Turn your Bibles tonight to 1 Kings chapter 22. 1 Kings chapter 22, and we're going to deal with a portion of scripture tonight. But today is a very special day. It is March 15th. It is the Ides of March. And of course, from the story of Caesar, Shakespeare's play, but history as well, you're to beware the Ides of March. Myself, personally, I'm a little more leery of April 15th than I am March 15th. Not so much danger for me today, I don't think, but it is an interesting point of history that Caesar was murdered, slain on this day in history around 44 BC on his way to the Senate. And he had been warned by his wife's dream. His wife had a dream, that premonition that some harm would come to him. He had been approached by a seer prior to his death. And he had been warned about the fact that there would harm come to him before March the 15th. And in his walk to the Senate that day against the wishes of his wife, he actually acknowledged the seer along the way and in a mocking way said that, you know, the Ides of March have come. And the response from the seer, who had more or less prophesied harm coming to him, said, I Caesar, but not gone. And before the day was over, Caesar lay in a pool of blood, 23 knife wounds in him. And I believe there was an autopsy done. I think the reading that I did said that may have been the very first autopsy ever done on a human body. And reportedly, only one of them. only one of the stab wounds actually caused him to lose his life. And of course, it reminds me of Proverbs, or rather, yes, Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. In spite of the warning of the seer, He walked to the Senate that day. Someone even reportedly handed him a note, but he folded it, put it in his toga, if that's what he was wearing at that time, concealed it somewhere on his body, didn't open it, didn't read it, didn't heed the warnings, and walked that afternoon to his death. And I want to, this evening, look at a portion of Scripture, 1 Kings chapter 22, and we'll walk our way through a good portion of this. And I want to preach tonight on the death of a king. The death of a king, a long shot. The death of a king, a long shot. And we'll begin reading in verse 1 of chapter 22. where it says, and they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel, and the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth and Gilead is ours, and we bestill and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria. And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Raimath-Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imla, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, Hasten, hither my child, the son of Imla. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place, in the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Canaan, made him horns of iron and said, Thus saith the Lord with thee shall thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand. And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth. Let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. So he came to the king. The king said unto him, My Caio, shall we go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, go and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the king said unto him, how many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord? And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have not a shepherd. And the Lord said, these have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me but evil? And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord, and the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also. Go forth, do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a blind spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. But Zedekiah the son of Canaan went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way went the spirit of the Lord for me to speak unto thee? And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, carry him back unto Ammon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son. And say thus saith the king, Put this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, if thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, hearken, O people, every one of you. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself. and enter into the battle, but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely this is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that he was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness. Wherefore, he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded. The battle increased that day, and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians and died at even. And the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. There went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, every man to his city, every man to his own country. So the king died and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria, and one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria. And the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed his armor according unto the word of the Lord which he spake. Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did in the ivory house which he made and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with his fathers and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his stead. Now we read a good portion of scripture there tonight to get some context, some background. Ahab, of course, is the king that dies in this passage and it is who we will be dealing with I want to do more than just a character sketch of him. Eventually, I want to look at how he died and make some application for us this evening as well. But during the history of Israel, it's a fact that the royal arm of David ruled in Jerusalem. Obviously, the lineage of David was there, and the kings that were presented for Israel to rule over them were actually rather a gallery of rogues rather than they never really attained much righteousness there weren't that many good kings there and of course Ahab was one of the worst. It is said in 1st Kings chapter 16 and verse 30 when God began to deal with Ahab and there were several occasions when he dealt with him according and about his wickedness but it says in verse 30 of 1st Kings chapter 16 and Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. Now that's quite a testimony and that's God speaking. Verse 31, and it came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Jeroboam, of course, was the one that ruled originally over. He is the one that brought in the golden calves, set up the worship so that Israel would not go down to Jerusalem, and be tempted then to join with the nation of Judah. And Jeroboam would lose his kingdom. Obviously, it was all about the power that was seated there in him. And that he took the wife Jezebel, and all of us know about Jezebel. the daughter of Eph-Baal, king of the Zidonians. He went and served Baal. I mean, there's three or four things here. God's just aligning right out and worshiped him. He reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria, and Ahab made a grove, and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to have that said about me, that I was such a bother to God. He was a bad boy. And of course, we have that testimony in the scripture. It was Ahab that God denied a reign for three years to the nation of Israel. Elijah and Elisha both prophesied in his reign. Ahab was the man that killed Naboth and took a vineyard just because he coveted his property. And there are a couple of times when God respects the repentance of Ahab during some battles with Syria. But on this particular occasion, God's finished with him and he's about to cut him off and he doesn't... I don't see that Ahab repents, but neither does God spare him either. Then we'll just look at 2 Kings 9 and verse 6 where God pronounces pretty much not just the end of Ahab but everything to do with Ahab because he anoints Jehu to wipe out the entire family. When God goes to those lengths to destroy a man's lineage, then you realize that God's very upset. But verse 7 of 2 Kings 9. Thou shalt smite the house of Ahab, and he's speaking to Jehu right after he has anointed him. Thou, thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish. And I will cut off from Ahab, him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. I mean, when God wants to get even with an individual, look at the lengths he goes. I mean, the dogs are going to eat Jezebel. And we find that prophecy is carried out. God is righteously indignant and angry and he's right in pronouncing this upon them. And of course, whenever God wants to reference evil in Israel, Ahab is the benchmark. Because he was such a wicked king. And yet we know that God allowed him to reign. Daniel tells us that God's the one that sets up kings. God's the one that pulls down a king. So he allowed Ahab to reign for a portion of time. Just as surely as the Bible says, for the wages of sin is death, R.G. Lee preached on Naboth's Vineyard a message called Payday Someday, and eventually Ahab does receive payment in kind in the way of death. Ahab reminds me, though, of Caesar a bit. It was prophesied, the fact that he was going to meet his death there on the battlefield that day. He ignored it, unbelieving in regards to the prophecy that he received. Now, I don't know the nature of the prophecy that Caesar received, but he ignored it. He went on in unbelief of the fact that someone might have had some information concerning his death. And Ahab, if anybody deserved to die, probably he did. I mean, when you look at his history, when you read the counts in the scripture you realize that probably he was worthy of death and certainly so. But we find here in the passage that Jehoshaphat is contrasted to him. He's a good king in Israel. He's among the best kings in Israel, so to speak. There were no prophets that came to him and spoke to him. One spoke to his father, so he had some some reference point as far as the prophets go. Asa, his father, was prophesied at the end of his ministry or at the end of his reign. And Jehoshaphat is said to have come down here. He's forgotten, I suppose, about the past, the wars between Israel. Asa, his father, had war with Israel his entire life. And I don't know what was going through the mind of Jehoshaphat, but he had forgotten the history of Israel, possibly. Or maybe he just got tired of fighting. Maybe he saw his father fight year after year after year after year after year with Israel and just thought, you know, we really didn't get anywhere. He didn't accomplish anything. And watched his father eventually, you know, go out really on a bad note. and thought, well, maybe we'll just try a different tact. Maybe we'll be diplomatic. And in verse 2 it says, and it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. Now a preacher mentioned last week in one of the messages that he was referencing, talking about Israel, about Jerusalem, that the geographical position of Jerusalem is high. When you go anywhere, you go down. But I don't think it's just referencing the fact that he's coming down from Jerusalem, a geographical reference. I think spiritually he had to come down to Ahab. He had to come down to the level of Ahab to even commune with him. Vance Havner, years ago, preached a sermon called Getting Used to the Dark. He preached that in reference to John 3, verses 19, 20, and 21, talking about the fact that men love darkness rather than light. He related an evening in a restaurant where he walked in, the lights were so dim coming out of the bright sunlight that he had to adjust. He couldn't see when he first walked in. He was blinded because it was so dark in the restaurant. But he sat there for a few minutes, And the whole point of his illustration was that he got used to the dark. And I don't know what, again, motivated Jehoshaphat to come down and commune or have fellowship with a man like Ahab, the king of Israel. But I have to believe that after he had been in his presence for a short period of time, possibly, I mean, in the account in Chronicles, We get a little more information there and in Chronicles it says that Ahab made a great feast for him and he brought some men with him and so that he whined and he dined him and after a while Jehoshaphat got used to the company of Ahab and being in that company but you and I are warned against it. You and I are warned against fellowshipping with the darkness. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, the Bible says, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? there really could be no fellowship there and what communion half-light with darkness and you and I need to be reminded of that and it's so plain in the story Jehoshaphat places his country, his wealth, his very life at stake before it's all over because of one simple compromise that he makes over a meal here and he encounters this darkness in a man by the name of Ahab And you and I need to remember that you and I are the light bearers in this world. You are the light of the world. Jesus Christ, when he came in, said he was the light. When he left, he left you that responsibility. That's our, again, our duty to carry the light to a lost world. And when we compromise with the world, we've forgotten how powerful the light is that is within us. You and I need to remember that the purpose of the light is to dispel the darkness. Ahab should have been under conviction with a man like Jehoshaphat in his presence. But he wasn't for some reason. And you know as well as I do that very often when initially we are introduced to people or we meet people sometimes, you know, they're on their best behavior for a while but after a while the guard comes down and then they start to not recognize or not acknowledge who you are or I should say whose you are. and our lights become dimmed at times, and we're no longer the light that we should be. But I'd ask you, who was at risk? Was Ahab at risk? I mean, when we compromise in the world, when we come down to the level of this lost world, when we fellowship with darkness and have communion with it, who's at risk? I mean, who really loses in this sort of foray? And it's never the wicked. It's never the wicked. And it's a serious error in judgment on our part. In verse 3, it says, And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth and Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria. During the dinner, the conversation turns to a conquest that Ahab wants to make, again, coveting again. He's lost Ramoth-Gilead. Ramoth-Gilead was his at one time. God obviously allowed Ramoth-Gilead to be taken. Syria now controls it. But he brings up the question about Ramoth-Gilead and kind of confronts the men and shames them. And watch what he does. And he said unto Jehoshaphat, wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-Gilead? He puts pressure on Jehoshaphat in front of a crowd of people. He's just fed him. You know, I'm sure Jehoshaphat felt somewhat indebted to Ahab in front of all of these people. What is he going to say? And of course we know he agrees. And he said unto Jehoshaphat, wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. Quite a commitment. All of that to gain a city for a wicked man, a city that he had lost as a result of the judgments of God. But Jehoshaphat seems prone to this. He gets in a similar situation later on in the book of Kings or Chronicles against Moab when Jehoram is king of Israel. So what's up? I mean, he has a track record of just being soft toward the kings of Israel, toward wickedness, towards darkness. Listen, you and I at the end of our race here, and of course some of you aren't at the end of your race, but if the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon, and I believe he is, we're near the end, we cannot afford to soften up and be weak on sin and communing with unrighteousness. It sounded like a good idea at the time, I suppose. I mean, sitting around at a dinner? Yeah, let's go fight. But the cost, and later on, we see that this compromise almost cost him his life. Here, it must have stung his conscience somewhat. to know that he just agrees how often do we find ourselves in situations much like this uh... we're discussing uh... you know uh... innocent matters and during the course of a conversation a question comes up and we're asked to commit to something we know isn't wrong and then and then what we do well then we suggest or or or we think about asking god about it or seeking some seeking some help from the word of god or some direction Verse 4, and he said unto Jehoshaphat, wilt thou go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. So he makes a decision before he even references God. And of course, Ahab didn't have to reference God. But the question is, what God? You say, well, Israel. Israel's God is Judah's God, isn't it? Not exactly. Once they brought in, in fact, the result of Israel even being separated. Those ten northern tribes, they brought in the false worship. And God had clearly, in Deuteronomy, warned them against, ye shall not go after other gods of the gods of the people which are round about you. I mean, Ahab not only had Baal worship there, he brought in the golden calves from Jehoram, the goddess of Ashtaroth was there, Molech, Baal, all of this false worship was going on in the face of God. It's a wonder that Ahab was even on the face of the earth at this time. It's a testimony to the long-suffering of God that the kings were even allowed to rule in Israel as long as they did. But in verse 15, Jehoshaphat, which he is in the habit of doing, if you read his history and his reign and his rule, you find out that he does think about consulting God. Over and over and over again, he calls for the prophets of God to see what the will of God might be. But in this particular situation, he's already committed. It's like those situations that, you know, as I said, we get ourselves into and sometimes we commit ourselves and then we go, ah, boy, maybe I should really check with the Lord on that. We certainly want the blessing of God, don't we? Then we can't put Him behind our decisions. It'll only get us into bigger and bigger trouble. For the Lord thy God is a jealous God, the Bible says. If you want that in the New Testament, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Matthew 6.24 says, no man can serve two masters. Either he will serve the one, or he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and mammon. And I might add, you could just blow mammon out of there. You could blow money out of there. You could put anything you want in that blank. You cannot serve God in anything else. You cannot serve God in self. You cannot serve God in sports. You cannot serve God in business. You cannot serve God in money. You cannot serve God and anything. He's a jealous God. Whatever you put in place of Him, He will be jealous of it and you will have no comfort. You will have no profit. And whatever you are attempting to do. And there are no exceptions. I see no exceptions in Matthew chapter 6. You cannot serve God and mammon. No exceptions. It's God or nothing. And of course that's what we know about our God. And what he knows about us. He knows everything there is to know about us. Back to 1 Kings. In verse 5 it says, And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men. Does that number sound familiar? It does, doesn't it? It has a familiar ring to it. I recall four hundred prophets of Baal. Now, and of course, we know in the narrative here, later on, it's stated quite clearly that he called his prophets. Micaiah said, you called your prophets. They're not prophets of God. They're prophets of Baal. And they are his prophets. They tell him whatever he wants to hear. Wouldn't that be a sad situation to come and hear preaching and the preacher just tells you whatever you want to hear? You know that'll fill an auditorium? We'd have standing room only in here tonight if you knew that you were going to come and only hear what you wanted to hear. And that's what people want. Thank God we have a faithful ministry here. We have some men of God here who are not necessarily going to tell you what you want to hear. Frankly, I don't care what you want. I mean, that's just the honest truth. I don't sit at home and ponder and think and pray, God, what do these people want? That's not my prayer. My prayer before preaching is, God, what do you want me to preach? What do you want me to say? And believe me, sometimes that's with intimidation as well. because sometimes as preachers we're not certain what God wants us to say, and very often not until you're here and in the moment. But the question I would ask in regards to calling these prophets, who's God? Who's prophets? And of course they're not the prophets of Judas. So, it's not surprising that after the prophets prophesied that Jehoshaphat didn't exactly hear what he thought he was going to hear from prophets. It didn't sound like the normal message that he was used to hearing and not that he was used to hearing too much other than I said the reference because none of the prophets prophesied to him. He must have had a pretty good reign. He must have been a very good king that God never had to send a prophet to rebuke him. in his reign. I thought that was an interesting fact that I found. And Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him? Listen, after he went through the dog and pony show, after the prophets prophesied, and listen, if they're not preaching what God wants them to preach, if they have no message from God, it's nothing more than mere entertainment. If you want to explain the contemporary church movement today, that's it. People come, they pay their money, they get what they're looking for, they're satisfied with it, they come back. And when they're not satisfied with what they hear, or when they discover that what they're hearing is a lie, like most of Madison Avenue or any other form of advertisement, they're gone. And it's probably one of the reasons why a preacher has told us that they're leaving in droves. And could I just say this? They're probably not going back, but they may not be coming to a church like ours either. Because after they've been burnt like that, very often it's difficult to get people to even try something that is genuine, that is authentic, that is real, that could help them. It's kind of like taking medicine. It's kind of like going to the doctor and getting a bad prescription. and then having to trust a doctor later. You know, you can get to the point where you think that all medicine is bad, all doctors are bad, but they're not. Anyone can get a bad doctor, anybody can get some allergic reaction to some medicine, what have you. But Jehoshaphat, of course, presses King Ahab. He wouldn't have done it on his own, but he presses King Ahab. He desires to hear from a prophet of the Lord. Is there any prophet of the Lord? And, of course, they came up with one. And the one they came up with Verse 8, And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him. But I hate him. It's a dangerous attitude to get towards someone that tells you the truth. I hate him. for he doth not prophesy good concerning me." It shows you the spirit of Ahab himself. I don't want anybody to tell me, and of course he's a king, he's a monarch, he's a ruler. He does have some power, if not absolute power close to it. He's not in the habit of people talking to him in a manner he doesn't like, or want, or desire. And that's exactly what happens to individuals who are only told what they want to hear. They get spoiled. They become babies. They become rotten. Spoiled. That's one of the reasons why we can't tell you what you want to hear. You'll become more and more difficult to deal with. For he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so. You know, you almost get the impression that Jehoshaphat cannot believe that someone would say something bad about Ahab. But he certainly is familiar with Ahab's rule, with his reign. The stories have to come down to Jerusalem and Judah, exactly what's going on in Israel. But again, he's already compromised himself. He might as well go a step farther. Then the king of Israel, in verse 9, called an officer and said, Hasten, hither Micaiah the son of Imlah, and the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, sat each one on his throne, having put on their robes in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Canaan, made him horns of iron and said, Thus saith the Lord, with these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. Who wouldn't want to hear that? who was a king wouldn't want to hear that you're going to be victorious you're going uh... to gain the victory nobody can stop you are all-powerful nobody can stop you and all the prophets prophesied so saying go up to rameth gilead and prosper for the lord shall deliver into the king's hand and again while they were waiting they were entertained uh... by this group of false prophets the messenger that was going to call Micaiah spake unto him saying behold now the words of the prophets declared good unto the king with one mouth how did he know that He'd heard the message before. Never changes. They always tell the king what he wants to hear. Dangerous not to. I pray they be like the word of one of them and speak that which is good. You know there's a lot of pressure on you and I to compromise in regards to the message of the word of God today? The pressure on a preacher not to preach the truth. And I don't mean just here. I mean even in the study, just to be taken off point a little bit can mean the difference between success and failure as a preacher. But here is the man that has been sent to get Micaiah. And he's just putting a little bug in his ear. Listen, everybody else has had such a positive message. I mean, you can't believe how happy the king is. You just might be well advised not to ruin everything like you always do. Sound like a popular preacher? And Micaiah said, as the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. I like, I like this fellow Micaiah. It reminds me of Paul. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 4, My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words, not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Men produce what men can produce. If men use their own words, then they produce what their own words can produce in a congregation. But when you rely and you rest on the authority of the Word of God, when you preach faithfully the Scriptures, then you get what the Bible can do. Then you get what the Word of God can do. Then you get what the Holy Spirit can use as a means of building up the body of Christ and building a faithful body that will serve Him. even in dangerous times. Colossians 2, 4 says, in this I say lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. We can all be beguiled. I dare say you're being lied to every day, over and over and over again. If it's not Satan coming to you directly, it's his minions. If it's not them, it's the world. If it's not the world, it's your flesh. He has any number of avenues with which he can reach you, and he has turned the pressure up in these last days to the point that most people don't know the truth, fact from fiction. And very often, as Christians, we ourselves can become very confused. And you add some type of commitment to it, and see how murky the waters get, see how dark it is, and how difficult it is for you to determine what the truth is. We have the words of God. We know where to seek counsel from the Spirit of God. We have the right and proper instruction. Paul again in 2 Corinthians 11, 6 says, but though I be rude in speech. See, that's part of the problem. It's not that we don't like the Bible. It's not that we don't like preaching. It's not that we don't... It's just that I don't like the way he says it. It's not, and I've heard this so many times, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. You know what that tells me? You know, I used to take that seriously when people told me that. But I guess I've lived long enough or I'm old enough now to recognize the fact that no, it's what I'm saying. It's not how I'm saying it. you just simply don't like what, and I know I could say it in a nicer way, but that is not the problem. The problem is what the preacher is saying. It is not how he is saying it. I tell you, you don't have to go too far back before you find preachers that really, I mean, they said it. Are you following me? I mean, they weren't nearly as nice as most preachers I know in this day and age. 1 Kings chapter 22, then and again in verse 15. So he came to the king. That long walk. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth Gilead in battle? Now remember what he just said. He just said, whatever the Lord tells me to do, that's what I'll say. Nothing more, nothing less. Shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. Now, you know, I'm not going to be disrespectful, but I'm going to mention the fact, I'm going to mention the age of the pastors here, some of them anyway, not Pastor Sal. But the younger pastors here, I get the idea sometimes that they invented cynicism. But this is perfect. This is the epitome of cynicism. Go and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. You think he was serious? Not even Ahab was fooled. There is a certain ring about the truth. You know, when somebody lies to you in this manner, just bold-faced, lying right to your face, you know they're not telling the truth. I have that difficulty sometimes. I'm a practical joker, not in the sense that I just pull practical jokes, but I'm of the mind a lot of times to be like my guy here and just say something off the wall that, you know, couldn't possibly be true. And I don't know how many times someone would approach my wife and say, is he serious? Is that for real? And that's part of the fun of being a preacher. After a while, everybody just accepts what you're saying is the truth. So there are some times when you can have some fun with that. Just don't go too far with it. Go and prosper. But that wasn't the truth. And I consider the proverb, Proverbs 26 in verse 4, answer a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. Micaiah is no fool. He's not compromising himself or his ministry. He's not conforming to Ahab and Jehoshaphat. He is merely recognizing the fact and discerning the fact that he's in the presence of a couple of fools. He's not too sure about Jehoshaphat because he doesn't know his reputation necessarily, but he knows Ahab. And he knows that if Jehoshaphat is with Ahab at the very least, he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. All he had to do was take one look at Jehoshaphat and Ahab together, look around at the feast, and realize that Jehoshaphat is going to put himself in a position for destruction. joining up with this king. And again, when we commit, when we compromise with the world today, when we commune with darkness and we think we're being diplomatic, we're in a dangerous, dangerous situation, sitting amongst fools. And in this day and age, there are plenty of them. The Bible says, professing themselves to be fools, they became wise. Where is the cutoff point? Even as a Christian, sometimes I think I'm doing the wise thing, and then a year or two down the road, I realize, boy, that was foolish. I thought I was exercising faith, but then I realized the Lord really wasn't in that. That was foolish. It's such a fine line at times, even for us. That's why we need a close walk with the Holy Spirit of God. We don't have the discernment we need. We're much like Jehoshaphat. We're caught in a snare and in a trap. And again, all under the guise of being diplomatic or exercising diplomacy or attempting to be a nice preacher. Verse 16, we'll go through the narrative here a little bit, pull out a couple of things, and try to move. quickly and the king said unto him how many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord and he said I saw all Israel he doesn't even hesitate I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills of sheep that have not a shepherd and the Lord said these have no master let them return every man to his house in peace and verse 18 in my mind's eye I see I see Ahab leaning over to Jehoshaphat and saying, I told you so. I told you so. Nothing but evil. He won't have one good thing to say to me. I think this is a private conversation that the Lord has allowed us in on. And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. How do you, what kind of an impression do you think that left on two men who were sitting on thrones? When Micaiah said, nothing, nothing to see you guys, you two. individuals on a throne. I just saw the Lord sitting on a throne, the words coming directly from heaven. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Raimath-gilead? And one said on this manner, another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. We cannot imagine the Lord putting his stamp of approval on such activities, can we? Here's a spirit, a lying spirit, and God says, go, persuade him. You'll do it too. He knows. Listen, he knows those spirits. He knows what he's dealing with. He knows the men that those spirits are coming to. He knows exactly what it takes to persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth Gilead. Why? Because God has decided that Ahab is going to die at Ramoth Gilead. He is done with Ahab. I don't know what was the straw that broke the camel's back. I don't know what it was that pushed God to the point where he decided to put a death sentence on Ahab to end his reign. And in this manner, I don't know why he chose this method. All I know is that God has made the decision when Micaiah comes up that Ahab is a dead man. Ahab is a dead man. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith? And he said, I'll go forth. I'll be a lying spirit, so on and so forth. I won't read it for sake of time. But in verse 28, it says, and Micaiah said, well, let's read. We've got to get some of this. Jump down to verse 24. But Zedekiah, the son of Keniah, went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, which way went the spirit of the Lord for me to speak unto thee? And Micaiah said, behold, thou shalt see in that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. Now he's batting a thousand, as far as we know, with this prophecy. Eventually Ahab goes and he's killed in the exact manner that he says. And I have to believe that this prophecy here was fulfilled as well. I looked through the scriptures and tried to find some place where this false prophet went into an inner chamber and it actually was fulfilled. I couldn't find it. But that doesn't shake my faith in the Word of God. That doesn't shake my faith in the prophet of God. He's batting a thousand. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I believe this man was taken out as well as Ahab because of his treatment of Micaiah the prophet. and the king of israel said take my car and carry him back on the aim on the governor of the city and to joe ash the king's son and say thus sayeth the king put this fellow in the prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction and he'd have been alright if he stopped there but he said until i'd come until i come again till i come in peace he's basically prophesying that he's not going to die at Ramoth Gilead. He's basically overthrowing the prophet's prophecy. And again, this is no premonition. Premonitions are vague. I mean, the dream that Caesar's wife had, it may have been accurate or not. I know it's portrayed in Shakespeare's play. I think he dreams it up as being a statue. I'm not sure that's accurate whatsoever, a bleeding statue that has been stabbed. But I think he took history and some poetic license and worked it into his play. But this isn't a premonition. This is a prophecy. This is a hundred percent accuracy or Micaiah is in danger of losing his life according to the law. The arrows of the Lord that Micaiah has predicted are the arrows of the Lord, are the words of God. In 2 Samuel 22 and verse 14, the Bible says, the Lord thundered from heaven. Micaiah, when he prophesied, I don't think he was meek. I don't think he was mild. I don't think he was intimidated by the crowd that was there that day. I believe he preached. The Lord thundered. I believe he thundered from heaven. And the Most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and discomfited them. And it had no effect whatsoever on Ahab, as far as we can tell. And I say as far as we can tell because men like Ahab are in the habit of concealing even their very feelings toward the Word of God. But here God was speaking directly through his prophet to these men in dire urgency. Micaiah thundered the message. In Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, it says, The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It has the ability to pierce even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. So that the words that Micaiah spoke, if they were the Lord's words, if they were the arrows of the Lord, then we know they pierced. And if they were directed at Ahab, and we know they were, then we know that they pierced even a hard heart like Ahab had. He must have been somewhat shaken that day. And the only defense that he had, he's not bulletproof, the only defense that he had was the conceit of saying that he would return again in peace. But of course, Micaiah had something to say about that as well. And of course, he said that if he returned, if thou return it all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. Micaiah was laying it all on the line. His confidence in the message, his confidence in the Word that God had spoken to him, his confidence in this condemnation was so strong that he was willing to bet his life on it. Because if he wasn't preaching the Word of God, he knew his life wasn't worth a plug nickel. He said, If thou return it all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you, And at that point, he called to witness everyone that was there that day against the king and for God. So that when it's all over, it's not just a witness to Ahab. It's a witness to everyone that was present that day. Job knows what it's like to be afflicted by the arrows of the Lord. In Job chapter 6 and verse 4, the Bible says, For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. The poison whereof drinketh up my spirit. The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. That was Job's description. of what was happening to him at the time. And of course we know the truth of all that. God wasn't against Job. That's how Job felt as though he were being attacked by God. And again, God working out things in the book of Job. Even for us in this day and age to study and receive comfort from it and strength from it to go on. Psalm 64, 7 says, but God shall shoot at them with an arrow all this talk of swords the word of God being a sword and you know God shooting arrows you know we're so sophisticated today we're not even scared by that we're not even frightened by it we just think this is just old timey talk nothing too serious here no God shoots arrows and those arrows have barbs those arrows have points those arrows are sharpened able to pierce, able to destroy, able to bring down, able to wound. In Psalm 64, he says, but God shall shoot at them with an arrow. Suddenly shall they be wounded. I digress a little bit, but the day before Caesar was murdered, someone brought up a discussion about death while he was signing some documents. And the question was posed, what's the best way to die? And Caesar, without any hesitation, before anyone else could answer, said, suddenly. And when God is finished with an individual, he takes them out suddenly, suddenly. And very often, He precedes that sudden destruction with a prophecy and a witness like Micaiah's. So that even up here in the year 2016, when we wouldn't be concerned about an arrow or a sword, we are warned as well, whether we take it seriously or not. Now, do you know what I believe? I know the narrative goes on. I know Ahab goes into the battle. I know that he takes a position somewhere But I believe right here's where Ahab was mortally wounded. Because the arrow was shot right there. Later on, we read about the certain man, you know, shoots a bullet of venture. But God already has him marked. The Word of God has already struck him. And I believe you could find a spore of blood running from this throne to a chariot, to a position on the field, to a post of command, that blood was already running and God was already finished. Isaiah 55 11 says, so shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where unto I sent it. I don't think when Micaiah came in, I don't think the word of the Lord came to Ahab with the intention of just scaring him. A threat of death. I think God took him out right there. And there's no indication of it. I realize I'm on shaky ground here, but... And that's a lesson for us to remember that the same arrows, the same weapons that God uses to defend us, we feel pretty safe as Christians. We believe God will protect us. But the same weapons, if we ignore God, can be turned against us. The same word of God cuts both ways. It's a double-edged sword. If we choose to listen, if we choose not, the word of God can be used against us as well as in our defense. For Israel, it was no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Unless, of course, that weapon happens to be found in the hands of God, or in the hands of one of his prophets, or in the hands of someone who's wielding the Word of God, then you better be careful. Verse 29, continuing, So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, but put thou on thy robes. Now, some of the commentators propose that Ahab was so wicked that he was actually using this good man Jehoshaphat as a decoy. And you know, I don't know if that's true or not. I can't determine that from the text, but I do from his character, I think it's quite possible. Jehoshaphat has just set up the naivete of Jehoshaphat, just blows me away in this whole thing. But he goes. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle. But put thou on that robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely is the king of Israel. They turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. Regardless of the motive, Ahab places Jehoshaphat, his ally in a dangerous situation, by commanding him to keep his robes on. he had to be somewhat wary of that or why would he have disguised himself and I don't know again I talk about the naivety of Jehoshaphat he may have looked at Ahab as doing a brave thing going out and fighting for his people actually getting into the battle I mean we look at that sometimes and think you know that's a brave thing King David went out and fought with his people and fought for his people never lost a battle but obviously God was with him he may have looked at it that way but then we see the command of the Syrian army. Thirty and two captains. Now I just referenced modern military. Captains rule over his chariots. But that doesn't mean there's just 32 people going after the king. A captain in the modern military might have anywhere from 80 to 15 men underneath him. Now, that's anywhere from 2,560 men. I did the math. You don't have to. Or 4,800 men. So you have to ask yourself, how could you miss I mean, if you have 4,800 men or 2,000 even, 2,500 men going after one man in the battle, how could you miss? All you have to do is identify him. And obviously, they're using their natural senses and they identify the king by his robes. And they go after Jehoshaphat. And of course, what happens? We don't know from the narrative here. It just says that he cried out. But it doesn't say who he cried out to. If you go to 2 Chronicles, go to 2 Chronicles chapter 18. This account is not exactly the same, but it's very close. But God gives us some information in 2 Chronicles chapter 18 and verse 31. Same point in the battle, but God lifts the veil and lets us see what happened when the point of the spear attacks Jehoshaphat. An innocent party, so to speak, in this fight. And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said, it is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight. But Jehoshaphat cried out. Now that's all the information we get in first Kings. But look here, and the Lord helped him. And God moved them to depart from him. Do you know in the history of our own nation, the father of our own country. When he entered into battle, God protected him. I read an account this afternoon where he was in, he was in one of the fights and again, uh, on a diplomatic mission at the time with the French, uh, and the, and the Indians attacked them. Uh, he had, uh, uh, he had two horses shot out from underneath him. He had his hat blown off. He had his coat full of holes, but not a scratch. I read four accounts of times when George Washington was in a battle, in a fight, and came out unscathed. Almost point-blank range, an Indian shot him and missed. If you can imagine that. Bad Indian. F-troop Indian. Now listen, everything is all right in the battle until right about now. Because as we can see now, according to 2 Chronicles, God is in the fight. At least on the behalf of Jehoshaphat. But we'll find out that later that God's more in the fight than just protecting Jehoshaphat. God is in the fight to make sure that Ahab is taken out exactly as he proposed, exactly as it was prophesied. Look at verse 34. And a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smoked the king of Israel between the joints of the harness. An incredible shot. The death of a king. And I'm going to propose tonight that it was a long shot. A long shot. Here's the man, though. Here's the man that God uses. Here's a man that, again, God uses over and over and over again in the scripture without any fanfare. We find him throughout the scripture. We find a certain man that tells Joseph where his brethren are so that he can find them in Genesis chapter 37. There are times when he's identified by his name, sometimes his family in the scriptures. There are times when he is found among the prophets. He is found at times being the subject of one of the Lord's parables. The Lord will start off with a certain man and describe this very man. How many times throughout the scripture I'm amazed that a certain man is used. And a man that I will call anonymous. Somebody that no one acknowledges. Somebody that no one knows the true identity of. There is no blowing of a trumpet. There is no way that we can determine who this man was. Just a certain man. But God has chosen him. He's a soldier. We do know that. He's, in this context, a G.I., the grunt in Vietnam, the dogface in World War II, the doughboy in World War I. He's the jarhead, I suppose, of the Afghani Wars. I don't know what they called him there. I know the Marine Corps was called a jarhead. But now he is here as an indiscriminate Syrian soldier. No rank, no name, no serial number. An unknown soldier. Was he a career soldier? Was he conscripted? We don't know. What level of training was he on? Was he a ranger? Was he Delta Force? I mean, was he a raw recruit? Was he green? Was this the first battle he'd ever been in? Was it the last battle he was ever going to be in? Was he courageous? Was he cowardly? We have no idea. We know absolutely nothing. But how God indiscriminately just chooses a soldier off the field to do his will. He could not command Ahab, a king that ruled that God had allowed him to have power, a nation to rule over. Isn't that so much like human nature? God blesses and then he can no longer control or command us. But this indiscriminate man, and recognize too the fact this is an enemy of God, of Israel, Syria. God's using them but he's still an enemy. But you can count on this, even though we don't know if he was cowardly or courageous, we know this much about him. God chooses him And God uses him. And there's nothing anybody can say or do about it. But once God chooses him, I would caution anyone getting in his way. Now, I tried to imagine the scenarios. Again, I just mentioned some things there. But I tried to picture this man in my mind. Was he a marksman? I mean, was he a good shot? We don't know. Again, was he in the heat of battle? Was he exposed to arrows coming in? Was he under attack when he made this shot? We don't know. Was he falling back? Was he advancing? We don't know. Was he careful to take aim and make the shot? Did he recognize King Ahab even though he had disguised himself? We do not know. But we do know that God used him and unknowingly, unknowingly, I do believe this, he couldn't possibly know he was working the will of God that day. He was just discharging his duties as a soldier. When Jesus needed something on the day when he would make his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He sent his disciples, and he sent them to get the colt full of an ass, and he said this, he said that, you know, for the Lord hath need of him. Most of what we know about this man, and again the scenarios, I don't know, maybe he was a coward. Maybe he was scared stiff. Maybe he hadn't had enough courage to even shoot one arrow that day. Maybe his quiver was full. I don't know. Maybe he was in a concealed position and the most profitable thing on his mind was to shoot as many arrows as I can, get rid of them, and retreat to the rear so I can get more arrows and it looks like I was really in the thick of things. But the Lord Jesus Christ sent his disciples to get the colt the full of an ass because he had need of him. I know God chose him because he had need of him. Now, there's something about God. He just enjoys using men. He enjoys using indiscriminate men. But this man drew a bow. We know this much about him too. We know he was indiscriminate, but we know that this shot distinguished him. We know that he was armed. He had a bow. He had an arrow. That much. So God's given us what we need. He had a weapon. We have a weapon, the Word of God, to use against the world and to use against ourselves at that time. But he was armed. I don't know how well he shot. I don't know if he could hit the ground with an arrow. If I was to describe my own ability, that's what I would say. But God wasn't interested in his ability other than his availability. And the Bible says he drew a bow at a venture. And what does that mean? We know what an adventure is. It's something that we do for excitement. It's something that causes or there's a little bit of risk involved in. But a venture goes a little bit farther than that. A venture is to attempt anything without certainty of success. So we know that when he shot a bow at a venture, he wasn't sure if he was going to hit anything. Now does that challenge you tonight? That challenges me. That God would pick an enemy, a false God-worshipping Syrian soldier. That he would command this man and this man would be obedient to him. He must have been a good soldier if he was that obedient. He didn't argue with God and say, well, you know, I was trained, first you prepare. First you get ready, then you get set, then you go. No, God had to come down the line, the supreme commander. Because at this point, this man is not, he is not engaging the enemy as a unit. There's no unification here. Maybe it's in disarray after the point of the spear has missed Jehoshaphat and they've pulled back. I don't know if they're trying to regroup what's going on. I don't even know if it's part of that group or not. All I know is that God is in command of this certain man. And the Lord comes down the line and his rank, his rank disqualifies any other rank. I don't care who was over this man. It would be as if this man were under a company commander and a major came down or a general came down and said, I need you. And the Lord called upon this man and here's the command, shoot. Must have been a good soldier, because I believe at that point, and I kind of picture it in this, I think he had one arrow left, that's all he had. And he overcame the desire, he had two desires probably at that point, to get out of this thing in one piece, and to look good, you know, but to get out of this thing in one piece and to take one last shot. And I believe he put the arrow in there. I believe maybe he was even ready when the Lord came by, when the command came down to shoot. I believe he did exactly what he was told. Immediately. Shoot. He just heard a voice. and he obeyed it. He didn't know it was the Lord. I don't think he took time to aim. I think maybe it was the perfect shot, because it hit Ahab in the harness. It fulfilled God's prophecy. But I think God was in all the details there. If he hesitated at all, the Lord must have just repeated the command, because all the Lord really needed was, get that arrow in the air, I'll guide it, I'll direct it. This is a heat-seeking missile. This arrow has one man's name on it, and God could direct it, but he had to get the arrow out of the quiver, and he had to get it in the bow, and he had to shoot it. How does that challenge you? Listen, if God can use an indiscriminate soldier on a field of battle in the midst of all that chaos, who isn't even aware, doesn't even understand, doesn't even know God, worships a false god. If God can command that individual, what could he do with a church full of people who left an auditorium on a Wednesday night or a Sunday morning or a Sunday night, who were willing and ready, who had a weapon and were willing to use it and were obedient to the command of God? Have you ever shot an arrow at a venture? You ever done anything for the Lord that you weren't assured of success? You say, well, every time I do something for the Lord, I'm not assured of success. I know exactly how you feel. But when was the last time you took a shot at adventure?