Well, let's begin our worship this evening. We're singing in Psalm 106, Psalm 106 in the
St. Psalms. That's from page 140, the tune is Ottawa.
Praise the Lord, extol His goodness, for His love endures always. Who can tell His mighty actions
or in full declare His praise? Blessed are those whose way is right, acting justly in His sight.
We're singing down to the end of verse 13, Psalm 106. Praise the Lord, extol His goodness.
Praise the Lord, extol His goodness.
Thank you.
We have sinned just like our fathers. We have done what was not right.
When our fathers wedded Egypt, they despised your peace of mind.
All your mercies, they ignored, at the Red Sea's firm, the Lord.
Yet for His men's sake, He saved them, and revealed His mighty hand.
By His word, the seed-hearted led them through us all dry land.
From the hand of the force set free, rescued from the enemy.
Then in adversaries found there, not a single one survived.
So the people sang His praises, and His promises believed.
But His words made soon for God, and His counsel set an all.
Let's now call upon the Lord in prayer.
Let's join together in prayer.
Almighty and gracious God, as we come and as we bow in Your presence in prayer,
as we lift up our voices in praise to You, as we hear Your word, and as we give our mind to its teaching.
O Lord, help us to believe all that Your word tells us about Yourself, about ourselves, about the world in which we live.
Help us truly to relish in our hearts those things of salvation that it speaks about, and that it brings to us with Your own authority, and with that unerring authorship of Your Spirit.
We give thanks, Lord, tonight that we come to worship You in a world that so largely ignores the importance of worshiping and acknowledging God.
And we thank You for the testimony and the witness that this itself brings to the world.
For, Lord, we think perhaps that few people see us as we come to gather in church, and yet we know that there are those who take note of our comings and goings from these places of worship.
And we give thanks, O Lord, tonight for the opportunities that You give us to serve You and to testify to the world about You.
And we pray that we may do this unashamedly, and in a way that would depend upon Your own blessing, so as to carry this further.
We give thanks, O Lord, for all Your goodness to us.
We come before You as a people who know that Your goodness to us has been displayed in so many ways over so many years.
That You still continue to bless us.
That You still continue to give us from Your Word that which encourages us.
That You still continue to speak to us and to speak into our hearts.
That You still continue at times to rebuke us, to bring us the reproof that Your Word itself contains.
Help us, Lord, we pray, to receive all of these facets of Your truth in a way that would wholeheartedly acknowledge them as Your Word and as Your wisdom.
And we pray tonight as we gather here, O Lord, and as we are joined online by those who join us in that way.
Help us, we pray together, as we come to worship the Lord.
Help us to look to You and to look to Your Spirit.
We come, Lord, to use Your Word.
We come to read Your Word and to hear its teaching.
And we acknowledge, Lord, that we need the blessing of the author of the Word, Your Holy Spirit, whom You used to bring men of old, to bring these things together in these books that we have in our Bible.
We thank You for the wonder, O Lord, that down through many centuries, so You caused these things to be written and caused them to be brought together so that we have them now as Your Word in its wholeness.
We thank You for Your preservation of Your Word down through the years.
We pray tonight that You would bless Your Word throughout the world in all the various languages into which Your Word has been translated.
We pray that that work of translation will go on, that the work of Bible societies and other agencies that seek to bring Your Word before the world.
Lord, we ask that they may be furthered in their attempts to bring Your Word into the public domain.
And we pray that every agency that is true to Yourself and to Your Word, that they will know Your blessing and Your continued provision for them to bring Your Word before the world.
And to translate it into the many languages that yet don't have a Bible in their own native tongue.
And Lord, we ask Your blessing to be with all attempts to bring that about.
We thank You for the way in which we gathered on Friday evening last to commemorate and to launch the new recordings of the New Testament.
And we pray that these may be widely used when they become finally fully available to us.
We pray especially that they may be of use in our children's education.
And that they may prove to be valuable materials for the teaching of our young people, the things of God, the teaching of Your truth.
And we ask that they may be a blessing to many in the years to come.
And we pray, O Lord, that Your blessing will be with all Your people this evening.
Once again, we remember fellow Christians in different parts of the world, very different to ours in their circumstances.
But yet we give thanks that You are able to deal with them and bring them the help that they require.
Lord, we thank You that we call upon a God who is the commander of the universe, who has Himself the infinite wisdom and ability to do for us far more abundantly, exceedingly, than we are able to ask or think.
We thank You for the riches of Your grace, for the fullness, Lord, of Your blessing that You keep in store for those who fear You and love You.
And we pray that out of that store this evening, there will be many who will come to be blessed and to be fed from Your truth.
And remember, we pray, those who carry Your Word into different parts of the world and face difficulties and trials beyond what we ourselves can experience.
We ask that You would bless those whom we know ourselves, O Lord, who serve You in this capacity.
We pray that You would grant blessing to Marsalee Campbell as she goes forth shortly to Bolivia to begin help with a new work there.
We ask, O Lord, that You would bless her and keep her and use her.
We thank You for the news that she brought us of that work.
And we pray that You would continue to uphold and strengthen her fault.
And we pray for our own Muriel as well, as she anticipates going back to Cambodia.
Lord, we pray that Your blessing will be with her in her preparations.
We pray that You would grant to her, Lord, as she anticipates with a desire to go back to that work.
And we pray that Your blessing will accompany her in that work itself.
And that all that she does there will know Your continued hand upon her.
And all that she meets with and all that she does, Lord, in Your name, that it will be pleased, O Lord, You will be pleased to grant Your blessing to this.
Lord, we pray for our nation at this time, O Lord, when we find so much in our news about the impending election of a new leader for the SNP and potentially to be the first minister of Scotland.
Lord, we pray that You would guide us as a people in that regard in our prayers, in our concerns, and especially those who have a direct hand in such an election.
We pray for the parliament itself, and we pray that You would grant them wisdom, Lord, to make the right decision.
We pray again for Kate Forbes.
We thank You for her testimony, for the brightness of her witness, for her faithfulness to Your truth and to Your calling of her.
We pray for her, for Your protection of her, for Your strengthening of her, for Your confirmation to her, O Lord.
Not only that she is where You have called her to be, but that You are her God and that she is precious in Your sight.
And we pray that as she seeks to withstand the many different assaults from many angles that have been directed against her in past days.
Lord, make her strong, we pray, in the grace that is in Jesus Christ.
And grant that to Thee witness that she is born and been witnessed to over the different types of media where that is brought to public notice.
O Lord, we pray that that itself will prove to be a blessing and a means by which others will come to think deeply upon that position and relation to You throughout our land.
And will be used by You as an instrument towards reaching into the hearts and minds of people who may be very unfamiliar with the gospel.
And yet know integrity and honesty when they see it.
And we pray, gracious one, for Your blessing to continue to be with her.
Remember all others in our parliament, both here in Westminster as well, who are Your people and who serve You in the ways in which they do.
Lord, we pray that You would keep them faithful.
And we pray that their testimony publicly will be in accordance with Your truth, that You would grant them the grace, Lord, by which they will adhere to Your ways.
And not be brought aside by the subtleties of false teaching, by the subtleties of political pressure or any other way in which they may have these temptations placed before them.
And we ask, O Lord, for Your people in public life everywhere, locally here as well as elsewhere, that they may know Your continued blessing upon them.
And we ask, Lord, in our own community here locally, where we find increasingly a distaste for the gospel,
where we find, O Lord, so few and high prominence in public life locally that are prepared to come to know You and to follow You and to commend You and to commend Your ways,
even to the point of resisting them.
Lord, we ask in Your mercy that You would remember us as a people, that You would restore to us, Lord, a relish for Your Word, for Your day, for Your cause,
for all the things that have prospered as in the past.
And we commit all of this to You and seek Your blessing.
Lord, help us to believe that when we pray to You for these things, that You are a God who hears us and answers our prayer.
Help us not to be surprised or amazed when You show Your hand in those who stand for You publicly,
and do so in a way that unashamedly confesses Christ.
We thank You for Your upholding of us at all times.
Bless now those who can't be with us this evening.
We pray especially for those who are ill, for those in hospital, for those in our care homes.
We pray again for those who have had death in their experience recently in their families.
Bless all these families, we pray, and all who have still the wound of mourning and loss and sorrow in their lives,
though it be many years since their loved ones passed away.
Continue, we pray, to bless them and to comfort them.
Receive our thanks now and pardon us and cleanse us from all our sin.
We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
Let's sing again to God's praise this time.
It's in Psalm 119.
That's in the Scottish Psalter version 119 from verse 129.
Singing that section to 136.
The tune this time is Ayrshire.
Thy statutes, Lord, are wonderful.
My soul them keeps with care.
The entrance of Thy words gives light, makes wise who simple are.
Readings and singings this evening are particularly focused on the Word of God
and the importance of the Word of God to us in our lives privately and publicly.
And so we're following the psalmist here as he expresses to God how precious his Word is to him
as he lives out his life in the presence of those who may well be his enemies.
So we'll sing the section, Thy Statutes, Lord, are wonderful.
Thy Statutes, Lord, are wonderful.
Thy soul and feet will hear.
The angels of Thy Word desire.
May twice decipher I.
My mind, Thy heart, Thy open head,
Have planted earnest me.
While after Thy commandment,
Thy love exceedingly.
Look on me, Lord, and merciful to have and to be true.
As Thy heart, O Lord, are wonderful.
To do to those Thy name who truly are.
O let my first steps in Thy Word arise,
To your life shall order free.
Let no iniquity of shame
No lenient over me.
From man's oppression save Thou need.
So keep Thy laws, Thy will.
Thy faith be gone,
Thy servant shy.
Teach me Thy statutes still.
Rev'ers, O waters, call my night.
They run down when I saw.
Thy wicked men run on its day,
And do not be thy law.
Now let's turn to read God's Word.
We'll find it tonight in the first letter of Kings.
First book of Kings, rather.
The first book of the Kings, chapter 22.
And reading from the beginning.
First Kings, chapter 22.
We'll read the passage down to verse 28.
It's a lengthy passage, but there are important issues in it connected together.
So we'll read these verses 1 to 28.
For three years, Syria and Israel continued without war.
But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.
And the king of Israel said to his servants,
Do you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us?
And we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria.
And he said to Jehoshaphat,
Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead?
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel,
I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel,
Enquire first for the word of the Lord.
Then the king of Israel gathered all the prophets together,
About four hundred men, and said to them,
Shall I go to battle against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?
And he said, Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.
But Jehoshaphat said,
Is there not here another prophet of the Lord, of whom we may inquire?
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat,
There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord,
Micaiah the son of Imla, but I hate him.
For he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.
And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said,
Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
Were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes,
At the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria.
And all the prophets were prophesying before them.
And Zedekiah the son of Hinnana made for himself horns of iron,
And said, Thus says the Lord,
With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.
And all the prophets prophesied so, and said,
Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph.
The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.
And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him,
Behold the words of the prophets with one accord are favourable to the king.
Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favourably.
But Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.
And when he had come to the king, the king said to him,
Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?
And he answered him, Go up and triumph.
The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.
But the king said to him, How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me
Nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?
And he said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.
And the Lord said, These have no master.
Let each return to his home in peace.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat,
Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil?
And Micaiah said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord.
I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him,
And he died on his right hand and on his left.
And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?
And one said one thing, and another said another.
Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, I will entice him.
And the Lord said to him, By what means?
And he said, I will go out, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
And he said, You are to entice him, and you shall succeed.
Go out and do so.
Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets.
The Lord has declared disaster for you.
Then Zedekiah the son of Hinnana came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, How did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?
And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
And the king of Israel said, Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Ammon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son.
And say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in prison, and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.
And Micaiah said, If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.
And he said, Hear, all you peoples.
May the Lord bless to us that portion of his word.
Let's sing again in Psalm 37 this time.
Psalm 37, and that's on page 252.
The tune this time is rest.
We'll sing verses 1 to 7.
Amen.
For evildoers, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
Now do thou envy bear to those that work in equity.
For even like unto the grass soon be cut down shall they.
And like the green and tender herb, they wither shall away.
Set thou thy trust upon the Lord.
And be thou doing good, and so thou in the land shalt dwell, and verily have food.
We'll sing six stanzas to the end of the verse mark seven.
For evildoers, fret thou not.
For evildoers, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
Nor do thou ever spread thou not thyself unquietly.
Nor do thou envy bear to those that work in equity.
For evildoers, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
Nor beindoers, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
For evildoers, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
By the wobbles, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
For evildoers, fret thou not thyself unquietly.
For evildoers, fret thou not
darn theirирÍs unquietly.
榮 whether oub Taste thy biennospietly.
wither shall away.
Set thou thy trust upon the Lord,
and be thou doing good.
And so thou in the land shalt dwell,
and many have lain.
Be like thyself, then God he'll give,
thine heart's desire to lead.
Thy way to God, go with interest,
it bring to us shall be.
And thy come to the light,
he shall thy righteous death display.
And he thy judgment shall bring forth,
like noontide all the day.
Rest in the Lord, not patiently,
wait for him, do not pray.
For they who cross drink in his way,
such that sin sin shall be.
Amen.
Well, turn with me now, please,
to 1 Kings chapter 22.
We're going to look at certain aspects of this passage.
We can focus our mind on verse 8,
and then see how other aspects of the chapter relate to that.
So, 1 Kings 22, as we read in verse 8,
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat,
There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord,
Micaiah the son of Imla, but I hate him.
For he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.
I'm taking a sidestep tonight from our series in 1 Corinthians 15.
It's really in relation to the things that have been happening in our own nation over the last week or so.
Just to look at these things, hopefully, in the light of this passage,
in the light of Scripture,
and to let the Word of God shine upon these events,
which I think is always wise for us and good for us to do.
We'll come back to 1 Corinthians 15, God willing,
next time we come together in the evening.
Well, this was an alliance doomed to failure, wasn't it?
This was never going to work,
because here is an alliance between the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat,
a good man with some failures, as we all have,
a man who was by and large obedient to God and serving of God,
but yet here made a very near fatal mistake for himself.
He very nearly got killed as a result, if you read down to the end of the chapter.
And here he is himself coming to ally himself
with one of the worst kings ever in the history of Israel.
At this time, the two nations, Judah and Israel, are often at war.
But here is the king Ahab,
and you notice in, go back just to chapter 21 and verse 25,
you find a description there of Ahab in a summary fashion.
There was none like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord,
whom Jezebel, his wife, incited.
He acted very abominably in going after idols,
as the Amorites had done,
whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.
Here was a wicked man, an evil man,
a man who was opposed to God,
a man who was opposed to God's people,
a king who hated God,
who hated the truth as God gave it to him
whenever he heard it through faithful prophets,
which was seldom.
Although, of course, we remember Elijah
as well at this particular time in history.
Well, this was an alliance
that really was bound
to failure from the very start.
Because what's happening here is that
Jehoshaphat is really putting his politics
above his piety.
He's putting his political situation
before his own faithfulness to God.
Not the first time it happened.
Certainly wasn't the last time it happened,
and it still happens.
Putting his politics
before his piety.
Putting his own political career
before his relationship to God
and to the truth of God.
And that's what you find
happening in our own land as well.
But there are, of course,
exceptions, very prominently.
The exception of Kate Forbes at this time.
I don't want to focus too much on her at all,
but nevertheless, it's important
that we see what's taking place
and give our support to those
who are standing for God's cause.
And one of the reasons we admire Kate Forbes
is by the grace of God.
She's come to say, for example,
she said when she was questioned
about her view of same-sex marriage,
her view of other issues
in that ethical sphere,
and she said,
politics will pass.
Politics will pass.
I was a human being
before I was a politician.
And she meant by that, I think,
that whenever her political career is over,
it's not going to change anything
in terms of her relationship with God.
Politics will pass.
And whatever political persuasion we're of,
that's going to be the case.
We're never to put our politics
above our piety,
above our principles,
above our relationship with God.
And it's important in all ages
and for all age groups
that our personal morality
is the morality of the Bible.
I say to the young folks here tonight,
you're ethical,
you're moral standing,
you're the quality of your life
as you want to live it out
and as you're growing up in the world.
Make sure that it's the morality of the Bible.
Don't be taken in by
the kind of stuff you're listening to these days
that you hear so often,
that the Bible is completely irrelevant
and outmoded
and old-fashioned for these days,
for 2023.
The Bible has always been
directly relevant
for every age of the world,
and it will be so to the end of the world.
And so, that's why we're saying to you,
young people,
that the Bible continues to be so
centrally and foundationally
important to your life.
And if you give in to
the kind of pressure that you get,
maybe from some of your own age group,
it's not going to be a good thing for yourself
or for the age group that you live in.
God has given you the advantage
of being brought up in the church,
in a church that believes the Bible,
a church that values the Bible,
a church that holds out the Bible
as the Word of God.
And it's an appeal to you all tonight,
as we do at all times.
Please take the Bible seriously.
Please have the Bible
as the foundation of your life
morally and spiritually,
because that's really what this passage
is telling us about.
Micaiah, as we'll see,
he was not prepared
to turn aside from his obedience to God
despite the pressures
that were brought to bear upon him.
So, we're looking at two things.
First of all, we're looking at
Ahab and his advisors.
He had 400 of them,
at least 400 prophets,
Ahab and his advisors.
And then secondly,
we're looking at Micaiah and his God.
Because it comes across in this passage
as somebody who's standing on his own
against Ahab and his advisors,
and yet Micaiah has God on his side.
And as one of the Reformers once said,
if you have God on your side,
you're always in the majority,
however many people are against you.
The important thing is to have God
as your support and on your side.
That's what Micaiah really is
in the chapter before us.
He's a man who's standing
very much on his own
against the pressures
of Ahab and his advisors,
yet he continues to speak the truth
as he knows it from God.
So, Ahab and his advisors,
you see what's happening here,
the context is given us
as we look at Ahab and his advisors.
Verses 1 to 6,
and there's verse 3.
The king of Israel said to his servants,
Do you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to me,
to us, and we keep quiet
and do not take it out of the hand
of the king of Assyria?
He said to Jehovah,
Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead?
In other words, he's saying,
This land, this particular area of Syria,
Ramoth Gilead,
actually belongs to us.
And I want to take it back into our possession.
So will you join me in trying to do that?
Will you go with me to battle there,
to get this back under our control?
There's very much aspects of that
that remind you of what's happening in Ukraine,
what's happening with Putin.
He's been a kind of an Old Testament,
Putin at that stage.
He wants this territory for himself,
and he wants others to join with him
as far as possible
to bring it back under his control.
And that's why he's asking the king of Judah,
Jehoshaphat,
Will you join me in this?
Will you come to join me?
If you go to the equivalent passage
in 2 Chronicles chapter 18,
it uses an interesting word
that the king, Jehoshaphat,
was induced or enticed
into this relationship,
into this alliance.
And that's an important word.
He was taken in.
He was taken aside.
And that passage in 2 Chronicles 18
tells us that Ahab put on a great show.
He made a great party.
He really entertained Jehoshaphat,
and he fell for it.
He fell into the trap.
And so Ahab here calls his 400 prophets
because Jehoshaphat in verse 8 there,
Jehoshaphat is a little bit uneasy
about just going along with Ahab's word.
He's saying,
well, first of all,
let's inquire for the Lord.
Let's get a word from the Lord
just to make this sure.
I'd like to know what the Lord thinks about this.
And of course, in those days,
that was largely through prophets.
So Ahab called his prophets.
He gathered together the prophets,
about 400 men,
and he said to them,
shall I go to battle against Ramoth Gilead
or shall I refrain?
And they said,
go up,
for the Lord will give it
into the hand of the king.
He had an instant response
on the part of the prophets.
They say, yes, do this.
Come on, go up.
Of course you're going to win.
You're going to take it back.
The problem for Ahab is
his prophets are false prophets.
His prophets don't know the Lord.
His prophets are prophets
that tell the king
what he wants to hear.
They're in his employ.
They're in his payment.
They actually are concerned
only to give out something
that will gratify the king.
Whether they're afraid of him or not,
we don't know.
But that's what they're there for,
the 400 of them.
They're all concerted together,
and all they want to do
is please Ahab.
And they just give him things
which they know he wants to hear.
It's not new there either,
is there?
Nothing new there either.
That's the situation
as it's described there.
They are false prophets.
Now you know that
throughout the Old Testament
and indeed into the New Testament,
you have this constant tension
between the false prophets
and the true prophets of the Lord
or the true apostles of the Lord.
And when you go to
the book of Jeremiah, for example,
more than any other book in the Bible,
I think he speaks about
the false prophets.
And the false prophets
are saying to the people
of Jeremiah's day,
peace, peace.
Listen to what we're saying.
This is what the guarantee of peace is.
Never mind the likes of Jeremiah.
Never mind this man
that's so attached
to the word of the Lord.
We'll give you our opinion,
and our opinion is the one
you need to really take.
If you really are serious about peace,
listen to what we're saying.
Of course, Jeremiah knew.
They were talking falsehood.
They didn't know the mind of the Lord.
And so,
these 400 prophets,
here they are,
they come to Ahab
and they say to him,
go up.
You're going to be successful.
Why should you hold back?
Just do it.
But,
Jehoshaphat's still not
very easy in his mind,
is he?
Because he says,
is there not
another prophet,
someone else here,
a prophet of the Lord,
of whom we may inquire?
He knows
the kind of man
that Ahab is,
and yet he's still
prepared to go into
an alliance with him.
And so,
he comes and says,
is there anybody else here
that can give us
the word of the Lord
just to offset it
against these 400?
And of course,
Ahab comes and says,
yes,
there is.
There is one man here
by whom we may inquire,
Micaiah,
the son of Imlah,
but I hate him,
for he never prophesies
good concerning me,
only evil.
And you see,
what's happening
in Ahab's mind
is that he's really,
he's putting truth
and error
the wrong way around.
What he's actually doing
is for Ahab,
as you find him here
speaking about
this Micaiah,
he doesn't like Micaiah
because Micaiah
always speaks to him
in the name of the Lord,
the truth of the Lord.
And Ahab hates the truth.
The last thing Ahab wants
is the truth of God.
It's fine on the surface
saying,
yes,
I want to know the Lord
and His will
and I want my prophets
to actually give me
the word of the Lord,
but it's the word
that he wants to hear.
It's the word
that will please him.
He's very unhappy about it.
He's scathing about it
if somebody comes to him
with a word from the Lord
that's actually the truth.
So that brings you
to see Micaiah
and his God.
That's the situation
in which Micaiah
is placed.
That's Ahab
and his advisors,
but look at Micaiah
and his God.
Now,
Micaiah only appears
in this chapter
and in the equivalent chapter
in 2 Chronicles.
The only time
it's mentioned
in the Bible.
And there's a point
made by that itself
and it's this,
that although he's not
prominent like Elijah
or Elisha
or Moses
or somebody like that
who is demonstrably
and publicly powerful
in the name of the Lord,
yet Micaiah here,
as he stands for the Lord,
is doing just as important
at work in many respects
as the ones
who are prominent
in the ways of the Lord.
And it reminds you
and I ourselves,
even if we say,
well, I can't do
the kind of things
that other people
are doing for the Lord.
I don't have the gifts
that other people have
that are more public,
that are actually
obviously more to the front,
to the forefront
of the cause of Christ.
I'm not like that.
The Lord is saying,
I don't want you
to be like that.
What I'm saying is,
what he's saying to you is,
whatever he has given you
to use, use it.
Whether it's prominent or not.
Here's a man
who's faithful to the Lord,
facing all of these pressures.
He's not really
a man who's given
to being in the public eye,
it seems,
from this passage.
And yet,
here he is,
presenting the will of God
to 400
of Ahab's prophets
and to Ahab himself.
Now, you don't have to be,
you don't have to be prominent.
You don't have to be
to the fore publicly.
Wherever God
has placed you in life,
that's where you serve him.
Whatever your view is
of how he has endowed you
or otherwise,
or how you compare
with other people
or otherwise,
what the Lord
is calling for you to do
is to use
what he's given you,
where he's placed you,
and to do that
in dependence upon himself.
And you can see Ahab's
hatred of the truth,
as we're seeing here,
Micaiah and his God.
But then, you see,
as the narrative moves on,
this is what Ahab says,
I hate him,
for he never prophesies
good concerning me,
but evil.
And you see,
what Ahab is doing is
he's calling good
what pleases himself.
And he's calling
what is a word from the Lord
through the likes of Micaiah
as evil.
He's turned his own world
upside down
because he is so much
against God
and in favor of just hearing
something that flatters himself.
And you know,
that's still the truth.
That's still true
of the world
in which we live.
How many times
over the last week
have you read something,
whether on Twitter,
Facebook,
news reports,
or whatever,
wherever you've seen it,
but you've seen
more than once,
I'm sure.
The idea,
the statement,
something like,
here is someone
who believes
the Bible literally,
something that's not fit
for this century,
something that's not fit
for 2023.
How can anyone
who actually believes
these things
be thought of
as a suitable leader
of a country
in this day and age?
Well,
Micaiah faced that.
Micaiah faced
that same philosophy.
Micaiah faced
the same thing
as he faced
Ahab and these
false prophets
who would say,
no,
your version of
the word of the Lord,
that's completely outdated.
What we want
is people
who are actually
progressive.
People are progressive
and don't actually
have that old-fashioned way,
this is what the Lord
is saying,
this is the word
of the Lord.
You see,
Ahab
really calls
good
what pleases himself.
That's what's suitable.
That's what fits
with the society he wants.
That's what really
is so much different
to the likes of Micaiah.
And what Micaiah says to him,
oh, that's evil.
That's not good.
That's bad.
Don't want to hear that.
That's not suitable.
That's not relevant.
That doesn't fit
the situation at all.
Put that behind you.
Give me something
that's up to date.
Something that pleases myself.
Something that flatters
my human ingenuity.
And that's Ahab's
hatred of the truth.
And that's
countered by
Micaiah's love
of the truth.
There's an attempt,
you see,
in,
incidentally,
Micaiah's name
actually means
who is like
the Lord.
Who's like
Yahweh or Jehovah.
That's interesting
that that's the meaning
of his Hebrew name
Micaiah.
Who is like
the Lord?
And, you know,
if people were really
taking account
of names in those days
as they often did,
here is Ahab
knowing who Micaiah is
and what he stands for.
And there before him
in the very person
and the name of Micaiah
is this great question
that he should really
be facing.
Who is like
the Lord?
And that comes
across to ourselves,
doesn't it?
Who is like
the Lord?
That's what we're
standing for.
The uniqueness,
the greatness,
the glory of this
God we worship
unlike any other,
superior to any other,
above everyone else,
and alone worthy
of our worship.
Well, here is
a first attempt,
you see,
in verse 9,
if you read these verses
from verse 9,
Jehoshaphat said,
let not the king see.
So then the king of Israel
summoned an officer
and said,
bring quickly Micaiah,
the son of Imlah.
So he's going to send
a messenger
to get Micaiah
wherever he is
to come to where the king
and where Jehoshaphat are.
But meantime,
what does he do?
What does Ahab do?
Well, he calls
these prophets
of the Lord.
They were sitting,
these kings,
two of them
were sitting on their thrones,
arrayed in their robes,
very grand.
And then this man,
Zedekiah,
one of the false prophets,
the son of Hananah,
he made for himself
horns of iron.
And he said,
thus says the Lord,
with these you shall
push the Syrians
until they are destroyed.
And all the prophets
prophesied so.
They said the same thing
and said,
go up to Ramoth,
Gilead,
and triumph,
the Lord will give it
into the hand of the king.
See what's happening?
They're trying to actually
put on such a show
and such a persuasive show,
such a thing for Jehoshaphat
that will persuade him
and really bring his mind
to be confirmed that,
yes, these people
are telling you the truth.
You see,
they want to do it
before Micaiah comes.
Because when Micaiah comes,
Ahab knows full well
he's not going to go along
with us.
He's not going to go along
with us,
Sharad, at all.
And so he wants,
as far as possible,
that Jehoshaphat
will be convinced
what Ahab is doing
is a good thing.
What these prophets
are saying
is really the truth
from God.
And he wants to persuade
Jehoshaphat,
you can easily,
you can very readily
go along with this.
It's fine.
Everything's okay.
This is the way to go.
And that's why
he has this performance.
And you know,
that's what's really serious.
We know that
the truth of God
will always be opposed
by what is not true,
by false teaching,
by heresy,
by what is completely
at odds with the Word of God.
We know that
that's what's going to happen.
We know that
that's what's happening now.
We know it happens
in every generation
to some extent.
But what you find here
is a step further than that.
The serious thing is
that truth is now,
the false rather,
is now seeing itself
as being the true.
These people
look to be themselves.
Perhaps they are
just convinced.
That's what happens,
you see,
when you give yourself
over to the lie,
when you give yourself
over to be swallowed up
by the heresy
that you yourself
are promoting.
Eventually,
you come to believe it.
And eventually,
you come to believe
that this is in fact
the truth.
That this is really superior
to anything the likes
of Micaiah is saying.
And here are these
400 people
going through this performance
headed up by
Zedekiah,
the son of Henanah.
And there is the lie.
There is the falseness.
There is the heresy
parading itself
as the truth,
believing itself
to be the truth.
And that's when
it gets really serious.
Because that's what
we're facing
in our generation.
We're not just
aware of a clash
between that
which is false
and that which is true.
We're aware of
the false
passing itself off
as the true.
We're aware of
church people
being taken in
by the false
because they've come
to believe
that it's the true.
And it doesn't matter
whether they're moderators
or bishops
or archbishops
or priests
or ministers
whatever they are.
Once you start believing
that the false
is the true
you have a real crisis.
And you have a crisis
because
people are going
to follow that
because it's a lot easier
than to stand
where Micaiah is standing
and actually say
no this is the truth.
This is what God
is saying.
That's where
it's a challenge.
That's where
it's difficult.
That's where
you really need
the grace of God
to steal you.
And especially
when you're outnumbered
400 to 1.
And that's why
Paul wrote
as he did
to the likes
of Galatians.
Listen to what he says
in the first chapter
verses 6 to 10.
I am astonished
that you are
so quickly
deserting him
who called you
in the grace
of Christ
and are turning
to a different gospel.
Not that there is
another one
but there are some
who trouble you
and want to
distort the gospel
of Christ.
But even if we
or an angel
from heaven
should preach
to you
a gospel
contrary to the one
we preached to you
let him be
accursed.
As we have said
before
so now I say
if anyone
is preaching
to you
a gospel
contrary to the one
you received
let him be
accursed.
As strong
words as even
an apostle
could write.
Why?
Why is he so vehement?
Why is he using
such language?
Because he knows
that something
is happening
that's going
to destroy
the gospel.
That's going
to get people's
minds to think
that the false
is actually
the true.
When you go
through the
the New Testament
you'll find
that the
second last
book of
the Bible
the book
of Jude
very short
book
but a very
important
dynamic book
in its own
right
and Jude
tells those
who are
receiving his
letter
as to
why he's
chosen
to actually
write
in the way
he does.
I meant
to write
to you
he said
about
a common
salvation.
You're going
to write
something
of a treatise
whether it
be justification
or whatever
but he said
I found
it necessary
to write
to appeal
to you
to contend
for the
faith
that was
once for
all delivered
to the saints
for certain
people have
crept in
unnoticed
who were
already designated
for this
condemnation
ungodly
people
who pervert
the grace
of our God
into sensuality
that's right
up to date
isn't it?
Who pervert
the grace
of God
into sensuality
and deny
our only
master
and lord
Jesus
Christ?
And that's
you see
what's happened
it's come
from within
when the
people of the
church
when the
ministers
of the
church
when the
bishops
of the
church
when they
actually
come to
believe
the false
to be
the true
this is
what happens
it spreads
like a poison
and it
weakens
the cause
and it
becomes
totally
ineffective
of changing
people's
lives
I remember
one time
when I was
doing agriculture
and my
father said
when you
go back
to the
college
this was
on holiday
and he
said
ask one
of the
folk
in the
college
of agriculture
they ask
them
if they
know
what's
happening
to the
potato
plants
because
there's
a little
worm
that's
been
growing up
inside
the
potato
stalks
and it
kills
off
the
plant
and see
if you
can find
out
what
that
is
so I
went
and asked
one of
the
lecturers
what this
was
and he
said
I know
what that
is
that's
the
rosy
rustic
moth
and when
it lays
its eggs
and develops
into a
larvae
the larvae
of the
rosy
rustic
moth
it burrows
inside
the
potato
stem
it works
its way
it eats
its way
up the
inside
of the
stem
and eventually
of course
the plant
dies
there's no
growth
so there's
no
product
that's
what false
teaching
does
it doesn't
come out
unashamedly
and say
look at me
I'm false
teaching
it's like
the rosy
rustic
larvae
it gets
inside
and it
starts
eating
from within
and before
you know it
the plant
is beginning
to die
and if
it's not
changed
it will
die
and here
is
the first
attempt
to take
Micaiah
aside
to take
him out
of the
equation
to knock
out what
he's going
to say
but of
course
the next
attempt
is the
man who
went to
fetch
Micaiah
in verse
15
this is
what
you read
there
in verse
15
here's
the man
who went
to
Micaiah
when he'd
come to
the king
he said
to
this man
who was
sent as a
messenger
to win
Micaiah
over
he said
to him
now all
of these
prophets
of the
Lord
all these
prophets
have said
the one
thing
and
I want
you
you should
really
just
comply
with
that
all
of
these
prophets
have said
favorable
to the
king
in verse
13
behold
the words
of the
prophets
with one
accord
are
favorable
to the
king
let
your
word
be
like
the
word
of
one
of
them
and
speak
favorably
you can
just
always
picture
that
you can
always
picture
this
man
coming
to
Micaiah
and
really
putting
his
arm
around
him
on
his
shoulder
and
saying
now
look
Micaiah
all
of
these
the
400
of
them
unanimously
have
come
to
speak
favorably
to
the
king
why
should
you
be
a
fool
and
go
differently
why
should
you
say
something
different
to
them
what's
the
point
of
making
trouble
for
yourself
and
danger
for
yourself
just
actually
go along
with what
they're
saying
for the
moment
you can
keep
your own
views
to
yourself
you can
believe
what you
do
believe
you can
go on
believing
what you
want to
believe
but just
keep it
quiet
for the
moment
will
you
he's
trying to
actually
bring him
alongside
so that
he won't
be a
troublemaker
but he
meets
as much
as the
Lord
lives
what the
Lord
says to
me
that
will
I
speak
what
the
Lord
says
to
me
that
will
I
speak
and
that's
what
we're
committed
to
it
doesn't
matter
whether
we
in
pulpits
or
whether
we're
serving
the
Lord
in
whatever
way
we're
serving
him
whatever
we
have
as a
privilege
of
upholding
the
truth
of
God
when
the
world
comes
and
says
look
just
go
along
with
this
why
do
not
fall
in
with
the
majority
surely
they
can't
all
be
wrong
these
400
and
you
as
one
person
you're
going
to
stand
surely
you're
not
going
to
say
I'm
actually
of
Lord
that
I
believe
it
doesn't
matter
what
anybody
tells
me
this
is
where
I
stand
this
is
what
I'm
going
to
stand
for
and
that's
what
Kate
Forbes
is
doing
in
her
own
sphere
of
serving
God
where
she
is
that's
why
it's
difficult
that's
why
it's
difficult
for
Micaiah
he's
facing
the
prospect
as
it
turned
out
indeed
he's
facing
the
prospect
of
imprisonment
which
is
what
happened
he knows
he's
going
to
face
real
difficulty
if he
stands
up
and
says
this
but
he
did
and
the
attempt
failed
to
take
him
aside
and
there's
his
answer
in
verse
14
as
we
said
as
the
Lord
lives
what
the
Lord
has
said
that
I
will
speak
that
I
will
speak
what
is
it
that
gives
a
person
to
be
loyal
to
the
truth
of
God
well
in
a
word
it's
love
for
God
if
you
love
God
you
will
love
his
truth
if
you
love
the
Lord
you
will
stand
up
for
his
truth
if
you
love
the
Lord
you
will
not
give
away
his
truth
for
a
mess
of
pottage
for
political
whatever
advantage
but
this
is
the
new
tolerance
you
see
this
is
the
new
type
of
tolerance
we
are
told
is
what
we
need
to
follow
in
our
generation
you
accept
all
moral
positions
as
equals
that's
a new
way
relatively
new
way
of
looking
at
tolerance
because
tolerance
in the
old
sense
of the
word
tolerance
was
I
have
all
these
different
views
confronting
me
I
have
my
own
belief
I
have
my
own
view
but
tolerance
means
I'm
allowed
to
keep
that
view
without
actually
having
to
say
that
every
other
single
view
is
of
equal
validity
but
here
we
are
seeing
in
our
nation
some
people
actually
saying
here
is
a
woman
who
does
not
actually
believe
that
same
sex
marriage
is
the
right
thing
for
human
relationships
here
is
a
woman
who
says
that
she
doesn't
believe
that
females
ought to
be
ordained
to
office
in
the
church
here
is
a
woman
who
confines
herself
to
the
ethics
of
the
Bible
and
you
know
this
is
then
the
reaction
of
the
world
of
most
of
the
world
the
reaction
is
well
that
person
isn't
fit
to
lead
a
nation
if
she
doesn't
accept
every
point
of
view
of
equal
validity
ignorance
that's
tyranny
if I
have
every
single
view
set
before
me
that
people
think
and
if
I'm
told
you
know
the
only
way
that
we
can
accept
you
as
a
leader
in
political
life
is
if
you
say
of
all
of
these
views
whether
it's
on
marriage
or
human
relationship
or
whatever
if
you
actually
come
to
say
I
accept
that
they
are
all
equally
valid
that's
tyranny
that's
not
liberty
of
conscience
that's
not
freedom
at
all
I'm
reading
through
a book
just
now
which
by
Don
Carson
has
the
interesting
title
of
the
intolerance
of
tolerance
and
this
is
really
where
I
found
that
definition
or
rather
this
kind
of
idea
that
tolerance
has
changed
in
meaning
from
the
way
that
it
used
to
be
in
the
older
days
and
Carson
writes
about
one
of
the
most
central
myths
of
our
time
and
he
explains
that
he
says
according
to
this
myth
a
society
is
likely
to
be
most
tolerant
if
it
holds
to
flexible
non
dogmatic
notions
of
truth
conversely
a
society
is
likely
to
be
most
intolerant
this
is
a
myth
he
say
one
of
the
central
myths
of
our
time
conversely
he says
society
is likely
to be
most
intolerant
when it
holds to
absolute
truths
such as
the bible
which is
absolute
truth
truths that
are inflexible
and unbending
but he says
the reality
of the
situation
is just
the opposite
of what
we have
been led
to believe
put simply
tyranny
is not
the inevitable
outcome
of an
absolutist
view of
truth
but is
rather
the product
of
relativism
although
views
count
the same
likewise
tolerance
arises
not
from
relativism
but from
the very
thing that
our society
anathematizes
the belief
in
absolutes
the belief
in
absolutes
God
God's
truth
God's
law
word
the
old
tolerance
he goes
on to
say
is the
willingness
to put
up with
to allow
and to
endure
people
with ideas
and ideas
with whom
we disagree
the new
tolerance
is the
social
commitment
to treat
all ideas
and people
as equally
right
except for
those who
disagree
with this
view of
tolerance
and that's
the world
that Kate
Forbes is
facing
that's the
world in
which she
has to
present
consistency
to absolute
truth
that's why
she needs
our prayers
our support
our ongoing
encouragement
of it
whatever the
outcome
of the
election
is
she's in
the public
domain
public view
and public
target
now
and will
be
from
now
on
but let's
not fool
ourselves
time has
passed
I'm going
to finish
with this
my
Kai
I knew
one thing
that Ahab
didn't
and you know
it makes
all the
difference
in the
world
to a
human
being
and it's
this
my
Kai
I knew
that
whatever
outcomes
may be
in
anyone's
life
or in
anyone's
progress
in life
God
is in
charge
and if
God
has
actually
determined
something
if God
has
purposed
something
to come
to pass
that
will
come
to pass
whatever
attempts
are made
against it
and if
God
has
determined
or
purposed
or willed
something
will not
come to
pass
whatever
attempts
are made
to bring
it to
pass
they
will
fail
my
Kai
I knew
that
Kate Forbes
knows
that
she's
committed
to the
God
who is
governor
over all
things
in all
of human
life
and so
must we
be
and we
must not
forget
that what
really
lies behind
all of
this very
much is
similar to
indeed what
the Lord
prayed in
his prayer
in the
upper
Roman
John
17
and this
is what
the Lord
said
and this
is what
really
in many
ways a
key to
it all
to what
you're
seeing
happening
at the
present
time
and indeed
a key
to similar
things down
through the
ages
well here
is what
the Lord
said in
John 17
and at
verse 14
I have
given them
your word
and the
world has
hated them
because they
are not of
the world
just as I
am not of
the world
I do not
ask that you
take them
out of the
world
but that you
keep them
from the
evil one
they are not
of the world
just as I
am not of
the world
sanctify them
in the
truth
your word
is
truth
I have
given them
your word
therefore the
world hates
them
because they
are not of
the world
just as I
am not of
the world
and the
interesting and
important thing
is when the
Lord went
on in his
prayer
he didn't
ask that the
Lord would
take them
out in fact
he specifically
said I do
not pray that
you would
take them
out of the
world
why did he
pray that
he would
not take
them out
of the
world
should that
be easier
for them
yes of
course it
would
but they
are his
lights
in the
world
they are
the
conscience
of the
world
and the
Lord is
not going
to remove
the conscience
of the
world
just because
it's being
attacked
I don't
pray I
pray that
you would
don't pray
that you
would take
them out
of the
world
but that
you would
keep
them
from the
evil
one
that you
would
shield
them
and guard
them
against
the evil
that faces
them
that's our
prayer
for
ourselves
that's our
prayer for
Kate
that's our
prayer for
all who
stand publicly
and seek to
be true to
God
and that's what
this passage
itself is
setting out
if you want a
heading for our
study this
evening
it's what I've
given you
on the
bulletin sheet
hated
for speaking
the truth
may God bless
these thoughts
on his word
to us
we'll now
conclude by
singing
from Psalm
25
Psalm 25
that's on
page 30
the tune
this time
is Finart
singing
from verse
16 to the
end of the
psalm
turn to me
Lord
show me
your grace
I suffer
pain and
loneliness
the troubles
of my heart
have grown
deliver me
from my
distress
look on my
pain and
suffering
forgive all
my iniquity
see how my
foes have
multiplied
how fierce
their hatred
is for me
and so on
to the end
of the psalm
to God's
praise
turn to
me
Lord
show me
your grace
I suffer
pain and
lonely
care
that
all
my
heart
have grown
deliver me
from my
distress
rest
look on
my
pain
and
suffering
forgive
all
my
iniquity
see how
thy
holds
the
mountain
defied
how fierce
their hatred
is for me
O God
my life
and rescue
thee
and let
me not
be good
to share
for thy
take refuge
in you
Lord
from those
who
destroy
my name
because
I hope
in you
alone
let
our
right
best
protect
me
still
from
all
their
troubles
of
thy
God
redeem
your
people
Israel
I'll go
to the
main door
after the
benediction
now may
grace
mercy
and peace
from God
the Father
the Son
and the Holy
Spirit
be with us
now and
evermore
Amen
amen
and
to
my
love
you