Volume 47, No. 7
1 Kings 22:1-40 txt 19-25-29-34
Sermon prepared by Rev. John G. Groen of Burlington, Ontario.
Proposed Order of Service
Call to Worship: Let us worship the Lord in Spirit
and in truth.
Silent Prayer
Greeting: The Lord greets us and He wants us to
open our hearts and receive from Him His grace, His mercy, and His
peace.
Hymn of praise: # 432 “For the Beauty of the Earth”
Prayer of Confession
Hymn of Assurance: # 169 “I Will Sing of the Mercy”
Guide for Thankful Living: Romans 12: 12
Hymn of response: # 291 “May the Mind of Christ my Saviour”
Prayer for Understanding
Scripture: 1 Kings 22: 1-40; text vss. 19-25, 29-34.
Sermon: "God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility"
Hymns of response:# 288:1,4,5 “Take my Life and Let it Be”
# 434 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”
Congregational Prayer
Offering
Doxology #319 “Saviour Again to Your Dear Name We Raise”
Blessing
Sermon
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
In our Scripture reading we were given a clear illustration of
God's sovereignty in ruling His world, His people, and here king
Ahab while maintaining at the same time man's responsibility and
choice. We often struggle in our mind with that combination. Let
me give you some illustrations of what we are speaking about.
We read in the book of Exodus that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's
heart so that he would not let the people of Israel leave Egypt.
Well, we say, there it is: poor Pharaoh. He could not help being
so stubborn because the Lord hardened his heart.
Or, when in our mind we go back to Adam in Paradise, we reason
that his fall into sin must have been in God's plan, therefore poor
Adam and poor all of us.
Some young people have so much trouble with these questions that
they have a hard time making profession of faith. And sometimes
we can hear even mature members of the church say that our prayers
really do not change anything because God has already planned all
things in advance. These examples show that we need the Lord's clear
light so that we get rid of these errors. Our chapter gives us that
light with great clarity for our instruction. In this way we receive
rest for our mind and we stop being agitated by these critical questions.
So we speak on GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY AND HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY as illustrated
in the life of Ahab and also of Jehoshaphat
1. God's Sovereignty.
2. Man's responsibility.
3. The outcome.
1. God's sovereignty
Shall we go to Ramoth Gilead and take it back from Syrian control
or not? That was the question the two kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat
had to decide. Having heard what the 400 false prophets of Baal
said, godly king Jehoshaphat of Judah inquired whether there was
a true prophet of the Lord who could be trusted to speak for the
real God of Israel. So there comes Micaiah. He has seen the Lord
in His council, surrounded by angels. The Lord had said–and
this shows the divine sovereignty side at work in the following
events –“Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth
Gilead and going to his death there?” We see it: for the Lord
the measure of sin committed by Ahab was full. The murder of innocent
Naboth just to get his vineyard had tipped the scale. Enough!!!
The Lord said, “Enough!” It's time for Ahab's death
and it must happen when he goes to battle to recapture Ramoth
in the Israeli district of Gilead. So the Lord in His council raises
the question to His angels ( good and bad ones) of how to make Ahab
go there. After some back and forth talk a spirit says to the Lord,
“I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his 400
prophets.” And the Lord responds, “Go and do it
for you will succeed.” The Lord could say that because He
knows exactly what lives in each human heart; in the hearts of these
400 and in Ahab's too.
So here we see God's sovereignty at work. He has His plans and
decrees for nations kings and rulers also today. Our Lord Jesus
is at the Father's side and all authority has been given to Him
for the good of us, the church, the believers, you and me who confess
Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Yes Our Lord is the totally sovereign
Lord also today.
2. Man's responsibility
Does this reality make people like Ahab then and us today into robots?
Was Ahab just a piece on God’s chessboard? Are people just
moved around by a despotic God? The answer is, “Absolutely
not.” Look carefully at our Scripture passage.
Ahab and Jehoshaphat have heard the Word of the Lord. They have
heard Micaiah say clearly that the Lord has sent a lying spirit
in the mouth of your prophets. These 400 are deceiving you. Therefore
Ahab, be aware that if you go to Ramoth Gilead you will get killed.
Be aware that I saw in my vision the people of Israel scattered
as sheep on the hills, sheep without a shepherd-king. Therefore
I warn you, king Ahab not to go there and through me the Lord warns
you and says not to go.
What more could be said brothers and sisters? The message was
totally clear. Now the ball was in Ahab's court to respond; which
means that he now was fully responsible. And dear friends that's
how today the Lord deals with us too. He speaks to us in the Bible,
His Word; as believers He warns us by the promptings of His Spirit
within us. We are responsible. Unbelievers also are responsible.
God speaks to them in the events of nature and of history. Like
Ahab kings and leaders today must make choices. There is a wide
road that leads to destruction and there is a narrow path on which
we listen to God and follow Jesus that leads to life. In the Bible
the Lord clearly reveals to us that there is a deceiver satan who
is out to destroy us and the evidences of this destruction are all
around us to see. God proclaims, “Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and you will be saved. There is no other name under heaven
by which you can be saved.' And this is the Word of the Lord. Now
people are responsible to listen and make the right decision.
Look now in our text to what people do– Ahab, and even godly
king Jehoshaphat. They decide to go into battle anyway! Imagine!
Completely forewarned by God Himself, they go to war. And so they
walk into the trap set up by that deceiving spirit with their eyes
wide open. Unbelievable!! And this happens every day, all the time,
in people's lives. When Ahab comes to stand before the Lord He will
ask him, “What did you do with the warning words I spoke to
you through Micaiah?” Many people will hear very similar questions
put to them by the Lord.
3. The outcome
No smart answers will help. Look at Ahab. When he went into battle
he disguised himself. To his friend Jehoshaphat he suggested to
go into battle in full regalia (so that the Syrian soldiers would
pick at the wrong king– the one of Judah). But Ahab himself,
having full well heard God's warning, puts on an ordinary soldier's
uniform. Had he never heard the warning!! He tried to outsmart God!
But now look at what happened. God's sovereign plan is in full force!
It comes about in a triple way. Look at it carefully. First. The
Syrian king had commanded his soldiers to go after king Ahab only,
and after nobody else; so when they found out that Jehoshaphat was
the wrong king, they stopped pursuing him. Second. An unnamed Syrian
soldier drew his bow and shot an arrow at random, not at all aiming
at Ahab, and that arrow hit the king. Third. This arrow struck the
king in the only spot through which he could be mortally wounded,
namely between the sections of his armour, just a narrow space that
opens up when the arm is lifted. Dead on!! Indeed the deadly arrow
struck the king. Mortally wounded he was taken out of battle. The
Israelite soldiers like sheep without a shepherd, fled. And Ahab's
chariot was washed clean at the pool in the capital city where dogs
licked up his blood. Exactly as the Lord had said through the prophet
Elijah. Case Closed: God is sovereign; man is responsible. God executed
His plan. Ahab within the context of his circumstances freely decided
to go his own way!
Conclusion
Don't we all agree that the Lord dealt with this king in a most
fair way? Not in the least did He push him into his downfall. And
the same is true for the king of Judah. He had no business whatsoever
to be friends with an ungodly neighbour king. He should have said
after hearing the words of Micaiah, “Sorry Ahab, the Lord
has spoken. I am going back to Judah.” In His mercy God spared
his life. But that king too was totally responsible for his disobedient
actions. Coming back to Adam in Paradise: were not he and Eve fully
forewarned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
And their hearts were not in any way under satan's control. No lying
spirit could get a firm hold on them. They were holy and on the
side of the Lord. And yet they disobeyed the Lord. There is no explanation
of this sin. Sin does not make sense. But sin they did and we all
came under the power of lying spirits. All this that has been said
about Ahab shows us our great human need to be set free from the
power of satan and his lying spirits. We need a spirit that is set
free, a heart that can freely unhindered choose to do the will of
the Lord to be obedient. How utterly thankful we are that our Lord
Jesus Who was with us in our own weak flesh and, though so tempted
by the devil, did not fall into the traps set up to catch Him. He
used His freedom not to sin because there was no sin in His heart;
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Under the worst of circumstances
He remained loyal and obedient to the plan of God. With His eyes
wide open He endured the sufferings of hell for us to buy us free
from eternal destruction. And through His resurrection we obtain
His righteousness. By faith we are clothed in His righteousness
and by faith we receive a life that is born of God. We can now resist
the devil and he will flee from us. We can now obey the Word of
the Lord so that our way agrees with the Lord's way. Such a Saviour
we needed. Have we all come to this certainty that through the Lord
Jesus our life has been brought back into harmony with the will
and plan of the Lord? And through this faith have we now gotten
rid of those nagging questions that this message started out with?
Then we can now say with the apostle Paul the words we find in
Ephesians 1:4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ Who has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and blameless before Him.”
Let each one of us say: “Praise the Lord for his mercy shown
to us.”
Amen.
