Only Trust Him
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1 Kings 13
1 Kings 13
Introduction: Open your Bibles
To the book of 1 Kings 13
And when you have found it
Put a marker there
And then
look in the book of Proverbs
Proverbs 3
In Proverbs 3
Solomon made a statement
That most of us have memorized
And the statement is found
In verses 5 – 6
The Bible says
In Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”
Let’s go to the Lord
In a word of prayer
(Pray)
I. The details of this man’s faith
Declaration
Now then
Let’s read
Our Key verse again
And in a few moments
We’ll read our text
But
Solomon wrote
In Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”
Now
When I read that
I immediately
think
several things
And
First of all
I think that
Each of us this Evening
Has our own understanding
That word
By the way
Describes both
knowledge and wisdom
And the idea
That
Solomon
Was trying to convey was
Everyone has their own way
Of seeing things
But
Solomon said
Don’t you lean
On your own understanding
Don’t
Try to figure things out
For yourself
Because eventually
The time will come
When
Your wisdom
And your knowledge
Comes up short
But
As a believer
You just need
To trust in the Lord
With all your heart
Just
Lean on His wisdom
That He knows best
And
If you’ll just acknowledge the Lord
In all your ways
That is
Regard Him
As the Sovereign
of your life
Then the Lord God of heaven
Will give you direction
For your life
And
The point is
We just need
To trust the Lord
And only Him
And
With that in mind
Let’s read our text
For this evening
And
As I mentioned
A few minutes ago
It is found in 1 Kings
But
The Bible says
In 1 Kings 13: 1 – 10
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
Discussion
now
With all that in mind
Allow me if you would
To tell you a true story
about a famous tightrope walker...
who once...
strung a cable....
across Niagara Falls.....
from the American side...
all the way...
to the Canadian side.
And...
to the applause...
of thousands of people...
he would walk across that tightrope...
right...
on the very edge of the falls..
with the rushing..
cascading waters..
thundering
underneath him.
He
would walk back and forth...
while spectators...
applauded wildly.
Then...
to further excite the crowds...
he would...
put a blindfold on...
and walk back and forth...
on the tight rope.
Then...
he would ride a bicycle...
back and forth...
and then...
he would push a wheel barrow...
back and forth...
on the tight rope.
And...
every day....
people came out...
just to watch him.
He quite simply...
was...
the greatest.
Now...
as the story goes...
one day....
while pushing the wheelbarrow...
back and forth...
he called out to the crowd
on one end...
asking whether or not....
they thought he could...
successfully...
push the wheel barrow across....
with a person...
riding in the wheel barrow.
And...
when he made such a suggestion....
the crowd went berserk.....
“Surely you can.
You’re remarkable....
they said....
We’ve watched you for days.
Why
We understand
And appreciate your skills
They said
We believe
In your abilities
You are the greatest
And
On and on they went
To which
he responded
Well then
Why don’t one of you
volunteer
Just
Come right up here
Single file
he said
And get in the will barrel
To prove
That you trust
in my ability
Just then
A deafening silence
Overtook the crowd
There were no takers
And
The fact is
That crowd
Is a lot like people today sometimes
Isn’t it?
We
Cheer on
The message of faith
We say amen
To the preaching
About trusting God
Or I hope we do
And
When we read our Bibles
About the great lessons of faith
We say
That’s right!
We think
Lord
You are amazing
You are wonderful
And Lord
You are so mighty
Why
You can do anything
But then
Our God
Calls upon us
To get in the wheel barrel
And
to have faith
To just trust Him
And Him alone
And suddenly
all the accolades stop
And there is a deafening silence
Among us
That
When we are called upon
To trust God
Under the most difficult
of circumstances
Sometimes
Our trust
is lacking
But
In 1 Kings 13
We read a story
About the faith of a man
Who
Really
Believed God’s Word
And he was tested
It
Is it true account of a man
Who trusted God for a time
But that trust lapsed
Eventually
When circumstances
Came upon him
It
Is a story about a man
Who by faith
climbed
into God’s Wheel barrel
And he believed
The Word of God
But in the end
He
Conveniently
Got out
Of the Lord wheel barrel
But oh
The terrible consequences
Of a lapsed faith
But
May I say to us this evening
That the God whom we serve
wants us
To trust Him?
In fact
The Bible says
In Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
So
The Lord
wants For us
To trust Him
Which
Reminds me of a song
We sing sometimes
In our church
A song which says
Come every soul
by sin oppressed
There’s mercy
With the Lord
And He will surely
Give you rest
By trusting in His Word
Only
Trust Him
Only trust Him
Only trust Him now
He will save you
He will save you
He will save you now
So
This evening
As we think about 1 Kings 13
In conjunction
With Proverbs 3: 5 – 6
I
Want to challenge you
To just trust the Lord
Just trust and obey
Just
(Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”
Solomon said
Deliberation
And
To further illustrate
What I want to relate to you
This evening
Let me
Tell you another story
In 1999
John F. Kennedy Jr.
Flew his small airplane
From New York City
To his family home in Massachusetts
For a wedding
And
On board
Was his wife Carolyn
In her sister
And
Though Kennedy
Was a licensed pilot
He had not yet been approved
For instrument flight
Which means
Using only instruments
To navigate
So
When their takeoff was delayed
Until after dark
Kennedy should’ve waited
For daylight
Or at least
Sought a more experienced pilot
To help them
But
Kennedy took off anyway
Into the darkness
But the plane never made it
To its destination
It crashed
Killing all three passengers
on board
And
Later after an investigation
It was determined
That the crash was likely caused
By disorientation
From flying over
Open water at night
Without any landmarks
Or a
visible horizon
see
Kennedy’s lack
Of experience
May well have led
To
His trusting
In what he thought
he was Seeing
More than what
his instrument panel
Was telling him
And
Listen please
In like manner
We as believers today
Face
The temptation
To likewise walk
According to sight
Instead of
by faith
But
Let me say something
I hope we never forget
It is only faith in God
That will keep us
From crashing
see
Human reason
Will fail us at times
But our God
Never fails
and
His Word
Will keep us
On the right course
As long as we obey it
So
For just a few minutes
I want to preach on the subject
Of trusting God
And
To help us this evening
Both relate to
And apply these truths
To our own hearts
I
want us to notice
The faith
Of the man of God
In 1 Kings 13
And
First of all
I want you to consider
Some of the details
About this man’s faith
Again
The Bible says
In 1 Kings 13:1 “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.”
Now
Think about that
This man mentioned
Here in verse 1
Was a man of God
That is
He was a person
Of faith
In the God of heaven
Demonstration
Which
Tells me
He was a man
who was saved
See
Prior to the events
Of 1 Kings 13
The Lord our God
Had saved his soul
And
Like Abraham
Like the apostle Paul
And like most of us
That man
Had believed in God
And
God
accounted his belief
As righteousness
Which
Reminds me
Of what Paul said
In Galatians 3:6 “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
And apparently
This man
In our text this morning
Had done likewise
He had believed in God
And
I say that because
(1 Kings 13:1 “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.”
this man
Had obviously believed in God
And God counted his belief
As righteousness
In other words
God granted him salvation
And
I do hope
That you too
have been saved
I hope that
At some point in your life
After
You heard the Word of God
After hearing the Gospel message
I hope that you trusted in Jesus
As your Savior
Because see
You can only be saved
By the grace of God
And through faith
in God
The Bible says
In Ephesians 2:8
And
By the way
May I share
Some really good news with you
The Bible says
In Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Now
Isn't that good news?
Whoever
It doesn’t matter who you are
It doesn’t matter
What you have done
It
Doesn’t matter
What your skin color might be
Whosoever shall call
Upon the name of the Lord
Shall!
Be saved
Unfortunately
Not everyone has
And sadly
Not everyone will
But
The man in our text
In 1 Kings 13
Did
And
Let me tell you
Not only did he get saved
But he got sanctified
And
by that
I mean
he was Endeavoring
To live by faith
And
Let me say to you today
That every person that is saved
Every believer
Needs to learn
To live by faith
In fact
The Bible says
Four different times
That
The just shall live by faith
As a matter of fact
The apostle Paul said
In Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
That phrase
Is a quote
From the book of Habakkuk 2:4
It is a phrase that was reiterated
In Galatians 3:11
In Hebrews 10:38
But
My point is this
The just
Those that have been justified
Those who are saved
Have been called
To live by faith
They
Are called
To live their Christian lives
by faith
They
Have been commissioned by God
To just trust Him
And to believe
All that He said
They
Have been called by God
To live by faith
To walk by faith
Just trusting the Lord
Every step of the way
And
That’s what the man in our text
Was doing
Because notice again
(1 Kings 13:1 “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.”
See
He walked out of Judah
All the way to Bethel
by...
That is according
To the Word of the Lord
He walked by faith
But
Not only was he saved
And not only was he Serious
But this man of God
Was endeavoring to serve
Because
It says
There came a man of God!
Which means that
He was serving the Lord
As a prophet
He
Was called upon
To speak forth
The Word
Of the living God
What a great thing to do
And
Listen please
He spoke forth The Word of God
Because the fact is
He trusted his God
In fact
Notice what it says
In verse 2 here
This man of God
Proclaimed
(1 Kings 13:2 “And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.”
So clearly
He was serving the Lord
As a prophet
And by the way
That’s what God had called him
To do
Now
Maybe that isn’tAnd your calling
And the truth is
Maybe you’ve not been called
To be a pastor
But
Listen very carefully
As a saved person
All of us
Have been called
To serve the Lord
I’m reminded
Of what the apostle Paul said
In 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
See
All of us have been called
To labor
For the Lord
But
Whatever labor
We engage in
In the work of God
We do so
by trusting God
Just like the man of God
In our text
Here in1 Kings 13
But again
The man in our text
Was saved
He was serious
He was serving
And
That is exactly
How God wants us
To live our Christian lives
Dependability
But
Lets not miss this
As this man
Was endeavoring to serve the Lord
by prophesying
He
Didn’t have
The easiest of circumstances
But still yet
He delivered God’s message
by faith
In fact
Read with me
Versus 1 – 2 again
It says
(1 Kings 13:1–2 “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.”
Now
When I read that
I realize
That this man
Delivered
A message to the king
That wasn’t positive
In fact
It must’ve sounded negative
Because
He said
King Jeroboam
One day
A man named Josiah
Will come along
And
He will slay
All the false teachers
Who had invested Israel
And King
God will destroy this altar
Which has been perverted
by Israel’s leaders
And
Let me tell you
When you speak a message like that
To a king like Jeroboam
Then
There’s no question
That you are absolutely committed
To the God whom you serve
It
Likewise tells me
That he disregarded
The consequences
Of speaking a message like that
Because again
He delivered that message
To Jeroboam
Who by the way
Wasn’t a godly king
And
Let me say that
That took guts
That took commitment
That took trust
On his part
It took trusting God
Because see
Jeroboam
Could have had him killed
As a matter of fact
Jeroboam
did threaten
the man of God
In fact
In verse 4
It says (1 Kings 13:4 “And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.”
But see
He delivered God’s message
In disregard
of the circumstances
Because
He regarded his Lord
More than he regarded
The consequences
What
An important thing to do
As a believer
That
Because of your trust in God
You regard Him more
Than you regard consequences
And
The point I’m making is
And this is easy to see
But this man in our text
Trusted God
He
Was absolutely dependent
On God’s might
He trusted God
And
I sure hope
That we do as well
I
Hope we trusted God
For salvation
And as believers
I hope we are walking by faith
And living by faith
And serving God
by faith
But
This man was
Wasn’t the
Determination
But
May I tell you something
When you concern yourself
With the Word of God
When you walk by faith
Out
Of concern for Him
He then
Will care for you
Because
Notice verse 4 again
It says
(1 Kings 13:4 “And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.”
Now
When I read that
I realize
That God protected
this man of faith
He
Cared for His servant
And the God whom we serve
Still cares for us too
As
You serve the Lord
Walking by faith
God
Cares for you
He
Protects you
He provides for you
And let me say this
The
Very safest place
You can be
Is when you’re doing exactly
What God says
When you’re living in the center
Of God’s will
For your life
Which
Reminds me of the time
When Elisha
And Gehazi
Were surrounded
by the Syrian army
In 2 Kings 6
They
Were about to be destroyed
Simply because
they were walking by faith
And
As Gehazi
Saw the overwhelming Syrian army
He was terrified
oh...
But not Elisha
No
He trusted in the Lord
And he said
To Gehazi (2 Kings 6:16–17 “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
And
The point is
When you do what God tells you
To do
Trusting only in Him
The God whom you serve
Can care for you
So
The very safest place
You could ever be
Is the place
Where your trusting in God
But
Before we move on
To the second point this evening
I need to share
One more thing about this man
he
Was saved
Sanctified
he Was serving
And he was serious
But he was likewise steadfast
In fact
As you read verse 6-7
You find that
It says (1 Kings 13:6–7 “And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.”
Now
Think about that
King Jeroboam
Invited that prophet
To come to his house
And have supper
And
As you might imagine
When you get to have supper
with the king
That would be quite the meal
Oh
But I want you to listen
What the prophet said
In verse 8
He said, O king
(1 Kings 13:8 “And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:”
Somebody said
Pastor
Why would he refuse?
Well
He tells us why
In verse 9 (1 Kings 13:9 “For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.”
And
The point is this
He was determined
To live steadfastly
For the Lord his God
But
I wonder
How many of us
Would’ve gone
to the king’s house
I wonder
If any of us
Might have said
I don’t want to offend the king
And
By the way
We don’t want to offend anyone
Do we?
But
It would be far better
To offend men
than it would be
To offend God
And
As for the man in our text
Because his trust
Was in the Lord his God
This prophet stood
On his convictions
He stood steadfast
Because
He was convinced
That God’s Word
Is always right
But
Let me ask you
This evening
Is that our attitude?
That
No matter what happens
God’s Word
Is always right?
Well
If we’re walking by faith
That is our attitude
So
Do yourself
a favor
And be a person of faith
Just trust God
Like the man in our text
He
Was saved
Sanctified
Serving
Serious
And steadfast
II. The difficulty of faith
Declaration
But
Be that as it may
When you and I
determine
To walk by faith
There
Will always be difficulty
And our text
Is a great example
of that
In fact
As you read on
In this text
You realize
That
The devil
sent him
a Lure
That is
The devil endeavored
To lure this man
Away from trusting God
To weaken
His trust
In his God
And
By the way
He still puts his lures
Into the waters
Of our life now
And
Notice verses 11 – 13
Here in our text
It says (1 Kings 13:11 – 13
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
But
Don’t miss verse 14
The Bible says that
That old prophet
(1 Kings 13:14 “And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.”
Now
Think about that
That old prophet
went after the man of God
And found him
See
When you decide
To serve the Lord
And to keep your trust firmly
In Him
Well
Our adversary the devil
Will seek
To devour you
And
In our text
He used this old prophet
To do just that
In verse 15
The older prophet said
To the man of God
(1 Kings 13:15-18
Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
Now
Think about that
The devil used this older prophet
derail
this young man s faith
And to weaken his faith in God
And in His
Revealed Word
and
It says that
he lied
Unto him
And
Let me make a statement
When anyone tells you something
That is contrary
To what God says
They are telling you
A lie
It
Doesn’t matter who it is
Because see
God’s Word
Is truth
And
There’s a lesson for us
This evening
That
When you’ve been instructed
By the Word of God
God’s Word then
Trumps
All other words
Let me
Say that again
When you’ve been instructed
By the Word of God
All other words
Are trumped
by God Word
But Christian
Be warned
The devil will send you a lure
To draw you away
From trusting the Lord
Discussion
And
The lures
That he uses
in this day
Our varied
For example
The devil will try
To use people
To lure you
From trusting the Lord
he
Will endeavor to use
Political correctness
To lure you
From obeying His Word
he
Will endeavor
To use scientific discovery
To try to weaken the faith
Of God’s people
And
he does so
By interjecting this thought
Well
I know what the Bible says
But doesn’t popular opinion
Make more sense
In this situation
Doesn’t
It make more sense
To go with the flow
In this particular situation
And
The short answer
Is no
It doesn’t
Because
The God whom we serve
Is ALWAYS right
So
We as His people
Ought to trust in Him
And
in IT (The Scripture)
100% of the time
But again
The devil sent
this young man of God
A lure
In 1 Kings 13
Deliberation
And sadly
The prophet
Believed the lie
Didn’t he?
In fact
It says in verse 19
(1 Kings 13:19 “So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.”
he
Believed a lie
And as a result
His trust in God
Was weakened
And
I’m so sorry
To have to tell you today
that Christians by the scores
Have done likewise
They
Have trusted
In humanistic philosophies
Rather than the Precepts of Heaven
They
Have listened to their own
Deceitful hearts
Rather than to what
Thus said the Lord
And
That’s what happened
To the man in our text
Who again
Was saved
Sanctified
Serving
Serious
And steadfast
but
Rather
Than heeding
The Word of God
He listened to the life
Of the Older prophet
Deliberation
And
Notice the results
Of those difficulties
Number 1
He compromised his beliefs
In verse 19
It says
(1 Kings 13:19 “So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.”
Now
He knew
What God had said to him
From His own Word
But yet
He went back with this old prophet
God
Had told him
“Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.”
In verse 9
But yet
He compromised
His beliefs
And did the opposite
oh but
That is the price you pay
When you determine
To elevate philosophical ideas
Above the Scripture
Over what God says
When
You do that
For when you elevate
That tenants of society
Above the Truth of Scripture
You’ll have to compromise your beliefs
To do it
And
This man in 1 Kings 13
Did just that
And
In the process
He ruined his testimony
In fact
I wonder who was watching
When he did
What God said
not to do
Was
The king watching
Were others
Watching?
No doubt!
And
I Wonder who is watching now
When those of us
who are Christians
Say
That we believe
Every word
In our Bibles
But yet
Tomorrow
We don’t do
What our Bibles say
Well
When we behave that way
We can sure
hurt the faith
Or the potential faith
Of others
But see
He compromised his beliefs
and he hurt
his testimony
But then
And
This is
a terrifying thing
But
He seared his conscience
In all of this
In fact
After he went back
With the man of God
Well
God rebuked him
Let me read it for you
(1 Kings 13:20–22 “And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.”
But
Notice what the young prophet did
Verse 23 says
(1 Kings 13:23 “And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.”
So
Here is the scene
While he sitting at the table
God rebukes him
But he just kept on eating
he
Didn’t leave
Until after he had eaten
He just stayed
Until after he had done
What God said
not to do
And why?
Because he Had seared
his conscience
And listen please
That’s what happens
When you set
THIS aside
see
When you disregard the Bible
You can justify anything
Determination
But
Ultimately
This young prophet
Hurt the heart
Of his God
And
Let me say this
When your faith becomes weakened
Because you have
compromised
Your beliefs
When
You start the process
Of not trusting God
And His Word
For
Whatever the reason
You will undoubtedly
Hurt
The heart of God
Because
Without faith
Without trusting God
It is impossible
To please the Lord
III. The dilemma of faith
Declaration
But
understand something
When your trust
in God is curtailed
You are headed
For great dilemma
Because
Notice what it says
In verse 24
(1 Kings 13:24 “And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.”
So
Here is the scene
This man of God
Has received clear instructions
From the Word of God
He
Sets out
To do
what God said
But
The devil
Sent him a lure
To try to lure him away
From trusting in the Lord
And
Rather than trusting God
He trusted
In the wisdom of man
so
God then
Rebuked him
And then
God took retribution
On him
There
Was chastisement
From God
Upon his life
and oh
How sad it was
His life was cut down
When it didn’t have to be
So
Let that be a warning
To all of us
That
there are consequences
To the child of God
Who
Sets the BOOK aside
There was
for that young prophet
Discussion
But
Please don’t miss
Verse 33
This is so important Christian
In fact
Let’s read it together
The Bible says (1 Kings 13:33–34 “After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.”
Now
Think about what is said
After this thing
After
This young man of faith
Boldly told the king
I can’t eat in this place
Because of what God said
But then
When he did
Well after this thing
The king no doubt
Thought to himself
There goes
Just another Christian hypocrite
Who says
He believes one thing
But he ends up
Doing something
totally different
There goes
Another Christian hypocrite
Who practice what he preaches
One day
But on the next day
He doesn’t
So
After this thing
The king returned not
From his evil way
Because he no doubt figured
He was just as good
As the man of God
And
I wonder how many people
In the world
Have done likewise
Because of our lapses in faith
IV. The delight about our faith
Declaration
Well
Let’s be honest
All of us in this room
Have on occasion
Lacked
faith in God
Have lacked
trust in God
To obey His Word
Implicitly
But
I’m so thankful
That the God of heaven
Is quick and ready
To forgive
And
In spite of messes we make
Because of our lack
of trust in God
Because of our lack
Of obedience
To the Word of God
The
God whom we serve
Can clean up the messes
we make
And then give us the grace
To walk by faith again
So
Let me say again
With Solomon
(Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”
Determination
but
Maybe
You’re not a believer
Maybe you haven’t accepted Christ
As your personal Savior
But
Let me ask you
Would you like to have
All your sins forgiven
And to be given a home
In heaven
If
You would like that
Then I invite you
To come to Jesus
Would you do that?
If
You’re not sure how
Then in a moment
When the invitation begins
When the music begins to play
Please walk down the aisle
And we will meet you
at the front
We will then
Show you from the Scripture
How to come to Jesus
And
If you’re listening from home
Call us right now
We are standing by the phone
But Christian
What about you
Do you have enough trust
In the Lord
That you’re willing to obey
What ever
God says
Do
You elevate the Word of God
Above every other word
If not
You might need to come to the altar
To ask God
To strengthen your faith
And your trust
in Him
Conclusion: Let’s go to the Lord in prayer
