Aug 15, 2021 11:00 (1 Kings 22:41-50)

is okay good morning [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] okay [Music] um [Music] uh [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] well uh a year ago we had the great privilege of welcoming uh reverend dr carlton nguyen to westminster as an assistant pastor for those of you who are unfamiliar with the nuances of presbyterian polity what it means to be an assistant pastor is that it means your call as a minister comes directly from the session so the only people who who vote on whether to call an assistant pastor are the session members themselves but having seen carlton's ministry over the last year having seen the comprehensive nature of his preaching ministry and his shepherding ministry the session thought it appropriate and and even in the best interest of the congregation to extend the opportunity to the congregation to call carlton as an associate minister which means that requires the entire congregation speaking into that casting a vote to elect carlton to that role and you'll know that there's a significant distinction there beyond the title and part of that is that as an assistant minister because the call only comes from a small group of men and not from the entire congregation an assistant minister does not serve on the session with a vote on things pertaining to the ruling and governing of the church but because an associate minister is called by the entire congregation he then is uh represents the congregation on the session and is does have the authority to cast votes and to exercise that level of rule and governance and so uh you guys will know that last week we had a congregational meeting in which the question was posed to the congregation do you wish to call carlton nguyen as an associate pastor normally you're not supposed to talk about vote totals because they're kind of inappropriate but i it's my joy to say that carlton was elected without a single dissenting vote so and some of you will know that when the church gathers and does things it's hard to get the church to do anything without a dissenting vote so to have the vote be a lot to zero was very encouraging to say the least i think it's a tribute to carlton's ministry but it's also a tribute to the spiritual unity and agreement of purpose that god has granted us as a church so so it's my joy now to have carlton come down in which he will make vows to before the lord to you and you will in turn as the members of this church make vows to him so carlton i ask you are you now willing to take leadership in this congregation as an associate pastor agreeable to your declaration in accepting its call i am do you conscientiously believe and declare as far as you know your own heart that in taking upon you this charge you are influenced by a sincere desire to promote the glory of god and the good of the church i do do you solemnly promise that by the assistance of the grace of god you will endeavor faithfully to discharge all the duties of a pastor an associate pastor to this congregation and will be careful to maintain a deportment in all respects becoming a minister of the gospel of christ agreeable to your ordination engagements i do i now want to ask the members of westminster congrega the congregation of westminster presbyterian church if you would hear these questions and if you agree to respond with a hearty we do do you the people of this congregation continue to profess your readiness to receive carlton nguyen whom you have called to be an associate pastor do you promise to receive the word of truth from his mouth with meekness and love and to submit to him in the do exercise of discipline do you promise to encourage him in his labors and to assist his endeavors for your instruction and spiritual edification do you engage to continue to him while he is an assistant pastor associate pastor sir that competent worldly maintenance which you have promised and to furnish him with whatever you may see needful for the honor of religion and for his comfort among you i now want to invite the elders that are present here in the congregation to come forward as we uh have an opportunity to pray for carlton as these men come forward i want to give a brief charge to carlton to fellow elders and to all the members of this congregation in philippians chapter 1 paul says to the philippian church i thank my god for you because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now now i want to uh put before you this morning that this is really the fundamental way that believers in the church are to relate to one another are to relate to their pastors and elders the way elders are to relate to one another and the way pastors and elders are to relate to the congregation not as we have authority we lord it over you not as you are the ministers you do the work for us but fundamentally we are partners in the gospel yoked together by the spirit of god to labor together to see the gospel of the lord jesus christ go forth among us and to the nation so to keep these things in mind as we pray that god would seal to our hearts this solemn commitment to be partners in the gospel on this day and the days going forward let me pray heavenly father we come before you and we thank you so much for the gospel of the lord jesus christ we thank you for the church of the lord jesus christ that you have not even just seen fit to save us as individuals into relationship with you precious as that is but as blessing is layered on blessing you have saved us into the body of christ where we have fellowship and brotherhood and sisterhood with one another we thank you for carlton nguyen we thank you for his godly character we thank you for his fruitful teaching ministry we thank you for his shepherd's heart we thank you for the lovely example of his relationship to his wife lindley and uh and the the godly character with which he exercises his duties as a father to his boys we thank you for his friendship for uh the the the deep spirit of of of joy and affection he has demonstrated amongst the staff and with fellow elders and we pray that in the days and months and lord may it be years to come that you would grant to carlton a fruitful gospel ministry among us fruitful from the pulpit fruitful in private counsel fruitful in public deliberations that lead to wise and discerning choices for the church oh lord bless carlton's ministry among us to us and through us and we pray lord that you would uphold us as a congregation and as a body of elders that we would support him encourage him hold him accountable and that together we might be a body that is united in the gospel that we would live as true partners in the gospel bringing the word of jesus to the nations experiencing the sanctification of the gospel of the lord jesus in our own lives we commit ourselves to you we pray that you would bless us and keep us as a church body and we pray these things in jesus name amen well as these fellow elders extend the right hand of fellowship to carleton we continue in our worship we stand and sing a great hymn of celebration of god's work in the church hymn 3 53 i love thy kingdom lord let's stand and sing [Music] is [Music] my [Music] is foreign uh foreign [Music] yes [Music] foreign father and that in union with him we have been made a new creation for your glory we thank you for the holy spirit by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption as extension of our gratitude we now give our tithe and offerings may you use them for your kingdom in jesus name amen oh crazy [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] as we continue to worship and add our voices and praise when we do so by singing the doxology [Music] crazy [Music] huh uh [Music] let us go to our great god again in prayer oh lord our lord god of the heavens we bow our heads before you and worship you again in prayer knowing that you are the creator of the ends of the earth and you rule over all of the kingdoms of the nations we praise you that you have showed your great might in christ when you offered him up for our salvation and raised him from the dead and seated him at your right hand in the heavens father you have placed all things under his feet and even more you have given him as head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all and you have called us out of darkness into your marvelous light so joining us to christ and he to us that as he has died once for all so have we died in him to this world by faith in him and as christ has been raised from the dead never to die again so we in him have come alive in the spirit to walk in newness of life our father no sooner do we think about these wonderful works then we realize that all of us each of us have sinned and fallen short of your glory we set our hearts to seek after you and we confess to one another every week that we believe in your word and yet we know that so often we align our ways and our desires with those who your word says hate you we confess that we argue like the rest of the world does we confess that we're jealous for our own praise like other people are we evaluate other people by how they look or by what they own we show favoritism to those whom we imagine can benefit us we shirk the responsibilities that you've given and we despise those who fail to meet our own expectations and in all of this lord we functionally act like friends of the world but your word says that in christ we are rescued from this present evil age and by his death and resurrection and its application to us you have covered our defenseless heads with the righteousness of our savior so far be it from us to boast in anything except the cross of our lord jesus christ by which the world has been crucified to us and we to the world so we pray this morning father that you would look upon our ascended savior in the heavenly places and you would be merciful to us today we pray that you would forgive us of all of our sins we pray that by the spirit of the risen christ you would make us into a courageous people who walk in your ways more and more and father by that spirit we are also bold to pray to you for our many needs we pray for protection from the virus that has destroyed so much which has become the occasion for so much division we pray that you would heal those who are sick all of the friends and family members of those in our church and beyond we pray that you would guard our children as many of them return to school in these weeks we pray that you would give our leaders special wisdom and integrity and insight as they give guidance and as they craft policy we pray for those who suffer from all manner of physical afflictions we pray for gaylord langley and susanna betzel and linda estell we pray for jonathan jakes we pray for jeffrey jake says he suffers an icu from covid father give him special healing and recovery we pray for anatouf's father charlie sanford for charlie aikens for doris price for margie sandel and for rick and patty messner we pray that you bring supernatural comfort to mitch everett and his mother after the death of mitch's father doug we pray that you would draw near to all those in our midst who are silently facing all kinds of trials people who are lonely and anxious and doubting and discouraged and full of fear father we pray that you would help them help us to see our trials in the shadow of that cross by which we are saved that we would see our trials as the empress impress of the cross of jesus upon our lives as the very means by which we are being sanctified and being drawn ever nearer to our heavenly home and we pray that in the process you would lead us to entrust our lives and our whole futures to you lord as we hear from your word this morning from first kings we we pray that you would use that word to keep us from being lovers of self from being wise in our own eyes from leaning on our own understanding we pray that you would give us hearts that care more about your glory than about our pride more about your will than our comfort help us lord to care more about your grace displayed through our weakness than all of our attempts to pretend that we are strong apart from you what we really pray for lord in all of this is for the glory of jesus christ to shine in us and among us he has been revealed under the veil of this age but father we look forward to that day when his life and his lordship is openly revealed in all majesty and truth and light and the church that is his bride gathers forever under the banner of his consummated kingdom so as we fix our eyes upon that day we pray this day that you would hear and answer our prayers do this father and we will spontaneously rejoice in you as our highest good and our great god and we pray this all in jesus name amen let us continue our worship by standing and singing the glory of patrick [Music] is [Music] and i ask that you would remain standing for the reading of god's holy word we continue this morning in our ongoing sermon series through the divided kingdom of israel and judah and our series this morning brings us to first kings 22 verses 41 through 50. first kings 22 41-50 please listen now as i read for this is the very word of god jehoshaphat the son of asa began to reign over judah in the fourth year of ahab king of israel jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 25 years in jerusalem his mother's name was azuba the daughter of sheilai she he walked in all the ways of asa his father he did not turn aside from it doing what was right in the sight of the lord that the high places were not taken away and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of israel now the rest of the acts of jehoshaphat and his might that he showed and how he ward are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of judah and from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father asa there was no king in edom a deputy was king jehoshaphat made ships of tarshish to go to ophir for gold but they did not go for the ships were wrecked at ezion gebor then ahaziah the son of ahab said to jehoshaphat let my servants go with your servants in the ships but jehoshaphat was not willing and jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of david his father and jehoram his son reigned in his place may the lord bless to our hearts and minds the reading of his word and you may be seated would you join me now in prayer heavenly father we pray for the work of your spirit to be actively at work in our hearts and minds through the reading and preaching of your word so that we would discern with wisdom the ways that we ought to walk in obedience to you that we would discern with wisdom the perilous paths that we must refrain from and that we would discern with great wisdom the glory of jesus christ and our need for him as our savior and king we pray these things in jesus name amen well my children like to draw they like to draw superheroes and characters from their favorite books they like to draw various creatures from nature and sports action scenes they like to draw and design outfits and costumes of various kinds one things that they've learned when they're trying to draw something particularly when they're really going for a level of precision is is that it's very helpful to have some sort of model before them something concrete that they can study and seek to copy as they draw sometimes they use a photograph a 3d figure or someone else's drawing to shape and direct and guide the specific contours of their work of course my children aren't alone even the most skilled artists regularly use models when painting or sculpting their masterpieces and i would suggest to you this morning that when we are trying to guide shape and direct the formation of our individual christian lives or our life as a christian community it is very helpful to have before us a model a model of a life well-lived a model of a community well-formed well-fashioned well-governed having such a model before us can help us to order our own lives and order our own communities with with much greater precision and it can also give us a very helpful reference point when uh something that we could be called back to when we start to go astray well this morning as we come down the home stretch of first kings we in encounter such a model in the life of king jehoshaphat in the life of this faithful faithful king there is much to study much to admire much to glean and much to apply so with all this in mind let's turn to our text for this morning 1st kings 22 41-50 now if you have your bibles with you or if you're using the black pew bible i want to encourage you to flip over and kind of put a bookmark in second chronicles chapters 17 through 20. because in second chronicles we have four whole chapters detailing the highs and lows of jehoshaphat's reign so it's kind of like an amplified uh expansion of the material we have here in first kings now as we consider the reign of jehoshaphat i want to begin by spelling out the good of jehoshaphat's personal walk with god and the noble character of his reign and i want to do this in two ways first i want us to consider what the scripture says about jehoshaphat in terms of the praise it gives for his personal character and and the general overarching assessment it gives of his reign so that's what we want to consider first praise for jehoshaphat's personal character and the overarching character of his reign and we see in the scriptures that jehoshaphat was the son of asa who was himself a good king of judah who reigned for over 40 years jehoshaphat that means jehoshaphat had a good model before him in his own father and because of asa jehoshaphat came to power when the kingdom of judah was relatively healthy and stable and strong but as we will see jehoshaphat did not rest or presume on his father's laurels but he built upon and strengthened the legacy that his father had left him we read in in chapter 22 verse 42 that jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of asa his father he did not turn aside from it doing what was right in the sight of the lord later in second chronicles 20 32 we find this exact same phrase summarizing the life and the reign of jehoshaphat however if if this phrase is really all we know about jehoshaphat we don't really begin to grasp the full quality of his reign this is where the the second chronicles material is so helpful in giving us a more full orbed picture of jehoshaphat in second chronicles 17 verses 3 and 4 we read that not only did jehoshaphat walk in the ways of his father asa which is certainly a high compliment but we read he also walked in the earlier ways of his father david which is an even higher compliment jehoshaphat you see was a noble and worthy heir of the davidic throne and second chronicles 17 goes on to say that jehoshaphat did not seek the baals but rather he sought the god of his father and walked in his commandments and not according to the practices of israel you see jehoshaphat was not just trying to copy the external life and practices of the godly kings who had come before him but he was pursuing he was actively seeking a relationship with god himself the text is very clear jehoshaphat sought god and he sought god's word and he sought communion with god through biblical worship he sought to not only be a hearer of the word but a doer of the word and he did all of this with a kind of self-conscious awareness that there were many surrounding him who were going in the opposite direction in order to seek the god of his father he had to self-consciously and intentionally reject the baals the the idolatrous practices of his northern neighbor israel it's for this reason that second chronicles 17 6 says that jehoshaphat's heart was courageous in the ways of the lord he not only sought the lord but he sought the lord at some risk in the face of temptation and opposition he sought the lord with a courageous heart this is high praise for jehoshaphat's personal piety high praise for the general character of his reign but this is not all i would have us consider about jehoshaphat this morning for in addition to these kind of general statements about jehoshaphat in terms of his piety and his reign the scripture offers lots of specific details about what jehoshaphat did specific ways specific actions in which his courageous pursuit of the lord found expression in tangible and practical ways we can see some of that in our passage here verse 46 it says that jehoshaphat exterminated from the land the remnant of male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father asa you know propriety doesn't allow us to go into too much detail on this practice but suffice it to say that the the worship of the canaanites baal it was a fertility worship in which the belief was that baal made the ground fertile he he was the lord of rain who brought the crops and so one of the ways you would trigger bail was to engage in various kinds of fertility rights yourself so in this despicable practice people would engage in sexual activity with male prostitutes as part of their worship it was a deep profound and egregious corruption of biblical worship it's something his father had to address and sought to remedy in his 40-plus year reign but the practice was obviously so deeply embedded in the culture that it was difficult to root out despite all of asa's efforts and progress we see that the practice continued but jehoshaphat picked up where his father had left off he continued to pursue and eradicate and and exterminate the practice i'm sure he made some uh enemies along the way but this was biblical courage in action and warring against the great moral and spiritual evil that was present in his land and this was a vital part of him seeking after the lord in addition to this battle against male cult prostitution we read that jehoshaphat also sought to eliminate the idolatrous worship of asherah who was a canaanite fertility goddess we read in second chronicles 17 6 that jehoshaphat took the high places and the asharim out of israel and what we see as we continue is that jehoshaphat's pursuit of the lord it didn't just result in him being against things but it also made him for the right things as well jehoshaphat actively cultivated truth and justice for his people which in turn brought protection and prosperity we see jehoshaphat's pursuit of truth in that he made a concerted effort to have his people be taught the law of the lord we read in second chronicles 17 that jehoshaphat sent out officials levites and priests throughout all the cities of judah in order to teach the people the book of the law of the lord this is systematic comprehensive biblical instruction for the whole of his kingdom and then we see that he not only wanted people to to take in the law of the lord but he wanted them to live out the law of the lord in a just manner as well we read in second chronicles 19 that jehoshaphat appointed judges in all the land city by city and he charged them to provide impartial justice before god to all the people saying this great series of quotes consider what you do for you judge not for man but for god he is with you in giving judgment now then let the fear of the lord be upon you be careful what you do for there is no injustice with the lord our god or partiality or taking bribes thus you shall do in the fear of the lord in faithfulness and with your whole heart deal courageously and may the lord be with the upright so jehoshaphat was was faithful in terms of his personal piety he actively ward against idolatry and wickedness and he then implemented systems of biblical instruction and justice for the whole of his kingdom and what is more he was not just some kind of competent centralized bureaucrat passing edicts from on high but second chronicles 18 4 tells us that jehoshaphat personally went out among the people and brought the people back to the lord and perhaps the greatest window we have into jehoshaphat's character is found in second chronicles 20. there we read of a time when jehoshaphat faced a great military threat there was an alliance of multiple kings that marched against him now jehoshaphat had a very strong army but militarily it was no match or at least we should say numerically it was no match for the size of this oncoming foe jehoshaphat refers to it as a great horde and in the face of this foe we read that jehoshaphat is afraid but in his fear he humbles himself before the lord and he calls the people of judah to do the same he cries out to the lord with one of the the greatest prayers recorded in all of scripture i encourage you to take the time and read the whole of the chapter in that prayer he recounts many of the great promises that god has made to his people in the past and he desperately claims those promises and seeks the lord for help and deliverance and the prayer concludes with these great words oh our god will you not execute judgment on them for we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you jehoshaphat then receives a word from a prophet that the lord is going to deliver judah in battle and then before the battle even takes place jehoshaphat leads the people in a kind of national worship services the people pray and they bow down and they sing and they give thanks to god in faith for the coming victory and then the lord gives them victory in battle i mean we are talking about a remarkable godly figure a remarkable godly king and we see in the scriptures that god was pleased to bless judah under the reign of jehoshaphat second chronicles 17 5-6 says that because of jehoshaphat's spiritual leadership therefore the lord established the kingdom in his hand all judah brought true tribute to jehoshaphat and he had great riches and honor and this honor and blessing we see didn't even just come from his own people but later in the chapter we read that the fear of the lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around judah so that as a result there were extended periods of peace in his reign and other nations actually came and brought tribute to him so that judah grew steadily greater under his leadership they grew economically there was significant development of cities and there was a great strengthening of israel's armies brothers and sisters there is much to be learned from such a model and i think the big principle that we see in jehoshaphat is that his life was one that flowed from the inside out you see many desire to have the external blessings that came from jehoshaphat's kingdom but they neglect the inner reality of jehoshaphat that fueled such blessings jehoshaphat's life power began with the fact that he personally sought the lord he sought the lord for himself he was a man of god's word he he took in the commands of god he took in the promises of god he believed in those promises even in times of great trial and it was this inner life of truly knowing god in accordance with god's word that then formed and shaped his behavior going forward it's because he sought and knew the lord that he detested idolatry and and the corruption of worship it's because he sought and knew the lord that he wanted others to know the lord so he labored to teach them it's because he sought and knew the lord in accordance with his word that he wanted that word to to shape justice in his kingdom so that the whole country would not just be hearers of the word but doers of the word it's because he sought and knew the lord that he was a man of private and then public prayer private and then public worship jehoshaphat did not rely on his own strength he did not even rely on the blessings that the lord had richly bestowed upon him but he relied on the lord in the moment of trial he committed his people to the lord in humble desperate and dependent prayer and i'm sure in these politically charged times many of us hear such a passage and say oh that we might have political leaders like this i think that's something we can certainly pray for i think the more direct application of this text is to say oh that these traits might be manifested in the people of god that we might see it in church leadership and covenant families and in the lives of individual christians oh that we would be men and women and children and fathers and mothers and pastors and elders who first and foremost seek the lord in our own lives according to god's word that we would not be guilty of trying to produce external fruit in someone else that we are not diligently seeking after ourselves and having sought the lord and found him oh that the overflow of our hearts would be a desire to teach others the word particularly in the church and in our homes that we would we that we would want to have a life in which we pursue impartial justice in our dealings with one another and particularly those of us who have been entrusted with authority and influence oh that we would have a life that desires to root out personal idolatry to expunge and eradicate idolatry from our our our own lives and lives of our family and the lives of our churches and i tell you if we if we give ourselves to such a life god will bless it perhaps not with the material wealth and the the tribute that flowed into jehoshaphat from other nations but i tell you the spiritual blessings of god will certainly rest on one who patterns their inner and outer life after the remarkable model of king jehoshaphat i'd kind of like to be able to end the sermon there right to say that is the truth and the whole truth about king jehoshaphat but it's not what the scriptures make very clear here is that while jehoshaphat was a good king a very good king he was not a perfect king in fact the scripture here identifies two significant flaws in jehoshaphat the first is that for all that he accomplished there was work left undone we see this in verse 43 yet the high places were not taken away and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places later in second chronicles 20 33 we read something very similar the high places however were not taken away the people had not yet set their hearts upon the god of their fathers now you say wait i thought at some point you said the high places were taken away and i think part of what this means is all the high places weren't taken away right that there still remained high places of worship when jehoshaphat was done now i want to be careful here right i don't want to be too hard on jehoshaphat i don't i don't want to be accused of being the critic who stands back and tells the man in the arena how he could have done more but the scripture does single out this shortcoming in multiple places and it does this with multiple kings so we need to consider it in some way in some ways some would be uh attempted i think to to chalk this shortcoming up to finitude right i mean what more could he do right try as he might he just he just couldn't do it all he didn't really have the ability the capacity to press his reforms any further right it's just a guy can only do so and after all many would say that the high places were the last bastions of idolatry in israel and judah often hidden away in the mountains they were it's like trying to root out the guerrilla warfare idolaters well that was true and it was hard but as we will see with a couple of subsequent kings it was not impossible there were other kings who did it not many we'll find them eventually but it seems that by singling this out the scriptures are saying in some way that jehoshaphat for all that he accomplished he lacked the will the spiritual fight the faith the perseverance to go all the way to root out all the high places and this is singled out here i think as a fault of jehoshaphat and i think we should take that to heart right it's it's a recognition that god is calling us all to a radical pursuit of holiness he's calling us to full orb sanctification in our own life and in our own communities and often it seems i know i'm guilty of this when we've when we've accomplished much when we've experienced real growth where there's been occasions of real repentance and renewed faith and tangible new obedience in certain areas we're inclined to well we can let other areas go we can say i mean i know that's that's over there right but but look at all the other things that i've done brothers and sisters this reminds us we have to keep pressing on until glory we cannot rest on our spiritual laurels we cannot use the way in which the lord has worked and given strength and accomplished victories we cannot use that to justify the ongoing presence of our shortcomings and failures but we has to entrust ourselves to the to the lord and press on in the fight that remains we have to run the race and fight the good fight until the end this may seem like a small flaw but the scripture points it out so i think it is worthy of our consideration and application the second such flaw i think is more significant in nature we find it summarized in verse 44. it says jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of israel now this was not just a singular act but really i think it's more appropriate to say it was a kind of besetting sin on jehoshaphat's part it began the first instance of it we see in second chronicles 18 1 where we read that jehoshaphat made a marriage alliance with ahab giving his son to ahab's daughter in marriage and this marriage alliance with the king of israel became became a kind of regular pattern in jehoshaphat's life as we saw last week after this marriage alliance he joined with ahab in going to battle against syria to disastrous effect and just in case jehoshaphat didn't understand the moral or spiritual implications of aligning himself with ahab we read in second chronicles 19 that after jehoshaphat returned in safety to his house remember ahab was killed on the battlefield after jehoshaphat though returned in safety to his house in jerusalem jehu the son of hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to him should you help the wicked and love those who hate the lord because of this wrath has gone out against you from the lord you might think well after that ill-fated alliance and that rebuke jehoshaphat would certainly learn his lesson but we see here in verses 47 and 48 which is then amplified in second chronicles 20 35 and following that that after this jehoshaphat joined with ahazayah which was ahab's son and ahaziah we're told in the text acted wickedly but they joined in building ships that seems to be some kind of economic or trade alliance and when that happened eliezer a prophet came out and prophesied against jehoshaphat saying because you have joined with ahaziah the lord will destroy what you have made and the ships then were wrecked and they were not able to go to their desired destination and you would think well then jehoshaphat surely would have learned his lesson from this there seems to perhaps be some hint of that that ahaziah comes back kind of like hey let's do this again and he says no but then later in second kings three we read that jehoshaphat entered into another alliance with jehoram who was the brother of ahaziah the son of ahab you see ahaziah ahab's son had no sons and so when he died his brother jehoram reigned in his place now this alliance doesn't seem to have any particular negative consequences but the foolish pattern in jehoshaphat's life is clear he kept aligning himself with the kings of israel even after defeat on the battlefield even after economic disaster even after regular rebuke from the prophets now now what needs to be mentioned in jehoshaphat's defense is that he seems to have continually gone to great lengths to protect himself and his people from the idolatrous ways of israel he clearly recognized the spiritual danger of the kings of israel so we ask why then did he give his children to them in marriage alliance why then did he enter regularly again and again in in military and political alliances with these wicked kings well the text doesn't tell us why but given the otherwise glowing spiritual resume of jehoshaphat given his consistent hatred for the northern kingdom's idolatry there's only one thing that makes sense to me and that is this that that i think and we see some hints of it in the text that jehoshaphat had a desire for the divided kingdoms of israel and judah to return to being one unified kingdom on more than one occasion as he has this opportunity to align with the kings of israel he uses these words i am as you are my people as your people my horses as your horses i think jehoshaphat had a godly desire to say look we're the same people we're from the same 12 tribes we were once united let can it not be so again however what we see is that in this desire jehoshaphat consistently entered into formal partnership with israel in ways that were foolish in ways that were naive in ways that were downright wrong and brought the rebuke of the prophets it's almost as if he wanted to to will israel into being something they weren't and in the process he seemed to consistently neglect who they actually were and in doing so as the prophet said he helped the wicked and loved those who hated the lord and because he sought to build partnership with the wicked the lord destroyed the fruit of those unions and what is more he opened the door jehoshaphat did for future idolatry and wickedness that would pervade his own kingdom as we'll see in in a couple of weeks after an almost 70-year run of godly leadership and reform throughout the kingdom of judah under jehoshaphat's son jehoram the kingdom returned to idolatry in no small part because of the marriage alliance that jehoshaphat had set up for him we read in second chronicles 21 that jehoshaphat's son jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of israel as the house of ahab had done for the daughter of ahab was his wife i i have little doubt that jehoshaphat entered into these alliances and in the hopes perhaps that judah's character would change israel but in the end israel's character ended up changing judah and this is why brothers and sisters the scripture consistently warns the people of god from entering into formal relationships with with unbelief and with unbelievers either inside or outside the church as we already read this morning paul specifically warns the new testament church in second corinthians 6 against entering into formal partnership with unbelievers he says do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness i think this can have a lot of applications it certainly seems to apply to marriage between a believer and an unbeliever but i think it goes beyond that that's actually not what paul's speaking out specifically in second corinthians but he's talking about any kind of formal alliance in which the church is yoked and obligated to partnership with organizations or people or ideas that are that are not from the scriptures and are hostile to it i think this can happen in many ways we could explore this uh in extended ways in the in conversations to come but but one way this happens again and again is the church partners with some kind of political organization some kind of party or party line or secular leader that the church usually does this in the name of bringing some kind of biblical reform to the nation or to secure some type of political protection for the church but almost always this results in the politicalization and theological corruption of the church but one might say but but but israel actually is the people of god right they're actually the same people they share the same history they're all descendants from abraham isaac and jacob so surely that warning doesn't apply here but the scriptures are also explicitly against linking arms with those who name the name of the lord and yet live in open hostility and rejection of his truth again paul says in to the corinthian church this time in first corinthians chapter five he says i wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy or swindlers or idolatrous since then you would need to go out of the world but i am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater reviler drunkard or swindler not even to eat with such a one for what have i to do with judging outsiders is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge god judges those on the outside but purge the evil person from among you you see what the scripture says is that the church must not only avoid yoking itself to non-believers outside the church but it must also exercise discerning discipline within the people of god and even going so far at times to to break ecclesiastical fellowship with those who live in unrepentant sin or doctrinal rebellion but sadly the church has regularly engaged in the sin of jehoshaphat maintaining cultivating even enhancing relationships within the church with with individuals or denominations that are living in open rejection of the truth the the the ecumenical movement has often taken this turn right placing a kind of external organizational unity over a genuine theological unity in the gospel over a genuine ethical unity of obedience to the scriptures just like with jehoshaphat we this is often done with some some kind of noble desire for outreach or evangelism or reform or unity but it almost always leads to the corruption of the church i think the way forward one way we can present a simple way forward is that the church must always long for and engage in evangelism and sincere outreach toward the non-believer the church must pray for and labor for unity and union within the body of christ but formal partnership must always be the fruit the result of conversion and theological agreement and a commitment to biblical holiness the the alliance can never be the means by which we hope to accomplish that end at some later date jehoshaphat was a good king he was a very good king and yet his kingdom was compromised because he aligned himself with bad company and his strengths and his weaknesses they ultimately remind us how much we all including jehoshaphat need an even better king we need a king who is holy and pure from the inside out without spot or wrinkle or blemish we need a king who is in perfect communion with the heavenly father and his inner life of holiness then flows out and permeates everything he does with perfection we need a king and savior with a perfect teaching ministry one who will reveal to us by his word and spirit the will of god for our salvation we need a king who can rule over us with perfect justice and equity we need a king who can save us from ourselves and who can fully and completely turn our sinful hearts back to god who can bring complete reformation and sanctification to the lives of his people we need a king who will win the nations to himself who will gather a people from every tongue tribe and nation and a people and at the same time then bring perfect unity and union to the church without any theological or ethical compromise we need a king who will lead and guide and save a people for himself so that at the end of all things he can present that people to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing in order that the people of god might be holy and without blemish forever and there's only one king who can and will do that and his name is jesus christ the ultimate son of david and the good news is that jesus has already accomplished these things he has already won this victory through his sinless life his atoning death and his glorious resurrection and he has ascended into heaven where he now rules and reigns over the church and in doing this he is actively leading us in the paths of righteousness for his own name's sake and though at times we look around and the church can seem to be a total mess we can know that the lord continues to lead us encourage us discipline us and the lord jesus christ is the one we must follow in accordance with his word and the day is coming the day is coming when we will experience the return of the king and he will make all things new and he will consummate the work that he has already accomplished and on that day brothers and sisters the church will be holy and united and faithful forevermore until that day comes may god give us the grace to labor to follow the good example of those who have come before us may god give us the grace to discern and reject the failures of those who have come before us and may god give us the grace to believe to pledge ourselves to to follow in repentance and faith and new obedience the great savior the shepherd of our souls the king of kings the lord of lords the lord jesus christ oh may it be so until he comes let's pray heavenly father we come before you and we ask for your sovereign protection and work in our lives oh lord protect us from ourselves from our sin from our foolishness and help us to seek you that we might know you in accordance with your word that we might hate idolatry that we might love to teach others the truth of the gospel that we might love to see obedience and justice lived out particularly among the people of god and lord we pray that you'd protect us that you'd give us wisdom and discernment as we go throughout the world discernment in the church discernment in the world that you might keep us pure from one generation to the next lead us lord guide us all the way home we pray these things in jesus name amen well let's conclude our time of worship then brothers and sisters by singing a great hymn of the shepherding care of god him him 599 savior like a shepherd lead us let's stand and sing [Music] see [Music] see [Music] blessed jesus [Music] jesus [Music] ah bless you jesus [Music] uh um bless you jesus [Applause] is [Music] and now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our lord jesus christ he who calls you is faithful he will surely do it amen [Music] hmm [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Westminster PCA, Atlanta

Views: 280

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: hfODwfygF3g

Length: 91min 40sec (5500 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021