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He arose with a mighty triumph o'er his walls. He arose a victim of the dark domain, and he lives forever from his saints to reign. He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ arose. Amen, wonderful singing. Let's start our service with a word of prayer. Dear God, Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, O Lord, for just allowing us, Lord God, to be back in your house tonight. Lord, we do pray that you please just bless every aspect of the service. Lord, we do pray that you please just bless the singing unto you, help us to sing boldly and powerfully, O God, unto you. And I pray that you'd also just please be with us, Lord God, tonight as we hear the preaching of your word. Please be with our pastor, fill in with your Holy Spirit, Lord God, guide him through the scriptures, Lord God, bring to remembrance of the things that he has studied. And also please be with us, Lord God, in the congregation that you would help us to have open ears and open hearts with God as well. We pray now these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Song number 129, song number 129, Rock of Ages. Song number 129. 129. We'll see it on that first verse. Rock of ages, clam for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be absent the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever glow, could my zeal no longer know, these poor sin could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone in my hand I cry, I pray, simply to thy cross I cling while I drop this fleeting breath. When I rise, most close in death, when I rise to worlds unknown and behold, beyond thy throne, rock of ages, clam for me, let me hide myself in thee. All right, great singing. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song, which will be 206. Oh, say, but I'm glad if you want to get that ready. 206. Of course, we welcome you to come back for our midweek Bible study on Thursday at seven o'clock. We're currently going through the book of Isaiah verse by verse. I hope to see you then. You see the so many times there in the middle of the list of expecting mothers and the stats for salvations and baptisms on the bottom left-hand corner. On the right-hand side, some of the upcoming events. We have the T.J. Misson's trip coming up this coming Saturday, March 29th, meeting at the building at 915. If you need a ride, you can see Brother Ulysses Hernandez for that. Just make sure you bring your passport. And of course, the expenses are paid for. And keep it some prayer that we would get a lot of people saved on Saturday. And then we have the Lady's Prayer Breakfast coming up on Saturday, April 5th, meeting at the building at 10 a.m. You can see Ms. Janelle Gonzalez. If you'd like to help or participate, you can talk to her. Our big thing coming up is Easter, our Easter service on Sunday, April 20th. And we're going to have a breakfast, excuse me, at 945. So if you're bringing visitors, when you bring visitors, the visitors that you will bring on that day, you know, make sure you bring them at 945 for that breakfast. Amen. And then also keep in mind that we're going to have an Easter egg hunt for the kids after the morning service. There's invites. Actually, there's no more invites, but we're going to have more invites for Easter for the following week to get out. And so thank you for taking those while you're out zoning, while you're at your job with your friends, just handing those out. And pray that we'd break record attendance on that Sunday as well. And then we have the Science Meetup on Sunday, April 27th, after the evening service. I mentioned this morning, if you can continue to pray for John Michael, he's still in the hospital and they haven't gotten word yet as far as his numbers are concerned, but he still, they still don't really know what's going on with him. And so please keep him in prayer that God would heal him and that he would recover and come back home. And so pray for him. And then I mentioned, if you can continue to pray for our offering Sunday on May 11th, you have a prayer card there. There's 10 needs, but one of them has already been met. We've got that unit. And so the goal is to have that unit ready to go by Easter. I would say we probably have it ready within the next three weeks or so. And so pray to that end and pray for the May 11th offering that God will bless tremendously so we can have a good fun to work off with in the coming years as we prepare to purchase a building. And then lastly, please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. That is it for our announcements. 206. Oh say, but I'm glad. Song number 206. Oh say, but I'm glad. Song number 206. Song number 206. Sing it on that first verse. There is a song in my heart today. Something I've never had. Song number 206. Oh say, but I'm glad. Jesus has taken my sins away. Oh say, but I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad, I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh say, but I'm glad. Wonderful marvelous love he brings into all heart and sad. The soul just sings. Oh say, but I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad, I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh say, but I'm glad. We have a fellowship rich and sweet. Tons can never relate. Abiding in him the soul's retreat. Oh say, but I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad, I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh say, but I'm glad. On that last won't you come to him with all your care. Weary and bold and sad. You too will see how this love you shared. Oh say, but I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad, I'm glad. Oh say, but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh say, but I'm glad. Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time our ushers will be receiving the offering and please turn your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 20. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, tonight we're in 1 Kings chapter 20. 1 Kings chapter 20 the Bible reads, And Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his hosts together, and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-Hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine. Thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have. And the messengers came again and said, Thus speaketh Ben-Hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me, and thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children, yet I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thine house and the houses of thy servants, and it shall be that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand and take it away. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief. For he sent unto me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold, and I denied him not. And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him nor consent. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king all that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do. But this thing I may not do, and the messengers departed and brought him word again. And Ben-Hadad sent unto him and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls of all the people that follow me. And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. And it came to pass when Ben-Hadad heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings and the pavilions, and he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array, and they set themselves in array against the city. And behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Has thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he said, Thou. Then he numbered the young men of the princes and the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two, and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. And they went out at noon, but Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out, and Ben-Hadad was sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. And they slew everyone his man, and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest. For at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are the gods of the hills, therefore they were stronger than we, but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And do this thing, take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms. And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, that we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. It came to pass that the return of the year that Ben-Hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them, and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids, but the Syrians filled the country. And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And they pitched one over against the other seven days, and so it was that in the seventh day the battle was joined, and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left, and Ben-Hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner chamber. And his servant said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Peradventure he will save thy life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-Hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? He is my brother. Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him, and did hastily catch it, and they said, Thy brother Ben-Hadad, then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-Hadad came forth to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Ben-Hadad said unto him, The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore, and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant, so he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee, and the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee, and as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and slew him. Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee, and the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. And so the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man. For if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be, thyself has decided it. And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face, and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria. Let's pray. Dear Lord God, just thank you for this opportunity that we have here to listen to the preaching of your word, Lord. Just please bless the service and be with us tonight, Lord, as we hear this message that pastors prepared for us. Please fill in with the Holy Spirit, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, we're in 1 Kings chapter 20, verse number 1 says, And Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his hosts together, and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And the title of my sermon this evening is Ahab the Compliant Weakling. Ahab the Compliant Weakling. Now, a couple months ago, I preached a sermon on Ahab, and I think I called it something to the effect of the henpecked husband or something like that. And then I preached another sermon on the humbling of kings, and quite frankly, I still haven't covered everything there is to say about Ahab. And let me just be real honest with you. I hate Ahab. He's one of those characters in the Bible that I just absolutely cannot stand whatsoever. Let me explain to you why. Obviously, he's a super wicked king. He's evil. He does evil in the sight of the Lord. But one of the reasons I don't like him is because of the fact that he kind of leaves you wondering, are you saved or what? You know, because obviously he humbles himself before the Lord in his story, after he's preached against with Elijah. But he does all these wicked things. He's such a weakling of a leader. He's such a compromiser. He's always backing up the wrong people, and therefore, it kind of makes me think like, you know, I don't know where you stand, and that's why I don't like you. You know, I like people who are just completely honest with you, and they say, look, this is where I stand, this is who I'm for, this is what I believe. I can't stand people who are just kind of straddling the fence. And Ahab is one of those people that you just kind of, as you read their story, and it's not like there's anything lacking in the story of Ahab that makes you just wonder. It's just kind of one of those things where it's just, who are you? What are you? What do you stand for? And so we obviously see that Ahab, one of the reasons why he's so evil and wicked, the Bible tells us later on, is because he's constantly being stirred up by his wicked wife Jezebel, right? In other words, the blueprints, the one who's really behind the whole thing is Jezebel. She's the one who's kind of egging him on to be evil and to be wicked. You know, Ahab is the king of Israel, who is the nation that belongs to the Lord. But yet, in spite of this, he essentially forgoes the responsibility of being a godly king, and he ends up being a really wicked person. He ends up getting destroyed. And so in those sermons that I covered a couple months ago, this is one story that I did not cover. So I'm going to cover it tonight here in 1 Kings 20. It's a very unique story where God helps Ahab. He actually delivers Ahab, but yet in spite of this, you know, Ahab still doesn't repent. He doesn't get right with God, and he behaves wickedly. So I'm going to go through this entire chapter and just kind of pull out some principles that we can learn as a church, as Christians. First and foremost, let's look at Ben-Hadad's threats. Now, Ben-Hadad is the king of Syria, and right off the bat, we see that Ben-Hadad is trying to conquer Samaria, which is the capital of Israel. And of course, Ahab is the king thereof, and he brings some pretty brazen threats. Okay, look at verse number 2. It says, And he sent messengers to Ahab, of course Ben-Hadad is sending messengers to Ahab, king of Israel and to the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-Hadad. Now I want you to notice this. Thy silver and thy gold is mine. Thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. Now that is a brazen threat, right? Because he's saying, once I take you over, all this is going to belong to me. I'm taking all your silver, I'm taking all your gold, I'm taking your wives, I'm taking your children. Everything that's goodly, everything that's beautiful, everything that's attractive, I'm taking. Okay, so that doesn't sound like a threat. Well, the mere fact that he is claiming possession over these things is implying that I'm going to have all these things. Okay, so this is a brazen threat by Ben-Hadad. And obviously, this is a picture of Satan, right? Satan comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He's coming to take everything that we have, all the blessings that we have inherited from the Lord, he's seeking to take from us. Now, if someone came to you with that type of a threat and you're a king, you know, I would hope that you would say something to the effect of, over my dead body. Like, this is not going to happen. Like, who do you think you are coming into my nation and claiming that you're going to steal not just my resources, but my family, my wives, my children, and everything that is goodly? Like, we're going to war, okay? And you can have these things over my dead body. That's the reasonable thing to say. That's the reasonable stance to take, right? Look at verse four, if you would. And the king, referring to Ahab, the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have. What? So instead of saying, like, you know, come and take it, you know, like, you let me know the time and the day, we're going to catch fades, we're going to war, you know, what you have belongs to me. Instead, he's just like, my lord, hey, whatever's mine, you can have. Now, look, if he was just robbing him of his resources, that's one thing. But he's literally saying, like, my wives and my children are yours. You know, that wasn't left out of the contract. He's saying, I'm taking your wives and your children, and Ahab is just like, hey, whatever you want, according to thy saying. What is that? That's a compliant weakling. It's like, how in the world did this guy get promoted to be king? He's such a weak, compliant, just, you know, pushover. He's a hem-pecked king and a husband, amen? So Ahab isn't a strong leader at all. He's a major pushover and provides zero resistance when the enemy comes. And let me just say this, that as Christians, you can't be a pushover. You know, we need to be able to offer resistance when Satan comes with temptations, when people of this world come to tempt you and to try you. We need to be able to resist temptation, resist the devil in the evil day, and not just fall over and just give in to whatever threats, whatever compromises come forth our way. We need to be able to say, no, I'm not giving in to that. We're not making a contract. There's no affinity over my dead body, right? Whether physically or spiritually speaking as well. Now go to chapter 18, if you would, 1 Kings 18. Because this isn't the first time that Ahab has shown himself to be a pushover. In fact, we could point to many portions of scripture where we see that he's a major pushover. He's a hem-pecked husband. But, you know, early on, we actually see that he's just not the fighting type. You know, during this particular time, you have the prophets of Baal, and they've essentially overrun the nation. We have 7,000 prophets who have not vowed the need to Baal, but they're kind of in hiding, right? Obadiah, who's essentially, you know, the governor, he's hiding these 7,000 prophets from Jezebel because Jezebel is killing the prophets of God. And, of course, we know that Elijah is not hiding. He's confronting Ahab. He's preaching against him. He's confronting him over these things. And then we have the great confrontation on Mount Carmel, right? Where Ahab, or, excuse me, Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal, and he says, all right, let's see who's of God. And, of course, all of Israel's there. They're watching what's going to happen. They set up an animal sacrifice, and he tells the prophets of Baal, all right, let's see if your God is able to just light this sacrifice on fire. You call upon your God, and let's see if fire comes down and consumes these sacrifices. So they're calling on their false god. They're cutting themselves from morning till evening, and nothing happens, right? And Elijah is even mocking them. He's like, hey, you know, is your God, like, sleeping? Maybe he's taking a trip or something like that. What's going on? How come he's not listening? Obviously because it's a false god. So then comes, enters Elijah. Now it's his turn. And he's like, pour water on this sacrifice, pours multiple barrels of water on it, and he calls down the fire of God upon the sacrifice, and it consumes and licks up all the water, and he just cooks them, right? He just mops the floor with them. So then after this great miracle of fire coming down from heaven upon the sacrifices, the children of Israel are like, oh, God is the God, you know? Well, it's like, well, duh. So then at that point, Elijah, the victor, says, all right, now take the 450 prophets of Baal and go kill them. So now all 450 prophets of Baal are slaughtered, they're destroyed, and of course Ahab is in favor of these false prophets because his wife is in favor of these false prophets because he's fallen on his wife's lead, right? So he slays all of these prophets of Baal, he destroys them, he preaches a great sermon, just a great exploit is accomplished, and you've got to keep in mind, Ahab is the leader here, right? Look at verse 40 of chapter 18. It says in verse 40, and Elijah said unto them, take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape, and they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there. And Elijah said unto Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to Eden to drink. Pushover. Now obviously you shouldn't resist the words of the prophet, but I don't think he is not resisting the words of the prophet because he respects the prophet, I just think he's a pushover. So Elijah is like, after he kills them all, he's like, go over there and just eat and drink, and he's like, okay, and he just goes to eat and drink, does what he's told. Because he's not a good leader. This guy's a pushover, offers no resistance. So this isn't someone that you would want in a position of authority to defend you against a foreign army. This is not someone you want defending you against the enemies of God. Why? Because he has no grit about himself, which is why he constantly has to go to Jezebel to defend him, right? You know, later on, we're not going to look at it tonight, but we looked at it previously, where he wants Naboth's vineyard. He tries to negotiate for Naboth's vineyard, Naboth just tells him no. And just like a little kid, what does he do? He goes home, he lays down, he starts crying, he's starting a little hissy fit, and then Jezebel comes and is like, why are you crying? And he's like, I can't have a vineyard. She's like, I'll get it for you. I mean, what a wimp. And of course, she's super wicked and evil. She ends up getting Naboth killed by the false witness of Reprobates, these sons of Belial. And once he dies, Ahab gets up and he's like, oh, good. He goes and collects his vineyard. He has other people fight his battles. He's a complete pushover, offers zero resistance. This guy's lame. Look at chapter 19. So after he does that, right, after he kills all the prophets, he's like, go eat and drink. And he's just like, all right, I'm going to go eat and drink. Look at chapter 19, verse 1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. So the first thing he does, he goes home and he tells his wife what Elijah did. He wouldn't believe what Elijah did. He killed all the prophets. You know, and it's no surprise that when Ben-Haddad threatens him, he just gives in without a fight. And let me just say this as a Christian. You know, don't be this nonresistant Christian where you can't seem to resist temptation. You can't resist when Satan comes to you with a trial. You can't resist a season of difficulty, a season of attacks, a season of spiritual warfare you just can't handle. You just get involved in sin right away. You know what? This applies to the young men in our church. Let me just say this. If you can't resist pornography, your strength is weak. You have no strength. You know, we live in a society today where young men try to make it permissible to say, well, you know, I'm just going to watch pornography until I get married because I just can't handle, you know, the temptation. So once I get married, it'll just fix everything. You're a weakling. That's a weak attitude to have. Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Stop being a little Ahab where when Satan and Ben-Haddad of pornography comes at you, you just give in, well, I'm not married, so I guess I just got to give in to this temptation. That's wicked. Stop being so weak. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Quit you like men. Arm yourself with the armor of God and have the will power and the resistance that when the temptation comes, say no. Not giving in to this. You're like, well, you know, it's so easily accessible. Then throw away the accessibility of it. Be a man. Don't just give in to every whim and temptation that you have because, well, it's just this corruptible flesh. I just can't do anything about it. Of course you can. Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. And let me just say this. Don't be offering advice in our church if you're a married man and say, well, yeah, I was into pornography, but once I got married, everything just went away, so it's okay to just watch pornography or something like that until you get married. That's disgusting. That's filthy. You're not right with God if that's you. Stop giving unbiblical advice, wicked advice. Promote righteousness, not filth and fornication, uncleanness. You're promoting weakness in our church if that's you. You're promoting being an effeminate man who can't resist temptation. You know, we want to raise up young men who are able to resist the temptations of Satan, not just through pornography, but just discouragement, depression, laziness. We need to overcome that as men, amen? Look, I'm not saying that men don't struggle with lust because if you don't, then you might be a faggot or something. I don't know. Every man struggles with lust. Let me just be honest with you. That's a sin that is common to men. And if some dude says, well, I don't struggle with lust. Well, you have some sugar in your tank or what? What's going on here? Everyone struggles with lust. We all have to fight it every single day. That's a normal thing for us to do. But you know what? What's not normal or shouldn't be normal is for you just giving in every time it comes your way. Cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God. Make no provision for the flesh. That's what the Bible says. You know, pick up the sword of the Spirit and quote some scripture when you're tempted. Or how about when you're tempted and you have a wicked thought? Just say, Lord, forgive me for this thought. Help me to cast this down. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them to turn aside. It shall not cleave unto me. I made a covenant with mine eyes. How then can I look upon a maid? And so it's important for us to have that attitude, not promote some stupid, godless, worldly ideology out there that's not found in scripture. Don't be an Ahab. We don't want to raise Ahabs in our church. Amen? And you know what? Parents, don't raise an Ahab. Teach your sons how to resist. Teach your sons to be strong in the Lord. Teach your sons to be men of might in the Lord. Okay? So Ahab, you know, Ben Hadad comes. And, you know, if you're Ben Hadad, you're probably like, well, that was easy. I didn't even have to send a third messenger. It's just like, I'm going to take all this. And Ahab's like, sure. Anything else, sir? Paper or plastic? Would you like that to go? Now let me just say this is that, you know, when you give in to temptation, it becomes harder to negotiate the terms later on. Because what do we see here? Look at verse 5 of chapter 20. So, you know, Ahab throws this little weakling of an answer there. Verse 5 says, And the messengers came again and said, Thus speaketh Ben Hadad. Because obviously, you know, the messengers bring back the message of what Ahab said. And Ben Hadad's like, really? Well, let's go ahead and crank it up here. Thus speaketh Ben Hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children, yet I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow about this time. And they shall search thine house and the houses of thy servants. And it shall be that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand and take it away. So I say, look, I know I said that I was going to take all these things, but I'm actually going to send some messengers just to kind of take inventory of what you have. And you go ahead and let them know what is pleasant in your eyes, and that's what we're going to take. Good night. So this is, I mean, he's trying to punk him, right? He's trying to punk him. He's trying to like, I don't know, he's just, I guess he sees that Ahab's just a little weenie. Verse seven, Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief. For he sent it to me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold, and I did not him not. So he's just like, can you believe the gall of Ben Hadad? He asked for my wife and my kids, and I said I was fine with it. It's like, what in the world? You know, what does it show us? It shows us that when you allow Satan to take an inch, he's going to take a foot. You know, when you give into temptation, when you compromise as a Christian, it's going to be harder later on down the road to negotiate those terms. Don't negotiate with Satan. Don't give in to the whims and the demands of Satan. You say, this is where we draw the line, and you know, don't allow yourself to, you know, be tempted by Pharaoh who says, well, you know, you can take your flocks, but just don't take your children. No, I'm taking it all. We're not negotiating this. Here's the terms and services. I'm not going to give into this. Ben Hadad, you can kick rocks. I'm not giving you anything. I'm not giving you my wives. I'm not giving you my kids. I'm not giving you my goodlies. I'm not going to give you anything. Go to 2 Kings, chapter 18. 2 Kings, chapter 18. He said, well, I think it's good to just kind of, you know, it's a two-way street. I think you should maybe compromise just a little bit. Absolutely not. And there's another story. We're not going to get too much into it, but there is a story in 2 Kings, chapter 18, with Hezekiah. And Hezekiah was a godly king. He's the opposite of Ahab. But unfortunately, Hezekiah was kind of weak, too, you know? Even though he was godly, he was a little bit of a weakling, too. And when the king of Assyria came to him, demanding some things from him, he kind of gave in, too. Look at verse 14. Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended, returned from me. That which thou putest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria had appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. So the king of Assyria comes to Hezekiah and says, you know, I'm going to take you over. I'm going to destroy you. And Hezekiah's like, I'm so sorry for offending you. Hey, you know, you come up with the terms and services, whatever I can bear, I'll give to you. And he's like, oh, great. I'll take 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Look at verse 15. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time, did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria? So he's like, yeah, I'll take this much. He's like, OK, you know, strip the house of God and give it to him. But let me just spoiler alert here. That didn't placate the king of Assyria. Because after that, he's like, oh, I'm coming for more. And in fact, I'm going to send messengers to threaten your people in your language to let you know that we're coming to besiege the city and we're going to take you over. What does it show us? You can't compromise. You can't compromise with the devil. Don't compromise with your flesh. Don't compromise with the world. As Christians, we need to set clear boundaries and not compromise, not give in to the demands of saints in the world or whoever's trying to get you to compromise your convictions. Go back to 1 Kings chapter 20. 1 Kings chapter 20. You know, and the world is constantly trying to get churches and Christians to compromise. Right? Well, this is how you should run church. Don't tell me how to run church. You're not a Christian. You don't even believe in Jesus. And you know what? You can bring your demands all you want. If you have an opinion, if you have, you know, if someone in the world wants to tell me how to run the church, they can write it down. We have a place where you can put all of the recommendations in our church for that. I will take all the recommendations. Right there. It's right there. You guys see it? Look behind you. That's where all the recommendations go. Right there. It's called a trash can. Because at the end of the day, we're not taking recommendations from unsafe people on how to run a church. Well, that's not very Christ-like. Well, it's funny you say that because you don't even know Jesus. How are you as an unsafe, unregenerated, atheistic, agnostic, or whatever, person who hates the Lord Jesus Christ and has never read the Bible going to tell me what Jesus is like? I'm not taking any opinions on what Jesus is like. I know what Jesus is like because I read the Bible. But you know you have Christians out there who are a bunch of Ahabs who just fold at the first, you know, threat that they get from the world, the first threat that they get from the Sodomites, the first threat that they get from the atheists. Well, we just, you know, we don't want to fight or anything. We just don't want them to come and protest here and it'll be a bad testimony. No, you'll be a good testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ if you stand your ground and you don't negotiate with Satan. Because at the end of the day, if you do, they're asking for an inch. But let me just tell you, once you give them the inch, they're going to take a foot. Go back to First Kings chapter 20. So he's, you know, he's given it to him. He's like, you know, I'm going to take everything. Look at verse eight. And all the elders and all the people said unto him, hearken not unto him, nor consent. So the elders seem to have more sense than Ahab. And they're like, don't listen to him. Don't consent. And I don't know if the elders understand that they have a military, they have God, you know, God can deliver them, but they have enough sense, at least they have, you know, dignity. Right? And they're like, don't consent, say no. Verse nine. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhaden, Tell my lord the king all that thou didst send for to thy servants at the first I will do, but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again. This is so ridiculous. So the elders are like, say no. He's like, yeah, you're right. I'll say no. He's like, hey, those first demands you gave, we're good with that. But the second, no way. So it's just like, okay, yeah, take the wives and kids, but just, you know, don't take inventory of everything else that we have in our house. Oh, what a great stand you got there. You know, hey, let's protest target because they're letting sodomites in. Oh, man, what a great stand you got there. So, you know, Ahab really thinks he just took a really big stand there against against Benhadad. And I don't know, you know, you know, Benhadad is like, I'll take your wives. Maybe Ahab is like, well, you know, it doesn't sound so bad because I'm married to Jezebel. Maybe that's why he's saying that. It's all speculation. But, you know, if that was the case, then I get you. Look at verse 10. And Benhadad sent unto him and said, The gods do so unto me and more also if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. The king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, let not him that girdeth on his heart and his boast himself as he that putteth it off. Now, what is the king Benhadad saying? He's saying you don't even understand that how much people I got backing me that are going to take you over. I'm going to destroy you. This is what he's saying, trying to intimidate Ahab. And this is the only time Ahab actually says something good because a broken clock is right twice a day, man. So he actually says, like, a really good statement. And you're almost shocked, like, where did that come from? You're such a weakling. Like, where was this in the beginning? Like, this is a really cool statement. Verse 11. Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his heart and his boast himself as he that putteth it off. What does he mean by that? The modern way of explaining this would be don't count your chickens before they lay, right? You know, the Bible says, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. So he's telling Benhadad, Hey, don't count the victory before you've actually gained the victory. Don't start taking off your harness if we have not yet gone to war. The Bible says in James chapter 4, verse 13, Go to now ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. For they ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. So Benhadad is obviously prideful. He's arrogant. He's boasting. And obviously, physically speaking, he probably could take over Israel. But because Israel has God backing them, that's not going to happen, right? The point that I want to make with this is that we need to be careful boasting ourselves of tomorrow. And I don't think it's wrong to be ambitious, right? I think men need to be ambitious. I think we need to plan and have goals and set goals for ourselves and plan for the future and even talk about what may be. But we always have to finish that sentence with, If the Lord wills. Because if not, then we're just being presumptuous. What is Benhadad guilty of? Being a presumptuous person thinking that because he has more military might that somehow that means he's going to win. Well, stop boasting yourself of tomorrow, for you don't know what a day may bring forth, Benhadad. Look what it goes on to say in verse 12. It says, And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings and the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in a ray, and they set themselves in a ray against the city. And behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. So what do we have here? He says, Benhadad sets his army in a ray, they're ready to fight, they're ready to go to battle. And obviously this is probably terrifying for Ahab, the weakling that he is, right? So he needs the prophet, the man of God, to come to him with the word of the Lord to remind him of the spiritual battle. And he says, look, you see how big that army is? He's basically saying like, they can destroy you. But of course, I'm going to deliver it into your hand. Now, why is God allowing Ahab to have victory over Benhadad even though Ahab is such a wicked king? Is it because righteousness is found in Ahab? Is it because he's a great person? No, it actually says like the latter in verse 13, And thou shalt know that I am the Lord. So God allows, or should I say God delivers Israel, why? Because so his name may be glorified. And you know what I've learned throughout my life? I want to live righteously and do things for God and win souls to Christ. But let me just be real honest with you, real frank. If anything good comes out of my life, it's probably because God allowed it so that his name may be glorified. Now I would hope that he would do it because he wants to honor my service unto him. He wants to reward me for serving him and for dedicating my life to serving the Lord Jesus Christ. But at the end of the day, you know, I'm not perfect. I have flaws. And sometimes he blesses me beyond my flaws, not because of who I am, but because the world may know that he is the Lord. Because when God uses a person like you, he uses a person like me, and we do great exploits, sometimes people are going to look at you and be like, that has to be all God. Because how can God use this person? How is this even possible? I'll tell you how. It's the Lord. It has to be all God. God gets glory because of it. Brother Ulysses and I have a joke where we can't figure something very basic out. And then it just comes to us, it's just like, God gets all the glory here. God gets all the glory. Hey, you know what? When you get someone saved, you probably put in the work to memorize the verses and put the time. But let me just say this. It's crazy that you can get someone saved. You say, well, what do you mean? I'll tell you what. It must be that God is using you to get that person saved. It's amazing that I can get someone saved, but I'll tell you what. It's the Lord who's doing that. And you know what? Live your life with that in mind. If God allows you to do great exploits, just recognize it's probably not because you're talented, gifted, good looking. For sure that's not the case. It's not because there's anything special about you. It's because God wants to use this vessel to bring glory to his name. So it's not because of Ahab. You think of pastors out there who are just a bunch of compromisers. They take weak stances. They're not strong on doctrine. They've got a lot of flaws about themselves. And you think to yourself, how are they even getting people saved? Well, I'll tell you how. It's probably God allowing them to prosper, not for their sake, but so that his name may be glorified. So we look at a pastor like that and be like, that has to be God because you're such a weak leader. You're such an Ahab of a leader. You're such a weakling, compromising, compliant leader. That has to be the Lord. And you know what? It is. It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. That's what the Bible says. Look at verse 14. So he tells them, I'm going to deliver into thine hand this multitude this day. Verse 14. And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou. It was like, oh, man, God's for sure going to get all the glory. Ahab is going to do this? But let me just say this. Obviously, we're not Ahab. But you know what? The same principle applies, though. And sometimes the least likely candidate is the one that God wants to use to do something great. Right? Because God gets more glory from that. Look at verse 15. Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two. And after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. Let me read to you from Romans chapter nine, verse 15. It says, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose I have raised thee up, that I may show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will hardeneth. You know, and again, going back to the illustration of churches. You know, I can think of a lot of churches where I'm thinking, like, how is that thing still running? It's obviously not because of the pastor, because the pastor is just, like, tossed to and fro. The pastor is just not a credible person to be pastoring that church. And if anything good comes out of that church, it's not because of the pastor, it's because of the Lord. Right? And so, you know, there's a lot of Ahabs out there, you know, Ahabs that are run by their wives. Ahabs where the wife really runs the whole operation. Where, you know, he's the pastor, but really she's the pastorette. And he operates more like the assistant pastor. You know, he's like, you know, he's supposed to be like Moses, but it's Aaron who's doing all the talking kind of a thing. And at the end of the day, you kind of wonder, like, how is this thing still afloat? I'll tell you how, it's not because of him, it's because the Lord wants it to be as such. You know, God still wants people to have a church to go to or whatever it may be. And so we want to make sure, and again, no one's an Ahab here, but the principle still applies, is that if anything good comes out of you, don't think it's because of how great you are. How great I am. You know, this church is growing. Look, on Sunday mornings, it's just packed to the gills. You know, and it's so many people, so many visitors have been showing up, a lot of people have been getting saved. We have to expand into the new unit. And you know what, we never want to think like, sounds about right. First works is the bomb. And just think like, oh man, we're the business. Obviously, by the way, I love the song, the song's great. I think that song is awesome. But let's go ahead and recognize, though, like this has to be God, though. Because the kind of preaching that I do, I should be scaring people off. And I'm not the best leader. You know, I have flaws, I have areas that I'm not the best organized, the most organized. I'm not the best preacher, I don't know the most Bible. But at the end of the day, obviously, God is utilizing this church for His glory. And you know what, I'll take that over anything else. You know, if people look at our church and be like, yeah, that has to be the Lord, then you know what, mission accomplished. Because we want to glorify God, and if it requires for people to look at us and say, how can this happen through you? How can this happen through First Works Baptist Church? This has to be the Lord, then so be it. Because I want God to continue to bless our church. Look at 1 Kings 20 and verse 16. So Ben-Hadad is so presumptuous that, you know, you would think like a king who's getting ready to battle, he's sober, he's focused, he's locked in, he's got his plans together. What is he doing? He's drinking. He's getting drunk. So he's just like, he's being real flippant and careless about this, which kind of shows us that he really thinks like this is going to be a piece of cake. Look at verse 16. And they went out at noon, but Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions. He and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first, and Ben-Hadad sent out. And they told him, saying, there are men come out of Samaria. So they're like, oh, wow, hey, they're coming to actually fight. Samaria, Ahab's coming out to fight. Verse 18, and he said, whether they be come out for peace, take them alive. Or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. That statement makes no sense whatsoever. Because what he's saying is like, hey, if they come out for peace, take them alive. What if they come out for war, take them alive. Like, what? He's not being coherent. And obviously it's because he's drunk, he's not sober. Verse 19, so these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. And they slew everyone, his men and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. And Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out and smote the horses and chariots and slew the Syrians with the great slaughter. So Israel ends up beating Ben-Hadad. They mopped the floor with him. And why? Not because of Ahab, but because the Lord allowed it to be as such. He was fighting on their behalf. If God be for us, who can be against us? There was more with Ben-Hadad than there was with Ahab, but yet Israel was able to win because of it. Look at chapter 20, verse 22. So after this great victory, it says the prophet came to the king of Israel and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest, for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. So this is very wise, because after this great victory, you know, just in any victory, we have a tendency to put our guard down. Get a little lazy, right? Want to essentially rest on our laurels and think to ourselves, well, you know, hey, we whooped them. Let's eat, drink, and be merry, because everything's going great. But the prophet comes to Ahab and says, hey, go ahead and strengthen yourself and take notes. You need to prepare yourself, because you beat Ben-Hadad this time, but he's going to come again. Now this is very wise counsel from the prophet. Because even though God is the one who delivered Ahab, God wants Ahab to do his part too. And you know what? How can we apply this? You know, you may have had a great victory over sin this week, but take notes, because it's going to come back around. You know, you may have been able to overcome a great trial this last month, or the beginning of the year, or last year. Hey, great job, but let me just say this, strengthen thyself and mark. What does that mean? You better take some notes and be prepared for when it comes again. Why? Because the Bible tells us that Satan flees for a season. And you know what? He may be gone during the spring season, he may be gone during the summer season, but he might be coming in the fall, and he might be coming in the winter. Don't ever think that just because you experienced a great victory yesterday, that you can ride on those victories today. Hey, you know what? You may have had a great walk with God yesterday, you may have had a great walk with God today, but you better take notes, strengthen yourself for tomorrow though. But we don't know what a day may bring forth. Don't rely on the victories of yesteryear for the victories that you want to experience tomorrow. Mark well, strengthen yourself, see what thou doest. Why? Because Ben-Hadad's coming back. You think he's just going to take it like that? You think you're just going to be able to overcome him like that and he's just never going to come back? Of course he's going to come back. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 18, Every purpose is established by counsel, and with good advice make war. Showing us that you know what? Obviously we need to rely upon God. We need to pray unto the Lord. We need to read the Bible and ask God to help us, but at the end of the day we need to do our part as well. We can't just be careless and flipping about the whole thing and think, well, you know, I'm just going to leave it all in God's hands. Yeah, but is there something you can do on your end though? You know, think about this May 11th offering. I'm praying, but I'm not just praying though. I'm doing. My wife and I are giving. Even my kids are going to give. My kids every week are just like, this is how much we got right now. We got this much. And they've been laboring every single day. Not for an allowance, by the way. We don't believe in allowances necessarily in our household unless you do some projects or whatever. But they're putting a project together where they're collecting recyclables because they want to be a part of the May 11th offering. Folks, I hope that you also have that same umph about yourself that little kids do. You know, and you're like, well, I'll pray for the May 11th offering. Yeah, but mark yourself and strengthen yourself and actually do something about it too though. You know, pray about it. Yes, but you know what? Let's not only rely upon the Lord, let's make sure we do our part as well and participate in it as well. And this goes all across the board for anything that you do. You're like, oh, I'm just praying I get a good job. But did you go look for it though? I'm just, you know, I know God. God is going to provide for me this perfect job. So what did you do to go like, like earn that promise though? Have you gone to like fill out applications? No, I just know God's going to, you think he's just going to drop it in your lap? Well, I just know God has something prepared for me. Yeah, but hold on a second. Have you strengthened yourself and marked yourself to actually go and look for one? You know, I'm all for prayer. I'm all for relying upon the Lord. I'm all for having faith. But I'm also for you getting your lazy rear end up and going to look for a job. And let me just, let me just park it here for just a teeny tiny little bit. Just a little bit. No job is perfect. There's no such thing as a Christian job other than what I'm doing here. You're just like, well, I'm just looking for a job that's not Godless. Well, look, if you don't have to sell liquor, you're not, you're not selling crack and marijuana and fentanyl, whatever, you're good to go. Yeah, but my boss, I think my boss might be a reprobate. So what? Who cares? Go earn that. Earn that check. Bring that money. Pay those bills. It's just like, yeah, but this job requires, every job requires something. What do you expect? Yeah, but this one requires like tools and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. What do you? But this job is going to require like some like blood, sweat and tears. Yeah. For sure. Comes with a price. That's what a job is. You know, a job is basically something you do that sometimes, most of the time, you don't even like. That's how it is. So stop looking for this unicorn job that doesn't exist. Just go get a job application at Target. Yeah, but there's blue haired liberals there. I know. So you can outrank them pretty easy. Hopefully. I think. The point that I'm making here is like, yeah, you know, I know you're praying and fasting. I know you're asking God, but good night, can you actually go do something about it, though? And, you know, you said, what's the right job? Doing the pace. Doing the pace. Yeah, but it's only like part time. Hey, that's better. What you got going on here right now is no time. So what's better, part time or no time? Sounds like part time is better. Or you could get two part times and then that makes like a full time. And I always, you know, the thing I think is just like, well, how much are you making now? Nothing. Well, that's a raise then. Part time job is a raise. You know what? It's just like one of those things where, you know, it's like what God told Joshua. After Achan took him to the accursed thing, he's like crying. He's like, what have we done? And God comes like, up, get up and go do something about it. I don't have a job. Get up! And you know what? As a Christian, you can probably get promoted and excel more than anybody at that job. Well, I'm just looking for, there is no unicorn job. I got it. Sorry. I already got the unicorn job. But even pastoring comes with its difficulties. Working with people is difficult. At least you can get a job where you're not really have to deal with people. Maybe you're just stalking things. I don't know. But in either case, just get the job. You know, some things don't even require prayer. Like if you just apply, I'm sure God will be like, I get it. You know, he just needs to get the job. I'm not saying don't pray, but you know, for me it's just like pray this much, do this much, but honestly, I think even if you do, if you pray this much, and you're like laboring to get this much, I think God will still get you a job. I know I said a little time, I took a little more than a little time, but you know, I just needed to get that off my chest. Alright, let's move on here. Look at verse 23 of 1 Kings 20. And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they are stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. So what is Ben-Hadad and Syria doing? They're actually underestimating the Lord. They are essentially compartmentalizing God, viewing him essentially as a local deity. Like well, the only reason they beat us is because their god is the god of the hills, but let's fight on the plains and we'll get them. But no, no, no, God owns the cattle on the thousand hill, he's the god of the universe, he whooped you because you guys suck, and you don't serve him and you don't worship him. That's why you lost. Look at verse 28. And there came a man of God, I love this, and spake unto the king of Israel and said, Thus saith the Lord, because the Syrians have said the Lord is god of the hills, but he's not the god of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So he's like, I'm going to allow you to whoop them again. And this time it's for two reasons, and none of them include Ahab. One reason is because so you can know that I am the Lord. Because you know what, I think God is trying to get a hold of Ahab. He already has the position as a king, he's just like, brother, can you just like wake up and start acting like a king of Israel? So he's like, I want you to know that I am the Lord, but then he also says, but I'm also going to deliver you because I'm not going to take no insult. Because they're insulting God. So God's like, oh, Ben-Hadad's going to insult me like that? Then I'm going to allow Ahab, who's such a weakling of a leader, to destroy you for your insult and your blasphemy against me. Because they're saying, oh yeah, he's only the god of the hills, not of the valleys, or whatever. He goes on to say in verse 29, And they pitched one over against the other seven days, and so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined, and the children of Israel slew all the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day, and the rest fled to Aphek into a city, and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. Ben-Hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner chamber. So like, you know, the army whoopses the multitude, the guys who get away, they go into the chamber like, are we safe? It's like, eeeeeeeehhhhh, and it just destroys the rest of them. God is very creative, you know? So, you know, they ran into a wall, okay? I just love the fact that it's just like, you know, God's just like, a wall just fell on them. But you know, that's more proof that, you know, God is getting more glory, because Ahab didn't do that. Like, who beat this multitude? A wall. Wasn't it Ahab? No, it was a wall. A wall fell on them. And you know what? That's great. You know what I think to myself sometimes? Lord, do something so that it's like the only reasonable explanation is like you. If a wall has to fall down just miraculously, do it so that you get all the glory for it. So it's a great story. So he beats them twice. Two to zero. Alright, look at verse thirty-one. And his servants, referring to Ben-Hadad, they're defeated of course, it says, Said unto him, Behold now we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. These guys are being kind of cunning, you know, they're like, these guys are righteous. Now obviously Ahab is not. But what he's saying is like, these guys have a reputation of being kind, gracious, merciful, because they believe in God, right? He says, Let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel, peradventure he will save thy life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel. So what are they saying? They're like, hey, these guys are a bunch of pushovers. These guys are a bunch of softies, they're bleeding hearts. They're a bunch of compromisers. Just act like you're just humble. Put some sackcloth about yourself, and it could be that they'll just save you alive. Now this, you know, obviously Christians should be merciful, amen? But let me just explain something. We need to be merciful, but never at the exclusion of justice, though. And let me just say that you can have both justice and mercy. You can be gracious and have judgment. You can have mercy and grace and still have righteousness, and in fact, you're supposed to have both. Never one at the exclusion of the other. Don't be an unbalanced Christian, where it's just like, well, you guys are just so mean, just unmerciful. We're all about mercy, but hold on a second. Do we just completely ignore and negate all the verses about being just and righteous and holy? No, we got both. So they know that they're merciful, so they're essentially trying to take advantage of their mercy, take advantage of their grace, in order to save their own skin. So they do this, and it says, verse 32, So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, Thy servant Ben-Hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. Now, this is what Ahab should have done. Oh, is that what he said? Oh, is that what he wants? Yeah, that's funny. The last time I check and remember Ben-Hadad wanted to take my wife and my kids off with his head. The Lord delivered you into my hands. The fact that you have been delivered into the hands of Israel is an indication that you deserve to die, because all your men have been slain. This is the righteous thing to do. That's fact. And look, these guys aren't sincere, right? They have this superficial sincerity where it's just like... That's not sincere. Look, this is why it's important that we are able to perceive and discern when people are being sincere or not. Oh yeah, just go to that church, and if you just say brother to them, you say God bless you, you flatter them a little bit, Christians are so easy to take advantage of. There's people that think that way. They go into churches to try to take advantage of the members because they know Christians are godly, god-fearing people who love people. And you know what? We are! But not at the exclusion of discerning, hey, you're being a phony, you're being a fake. You're trying to take advantage of people with your love with dissimulation. You dissimulated love, flattery, you're trying to set a net under my feet to take advantage of God's people. So they did this, and it's crazy how Ahab responds. Look at it again, verse 32. What? So Ahab's like, oh, he's alive? Hey, he's my brother. What is the problem here? Ahab loves the wicked. He loves the wicked. What do you mean he's your brother? Bro was about to take your wife and kids. Bro wanted an inventory of all your goods, and he wanted to destroy you. And all of a sudden, he's your brother? Bro preaches a repent of your sins gospel. How is he your brother? Bro teaches a works-based salvation. How in the world is he your brother? And let me just make it very clear, anybody who preaches a repent of your sins doctrine is not only not my brother, he's a false prophet and he's unsaved. And unless he calls me up and clarifies what he really believes and allows me to just rebuke him wholeheartedly over the phone, you know what, he's a false prophet. Shiflet. I got a nickname for Shiflet, I just can't say it in the house of God. What are you doing, Ahab? You have no integrity. He is my brother. The guy wanted to destroy you. The guy is contrary to you. And the mere fact that God delivered him into your hand is an indication that he's an enemy of God. Well you should be merciful to him. Well let me ask you, was God merciful to his guys? To his men? No. Did God allow them to be destroyed? Yes. Have some discernment here. He's not your brother. So stuff like this makes me wonder, like, Ahab, maybe he is your brother. Because maybe you're just not even saved. You know, when you get along better with false prophets and people who preach false gospels, better than God's people, you know, I kind of wonder about you. Makes me wonder. I don't know about you, man. Sound like a bastard there. Sound like someone who's not truly born of God. You know, when you are willing to deliver wicked false prophets who preach a false gospel, you want to deliver them and make excuses for them. Yeah, it just kind of makes me wonder. And then you're constantly fighting against the man of God, the righteous people who are preaching the right things. Yeah, it makes me wonder. Are you saying, like, there's pastors out there who just not saved? I'm sure there's pastors out there that are not saved. But there's some that are just, they're like Ahab. You just don't really know. You just look at them and be like, I don't know about you, man. You're calling, repenting, your sins, preachers, your brother. And you're constantly making excuses for their false gospels and their false doctrine. You kind of make me wonder a little bit. Look at verse 33. Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him and did hastily catch it. I hope you notice what's happening here. So, you know, they're coming to Ahab and they're like, hey, you know, he's like repenting, he's sorry about this. And he's like, oh, he's alive, he's my brother. And so they're literally listening to all the words that Ahab is saying so they can catch and say, oh, his brother. Oh, okay, we're in. Because look what it says. And did hastily catch it and they said, thy brother ben hadad. That was quick. He said, he's my brother. Oh, no, no, no. Brother ben hadad. They're playing into it. Then he said, go ye, bring him. Then ben hadad came forth to him and he caused him to come up into the chariot. He caused him to preach at his church. And ben hadad said unto him, the cities, you know, this is ben hadad talking right here. The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore. And thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away. So basically, you know, ben hadad is flattering Ahab. He's like, hey, everything my dad took from your dad, I'm going to give it back to you. Let it restore. You can rebuild the streets and stuff like that. We're good. And then, you know, Ahab is just like, oh, yeah, let's make a covenant. So he's making a covenant with the wicked. He's making an agreement, a contract with the wicked. You know what the Bible says? He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even both of them are an abomination unto the Lord. You better be careful who you defend. Because you just might become an abomination. You better make sure they're not wicked. You know, God's not pleased with this at all. It's just like Ahab, you know, you don't really have a good track record. You know, you hate Elijah, you hate the prophets of God, and you seem to just get along better with the false prophets. What's wrong with this picture? Look at verse 35. Now, verse 35, we're going to see another certain man of God. Like, you see these certain prophets that are coming, they're nameless, right? Which I think is pretty cool. Like, you have Elijah that everyone knows, but then you have these other prophets who are just also beasts, you know, and they're serving God, too. You just don't know what their names are. But I personally believe that this prophet is actually Micaiah. Now, do you guys remember who Micaiah is? Micaiah is the one who later on, you know, Ahab is talking to Jehoshaphat, and they want to overcome Syria, and then Jehoshaphat, he's a righteous man, but he's just kind of carried about with Ahab's stupidity. And, you know, Jehoshaphat's like, isn't there a man of God here that we can inquire of? They're like, oh, yeah. So they bring up all these prophets, these lame non-denom preachers, right? They're like, God's going to prosper you. He's going to bless you. It's yours. And, you know, just how's that money, though? You got any money for me, you know? I can send you a cloth, an anointed cloth. Yeah, you got it. You got it. It's in the bag. And then Jehoshaphat's like, you know, I kind of grew up under Baptist preaching. Is there someone else? That you can inquire of? And then Ahab says, oh, there's like one guy. They're like, but I hate him, because he never prophesized good concern in me, but only evil. And the only other time that this happened prior to that story was this right here. OK? So Micaiah is like the legitimate one. And then, you know, Jehoshaphat's like, let not the king say so. In other words, like, oh, don't exaggerate so much. So then they bring Micaiah, and he actually stands out, and he actually condemns the king, right? And then Ahab, he pronounces judgment upon him, and Ahab ends up dying. Ahab is awesome. OK? And it's just funny. He's like, this is one guy, but I hate him. And the funny thing about that story is just like, you know, Micaiah comes to him, and he's like, yeah, you're going to live. He's like, I knew you weren't going to say anything right about me. Just tell me the truth. He's like, all right, you're going to die. He's like, see? He never prophesized good concern in me. Throw him in jail. There's this famous story with the Spartans in the 300 where, like, I think it's Artaxerxes. He sends, like, a letter to Leonidas, and he says, like, we're going to do all this. We're going to take this, and we're going to take over your land. He gives them, like, a list of things that they're going to do, and then they respond with if. If. Basically saying, like, yeah, you can do all that if you're able to overcome us. But there's one statement I like better than that one, and that's what Micaiah says. Because, hey, I was just like, I'm going to throw you in here, and when I come back, and he's just like, if you come back. If you come back. Which, obviously, he did. So, I believe this is Micaiah here. Look at verse 35. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the Lord, smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto them, because thou has not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from me, a lion found him and slew him. So, that's pretty interesting. Micaiah comes, he finds, and I believe he's talking to another prophet, and he's like, hey, I got to go to work. Hit me. You know, the word of the Lord says to smite me, that means to hit. Sock me, you know. Just punch me, just wound me. He wants to be wounded. And he's just like, oh, I can't do that. He's like, okay, you're dead. You know. You disobeyed? All right. So, when you walk away, a lion's going to slay you. And, you know, the principle there is obey God. If you feel like the commandments of the Lord are extreme, don't disobey them. They're not extreme. Just do as God says. Now, there's nowhere in the Bible that says that we should smite one another, okay? This is obviously unique to this particular story right here. But, you know what? A lion found him and slew him, because he disobeyed the word of the Lord. Look at verse 22. Oh, I'm sorry, verse 37. Obviously, the principle there is that to obey is better than sacrifice. Verse 37 says, then he found another man and said, smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him so that in smiting him, he wounded him. So, it's possible this other guy was maybe a little far off. And he's just like smiting. He just, he just, just gave him a nice little hug. And it says he wounded him. So, he probably, you know. I mean, if I was that guy and I saw the other guy do that, I would be like, say less. You know? I just, just, I take flight on him. Like, maybe this isn't enough. You know what I mean? I want to make sure I don't, I avoid the lion. Verse 38 says, so the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king and said, thy servant went out of the midst of the battle. Behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me and said, keep this man, if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life. Or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, so shall thy judgment be, thyself has decided it. So, you know, the prophet comes up with this made up story. And the reason he's wounded is because he wants to look as though he just came out of the battle. He's like, hey, I have this issue. You know, we got this captive from the other side and, you know, this guy told me to watch over him and I was busy doing other things and he escaped. And then Ahab is just like, oh, then you deserve to die in his place because you let the enemy get away. Verse 42, or verse 41, and he hated and took the ashes away from his face. So he's just like, after he says all that, he's just like. And then Ahab realizes like, oh, no, because he recognizes it. Because he says, and the king of Israel discerned him that he was one of the prophets. He's like, oh, man, the whole David and Nathan thing again. You know, like, you know what, Nathan gave him that story. And then he's like, thou art thine. He's like, this is, these prophets, man. I like these kind of prophets. This is creative, right? And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction. Therefore, thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people. And the king of Israel went out to his house heavy and displeased and came to Samaria. What is he saying? You know what? Because you don't respect my judgments, you're going to die now. You know, you're over here telling me that I deserved a guy for letting a captive go. You let the king go. And above all else, you backed him up. You called him brother. You made a covenant with him. And of course, you deserve to die. You know, what does it show us? It shows us that we need to make sure that we obey the commandment of the Lord, whether we think it's right or not. You know what? All the commandments of the Lord are right. And if ever you think one seems to be off, one seems to be too extreme, one seems to be too radical, you need to radicalize yourself to fall in line with what the Bible says. The problem is you're just a weakling of a person. You say, that's kind of rough. Well, here's the thing is that isn't this what we see with Ahab? Ahab is making excuses for the commandment of God. You know, whatever God commands us to do is always right to do. It's always right. And if you think it's too extreme, we just need to bring our minds into alignment with what the Bible says. And you know what? I could first attest to this, that as a Christian, I've read things throughout the years and I'm just like, this seems extreme. Lord, forgive me for feeling that way. It just kind of shows that my mind is weak. My mind has been duped by this world. I need my mind to be renewed. I need my mind to be transformed. And I need to obey you and have the right attitude towards the commandments of God. And not be like this guy. You know, not be like the first guy who's like, I can't hit you. Because God told me, God told me to tell you to hit me. And you're just like, no, I can't do that. What's too mean? That's not nice. I was like, all right. You ever been eaten by a lion before? Condemnation of Ahab. Here's the last part. Go to 1 Kings 21. 1 Kings 21. So he does that and the king, he's like heavy, displeased. What does he do? He does the same thing what he does when he is, you know, refused the Naboth's vineyard. He's just like, he's not really repentant. He doesn't really care because he's still doing wickedly thereafter. And, of course, then we have the story with him in Jehoshaphat and that's where he ends up dying. But before that, Elijah comes to him and he preaches against him to let him know that this is what's going to happen to him. But what it says in verse 17, the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Hey, I want to see verses like this at Hobby Lobby. Amen? So he gives him this preaching, this condemnation, and I don't know, but I feel like if I was Ahab, I'd be like, all right, I repent. What can I do to get right? You know, Lord, forgive me. Just repent in sackcloth and ashes. And later on, we see that he repents, but he still doesn't get right thereafter. But I want you to notice verse 20, and it's a fantastic verse here. And Ahab said to Elijah, Has thou found me, O mine enemy? You know, he's preaching against me. He's like, Oh, you found me, huh? And he answered, I have found me because thou has sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. What's the point that I'm making here? The point is, is that Ahab made a distinction between him and the prophets of God. He's calling Elijah his enemy. He's like, You're my enemy. Oh, but who's his friend, Ben-Hadad? Oh, I'm sorry, not his friend, his brother. And yeah, he's telling Elijah, and this is like for like a movie here. Has thou found me, O mine enemy? And Elijah is like, Oh yeah, I found you. And you're going to die. You know, what's the principle that we can learn from Ahab? Don't be a weakling, compliant leader, Christian, man of God, woman of God. He said, well, Ahab's a man. Yeah, but he's kind of acting like a girl, though. So you can apply this too, ladies. You know, don't be the type of person that just is a compromiser. Don't be a bleeding heart towards the wicked. Don't be a person who supports the wicked, who supports the evil, who sides with the wicked. That's an Ahab mentality. You know, we want to be like Hezekiah. We want to be like Asa. We want to be like Josiah. We want to be like King David, right? Well, we side with the Lord and not with the enemies of God. And so that's pretty much it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the example of Ahab and everything that we should avoid as Christians, Lord. Help us as your people never to become bleeding hearts. And to side with wicked people, to side with people who preach the false gospel, to preach a workspace salvation and always seems to be fighting against the men of God, fighting against the Lord Himself. I pray that, Lord, you'd help us to avoid that as much as possible. And may you be honored and glorified in all that we do this week. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.