[0:00] In the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles. If I say Corinthians tonight, forgive me, we're in Chronicles.! And the 21st chapter, 2 Chronicles 21.
[0:11] ! The 21st chapter, 2 Chronicles 21.
[1:00] If nobody shows up, it's a good indication that either nobody knew the person, or if they did know the person, nobody liked the person. Now tonight we're going to look at a king in this chapter.
[1:12] A king that reigned upon the throne in Israel, or the throne, I should say, in Judah, in Jerusalem, for eight full years. He died at 40 years old.
[1:24] And when it was time for his funeral, nobody showed up. Nobody cared. And it's maybe not exactly the way it went down, but let's read the text.
[1:34] I want to read with you just verse number 20, the last verse of the chapter about this man's life. It says, Thirty and two years old was when he began to reign. And he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.
[1:46] And notice this phrase here. And departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings.
[1:59] He departed without being desired. In plainer words, their king died and nobody gave a rip. Nobody shed a tear.
[2:11] Nobody mourned for him. Nobody cried. They refused to bury him with the kings. But he was a king. He was a king. His father was a king.
[2:21] His grandfather was a king. He was in that line, that royal line. And when he passed away, they despised him so much. They said, we are not burying you with your father and with his father.
[2:37] We're not going to bury you with the likes of David and Solomon. We'll bury you in Jerusalem. Okay, you live there. You reigned there. But we're not going to bury you with the kings.
[2:50] As far as they were concerned, he wasn't their king. And so what a sad and rather maybe pathetic testament to a man of royal pedigree.
[3:04] A man that is of the promised line, lineage, where the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord Jesus would come. The man that sat upon the throne of David in Jerusalem and actually reigned as king over God's chosen people, the kingdom of Judah.
[3:23] The kingdom that God promised, he'd always keep a light there. What a sad testament of the man. He departed without being desired.
[3:34] He suffered before he died, but nobody cared for his suffering. Nobody missed him. Nobody honored him. Nobody desired that he was even alive. In other words, everyone was happy that he wasn't.
[3:48] They thought him to be better off dead. So for a man to depart the world in such a pitiful state, that obviously says something about the man.
[3:59] What does it say about the man? For a king, a king of Judah to leave behind such a shameful legacy. Surely there are some reasons.
[4:12] Surely then there's some lessons that we can take away from how he lived his life. Some points that we can ponder. Some points of his life that we can prevent.
[4:25] And some actions that can be avoided. The Bible tells us that these things are written for our learning. And in this man's case, we're going to learn from his mistakes. And so stay in the chapter, and we're going to look just a little bit around this area of the Bible to try to learn some reasons why he departed without being desired.
[4:45] A horrible, horrible thing to say about any person. That nobody cared. That he departed this world, and everybody was just business as usual.
[4:55] Nobody could mourn for him. And one reason, I think, was because of his lack of character. I want to show you this from this chapter. Come back to the beginning of that chapter, 2 Chronicles 21.
[5:06] And read with me the first four verses. One reason he departed without being desired was his lack of character. The first verse says, Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.
[5:20] And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah and Jehiel and Zechariah and Azariah and Michael and Shephetiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel.
[5:32] And their father gave them great gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things with fenced cities in Judah. But the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.
[5:46] Now when Jehoram was risen to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with the sword, and diverse also of the princes of Israel.
[6:01] This man we're going to see quickly here and briefly is lacking something. He's lacking some character. There's something we notice right away is that he's very selfish.
[6:12] It says that he strengthened himself in verse number 4. When he strengthened himself, was he strengthening the kingdom? When he strengthened himself, was he concerned at all about the stability and the strength of Judah as a kingdom?
[6:30] His own father, Jehoshaphat, set up his brothers and gave them riches that he had in abundance. And he gave them rule over cities that we read in verse number 3.
[6:43] Fenced cities in Judah. So the king had his own brothers, his own flesh and blood, ruling under him throughout his land in defenced cities.
[6:55] That sounds like a pretty good group to have. Some men that you know, some men that you can trust. Some men that they're of your own stock.
[7:06] But no, this man decides to wipe them off the face of the earth. So who did he replace them with? Greater men than the royal seed?
[7:19] Men that were more trustworthy and respected than his own brethren, the king's sons? So no, obviously in strengthening himself, he's hurting himself.
[7:29] He's hurting his kingdom. And he's setting the stage for nobody. Nobody at all to care when he dies. Nobody to respect him.
[7:40] He's a man that's all about himself. He's a man that's obviously insecure. His first move as a monarch is eliminate anybody that he supposes, rather, could be a threat to him.
[7:53] Anybody that might challenge him. Anybody that might know better. That might give him the side eye and start something. When the reality is, this throne is his given by God.
[8:05] He is the firstborn of his father. It's of the seed of David. It's his. It's established. All he has to do is do right and seek to the God of David and walk in those ways.
[8:17] But instead, this man, in his own simplicity and fear, thinks somebody might challenge him. Nobody's challenging him. Nobody's attempting to usurp his God-given authority.
[8:29] But he's insecure. And instead of looking to the Lord that placed him on the throne, he's looking around at who might try to take it from me. Jehoram is deficient of uprightness.
[8:43] He's deficient of honor. He's worried for himself and himself only. And he imagines threats that don't exist. He's operating in complete fear and not in faith.
[8:53] I want you to think for a minute with me about some counsel that he would have had at his disposal. Should he search through the records? Should he consider some of the great kings before him? He could have come upon something that was written by King David.
[9:07] The king said, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Jehoram could have said, David's a great king. What did he have to say about ruling over the kingdom of God?
[9:21] But no, he would have rejected that counsel. He could have looked to something that is in Proverbs written as Lemuel's mother speaking. Many think it's Solomon's mother Bathsheba.
[9:32] Another name for Solomon. But nevertheless, it says at the end of Proverbs, It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink.
[9:43] Why? Lest they forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. She's saying to her son that would take the throne, a ruler of God's people must be sharp and discerning and judging and righteous and look to the word of God to rule the people of God.
[10:00] And yet Jehoram would have rejected that counsel as well. He could have looked and saw that when Solomon's son Rehoboam took the throne, the very throne that he's sitting on, the throne of Judah, his counselors told him to be a servant unto the people of God.
[10:17] And if you'll be their servant, they'll serve thee forever. Speak good words to those people and they will be thy servant forever, they said. But Jehoram did not establish himself on wisdom.
[10:31] He didn't establish himself on the law of the Lord. He didn't establish himself on fearing God and keeping his commandments, on loving the people, on honor, on integrity. No, he did it by murder.
[10:42] He did it by executing his own flesh and blood. He's a man with no character. And as a result, no man cared for his soul. In the Proverbs in chapter 12 and verse 8, the Bible says, A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.
[11:04] Are we going to learn anything from this man? Are we going to learn anything from the lack of character in this man? How he's so insecure? How violent he is? How he's only looking out for number one?
[11:16] You know, it's a good way to push people away from you is to always talk about yourself. To only care about yourself. Everything revolves around you. Every relationship in your life is about what you can get from them.
[11:29] A self-centered, selfish attitude. It's a good way to push people away. And I'll caution you. You maybe don't see it in yourself, but to beware. Beware when the choices you make in life are all about your well-being.
[11:42] And all about how this makes you look. One of the wicked things about social media is it's so much about how I look to the world and to my friends. And what do they think of me?
[11:54] It's such a selfish, self-centered world. Beware, church. And take heed when you are at odds with another person or you strive with others.
[12:04] Are you standing for the truth or are you just standing for yourself? Is that number one? Because you'll die without being desired. And furthermore, when it comes to Christianity and when it comes to your brothers and sisters, can we learn anything about how this man pushed away his brothers so that he could have the rule and dominion?
[12:26] Reminds me of somebody back in John, 3 John, I think it is. Diotrephes, loveth to have the preeminence. And he would push away and keep away the brethren that were serving God because he wanted it to be all about him.
[12:38] There's one reason this man departed without being desired was his lack of character. And there's another reason if we stay in this chapter. We stopped at verse 4. I'll continue in verse 5.
[12:50] He was 32 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 8 years in Jerusalem. And verse 6 says, He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab.
[13:01] For he had the daughter of Ahab to wife. And he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Another reason this man departed without being desired, I want to say secondly, is because of his lack of conviction.
[13:17] His lack of personal conviction. He made a grossly inappropriate decision to marry the daughter of Ahab. It's possible she was the daughter of Jezebel the same.
[13:30] It's likely. It can't be proven from the Bible, but she was his primary wife. And if you follow some of the things that this daughter ends up doing, she matches the MO of her daughter or possibly her mother Jezebel.
[13:43] She's a bloody killer. And you see that in the next chapter with his son. This was a bad idea. To marry the king of Israel to the north.
[13:54] To marry Ahab's daughter. And to in some way try to unite these two kingdoms. God separated these two kingdoms. This man has no business trying to bring together something that God has set apart.
[14:08] Does that sound like a verse of scripture to you? Does it sound like something that Paul might have said in the New Testament about separation? And not being connected to the ungodly. I won't take you through the passage.
[14:18] 2 Corinthians 6 if you need to look it up. But this man had a lack of conviction. Why didn't he see this as a bad idea? I think there's a reason why.
[14:32] I think there's a reason that we can look at in the text of why he lacked conviction about whom he should marry. And I want to show you this. Look back. It starts with his dad. Look back a little bit.
[14:43] You see that in the first verse that his dad was Jehoshaphat. Remember we studied him last Sunday. Or Wednesday night. When we were looking at the snare of success.
[14:54] And we saw how powerful and how great back in chapter 17 Jehoshaphat was. Because he followed the Lord. The Lord established his kingdom. He had riches and honor and abundance.
[15:06] And when that man got to that place. He got to a place where the heathen around him were offering him gifts. And trying to appease him. And didn't want anything to do with him. Wouldn't touch him. Wouldn't fight with him.
[15:17] His dad was very powerful. And his son Jehoram grew up. He grew up with that man as his father. A rich and powerful and mighty and wise man.
[15:27] But then what we read about him in chapter 18 verse 1. Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor and abundance. And joined affinity with Ahab. We got to see last week.
[15:40] How the money and success changed this king. Into doing things he never should have done. But now let's look at it through his son's eyes. Because his son is seeing daddy hanging out with another king.
[15:54] Must be okay. I can only imagine. But the boy must be growing up thinking this guy is okay. All he discerns at the very minimum is he's not my enemy.
[16:06] He's my dad's friend. And it kind of looks to me like Jehoram grew up in a quote unquote Christian home. But a Christian home that allowed fellowship with the ungodly at the same time.
[16:22] A man that walked with God and was blessed of God. But then also reached out to the world. And had friendship with the world. Which as we know is enmity with God.
[16:34] Why did Jehoram not have any convictions? Because he grew up in a home where his dad was allowing the world to get in. I imagine over the process of time.
[16:45] That king would come down to the south. And would visit in Jerusalem. And they'd make dinner plans together. He'd bring his wife and family. And before you knew it Jehoram looked and said.
[16:57] Ahab's got a daughter. She's the daughter of a king. Somewhere a light came on. That's not a bad idea. Where would he ever get the idea to marry.
[17:10] A woman from such a wicked ungodly family. But that his father likely even brought her into his home. Chapter. I got the wrong.
[17:21] Look at chapter 21 again. Yeah. Chapter 21. We read that.
[17:32] I had the wrong verse written down here. It says he had his daughter. The daughter of Ahab. To wife. And he wrought that which was evil. In the eyes.
[17:43] Of the Lord. Why would he marry a girl from such a wicked family? I'd say because the convictions that he had. Were first developed. In the home. By the influence of mom and dad.
[17:55] They're the greatest influences of your convictions. That you will ever have as your mother and father. Your family structure and environment. Society and culture can play a role.
[18:06] But it's those two people. That will have the greatest influence on how you think. How you observe the world. And how you act in your own life. How you're raised.
[18:18] Is probably the way to say it. It's the greatest factor on how you're going to live. And the reason I'm showing you this from the Bible. With Jehoram. And his father Jehoshaphat. And the affinity he had.
[18:28] The friendship he had with the wicked king. And how then it affected his son. Who now is going to marry his daughter. And bring all of this into his home. And it gets far worse after that. But the reason I'm showing you this from the Bible.
[18:40] Is because a couple weeks ago. I don't remember what the message was. But I mentioned this thought. That if the parents aren't 100% for the Lord. The kids likely will never be either.
[18:52] And it's worse than that. If the parents aren't 100%. The kids will probably only be 80 at the best. And I mentioned these things. I just threw out some kind of random numbers. I don't really have a perfect equation for any of this.
[19:04] But from what I've observed. Is if the parents take an inch. The children will take a foot. It's just. It's the way it's been. It's not necessarily a Bible law.
[19:14] Or a Bible doctrine. But I see it as a principle. That has occurred. And has reoccurred. Over and over and over. In my lifetime. And surely over history.
[19:24] And here it is in the Bible. Where dad walks with God. But yet he has his one hand in with the king. The son's not walking with God at all. And now he just embraces the evil.
[19:35] And the next generation after him. Doesn't have a shot. It gets so filthy very, very quick. Not in Israel. In Judah. Where it never should get unclean.
[19:48] And I'm saying this with the idea here. Being that. When parents make allowances. In their own Christian life. And kind of look the other way. Or let some things slide.
[19:58] When they lack commitment. The children see that. And they're being trained. That that's okay. That's okay for them. So it's okay for me.
[20:09] And it may not seem like the big issue. But they're going to imitate that attitude. In their own way. They're not just going to follow mom and dad. Exactly. That never happens.
[20:21] And I've seen this play out. Generationally. Numerous times. I'm trying to just put a random number on it. To make it make sense to you. Not that this is accurate. But if the parent's standard.
[20:32] Is 100%. Because they know the truth. The word of God. They're brought up. If the standard is 100%. But they live at 80. The kid's standard is now 80.
[20:46] That's what the standard is. They're not going to try to live better than mom and dad. Their ceiling is 80. Likely they're going to live at 50. And that's how it's going to go.
[20:58] Now God could get involved. Amen. And God can do things that man cannot do. But as the principle. As the way the world turns. This is how it happens. And so I wanted to show you that from the word of God.
[21:09] What I'm trying to do is help you remember. That every action that you take. Every way and moment that you let slide. Your kids are watching. Other people are learning from you. And don't think that they won't just replicate your actions.
[21:21] They'll develop their own actions. Having learned from you that I can let things slide. And where your basement is. Is likely where their ceiling is.
[21:32] It's true. You'll see. So Jehoram didn't have any convictions. He didn't have any convictions about what kind of woman he should marry. And look over at chapter 22.
[21:44] Flip the page. 2 Chronicles 22. This brought on more than he ever imagined it would. After he died. His wife remained.
[21:55] And only one of his sons survived. And he became the king. And look at chapter 22 verses 3 and 4. Speaking of the next king. Says he also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.
[22:07] Huh. For his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. His mother. The woman that he brought down to Judah. Is now teaching the next king.
[22:18] How to do wickedly. How to live and act like Ahab and Jezebel did. How they lived. Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab. For they were his counselors.
[22:29] After the death of his father to his destruction. The thing went downhill hard. Because Jehoram didn't have any convictions. And I'll say.
[22:41] That part of that's the fault of his dad. Let a little thing slide. Didn't consider how badly it was going to affect his son. And his grandson. And generations to come. Now back in chapter 21.
[22:54] There's another reason I see here. Why he departed without being desired. And that is that he lacked competence. Notice in verse 8 through 10.
[23:05] In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah. And made themselves a king. And Jehoram went forth with his princes. And all his chariots with him. And he rose up by night.
[23:16] And smote the Edomites. Which compassed him in. And the captains of the chariots. So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libna revolt from under his hand.
[23:28] Because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. The man lost much of what his father had gained. Now come back to 17. I just want to refresh your mind.
[23:38] If you forget it. Or if you weren't here last week. Chapter 17. This is what his father had did. And had gained in this region. He was ruling over that small.
[23:50] Kingdom of Judah. And it says in verse 10. 17. 10. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the land that were round about Judah.
[24:01] So that they made no war with Jehoshaphat. And also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and tribute silver. And the Arabians brought him flocks. 7,700 rams.
[24:11] And 7,700 he goats. And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly. And he built in Judah castles and cities and store. And he had much business. And it talks about the men of war and mighty men.
[24:24] And he upnumbers them. And shows these valiant men that were under him. Mighty men of valor. Listed throughout this chapter. That's what his father built up into his kingdom.
[24:35] Nobody touched his dad. But Jehoram. He lacked competence. He lost what his father had gained. They gave presents to his father to appease him.
[24:48] To stay on his good side. They weren't going to one time mess with him. But then they looked at his son Jehoram. And said. We're not giving you anything. We don't even respect you.
[24:59] We don't honor you. We're not afraid of you. And they began to rebel. One by one. Under his dominion and leadership. And Jehoram departed without being desired.
[25:09] Because he failed as a leader. He lost control of the region. That had already been subdued to his reign. It was handed to him. And he lost it. But how did this happen? Well we read how.
[25:22] The very last part of verse number 10. Again it says. Because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. It's not because he wasn't a nice guy.
[25:33] It's not because he didn't want to have the kingdom. And reign over it. It's because he forsook. The one that gave the kingdom. And the dominion. And the might. And the riches. And the wisdom.
[25:44] To his father then to him. His competence. Obedience. Was not dependent upon his personal wisdom. Or strength. Or demeanor. Or might. It was dependent upon his obedience to the Lord.
[25:56] God didn't need him. To do anything but be humble. And to be obedient. That's all God ever needed from anybody. Was just. I want you to walk with me.
[26:07] To obey me. And trust me. I don't need your talents. I don't need you to have any ability. I've worked with some pretty weak stuff. And God can do wonders with some weak stuff.
[26:21] Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. This time I do mean Corinthians. 1 Corinthians in the New Testament. And chapter number 1. When Jehoram refused to seek the Lord.
[26:35] And obey him. Then God refused to protect him. And to preserve him. But can we learn from this? Can we learn from this man?
[26:47] 1 Corinthians chapter 1. This is a passage that is. A thrill and blessing to my weak poor heart. In verse 26. The Bible says.
[26:57] For you see your calling brethren. How that not many wise men after the flesh. Not many mighty. Not many noble are called. But God hath chosen.
[27:09] This is God's choice. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. To confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world.
[27:20] To confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world. And things which are despised. Hath God chosen. Yea and things which are not. To bring to naught.
[27:31] Things that are. That know flesh and glory. In his presence. And God doesn't need you or me. To be wise. Or mighty. Or noble. He just needs us to be obedient.
[27:44] He just needs us to be submitted to him. To have the spirit and attitude of. Here I am Lord. Send me. You can have me. You can have all of me.
[27:54] I won't argue with you. I won't fight with you. I'll trust you. I'll obey you. Just lead me. Just take me. Just use me. If you say that to God.
[28:06] My desire is that your son is glorified by my life. God will say. Oh you want my son to get glory. Do you? You don't. You're not seeking your own glory.
[28:18] You're not seeking your own wealth. And your own popularity. And trying to build a kingdom. And bring others to you. But you want others to know of my son. Oh. I can work with that.
[28:31] I can bless that. I can get behind that. God might say. Your competence and your success in the Christian life. Will never be determined by your wisdom.
[28:43] Or by your ability. But always be determined by your surrender. And by your commitment. To the Lord Jesus Christ. And so church.
[28:54] The message tonight. Has nothing to do with how many people. Might attend your funeral. When you pass away. Has nothing to do with how liked you were.
[29:05] By people on this earth. But it's about. Are you going to live your life. For the Lord Jesus Christ. Or are you going to live your life for yourself. If you're going to live for Jesus Christ.
[29:17] Then you're going to care about the kingdom. The kingdom of God. And not about how you look. You're going to care about people. The people of God.
[29:29] And not about your own. The apostle Paul once said. That all seek their own. Not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Are you going to care about the lost souls. That are out there driving by on their way to hell.
[29:42] Or are you going to care about. How embarrassed it makes you feel. Or look to stand out there in front of them. Or to go to their door. Or to hand out a track. Are you going to care about yourself.
[29:54] Or are you going to use this life. To bring glory to God. The message isn't about you. It's about what are you going to do for Christ. The message is also. Do you have any convictions. From the word of God.
[30:06] That you're going to live by. That you're going to stand by. And allow to guide your choices. Or are you going to throw away all the standards. So you can have fellowship with the world.
[30:18] And pretend that it's just going to work out fine. And it'll be okay. It's not going to be okay. If it's enmity with God. He is not going to bless it.
[30:29] If you can get away with it for a few years. What you sow. You will reap. And you have his word on it. If you care. Have some convictions.
[30:41] And live by them. And don't throw them away. And the message is also. About whether you're going to. Give yourself to the Lord. To be used for his glory. And be dependent upon him.
[30:53] And not on your own strength. We don't need to be concerned. Really with. With who attends our funeral. Or what they might say about us. At our funeral. What we need to be thinking about.
[31:04] Is that we must all appear. Before the judgment seat of Christ. We need to think that one day. We're going to have to give. Account of ourselves to God. This man lived a life.
[31:18] That nobody cared when he died. But I'm charging you tonight. That it matters how you live your life. It matters whether you give yourself to God. It matters whether you let your standards slip.
[31:31] Or whether you give in in a few areas. And think you can get away with it. Because nobody's coming after you. It matters. It matters. It all matters. It matters. The little decisions matter.
[31:42] Probably more than the big ones. Those little ones. They matter. They matter to God today. They're going to matter much more to you tomorrow.
[31:53] When we stand before him. So let's learn some lessons from a man that left this world without being desired. It's not about what people think about us.
[32:04] It's what God thinks of us. When we leave this world. Let's not be following the footsteps of this man. We still have a day. We still by God's grace have today.
[32:14] And as far as we know. We have tomorrow. And until he comes to get us. Or until we drop dead. We can still do something for Jesus Christ with this life. It's going to be your choice. You're going to have to determine.
[32:26] I'm in. I believe it. And I'm going to do something about it. Let's not follow this man to the grave. Father as we dismiss. Thank you for the challenge. Thank you for this man's testimony in this book.
[32:38] As ugly as it is. Help us to learn from it. Take it serious. And not replicate this. Lord please bless our time out here. And going home. And in the days that follow.
[32:50] I pray that you'll be preparing our hearts for the weekend. I pray for a great weekend. A great response. That the word of God be preached. And that you accomplish something. Lord it was good to see some visitors on Sunday.
[33:02] We ask that if you'd move in their hearts. To bring them back. And that they could be part of this church. And grow and learn of you. We also pray that you'll be with our sister Linda West. Understanding she can't be here.
[33:13] Understanding things are not going well with her. It's just our prayer that you'll be with her. That you'll give her grace. And Lord that you'd restore her to health. That you'd strengthen her mind. And pray that you'll be with those that care for her.
[33:24] And we ask these things in Jesus name. For his sake alone. Amen. Amen. Alright before we take off guys. I want to see you. Those that are going to sing Saturday. I need to see you quickly. And then you can get out of here.
[33:34] Thank you.