What is REALLY Going On Today With Religion?
1 Kings 22
May 25, 2014 AM
Pastor Craig
Ledbetter
Bible Baptist
Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I.
Introduction (1Timothy 4:1; 2Timothy 4:1)
A.
The Holy Spirit’s Warning
1.
In the Latter Times… the end
of the age – something has been building up for quite a while. Something very
sad and grieving to any pastor, any Bible believing Christian!
2.
An almost complete departing
from the Faith occurs!
B.
Why?
1.
Why would people give up on
God, on the Bible, on following the Lord Jesus Christ?
2.
Why would people buy the new
Bibles, and believe they are “better” than the King James Bible?
3.
Why would people leave their
wives and families for an adulterous affair, KNOWING how wrong it is, and how
much destruction is does?
4.
Why would people VOTE for
wicked men and women who care nothing about the unborn, or about marriage, or
families, or righteousness, or God? Why?
5.
Why would God’s people allow
anything to be more important than being in church, and growing in grace and
becoming transformed by the renewing of their minds? Why?
C.
The Bible that you are holding in your hands says it all is
because of three things:
1.
A love for seductive,
sensual spirits
a.
Things that go on inside their
heads that are more exciting than reality
b.
Loving to ACT spiritual, but
be as wicked as the devil
c.
Love to read about and hear
about ANGELS, and VISIONS, and HEALINGS and PSYCHICS
2.
A love of Doctrines of
devils
a.
Lies
b.
Hypocrisy
c.
No conscience
d.
Forbidding to marry - celibacy
e.
Abstaining from foods – as if
that is going to make someone more holy!
3.
No Love for Sound
Doctrine (2Tim 4:1-4)
a.
Solid, meaty, thoughtful
truths, built line upon line
b.
Must be chewed and thought
about and reasoned through
c.
Not instantly understood – not
pre-chewed for you!
d.
So, to them, it is like
enduring, instead of enjoying; meat instead of milk; reproofs, rebukes and
exhorting, instead of just letting people do whatever they want!
e.
No! People generally have no
love for Bible truth – not today!
D.
You see, Religion is full of deceived people
1.
Humanists, and atheists jump
on this all the time, and they are right!
2.
Full of people who don’t know
what is going on in their religions, and they don't know what they are supposed
to believe!
E.
And so, loads and loads of people, religious people, are
missing the Door, and headed straight to a devil’s
hell! Because they have been
seduced, not only by the world we
live in, but by the religions of the world we live in!
F.
This morning, I would like to
help you “see” what is really going on in modern religion, so that you can
better “test the spirits” and NOT be deceived!
II.
Background (1Kings 22:1-28)
A.
War in the Middle East (1Kings 22:1-4)
– it has been going on ever since the founding of the nation of Israel 3,500
years ago!
1.
Israel had become two nations
by this time
a.
Israel (Northern 10 tribes)
b.
Judah (Southern 2 remaining
tribes)
2.
War between Syria (still in
the news today) and Northern Israel (still in the news today)!
3.
It was not going very well
4.
The king of Northern Israel,
Ahab, asked the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, to help him finish the war –
normally these two nations were the worst of enemies: like North and South Korea
5.
Jehoshaphat instantly agreed
to help him fight the Syrians – very “nice” towards wicked Ahab. And I don’t say
that lightly!
a.
This is the same Ahab that had
married a pagan woman named Jezebel, and had been preached to by Elijah over and
over!
b.
This is the same Ahab that had
a man named Nabaoth murdered so that he could own his vineyard!
6.
But Jehoshaphat said, “We had
better check with the Lord, to see what HE wants us to do!” Wise idea! Ahab
NEVER prayed about anything – he just acted on impulse
7.
But Ahab agrees to ask “his
prophets” if it was okay to go to battle at Ramoth-Gilead
8.
Now, understand… they have
already made up their minds, but want to make sure (or so they say) that it is
the right thing to do. Kind of the wrong way to approach the will of God! But it
is the usual way that people talk to God…
a.
Now God, I met this girl, and
she is the one, I hope she is, I believe she is, DON’T YOU THINK SO?
b.
Now God, I have an opportunity
to change jobs here, and it means more money, and is more exciting, so I HOPE
YOU THINK IT IS A GOOD IDEA, because I SURE DO…
c.
And so on goes the normal
praying of modern people!!!
B.
The Gathering of 400 Prophets of Israel (22:5,6)
1.
A large assembly of religious
leaders gather at Ahab’s court
a.
These were Prophets, able to
tell the future, qualified to speak for God, say what God’s will is
b.
These were the greatest
leaders of the day, from all over Israel
1)
Prophet so and so
2)
Doctor so and so
3)
His eminence, the right
reverend doctor so and so
4)
Father so and so…
5)
Oh, the biggest names in
healers, and preachers and prophets gathered that afternoon!
c.
There were so many… there
truly is power in numbers, isn’t there!
d.
They had all gathered to “help
decide the will of God!”
e.
In spite of the fact that
God’s will was plainly WRITTEN DOWN alread in the book of Deuteronomy, but then,
WHO WOULD READ AN OLD BOOK when you can have a big religious convention?
2.
And they ALL prophesied the
same thing – perfect unity
a.
Go up to the battle
b.
The Lord, Jehovah is on your
side and will give you the victory – He will prosper you, protect you, keep you,
bring you home wealthy with the spoils of war!
3.
Wow! Who would argue with
that?!
C.
One Dissenting Voice (22:7-9)
1.
Jehoshaphat is a bit UNEASY
about all this “ecumenical unity”
2.
Asks if there were any other
prophets around
3.
Kind of like the story of
Cinderella…
a.
All the ladies were brought to
the prince to see if their foot would fit in the glass slipper
b.
No one’s fit
c.
The prince asked, is there
anyone else that has not been brought?
4.
And just like Cinderella’s
evil step-mother, Ahab reluctantly admit there is “yet ONE man” (there’s hope
when there is still even just ONE man left who will be true)!
a.
“But I HATE him”
b.
“He only says bad things about
ME and my lifestyle, and my wife and our wrong marriage, and my love for idols…”
5.
Jehoshaphat would like to hear
this lone man’s opinion of the will of God, and what what he thinks will happen
if they go to battle
6.
So an officer goes to get this
prophet named Micaiah
D.
Meet Micaiah (22:9,13-14)
1.
An unpopular prophet of Israel
– as MOST Bible preaching, Bible believing, sin-hating, God-loving preachers
were!
2.
Nobody would stay and listen
to his sermons when he got started!
3.
People just thought
a.
“He’s ALWAYS negative,
negative, negative…”
b.
“He always spoke the opposite
of what all the other prophets and preachers were preaching” – Hmmmm…
interesting!
4.
The officer told Micaiah to
just say what everyone else was saying and he would be well taken cared of –
would be honoured and listened to more! He would be “popular”
5.
Micaiah said very amazing
words… “whatever the LORD says, is what I
will say!” Amen!
E.
The Face-Off (22:10-12,15,16)
1.
In a large courtyard, hundreds
of officers and members of the court for both kings gathered to see how this
would play out!
a.
Like gathering at a boxing
ring!
b.
In this corner 400 well
dressed, popular prophets of the day, led by a man named Zedekiah
c.
In the other corner, just one
man, Micaiah, small, weak, unassuming, unknown
2.
Zedekiah takes centre stage
a.
Dresses the part as a great
bull, charging through the crowd, defeating every enemy and winning the upcoming
battle!
b.
Then the 400 other prophets
raised their voices like a rock concert and said almost in unison, YES! GO AND
PROSPER (listen for that word!!!). The LORD will GIVE IT ALL TO YOU!
3.
Ahab turned to Micaiah and
asks him to take centre stage now and tell everyone what HE thinks God would
want!
a.
And Micaiah shrugs his
shoulders and says, “Yeah sure. You will do great in battle tomorrow.” He
doesn’t even look at Ahab!
b.
Everyone knows he didn’t mean
a word he was saying – they were hollow words!
c.
And Ahab get furious, and
demands Micaiah to say whatever GOD told him to say!
d.
And that is when Micaiah
looked both kings in the eyes and told them point-blank what was really going
on, and what was really about to happen!
1)
All Israel defeated
2)
No leader – killed
3)
A total humiliation
4)
His words cut everyone, and
especially wicked Ahab’s heart, like a knife!
4.
Ahab was upset! Micaiah just
like always, had nothing good to say at all!
III.
The Message – What Micaiah Exposed
A.
(Something Good)
The LORD God is in Control (22:19)
1.
Thank God!
2.
When you pull back the curtain
of heaven, thank God we can see that God is not missing, or invalid, or too
busy!
3.
All angels are under His
dominion
a.
There are no rogue angels
b.
No out of control powers
anywhere!
c.
Satan still has to ask
permission to do his dirty-work
4.
On God’s right hand are His
ministers, angels of righteousness
5.
On His left hand are demonic
angels, deceivers, destroyers
6.
Even Satan approaches and
accuses the brethren, and seeks to destroy people
B.
(Something Scary)
God Uses All Things to Accomplish His
Will (22:20-23)
1.
Even your FAILURES, God will
use for good…if you will let Him! And trust Him!
2.
People think that God would
never allow people to be deceived!
a.
That God would never allow
people to be deceived into thinking they are healed, or are able to speak in
unknown tongues
b.
That God would never allow a
Christian to believe a false prophet, or believe a false doctrine
c.
Just because you “believe in
God” does not protect you from deception – THE DEVILS BELIEVE
3.
You need to realise…
a.
God is only against false
prophets when WE are ready to reject them!
b.
God is NOT against false
prophets when they are simply giving people what they want!
c.
God will give you what you
WANT!
1)
Now, if you WANT the truth,
God will get it to you
2)
But, if you want a vision, He
will allow the devil to give you as many false visions as you can handle!
3)
If you want to be saved, He
will help you get born again
4)
If you want to learn this
Bible, He will help you with His Holy Spirit
5)
If you want to win a soul, God
will enable you to win someone to faith in Jesus Christ
6)
But, if you want to have you
fun and dabble in sin, and get away with it for a while… well, He will not stop
you!
4.
God is about to allow a demon
to work out God’s will… (just like God used Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar, and
even Judas Iscariot):
a.
To judge wicked king Ahab
b.
To test compromising
Jehoshaphat
c.
To prove HE is God, and there
is none else!
5.
There is a discussion up in
heaven…
a.
God asks for an idea to
persuade Ahab to go down to his own destruction
b.
Ahab hadn’t listened to God
for years
1)
Elijah had preached to him,
warned him, confronted him – to no avail
2)
Ahab only listened to his own
heart and to his wicked wife Jezebel!
c.
So, back up in heaven, there
was much discussion – angels and demons offering ideas
d.
Finally, one spirit offers his
services – we find out he is a deceiving spirit
1)
“I will convince Ahab –
persuade him to do wrong”
2)
“I will be a lying spirit in
the mouths of all his prophets”
e.
God agrees, permits it
f.
That ONE demonic angel has the
power to overtake hundreds of false prophets, and get them to deceive everyone!
6.
Seducing spirits will…
a.
Get so many people together in
unity (ecumenical)
b.
Tell you what you want to hear
(2Tim 4:3,4)
1)
Fair speeches – not upsetting
people; never going against popular opinion ; always just saying what people
already want you to say!
2)
Rom_16:18
“For they that are such serve not
our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple.”
c.
Tickle your ears, please you,
make every effort to make you feel better about yourself and about what YOU want
to do!
d.
Promote what YOU need and want
– YOUR prosperity and wellfare!
e.
Promote new age desires
instead of repentance (Jer 6:14; 23:17; Isa 57:21)
f.
Promote false Christs (Mt
24:24)
g.
And false hopes
h.
Look so good and do so many
good things (2Cor 11:4,5). Acting, dressing and sounding “religious”
7.
Folks, It is only going to get
worse (2Tim 3:12-14)
a.
All that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
b.
But evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
c.
But continue thou in the
things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned them;
C.
Truth Will Bring On Demonic Wrath (22:24-28)
1.
Micaiah stands there, in the
centre stage, exposing the devil and his angels
a.
He, without fear, tells both
kings that they are being deceived!
b.
Tricked into going into a
battle that will be a disaster
2.
And at that moment, Zedekiah
explodes and hits Micaiah
3.
We see this many times when
darkness is exposed to the light!
a.
Jesus (Luke 22:63-65; John
18:20-23)
b.
Paul (Acts 23:1-3)
4.
You will NEVER be popular if
you tell the truth, and expose deception
a.
Newspapers DON’T tell the
truth – they would NOT be popular
b.
The News media HAS to be
popular to pay the bills, so they don’t DARE go after the truth
c.
Religions DON’T tell the
truth, because so few will be interested in listening
D.
People Will Be Judged based upon Their Choices (22:29,34,35)
1.
That’s why God warns people to
make SURE they are believing truth, and not being deceived (Matt 24:4,5; Jer
29:8,9)
a.
Mat 24:4,5
And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying,
I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
b.
Jer 29:8,9
For thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst
of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be
dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them,
saith the LORD.
2.
Even with Micaiah’s firm
warning, both Ahab and Jehoshaphat decided to do what they wanted – they went to
war, believing God would “bless” them!
3.
Jehoshophat was spared because
in the battle he realised his wrong decision and cried out to God, and God
protected him! That is grace!
IV.
Conclusion
A.
Religion is full of deceived people
1.
People who don’t know what is
going on in their religions, and they don't know what they are supposed to
believe!
2.
And so, loads and loads of
people, religious people, are missing the Door (Jesus Christ), and headed
straight to a devil’s hell!
3.
It matters what you believe!
a.
For by grace are ye saved
through FAITH (that’s what you believe)
b.
BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be SAVED!
B.
The Holy Spirit WARNS in 1Timothy 4:1 that in the
latter times… the end of the age there
would be an almost complete departing from the Faith
C.
Why?
1.
Why would people give up on
God, on the Bible, on following the Lord Jesus Christ?
2.
Why would people buy the new
Bibles, and believe they are “better” than the King James Bible?
3.
Why would people leave their
wives and families for an adulterous affair, KNOWING how wrong it is, and how
much destruction is does?
4.
Why would people VOTE for
wicked men and women who care nothing about the unborn, or about marriage, or
families, or righteousness, or God? Why?
5.
Why would God’s people allow
anything to be more important than being in church, and growing in grace and
becoming transformed by the renewing of their minds? Why?
D.
Because of three things:
1.
A love for spiritual sins –
provided by seductive, sensual spirits
a.
Things that go on inside their
heads that are more exciting than reality
b.
Loving to ACT spiritual, but
be as wicked as the devil
c.
Love to read about and hear
about ANGELS, and VISIONS, and HEALINGS and PSYCHICS
2.
A love of Doctrines of devils
– damnable doctrines, not just differences of opinion!
3.
No Love for Sound Doctrine
(2Tim 4:2-4)
a.
Solid, meaty, thoughtful
truths, built line upon line
b.
Must be chewed and thought
about and reasoned through
c.
Not instantly understood – not
pre-chewed for you!
E.
And so, people fall for anything today
1.
That there is no Creator, no
God of Israel who became a perfect Man, the Messiah, and died for sinful men to
save them from the awful wrath to come
2.
Oh, right, people fall for the
lie that there is no coming wrath of God on this sin-cursed world
3.
People believe that there is
NO life after death – oh that is a popular one today…
4.
That it doesn’t matter what
you believe, just as long as it works for YOU!
F.
But folks, the truth is…
1.
The LORD God of this Bible is in Control (22:19)
2.
God Uses All Things to Accomplish His Will (22:20-23)
a.
God allows demonic angels to
have power to overtake thousands of false prophets, and get them to deceive
everyone!
3.
Seducing spirits will…
a.
Tell you what you want to hear
b.
Promote what YOU need and want
c.
Promote new age desires
instead of repentance (Jer 6:14; 23:17; Isa 57:21)
d.
Promote false Christs (Mt
24:24)
e.
And false hopes
f.
Look so good and do so many
good things (2Cor 11:4,5)
4.
It is only going to get worse (2Tim 3:12-14)
a.
All that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
b.
But evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
c.
But continue thou in the
things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned them;
5.
Truth Will Bring On Demonic Wrath (22:24-28). Maybe IN you
especially!
6.
People Will Be Judged based upon Their Choices (22:29,34,35)
a.
You have got a choice now, an
opportunity to wake up to the deception of today
b.
You have seen what is REALLY
going on behind the scenes
c.
Ignore the long robes, the
fancy performances, the fair speeches and persuading words
d.
Ignore all the popularity of
people on the talk shows of people talking to angels, people coming back from
the dead, people having visions from Mary…
e.
And listen to GOD’S own words
here!
f.
What choice will YOU make?
1)
Jehoshophat was spared because
in the battle he realised his wrong decision and cried out to God, and God
protected him! That is grace!
2)
You can access that same grace
this morning – SAVING grace, if you would admit you have allowed YOURSELF to be
deceived, and instead cry out to God right now, and ask Him to save you!
Believing that He came and died as your perfect substitute, and will forgive you
if you would only ask Him to!
3)
And Christian, you can save
yourself from a whole load of trickery, if you would just seriously learn this
Book, and live by it!