First Kings in chapter 13. Now,
I'm going to read quite a few verses today. So I don't like
to read too much when it's a young people's address, but I do think
we need the narrative of this account to get it in its entirety. And it's not even a chapter that
I can give a good title to because there are not any names mentioned
in this chapter as far as the key characters are concerned. But I've given this little address,
the title, Deceived by a Lying Prophet. And you'll see what
I mean by that in a moment or two. So we are going to 1 Kings chapter
13, and we're going to read from verse one for continuity. Now let me just mention one other
thing before I begin reading. The last time we spoke, we spoke
about a man called Jeroboam, and we mentioned one of the incidents
in his life. when a man of God rebuked him
while he was engaged in idolatry. You'll remember Jeroboam was
now the king of Israel. Rehoboam was the king in Judah. Jeroboam had become the king
in Israel when Solomon's kingdom had fragmented. and Jeroboam
set up various altars and idols of worship. And in this occasion,
there was a man, we're going to speak about this man today,
a man of God that went and rebuked Jeroboam when he was engaged
in this idolatrous offering of incense at an altar. And we're
going to think about what happened to that man after he had confronted
the king of Israel. It's a strange story. It's even
a little bit unsettling. And yet this is the word of God.
So we shall read the whole of this narrative together. 1 Kings chapter 13, I'm reading
from verse one. And behold, there came a man
of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel, and
Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against
the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar,
thus saith 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 the high places that burn incense upon thee,
and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign
the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath
spoken. Behold, the altar shall be rent,
and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came
to pass, when King Jeruboam heard the saying of the man of God,
which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth
his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. and his hand
which he put forth against him dried up, so that he could not
pull it again to him. The altar also was rent, 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. And
the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the
face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may
be restored me again. 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 unto the man
of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give
thee a reward. The man of God said unto the
king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in
with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this
place. For so was it charged me by the
word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor
turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another
way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. Now there dwelt an old prophet
in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that
the man of God had done that day in Bethel. The words which
he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their
father. And their father said unto them,
What way went he? For his sons had seen what way
the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto
his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass,
and he rode thereon. and went after the man of God
and found him sitting under an oak. And he said unto him, Art
thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said unto him, Come home
with me and eat bread. And he said, I may not return
with thee, nor go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor
drink water with thee in this place. For it was said to me
by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink
water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. He said unto him, I am a prophet
also, as thou art. And an angel spake unto me by
the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into
thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. but he
lied unto him. So he went back with him and
did eat bread in his house and drank water. And it came to pass,
as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto
the prophet that had brought him back. And he cried unto the
man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord,
forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast
not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
but camest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the
place of which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread and drink
no water, thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy
fathers. And it came to pass, after he
had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled for
him the ass to wit for the prophet whom he had brought back. And
when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him,
and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it,
the lion also stood by the carcass. And behold, men passed by and
saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the
carcass, and they came and told it in the city where the old
prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought
him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God
who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord. Therefore the
Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him
and slain him according to the word of the Lord, which he spake
unto him. And he spake to his sons, saying,
Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. And he
went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the
lion standing by the carcass. The lion had not eaten the carcass,
nor torn the ass. And the prophet took up the carcass
of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it
back. And the old prophet came to the
city to mourn and to bury him. And he laid his carcass in his
own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! And it came to pass, after he
had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am
dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried
by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against
all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria
shall surely come to pass. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
that reading from his word. And thank you for your patience
as we read that whole story together. The man of God that we read about
in this passage was faithful to God's command. He traveled
from Judah to Bethel, which was in Israel, now part of the new
kingdom, and there he publicly rebuked the king. Now that could
not have been an easy task, an easy journey to perform or task
to do. I suggest to you it was a brave
act and the king tried to harm him until God intervened. Jeroboam's arm was made tight,
it was made dry so that he could not bring it back in after he
had extended it. But Jeroboam, appealing to the
man of God, was healed. And he offered the man of God
hospitality and a reward for what he had done. But the man
of God refused it. He refused it clearly and emphatically. He said, for so was it charged
me by the word of the Lord, saying, eat no bread, nor drink water,
nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. Now, that really
was quite a demand that was laid upon this man of God. He was to eat no bread, so he
wasn't to have anything to eat during this journey. He was to
drink no water, which may be thought to be quite a considerable
task in itself. And he was to deviate from the
main road that would lead him into Bethel. But faithful to
God's word, the man of God fulfilled this obligation and he went another
way and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. This
alternative route was perhaps to teach that no one from Judah
was to travel to Israel anymore or have anything to do with their
idolatry. It's quite possible that the
alternative route found him going out of Israel into one of the
neighboring countries and then back into Judah so that he didn't
cross the road or the boundary directly from Israel into Judah. Be that as it may, it certainly
appears as if the man of God was conscientious and careful
not to disobey the word of the Lord. But then we meet another man,
and this man is called an old prophet. And we have no reason
to doubt that he is not indeed a prophet. Whether he is a prophet
of the Lord is a question. But it would appear that he probably
talked like a prophet, may even have dressed like a prophet.
He was an aged man, and he had the appearance of a prophet. and his sons tell him about the
man of God. They tell him what he had said
in the presence of Jeroboam and how he had acted. And the old
prophet is intrigued and he wishes to speak with the man of God. He tells his sons to saddle his
ass and he pursues the man of God, finding him resting under
an oak tree, no doubt weary, probably hungry and thirsty for
the heat of his journey. And he invites him to return
to dine with him in his own home. But again the man of God refuses,
giving the same reason that God had forbidden him from doing
so. But the old prophet was undeterred
and he tells the man of God a lie. He tells the man of God, I am
a prophet also as thou art. Now, maybe that there was an
element of lying in that, but it seems more likely that the
thrust of the lie is what he then says. And an angel spake
unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, bring him back with thee
into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. And then we're told, but he lied
unto him. Now, the man of God did not know
that he had been lied to. And he finds himself in a dilemma.
An old prophet tells you that he has received a word from the
Lord. It seems believable. It was desirable,
certainly. And there appears to be no reason
why this old man should lie. But it was a lie, and the man
of God was deceived thereby. And he went back with him, we
read. And he did eat bread in his house and drank water. And
then we read in verses 20 to 22. And it came to pass as they
sat at table that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet
that brought him back. So it actually appears as if
God himself here speaks to the old prophet, the owner of the
house, the deceiver, the liar. that the prophet, that prophet
is spoken to by the Lord. And he cried unto the man of
God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, forasmuch
as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept
the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest
back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which
the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, drink no water, thy
carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers. Nor did it. The man of God arose
and left the house. The old prophet even gave him
an ass to ease his journey. But it was a short journey. And
shortly after leaving the city, a lion came out of a wood and
slew the man of God, leaving his body in the road. But then a strange thing happened.
The lion did not eat the man of God. It simply waited beside
the body. A second thing, the ass didn't
run away. It, too, waited by the carcass
of the man of God. And men who were passing on the
road observed the sight, and they brought the story into the
city where the old prophet learned of the matter. Realizing that
it was the man of God, he again left the city, he found The man
of God's carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion
standing by the carcass. For the lion had not eaten the
carcass, nor torn the ass. The old prophet retrieved the
body of the man of God. He returned with it to Bethel.
There he buried it in his own grave. and he gave instructions
to his sons that upon his death, he wished to be buried beside
the man of God. And that is what happened. And what a sad story that is,
really. And yet, what powerful lessons
it contains. I was wondering, I don't imagine
many of us, whether we're younger or whether we're older, have
ever heard a sermon from this passage concerning this man. But I'm going to make a few applications
today that I feel are relevant and that I feel teach us something
important about God's way and God's word. The first thing I
want to mention to you is this. The scriptures tell us, the Bible
testifies, that every violation of God's word brings death. Every violation of God's word
brings death. Now I suspect that we speak so
often about mercy and forgiveness that we sometimes forget how
serious God views our sin. These Old Testament examples
ought to be a reminder. This man of God seemed to do
so well He came out of Judah, he bravely withstood Jeroboam,
he faithfully declared God's message, twice he refused to
be disobedient to God's command. And in the end, even when he
did fall, it was because he was deceived. He disobeyed, but who
would not agree that he had an excuse? Ah, but there are no excuses
with God. This is the message of the rigid,
unbending word of God. The law of God grants no mercy. Every sin is recorded. Every transgression is logged. In the day of judgment, When
the books are opened, every single person will try to give an excuse
for the things that they have said, for the things that they
have done, for the things that they have thought, but God's
law will silence them. It will be relentless, and it
will be condemning. It will declare the soul that
sinneth, it shall die, and it won't take any excuses. So let
the example of this man cause us to understand the seriousness
of sin. Just one little sin at the end
of a long catalogue of obedience caused this man to come under
the judgment and the correction and the discipline of the Lord. and let it cause us to seek forgiveness
for our many sins in the only place possible and by the only
one worthy. The Lord Jesus Christ shed his
precious blood for the remission of sins like ours. And that still recognises that
all sin has to be punished. The point is now, however, that
the Lord Jesus Christ has taken the punishment of his people's
sins and he has borne them himself and he's carried them away so
that while our sin is yet punished, it isn't punished on us. It's
punished on Christ. to cleanse and to pardon our
disobedience by removing our guilt, the Lord Jesus Christ
carried our load and bore our punishment. All who believe and
trust in him. May we all find grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ to do so. Here's another thing that this
passage teaches us. No word of man can overrule or
invalidate God's word. This old prophet seemed so believable. He seemed so plausible. Why should
he lie? What did he have to gain? What
if he had indeed received a word from an angel of the Lord? Might
the man of God be guilty of rejecting God's word at the mouth of a
prophet? Let me be clear. We are called
to trust and believe God's word, the Bible. Many, many people
will contradict the scriptures. Even preachers who come in the
name of the Lord and tell us that they have a message from
the Lord will try to deceive us. And this isn't easy. I don't for a moment believe
it is. We all rely upon teachers. And who is to know who is telling
the truth and who is telling us lies? I just say this to you. Read your Bible for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide
you and ask him to protect you. Be active yourself in assessing
what it is that you are hearing and test the spirits. Test what
you are hearing against what you have heard before, against
what you've read in other parts of the Bible and ask the Lord
to help you. The man of God had been wiser
if he had fled from idolatrous Israel as soon as possible and
as quickly as he could. That would have been his best
course of action. And let his error be our warning. Do not forgo the sure word of
God for an uncertain sound. Don't spend time in an idolatrous
church under a lying preacher where there is a greater likelihood
of being deceived. And may the Lord grant us all
wisdom in such matters as these. And here's my third point, and
I'm already overrunning my time, so thank you for your patience
here today. But the third point I want to
leave with you is this. The death of the man of God supplies
us with a final lesson. The Lord appointed the lion to
slay the man, but he did not allow it, he did not permit it
to consume him. even the ass was preserved. Neither did it die, nor did it
even run away. And I take from this that despite
the judgment that fell upon this man, the Lord is conveying to
the church that the death of his saints is always precious
in his sight. The work of this man of God was
over. He had served his purpose. He
had gone to Jeroboam. He had spoken the things that
he was given to say. Yes, he disobeyed. And he has
provided us with a lesson on the matter of his disobedience.
But I feel sure that he was nevertheless one of the Lord's elect for whom
Christ died. And the respect with which his
interment was conducted was the Lord's way of honouring his good
and faithful servant. Let me press this a little bit
further. Whatever the reason for the death of one of the Lord's
people. Whatever the reason for the death
of one of the Lord's people, going to be with the Lord is
good. I dare say the Lord was very
kind and gracious to this man in taking him when he did. Perhaps
it saved him from further trial, perhaps simply bringing him more
quickly into the divine presence. We are tempted to say how sad
when a person dies, especially if it's a young person. But is
it sad, really? Is it sad? It is if they have
no Saviour and if they are going to hell and to judgment. And
it is sad for us who are left. But it is joyful for them if
they are going to be with Christ and it is a kindness to be delivered
from this present evil world. The sadness is for those who
are left behind, who feel the loss of a loved one. This has been a difficult passage
in many ways, but may the Lord give us proper views of these
eternal matters. May we be wise when dealing with
death, but most of all, may he prepare us, young and old, for
our own entrance into his presence. It is essential that we die trusting
in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. And may the Lord give us grace
to do so. Amen.