Nearer, still nearer Close to thy heart, draw me,
my Savior, so precious thou art. Fold me, O fold me, close to
thy breast, Shelter me safe in that haven of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Loving I bring, not as an offering
to Jesus my King. Only my sinful, now contrite
heart Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart. Grant me the cleansing Thy blood
doth impart. Lord, to be Thine, sin with its
folly Thy gladly resign. All of its pleasures, of and
its pride, Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Nearer, still nearer, while life
shall last. till safe in glory my anchor
is cast through endless ages. Ever to be nearer, my Savior, Nearer, my Savior, still nearer
to Thee. Would you turn with me to First
Kings, Chapter 14? The Lord willing, this week we'll
be going to Mexico to visit the missionaries, and I'm going to
be doing the preacher's class Tuesday, and I prepared a lesson
from First Thessalonians, Chapter 2 for that preacher's class entitled,
What is a Successful Ministry? And we're going to look at that
tonight. I thought I'd like to bring that
message here. What does God's word say a successful ministry
is? And I'm looking forward to bringing
that to those men down there also, but that's what we're going
to look at tonight. Now, our subject for this morning is the
sin of Jeroboam. The sin of Jeroboam is used in
the Word of God as a measuring stick. And it is used to measure
the sin of others. As a matter of fact, there were
12 kings who were said to walk in the sin of Jeroboam. And it was a sin that always
led others into sin along with it. Did you notice how it says
he drave Israel from following after the Lord their God. And
the sin of Jeroboam is very much alive today. And I hope you'll
see that as we look at what the scripture says about this sin. Israel was given up because they
walked in the sins of Jeroboam. Look in first Kings chapter 14.
beginning in verse 14, this prophecy concerning what's going to happen
to Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam. Moreover, the Lord shall raise
him up a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam
that day. But what even now for the Lord
shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. And he
shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their
fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they
have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall
give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin
and who made Israel to sin. Chapter 15, verse 29. As a matter
of fact, I'm going to read. Stay with me, because I want
to read a lot of scriptures to set up this message regarding
what the sin of Jeroboam actually was. I want to see if I'm guilty
of it. I want you to see if you're guilty of it. I don't want us
to just look at the people out there that are guilty of this
sin, but I want to see if this speaks to me. Look in Chapter
15, verse 29. And it came to pass when he reigned
that he smote all the house of Jeroboam. He left not to Jeroboam
any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto
the saying of the Lord, which he spake by a servant, Ahijah
the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned,
and which made Israel to sin by his provocation, wherewith
he provoked the Lord God to anger." Now look in chapter 15, verse
34. In his days did Hael, the Bethleheit,
build Jericho. Well, I'm in chapter 16, I'm
sorry. Chapter 15, verse 34, And he did evil in the sight
of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin
wherewith he made Israel to sin. Look at chapter 16, verses 1
and 2. Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hananiah
against saying, Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust,
and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast
walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel
to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins." Look in verse
7, And by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanei, came
the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house,
even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord,
and provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being
like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed him. Look in
verse 19 of this same chapter. For his sins which he sinned
in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way
of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did to make Israel to sin. Look in verses 25 and 26. giving the history of kings over
the centuries. But Omri wrought evil in the
eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him,
for he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat." And Ahab, the son of Omri, did
evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
And it came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him
to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat. See, these
men all walked in the sins of Jeroboam. Look in chapter 22,
1 Kings chapter 22, verses 51 and 52. And to Hizah the son of Ahab
began to reign over Israel in Samaria, the seventeenth year
of Jehoshaphat. King of Judah reigned two years
over Israel, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother,
and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel
to sin." Look in 2 Kings chapter 3. You see, this goes along for
centuries. And he wrought evil in the sight
of the Lord, but not like his father and like his mother, for
he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless,
he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam." Look in chapter 10, verse 29. "'Howbeit from the
sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel a sin,
Jehu departed not from after them.'" Chapter 13, verse 2. And he did that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam. Chapter, or verse 6. Here's another
key. Nevertheless, they departed not
from the sins of the house of Jeroboam. Verse 11 of the same
chapter. And he did that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord, and departed not from the sins of
Jeroboam. Chapter 14, verse 24. And he did that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord. He departed not from all the
sins of Jeroboam. Chapter 15, verse 9. And he did that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He departed
not from the sins of Jeroboam. Verse 18. And he did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord. He departed not all his
days from the sins of Jeroboam. Verse 24. And he did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord. He departed not from the
sins of Jeroboam. Have you seen the significance
of the sin of Jeroboam? I mean, throughout the centuries,
this was the sin that Israel continually repeated. And it
was the one, as we just read, that finally brought them into
captivity to Assyria because they refused to depart from the
sins of Jeroboam. Now, the question is, what is
the sin of Jeroboam? You see, it's a biggie. And no
doubt about that. What was the sin of Jeroboam? Now, humanly speaking, Jeroboam
had a lot of things going for him. Let's look at his history.
Turn to 1 Kings 11. This is where he's first mentioned.
1 Kings 11. Verse 26. And Jeroboam, the son of Debox,
an Ephrathite of Zerida, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name
was Zerua, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against
the king." Now, this is what Jeroboam did. He lifted up his
hand against King Solomon. And this was the cause that he
lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built Milo and
repaired the breaches of the city of David, his father. And
the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. I mean, this fellow
was somebody. He was a strong man. He was a
successful man. And he was industrious. Solomon,
seeing that the young man was industrious, he made him ruler
over all the charge of the house of Joseph. And it came to pass
at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem that a prophet
met him. Now, this man was somebody. Solomon promoted him. Solomon
admired him. Solomon liked him. promoted him. But a prophet met Jeroboam, and
you can read this, it doesn't take too long to read it, but
a prophet met Jeroboam, and because of the sins of Solomon, now you
remember how Solomon ended up worshipping other gods, the scripture
says, and his heart was turned from the Lord, and he got himself
into major trouble, and the Lord was going to Chastise him because
of that and chastise the house of Israel because they follow
these other gods. So this prophecy was made to Jeroboam. The kingdom
of Israel is going to be yours. Judah is going to stay in Solomon's
line, and Rehoboam, Solomon's son, is going to get to keep
that kingdom. But you're going to be over Israel. This is when
the kingdom was divided. You've heard of the divided kingdom.
Israel was one nation, and it became two nations. And it happened
with Jeroboam. The cause of his sin is what
brought that on. And God even made a promise to
Jeroboam. Look in verse 37. Now, this is God speaking to
Jeroboam. And he says, I will take thee, and thou shalt reign
according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over
Israel. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I
command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that which is
right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
as David my servant did, that I will be with thee, and build
thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel
unto thee. And I will for this afflict the
seed of David, but not forever. God makes his promise to Jeroboam,
if you do what I tell you to do, I'm going to build you a
sure house. You're going to have a kingdom
that is not going to be taken away. Now, that's if Jeroboam
would have obeyed the Lord, Israel would be there to this day, just
like he said. Now, Solomon was upset over this,
this prophecy regarding Jeroboam, so he said, I'm going to kill
him. So Jeroboam had to flee. He went into Egypt. And he was
there until the death of Solomon. And so when Solomon dies, Jeroboam
returns to Israel. And he comes to Rehoboam, the
son of Solomon. Perhaps you're familiar with
this story. You remember, he came to Rehoboam, the son of
Solomon. He said, if you'll make it easier
on us, if you'll make it lighter on us, we'll serve you forever. We'll give ourselves completely
to you. And Rehoboam said, let me think about it. And he went
and talked to some older, wiser men, and they said, make it lighter.
Make it easier for him. Don't be so hard on him. And
then he went to his cronies, his buddies. He said, what do
you all think I should do? And he said, make it harder. I mean,
put your thumb heavier on him. So three days later, Jeroboam
comes to Rehoboam and says, what's your answer? He says, I'm going
to make it harder on you. You've had it good under Solomon. I'm really going to make it rough
on you. And so that's when the kingdom divided. Jeroboam left. He became the king of Israel.
And Rehoboam was the king of Judah. Now, here is the sin of
Jeroboam. Let's begin in 1 Kings, chapter
12, verse 25. And this is what was referred
to in all those scriptures that I read. 1 Kings 12, beginning
in verse 25. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in
Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein, and went out for events and built
Penuel. He was a very industrious man.
He was always doing something. He was always making progress,
as the world would see it. And Jeroboam said in his heart,
Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. Now, he
becomes worried. Now the Lord promised him, if
you obey my voice, this kingdom will be there. But he says, I'm
afraid it won't. And here was his reasoning. Verse
27. If this people go up to sacrifice
in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, now Judah was in Jerusalem. And
there's only one place you were allowed to sacrifice. That was
in Jerusalem. Nowhere else. That's where the
tabernacle was. That's where the temple was.
That's where the Holy of Holies was. That's where the Ark of
the Covenant was. One place for sacrifice. Jerusalem. You weren't
allowed to go anywhere else. You were to look to Jerusalem.
Salvation's in Christ. One place and nowhere else. That's
what that represents. Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jeroboam says if this people go up to sacrifice in the house
of the Lord Jerusalem, if they go to Judah, then shall the heart
of this people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam,
king of Judah, and they'll kill me and they'll go again to Rehoboam,
the king of Judah. They're all just going to come
right to him. Whereupon the king Jeroboam took
counsel. And here's what he came up with.
He made two calves of gold. And said unto them, It's too
much for you to go up to Jerusalem. It's too costly. It's too inconvenient. There's too many problems associated
with that. It's too costly for you to go all the way to Jerusalem.
You don't need to go to Jerusalem anymore. Jerusalem's a good place,
but you don't need to go there anymore, oh Israel. It's too
much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, oh Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Have you ever heard
that before? Remember, that's what Aaron said, isn't it? This
is a recycled sin. It's not a new sin. Sin always
recycles itself. And he set the one in Bethel,
and the other in Dan. And this thing became sin, for
the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he
made an house of high places, which made priests of the lowest
order of the people." The lowest of the people. I mean, he used
the dregs for his priests, which were not of the sons of Levi.
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the 8th month on the 15th
day of the month, like unto the feast that's in Judah. He said,
we're going to have a Passover. We're going to do the exact same
thing. It's just going to be in a different place. That's all we're doing
differently. We're going to have it in a different place. And
he offered upon the altar, so did he in Bethel, sacrificing
unto the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests
of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the
altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth
month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart,
and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel. And he offered
upon the altar and burnt incense." And there we have the sin of
Jeroboam. Upon the surface, we see that
this has something to do with idolatry. They made two golden
calves of visible likeness, an image of God. Now, what is idolatry? What is idolatry? visible likeness, an image of
God, the golden calves. It's making a likeness of God. It is a man-made representation
of God. Now, listen to me real carefully. The Lord God is ugly unique. There's nothing to compare Him
to. Any comparison brings Him down. Any comparison, any likeness,
any likeness is an insult to God. It's a degrading of the
character of God. He said, I am the Lord and there's
none like me. Who are you likening to me? Idolatry
is trying to bring him down to a human level. Idolatry is opposed
to faith. You see, idolatry cannot trust
him who is invisible. God is spirit, invisible, all
powerful, and faith has something to do with trusting him that
we cannot see. We walk by faith and not by sight. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Paul said
we look not at things which are seen, but things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. They're temporary. But the things which are not
seen, they are eternal. Idolatry has as its root hatred
for God as He is. Now let me show you that in the
scripture. Turn to Exodus chapter 20. Here is the commandment regarding idolatry,
beginning in verse 4, Exodus chapter 20, verse 4. Thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that's in heaven above, or that's in the earth beneath, or that's
in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation
of them that, what are those next two words? Them that hate
me. Now, what idolatry is, it's a
hatred for God as he is. And therefore, we reinvent a
God that we feel more comfortable with, that we can control, that
we can get him out when we need him and put him away when we
need him. Here He is. It's a likeness. It's an idol. It's an image of God. And it's because men don't love
God as He is. Therefore, they make a different
God. One they feel more comfortable with. One they can control. Now,
does anybody say, I have no idols? And you know, you'll see that
we're careful not to have crosses in this place. We don't have
any pictures of Whoever it is they call the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have stuff like that.
Because it's idolatry. It's an idol. It is an image. We don't have crosses and statues
and pictures and so on. Well, that ought to be. But you
know, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 5 and Colossians chapter 3 verse
5 says covetousness is idolatry. Anything I covet, I make an idol
of. Covetousness, desiring that which
God has not given you. Covetousness is idolatry. That is an idol. Now, what in
the world can cure me of covetousness? Covetousness. What's the cure
for covetousness? You're the only way. If I tell
you not to covet, as soon as I say that, you're going to start
coveting something. Now, you know that's so. As soon as I
say, don't you dare covet, you know what's going to happen.
The only way someone can be enabled to keep from coveting is to have
everything. There's nothing to covet. That's
the only way. You're going to have to have
everything, so there's nothing for you to covet. Now, in Christ
Jesus the Lord, I have everything. And truly, there's nothing to
covet. Let your conversation be The writer of the Hebrew said,
without covetousness and be content. With such things as you have
now, when he says be content with such things as you have,
he's not really talking about material stuff, although we ought
to be content with such things, we have all of us got plenty,
really, really. I don't see anybody in here starving
to death. I mean, we got plenty, but he's not really referring
to don't covet a bigger house or a bigger car or bigger. That's
not what what do you have? In Christ, what do you have?
You have justification. You're not guilty before God.
You have perfect righteousness. You have the promise of eternal
grace that will never leave you. He's promised I'll never leave
you nor forsake you. You have everything in Christ.
What is there to covet? I'm not coveting anything else.
I'm plumb satisfied to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Covetousness
is idolatry. There isn't anything in Christ
that I don't have, and I'm satisfied with Him. Now, Jeroboam's sin obviously
is idolatry, and it's a recycled sin. You know, there are no new
errors. They just keep resurfacing. They
keep reinventing themselves over and over and over again. There's
nothing new under the sun. And I think it's interesting
to look at Rehoboam's sin. There's always a bad motive behind
false worship and false doctrine. You'll notice that he had a reason
for coming up with this new religion. He's trying to save his own skin.
He was operating out of the fear of man. So he reinvents this
new religion that he wants to introduce to everybody. It was
the religion of his own choice. It's a religion that came from
his own heart. There's a choosing. He chose to go this direction. Now, this is very important.
I've tried to express this before. Let me give it another shot.
You don't choose to believe. You believe something because
it's true. Isn't that so? You don't say, well, I'm going
to choose to believe that. No, you believe it. If it's true,
you believe it. That's why you believe it's the truth. You don't
choose to believe. You believe because you really
got no choice. You got no other options. There's nothing else
to believe. This is where I'm trying to breathe
the truth. You don't choose to believe. You believe because
you have no other choice. But you have to choose to believe
error. You have to choose to believe
that which is not true, and there's always a bad motive behind it
every single time. You see his self-serving motive
for coming up with this kind of religion. You always choose
to believe error. You know the word heresy? It's
in the scripture quite a bit. You know what heresy means by
very definition? It means a choosing. A choosing. Pick your poison. Let me show
you this in the scripture. Turn to Joshua 24. Joshua 24. People use this scripture to
promote the doctrine of free will and choice, but it doesn't
it doesn't teach that at all. Joshua chapter 24. Here's the promise of the gospel,
verse 13, and I've given you a land for which you did not
labor, Joshua 24, 13. And cities which you built not,
and you dwell in them, and of the vineyards and oliveyards
which you planted, which you plan to not do you eat. Everything's
a free grace. Now, therefore, hear the Lord
and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods
which your father served on the other sides of the flood in Egypt
and serve you the Lord. And if it seemed evil unto you
to serve the Lord, if you don't like to go that direction, if
you think, well, it's going to cost me too much. Choose you
this day whom you will serve. Pick your poison, whatever error
you want, whether the gods which your father served that were
on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in
whose land you dwell. Go ahead, go whatever way you
want. Pick your poison. But as for me and my house. We'll
serve the Lord. Now, obviously, back to first
Kings. His religion was the religion
of his choice. Look what verse 33 says in Kings
12. So he offered upon the altar
which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
even in the months which he had devised of his own heart, and
he ordained a feast unto the children of Israel, and he offered
unto the altar and burnt incense. Now, let's take it back even
further. We see that his sin was one of his own choosing.
He chose to go in this direction. But it was all founded on the
fact that he couldn't trust God. He couldn't believe what God
said. God made this promise to him. If you follow me, I'll make
your king just as sure as David's kingdom was. Now, would he have
done it if he followed me? Absolutely. God can't lie. And
he made this promise. But old Jeroboam says, I just
can't trust that. I need to I need to get some
control in this thing. I need to stop them from going
to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices because I know what will happen.
I'm going to get killed. He could not trust God for his safety. He couldn't trust God for salvation. It was unbelief. And here's what
he did. He modified worship. He said,
now we're going to have the exact same kind of feast. We're going
to have the Passover just like in Jerusalem, but only we're
going to have it in Bethel or we're going to have it in Dan.
You see, it's too much for you. It's too inconvenient. It's too
costly to go all the way to Jerusalem. Now, they were all commanded
three times a year to go to Jerusalem for a week to observe these feasts.
And he said. That's just too much. Too much sacrifice involved.
I'm trying to make this thing easier for you. Now, sacrifice
is important. The Passover is important. We'll
observe the Passover. The priests are important and
so on. But we're going to change it.
We're going to change it just a little bit to make it more convenient
for you. Now, here's the next thing that
I would notice about the sin of Jeroboam. The sin of Jeroboam
has something to do with a religion without personal sacrifice. A religion without personal sacrifice. The Lord said, Whosoever will
come after me, let him deny himself. No self-denial. There's nothing
to it. There's nothing to it. Most people
want a religion that's convenient. They don't want a religion that
interferes with their life. Don't want anything like that.
We don't want any imposition on our time or on our finances. We want a religion without personal
sacrifice. You know, a Sunday morning sermonette
will do. Sunday night, that's too much.
That's too much. Wednesday, out of the question.
That's too much. I will give, after all my bills
are paid and after everything's taken care of and all my Recreation
is taken care of out of my surplus. I'm willing to give, but giving
that involves sacrifice, that's too much. You know, Jerold Bolton
was actually, I think this is almost funny, I think he was
the founder of the modern seekers movement. I mean, you think about,
you know, everything's made easier for you. Well, you can have Saturday
night services so you can sleep in on Sunday morning. Just come
Saturday night and before you were going to do anything, maybe
make it about 5 o'clock, you know, something like that, you weren't
doing anything anyway, that way you can sleep in Sunday morning. Things are
much more convenient. There's even a church in Lexington where
you can come in your pajamas. Just come on in your pajamas.
Nothing but religion would do something that weird. Come on
in your pajamas, everybody. I mean, that's an abomination,
but it's making things easy. Let's make things easy. Make
the truth easy to receive. Tear down the truth. Don't take
the offense out of the gospel. Make it explainable. Make it
to where everybody can receive this. It's a religion without
sacrifice. Now, if it's not worth personal
sacrifice to you, your religion, you can write this down. It's
of no value at all to God. As a matter of fact, it's an
offense to Him. An utter offense. Oh, may God
deliver us from the sin of Jeroboam. No sacrifice involved. Love so
amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life. My all, it's worth everything. I love what one writer said.
He said the gospel is true. It's of infinite importance.
If false, it's of no importance. But the one thing that it cannot
said to be is moderately important. So Jeroboam sinned. It was religion
without personal sacrifice. I don't want to be guilty of
that, do you? Now, let's take it even further. Jeroboam's sin,
what was it? I mean, it's the sin that kept
repeating itself, that kept recirculating itself. It's the sin that made
God forsake Israel and put him out of His sight. It's what brought
him into Assyria. It kept happening over and over
and over again. What was Jeroboam saying? Jeroboam
was saying that Jerusalem's important. It's a good place to go. I mean,
God said it's a good place to go. Jerusalem is important. But it's not necessary to go
there. It's important. But it's not
necessary. And there we have the sin of
Jeroboam. Truth is important. But it's not necessary. You can
be saved with the truth or without the truth. Faith is important,
we ought to believe. But it's not necessary. I was
listening to someone this week talking about Christ being his
way to the Father. He said, well, Christ is my way
to God, but there are other ways. Christ is a way, but it's not
necessary for him to be the only way. Obedience. It's important. You've
got to obey God. It's a good thing. Obedience
is important, but it's not necessary. Salvation by grace. I think it's
what the Bible teaches. I agree with that. Salvation
by grace. I believe that the Bible teaches
that God is absolutely sovereign in control of everything. I believe
the Bible does teach that men are dead in sins. I can read
the scripture about it. I believe that the Bible teaches
that God elected who would be saved. I believe the Bible teaches
that Christ secured salvation for God's elect. I believe that
grace is invincible. That's what the scripture teaches.
I believe that. I believe that. But it's not necessary to preach
it. True, but not necessary. Everything God says is necessary, of vital importance. Everything He says. Every word
in this book is necessary. Every word. You know, I was thinking about
this thing of being necessary. I know for me, it's necessary
for me that the Bible is the word of God. That's necessary
for me. You take that away, I'm left
with nothing. You're left with nothing. It's necessary. It's
necessary for me that God is absolutely sovereign, controlling,
ruling and reigning everything. Because you take that away, I'm
scared to death. What's going to happen? If God's
not in control, who is? You? Me? The devil? That's bad
news. It's necessary for me that God's
election of His people before the foundation of the world is
unconditional. That He didn't have to find a
reason and then to give it to them, because I've had it. It's
necessary for me. It's necessary for me that Christ
is a successful Savior. It's necessary for me that He
saved everybody that He died for, because if He didn't, you've
taken away the only hope I've got. It's necessary for me that
God's grace is irresistible and invincible, because if it's not,
I'll resist it and I'll be damned. I know I will. It's necessary
for me that God preserves His people, because if He doesn't,
I'll fall away. I know it. It's necessary. Now, what did Jeroboam do? He
didn't deny Jerusalem. He didn't say you shouldn't go
to Jerusalem. He said it's not necessary. Bethel will do. Dan will do. It's not necessary. Can you see how the sin of Jeroboam
is very much alive? today. Look back in First Kings
chapter 12. Look who he made priests. Verse 31, And he made an house
of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people,
which were not of the sons of Levi. There you have the preachers
of Jeroboam's You know, I read this statement
and I believe it's true. A man said this, he said, the
profession that will have the greatest percentage of its people
in hell is preachers. You know, I believe that. I believe there will be a greater
percentage of preachers in hell than there will be plumbers. preaching a false gospel, giving
in to the sin of Jeroboam, prostituting the truth, trying to sugarcoat
it and make it more acceptable, easier to believe, easier to
receive, change the truth, take the edge off in order to make
it more likely to be received. That is the sin of Jeroboam. Now, what is interesting about
the sin of Jeroboam, we see what it is. Obviously, it's idolatry.
Second, it's a religion without personal sacrifice. Easy believism. Thirdly, it's taking the truth
of God and saying it's not necessary. It's not necessary. You know
what I think is very interesting is there was a prophecy regarding
Jeroboam. Look in First Kings, Chapter
13. Verse 1, 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, this man of God.
And he said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, behold,
a child shall be born into 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 will be burned upon thee." Now, he gives this
prophecy, this fellow named Josiah, and he happens hundreds of years
later. He's going to actually take the priests, their bones,
and burn them on this altar you set up, these false priests.
Now, turn to Josiah chapter 22, I mean 2 Kings 22, and let's
look at the history of Josiah. I kind of want to leave us with
this thought. I'm going to read a pretty lengthy
passage of scripture, but which am I, a Jeroboam or a Josiah? Let's read about Josiah. 2 Kings
22. Verse 1. Josiah was eight years old when
he began to reign. And remember, hundreds of years
before this, the Prophet said that he would reign. His name
was actually mentioned. Josiah was eight years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Jediah, the daughter of Adiah of Boscoth. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord. Where were many of these fellows,
were there? We read so many of them, they did that which was
evil in the sight of the Lord. But here we have one who did
that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And he walked in
all the way of David, his father, and turned not aside to the right
hand or to the left. As a matter of fact, as we go
on reading about Josiah, we're going to find out that God said
regarding this man, there wasn't anybody like him before him or
after him. He was the greatest of the Kings. When he speaks of him, even with
reference to David, he said there wasn't anybody like this man,
Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all of his heart and with
all of his soul and with all of his might. Now, something
happened in Josiah's reign when he was 26 years old. He'd been
writing for 18 years when he was 26 years old. It came into
his heart to repair the temple. And he had a bunch of people
go in and repair the temple. And evidently nobody had a copy
of the scripture. And they found a copy of the
scriptures in the temple. The Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch. The Old Testament Scriptures.
They found this copy. Maybe the Psalms and so on. Somehow
it had fallen into... Nobody knew it. But a priest
found it. And they come and tell Josiah
about it. And they read it to Josiah. And
Josiah is heartbroken. He said, great wrath is on us.
We've not paid any attention to what God said to do. We're
in trouble. And he begins a great reform. This man, Josiah. Let's begin
reading in chapter 23 now. This is his reforms. I'm going
to read this chapter. I'm going to mispronounce several
words. There's a lot of hard words in here, so forgive me
that. Just get over it. And the king sent, and they gathered
unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went
up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and
the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he
read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant,
which they found in the house of the Lord, that book that had
been lost. They found it again. And the
king, Josiah, stood by a pillar. And he made a covenant before
the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments
and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all
their soul to perform the words of the covenant that are written
in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the
king commanded Hilkiah, the high priest and the priest of the
second order and the keepers of the door to bring forth out of
the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for bail.
and for the grove, and for the host of heaven, and he burned
them without Jerusalem, and in the fields of Codron, and he
carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous
priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense
in the high places in the cities of Judah. These ones, Jeroboam,
got into power. And in the places round about
Jerusalem, them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun
and to the moon and to the planets and to all the hosts of heavens.
And he brought out of the grove from the house of the Lord, without
Jerusalem, unto the brook Chidron and burned it at the brook Chidron
and stamped it to small powder. and cast the powder thereof upon
the graves of the children of the people. And he'd break down
the houses of the sodomites that were by the house of the Lord,
where the women wove hanging for the grove. And he brought
all the priests out of the cities of Judah and defiled the high
places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to
Beersheba, and break down the high places of the gates that
were in the entering of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the
city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
Nevertheless, The priests of the high places came not up to
the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. I'm sure they were scared to
death, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their
brethren. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the
children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter
to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that
the kings of Judah had given to the son after entering into
the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathanael. the chamberlain
which was in the suburbs and burned the cherries of the sun
with fire and the altars that were on the top of the upper
chambers of Ahaz. which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars
which Manasseh had made, and the two courts of the house of
the Lord, did the king beat down, and he break them down from them,
and cast the dust of them into the brook Chidron, and the high
places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand
of the mount of corruption, which Solomon, the king of Israel,
had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidians, and
for Chemoth, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Malcolm,
the abomination of the children of Abraham, and he break in pieces
the image. And he cut down the groves, and he filled their places
with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was
at Bethel, and at the high place with Jeroboam, the son of Neboth,
who had made Israel a sin, had made both that altar and the
high place. Remember, it was said hundreds of years before,
this is what he'd do. He'd break it down, he'd burn the high place,
he'd stand to smolder the powder, he'd burn the grove, and as Josiah
turned himself. I love to think of this. It's
like he's turning, what else can I do? What else can I do? He turned himself. He spied the
sepulchers that were in the mouth, and he took the bones out of
the sepulchers and burned them upon the altar and polluted it
according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God had
proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, what title
is that I see? And there was a true prophet
of these bones that he protected. And the men of the city told
him it's the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah
and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar
of Bethel. And he said, let him alone. Let no man move his bones.
So they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet that
came out of Samaria and all the houses also of the high places
that were in Samaria, the cities of Samaria, which the king of
Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger. Josiah took away
and he did to them according to the acts that he'd done in
Bethel. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were
there upon the altars. And he burned men's bones upon them
and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the
people saying, keep the Passover unto the Lord your God. as it
is written in the book of this covenant. Keep it exactly as
it's written. And surely there was not holdin'
such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel,
nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of
Judah, and in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, wherein
this Passover was holdin' to the Lord in Jerusalem. Moreover,
the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images,
and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of
Judah and in Jerusalem did Josiah put away. that he might perform
the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah
the priest found in the house of the Lord," and look what it
says about Josiah, "'And like unto him was there no king before
him that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his
soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses.
Neither after him arose there any like him.'" Jeroboam or Josiah? Which am I? Which are you? May God give us
grace to be Josiahs. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
that you will deliver us from the sin of Jeroboam. For Lord,
we know that apart from your grace, that's exactly where we'll
be. Lord, deliver us from idolatry. Deliver us from a religion without
personal sacrifice. Deliver this, deliver us from
saying regarding anything you say it's not necessary. Lord, cause us to be like Josiah,
who turned to you with all his heart and with all his strength
and with all of his might. Lord, we ask that we might be
Josiahs in this day. Lord, give us the grace and the
strength and the courage to be Josiahs in this wicked and perverse
generation in which we live. And, O Lord, that we might see
a mighty outpouring of your Spirit. Lord, we ask for the glory of
your Son, that we might see that. In Christ's blessed name we pray.
Amen.