Turn back to 2 Chronicles chapter 18. Micaiah, God's prophet has come to Ahab, verse 14. And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?" Now 400 prophets before him said, go up, the Lord has given you the city. And he felt victory was sure, but Micaiah comes and look at his answer. And he said, Micaiah, go ye up, prosper. They shall be delivered into your hand."

Now, somehow Ahab knew that he was not being sincere when he said this. I think that he was thinking, all the other fellows said this, but you're not. And I have no doubt that he had some kind of cynicism in his voice that let Ahab know that he wasn't telling him what God had said to say.

Verse 15, and the king said to him, how many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord? Now he'd had some experience with Micaiah before this. Look in verse six, the Jehoshaphat. Now Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, and he was a good king. He was one of the five best kings. He was somebody the Lord had used in an amazing way. As a matter of fact, turn back to chapter 17, verse three, and the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his father David and sought not into Balaam, Remember that's what Ahab was guilty of. But he sought to the Lord God of his father and walked in his commandments and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presence and he had riches and honor and abundance and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. Don't you want your heart to be that way? His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.

Moreover, he took away the high places and groves out of Judah. Now this was a special king. And previously, Ahab wanted to join forces with Jehoshaphat. In verse four, Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee at the word of the Lord today. Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets 400 men and said unto them, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle or shall I forbear? And they said, go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand. Now 400, if you'll remember, Ahab had 400 prophets that sat at Jezebel's table. And maybe these were the same people. As a matter of fact, I think they were. See which way the wind was blowing and they could prophesy whatever way would benefit them. And they knew this is what King Ahab wanted to hear. And so they said, go up, Jehovah shall deliver them into your hand.

Verse six, but Jehovah said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides? someone who's truly a prophet of Jehovah, that we might inquire of him. And the King of Israel said unto Joshua, there's yet one man by whom may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him. I despise him. For he never prophesies good unto me, but always evil, the same as Micaiah, the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so. No, let's bring him in.

Now here's one time where never and always is true. Lynn's laughing. She says, you never do this, and you always do that. Well, she's right 99% of the time, and she knows that. But still, here's one time where it's right all the time. I hate him. He never prophesies good toward me, but always evil. So I'm sure that Ahab was somewhat skeptical when Micaiah made this prophecy. And that's when he said, I adjure thee by God that you prophesy nothing but that which is true to me. Now let's go up at the first of this chapter. Now Jehoshaphat had riches. and honor and abundance and joined affinity with Ahab.

Now, why did he do this? I know it was wrong. As a matter of fact, he's rebuked in chapter 19 for doing it. Why are you joining up with the Lord's enemies and those that hate the Lord? He rebukes him for it. Why did he do it? Well, the same reason I do things and I say, why did I do that? Same thing.

But so he, joined with this man and he ended up doing something similar a couple of chapters later where he joined up with somebody where he shouldn't have joined up. Why did he do it? He shouldn't have, but it's all a part of God's providence. We wouldn't have this story without this. He didn't need Ahab. He had plenty on his own. The Lord had blessed him, but he joined affinity with Ahab.

And after certain years, he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-Gilead. And Ahab, king of Israel, said unto Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-Gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people are thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.

And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, of the word of the Lord today. Therefore, the king of Israel gathered together of prophets 400 men. And like I said, there were 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the grove that served Ahab. And the 400 sat at Jezebel's table. And I'm very suspicious that this is the same group of people.

Therefore, the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets 400 men and said unto them, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to the battle or shall I forbear? And they said, go up. for God will deliver it into the king's hand. But Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides these guys that we might inquire of him?

The king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there's yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesieth good unto me, but always evil, the same as Micaiah, the son of Imlon. Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so, And the king of Israel called for one of his officers and said, fetch quickly Micaiah, the son of Imla.

And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, set either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering end of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied unto them. And Zedekiah, the son of Janaan, had made him horns of iron and said, thus saith the Lord, with these thou shalt push Saria until they be consumed. and all the prophets prophesied. So saying, go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

And the messenger that went to call Micaiah, Micaiah was listening to all this, spake to him saying, behold the words of the prophets declared good to the king with one assent. Let thy word therefore I pray thee be like one of theirs and speak thou good. Micaiah said, if the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.

Now that's what a prophet is. He speaks what God says. Verse 14, and when he was come to the king, the king said unto Micaiah, shall we go up to Ramoth Gilead, battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, I think kind of with tongue in cheek, knowing if this is what you want to hear, I'll give it to you. Go up. and prospering, thou shalt be delivered into your hand. And the king said to him, how many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord? He knew that he was just toying with him at this time.

Then he said, this is the prophet Micaiah speaking, then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains of sheep that have no shepherd. In other words, Ahab, you're out. You're gone. You're gonna be killed in this battle. And all of Israel is going to be scattered. The Lord said, these have no master, let them return. Therefore, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil? I knew this was gonna happen.

Again, he said, therefore, this is the prophet speaking again. Again, he said, therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who shall entice Ahab, king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one spake saying after this manner and another saying after that manner, then came out a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewithal? And he said, I'll go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets. And the Lord said, thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail, go out and do even so.

Why did these false prophets prophesy what they did? God sent a lying spirit to them to get them to lie. Now somebody says, how could God do something like that? God's God, whatever he does is right. I can't stand it when people say, how could God let that? The problem's with me and you, it's not with him. Whatever he does is right. And he sent a lying spirit to these prophets to prophesy lies to Ahab in order to get him killed.

Now therefore, verse 22, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. Then Zedekiah, the son of Janiath, came near, he's the first prophet that spoke. Remember, he took out those iron things and said, the Lord's going to use this and push down your enemies. And Zedekiah, the son of Janaath came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said, which way went the spirit of the Lord for me to speak unto thee? Micaiah said, behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

Then the king of Israel said, take ye Micaiah and carry him back to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son, and say, thus saith the king, put this fellow in the prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I return in peace. I'm going to win, just like the 400 false prophets have said. And Micaiah said, if thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by me? And he said, hearken, all ye people.

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead, You wonder why Jehoshaphat did it when he heard what the prophet said, but he did. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, this is Ahab speaking to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, here's the plan. I'll disguise myself and we'll go to the battle, but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into the battle. He didn't want them to see he was king. Now the king of Syria, had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, fight not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.

And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, it's the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed him about him to fight. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and I love this next word, and the Lord helped him and God moved them to depart from him. That's how much control he has. Jehoshaphat, he was in a bad place, but the Lord delivered him.

For it came to pass that when the captains of the chariot perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from preserving him. And a certain man drew a bow and adventure aimlessly. He wasn't aiming at anything. He just took his bow, let it go. And what did it do? Well, he was not pointing at anyone, but the Lord had a place for this arrow to go, didn't he?

And a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness. Therefore, he said to his chariot, man, turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host, for I'm wounded. And the battle increased that day. Howbeit, the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and about the time of the sun going down, he died. Just like God said he would.

Now in this so interesting story, we have Ahab making this request. Tell me nothing but the truth. Now I don't believe Ahab had a good motive in it. He was very suspicious of this man. That's why he said it, but I pray that God will Put this in my heart and your heart. Tell me nothing but the truth. That's what I entitled this message. Tell me nothing but the truth.

Most of you remember Joe McSherry. I remember him saying something to me that always left a very much of an impression on me. He said, I want to be right. Who doesn't? I want to be right, but I would rather know what's right. I hope that's in my heart. I want to be right. I don't want to be wrong. But is that really important, me being right? I want to know what's right. I want to know the truth.

I certainly feel the burden of this. I don't want to tell you what I think is the truth. I want to tell you what God says is the truth. Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse four, we read, he is the rock. His work is perfect. For all His ways are judgment. A God of truth. Without iniquity, just and right is He. Tell me nothing but the truth.

Well, let me begin right here. The Lord said, I am the truth. He didn't say, I'll tell you what is true. He said, I am the truth. So much so that he said in John chapter 18, verse 37, for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.

And how he bore witness to the truth when he was nailed to the tree. He bore witness to the truth of the purpose of God. This is the eternal purpose of God. He bore witness to the truth of the character of God. Every attribute of God is displayed in the cross of Christ, His holiness, His justice, His sovereignty, His wisdom, His power, His love, His grace.

On the cross, He bore witness to the truth concerning me and you. Now believe this, the cross It's the only thing that tells me and you how bad we are. I want you to think about that. The cross is a manifestation of how evil I am, that if I'm left to myself, I will murder the son of God. That's what God holds me guilty of. The cross is the manifestation of the truth concerning God's salvation. He is. God's salvation.

Now the truth, the importance of the truth. There is no salvation apart from hearing and believing the truth. God does not use error. Why should he? He's God. Somebody says, well, maybe he couldn't get somebody to tell the truth. You got a very small view of God if you think that. God is always going to make sure that his truth is proclaimed.

Ephesians 112, in whom ye trusted. After that, you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. James 1.18 says, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. Second Thessalonians 2.13, we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, Because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

You can't separate sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. When is someone sanctified by the Spirit of God? When they believe the truth. When does someone believe the truth? When they're the object of the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit. I love what the Lord said in John chapter four, verse 24, God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The Lord said in John 17, 17, sanctify them through that truth. Thy word is truth.

The truth is the Bible is the infallible, inspired word of God, the only source of truth. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Can I prove to you that the Bible is inspired by God and perfect? You know, when I was a kid, I struggled with this. How can you prove it? Maybe it is, maybe it's not, but how can you prove it? How can you know for sure that the Bible is the word of God? You know when you know? When you know what the book teaches. When you know what the book says, when you know the message of the book, you know this book is the inspired Word of God.

Somebody that's waffling back and forth is because they don't know the message of the book. If you know the message of the book, you will know that this is the inspired, infallible Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Now, I can't prove that to you any more than I can prove that God exists. But I love the way the Bible doesn't even attempt to prove that God exists. It just begins with this, in the beginning, God. No attempt to prove his existence. He doesn't need to prove his existence. In the beginning, God.

And I love the fact that his true character is made known in that word. God, Elohim, is God, the one God in the plural. The very first verse of Genesis tells us that God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Very first verse. Now, I don't expect anybody to understand that, but I believe it, don't you? God is one God in three distinct persons, and he makes his true character known in this book. That's why the truth is the Bible is the word of God. We gotta begin there.

Now, there's some things we can know about God without this book. A lot of things we can know about God without this book. That doesn't mean we know him, but we can know some things about him. For instance, life. Life itself. The only way life can be here is if it came from life. No non-living matter ever produced life. There's no example of that. Life must come from life. The fact that there's life. You look at a baby, you look at an eye, you look at the... God is. There is no alternative. You know, if you look at this building, somebody says, give me some proof that somebody built this. The fact that it's here tells you somebody built it, doesn't it? It'd be impossible for it to be here if somebody didn't build it. Creation, had to have a creator, didn't it? You can know some things about God without this book. I love what Paul says in Romans 1 when he says the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse." This creation says somebody all powerful made this place and nobody made him. He is eternal. I don't know how many times I've been talking about who God is. They say, who made him? Nobody made him. He is eternal God. You can deduce that from the creation, but you can't know his character apart from this book.

Like I love, like I've already alluded to Genesis 1.1, Elohim, El is God in the singular, Elohim is God in the plural, one God in three distinct persons. It comes out in the very first verse of Genesis 1.1. You know, God creating the heavens and the earth This tells us of his eternity, doesn't it? Nobody created him. This tells us of his independence. He just did it. He didn't need something to happen for this to take place. This speaks of his sovereignty. He wills it. There it is. It speaks of his omnipotence, how he has the power to create the universe simply as an act of his own will.

You know, we think Naturally, that God is just a bigger version of us. That's the way men think. He's not like us at all. He said, there's none like me. And he makes his self known in this book we call the Bible. And from the Bible, we learn that he's absolutely just. Aren't you thankful for that? He's absolutely just. He will by no means clear the wicked. You know, if we had a judge that cleared the wicked, we'd want to get rid of him, wouldn't he? He's an unjust judge, but not our God. He's absolutely just, yet he's gracious and merciful. God is Love. I love the way he calls himself in Isaiah chapter 45 verse 21. He says, I am a just God and a Savior. Now, think about that for a moment. He's a just God. Absolutely just. He said, I'll by no means clear the guilty and a Savior. There's none beside me. Look unto me and be ye saved all. the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."

Now, the Bible is the truth, and only the Bible tells us the truth of God's character, His justice, and yet His salvation. It tells how He can be just and still justify somebody like me or you. We'll get to that in a moment, but the truth is That man is as the Bible declares him to be. Man's a creature. Man's a creature. Created in the image of God. Man's a fallen creature. Genesis 2.17 says, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. God purposed the fall. Aren't you thankful that way? What if he didn't? Think of the implications of him not purposing it. That means there's something else going on that he's not in control of. No, our God is sovereign and he purposed the fall according to his will and Adam died. He spiritually died. He's a fallen man. That's why we are born sinners because we're born with Adam's fallen nature, there is none righteous, no not one, there's none that understands, there's none that seeketh after God, they've all together gone out of the way, they've together become unprofitable, there's none that doeth good, no not one. That's a quotation from Psalm 53, Psalm 14, it's what the Old Testament teaches, it's what the New Testament teaches. And I love in the Psalms it says, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men. Don't you love that imagery? The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand, if there were any that did seek God. There weren't any.

Man is as the Bible declares him to be. This is the truth. You want to know nothing but the truth? This is the truth concerning your creature. You're a fallen creature. I'm a fallen creature. We cannot do anything to save ourselves. The Bible tells us the truth with regard to salvation. This just God, he's a just God and a savior. This just God does save unjust sinners in a way that glorifies not only his grace, but his justice.

I remember when Lynn and I went to the Bengals game. It's the only NFL game I've ever gone to. And it was a Monday night game. I've never been able to go on Sundays because of this, but it was a Monday night game. And we paid a lot of money for those tickets. It was my birthday. I felt guilty for us paying that much money to watch a stupid football game. But we did. And I was excited about going in. There was a bunch of religious people. And they were saying, why are you following this vanity? Why are you doing this Sikh thought? You know, all that kind of stuff. I said, man, you know, I just spent a lot of money on these tickets. I already feel guilty the way it is. I don't need to listen to this.

But at any rate, while they were making all kinds of comments to the people, one man, beside me and Lynn said, why does God have to punish sin? Why can't he just forgive it? And they went off into the crowd and I never did get a chance to talk to them about it, but what a question. Why can't God just forgive sin? Why does he have to punish it? Because he's a just God. Like I said, if we had a judge that just Somebody committed some horrible crime and said, well, I'm a loving judge. I'm going to forgive you. We get rid of them. They're a corrupt judge. God is just.

But not only is God absolutely just, he has made a way to be just and justify the ungodly through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible teaches that that's the work of all three persons of the Godhead in salvation. God the Father elected a people. He chose a people. There's a bunch of them. Somebody says, what if I'm not one of them? What if you are? It's a big number. He chose a vast number in Christ Jesus before time began. That's what the Bible, that's the truth. Christ Jesus came into this world to save those people. He lived for them. He died for them. He took their sins in his own body on the tree. He put them away. He was raised for their justification.

The truth is that God, the Holy Spirit, gives life to those the Father elected and Christ died for. And he gives him the grace to believe, to repent, to follow after the Lord Jesus Christ, to see the beauty of who Christ is. God does all these things. That is the truth. And my dear friends, the truth is that Christ is all. We're in trouble when that becomes cliche to us. I hope I say this with wonder and reverence. Every time I say it, Christ is all that God is. All we're ever going to see of God is Jesus Christ. Christ is all in the Bible. It has one message, Jesus Christ and him crucified. There is no other message. This is the message from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, 21. Christ is all in salvation. All God requires of me, he looks to his son for. And I don't want it to be any other way. He's all in my salvation. I know that he's all my election. God elected me because it's in Christ. Jesus Christ is all in my redemption. I'm standing before God without guilt because he paid for my sins. He's all in the new birth. I'm given the new birth because of him, for his sake, because he saved me. He's all in salvation. That is the truth. And he's only all when he's all you have. Don't miss that. He's only all, when he's all you have. If you have anything else, he's not all to you.

Now, here's my closing statement. What must I do to be saved? I see I can't save myself, and I want the truth. What must I do to be saved? That's what the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? He didn't say, well, there's nothing you can do. He didn't say you're just going to have to wait until judgment day and find out if you're one of the elect. He said, believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now this is God's command to you. Believe. Don't wait. Don't wait till you learn more. Don't wait till you understand more. Don't wait till you get better. That's not gonna happen anyway. Believe. Rely. Rest in, trust, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's the Lord. I think the clearest illustration of that in the scripture is the thief on the cross. He saw Jesus Christ nailed to a cross with his beard pulled out, a crown of thorns on his head, his face marred, his visage marred more than the sons of men. You couldn't even recognize who he was. And He said, Lord, He knew He was the Lord. Do you know that?

Believe on the Lord, Lord of creation, Lord of providence. He controls everything. Lord of salvation. That means your salvation is in His hand and you understand that. It's up to Him as to whether or not you will be saved. Do you believe in His Lordship like that? Anybody that believes his Lord does, they know it.

He's the Lord. He's Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He's Jesus. Don't you love his name? That's his name is Jesus of Nazareth, the man, Christ Jesus. He came into this world to save his people from their sins.

Jesus, what a name, Christ, God's prophet, the word of God. You know, that's one of his names, the word of God. In the beginning was the word. He has a name written on his thigh and on his something else in revelation, but it's called the word of God.

He's God's priest. If he represents you, if he brings your name before God, you're saved. He's God's priest. He's God's king. That means he has all power. He's got the power to make you believe. He's got the power to give you a new heart to believe. He's got the power to make you persevere all the way to the end.

We need him as prophet, priest, and king, don't we?

What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe, that's the noun form of the word. That's the verb form of the word, noun, faith, believe. Now, I wish I could say this the way it ought to be said. Everybody in this room, God commands you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not an invitation. This is a command. If I'm invited to do something, it's not disobedience for me to say, not today. But if I'm commanded to do something, by his grace, I'm going to do it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That is nothing but the truth.

Let's pray. Lord, I ask in Christ's name, that by your spirit, you would enable each one of us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Lord, put this in our heart to want to know nothing but the truth, to want to hear nothing but the truth, to want to speak and to preach nothing but the truth. Lord, blaze that in our hearts. We ask that we might, like Jehoshaphat, have hearts that are lifted up in thy ways. Bless us for Christ's sake, in His name we pray, amen.