Now, as you might imagine, this
circumstance that had fallen upon Israel is the judgment of
God. Very horrible details are given.
Jehoram, the son of or Benidad, the son of Ahab and
Jezebel, had led Israel, or I'm sorry, Jehoram. I told you wrong
a while ago, it's not Benidad that was, it was the king of
Israel that sent that message, and the king of Israel now is
Jehoram, who is the son of Ahab and Jezebel, and they had led
the nation of Israel into great idolatry, Remember they had a
stab they'd gotten rid of all the True places of worship of
Christ and the way that he was worshipped. They had perverted
all of that In worship to false God and Elijah
had exposed all that made it clear that God was God But this
son of Ahab and Jezebel Jehoram he was Apparently not as bad
as they have but not a good king And the Lord had told them that
this is exactly what would happen turn with me if you would to
Deuteronomy chapter 28 Deuteronomy chapter 28 in verse 47 Because thou servest not the
Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for
the abundance of all things, therefore shalt thou serve thine
enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and
in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things. You see
the way that's worded. Because God has given you everything,
and you don't rejoice in him for it, he's gonna take away
everything, and you're gonna serve your enemies instead of
him. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he
have destroyed you. The Lord shall bring a nation
against thee from far from the end of the earth as swift as
the eagle flyeth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand,
a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person
of the old nor show favor to the young, and he shall eat the
fruit of that cattle and the fruit of that land until thou
be destroyed, which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine,
or oil, or the increase of that kind or flocks of that sheep
until he have destroyed thee, and he shall besiege thee in
all thy gates. until thy high and fenced walls
come down wherein thou trustest throughout all thy land, and
he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy
land which the Lord thy God hath given thee. They didn't worship
him for it. He gave them everything that
they had, all these good things, and they worshiped idols because
of Ahab and Jezebel and then Jehoram. He's telling what's
gonna happen when Jehoram does what he does. This is gonna be
the consequence of it. This is what you're gonna do
and this is what I'm gonna do because you did it. So there's
no excuse. In verse 53, and thou shalt eat
the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of
thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Again,
you didn't worship him for them either, And so he's gonna take him away
in a horrible way. In the siege, and in the straightness
where thine enemies shall distress thee. Hard to even imagine that. But let that teach us something
about ourselves. I told you before, you'd sell
your own mother when it came down to it, if you needed something
to eat or something to drink. For that right there, it's not
even a half a bottle. you'd kill me dead to get that
if the Lord brought us to that place. And that's just the truth. And that's nothing compared to
what we just read. And for one simple reason, you
hate God. You hate God. That was Ahab's
problem. That was Jezebel's problem. That
was Jehoram's problem. By nature, we live in reckless
disregard for the glory and honor of God. He's given us all these
good things. It's the story of the garden,
is it not? He dropped us in paradise and
it wasn't enough. The only thing that's enough
for us is if we be gods. That's it. Everything is not
enough. We've got to be God or we're
not gonna be satisfied. Until, unless and until God causes
us to bow at his feet and then we're satisfied with Christ.
We're satisfied with him being God. We're fine and happy. You notice it said, because you
didn't honor the Lord with rejoicing. We're not just okay with God. I'm glad he's on the throne,
aren't you? That's his work, that's his grace, that that's
true of us. Don't ever make the mistake that
you have to have idols of wood or stone in order to be an idolater. The God of your imagination,
who you fancy will take you to heaven when you die, though you
live for yourself. Anybody that lives in religion,
and they live for themselves, and it's all about them, and
God is all about them, and salvation's because of them. They made the
all-important decision. It was all up to them, and it's
all about their will. When you fashion a God that's
okay with you in that, that's an idol, and it's the exact same
idol that Ahab made. Jehorah made it's the same false
God that they worshiped in they just made images to represent
them You don't need to do that To worship the same exact God
me Who were they worshiping when their worship services were?
fleshly carnal Evil Who are they worshiping when
they trusted in their gates? Remember he mentioned that as
we read? The gates that you trusted would protect you. That's your
ingenuity. That's your prosperity. That's
your fortress that you built. I'm safe because of me. No, you're
not. What their God, And the God of
false religion today boils down to is man's will, man's way,
man's works. It's the same idol. The way it always is is verse
31. Look at the tragedy of this. Then said Jehoram, he just heard
this horrible truth of what was going on in
his country. And she was just an example of
what was going on throughout the whole country. And here he is. Instead of his
sin being exposed, instead of the fruit of his idolatry being
exposed and him falling down on his face before God and begging
for mercy, he says it's God's fault. This is God's fault. for not honoring me, for not
bowing to my will. I do things my way and if God's
not okay with that, then this is his fault. That's the same
God, that's the same false God everybody's worshiping now. Same
exact one. God do so and more also to me
if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat shall stand on him
this day. He couldn't get to heaven The
Tower of Babel didn't work out, so man can't get to heaven, so
they're gonna get to whoever they can get to that represents
God. So that's what he did. We blame
God. Bad things happen. Now think
about this. Bad things happen in other parts
of the world, like there's an earthquake and a bunch of people
are killed. Well, that's Satan. That's what
religion says. That's Satan. God wouldn't do
that. That's Satan. Bad things happen to me, it's
God's fault. That's how they are now. That's
how we are by nature. Every time. Now we're the masters
of our own fate in our own eyes. But if things don't go the way
we want, it's God. It's our whole life and attitude
is a contradiction, isn't it? Well, I'm a master of my own
fate, but something doesn't go right, that's God's fault. If
it wasn't for God, everything would be fine. And boy, we commit that, don't
we? We commit that evil. Why me? This shouldn't happen
to me. Says who? Says who? That's why we've got to impress
upon people that God is God. That's the title of this message,
that God is God. That's why you didn't win or
lose your battle. You waited to see what God was
going to do. And you're going to accept it, whether you like
it or not. You're going to bow to it. That's why it's not about
the power of positive thinking. It's about what will God do with
me? Not what am I gonna do with him?
What is God gonna do with me? You see, when you come to that
place, you've got to bow. You're gonna bow. And that's
what needs to happen. That's what should have happened
in that moment right there. There's the moment right there.
He hears the horror of his own sin. It wasn't God's fault. It
was Jehoram's fault. for leading them into idolatry,
for defying God when he told him what was gonna happen if
he did that. And at that moment, rather than
bow, he shook his fist in the face of God. And that's gonna
be the turning point for us too now, our loved ones. Are they
gonna bow? Is God gonna have mercy on them?
Is he gonna bring them to this place and break them? Or are they gonna fall on him
and be broken in another way? In hatred for him, in rebellion
against his will. We blame God when the terrible
truth is that the fault is ours, all ours. We even blame God.
We're the masters of our own fate, but oh, why is God doing
this to me when something doesn't happen the way we want to? And
then we even blame God in the way that he saves sinners. Romans
chapter nine, read Romans chapter nine. We blame his sovereignty for
our own sin. This was exactly Adam's heart
of evil in the garden. Where are you, Adam? The woman
that you gave me, Let's read part of Romans chapter
nine. Let me read it to you. You're familiar with this passage,
but you'll hear our text in this. Now Romans 9, 17, for the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up that I might show my power in you. What was the issue
with Pharaoh? He's the poster child for this.
Here's what God says. Who is this God you're talking
about? I run this show. Is that right? That's the issue
tonight with you and your heart right now. That's the issue. Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will, he hardeneth. You know, one man's reaction
to that is this is of the Lord, this evil
is of the Lord. Another man's reaction to that
is, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You can heal me. You can bless me. Another man's
reaction to that, to who he is, is Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And that's of the Lord. That's of the Lord, he'll have
mercy on whom he will and whom he will. Thou wilt say then unto
me, why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will?
If when we sin it was all according to his will, how can he blame
me for it? Paul basically answers to that,
shut up. It's God's fault you didn't bow. It's God's fault that you didn't
acknowledge him as God and revere him as the sovereign in whose
hand you are? Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Your problem with him is that
he's God, and the reason you need to shut up about that, having
a problem with him, is that he's God. Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? So Jehoram sees the horrible
consequence of his own sin and blames God. David was shown in
2 Samuel 12 that he was the cause of terrible sorrow. When he heard
the story of his own life and what he had done, he passed judgment
on himself. He condemned himself to die.
Have you ever done that? I hope so. I pray God so. David said unto Nathan, I have
sinned against the Lord. That's where I'm at. And Nathan said unto David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. On the other hand, the message
to this messenger, as we saw in the first two verses of chapter
seven, when you come with hatred and murder in your heart, you
can't murder God again, He used that, he allowed that,
he caused that one time in order to redeem his people with his
son's precious blood. But that's on God's terms. You
can't murder God himself, so they came to murder his prophet.
And you know what the answer was? Instead of the Lord hath
put away that sin, thou shalt not die. The answer to this man
who came to cut off Elisha's head was, there's gonna be mercy,
but not for you. Not for you. Notice the authority and the
fearlessness of Elisha in verse 32. How was Elisha so bold? He's sitting around probably
having a meal or something with the elders. with the men that
the Lord had given him to minister. And he said, the Lord just showed
him, didn't he? He said, this messenger's gonna
come to cut my head off. When he does, stop him at the
door. And before he even got finished saying it, there he
was, there he was. How was Elisha so bold? Well,
remember verses 15 through 17, when Elisha's servant woke up
and they were surrounded by the enemy And he ran back to Elisha
and said, what are we gonna do? We're besieged. And Elisha said, Lord, open his
eyes. Open his eyes. Elisha could just see things
the way they were. That's what we need. We need,
and this is faith is what it is, to believe God. That's what
this is a picture of, when Elisha's able to just see things the way
they are. If you could see things the way
they are, you'd bow. Having bowed, if you could see
things the way they are, you would trust. You would cast your soul upon
the Son of God, if you could just see things the way they
are. That's how Elisha was so bold.
Paul said, we walk by faith, not by sight. It doesn't matter what it looks
like. It's what did God say? Did he say he'll never leave
us nor forsake us? Then nothing's happening to you
without him. Not a hair of your head can fall to the ground without
him. Do we see things the way they
really are? God, give us grace to do that and to trust you. Elisha already
knew what he said in these next few verses was coming. And he wasn't worried. He knew that what he had said
about the, how do you go from complete poverty About a quarter cup of dove dung. I guess dung's probably the nicest
word for it. For silver, pieces of silver. A quarter cup. How do you go from that to having
plenty? That's what he said, when this
time tomorrow, you'll be able to buy everything you want for
cheap. We're going to see that and talk
about that more in the next lesson, Lord willing. But like that,
overnight, God was going to provide everything
they needed. The darkness was going away,
the dawn was coming. And Elisha knew that and he wasn't
scared. He wasn't out running around organizing relief efforts
and things like that. That's not the business Elisha
was in. He was in the business of seeking the will of God and
hearing from God and speaking for God and worshiping God and
honoring God and pleading with God on Israel's behalf. He wasn't out on the street corners
crying, the end is near. He sat in his house and he waited
for the Lord to do what the Lord had told him he would do. Are we like that? Are we like
that? We don't know what the Lord's
gonna do tomorrow, but we know what the Lord's gonna do. I know he's gonna honor his son
tomorrow. With or without me, do we act accordingly? We know
how this all ends, do we act accordingly? Do we sit in our house and wait
for the Lord? We know how we ought to walk
and to please God in this world, don't we? We just saw that this
morning. 1 Thessalonians 4, do we act accordingly? Think about your plans for this
week. Are they all about how I'm gonna
worship the Lord with my actions? Or more about how am I gonna
enrich myself? I guarantee you it's one or the
other. Notice in verses 32 through 33, Jehoram solution and you think
about this because I'm witnessing this In people that I love right
now Don't try to think about who
it is because it's not just one person believe me Many of the folks that I pray
for and love Jehoram solution and this messengers
solution he was in on it Serving Jehoram Their solution to the
consequences of their own evil which were horrible was to commit
more evil You know anybody like that Their way out of their horrible
circumstances Is to double down on their evil We are deeply self-destructive
by nature My life is a shipwreck because
of my sin, what am I gonna do more sin? defy God Absent his
worship not have any interest in him really God help us God help us. Do we realize the simple lesson
of this text that all of our problems are because we simply
do not bow to the son of God? It's not complicated. We worship our own imaginary
God because he caters to our desires now. Oh, we believe in
God. Did you hear what Jehoram said?
If the Lord doesn't bless thee, how am I going to? He's talking
about the Lord. He's acting like he's a Christian. Of course I'm
a Christian. I've always been a Christian.
You need the Lord's help, not me. There's nothing in the wine
press. There's nothing for me to feed
you. It's the imaginary God of our
own free will because he caters to our idea of fairness. He caters to our desires, our
way of thinking, and then we're surprised and angry when the
God of heaven and earth judges us wanting. And look at the horrible tragedy
of persisting in this rebellion
against God. This is the result. Now, this
is all you can expect from God if you insist upon yourself rather than his will, his way,
his work. To persist in this rebellion,
rebellion that many that I know and love are engaged in this
very night. Verses one and two of chapter
seven, God's gonna have mercy on sinners, but not on you. Not
on you, because of your pride, because of your rebellion, because
of your will, because of your idolatry, there's no mercy for
you. That's what our Lord said to
the religious Jews in John eight. You remember that? Verse 20,
these words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the
temple and no man laid hands on him for his hour was not yet
come. You're always gonna wanna kill
him until you don't. Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way and you shall seek me and you shall die in your
sins. Where I'm going, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill
himself because he saith, whither I go, you cannot come? And he
said unto them, you are from beneath. You're made out of dirt. Am from above you are of this
world. I am not of this world I said
therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins for if you believe
not that I am You shall die in your sins Is that our text If you believe not that he is
the I am I the eternal sovereign God, a just God and a savior. But you defy him, you die in
your sins. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am,
you shall die in your sins. And they didn't. Then said they
unto him, who are you? And Jesus saith unto them, and
this is so sad, because here they were. He's telling them
in no uncertain terms, you're going to hell. You're a goner. Where I'm going, you can't come.
There's gonna be mercy, there's gonna be plenty of food, but
you're not gonna eat any of it. He told his disciples, you can't
come where I'm going for now, but you'll follow me after. He told these people, you're
not coming. And listen, they said, who are
you? That's a good question. And Jesus
saith unto them, even the same that I said unto you from the
beginning. That has a double meaning now.
Ever since, in an earthly sense, they had known who the Lord Jesus
was, this Jesus of Nazareth. Ever since they had known who
he was, and that he had spoken to them, he had told them who
he is. And they believe not, they had
not the love of God in them, he said. They believed not and
they were gonna die in their sins because of it, but also
from the beginning, beginning, Christ has told us who he is. We see from Genesis chapter one
on that he's told us from the beginning who he is. Christ has been set forth who
he is. what He did for sinners. He's
the just God and the Savior. No God else beside Him. We have
no excuse whatsoever for not bowing to Him. And maybe that
moment that we're talking about, maybe that's tonight for you. Maybe that's tonight. There's going to come a time
when you're going to bow up or you're gonna bow. There's absolutely no excuse
whatsoever for not bowing to him right now and forever in
our hearts and in our lives and in our every thought, word, and
deed. There's mercy with the Lord.
There's mercy. His elect were in that besieged
city. He's about to give them everything
they need. I suspect they were calling on
Him, don't you think? And waiting on Him. They were
sitting in their houses like Elisha and saying, well, when
the Lord wants us to eat, we'll have something to eat. Or maybe they were like me and
they were panicking. But the Lord's fixing to give
them plenty. There's mercy with the Lord.
The Lord brought this siege upon Israel. He said he was going
to. And the Lord in one day was about to take it away so that
there would be plenty for everybody. So the question that we will
ask next time in our lesson, in the next passage of this chapter
seven, begs to be asked even now, why sit we here until we
die? Why sit we here until we die?
Let's seek mercy. Let's see if there's mercy for
us. The Lord, who is in perfect control
of all of this, let's see if maybe he'll shine on us.