Great Texts of The Bible: Separation from God | 1 Kings 13 | Pastor William Hixson

I decided to continue in Kings because

there's

there's a flow in this particular

section and while we're here, we might

as well get it. And so I call your

attention to First Kings 13. We were in

12 this morning.

This series goes under the

series of great texts.

Chapter 13 is a very much interconnected

with chapter 12 and 14. I guess what

we'll be doing next Sunday night, Lord

willing, we'll be doing 14 because

there's a lot of interconnections and

the more I think about them, it's just a

shame not to deal with this section as a

whole

before we move on.

So ideally

uh not just in book studies but ideally

these the three chapters here should be

definitely stayed studied together. just

some things on the fringes of each one

really that we should be doing it right.

Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we

thank you for

another moment in your presence, another

opportunity to hear your word, another

time when the spirit of God

can speak to our hearts about our lives

and about the blessedness of our

salvation.

just about your total sovereignty in

your world in the way you deal with

people.

You know, there are many that need your

dealing, saved, unsaved,

those that are close to you but have

things that you need to encourage them

about or exhort them about, those that

are far from you that need uh

confrontation.

You know all these things, Father.

accomplish your purposes tonight in

Jesus name.

Now when we come to first kings, chapter

1 Kings 13 · chapter mention

13 is very very much interconnected with

chapter 12 we looked at this morning and

chapter 14. Lord willing we'll see next

week.

Uh what's happened is you've heard about

church splits. Well, this was a split in

the theocracy

in the Old Testament kingdom.

King Gerobam had the northern 10 tribes,

King Rehabalam the two southern tribes.

And it was one of those things that you

just look at it and you think, "What?

This didn't have to happen. Why did this

happen?" Well, certainly God had his

reasons.

And if we look back in chapter 12 verse

25

and 33 with me,

you'll see some of these horrible

religious innovations.

All designed by a man

who puts political pragmatism before

obedience the word of God.

It's not like it's not like Jeroboam

doesn't know what God expects.

He knows. He's already been told.

But if you'll go with me to chapter

um

12 and verse 25 to 33 33, you'll see

some of these horrible religious

innovations.

And then Jeroboam built Sheckchum

in Mount Ephraim and dwelt there and

went out from there and built Penuel.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now

shall the kingdom return to the house of

David."

You know, people worry about a lot of

things. Uh if he just obeyed God, he

wouldn't have to worry about that, at

least in his lifetime.

But he got nervous.

And what he was nervous about was this.

If this people go up to

sacrifice in the house of the Lord of

Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this

people turn again to their Lord, even to

Rabbomb, king of Judah, and they'll kill

me and go again to Rabbam, king of

Judah.

Now, that was all imaginative,

hypothetical thinking on his part, and

he probably thought, I'm pretty sharp.

fight and see how this has happened

could happen.

So he's nervous about that.

He's not a man that's secure with what

God has told him that God can do through

him.

He's a man that's secure in his own

plans.

And what happened here is a religious

innovation

by a man who put political pragmatism

before obedience.

to the word of God.

And this is very common.

His security

was in his plan,

not God's word,

not God's promises.

uh he could not live with the tension

of political separation

and spiritual unity

with

the south.

Now God often causes us to be in a place

where we feel like we're w we're walking

on a tight rope and the path of

obedience is quite narrow.

But notice

he was not up to the task.

And so

um in verse 28, whereupon the king took

counsel, made two calves of gold, and

said to them, "It's too much for you to

go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, oh

Israel, which brought thee out of the

land of Egypt." Too far. You don't have

to go down the way down.

Now, God didn't think it was too close

or me too far because God demanded all

males to be in Jerusalem every 3 years.

The reason women got a pass was because

of babies and stuff like that.

So here he's his thinking and God's

thinking

are already very far apart.

And he is rebelling against a very clear

teaching in the Old Testament about how

all Jewish people should be in

Jerusalem. Passover, you know,

tabernacles

and uh um the other one I can't think

of. Pull it in my brain right now. Uh

but anyway, Pentecost. So they had God

had clear instructions. He's going

against those clear instructions. He's

got a better plan.

How many people do you know put their

trust in their plan?

Not God's word. I got a plan. My trust

is in my plan. Not wrong to have plans,

but we better not have plans that

contradict God's word. We better not

have plans that we're married to. Some

people are married to their plan. And by

that I mean once the plan is in, they

can't think outside of that plan or ever

imagine anything happening good outside

of their plan. Well, guess what? We're

not God. Sometimes our plans aren't the

best plans.

And so anyway, he put this into practice

and he said, um, too much for you to go

up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O

Israel, which brought thee up from the

land of Egypt. That golden calf business

here is a here is a uh system where he's

it's kind of half pagan, half cut. He's

worshiping God, but he's also worshiping

these other things, these other gods.

It's it's not the kind of thing God

would accept at all.

And he set one in Bethl and the other he

put in in Dan. Now, the one in Bethl was

the one that's between uh most of the

people in Jerusalem. The one at Dan is

up north. But that was I think the one

up north was just to emphasize

I'm doing this for everybody's good. You

you people up north don't have to come

all the way to Bethl and certainly don't

have to go to Jerusalem and even those

of us here don't have to go to Jerusalem

and so forth.

And this thing became a sin.

For the people went to worship before

one, even today.

And he made a they made a house of high

places and made priests of the lowest of

the people. There's another deviation.

You know, leave you had to be of the

tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron to

be priests. He deviated from that and

made priests of the lowest of the people

which were not the sons of Levi. Herobam

ordained a feast. He had his own feast

in competition.

I remember when a cult in town saw that

we had a big Chinese ministry on Friday

night. Guess when they put their

meetings

Friday night.

They started a Chinese ministry on

Friday night,

same time.

And they even intercepted Chinese

students and and and took them to their

place but who thought they were going to

R.

So that's what's going on here.

He's he's this is not any way upright

kind of thing. It is designed to give

him a sec political security

uh so he won't be undermined by people

going down there and wanting to unify

the 12 tribes again.

Now, God had already outlined a plan for

him. He There was a plan that could work

if he would work it. But he he didn't

his plan.

So, don't be married to your plan. Be

married to God's plan. Can I put it that

way? I know. I'm the same way. I get

married to my plan.

I want this to happen. and I want to

step in this way and I got to recognize,

well, maybe that's not what God wants.

But he didn't do that. He just stuck

with it.

And

uh in verse 33, so he offered upon the

altar which he made in Bethl the 15th

day of the 8th month. Verse 33, even the

month which he had devised in his own

heart and ordained a feast to the

children of Israel, he offered on the

altar and burned incense.

So he kept everybody busy.

Yeah. So he didn't say you can't go down

there. He just said to Jerusalem. He

just said too far. We don't have to go

that far. We got this up here.

So these were actually horrible

religious innovations all designed by

one man put

under his political pragmatism. And he

put that before obedience to God's word.

Now that's dangerous.

And his security is in his plans, not in

God's plan or God's word. He could not

live with the tension.

Now, in chapter 13

that we're looking at tonight, we see

the dedication of the two golden calves.

And uh remember there was a dedication

of Solomon's temple

by Solomon and the nation. Well, now

there's going to be a dedication of the

two golden calves. Big deal.

And beh but God interrupts the whole

dedication and wrecked the whole thing.

Behold there came a man of God out of

Judah. Now Judah is in the south

remember where the true temple is and

the true gods being worshiped by the

word of God to Bethl.

And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn

incense.

Now,

this is going to be good.

You got King Jeroboam executing his plan

and surprise surprise, here comes a

prophet from the south and you know

this is not going to go like he planned

it to go.

Aren't you glad God interrupted you

and your plans?

Aren't you God? God interrupted you in

your thoughts about what was right.

Sometimes it's painful,

but when it's necessary, we can be very

thankful for it. Right.

And he cried against that. This is the

prophet. He cried against the altar in

the word of God and said, "Oh altar,

altar, thus says the Lord, behold, a

child shall be born unto the house of

David, Josiah by name, and upon thee

shall he offer the priests of of the

high places who burn incense upon thee,

and men's bones will be burned on you."

And he gave a sign the same day, saying,

"This is the sign which the Lord has

spoken. Behold, the altar will be torn

down, and the ashes there upon it will

be poured out.

Well, that was kind of a party pooper

presentation to try to dedicate the

thing and it gets wrecked before they

even get to get it off the ground.

This was a prophetic

confrontation. We've been studying

Jeremiah. He was He's confronting

different kings. This is a prophetic

confrontation by an unknown,

unheard of prophet from the south. And

he was the first of many prophets that

would go from the south to the north.

Remember Amos did that. And he, this

unnamed man is commissioned in the south

to go north

to to initiate this confrontation.

This confrontation

brings about a prophecy and this

confrontation brings about a miraculous

act on God's part.

And uh so

what and it also brought about the

emperor of the king who got upset. You

just messed up my ceremony. Who do you

think you are?

And God's Denunciation of Jeroboam's

heresy and idolatry came very swift and

very clear and right away

and this begins a new era of

confrontation between prophets and

Israel kings

as Huburn said.

Now, this is against the altar, not

against the king.

But it's the king that caused the altar

to be built. And it was a grave sin, and

it needed to be

confronted.

And so, the king didn't like it, but he

did it anyway.

And so, notice what happens

in verse four. And it came to pass when

King Gerobam heard the saying of the man

of God who cried against the altar in

Bethl, he put forth his hand from the

altar, saying, "Lay hold of him."

And his hand which he put forth against

him dried up. So he couldn't pull it in

again. It's He says, "Get this guy. Oh,

I can't. I'm stuck.

The altar also was torn down and the

ashes poured out from the altar

according to the sign which the man of

God had given by the word of the Lord.

Now, how dramatic

does God have to be?

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind

there that God

uh hated this was against it?

Is there any doubt that God was judging

this king, correcting the king

and the altar's torn down, the ashes

poured out?

The prophet said it and then it

happened. And then the king with his

arms sticking out

answered and said to the man, "Entreat

now the face of the Lord thy God, not my

God." He was embarrassed to call him my

God. and pray for me that my hand may be

restored to me again. I don't want to

walk around like this for the rest of my

life. Please.

And the man of God besought the Lord

and the king's hand was restored to him

again and became as it was before.

Mercy, mercy, mercy.

Now this should have initiated

more repentance,

more uh uh self induced conviction,

but it didn't.

And it ended right there.

He got what he wanted. His hand was

better. And he wanted to thank the

prophet.

And that seemed like a good thing. But

he should have said there should have

been something in that statement about,

"Oh, I've been wrong. This is horrible.

God, forgive me. Please pray for me that

uh for I've done this awful thing. I

displeased God."

None of that.

The king answered and said, "Entreat now

the face of the Lord thy God, and pray

for me that my hand may be restored

again." Period.

And the man of God besought the Lord,

and the king's hand was restored to him

again, and became as it was before.

And the king said to the man of God,

"Come home with me and refresh yourself,

and I'll give you a reward."

Man of God said to him, "If you give me

half your house, I would not go in with

you, neither will I eat bread or drink

water in this place." For so it was

charged me by the word of the Lord,

saying, "Eat no bread, drink nor water,

nor turn again by the same way that you

came." So he went another way, and

returned not by the way that he came to

Bethl. God told me, "No water, no bread.

You eat nothing in that place. They're

under the chastisement and correction."

Don't go in there and eat with them like

it's all everything's good now. It's not

good. There was no repentance on the

king's part. He didn't say, "Well, I'm

done with this plan.

There was no confession, no repentance,

no change.

And so the man of God took the other

road home.

So what's going on here? And this is a

interesting thing. God was dealing with

God was against the altar, not the king

at this point. But the king was guilty

of building the altar. And the king

should have confessed right there.

Philip Reagan said, "Neglecting the word

of God to do our own thing is as old as

the Old Testament."

One of the clearest places to see it is

in the story of Jeroboam, who had his

own way of worshiping God. Cain did the

same thing, didn't he? Woe to the false

teachers. J Jude said they go the way of

Cain.

So this prophet comes from the south,

not from the north. Although there were

prophets in the north, but God sent a

southern prophet.

How tragic that no prophet could be

found in the north that could speak for

God's cause or could but would speak for

God's cause. So this was a do your own

thing religion

and it needs to be contrasted with doing

God's will.

What is Isaiah 53:6? All we like sheep

Isaiah 53:6

have gone astray. We turned everyone to

his own way. That's what Jeroboam was

doing. His own way.

That's the very essence of sin.

We want our way.

We want God's. We We're not too

interested in God's way. Uh we're

interested in our way. We're not too

interested in what God wants. We want

what God wants. We all do or excuse me,

want what we want.

And we we've all done that. Maybe

unknowingly, maybe not as badly as this,

but Jeroboam's own way were these calves

and these have his own priest and have

his own feast and have his own month and

just write off the temple.

As Reichen said, Jeremiah did things his

own way rather than God's way.

Maybe he should have invented Frank

Sinatra to this. Did it m.

But

he didn't.

Now, Jeroboam sounds a lot like

someone wrote this and I I copied it

down and I I don't know where I got it.

I've forgotten. Jeroboam sounds a lot

like a young nurse that Robert Ba quoted

in his book Habits of the Heart.

This young nurse's name was Sheila.

Can remember that from Steve Benson's

wife name. She wasn't Steve Benson's

wife. She was another Sheila. That was

her name. Her name was Sheila. And here

is how she described her religion.

I believe in God. I'm not a religious

fanatic. I can't remember the last time

I went to church. My faith has carried

me a long way. It's Sheilaism.

Just my own little voice.

Sheilaism.

So she made up her own religion after

her own name.

Now when we pray, we're to pray in

Jesus' name.

But she prayed to herself in her own

name

and her religion was about her own

little voice telling her what to do.

What's that?

The heart is deceitful above all things.

Who could know it?

That's all that is. Worship of self.

Um,

our hearts are idol factories, John

Calvin said. And listening to her own

heart is can be a very deceptive thing.

So God confronted Cain. God confronted

Jerobom and whoever this Sheila was. I'm

sure God either has confronted her or

will confront her. Ask Abel whether it's

better to meet God

scripturally according to his word or

not. The Bible says better to meet a

bear robbed of her cubs than a sinner in

his folly. And uh for meeting a sinner

in his folly here. So King Jeroboam made

a blatantly bold move to step up idols

at set up idols at Bethl. This was

blatant overt revisionism. blatant,

overt idolatry. And he did it.

Alexander White said, "Never prophets of

God did a never did a prophet of God a

more splendid day's work than this guy

that confronted

confronted

uh the king.

It took a serious courage in a to

confront a powerful king that uh like

this man."

And what did he tell him?

He gave a prophecy.

This was a prophecy that came on this

very day.

To me, it's one of the most amazing

prophecies in the Old Testament.

In verse two, he cried against the altar

in the word of God and said to Walter,

"Alter, thus says the Lord, behold, a

child shall be born unto the house of

David, Josiah by name."

Josiah,

that's the king Jeremiah started his

ministry under later, right?

Remember, Jeroboam is reigned from 9:31

to 910. So, we're dealing around 9:31

BC.

Well, where how long did it take Josiah

to be born? Well, uh quite uh quite

remember Josiah is in the south. Uh and

so how long was it? Josiah reigned from

640 to 608.

So

this prophecy was given in 931 and it

was it was fulfilled

in instead of the 900s in the 600 BC

about 300 years.

Finally the baby was born and they named

him Josiah.

Now his three sons and grandson were

terrible weren't they? We were studying

that in Jeremiah. He was a good king and

Jeremiah started and he is going to be a

conoclastic. He's going to tear this

down. He's going to wreck this whole

place. So, you've done something

Jeroboam, but God's going to judge it.

And I'm going to tell you the king. It's

the name is going to do it. A baby's

going to be born of David's line who's

going to wreck this place.

I'm not going to do it. God's not going

to do it now. But in verse two, behold,

a child shall be born to the house of

David, Josiah by name, and upon thee

shall he offer the priest of the high

places, who burn incense on thee, and

men's bones will be burned on thee.

We're going to burn up all these fake

people, and they're going to be judged.

And he gave a sign the same day. This is

the sign which the Lord has spoken.

Behold, the altar will be broken down,

and the ashes that are upon it will be

poured out. Now, that happened right

away. But the baby wasn't going to be

born till later. Now, if you're King

Jeroban, you want you want a legacy. You

want you want your kingdom to last. That

bubble just got popped, right? That

balloon's gone.

Everything you're doing here is going to

end up nothing.

What a confrontation.

A child of David's line, a child of

David's dynastic line is going to

destroy the whole business.

And you know that's just

and what the prophet is saying is your

new religion's got a shelf life and

you're not it's going to be expired in

300 years. Not much of a deal.

it this place is going to be totally and

completely defiled and destruct

destroyed. Your political power will be

removed. And if a dividic king of the

south uh is going to deal with the

north, that means your big kingdom is

not going to be doing so good,

going to be under control from the

south.

It'll be you won't be able to defend

itself.

Now that is all fascinating, interesting

stuff.

Um,

so

this is good. Praise the Lord. And we

know from 2 Kings 25 and follow, we know

all this was fulfilled, you know, by the

book of Jeremiah.

You know the book of Kings was written

by the grandson of Josiah.

Book of Kings was written after Josiah's

reign. Not long after that, uh the book

was written 350 years later, Josiah

fulfilled that prophecy. And

now God did this in the book of Isaiah.

He named Cyrus,

right? He named Cyrus as the Persian

king. Named it by name before the guy

was ever born centuries.

Uh

and so stunning prophetic confrontation.

Now we all need confrontation

at times, don't we?

I need confrontation. You need

confrontation.

2 Timothy 3:15-16,

2 Timothy 3:15–16

Hebrews 4:12,

Hebrews 4:12

preaching is a confrontation thing. We

need personal confrontation sometimes.

Remember Paul jumped Peter's case when

he wasn't walking according to the

gospel in his conduct.

And so what here is a prophetic

confrontation

and by God. So God doesn't let it slide.

God doesn't let it slip. He confronts it

right away. And the confrontation by

this unnamed prophet. And the

confrontation is accompanied by a

miraculous action by freezing his arm

and by a stunning prophetic prediction.

And these miracles that happened, the

arm was stuck. The altar was trashed and

then the prophet that gave it died.

Remember you don't eat in this place or

you'll die.

He was invited to dinner. I can't can't

eat here. I'm I'm going back the other

way. I'm gone. Goodbye. But then another

fella enticed him and he ate and lion

killed him.

Dale Ralph Davis said, "A divine word

shattered a smooth liturgy." It was

mercy. It was a sudden mercy, but it was

a severe mercy.

So

powerful.

Uh, aren't you glad God has been

merciful to you? God got your attention

by this, by that, something else.

And this sign miracle proved that the

word of the prophet would come true.

When the arm froze,

that was part of it. When the altar all

of a sudden collapsed, that was another.

And then when the prophet who gave it

died under judgment because he ate,

those were emphatic. Those were

dramatic. That was no with a capital N

on it. That was loud from heaven. Heaven

said no to the whole business.

The arm freezing, the altar destroyed,

the author of the prophets, and the most

strange, most bizarre events in the

Bible

that you'll see when he tries to go home

the other way. And there was a prophet

of the Lord up there and he invited him

to dinner and he said, "No, I'm not

supposed to eat here." And the prophet

said, "Well, the Lord told me to do it."

And uh and he went and it was lying to

him.

And so he ate, went on, and then the

lion killed him and then stood there and

looked at the body instead of devouring

it. All weird stuff, all the wall stuff.

All of those things, the arm, the altar,

and the author of the prophecy, the arm

sticking and then being uh restored, the

altar destroyed, and then the author of

the prophecy dying. It's all made this

very clear. This is God's word. Now, I'm

surprised that the Jerobom didn't die.

God didn't kill him, but he sure got his

attention.

And there's many questions about the end

part of this prophecy. What's that

prophet up north? What's his sons? What

are they doing? And all of that and uh

all that stuff. Well, there's a lot of

questions that we don't even know the

answer to.

But we do know God's word doesn't

contradict itself. But we know that when

God says something, it's true.

Alexander White quoted the Westminster

confession of faith. Some sins receive

their aggravation from the person's

offending. If they be of ripe age,

greater experience of grace eminent for

their profession, gifts and place,

office, and of such their guilty their

their guilt to things, and whose example

is likely to be followed by others, it's

even worse. Well, that prophet did the

wrong thing and he died. He had a sin

and to death. I think he went to heaven,

but he his physical life was taken.

So this big sin of Gerobam is

dramatically

pictured as being confronted and dealt

with.

By the way, I think Davis is right.

Refusing to eat was a form of

excommunication.

Says if anyone doesn't eat or was such a

one don't eat, one that's dealing in

sin. And so but he ate anyway. Remember

Peter saw a sheep from heaven. The Lord

said, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat."

That's That was the opposite.

No, I've never done that. I've never

eaten anything clean like that.

Rise, Peter, kill me. Three times.

So, the death of the prophet gave to the

prophecy

an authority.

If he disobeyed his commission then and

he died for it, I better not do I better

not disobey his message.

This is serious stuff.

Now, that memory was preserved

of this event.

It was preserved. Remember the prophet

that lied to him said, "When I die, bury

me at his grave.

And Josiah comes and he's told that's

the grave of the guy that that that

that's the grave gave the guy that

prophesied you by name.

So all that is a fascinating business,

isn't it? Isn't God wonderfully in

control of everything?

I don't know Josiah knew about this

prophecy when he started his iconic

plastic bash of everything.

Uh

what did Jeremiah what did Jeroboam do

with it? Well, he didn't do the right

thing. He got his arm unlocked and he

did offer the prophet for lunch, but

there is no speck of confession or

repentance on his lips or in his heart.

Now, if a arm getting stuck when you're

saying arrest that man,

if that didn't get your attention,

you're pretty brain dead or, you know,

you're pretty dead. Or if the altar that

you just built gets destroyed on the day

you dedicate it, and if the guy that

gave the message disobys one little

thing and he dies,

you would think all of that together

would get the man's attention.

And

it should have. And here's the principle

that we see in the Bible, and it's a

principle that is still in effect. The

test of shortterm predictions.

The confirmation of the long-term

prediction is the fulfillment of the

shortterm predictions that go with it.

You know, sometimes God gives prophecies

and there's a short-term prediction and

then there's a long-term prediction.

Well, the short-term one is fulfilled

that shows the long-term one will. Oh,

when Jesus said, "On the third day, I'll

rise again." And he rose again.

That's a confirmation of a short-term

prediction.

And that assures us that his prediction

that he's going to return and rule and

reign is going to happen.

His resurrection happened on the third

day. His return is going to happen. This

same Jesus who's taken up from you will

come again as as you seen him go.

What a powerful thing.

So

um and this prophecy was fulfilled right

down to the minute details

in this particular case.

Kylin Dich said in my in our opinion

this punishment served to confirm in the

declaration concerning the altar. One

would think that the for foregoing

events would have influenced Jerobom to

turn to God. such was not to be the

case.

You know, by the way, when Jesus said he

was going to die and on the third day

rise again, everybody that crucified

him, everybody that was against him

should have repented.

Think about it.

The deceiver said he's going to rise

again on the third day. The third day

he's gone. Even though we put guards up,

uh, I think we're wrong.

They stuck with the lie.

No amount of truth thrown at an

unregenerate mind is going to convince

that unregenerate mind until the spirit

of God opens that regenerate mind.

Uh

these are awesome things really.

One writer said,

"The authenticity of the revelation

against the altar was guaranteed by the

fact that the attendant instructions

could not be violated without risk of

divine retribution. The Judeaite man of

God had to believe his own stern word of

denunciation against the altar so

intensely that his own behavior would be

determined by it.

So,

and it was to a point then when it

wasn't, he died.

Um, as far as we know, Jeroboam

never listened

till the end of his life.

It's it's a very horrible thing.

Thank God when prophets convict con

confront kings like Nathan to David,

David heard it. Or remember when Paul

confronted Peter because he was walking

not uprightly according to the gospel,

Peter heard it.

U

D Ralph Davis quotes Spurgeon's

autobiography and I've read his

autobiography but I forgot the story but

he put it in his writings and I'm going

to quote it.

When Charles Spurgeon was a small lad,

his grandfather was pastor at a chapel

in Strombborn.

Young Charles noticed his grandfather

was especially grieved over one of the

church members named Roads, R O A Ds,

who enjoyed the public house and smoking

his pipe and guzzling his beer therein.

One day, little Charles announced his

decision. I'll kill old roads that I

will.

After receiving admonitions he shouldn't

talk that way, the child assured his

grandfather, I shall not do anything

bad, but I'll kill him though that I

will. Not very long afterwards, Charles

trapesed in.

He He jump trapesed into the public

house. Trapesed in and said, "I've

killed old roads. He'll never grieve my

dear grandpa anymore."

His grandfather was a gasast, but the

lad assured him he'd done nothing wrong,

but only been about the Lord's work. It

wasn't long before Thomas Rhodess came

to seeking his pastor with obvious

sorrow. The story came out. Roads was

sitting in the pub with his pipe and

mug. Little Charles came striding in,

pointing at his him with his finger, and

said, "What doest thou here, Elijah?

Sitting with the ungodly? You're a

member of church, and you're breaking

your pastor's heart. I'm ashamed to you.

I wouldn't break my pastor's heart, I'm

sure. And the lad walked away.

It's a great story.

Roads confessed he did feel angry and

yet knew it was true. So he abandoned

the pipe and beer and went to the lonely

spot to seek the Lord. Then to the man's

to seek, that's the pastor's house to

seek forgiveness from his pastor. I've

killed old roads.

But it was a mercy killing in the proper

sense.

He was angry at the audacious rebuke,

angry at the embarrassment in front of

others, angry at the mere slip of a kid

having the gall to quote first Kings 19.

To him it was both disturbing and

merciful.

So what's the prophetic implication of

first kings 13?

Davidic king will destroy the idols of

false worship and defeat the division

that comes from it.

And guess who the ultimate Davidic king

is? Josiah is just a picture of a future

king

and that's King Jesus. That's the one

we're waiting on. That's the one we're

longing for.

Father, we thank you for what we've

heard tonight, but a challenging portion

of scripture.

We pray, Father, for anyone we need to

go to that you want us to speak about

the Lord.

Maybe there they need us to confront

them, deal with them. May we not be

negligent.

May we be obedient. But father, more

than that, may you may you speak to us

about our plans and our fears and the

things that we indulge ourselves in that

instead of just trusting your word. The

the shame and the sorrow of Jeroboam was

that you clearly gave promises to him.

He should have been resting.

Help us all to rest in your word and

your plan, not our word and our plan.

No matter how strong we want those plans

to be happening

or maybe for our church where we want

this to happen or that to happen or uh

or for our life or for

uh a ministry, whatever it is,

may we always be willing

to let go of our plans when needed

and embrace God's

especially when they're sinful,

idolatrous

lands.

We pray for these things for ourselves,

for our church, and for all those that

know our blessed Lord

in Jesus name. Amen.

Turn to page 184.

184.

>> Lord, as we go from this place,

loving you more,

trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine to a sin, darkened

world. As we go from this place,