I thought about, we could just
close our Bibles and go home. This needs no comment, really,
but the necessity is laid upon me. The story is so clear, or as the Scripture says, it's plain
to him to understand it. We all don't, so that's why we
preach that dead bones might live. So what a relevant message
this is. A clear description of the world,
the church, the gospel. Notice verse 1 says, came to
pass after this. The whole world went after Jehoshaphat
and Judah. After this. There's something
interesting. It all goes together in chapter
19. Jehoshaphat is the king, and
he's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Judah. I kept emphasizing that,
didn't I, when we were reading it. Judah is God's chosen people. Not all of Israel. Eleven tribes, and then Judah. Jerusalem, that's the city of
David. That's where the temple was. These were the people of
God. A remnant, according to election. They knew the Lord, and they
had a godly king named Jehoshaphat. That's a picture of the church.
A true church. Israel's religion. Everybody
claimed to know God, used his name, but they didn't. They didn't. Well, in chapter 19, verse 4,
verse 5, it says, Jehoshaphat set judges in the land throughout
all the fenced cities of Judah. And he said to these judges,
these were men, not women, men whom he sent over the people
to judge them, to give wise decisions, discernment, rule, to rule over
them. He said to the judges, Take heed
what you do. You judge not for man, but for
the Lord, and he is with you in the judgment. Wherefore, now
let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Take heed, do it, There's
no iniquity with our Lord, our God. He's holy. No respect of
persons, no taking of gifts. And he went on to say in verse
9, he charged them, do it in fear, fear of the Lord, faithfully
with a perfect heart. David even said that in his last
words. David said, he that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in the fear of the Lord. And then down
in verse 11, the last line says, deal courageously. The Lord shall
be with thee, so be with the good. So Jehoshaphat set up judges
to rule in Judah who were just men in the fear of the Lord because
the rest of the world was corrupt. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that the Lord
has not left himself without a witness in our generation?
Aren't you glad that the Lord Jesus Christ has set up men called,
chosen, and faithful to rule over his house, his church, by
the Word of the Lord? Not their thoughts, not their
opinions, not popular opinion, but by the Word of the Lord in
the fear of the Lord. They dare not say anything else
than what the Lord has said. To rule over his church. Aren't
you glad? Aren't you glad? And that's why
Paul said, remember them in prayer that have the rule over you.
And obey them, that is, follow them. They watch for your souls.
They're not interested in counting your heads or your money or building
a big... They're just... They're called
of the Lord to guide His people and to preach. Aren't you glad? So many falsehoods. In the book
of Judges, the last line in the book of Judges, ironically, Judges,
It says that there was no king in Israel, and every man did
that which was right in his own eyes. That is our day, isn't
it? That's the day we live in. There's
no sovereign God proclaimed, but very few preachers called
of God like these men of Jehoshaphat, who rule in the fear of the Lord
by the word of the Lord. But every man does that and says
that which is right in his own eye. So corruption reigns in
this land, but not in the church. Did you hear that? Isn't that
a blessing? And it says after this, after he set up these men,
they were needful. He set up these men, it says
the whole world came after them. You think you're right and everybody
else is wrong. Think you're the only true people?
Everybody else is wrong. And the whole world came after
Judah. Not Israel. They weren't fighting
Israel. They were fighting Judah. Do
you understand? This is what Psalm 2 said. The
Lord said this, Why the heathen rage, and the people imagine
a vain thing. That refers to Jews and Gentiles. Kings of the earth, rulers set
themselves. Rulers take counsel together
against. Who are they against? Who is
man against? Religion against. Against God,
against the Lord, the Lord, Jehovah, Abraham, Isaac, and against His
anointed, who is Christ, who is His people. Say, let's break
this band asunder. Let's cast them away from us,
this little band. He that sitteth in the heavens
laughs. He says, here's what God says
in Psalm 2, and this whole picture, I have set my king on my holy
hill of Sihon, the Lord Jesus Christ, though the whole world
is against him. And they were. Herod and Pontius
Pilate and the Jews and the Gentiles did what God determined them
for to be done. So here's the picture. Judah
represents the Church of God. Jehoshaphat represents Jesus
Christ, King of kings, the Lord over His people, Savior of His
people. All right? And it says in verses
1 and 2, the whole world came after them, but verse 3, Jehoshaphat
feared and set himself, or that is, set his face like a flint to seek the Lord. set his face
like a flint, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And verse 4, And Judah gathered
themselves together. Who did they gather to? Jehoshaphat. He was their king. And they gathered
to him. To do what? To ask help of the
Lord. And they came out of all cities
of Judah, from the north, the south, the east and the west
of that land of Judah. And they came to seek the Lord. Get help from the Lord. Thank God the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's King, is in the midst of Judah, His people. Thank God,
Christ our Lord, Scripture says, set His face like a flint toward
Jerusalem. Scripture says He was heard in
that He feared. and set his face like a flint
to come to this earth to redeem his people, not to try to save
everybody, but to come to redeem his people. And he came down
here and he went to the cross, looked like he was crucified
in weakness, didn't he? Looked like he was just a martyr,
looked like what everyone just laid hold of him and killed him,
but no God purpose for this to be done. This was going to be
the redemption of his people. It was the redemption of his
people. It was to be their salvation. Whereby the king, the god of
this world would be destroyed. Whereby the sins of God's people
would be forever put away, their dead bodies cast aside, destroyed. All the enemies of God's people
would be put away forever. by one man who had by himself
purged the sins of his people, came into this world and having
obtained eternal redemption. Oh, what a picture of Jehoshaphat
is here. All right? It says the people gathered to
Him. They gathered to Him to seek help, to ask help, to call
on the Lord. They came from everywhere. They
came to seek the Lord. They didn't come to see one another. They didn't come to see the pageantry. They didn't come to see the choir.
They didn't come to hear the music. They didn't come to see
Jerusalem. They didn't come to see the temple.
They didn't come. They came to ask help from the
Lord. These were people the whole world
was against them. They came to seek the Lord. They
had food, they had raiment, they had all they needed, but they
were in trouble. They had enemies all around them, and the worst
enemy of all was within them. This is the people of God. They
don't come for entertainment. They don't come to see things. They're people that sin plagues
them. Satan's after them. The world
is against them. They themselves are their own
worst enemy. Troubles without, trials, afflictions,
sorrows, sin without, within. Strivings without, struggles
within, like Rebecca, the two in her. They come for one reason,
to ask help, to call on the name of the Lord. Help us, like Jehoshaphat
prayed for them. We have no might. We have no
ability whatsoever. We can't beat one of our enemies,
and there are many, and they're strong. Would you help us? O King, go out before us. Help us. I'm getting way ahead
of myself here. But God answered them. Seek the
Lord. Seek His face. They're not seeking
riches. They're not seeking A mate is
seeking the Lord. Those who seek the Lord find
the Lord and find all and in all in Him. We gather to Christ
our King, our Lord, to help us to pray for us. Bless God, Jehoshaphat,
pray for me. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much, Scripture says. People, Judah,
I'm talking to you. We have a King that prayeth for
us, ever lives to make intercession for us. In fact, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, the Father always hears him. And all who come in
his name, the Father will hear them. And that blessed prayer
that our Lord prayed in John 17, we're not saved by our prayers,
we're saved by that prayer. We pray after the fact. You know
that? We don't even call until after
the fact. Whoever calls, calls because
the Lord called them. Whoever prays, prays because
Jesus Christ prayed for them. Whoever the Lord saves, saves
because God gave them to Jesus Christ. There's their captain,
whom Jehoshaphat represents here. He's not a perfect representation,
not at all. But he pleaded his own weakness,
like me. I had no power at all. I'm not. My hope is your hope in the Lord
and his mercy and his grace. So Jehoshaphat stood, and he
prayed, and here was his prayer, and we read it, O Lord our God,
art thou not God in heaven, God of our fathers? Rulest thou not
thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?" Have you ever noticed
how everybody that prays, prays like one of the old fellows said,
everybody prays like a Calvinist, but their theology is not. The
way they talk, the way they conduct themselves, free will. And when all men pray to God,
they attribute sovereignty to Him. Oh, God's people know. They know in their heart. They
know by experience. God reigns. God rules. They're
so thankful. This is their hope. This is our
hope. This is what men get mad at,
what men hate, that God reigns and rules. That's God's people's
hope. People get mad at God's electing
of people. God's elect say, well, if He
hadn't elected me, then I'd be a goner. I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be standing right
here. I wouldn't be standing right here. I was like Esau.
I had no interest in this whatsoever. None. Despised it. And I can't preach the gospel
without saying these two words. But God, bless His holy name,
before the world began, chose this old fellow, or I wouldn't
have come. Now that doesn't change what
God says about seeking it. If you don't seek Him, He won't
be found. If you don't call on Him, you won't be saved. If you don't confess Him in baptism,
you won't be saved. You say, I don't understand.
Well, you will if God gives you understanding. Every one of God's
people understands. It's proof when you call, it's
proof that He called you. When you seek, it's proof that
He sought you first. When you repent, it's proof that
the goodness of God led you to repent. When you believe it's
proof that you're saved by grace. Or you wouldn't believe at all.
But see, man's responsible. God says, call. And they don't. He says, I told you to call and
you didn't call. So the blame's right on your
head. You're to blame. But then if God calls them and
they start calling, they realize, oh, God gets all the glory. All
the glory. If it had left me to myself,
I wouldn't have called. Where am I? Oh God, our God,
Thou art our God. Our God. And he went on to plead
with God and to, all he did, all he did, Brother John, is
repeat back to God what God had already said and done. You understand? Nothing new. He's just pleading
The same sovereign mercy, sovereign grace, sovereign power that God
displayed over the first chosen people back in Egypt. How that
God brought them all out by a high hand. God chose them. God revealed
himself to them. God sent the blood over the doorpost
and God brought them out with a high hand. And Jehoshaphat
and all the people said, we're just like those people. All our
hope. is in this sovereign Lord. And
those that God has chosen know that. And that's what we say
today. And because they believed that
God, because they were God's people, the whole world was out
to get them. That's so. The whole world. And they came to the Lord Jesus
Christ. They came to Jehoshaphat, Pray
for them, and so do God's people. Come to Christ. And I read that
to you in Psalm 2. He that sits in the heavens laughs. And he reminds us, I'm with you. Though the whole world be against
you. Though everything against you. Sin, Satan, self. Read on. It says in verse, not
repeat this prayer, but he did say, in verses 9 through 11,
that you gave us a temple. And Solomon said, whoever prays
in thy name toward that holy temple, no matter where they
are, no matter where they are, they pray in thy name toward
that holy temple, that you'll hear them and you'll save them.
Now, you know what that temple is. That's Jesus' cry in the
name of Christ. Christ said, pray in my name,
the Father's name. And so we plead that, Lord, we're
in trouble. We need help. Our God, your God
over all, we come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Would you help us? And I love this, verses 12 and
13. It says, Oh, our God, wilt thou
not judge them? Art thou the judge of the earth?
We have no mind against this great company that cometh against
us. We have no power against our
sins. We have no power against Satan. We have no power to resist one
temptation in this world. Neither know we what to do. We're
at our wits end. But our eyes are upon thee. Can you see this picture? It
says all Judah. stood before the Lord with their
little ones, their wives, and their children. And there we
sit. There you sit. With our little
ones. I think of this verse every time
I'm sitting there and look out and see these little ones sit
inside of you. I think of this verse. We're just like these
people. We have no might. We have no
power. We don't know what to do. All
we know to do is look to Thee. Our little ones, O Lord, would
You turn their eyes upon Thee? Would You cause them to see their
need of You? They all stood before the Lord. How did the Lord answer
them? The Lord answered them. How did
He answer them? The same way He answers His people
today. He sent a preacher. He raised
up a man, right out from the middle of them, a Levite of the
sons of Asaph. David talked much of Asaph. Asaph was a Levite, a son of
Aaron. But he was raised up from among
the people, verse 14, in the midst of the congregation, a
man named Jehaziel. Don't know much about him. We
never heard of him before this, and you won't hear about him
again. And he preached one message. What a message. What a message. And here's what he said. It's
the exact same message that every one of God's people preach, his
preachers preach today. No different. The end that God
raises up out of the congregations. And he said, verse 15, Harken
ye all Judah. of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat,
thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude." Yes, you're in the minority.
Yes, it seems like everything and everyone is against you.
Yes, you have no might, no power against any of these enemies
that assault you, that assail you. You have no might or power. But the battle's not yours. It's
God's. The battle's not yours. It's
God's. Didn't He tell Isaiah to go comfort
His people? Didn't He? Comfort ye, comfort
ye My people. This is the only comfort to God's
people. Here's what He said. Tell them,
speak ye comfortably to the heart, to Jerusalem. My people, cry
unto her. Cry unto her. This is where preachers
began to cry. You're not supposed to do that
anymore. But the Lord said, do it. Cry
unto her. Say it loudly. They might be
asleep. Cry unto her. Her warfare is accomplished. This battle for their soul is
already done. It's already been won. Who won
it? Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree,
the captain of our salvation. After He had poured out His soul
unto death, after God laid on Him the iniquity of all of His
people, after God made Him to be sin for them, He who knew
no sin, and made them righteous in Him, charged to them His perfect
life, His obedience, declared them holy, unblameable, and unreproved.
I'm enjoying saying this again. Are you enjoying hearing it again?
I say it all the time. Made them holy, unblameable, and unreproved. The whole world is guilty. The
whole world is blameable, reprovable, guilty in God's sight, but not
those in Christ. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in God's sight. Why? Because what they did...
Oh no! No! They don't have anything
to do with it. Their salvation was accomplished
by Jesus Christ hanging on that tree. Accomplished by Jesus Christ
living in this earth for 33 years. It's not me and Jesus, it's Jesus! Not what I did with His blood,
it's what God did with His blood. Not my acceptance of him, it's
his acceptance of me. Cry unto her. Are you helpless,
hopeless, damned, and doomed, and assaulted by everything and
everyone, including yourself? He told Isaiah, lift up your
voice. Lift up your voice. Anybody in trouble? Anybody that your wit's in? Anybody
say, I've had no help, no hope in myself. Tell them, those that
say that, tell them the battle's over before it begins. It's over. It's been won. And
Jesus Christ won. That's good news. He won. It's over. It's all over but
the shouting. Like when the Lord told Gideon and the people, surround
that city, and here's what you'll do. You'll take pitchers and
hammers and just start singing. Well, you can't break down walls.
You can't fight with pitchers, trumpets. You watch. You can't fight the enemy and
defeat the enemy by sitting still. No, you can't, because it's not
yours. You can't beat anybody. You can't
beat yourself. The battle's not yours. Isn't that good enough? It's
the Lord. It's the Lord. Tell them that. It's over. Nick
with his pardon. They're dead bodies. They're
dead and crucified with Christ. You're dead and your life's hid
with God in Christ. And you're going to see them
laying on the shore like these people did when it's all over.
Their sin is gone because of Jesus Christ. He said in his
message to the people, verse 16, Go down, tomorrow you'll
go against them. And every one of us are going to... We've got these enemies right
now inside of us, right now, bothering us. We're not wrestling
with flesh and blood, but with principalities of power and rulers
of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness and high
places. Satan, whom the world scoffs at, yet is under his bondage,
under his rule. Satan, whose grand design is
to keep people from hearing the gospel, but bless God, God's
people are not going to be kept from hearing the gospel. Because
the hearing of the ear is of the Lord, the seeing eye is of
the Lord. They're going to see their need of him, they're going
to hear this message of him, and they're going to call on
him, and God's going to save them. Well, you've got people against
you now, and you're going to leave this room, and the foul
of the air and the thorns and the thistles are going to seek
to choke out this word. You're going to go out and you're
going to face them here, you're going to face them there, you're going to go
to work, some of you are going to go home, and they're going
to seek to destroy what you've heard this morning. Go out against
them, the Lord said. You'll find them everywhere.
They're all around us. That's what this preacher said.
They're everywhere. But verse 17, you don't need
to fight. Set yourselves. Settle it in
your hearts. Stand ye still and see the salvation
of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not,
nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them.
What do you hope? The Lord is with you. Everybody
says that. Everybody quotes that. How you
know God is for you is if you're for Him. You're for His glory. You're for His honor. You're
for His namesake. You're for His truth. You're
for His Son. You're for His blood. You're
for His righteousness. Not man's. You're for His will.
You're for His choice. You're for His reign, for His
rule, His glory, His honor. That's how you know God is for
you. You're for His Son getting all the glory. That's how you
know God is for you. God before you, who can be against? Go out, and Jehoshaphat bowed
his head, fell on his face, and all Jerusalem,
Judah, they worshiped the Lord. My, my. The Levites stood up
to praise the next morning. They rose early in the morning.
What did they get up to do? What did you get up to do? What did you come for this morning?
As our Lord said to some about John, what did you go out to
see? Some went out to see this preacher, Curiosity. Some went
to hear the word of the Lord. They did. Did they? Yes, they
did. What did they hear? They heard
this. They heard John stand up and say, battle's not yours. It's the Lord. Behold the Lamb
of God. That's what they are. Same message.
It's not Jewish. It's the Lord's. It's the Lamb's.
They're making war with the Lamb. The Lamb prevailed. The Lamb
prevailed. And those that are with Him in
Revelation, those that are with the Lamb are called, chosen,
and faithful. Faithful to His name. Faithful
to His glory. Faithful to His honor. Faithful
to His worship. They can do nothing else. They
rose in the morning, and they came to worship the Lord. for
this great salvation that they heard about. But it's not over. There's a lot to take, but it
is. It is. As we say, it's all over
but the shouting. They're going to shout. Oh, man,
are they going to shout. In verse 20, Jehoshaphat said,
Hear me, Judah, believe in the Lord your God. So shall you be
established. Believe His prophets, His Word,
God's Word, and you'll prosper. Not materially, but spiritually. Your faith will be strengthened
and set. Believe. What does the Scripture
say? Believe what? Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Every
single person that really really believes on, that really trusts
the Lord Jesus Christ, that casts all their care, their soul, their
sins, their everything, their future on the Lord Jesus Christ,
that confesses all their sins on the head of the Lord Jesus
Christ, their scapegoat. Every single person, no matter
how, what they've done, where they've been, no matter what,
no matter who, whosoever shall cast all their care, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to save sinners, shall be
saved." That's as good as done. It's over. None of them have trusted the
Lord. What a shame. Do you reckon anybody in the crowd
said, I didn't hear that last line. Just stand still. Stand still. And lo and behold, here's what
they did. They just started praising the
Lord. Praise the Lord. What did they praise Him for?
Verse 21. The last line. Praise the Lord for His mercy. Endureth forever. You rarely
hear that word today in a religion, do you? You turn on your TV and go to
the average place, you rarely hear it. You come to the church
where the Gospels preach, where sinners are, you'll hear it about
every three words, like the Psalms. One psalm in particular says
it in every verse, His mercy endures forever. It would seem
like repetition. It seems redundant to the average
person. Why does he keep saying that? Why does he keep saying
that? His mercy endures forever. Why does he keep saying that?
Well, to the people of God, they want to hear it until the day
they die. To these people who are sinners,
who have no might, no power, who see no hope in themselves,
who have no ability to fight temptation and sin, who all their
hope is in his mercy. Tell me again, this mercy won't
give out? That when I sin today, and when
I sin tomorrow, and when I'm laying on my deathbed, and I've
sinned against the Lord, would you tell me one more time, before
I die, that that mercy endureth forever? Would you? Yes, I will. Yes, I will. Not too long ago, I went to the emergency room,
drove myself there, thought I was having a heart attack. I spent
eight hours in the emergency room, and they were treating
me for a heart attack. And I was driving myself there,
couldn't get a hold of anything. And I thought, it's over. And
you know, all that I could think of, all I could think about, Lord,
have mercy on me, this sinner. Have mercy on me through the
Lord Jesus Christ. You said, you said, He takes pleasure in
them that fear you and hope in your mercy. Have mercy on me,
this sinner. And the word came to me, His
mercy endures forever. That's my hope. My hope. They began to sing and praise
the Lord. And you know what he did? He
smoked their enemies. In fact, they destroyed themselves. They destroyed themselves. And
we would, too. We'd destroy ourselves. If the Lord had chosen us, had
mercy upon us. And down in verse 24 it says,
None of them escaped. Their dead bodies were seen,
fallen to the earth. None escaped. What a picture
that is of all of our sins. All of our sins are gone. None
escaped. They were all laid on the head
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, the spoils they got.
Oh, my. And they were headed to Jerusalem
with joy and rejoicing, with riches, innumerable, unsearchable
riches. psalteries and harps and trumpets,
verse 28, singing unto the Lord, fear of God upon them all, worshiping
the Lord for such great salvation. Not one of them did one blessed
thing. Nobody lifted a finger. Nobody
shot an arrow. Nobody threw a spear. God did
it all. And they were blessing him. And
it says in verse 30, The realm of Jehoshaphat the king was quiet. His rest, God gave him rest. And that meant everybody that
was with Jehoshaphat had rest forever, it seemed like, in his
realm. No more battle. No more enemies.
No more assaults. God's people, someday, oh, the
unsearchable riches I hadn't seen or hadn't heard. For those that fear the Lord,
those that know Him who fought their battle. Rest. Peace. No more battle. No more
sin. No more sorrow. No more death.
No more tears. Just rejoicing with Judah. All right. Let's sing in closing
number 442. Praise Him. Praise Him. Number
442. Sing a couple of verses.