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Amen. Amen. All right, well we're there in 1 Kings chapter number 21, and on Sunday nights we've been going through a series called The Times of Elijah, and we've been learning about the life of this great prophet Elijah, and we are continuing the study tonight, and if you remember recently, last time we were together on a Sunday night in regards to Elijah here, we were in 1 Kings 19, and we saw Elijah basically backslidden and depressed, and if you notice we skipped 1 Kings chapter number 20, and went into 1 Kings 21, the reason for that is because 1 Kings 20 actually doesn't deal with the life of Elijah, it doesn't mention Elijah, so we're just dealing with the life of Elijah, the times of Elijah, so from here on we're going to skip a little bit and just deal with the chapters that have to do with Elijah, but here in 1 Kings 21 we find a very well-known story about Naboth's vineyard, and tonight we're going to just go verse by verse through this story, and we're just going to pick up some lessons along the way, there's seven lessons that I saw, or that I studied out from this story, so we're just going to go through it and learn it tonight, and Lord willing it won't be any longer than we need to be, but I want you to notice there in 1 Kings 21, and look at verse number 1, the Bible says this, And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the place of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it, or if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth said unto Ahab, The Lord forbid it, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. Now when you just read this story, you know, it seems like a real basic story. You've got Ahab, who sees a vineyard, and he wants the vineyard, and he's offering what seems like a reasonable deal for it, he says, look, I'll give you a better vineyard for it. He said, I've got vineyards that are better than this vineyard, it's just, this vineyard is located where I want it. He said, if you give me your vineyard, I'll give you a better vineyard, or if it seem good to thee, I will give you the worth of it in money. He said, he's not trying to take it from him, he wants to pay him for it, or he wants to trade him for it, and he's even willing to give him something better than what he has. And if you read the response from Naboth, without having, you know, context of the word of God, or of the nation of Israel, it almost seems like he's being rude. He says, the Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. But I want you to understand the reason for this, and the reason that Naboth responds this way. Keep your place there in 1 Kings 21, that's obviously our text for tonight, but go with me to the book of Leviticus, Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus chapter 25, in the Old Testament, you've got Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Leviticus chapter 25, and look down at verse number 15, and here's what you need to understand when it comes to Old Testament property rights. The truth of the matter is that you never really purchased anything in the Old Testament, the land was not yours to buy or sell. When they sold property, what they were doing is what we would today call leasing a property. Notice Leviticus 25 and verse 15, it says this, according to the number of years after the Jubilee, thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruit, he shall sell unto thee. Now here's what you need to understand, with the nation of Israel, you had tribes that were assigned different portions of the land. That land belonged to those tribes, to those families, and every 50 years, they would have this holiday called a Jubilee, where basically anything that was sold would be returned back to those tribes and to those families. So you never really sold property, because every 50 years, that property was going to come back to you. Now you could sell your property if you wanted to, but in 50 years, or when the time of Jubilee was, that property was going to come back to you or come back to your family. So when they sold property, what they would do is they would take into account, notice what it says there in verse 15, according unto the number of years of the fruit, he shall sell unto thee. Notice verse 16, according to the multitude of years, thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years, thou shalt diminish the price of it, for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. So here's what he was saying, saying, let's say we just had the year of Jubilee, and you know that you're going to have 50 years or 49 years before that property comes back to you, then you might sell it for a large amount, because you know that it's not going to be in your hands or in the possession of your family for 49 years, if that's how long you sell it for, or whatever it might be. But let's say that the Jubilee is three years away. Well, then you're going to sell that property, or what we would call is lease that property, for a smaller amount, because you know that that property is going to come back to you and to your family at the year of Jubilee. And because of the year of Jubilee, you never actually sold property. Property was not yours to sell or to give away. It was the inheritance of the Lord to the tribes. Now, let me just say this. This goes against what we believe here in the United States of America as capitalism. You know, today, if you instituted this in our society, people would call you all sorts of names and socialists or communists or whatever, but let me just say this. God is always right. Man is always wrong. Period. This is how God instituted it, and I'm sure it is a much better system than the system we have today. But look at verse 23. Notice what the Bible says. The land shall not be sold forever. You never sold land forever, for the land is mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. There's a couple of reasons why God did this. First of all, one reason that land was never sold forever. This was really a way to keep wealth from being accumulated from just one individual. There were no Rockefellers that were going to be able to just take over the entire nation of Israel because they bought all the property and no one was able to stop them. This year of Jubilee was a time that would allow, you know, to kind of reset things. And I realize that goes against everything we've been taught as Americans, but this is again why we must follow the word of God and believe that God is right all the time. The word of the Lord is true. The laws of God are righteous. And here we're told that you didn't sell the land forever because the land did not belong to man. Notice, for the land is mine. This is God speaking. For ye are strangers and sojourners. The other idea was that this world is not your home. This land is not yours to sell. The world belongs to God. And we are just sojourning. We are just strangers. We are just pilgrims. We are just foreigners in this land. You're there in Leviticus. Go to Numbers 36. Just real quickly, Numbers 36. Just one book over. You've got Leviticus and then Numbers, Numbers 36. And look at verse number 7. Numbers 36 and verse number 7. Notice what the Bible says. So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe. For every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. These lands were given to certain tribes. They were given to certain families. They were given to certain possessions. And it was their prerogative what to do with it. If they wanted to sell it or what we would call lease it for 50 years, that was up to them. And by the way, there were rights, and we don't have time to develop this, but if you study this out in scripture, there was what the Bible refers to as a kinsman redeemer. If someone had to, because of some financial problems in their lives, if they had to sell their land in order to be able to survive, there was a kinsman redeemer who had the right to buy back that property at any time that they wanted to. And if you understand that, that kind of helps you understand the story of Ruth and what's going on there. And there's pictures there of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we don't have time to go into that. The point is this, that in the nation of Israel, Naboth did not have to sell his property if he did not want to. And if he chose to, he was never actually selling it, because at the time of Jubilee, that land would come back to the tribe that it belonged to, the tribe that God had given that land to as an inheritance. So if you go back to 1 Kings 21, and you look at verse 3 again, you get a little more context to why the Bible says, And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. You only sold your land if you were in financial problems. You only sold your land if you were going to go into servitude, or if you were going to go into some sort of bondage as a result of the financial issues you had. This was not something. They looked at their land as the gift and inheritance that God gave them, and Naboth said, No, I don't want to sell. But I want you to notice a response from Ahab. Look at verse 4. And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him. For he said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face and would eat no bread. Now that last phrase there or that last statement, that last sentence in verse 4 is an interesting one. Here we have a grown man throwing a fit. I mean it says, And he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face and would eat no bread. And by the way, parents, this is why you want to spank your children when they throw fits. You say, Why do you want to spank your kids when they throw fits? Because kids who don't get spanked when they throw fits become adults who throw fits, become adults who pout, become adults who throw little hissy fits and they get mad. And here we have Ahab, a grown man, acting like a kid, laid him down upon his bed, turned away his face and would eat no bread, look at verse 5. But Jezebel his wife came to him and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money, or else if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it. And he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. And I just want you to understand, I'm just going to give you a few, we're just going to walk through the story. I was going to give you a few thoughts and lessons that we can learn from the story. But the first lesson that we see that we can learn from, and keep your place there in 1 Kings, go to James chapter number 4. We've been in James a lot recently. James chapter 4, if you start at the book of Revelation, head backwards, you've got Jude, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, and James, James chapter 4. When you get to James, do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or a bulletin there, because we're going to leave James, we're going to come back to it, so I want you to be able to get there quickly. James chapter 4, you say, what's the first lesson we can learn from this story? Lesson number 1 is this, we must learn how to deal with not getting what we want. You know that in life, you're not always going to get what you want. I talked about this on Wednesday night, and I talked about it because I've been studying that afternoon this story. I kind of got a little ahead of myself there in my sermon, so I apologize for that. I try not to do that. I try not to preach the sermon from Sunday on Wednesday and things like that. But on Wednesday night, we talked about the fact that whenever we get in arguments, whenever there is conflict, whenever there are issues between individuals, there are issues between those individuals. You can bring it down to basically one cause, and the cause is this. If you are fighting with someone, you are fighting with them because one of you is not getting what you want. That is the cause of every argument. That is the cause of every fight. You say, I don't know that I believe that. Okay, let me prove it to you. James chapter 4, look at verse 1. Notice what James said. He said, from whence, the word whence there means from where, from what place, from whence come wars and fightings among you. He's asking this question, from where do the wars come? Every war that has ever been fought in this world, where did it come from? From whence come fightings? Every battle, every argument, every conflict, every issue, from whence come wars and fightings among you. Notice what he says. Come they not hence, even of your lust? Now the word lust means your desires, the things that you want. He says, doesn't every war and fighting come from everything you want, Ahab? Every vineyard you want, Ahab? Everything you want? But you say, well, if I got everything I wanted, there wouldn't be any wars. Yeah, but here's why there's wars. Here's why there's fighting. Here's why there's conflicts. Here's why there are divorces and church splits. Here's why there are marriages that end and friendships that end. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts at war and your members? Verse two, ye lust and have not. Notice ye kill, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. Ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not. And here's what we learned from the story of Naboth and Ahab, is that every conflict, just mark it down, every conflict comes from whence come wars and fightings among you. Every time you fight with your wife, every time you fight with your husband, every time you fight with your children or your children fight with you, when you fight with your pastor or your pastor fights with you, when you fight with other church members or your neighbors or your co-workers, mark it down. Every single time it's because there's something you want, you're not getting or something they want and they're not getting, that's why we have conflict. So how do you resolve it? You're just going to have to learn to deal with sometimes not getting what you want. You're going to have to be mature enough to look at a situation, you're going to have to be mature enough to look at a situation and say, I'm not getting what I want, and that's okay. I'm not getting what I want, and we're just going to leave it at that. I'm not getting what I want. I really want that vineyard, but it's fine. I just can't have that vineyard. You say, well, where do you find that teaching in Scripture? Oh, it's called turning the other cheek. It's called is seeming other better than yourself. It's called in love, preferring one another. See, if you say, man, in my marriage, it seems like my husband or it seems like my wife, it seems like we're just constantly at each other's throats and we're fighting and we're fighting and we're fighting. One or both of you need to learn to just say, you know what, right now one of us isn't getting what we want, and one of us needs to decide, that's okay. I'm going to in love prefer you. I'm going to esteem others better than myself. I'm going to turn the other cheek. I'm going to go without. I'm going to suffer myself to be defrauded. I mean, how many verses do you need? I'm going to allow this time of conflict to pass because I realize, here's what Ahab should have said, I realize that I'm upset and I'm mad and I'm not happy because there's something I want that I'm not getting, but that's okay. From whence come wars and fighting is among you? Here's why. Here's why. Because one of you in the conflict is not willing to say, that's okay. You're saying, I'm going to fight and I'm going to kill, I'm going to destroy, I'm going to fight this thing out until I get what I want. That's why we have conflict. Go back to 1 Kings, because he relates there in James, 1 Kings 21. We learn from this story how to deal with not getting what you want, or I should say this, we learn that we need to learn how to deal with not getting what we want because in life, you're not always going to get what you want. It's just what it comes down to. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you learn to deal with that, the sooner you realize when you're in the midst of that shouting match and you just remind yourself, we're fighting here because I'm not getting what I want or they're not getting what they want or we're both not getting what we want. One of us needs to be mature enough to say, that's okay. I really want the vineyard, but if I can't have the vineyard, that's okay. Look, if you learn this principle, I'm just here to tell you, if you learn this principle, it will revolutionize your marriage. It might revolutionize the relationship you have with your parents. It might revolutionize the relationship you have with your coworkers. It might revolutionize everything in your life, all relationships of your life, if you just learn to not throw a fit when you don't get what you want. 1 Kings 21, look at verse 7. Let's see the second lesson we can learn here. 1 Kings 21, look at verse 7. And Jezebel his wife said unto him, does thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Here's what she's saying. You don't deserve this. Aren't you the governor? Aren't you the king? Aren't you? Hey, be wary. Just be wary about when you're in conflict with someone. Be wary about the manipulator who comes along and says, well, you don't deserve that. You shouldn't be treated that way. Hey, be wary about the coworker when you're in conflict with your spouse, about the coworker who's coming along saying, well, you deserve better than that. No, you know what you deserve? You deserve to die and go to hell. That's what you deserve. And we need to get this idea where I don't deserve, look, it is by the grace of God. It is by the mercies of God that we are not consumed. And here she comes and says, does thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat bread and let thine heart be merry. I will, as we said, I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal and sent them letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in the letter saying, proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people and set two men, notice these two men, sons of Belial. When you see this term, sons of Belial, men of Belial, persons of Belial, just realize these are reprobates in the Bible. These are sons of the devil. These are sons of Satan. These are psychopath reprobates and I want you to notice what these psychopath reprobates are willing to do because remember, a reprobate is someone who is without a conscience. There's no conscience in them that makes them feel bad about anything they do. And notice what these men do, verse 10, and set two men, sons of Belial, before him to bear witness against him saying, thou didst blaspheme God and the king and then carry him out and stone him that he may die. These two men were willing to walk up to someone who had never hurt them, who had never done them wrong, sit there and just have a bold-faced lie and have them put to death. Verse 11, and the men of the city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in the city did as Jezebel had sent unto them and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them, they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people. Be careful about the people who are always trying to lift you up. They might be trying to lift you up because they're trying to set you up. Look at verse 13, and there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him and the men of Belial witnessed against them, even against Naboth in the presence of the people saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king, then they carried him forth out of the city and stoned him with stones that he died. Now, I don't want to get too graphic here, but when the Bible talks about someone being put to death by stoning, that is an extremely difficult thing to sit there and watch. And the Bible says that when someone brought a witness against someone and it caused them to be stoned, that they were to stand there and witness it, and they were actually to partake in the stoning themselves. You say, well, why would God do that? I believe that one of the reasons that God would do that is because of the fact that God understands that most people have a conscience. And I don't know about you, but it doesn't matter how much money you offer me, it doesn't matter how many of your vineyards you offer me or how many great things you offer me, there's something in a conscience of an individual when you sit there and you know you're lying and watch somebody have stones or bricks or rocks thrown at their heads till they die. There's something in the conscience of a normal person who's not going to be willing to do that, but not a reprobate, but not a reprobate. I just want you to understand that in the Bible when we talk about the sons of Belial, when we talk about these reprobates, this is a picture that God paints. So when the world tries to tell you, oh, well, you know, all those sodomites out there, because in the Bible they were the sons of Belial were the sodomites, they're all happy-go-lucky, don't you know, they're just, you know, they're a little flamboyant and they're just a little funny. They just paint a different picture of these people. These people have no conscience. These people have no morals. There is nothing in them. They'll sit there and lie and watch you die a gruesome death and give it, they won't give it a second thought. They sat there and watched, look at verse 13, and there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him. And the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. And they carried him forth out of the city and stoned him with stones that he died. Now let's run a couple of verses. Go to 2 Kings, chapter number 9. 2 Kings, chapter number 9. You're there in 1 Kings, so just flip over a couple of pages to 2 Kings, chapter 9. And let me show you that in verse 26 of 2 Kings, we're given a little more insight into exactly what happened here. In 1 Kings 21, we're told that Naboth died, but it was more than that. In 2 Kings, chapter 9 and verse 26, the Bible says this, surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, notice, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord. So we get a little more insight here that when Naboth was put to death, it wasn't just Naboth who was put to death, but it was his sons as well. And it would make sense because if what you want is the land that Naboth inherited, then when you're going to kill Naboth to take his land, you probably also need to kill the sons because guess who gets the land when Naboth dies. So this was a tragedy to this family of Naboth where not only he was put to death, but his sons were also put to death. Go to Ezekiel, chapter 46. Ezekiel, chapter 46. If you've got towards the end of the Old Testament there, you've got the major books of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Ezekiel 46, and look at verse number 18. Remember, Jezebel said, dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? You know, you deserve better than this. You're a politician. You're a king. You can take whatever you want. But in Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 46 and verse 18, I want you to notice what the Bible says. Ezekiel, chapter 46 and verse 18, it says this, moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression to thrust them out of their possessions but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possessions that my people be not scattered every man from his possession. I want you to notice that in the Bible, you don't have politicians above the law. You don't have anybody above the law. Nobody is above God's law. And here, we're even told specifically that the prince, the leader, shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression. But that's exactly what we see Jezebel and that's exactly what we see Naboth doing. Now, keep your place there in 1 Kings 21. Go to 1 Peter, chapter 2. If you kept your place in James, the very next book over is 1 Peter, 1 Peter, chapter 2. And let me give you the second lesson. What is the second lesson we can learn from this story? And here's the second lesson. Sometimes you can do nothing wrong. Sometimes you can do nothing wrong and still be done wrong. I'm not really giving you ways to fix this. I'm just kind of bringing some things to light that you need to just realize about life. In life, you need to just realize that you're going to have to learn to deal with not getting what you want because sometimes I know your mom told you you're a princess and I know your dad told you you're the strongest one and you're the most special one and you're the most loveliest one. I know that you were told that. I know what Mr. Rogers told you. I get it. But realize that in life, sometimes you just don't get what you want. The sooner you learn to deal with it, the more successful you'll be. And sometimes, sometimes in life, you will be done wrong. Please listen to me. You. You will be done wrong when you've done nothing wrong. Sometimes. 1 Peter 2. Look at verse 19. You say, well, what do I do with that? Well, 1 Peter 2.19 says this. Peter wrote about it. He says, for this is thank-worthy. It's interesting that we just celebrated Thanksgiving. Here's something that's worth thanking you for. This is something that's worth you being thanked for. This is thank-worthy. Notice, if a man for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully. Naboth did nothing wrong. Naboth was not wrong in his belief. He was not wrong in his response. It was his God-given right to do what he wants with that land, to sell, to lease it or to not lease it to whoever he wants. But sometimes, oh Christian, realize that you may need to endure grief, suffering wrongfully. Verse 20. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your fault ye take it patiently? But if when ye do well, here's what he's saying. There's no glory when you're the one that's messing up, when you're the one that's making the wrong choices, when you're the one that's doing the wrong things, and then you suffer the consequences and you take that patiently, he says that there's no glory in that. That's expected. But he says, but if when ye do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. Here's what he's saying. You want to impress God? You want to impress the Lord Jesus Christ when you have been done wrong and you did no wrong, when you have been done wrong and you didn't do anything that deserved it, and call for it, when people have just lied about you, when they stabbed you in the back, when they've done things to you unprovoked. Here's what God says. Here's what God says. How you respond next will have worlds to do with how God sees you and how God rewards you. Because you know what most people do? Most people, when they're done wrong, unprovoked. Most people, when they're done wrong and you did nothing wrong, and there's no justice for it, there's no justice that can be done for it, the act has been done, the rumor has been spread, the lie has been told, there's nothing that you can do to fix it, you just were done wrong. You know what most people, you know how most people react to it? Here's how they react, bitterness. They allow bitterness to take root in their heart. But God says this. Because when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. You say why? Verse 21. For even here unto were ye called. This is the calling of God on your life. Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. See, if there's anyone in this world who has done wrong when he did no wrong, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you suffer wrongfully, and you don't get bitter about it, but like the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, you look down at those who are doing you wrong and you say, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. See, when you take the right attitude, when you're being done wrong, when you've done no wrong, when you take the right attitude, you are being the most like Christ that you will ever be. And unfortunately, many of us have lost the opportunities when people have done us wrong, we've responded wrong. We've responded bitterly. We responded emotionally and angry. And I understand that. Look, I get it. But what we learn from the word of God is that we should allow ourselves to be done wrong. And when you're done wrong, you realize, when you're done wrong and you've done nothing wrong, you just say, I'm being like Christ. Go to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5, look at verse 10. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 10. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 10. Notice what the Bible says. It says this, but the God of all grace who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. We were in this verse this morning. Look what he says. After that, ye have suffered a while. Make you perfect, established, strengthened, settle you. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 6. 1 Corinthians chapter number 6. Here's the point. He says, after that, ye have suffered a while. Just realize this. Just get this lesson in life. In life, you're going to suffer. And if we were honest with each other, we would say that most of the suffering that comes to you in your life is brought on by you. The truth of the matter is that most of the time that we suffer, we are suffering as a result of the decisions we make, the choices we've made, the consequences we're reaping what we've soaked. But in the rare instance, in the rare instance that you are actually innocent and that you actually did nothing wrong, don't see that as a reason to get bitter, but see it as an opportunity to be like Christ, because you will never be more like Christ than when you've done wrong, when you've been done wrong and you've done no wrong. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, look at verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 1. He says this. Dare any of you, having a matter against another. There's Paul speaking to the church at Corinth, and there's Christians that are having problems with each other. And he says, dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints. He's talking about two Christians literally suing each other. They're suing each other because they went into business together, there's some sort of financial transaction or business transaction, and one of them is not getting what they think they should be getting, and the other one's not getting what they desire, right? And whence come wars and fightings among you? Notice what he says. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matter? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life. If then ye have judgment of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. Now, here's what he's saying. Please understand this. He's saying, look, if you've got a matter between two church people and it's an offense, you know, don't take it to law to the world. Don't go, don't sue your brother in Christ. He said, those things, if they have to happen, if they have to be settled, let them be settled in the church. That's what he says. That's what Matthew 18's about. There's a procedure there to take care of these things within the church. And let me say this, that is your right. If you're having an issue with someone at church that's worth taking them to court over, you should bring it to church. That's what the Bible says. It should be resolved within church. Notice verse five. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you, no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brother, but brother goeth to law with brother and that before the unbelievers? Now, here's what I want you to understand. Please get this. If you've been done wrong and you did no wrong and you just know this, have to get settled, I have to get justice, then God says, fine, don't go do it in front of the world, do it in church. I'll give you a procedure for it. You get two witnesses, you go down the road of Matthew 18 and you take care of it. But then in verse six, excuse me, in verse seven, he says this, now therefore there is utterly a fault among you because you go to law one with another. And then he says this, you know, if you need to settle it in church, then settle it in church. But here's what Paul says. Paul says, you know what would be better? Here's what would be better. He says, why do you not rather take wrong? Here's what he's saying. He's saying, why don't you just let it go? He said, look, if you got to settle it, if you won't, I gave him $1,000 and he was supposed to do this and he didn't do that and I'm mad and I'm upset. I know, I know, from whence come wars and fighting among you. I get it. You didn't think you got what you deserved or you didn't get what you wanted. I get all that. And if you have to settle it, if you have to go the Matthew 18 route, if you have to get your two witnesses and bring them before church, that's your right. But you know what would be better? If you just took wrong. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourself to be defrauded? Paul says, why don't you just allow someone to do you wrong when you've done no wrong? Because that's what Christ would do. And look, if you got to settle it, settle it. If you need to have the procedure in church, do it. But he said, it's too your shame. Because a mature Christian would just say, you know what, let them have the money. It's fine. I know they lied or they misunderstood me or I misunderstood them or whatever. Here's what he's saying. Take the wrong. Suffer yourself. Allow yourself to be defrauded, to be taken advantage of. Because like Naboth learned, sometimes you can do nothing wrong and still be done wrong. And the mature Christian turns the other cheek. The mature Christian takes the humiliation. The mature Christian takes the abuse. The mature Christian says, you know what, I really want to fight back, but I won't. I've been done wrong. I didn't think I deserved it, but I'm going to let it go. Go back to 1 Kings 21. So we learned the lesson that we must learn to deal with not getting what we want because sometimes in life you don't get what you want. And we learned the lesson that in life sometimes you will be done wrong when you've done nothing wrong. Notice 1 Kings 21 and verse 14. Then they sent to Jezebel saying, Naboth is stoned and is dead. And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give to thee for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead. And it came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, and Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it. Verse 17, and the word of the Lord came unto Elijah. Here's where our character comes in. The Tishbite saying, arise, go to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria, behold he is in the vineyard of Naboth whither he has gone down to possess it. Look at verse 19. And thou shall speak unto him saying, thus saith the Lord, has thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shall speak unto him saying, thus saith the Lord, in the place where the dogs lick the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood even thine. Keep your place on 1 Kings, go to Proverbs chapter 13, here's lesson number three. Lesson number one was learn to deal with not getting what you want, because in life you're not always going to get what you want. Lesson number two was we must learn to take wrong, because in life you can sometimes do wrong and still be done wrong. Here's lesson number three, it is always better to acquire things honestly. I mean Ahab got his vineyard, but he did it in a dirty way. Proverbs 13 and verse 11 says this, wealth, Proverbs 13 verse 11, wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gathereth thy labor shall increase. Look at Proverbs 12 and verse three, just one chapter before. Proverbs 12 and verse three says this, a man shall not be established, notice, a man shall not be established by wickedness. We saw this verse this morning, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. Here's the point, in life, if you're going to be successful, if you're going to succeed, if you're going to do well, make sure you do it with a clear conscience. Second Timothy 2, 5, you have to turn there, says this, and if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. Acts 24 and verse 16 says this, and herein do I exercise myself, this is what Paul said. Paul said to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Here's what I'm trying to tell you, in whatever area of life that you're in, that you're trying to strive for masteries, that you are competing in, that you are trying to succeed in, whether it's ministry or whether it's career, whether it's building a business, whatever it might be, make sure you do it honestly, and here's the truth, it'd be better for you to fail and to have a conscience clear before God. It would be better for you to go without those vineyards and know that you're right with God and that you're right with men than to cheat and steal and lie and backbite and climb up that ladder and realize when you get up there that wealth gone by vanity shall be diminished and a man shall not be established by wickedness. Go back, keep your place there in Proverbs, but go back to 1 Kings 21, and by the way, let me just point out a couple of things in the story that I think are interesting. Did Ahab, was it Ahab who stole, who lied, who did these acts? I mean, we saw there in 1 Kings 21, let me get back there myself, I'm in 2 Kings, 1 Kings 21, look at verse number 19, notice what it says, and thou shalt speak unto him saying, thus saith the Lord, this is God speaking to Ahab, hast thou killed and also taken possession? Now here's the thing, did Ahab kill? Because Ahab could have said, well, no, it wasn't me, it was the sons of Elio, no, it wasn't me, it was Jezebel, no, I don't know how she got the vineyard, I just told her that I couldn't have it, all of a sudden she comes back and says, well, Naboth said, go and take the vineyard. Here's what we can learn from this, we can learn this, that silence is agreement, and you say, well, I didn't have anything to do with it, yeah, but did you do anything to stop it, Ahab? Well, I didn't ask any questions, well, maybe you should have, Ahab. Notice how Ahab is held responsible, you say why? Well, he's held responsible because he's the king. He's held responsible because he's the husband. He's held responsible because he's the beneficiary of what he's getting, and listen to me, it doesn't matter if Eve is the one that takes of the fruit, Adam, you're responsible. And we learn here, they're saying, well, I don't know what my kids are doing, I don't know what my wife is doing, I don't know what they're up to, they just told me that I, they just told me to, Ma's just told me to take this car. Ma said I could have the car as long as I allow somebody to grab whatever's in the trunk, I don't know what it was, it was like a bag, it looked white, I'm not sure. Here's what God says, you're as responsible, Ahab, and it is better, it is better, it is always better to acquire things honestly, it is always better, it'd be better for you to fail having a conscious void of offense towards God and towards men. Go to 1 Kings 21, look at verse 17. And the world lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, arise, go down to meet Ahab. Let's look at this verse again. The king of Israel, king of Israel, which is in Samaria, behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he has gone down to possess. Here's the fourth lesson we can learn from this story. The first lesson was that we need to learn to deal with not getting what we want, we need to learn, second lesson was we need to learn to deal with being done wrong, the third lesson was that we need to learn to acquire things honestly, not cheating, not lying, with a conscious void of offense towards God and men. Here's lesson number four, God can use you even after getting backslidden. The last time we saw Elijah, remember, last time we saw Elijah, he was depressed, he was discouraged, he was backslidden, he was asking God to take his light, and God met him in the mountain, remember? The fire and the whirlwind and the still, small voice. And then we see here in verse 17, and the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying. It reminds me of Jonah chapter three, you don't have to turn there, but in Jonah chapter three, remember we're studying the book of Jonah, remember in chapter two, at the end of chapter one, he was swallowed by the whale, in chapter two, he spent the time in the belly of the whale, and in Jonah chapter three and verse one, the Bible says this, and the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, here's what we can learn from this, is that even if you've been backslidden, even if you've not been right with God, even if in your heart you've been away from God and been getting away from the things of God, realize this, that God can use you even if you've been backslidden. Bible says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Go to Jeremiah chapter three, Jeremiah chapter three, if you get to a place in Proverbs, you're gonna go past Ecclesiastes, past Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter three. Say, Pastor Jimenez, I've been backslidden now for a while, what do I do? Confess it to God, get right with the Lord, ask him to forgive you, and move on, because God wants to use you. Whether you're Jonah or whether you're Elijah, even after a time of backsliding, the word of the Lord came unto you the second time. The word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, arise, go, may they have the king, and God is giving Elijah something to do, why? Because God wants to use you even if you've been backslidden. In Jeremiah three, look at verse 22, notice what God says to backslidden people, return, you backslidden children, and I will hear your backsliding. Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. You say, well, what does it mean to be backslidden? You know, backslidden basically means, and we won't take the time to turn it, but he uses other references in other passages, and basically the picture that he gives is of a heifer, or like a cow, you know, or an ox or something, and it's trying to climb its way up a mountain, and it slips and it slides back, and it's backslidden. That's the illustration that's used there. You say, well, who am I in the illustration? You're the heifer. And the idea is this, you say, well, how can I identify if I'm backslidden? Here's how you identify it. If you're doing less today for God than you were doing before, you're backslidden. If there was a time when your Bible reading was better, your prayer time was better, your soul-winding was better, your church attendance was better, you were serving, there was other things you were doing, and now you're doing less, you've slid in back, you're backslidden. You say, well, what do I do? You confess it to God, you repent of it, you ask God to forgive you, and then you get back in the work. Why? Because God wants to speak to you a second time, like he spoke to Jonah. He wants to get you back in the fight, like he did to Elijah. Go to Lamentations chapter 3, you're there in Jeremiah, just one book over, Lamentations chapter 3, look at verse 21, Lamentations chapter 3, verse 21. Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 21, Noah says, this I call to my mind therefore have I hope, Noah's verse 22, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassion has failed not, they are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness. Look, as long as you've got a pulse, you've got a purpose, as long as God has given you a new day, then God wants to give you the opportunity. Look, if you're saved, you're not a reprobate, as long as you're alive, God wants to use you and you have an opportunity to be used, and you say, yeah, but I've been so bitter, but I've been so angry, but I've been so backslidden, but you can get back in the fight, and God wants to give you an opportunity to get back into the work of God. Go back to 1 Kings 21. Let me give you lesson number 5, 1 Kings 21, look at verse 19, and thou shalt speak unto him saying, Thus saith the Lord, has thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him saying, Thus saith the Lord, in the place where the dogs lick the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine? Verse 20, and Ahab said to Elijah, Has thou found me? Notice what he says. Has thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I found me, because thou assualt thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Go to Galatians chapter 4, Hebrews 1 Kings, Galatians chapter 4, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Galatians chapter 4. Here's lesson number 5, when you preach God's word, people will see you as an enemy. When you preach God's word, Elijah gets back in the fight, he was told by God, Thus saith the Lord, God, has thou killed? And also taken possession. These are not Elijah's words, these are the Lord's words. The Lord told him to say, And thou shalt speak unto him saying, this is what God told Elijah to say. Elijah is simply saying what God told him to say, Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs lick the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine? And Ahab said to Elijah, Has thou found me, O mine enemy? And Elijah should have been like, what do you mean I'm your enemy? I'm just giving you God's message. This is what God said, but let me just explain something to you. When you preach God's word, people will see you as an enemy. They will see you as their enemy. Galatians chapter 4, verse 16, Am I therefore become your enemy? Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Paul said, All I've done is gone up and preached you the word of God. All I've done is gone up and told you the truth. All I've done is gone up and told you what the Bible says and what God's word says. Am I therefore become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth. And here's what you need to understand. When you preach God's word, people will see you as the enemy. Now, they should see God as the enemy, and the problem they've got is with God and God's word, but they'll get mad at you. They'll see you as their enemy. Go to Ephesians 4. If they're in Galatians, go to Ephesians. Let me just say this, though. When it comes to speaking God's word, and especially when we're dealing in relationship with people, when we're talking to people, you know, at the dinner table, at the Thanksgiving dinner table, right? The Bible says this, Ephesians 4, 15, But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. The Bible says that we must learn to speak the truth in love. Look, you can say the truth, but sometimes, you know, sometimes people think, oh, I'm so persecuted. Everyone hates me. I'm everyone's enemy. But it's not that people are disagreeing with what you're saying. They're disagreeing with how you're saying it. The Bible says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. When we open our mouth, we should be trying to build people up. We should be trying. So look, you can call somebody and say you're wrong, and they're not going to accept it because you're a jerk about it. Do you understand that? You say, oh, my family hates me. Oh, my family hates me because of God. Are you sure it's God? Maybe it's you. Maybe it's, oh, it's the truth, but how are you saying it? See, you don't always have, look, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians, it talks about that there's not a reputation of contention among God's people. There ought not be. We need to earnestly contend for the faith, but we don't need to be contentious. We need to earnestly contend for the faith, but we don't have to be rude, and we don't have to be jerks, and we don't have to be mean about it. I'm talking about you talking with your friend, your coworkers, your family at the dinner table. We can speak the truth in love. We can use words that will edify people, not turn them off to us, and be careful about always assuming that, oh, I'm suffering for Jesus because I stand for the truth. You may be suffering for Jesus. You may have people who don't want to talk to you. You may have people who don't want to spend time with you, not because what you're saying is wrong, but how you're saying it is wrong. Go to 1 Kings 21, let me give you lesson number six, 1 Kings 21, look at verse nine, and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, as thou killed and also taken possession, and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine? And they have said to Elijah, Has thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and I will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. And I will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Beasheth, the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dog shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel, and him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dog shall eat, and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. But there was none like Ahab which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up, and he did very abominably in following idols according to all the things, as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. Here's lesson number six. You may get away with it with men, but you will not get away with it with God. You can lie and cheat and steal, and no one will stop you. And no one will, because you're the king, because you're in charge, because you found yourself the low life sons of Belial, the men of the baser sort, to do the things that you asked them to do, and you can get away with it in this world, but you will not get away with it with God. Proverbs 15 and verse three says this, the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. It reminds me of the story of David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and if you remember, he took all these steps to lie about it. He had Uriah the Hittite put to death. You don't have to turn there, but in 2 Samuel 11, 27, the Bible says this, and when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife and married him a son, and it's always interesting to me how that chapter ends, because if you read that chapter in 2 Samuel 11, it's a really discouraging chapter, because we love David, don't we? Ever since he slays Goliath, he's our hero, and we're for him, and when Saul's tearing him down and when Saul's persecuting him, we feel bad for him, and when David has the opportunity to kill Saul and he chooses not to, we are rooting for him and we're impressed with him, and we get to 2 Samuel 11 and we see a great man, a man who the Bible says, you know, followed after the heart of God, God would say, a man after my own heart, and then we see this great man walking in the flesh and committing adultery and lying and killing and manipulating, and he goes through that whole thing, and he gets all done and Uriah's dead, and he takes Bathsheba as wife, and now she's pregnant, but no one will know the difference, and it seems like David won, but the chapter ends with this one phrase, that the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, and you can get away with it, with man and with men and with people, but whether you're David or Ahab or you or me, we will not get away with it with God. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, that vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. God will make all things right. God will make all things just. Go to 1 Kings 21, look at verse 27, let me give you the last lesson, lesson number seven. And it came to pass when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his head. Interesting response from Ahab. Elijah just gets done telling him, I'm gonna kill every male in your house, you're going to die and the dogs are gonna lick up your blood like Naboth's blood was licked up, and your wife is going to die in a way where dogs are gonna eat her. And Ahab responds like this, and it came to pass, verse 27, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly. And the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, verse 29, seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his day, but in his son's day will I bring the evil upon his house. Go to 1 Peter chapter five, I'm not sure if you kept your place there, we were there recently, but go to 1 Peter chapter five, let me say this, here's lesson number seven. Lesson number seven is this, humility will always get you a favorable response with God. Say, Pastor, I've really messed up, I'm Ahab, I've lied, I've stolen, I've cheated, I've manipulated, I've allowed my wife to do things, and I've allowed those under my authority, my kids, or whatever it might be, and I've just been backslidden, I've just been throwing fits about not getting what I want, and it's me, it's Ahab. I've been mad at you because you're my enemy. What do I do? Here's what you do. Humility just realizes, no matter how far you get. We just talked about David, remember David? Why was David able to get favor with God, here's why, because he responded with humility. Humility will always get you a favorable response with God. Just realize, just get this in your head, whatever I've done, whatever decisions I've made, whatever mess I've made, the best way to response to God is always with humility, because humility will always get you. Humility will always get you. Please listen to me, humility will always get you a favorable response with God. Look at verse 5, look at verse 5. Likewise he's younger, submit yourselves unto the elder, yea, all of you be subjects one to another. Notice what he says, and be clothed with humility. Every day you get up and you decide what clothes am I going to put on, and God says put whatever clothes you're going to put on, but realize that spiritually you better clothe yourself with humility. Don't leave home without your humility garment, don't leave home without your humility jacket. He says, and be clothed with humility. You say, why should I wrap myself in humility? Clothing is what you see, right? You don't see me as much as you see the clothing that I wear. Here's what God said, I want you to wrap yourself in humility so that when people see you, all they see is a humble person. Because the truth is this, we are all filled with pride. All of us have issues with pride, all of us have problems with pride, and every day in the same way we put our clothes on, we need to decide to put on humility. You say why? Here's why. Here's why. For God resisted the proud. You want to get on God's bad side, it's real easy. You want to get God to resist you, here's how you do it, you allow yourself to get lifted up with pride. For God resisted the proud, notice, and giveth grace to the humble. Even Ahab, even Ahab, who we were just told was one of the worst kings of Israel, even Ahab, when he clothed himself in humility, received a favorable response from God. Look at verse six, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Go back to 1 Kings 21. Let me just show you a couple things real quickly, we'll be done. 1 Kings 21. I want you to notice, you know, that Ahab was held responsible for the actions of Jezebel, his wife, because he was the leader, and Jezebel was obviously the wicked woman who plotted this plan, but I do want you to notice there's one thing, before we put too much blame on Jezebel, 1 Kings 21, and verse 25 says this, but there was none like unto Ahab which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, notice what it says, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. Let me just say this, you say, well, I've got a bad influence in my life, it's the Jezebels in my life, right? It's that woman I married, she's the reason I'm such a loser, or whatever. Just realize this, that the Jezebel in our lives, those bad influences, and the story of Amnon, we're told that Amnon had a friend, remember, Amnon's friend who got him to do wrong. Before you blame too much the influences of other people, I want you to just remember that all Jezebel did was she stirred him up. When I think of that, I think of like a soup, you know, my wife makes soup often, and if she goes and makes soup and maybe she asks me or one of the kids or whatever, you know, we're walking by, hey, can you stir the soup, you know, or whatever it might be, you know, when you stir something up, all you're stirring is what's already in there. You say, it was Jezebel's fault. Well, Jezebel was just stirring what was already in Ahab. In your friends, in your Jezebels, in your bad influences, or bringing you down the wrong road, all they're really doing is stirring up what's already in you. So just quote yourself in humility. Confess your sins to God, and get right with God. Go back to 1 Kings chapter 9. Let me just show you one more thing. I'm not even sure why I'm showing you this, because I just have a note here that says to show you this again, and I don't write down why, so let's go there and figure out why. 2 Kings, and we'll be done, because we have ice cream and it's getting cold, and that's a good thing though, right? 1 Kings 9, look at verse 24. And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chair. Oh yeah, I just wanted to show you how this was fulfilled. So remember that God, people will often, let me just say this, people will often look at this story and say, well God told Ahab that he was going to die in this way, but Ahab actually did not die in this way. In fact, if you look at how Ahab died, he died a very similar way, but he did not die exactly how God said that he was going to die. And they'll say, this is a contradiction in scripture, this is a prophecy that was not fulfilled. God told, through Elijah, God told Ahab, you're going to die a certain way, but then, because Ahab humbled himself and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly, then in verse 28 the Bible says, the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, since thou Ahab humbled himself before me, because he humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his day. So people will say, this was a prophecy that did not come to pass, but before the chapter's God says, okay forget it. Just like Jonah, God repented of the evil that he thought to do unto them, but notice what he says, I will bring the evil, see as though Ahab humbled himself before me, because he humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his day, but in his son's day will I bring the evil upon his house. Because Ahab humbled himself, God said, I'm going to bring the judgment in the time of his son. So 2 Kings chapter 9, that's what we're looking at. Let me just show you the fulfillment of that. Verse 24, and Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms and the arrow went out at his heart and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bigdar his captain, take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth, the Jezreelite, for remember how that when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him, surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his son, saith the Lord, and I will requite this in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground according to the word of the Lord. So we see the fulfillment of God there, not in the life of Ahab, but in the life of his son. But if you look at how Ahab died, he died almost a very similar way, almost word for word how Elijah said he was going to die just in a different location. But it's not a contradiction in scripture because God had said I'm not going to do it to Ahab, I'm going to do it to his son. So I just wanted to show you that, make sure you understood that. Let's go ahead and bow our heads in our own prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word and thank you for the Bible, thank you for these stories that serve as ensembles.