsel of the old men, and he responded with the counsel given to him by his peers. So he had that whole split. And if you remember, he sent the treasurer to try to smooth it all over, and they stoned him. So he ended up getting in his chariot and he flees back to Jerusalem. That's the context, that's where we find ourselves. Verse 21, when Rehoboam has come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin. And I want you to notice there that Benjamin was with them from the very beginning. He assembles 104 score thousand, that's 180,000 chosen men, which were warriors. So he assembles this army to fight against the house of Israel, that's referring to the 10 northern tribes that rebelled against him, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. So Rehoboam is looking at this as a civil war situation. He sees that 10 of the 12 tribes have rebelled against him. And he decides he's going to gather up an army and he's going to go fight against them and he's not going to allow the kingdom to be divided. He's going to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Notice that's his plan, verse 21. Notice verse 22. The Word of God came unto Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying... So God sends this man of God, this prophet, Shemaiah, and he has a message for not only Rehoboam, but for the house of Judah and Benjamin, for the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and for Rehoboam. And here's the message from the Lord, verse 24. Thus saith the Lord, ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel. Return every man to his house. For this thing, what thing? The splitting of the kingdom, the division of the kingdom, the fact that ten tribes have now gone to Jeroboam and two tribes have stayed with Rehoboam. and that now going forward we don't have a united kingdom of Israel but we have the northern kingdom of Israel and what will going forward be known as the southern kingdom of Judah and we have this split division. There's going to be two kings, two lines now for these different kingdoms. The Bible says for this thing, this is God speaking through his prophet, this thing is from me. So God sends a message to Rehoboam and to this army and he says you're getting ready to go fight and try to unite this kingdom but you need to understand something that this is what I want. This is my will. I have decided to split the kingdom. I have decided to take ten tribes from the house of David and to give them to Jeroboam. These events that have transpired for this thing is from me. was orchestrating these things from heaven. Of course, this was unseen. Now, here's what's interesting about Rehoboam. And we pick a lot on Rehoboam, and he deserves to be picked on. But I've tried to, last time we dealt with Rehoboam, and even tonight, to highlight some of the good things that Rehoboam did. Because he did do some good things. And here we see one good thing that Rehoboam does. Because the kingdom has been taken, they've rebelled against him, He's gathered this army, 180,000 soldiers, to go bring it back. One prophet shows up and says, I've got a message from the Lord. You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren, for this thing is from me. And this is the Lord speaking. Notice the last part of verse 24. Here's one thing that Rehoboam, another thing that Rehoboam does well. The Bible says, they hearken, therefore, to the word of the Lord. That's always a good thing, to hearken to the word of the Lord. They hearkened, therefore, to the word of the Lord. and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord. Now I want you to notice something that Rehoboam does well here. Now he did a lot of bad things and a lot of wrong things and a lot of foolish things, but one thing that Rehoboam does well is this, that he accepts God's will. He accepts the fact that God has a will, that God has a desire, and that God's will is different than Rehoboam's will. If you were to ask Rehoboam, what do you want? He would have said, I want to gather 180 soldiers. I want to gather 180,000 men, 1,000 chosen men, which were warriors. to go fight against those tribes, to go fight against Jeroboam, to bring back the kingdom, to keep the United Kingdom. Rehoboam would have said, I don't want to go down in history as the king that allowed 10 tribes to depart. His will would have been to fight. But God said, no, this is what I want. This is what I desire. You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren. This thing is from me. And Rehoboam, to his credit, decided to accept the fact that God was taking away part of the kingdom. Now, the thing about accepting God's will is this, that it's easy for us to accept God's will when God's will matches our will. And it's easy for us to accept God's will when God's will is favoring us and blessing us and giving us things that we want. But here we see that when God's will was to take something from Rehoboam, to remove something from Rehoboam, not to bless him, but to diminish him, We see that Rehoboam, to his credit, accepted God's will. The Bible says, they hearkened, therefore, to the word of the Lord and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord. Rehoboam, to his credit, decided to accept the fact that God was taking away part of the kingdom from him. The question I want to ask you tonight is this. How do we respond when God decides to take something away? How do we respond when God decides not to bless but to diminish? not to give but to remove. And I think what you'll find tonight, and of course Wednesday night is Bible study night, so I'm going to have you turn to several passages. I think what you'll find is that this is a theme that runs throughout Scripture, this idea of responding well when God decides to take something. And I want us to just maybe look at some of these verses tonight and kind of consider this thought. You're there in 1 Kings chapter 12, of course, that's our text for tonight. Keep your place there, but if you don't mind, go with me. And of course, we'll start with probably the most famous example of this in the book of Job. Job chapter number one, if you don't mind. You're there in 1 Kings, you go past 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and then the book of Job. Job chapter number one, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Job. Job chapter number one. Now do me a favor when you get to Job, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're gonna leave it and we're gonna come back to it. And I'd like for you to get to it quickly. How do you respond when God decides to take something away? We are in the last night of this year and getting ready to enter into a new year. And I hope that this new year, 2026, is a great year for you. This coming year may be the greatest year of your life. But let's just be honest, it may also be the worst year of your life. God may give you, but God may take away. And how do we respond in those instances? Job chapter 1 and verse 20, you're familiar with the story of Job. Job chapter 1 verse 20, notice the Bible says, then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. Now out of context, If you weren't familiar with the story, you might think that this was just like a church service or a worship time, and he fell down upon the ground and worshipped, the Bible says. But of course, if you are familiar with the story, and I'm sure all of you are, you know that Job chapter 1 and verse 20 is in the context of this is happening after Job has just found out that he has lost everything, all his earthly possessions, highly successful man, the greatest man of the East at his time, rich man, he's lost all of his financial goods, and even more than that, his 10 children have all died. And he's gotten this news in Job chapter 1, one messenger after another bringing bad news one after another, after another, after another. And the Bible tells us about this man that he arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. I wonder if that's what you and I would do if we got the news that Job got. And then Job, of course, makes this famous statement, verse 21, and said, naked came I out of my mother's womb. And what Job means by that when he says, naked came I out of my mother's womb, the idea is this, that I came into this world with nothing. When I was born, I was born with nothing, not even clothes on my back. I was born naked, like every human being is born. He said, naked came out out of my mother's womb. And then he says this, and naked shall I return hither. He says, not only did I come with nothing, but I'm going to leave with nothing. I think sometimes it's good for us to remember that the things of this world are going to stay in this world. When you and I die, we're not taking any of it with us. We came in naked and we're going out naked. We came in with nothing and we're leaving with nothing. That's why the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy talks about the fact that we should be content realizing that we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And for that reason, he says, and having food and raiment, let us be there with content. And here he says, Job says, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither. And then he makes these statements. Look at what he says. He says, the Lord gave. And isn't it easy to bless the name of the Lord when He gives? Isn't it easy to be happy and joyful and blessing God and every good gift is from above? The Bible says. And we should acknowledge God when He gives to us. But here Job says, the Lord gave, and then he makes a statement. He says, and the Lord hath taken away. And then notice the words. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I think that Job, one of the reasons that he'll go down in history as one of the greatest men who ever lived, is because of how he responded not only when God gave, but when God took away. And the question for you tonight is this, how do you respond when God decides to take something away? Rehoboam was not a very wise man. He was a foolish man who listened to some foolish counsel. But let's give him some credit in the fact that when God decided to take half the kingdom, or more than half the kingdom, 10 of the tribes, 10 of the 12 tribes, under his watch, and when the man of God showed up and said, no, this is God's will and this is what God wants, let's give him some credit that he accepted that. He didn't fight against it. He said, okay, if that's God's will. And this is a theme that we see in Scripture. We see it here with Job. The Lord gave, the Lord had taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord, verse 22. And in all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. But notice, this is a theme with Job. You're there in Job chapter 1. Flip over to Job chapter 2, just the next chapter. Job chapter 2. Look down at verse number 9. Job chapter 2 and verse 9. Then said his wife unto him, and before we beat up on his wife too much, remember that his wife has also lost everything and she's also lost all her children. And she's obviously in a low place in life. I'm sure she was a very godly woman to be the help meat of Job. But here we see her at a dark moment in her life. And in verse nine, the Bible says, then said his wife unto him, does thou still remain thine integrity? She says to him, curse God and die. And again, they've lost everything. They've lost their children, they've lost everything they've worked for. She says to him, curse God and die, but I want you to notice how Job responds in verse 10. And I think that's actually a testimony to Job's wife, because he's acknowledging the fact that she's speaking in a way that she doesn't normally speak. She says, this isn't normal, and I understand you're going through a difficult time. He says, I'll speak, and says, one of the foolish women is speaking. But then he makes a statement, and this is what I want to highlight for you. He says, what? He has the question. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? And the idea is this, we don't complain when God is blessing, we don't complain when God is giving, we don't complain when health is good and finances are good and everything is moving in the right direction and momentum is moving in the right direction. We receive good at the hand of God, but how do we respond when God decides to give evil? Shall we not receive evil? And then Job says, in all this, did not, the Bible says in all this, did not Job sin with his lips. So the question for you is this, how do we respond when God allows evil in our lives? How do we respond when God decides that I'm not going to give, I'm actually going to take away? Again, this is a theme with Job. Let me just show you one more verse here in this chapter, in this book. Go to Job 13 if you don't mind. Job chapter 13. I know you know these verses, but I think it's good for us to see them. Job chapter 13 and verse number 15. Job chapter 13 and verse 15. This is the idea that Job had. I think this is what made Job a great man. And I think that we should try to adopt this philosophy, this idea that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. And if we're going to receive good at the hand of the Lord, then we also need to receive evil at the hand of the Lord. The Bible says here, Job said in Job 13, 15, he says, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. What's it going to take, Job, for you to stop having faith in God, stop trusting in God? Job says, if he killed me, I'd still trust in him. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. But I will maintain mine own ways before the Lord. He said, I'm going to stay consistent. He said, I'm not going to change anything. So we see here Job. And Job is a great example of this because Job had done nothing wrong. Job was a good man. Obviously, he wasn't sinless, but he hadn't done anything to bring this about to his life. But yet we see that he still had the right attitude. He still had the right perspective when God decided to take something away from Job. His attitude was, naked came out of my mother's womb. And naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil? So we see the example of Job. And Job was a good man. He didn't deserve this. This was simply a test that God was putting him through. And God was making him better as a result. Let me give you another example of this. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 16, if you don't mind. Keep your place there in Job. And then from 1 Kings, right before 1 Kings, we got 2 Samuel, of course, 2 Samuel 16. Here's an example of a man who God took something away from him. And in this instance, it was his fault. And of course, this man is David. The kingdom has been taken from him. And unlike Job, David's not just God up in heaven with the devil, having a conversation, and the question being asked, has thou considered my servant Job? But unlike Job, here David is actually just reaping the consequences of some of the actions that he has taken. He's losing the kingdom. But I think it's interesting just, I feel like this is a theme that God highlights in Scripture because though David is suffering consequences here due to his actions, at least he has the right spirit about it. Notice what the Bible says here in 2 Samuel 16 and verse 5. 2 Samuel 16 and verse 5, the Bible says this, and when King David came to Behurim, Behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei. And of course we are familiar with Shimei, the son of Gera. He cometh forth and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David. Of course this is during the rebellion of Absalom. Absalom has now actually taken Jerusalem and David is fleeing from his own capital city, from his own son, fleeing for his life. He's got his mighty men with him and certain servants that have followed him. And now this man, Shimei, has found him on the road, and he comes out, the Bible says he cursed still as he came, verse 6, and he cast stones at David, and all the servants of King David, and all the people, and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left, and thus said Shimei, when he cursed, come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial. Now that's a false accusation. David is not a man of Belial, Belial is a devil, and David did not worship the devil. Then he says in verse 8, Again, another false accusation. Then said Abishai, verse 9, the son of Zeruiah, unto the king, Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse. Now notice what David says here. He says, let him curse. Because the Lord hath said unto him, curse David. Who shall then say, wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, behold, my son, which came forth of my bow, seeketh my life. David understood that Shimei wasn't his problem. Absalom was his problem. He said, Why don't you notice here that David was losing the kingdom. And David was losing the kingdom for his own fault, for his own actions. But I want you to notice when Shimei comes and the offer is made for someone to kill him, to take off his head, the response from David was, let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him. And the idea is that David understood, look, Shimei is not my problem here. Absalom is my problem and really God's my problem. He said, it may be the Lord will look on my affliction and the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day. So though David was suffering consequences of his own making, I think that God highlights something for us here. That he at least understood and had the right attitude. He said, look, if Absalom is going to rebel against me and Shimei is going to curse me, it's because the Lord has been in him. It's the Lord's will. There's another example of this. Let me show it to you. Go to 1st Samuel chapter 3. You're there in 2nd Samuel, just flip over to 1st Samuel chapter 3. 1st Samuel chapter 3 and look at verse number 18. And of course, tonight's Bible study night, so we'll just study the Bible if that's okay. Just look at some of these passages. 1st Samuel chapter 3. Here we have the example of Eli the high priest. And if you remember, Eli had raised two sons of Belial who really were sons of Belial, Hophni and Phinehas. They were reprobates. And because he had failed to raise them correctly and he had failed to restrain them when they were under his leadership, God has actually came to Samuel, Samuel's just a child, and God has given to Samuel a prophecy that God was going to bring judgment upon the house of Eli. In 1 Samuel 3 and verse 18, the Bible says this, and Samuel told him. Samuel told Eli. Eli asked Samuel, what did God tell you? And the Bible says that Samuel told him every wit, and he had nothing from him. So Samuel didn't lie to him. He said, this is what God said. God said he's going to bring judgment upon your family. You're going to die. Your sons are going to die. Your lie is not going to continue. And again, here we have Eli. Suffering consequences of his own making, his son's making, his failure to restrain his sons and to keep them from doing wrong. But I've always respected this about Eli. That when Samuel comes and tells him this is what God is going to do, the response from Eli is this. And he said, look at the last part of verse 18. It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. I wonder if that's how you and I respond when you lose the job, when the health news comes back negatively, when the children rebel, when the career ends, whatever it might be. I wonder if the way that we respond, whether it's our fault or not, Because Job responds with, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But even Eli, when it was his fault, the response is, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And look, what I'm saying to you is this, that that's always the right response. If God is blessing, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And if God is cursing, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. I think there's this theme in the Bible, and the theme in the Bible is this, that you and I are to just accept God's will. Whether it's good or bad. Though he slay me. yet will I trust in Him. Can I give you another example? This is a theme, I told you, in Scripture, and I think that God highlights this throughout Scripture. Let me give you a New Testament example of this. Go to John, chapter number three, if you don't mind. John, chapter number three in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John, chapter number three, and look down at verse number 26. I know you're familiar with these, but I think just to see them in this context. John, chapter number three, and verse number 26. If you remember John the Baptist, had a flourishing ministry, a great ministry. The Bible says that all Judea came to hear him preach. And people from all over Israel came to hear him preach. And everything was going well for John until the day that he pointed everyone to Jesus. When Jesus showed up, John famously said, And then people started following Jesus instead of John, and John lost his crowd. In John chapter 3 and verse 26, the Bible says this, He said, you remember that guy that you promoted, that guy that you acknowledged, that guy that you introduced everyone to? Behold, the same baptizes, and notice the wording here, all men come to him. He said, you're John the Baptist. You're the baptizer. But ever since that guy to whom thou bearest witness, ever since he showed up, now he's baptizing, and all men come to him. You lost your crowd, John. And the question is this, John, how do you feel about it? I want you to notice that John responds in verse 27. John answered and said, Look at the theme of all these stories. He says, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. You know, that's John's way of saying, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return hither. He said, anything I had just came from God anyway. A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I'm not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This is my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. And then John makes this famous statement in verse 30. He says, He must increase, but I must decrease. So I ask you again, how do we respond when God decides to take away? when God decides to remove, when God decides to diminish. I've often heard people say this, and I'm going to say this, and I hope you understand. I'm not picking on anybody who's ever said this before. In fact, we've got several ladies in our church right now that are expecting, and I don't know that any of them have ever said anything like this. So if you've said this, I'm not picking on you. But I've always thought this was interesting. And over the years, you'll have a lady and a husband and a wife expecting a child. and maybe you'll ask a question like, oh, is it a boy or a girl? And a common thing that people say, and I'm not picking on anybody who said this, because it's just a common thing that people say, and I understand why you say it, but people will say something along the lines of, well, we don't care if it's a boy or a girl, as long as it's healthy. And again, I'm not picking on anybody who said that, and I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with saying that. But over the years I've wondered to myself, you know, we make these statements. Boy or girl, no problem, as long as it's healthy. But then you got to ask the question, but what if it's not healthy? Will we not receive evil at the hand of the Lord? Will we not accept when God allows difficulty into our lives? What I'm saying to you is that Rehoboam should at least receive some credit for accepting God's will even when it was bad. And I think this is where true discipleship comes in. Where the rubber really meets the road in the Christian life. It's easy to have the joy of the Lord when things are going well. But what about when they're not? And whether it's your fault or not, Will we respond, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Will we respond, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Will we respond, let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, curse. For the Lord hath bidden him. Will we respond, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Will we respond, he must increase, but I must decrease. So we see this first lesson, and we see it from the life of Rehoboam, and it is this, accepting God's will. We must learn to accept God's will in our lives, good or bad. And I think that what we should try to adopt is this idea of, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. So we see a lesson from Rehoboam, but let me give you quickly tonight a lesson from Jeroboam. Can you make your way back to 1 Kings chapter 12? 1 Kings chapter 12. We see a lesson from Rehoboam and the lesson from Rehoboam is this, accepting God's will, good or bad. And look, it's easier said than done. It's easy to preach it. It's difficult to live it. That's why these individuals stand out in scripture. Now I want to give you a second lesson tonight and that is a lesson from the second king. Remember there's two kings now and there's two responses. We saw a lesson from Rehoboam and the lesson was accepting God's will. Now we'll see a lesson from Jeroboam and the lesson is trusting God's word. Or in Jeroboam's case, a failure to trust God's word. Notice verse 25, 1 Kings 12 and verse 25. Then Jeroboam built Shechem. So the kingdom is split. Rehoboam has decided to accept God's will, that it is God's will to remove 10 of the kingdoms and to give them to Jeroboam. He's accepted that. Now Jeroboam built Shechem. This is the city where he was coronated. This becomes the new capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel in Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein and went out from thence and built Penuel. Look at verse 26. And Jeroboam said, notice the words here, in his heart. And we should highlight the fact that that's already a problem because the Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. And here he's speaking to his own heart and listening to his own heart and our hearts are deceitful. All sorts of sin comes from the source of our own heart. buy into the secular teaching of following your heart. Follow your heart. It'll lead you down a bad path. So Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord. even unto Rehoboam king of Judah. And they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. So I want you to notice that Jeroboam has a very real fear. And the fear is this, because the nation is split, ten tribes have gone to the northern kingdom of Israel and two tribes have gone to the southern kingdom of Israel. The largest tribe of Judah is part of the southern kingdom of Israel. But the problem that Rehoboam has is that this whole nation is a religious nation. They worship the God of the Bible, and they've got a location that they need to go to in order to bring sacrifices, in order to worship that God, and that location is in Jerusalem. We spent many weeks looking at Solomon, and Solomon building the temple in Jerusalem. And Jeroboam finds himself with a problem. Because his heart is telling him that if the people go up to do sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, if they go back to the southern kingdom of Israel for the sacrifices, for the feast days, for the religious holidays, if they go back to Jerusalem, then the heart of the people are going to turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam, and they're going to kill me. So what Jeroboam does is he makes up his own religion. And that's what happens in the rest of this chapter here. But I want you to notice a lesson about Rehoboam. And it is this, that he's not trusting the Word of God. Because in 1 Kings 11, if you don't mind turning back one chapter, 1 Kings 11, if you remember in 1 Kings 11 is where God told Jeroboam that he was going to be the king. The Bible says there in 1st Kings chapter 11, look at verse number 28. And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon, seeing the young man, that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah, the Shilohite, found him in the way, and he had clad himself with a new garment, and they two were alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him and rent it in twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, Take these ten pieces, for thus saith the Lord God, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rent the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon. and will give ten tribes to thee." It was God who told Jeroboam that he was going to take those ten tribes and give them to him. Notice verse number 38, just for sake of time, look at verse 38. the prophet speaking to Jeroboam, he says, And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all, that I command thee, and will walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel unto thee. That's a promise from God. A promise from the Word of God to Jeroboam. You don't have anything to worry about, if thou will hearken to all that I command thee, if you'll walk in my ways, if you'll do right in my sight. He said, I'm going to build you a sure house and I will give Israel unto thee. A promise from God. But now Jeroboam is doubting that. He's doubting God's Word. And he's doubting it because he's listening to his heart. He's listening to the fears of his own heart. And look, I think that this applies to us as well. I think that a lot of times, God's word tells us to do certain things and our heart tells us no. Our heart says, that's not gonna work out. Our heart has fears and we've got to decide in that moment, are we going to trust the word of God? Look, is our faith going to be stronger than our fear? If you don't mind, go to Proverbs 29 real quickly. If you kept your place in Job, after Job you have Psalms and then the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 29. Proverbs chapter 29. Look down at verse number 25. Proverbs 29 and verse 25. Proverbs 29, 25, the Bible says, the fear of man bringeth a snare. Proverbs 29, 25, the word snare means a trap. Look, whenever we allow our hearts to guide us and whenever we allow fear to guide us, we're going to end up in a snare. Notice that there is this contrast between the fear of man and trust in the Lord. The word trust is another word for faith. This contrast between fear and faith. Are you going to allow your fears to take hold of you, or are you going to have faith? And look, there's many examples of this in the Bible. I'm not going to take the time to go through it, but we have to get to the place in our lives where we decide, if the Bible says to do something, if God's word says to do something, even if my heart tells me something different, we need to trust God. And obviously, an easy illustration of this is when it comes to giving and tithing. God says to give and to give first, but oftentimes the hearts of individuals says, but I don't know that that's going to work out, or I don't know how that's all going to work out. And you've got to decide, am I going to have fear or am I going to have faith? Because the fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be saved. Let me show you another verse. Go to Proverbs chapter 3, look at verse 5. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse number 5, the Bible says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path. See the problem, the reason that we often don't trust in the Lord is because we're leaning onto our own understanding. listening to our heart. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So I want you to notice that in this passage we have two kings. Never heard of that in Israel before. This is a new thing, two kings. And immediately we see from these two kings two different responses. One responds favorably to God's will. God has decided to take something. God has decided to diminish. God has decided to not bless, not favor. And Rehoboam, to his credit, like John, says, he must increase, I must decrease. The Lord gave, the Lord's taken away. It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. And then we have this other king. And this other king needs to make a decision because God has told him, look, you just trust me and you just follow me and you let the people go down to Jerusalem and it'll be fine. But his heart's telling him something different. His heart's telling him, no, don't follow God's word, don't follow God's will, don't do what God has called you to do. And look, don't we find ourselves there so often? God's Word is telling you one thing and our hearts are telling us another. So what happens? Jeroboam decides to follow his heart. And what he ends up doing is creating his own religion. Let's see if we can cover this quickly. You're there in 1 Kings chapter 12. Look down at verse number 28. So we saw the king's responses and now let's see the king's religion. Notice in verse 18 the Bible says this, whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. Now this is a reference back to, if you remember when Moses went up to the mount, Aaron, by pressure of the people, he made a calf and they were worshiping a calf. And this idea is coming back into fashion here with Jeroboam. counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them," now notice what he says to the people, he says, "'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods.'" That's the same thing that Aaron said. He said, "'Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he and Dan. Now, those two cities, Bethel and Dan, Dan is often referred to as the most northern city in the nation of Israel. And Bethel is actually just right near Jerusalem. It's the most southern city without entering into the southern kingdom of Israel. So what Jeroboam does is he decides, I can't let the people go back to Jerusalem. I can't let them go to the temple. I know what God's word said, but I'm not going to follow God's word because I don't trust God's word. I'm going to follow my own heart So he took counsel and he makes these two calves, idols, he puts one in the northern, the most northern city, and he puts one in the most southern city, without getting into the southern kingdom, without getting into Jerusalem, and he tells the people, these are now your gods, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. He says, worship these gods. And here's what he says, look at verse 28. Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold and said unto them, notice what he says, he says, it is too much for you. to go up to Jerusalem. Why don't you notice with Jeroboam's religion, it was a religion of comfort. Notice the comfort of his religion. He said, it's too much for you. It's too difficult for you to go to Jerusalem. Let me make it convenient for you. Let me make it easy for you. And you know, this is the religion that many people make. A religion of convenience. I'm reminded of David, you don't have to turn there, but in 2 Samuel. Remember when he wanted to make a sacrifice unto the Lord, and it was a result of the Lord bringing judgment. And if you remember, he wanted to buy the field there where the temple would be built, and it was offered to him for free. In 2 Samuel 24, 24, you don't have to turn, I'll just read this for you. The Bible says, And the king said to Arunah, this is Ornan, remember this is Ornan's field, the Jebusite. He said, nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor of the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. It's interesting to me that Jeroboam wanted to give the people a religion of comfort. And look, this is the religion that people want. This whole hyper-grace stuff that's going on right now and that people are getting into, it's just a religion of comfort. God doesn't expect anything from you. God doesn't want anything from you. You don't need to sacrifice. God just wants you to be the way you are. Let me tell you something. God saves you the way you are, but He doesn't want you to stay the way you are. And this idea that let's just be as comfortable as possible, path of least resistance, as lazy as possible, that's not the religion of Jesus Christ. Now salvation is free. Salvation is grace. Salvation is not of works unless any man should bow. But if you're going to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, hey, this is why Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. That sounds like it costs something. That's not convenient. This idea that says it's too much for you. It's too much for you to show up on a Wednesday night. It's too much for you to show up on a Sunday night. It's too much for you to be a soul winner. Too much for you to read nine chapters a day. Too much for you to give your tithes and offerings. Too much! It's a religion of laziness. He creates this comfort religion. It's too much for you. No, you know what? What we do for God is a reasonable service. And if we give Him all and we give Him everything, you say, so three services a week is too much. Look, if we showed up to church every day of the week, it wouldn't be enough. If we gave God, we should give Him everything. We should give all of it to Him. No religion of comfort. Not saying it's too much. It's too much for you. He said, if I'm going to serve God, I want it to cost me something. If it costs Him everything to save me, then I want it to cost me something to serve Him. So we see Jeroboam's religion of comfort. Then I want you to notice that it was not only a religion of comfort, but it was a religion of corruption. Look at verse 30. So he sets up these idols. Look at verse 31. This is idol worship. And he made priests, but not Levites, not the priests that God commanded. He made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not the sons of Levi. So he just decides to just make the lowest of the people. He makes them priests. not of the right tribe, verse 32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah. He's trying to be similar to what's happening in Judah. And he offered upon the altar. Look, the devil always tries to replicate and to imitate what God is doing. Why are there so many Bible versions? Because he wants a Bible version that is like unto the Word of God, but it's not the Word of God. The NIV is not the Word of God. The ESV is not the Word of God. And he's always trying to imitate. And here, Jeroboam says, we're going to do a feast that is going to be like unto the feast in Judah. And he offered upon the altar, so did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. And we see this, not only a religion of comfort, but a religion of corruption. He's making the wrong people the priests, they're worshiping idols, they're doing feasts, but not the feasts in Judah, not the way that God set to do them. And look, in John the Bible says God is a spirit, and any that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Look, I feel like this is the same thing we see today. This religion of comfort, this religion of corruption, People want to go to church today, and they don't want church to feel like church. They don't want it to feel like something spiritual. They want to walk into church. And the average church in America today, you walk into it, and it looks like and feels like a rock concert, looks like a casino, smells like a bar. And you say, what? Why would they play rock music in church? Why would they play worldly music in church? Here's why. Because your flesh likes it. And it's a religion of comfort and a religion of corruption. Look, the Bible says that if we're going to worship God, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. God's not interested in making you comfortable. God's interested in making sure that we're worshiping Him in the right way, in the holy way. But here we have Jeroboam. He said, it's too much. Let's not make it too difficult for you now. And he brings corruption. The Bible says, for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God. And look, we should just decide if the Bible says it, that's how we're going to do it. We're singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We're not bringing in worldly music. We're not bringing in the world's music. We're not going to change the Word of God. We're not going to stop asking Christians to die daily and sacrifice and give of themselves. We're not going to stop! Why? Because we don't want a religion of comfort. We want a religion of sacrifice. Where we offer ourselves willingly unto the Lord. So we see that it was a religion of comfort, and we see that it was a religion of corruption. Now I want you to notice, thirdly, it was a religion that he created. Look at verse 33. So he offered upon the altar, which he had made in Bethel, the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had, notice the words here, devised of his own heart. None of this came from the Bible. None of this came from the word of God. No prophet showed up and said, here's what I want you to do. He's just making this stuff up. Which he had devised of his own heart and ordained of peace unto the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar and burnt incense. And look, this again is the religion in most Christians in America today. This is the religion they're following. not biblical Christianity, a religion of laziness, a religion of comfort, a religion of corruption, and a religion in which they are the creator. Because you know what Christians will say today? They'll say, well, I know what the Bible says, but I just don't think that God would actually send people to hell. I just don't think that God cares about X, Y, and Z. I just think that the, you know, I know Pastor Reed, he's got those verses and he keeps preaching about clothing standards, but I just don't think that God Now, wait a minute. Did you get that from the Word of God, or did you just devise that from your own heart? Because if we're going to be a Christianity that is not corrupt, we need to just follow what the Bible says. But here, he devised this of his own heart. He's creating a God in his own image. This is what Romans talks about. Real quickly, let's look at it, if you don't mind, Romans chapter 1, New Testament. If you go Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Romans 1 verse 21 says, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Notice verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator who was blessed forever. Amen. And look, this is a course talking about reprobates, and we've preached those sermons. But I think lots of people would do this. They change the truth of God into a lie. They worship and serve the creature more than the creator. They've made a God out of their own image. They decided, well, here's what I think God wants me to do, and here's what I think God likes, and I don't think God cares. And listen to me, when you're making decisions and say, well, I just think that, and allowing it to come out of your own heart, it's a religion of comfort and corruptness. You're creating a God of your own image. Look, as Bible-believing Christians, we need to stop saying, well, I think that, and just say, well, here's what the Bible says. When it comes to marriage, here's what the Bible says. When it comes to raising children, here's what the Bible says. When it comes to my finances, here's what the Bible says. When it comes to how I dress, here's how the Bible says. Look, we just got to decide, I'm going to do what the Bible says. Not, I'm going to just decide this out of my own heart. Which he had devised of his own heart. And I think many Christians even save people. make these decisions, and it just comes out of their own heart. And again, your heart, my heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So we see that it was a religion of comfort and of corruption, a religion that he created. He just creates a God out of his own image. And look, I think that many Christians, they live their lives this way. They think God is Santa Claus. He's gonna bring you a gift whether you're naughty or nice. And look, we need to just get back to the Bible. What we need is a revolution back to the Bible. And I want you to notice lastly that there was consequences. We already saw verse 33, which he had devised of his own heart and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel, and he offered upon the altar and burnt incense. I just want to bring your attention back to verse 30, if you don't mind, real quickly, and we'll be done. Notice the consequence of his religion. The Bible says, and this thing became a sin. for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. The Bible says that the decision that Jeroboam made here became a sin. And you may have noticed this as you've read the Bible, maybe you haven't, but this is, this decision is what Jeroboam will be known for for the rest of his life. In fact, this statement, the sins of Jeroboam, come up over and over and over again throughout the Word of God. You don't have to turn to any of these. I'll just read some of these for you. If you want to jot them down, you can. In 1 Kings 15 30, the Bible says, because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he, Jeroboam, sinned, and which he made Israel to sin. And this is a reference to why God cut off Baathia's house. In 1st Kings 16.26 it says, For he, this is referring to Omri, walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, which he did. 2nd Kings 3.3 says, Nevertheless he, this is Jehoram, cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, which made Israel to sin. In 2nd Kings 10.29 it says, Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam, Jehu departed not. What I want you to see is this, that when Jeroboam sets up these two idols in the Northern Kingdom, this basically damns the Northern Kingdom of Israel to be wicked. And if you know the history of the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, you know this, that every king of the Northern Kingdom was wicked. The Southern Kingdom, it was a mixed bag. Some of them were good. Some of them were bad. A lot of them were bad. Some of them were really good. But Northern Kingdom, all of them were bad. And they were all bad because Jeroboam sets up these two idols and all the kings that come after him, they just continue on with it. I mean, even Jehu, who did a lot of good things, he took all the Baal worshippers, he killed everyone, but the Bible says even he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam. In 2 Kings 13.2 it says, and he, this is Jehoahaz, did that which was evil and followed the sins of Jeroboam. 2 Kings 13.11, and he, this is referring to Joash, did that which was evil and departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam. 2 Kings 14.24 says this, and he, this is another king, Jeroboam II, did that which was evil, departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat. 2nd Kings 15.9 says, and he, this is Zechariah, did that which was evil, departed not from the sins of Jeroboam. 2nd Kings 15.18, and he, this is Manahem, did that which was evil and departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam. 2nd Kings 15.24, He, this is Pekahiah, did that which was evil and departed not from the sins of Jeroboam. 2 Kings 15.28, And he, this is Pekah, did that which was evil and departed not from the sins of Jeroboam. 2 Kings 17.22 says, For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he did, and they departed not from them. And what's interesting is as you read the rest of the history of the nation of Israel, every king is plagued by these two idols that Jeroboam sets up. And Dan, and in Bethel. And none of them depart. And look, I think here's a lesson for us, is that decisions that we make today are going to have a lasting effect on the people that come after us. So be careful about your comfort religion. Be careful about your corrupted religion. I just don't think that God would. Did you get that from the Bible? Well, I just think that God wants me to be comfortable. Show me a verse in the Bible where the Bible says that God wants you to be comfortable. By the way, show me a verse in the Bible where it says that God wants you to be happy. I'm just saying to you that God has called us to sacrifice and to serve and to love Him with all our hearts. Not to create a religion from our own hearts, because the consequences will be devastating. So let's learn from these two kings. Rehoboam, Jeroboam. Let's respond well, even when God chooses to remove from our lives blessings and favor. And let's trust God's word, even when our hearts tell us to do otherwise. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. And we thank you for these stories in scripture. They're there for a reason, for our admonition. And Lord, I pray you'd help us to learn from these stories. Help us to learn from these two kings and their two responses. Help us to not make a religion of our own making. Help us not to put our heads in the sand and just decide to follow our hearts and say, well, I think that God, no. Help us to just get in the Word of God and decide, what does God want? Lord, I pray you'd help us to do it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, we're going to have Brother Andrew come up and lead