ALL IN: Part One

Rise of OT Kings and the Divided Kingdom

During the time of Moses, Joshua and later the Judges, the people of Israel were ruled by God alone. They had no earthly king. They were a true theocracy. Eventually the people wanted a king like all the other nations, so they got what they asked for. They got Saul. Saul was a tragic figure. A tragic king. So that didn’t work out very well. But then they got King David and his son Solomon. The days of David were the golden years of Israel. Solomon built the Temple. Solomon wrote books of the Bible, including Proverbs. Proverbs was written to Solomon’s sons…one of those sons was named Rehoboam. Rehoboam was a hot head. He listened to hot heads around him. And so in one of the most tragic and unfortunate aspects of OT history, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two nations. The northern kingdom which retained the named Israel and the southern kingdom that was named Judah. So now there was a king in the north and a king in the south. We have four books of the OT that chronicle the reigns of these kings. I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles.

Context of Chronicles

I and II Chronicles is all about the kings of the south. The only times that the kings of the north are mentioned in Chronicles is when their reigns intersect with the reign of a southern king. The accounts of the kings in the OT is raw, uncensored, violent at times, provocative at others, nothing is held back, the words, deeds, and even thoughts of these men are laid bare for all to see for all time. If Chronicles were made into a TV show and if the TV show were faithful to the events recorded in the text, it would rival any fantasy or historical drama on TV today.

Summary ALL IN Judgments of Each King

When I was in grade school, and still today, these books were some of my favorite parts of the OT. Teachers listen up…one of the best teachers I ever had was my 5th grade teacher. She was tough. My favorite class was Bible because that year she walked us through the OT kings, one by one.

And back then, and even today, I am amazed at how at the end of each of their reigns, the historians who wrote the accounts of the kings under the inspiration of Jesus’ Holy Spirit would sum up the entire reign of each king in one or two sentences. It would either be said, he did evil in the sight of the Lord, he worshiped idols and led his people to do the same. Or it would be said, he did good in the sight of the Lord. If the king did really well, it would be said that he did good in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of King David his ancestor before him. Or it would be said, he did good, but didn’t take it all the way, or you may say, he did good, but he wasn’t truly ALL IN.

Get this: there were 42 kings and 1 queen...ALL of the Kings of the North were found to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. All of them. Every single one. And in the south, in Judah, only 9 were said to have done good in the sight of the Lord and only a few of those were said to have walked in the ways of David. So you could say that the accounts of the kings show us just how ALL IN each king was or wasn’t. At the end of each reign each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN summary statement.

When you come to the end of your life and your words, your thoughts, your deeds are all taken into account and a summary ALL IN statement is made about you, what will it be?

Valley of Jehosophat Summary

So today, we begin a series that I have entitled, ALL IN, that will be rooted in the reign of the fourth king of the southern kingdom. 850 years before the time of Christ. His name was Jehosophat. Don’t name your kid Jehosophat. I don’t care if you are going to seminary and you feel led to name your kid Jehosophat, don’t do it.

Summary of

Jehosophat is most famous for the battle described in . In this account, three of Judah’s enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away from Jehosophat ready to attack Jehosophat and his people. Scripture says that even though he had fortified the cities, even though he had a million man army, he was alarmed, he was afraid, but he calls his people together, he calls them to fast and pray, and one of the musicians prophecies that they would not only win the battle, but that they would not even need to fight the battle, that God would supernaturally win the battle for them. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they arrived at the scene of the battle, the three enemies had turned on each other, had killed each other, they were all dead, it took three days for Jehosophat and the people to carry off the riches that the three enemies had left…and the story and Jehosophat’s reign ends with joy, peace, and absolute victory.

Obscurity of Jehosophat

This is an obscure passage of Scripture. You probably didn’t wake up this morning thinking about Jehosophat. Or any morning…but I shouldn’t say that. Because listen to what happened this past week to me as I was preparing for this message.

Mom and Jehosophat

This past week, we were at our family reunion at the beach.

I was looking through my email and found my mom’s daily devotional that she sends out to thousands of people every day, I am assuming perhaps some of you read it as well. And I read Thursdays’ devotional and lo and behold it was on Jehosophat. Not only that but most of her devotionals this past week were on Jehosophat. Neither one of us had any idea that the other had developed this special interest in this obscure king—and when I told her I was preaching on him this Sunday, she said that she loves which is the famous battle scene, but that she also loves how the earlier events of his life prepared him for and tied into this defining moment of . And again, that is exactly the way I had planned on approaching the series. I want to stay in as the basis and flash back to various scenes in his life. So if you have been reading her devotional this past week it may not be true that Jehosophat hasn’t been on your mind. I believe that the Holy Spirit works in those little ways in life.

I have a burning hammer inside of me to preach this series. I believe with all my heart that this series will be crucial for Reach Church.

ALL IN

Like I said, each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN statement at the end of their reign.

Rise of OT Kings and the Divided Kingdom

Like I said, each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN statement at the end of their reign.

ALL IN to what? It’s so vague. ALL IN could mean anything. I’m not going to tell you exactly what I mean by ALL IN…I’m going to allow it to unfold itself through the text…the obvious parallel between this story and you and Reach Church is that Jehosophat and his people CLEARLY were ALL IN for the Lord, let’s be like Jehosophat and his people and ALSO be ALL IN for the Lord. And there are those parallels:

During the time of Moses, Joshua and later the Judges, the people of Israel were ruled by God alone. They had no earthly king. They were a true theocracy. Eventually the people wanted a king like all the other nations, so they got what they asked for. They got Saul. Saul was a tragic figure. A tragic king. So that didn’t work out very well. But then they got King David and his son Solomon. The days of David were the golden years of Israel. Solomon built the Temple. Solomon wrote books of the Bible, including Proverbs. Proverbs was written to Solomon’s sons…one of those sons was named Rehoboam. Rehoboam was a hot head. He listened to hot heads around him. And so in one of the most tragic and unfortunate aspects of OT history, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two nations. The northern kingdom which retained the named Israel and the southern kingdom that was named Judah. So now there was a king in the north and a king in the south. We have four books of the OT that chronicle the reigns of these kings. I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles.

ALL IN to what? It’s so vague. ALL IN could mean anything. I’m not going to tell you exactly what I mean by ALL IN…I’m going to allow it to unfold itself through the text…the obvious parallel between this story and you and Reach Church is that Jehosophat and his people CLEARLY were ALL IN for the Lord, let’s be like Jehosophat and his people and ALSO be ALL IN for the Lord. And there are those parallels:

2 Chronicles 20:1 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.

Context of Chronicles

During the time of Moses, Joshua and later the Judges, the people of Israel were ruled by God alone. They had no earthly king. They were a true theocracy. Eventually the people wanted a king like all the other nations, so they got what they asked for. They got Saul. Saul was a tragic figure. A tragic king. So that didn’t work out very well. But then they got King David and his son Solomon. The days of David were the golden years of Israel. Solomon built the Temple. Solomon wrote books of the Bible, including Proverbs. Proverbs was written to Solomon’s sons…one of those sons was named Rehoboam. Rehoboam was a hot head. He listened to hot heads around him. And so in one of the most tragic and unfortunate aspects of OT history, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two nations. The northern kingdom which retained the named Israel and the southern kingdom that was named Judah. So now there was a king in the north and a king in the south. We have four books of the OT that chronicle the reigns of these kings. I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles.

Context of Chronicles

When I was in grade school, and still today, these books were some of my favorite parts of the OT. Teachers listen up…one of the best teachers I ever had was my 5th grade teacher. She was tough. My favorite class was Bible because that year she walked us through the OT kings, one by one.

2 Chronicles 20:1 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.

Context of Chronicles

I and II Chronicles is a all about the kings of the south. The only times that the kings of the north are mentioned in Chronicles is when their reigns intersect with the reign of a southern king. The accounts of the kings in the OT is raw, uncensored, violent at times, provocative at others, nothing is held back, the words, deeds, and even thoughts of these men are laid bare for all to see for all time. If Chronicles were made into a TV show and if the TV show were faithful to the events recorded in the text, it would rival any fantasy or historical drama on TV today.

Summary ALL IN Judgments of Each King

When I was in grade school, and still today, these books were some of my favorite parts of the OT. Teachers listen up…one of the best teachers I ever had was my 5th grade teacher. She was tough. My favorite class was Bible because that year she walked us through the OT kings, one by one.

And back then, and even today, I am amazed at how at the end of each of their reigns, the historians who wrote the accounts of the kings under the inspiration of Jesus’ Holy Spirit would sum up the entire reign of each king in one or two sentences. It would either be said, he did evil in the sight of the Lord, he worshiped idols and led his people to do the same. Or it would be said, he did good in the sight of the Lord. If the king did really well, it would be said that he did good in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of King David his ancestor before him. Or it would be said, he did good, but didn’t take it all the way, or you may say, he did good, but he wasn’t truly ALL IN.

I and II Chronicles is a all about the kings of the south. The only times that the kings of the north are mentioned in Chronicles is when their reigns intersect with the reign of a southern king. The accounts of the kings in the OT is raw, uncensored, violent at times, provocative at others, nothing is held back, the words, deeds, and even thoughts of these men are laid bare for all to see for all time. If Chronicles were made into a TV show and if the TV show were faithful to the events recorded in the text, it would rival any fantasy or historical drama on TV today.

. Teachers listen up…one of the best teachers I ever had was my 5th grade teacher. She was tough. My favorite class was Bible because that year she walked us through the OT kings, one by one. And back then and even today I was amazed at how at the end of each of their reigns, the historians who wrote the accounts of the kings under the inspiration of Jesus’ Holy Spirit would sum up their entire reign in one or two judgmental sentences. It would either be said, he did evil in the sight of the Lord, he worshiped idols and led his people to do the same. Or it would be said, he did good in the sight of the Lord.

Verse 1: After This

Get this: there were 42 kings and 1 queen...ALL of the Kings of the North were found to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. All of them. Every single one. And in the south, in Judah, only 9 were said to have done good in the sight of the Lord and only a few of those were said to have walked in the ways of David. So you could say that the accounts of the kings show us just how ALL IN each king was or wasn’t. At the end of each reign each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN summary statement.

Valley of Jehosophat Summary

So today, we begin a series that I have entitled, ALL IN, that will be rooted in the reign of the fourth king of the southern kingdom. 850 years before the time of Christ. His name was Jehosophat. Don’t name your kid Jehosophat. I don’t care if you are going to seminary and you feel led to name your kid Jehosophat, don’t do it.

Verse 1: After This

Summary ALL IN Judgments of Each King

Jehosophat was the fourth king of the southern Kingdom of Judah. So there was the kingdom in the north and the kingdom in the south. He was the king of the south. And Chronicles is all about the kings of the south. The only times the kings of the north are mentioned is when they interact with a king in the south. Jehosophat is most famous for . In this story, three surrounding enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away ready to attack him and his people. He called his people together, they prayed, they heard a prophecy from one of their musicians that they would not have to fight the battle but that God would win the victory. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they got there, the enemies had killed each other, they were all dead, and so Jehosophat and his people took away the plunder that took three days to collect, and the story ends with joy, peace, and victory.

Chronicles is all about the kings of the south. The only times that the kings of the north are mentioned in Chronicles is when their reigns intersect with the reign of a southern king. If Chronicles were made into a TV show, and if the TV show were faithful to the events recorded in the text, it would rival any show on TV today. The Kings were one of my favorite parts of the Bible when I was younger and still are today.

Isn’t it amazing in life that there is ALWAYS an AFTER THIS. Sometimes life goes so fast and is so busy that we can’t keep up with all the AFTER THIS’ of life.

When I was in grade school, and still today, these books were some of my favorite parts of the OT. Teachers listen up…one of the best teachers I ever had was my 5th grade teacher. She was tough. My favorite class was Bible because that year she walked us through the OT kings, one by one.

Isn’t it amazing in life that there is ALWAYS an AFTER THIS. Sometimes life goes so fast and is so busy that we can’t keep up with all the AFTER THIS’ of life.

Today, we begin a series that I have entitled, ALL IN, that will be rooted in the reign of the fourth king of the southern kingdom. His name was Jehosophat. Don’t name your kid Jehosophat.

So there was the kingdom in the north and the kingdom in the south. He was the king of the south. And Chronicles is all about the kings of the south. The only times the kings of the north are mentioned is when they interact with a king in the south. Jehosophat is most famous for . In this story, three surrounding enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away ready to attack him and his people. He called his people together, they prayed, they heard a prophecy from one of their musicians that they would not have to fight the battle but that God would win the victory. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they got there, the enemies had killed each other, they were all dead, and so Jehosophat and his people took away the plunder that took three days to collect, and the story ends with joy, peace, and victory.

The past month and the month or two ahead of my family is intense. It is wave after wave of AFTER THIS...

And back then, and even today, I am amazed at how at the end of each of their reigns, the historians who wrote the accounts of the kings under the inspiration of Jesus’ Holy Spirit would sum up the entire reign of each king in one or two sentences. It would either be said, he did evil in the sight of the Lord, he worshiped idols and led his people to do the same. Or it would be said, he did good in the sight of the Lord. If the king did really well, it would be said that he did good in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of King David his ancestor before him. Or it would be said, he did good, but didn’t take it all the way, or you may say, he did good, but he wasn’t truly ALL IN.

The past month and the month or two ahead of my family is intense. It is wave after wave of AFTER THIS...

The events recorded in Jehosophat is most famous for . In this story, three surrounding enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away ready to attack him and his people. He called his people together, they prayed, they heard a prophecy from one of their musicians that they would not have to fight the battle but that God would win the victory. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they got there, the enemies had killed each other, they were all dead, and so Jehosophat and his people took away the plunder that took three days to collect, and the story ends with joy, peace, and victory.

Summary of

I’ll take you back a few weeks. Mollie, our third born, graduated from high school. She kind of started the whole AFTER THIS madness with her graduation. I was the graduation speaker. After that, the next morning, we graduated the GCA class…many of them I have watched grow up and helped to raise. AFTER THAT we had two more graduations. AFTER THAT, our oldest Mark, moved out of the house and into his own apartment. AFTER THAT we had the wedding of a young woman in our church to a former orphan from Mexico—my wife was the symbolic mother of the groom. AFTER THAT CJ went to Covenant Camp. AFTER THAT we had our family reunion. AFTER THAT we have church today. AFTER THIS my son will get married next weekend. AFTER THAT my wife is leading a mission trip to Kenya. AFTER THAT both of my daughters will be going to college. And these are just the big events of life. This doesn’t count the inner man struggles, the tests, the daily stuff of life.

So there was the kingdom in the north and the kingdom in the south. He was the king of the south. And Chronicles is all about the kings of the south. The only times the kings of the north are mentioned is when they interact with a king in the south. Jehosophat is most famous for . In this story, three surrounding enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away ready to attack him and his people. He called his people together, they prayed, they heard a prophecy from one of their musicians that they would not have to fight the battle but that God would win the victory. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they got there, the enemies had killed each other, they were all dead, and so Jehosophat and his people took away the plunder that took three days to collect, and the story ends with joy, peace, and victory.

Get this: there were 42 kings and 1 queen...ALL of the Kings of the North were found to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. All of them. Every single one. And in the south, in Judah, only 9 were said to have done good in the sight of the Lord and only a few of those were said to have walked in the ways of David. So you could say that the accounts of the kings show us just how ALL IN each king was or wasn’t. At the end of each reign each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN summary statement.

I’ll take you back a few weeks. Mollie, our third born, graduated from high school. She kind of started the whole AFTER THIS madness with her graduation. I was the graduation speaker. After that, the next morning, we graduated the GCA class…many of them I have watched grow up and helped to raise. AFTER THAT we had two more graduations. AFTER THAT, our oldest Mark, moved out of the house and into his own apartment. AFTER THAT we had the wedding of a young woman in our church to a former orphan from Mexico—my wife was the symbolic mother of the groom. AFTER THAT CJ went to Covenant Camp. AFTER THAT we had our family reunion. AFTER THAT we have church today. AFTER THIS my son will get married next weekend. AFTER THAT my wife is leading a mission trip to Kenya. AFTER THAT both of my daughters will be going to college. And these are just the big events of life. This doesn’t count the inner man struggles, the tests, the daily stuff of life.

Jehosophat is most famous for the battle described in . In this account, three of Judah’s enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away from Jehosophat ready to attack Jehosophat and his people. Scripture says he was alarmed, he was afraid, but he calls his people together, he calls them to fast and pray, and one of the musicians prophecies that they would not only win the battle, but that they would not even need to fight the battle, that God would supernaturally win the battle for them. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they arrived at the scene of the battle, the three enemies had turned on each other, had killed each other, they were all dead, it took three days for Jehosophat and the people to carry off the riches that the three enemies had left…and the story and Jehosophat’s reign ends with joy, peace, and absolute victory.

Valley of Jehosophat Summary

There is always another test…another temptation…another mountain to climb…another blessing…another opportunity to build the kingdom…another time to invest in your church, in your friendships, your marriage, another day to honor God.

Obscurity of Jehosophat

There is always another test…another temptation…another mountain to climb…another blessing…another opportunity to build the kingdom…another time to invest in your church, in your friendships, your marriage, another day to honor God.

So today, we begin a series that I have entitled, ALL IN, that will be rooted in the reign of the fourth king of the southern kingdom. 850 years before the time of Christ. His name was Jehosophat. Don’t name your kid Jehosophat. I don’t care if you are going to seminary and you feel led to name your kid Jehosophat, don’t do it.

What is my point? You better be ready for all the AFTER THIS’ of life. You better be ALL IN now…and you will see what that means as we continue…for the AFTER THIS’ that you are going to face.

Summary of

AFTER WHAT: Jehosophat Rebuked and His Reforms

Jehosophat is most famous for the battle described in . In this account, three of Judah’s enemies formed an alliance and were 15 miles away from Jehosophat ready to attack Jehosophat and his people. Scripture says he was alarmed, he was afraid, but he calls his people together, he calls them to fast and pray, and one of the musicians prophecies that they would not only win the battle, but that they would not even need to fight the battle, that God would supernaturally win the battle for them. They marched to meet the enemy, they sang as they marched, and by the time they arrived at the scene of the battle, the three enemies had turned on each other, had killed each other, they were all dead, it took three days for Jehosophat and the people to carry off the riches that the three enemies had left…and the story and Jehosophat’s reign ends with joy, peace, and absolute victory.

But what is the context here? After What?

Obscurity of Jehosophat

But what is the context here? After What?

This is an obscure passage of Scripture. You probably didn’t wake up this morning thinking about Jehosophat. Or any morning…but I shouldn’t say that. Because listen to what happened this past week to me as I was preparing for this message.

Early in chapter 19, Jehosophat had received a rebuke from a prophet. Now rebuking a king was risky business, even for a prophet of God. But he didn’t execute the prophet, he didn’t complain about the prophet, he received the rebuke like the ALL IN kind of man that he was and he changed. For the rest of chapter 19, Jehosophat is doing good.

This is an obscure passage of Scripture. You probably didn’t wake up this morning thinking about Jehosophat. Or any morning…but I shouldn’t say that. Because listen to what happened this past week to me as I was preparing for this message.

Early in chapter 19, Jehosophat had received a rebuke from a prophet. Now rebuking a king was risky business, even for a prophet of God. But he didn’t execute the prophet, he didn’t complain about the prophet, he received the rebuke like the ALL IN kind of man that he was and he changed. For the rest of chapter 19, Jehosophat is doing good.

Mom and Jehosophat

Chapter 19 Verse 4: he was among the people. He was a people’s king.

This past week, we were at our family reunion at the beach.

Chapter 19, Verse 5: he fortified the cities.

I was looking through my email and found my mom’s daily devotional that she sends out to thousands of people every day, I am assuming perhaps some of you read it as well. And I read Thursdays’ devotional and lo and behold it was on Jehosophat. Not only that but most of her devotionals this past week were on Jehosophat. Neither one of us had any idea that the other had developed this special interest in this obscure king—and when I told her I was preaching on him this Sunday, she said that she loves which is the famous battle scene, but that she also loves how the earlier events of his life prepared him for and tied into this defining moment of . And again, that is exactly the way I had planned on approaching the series. I want to stay in as the basis and flash back to various scenes in his life. So if you have been reading her devotional this past week it may not be true that Jehosophat hasn’t been on your mind. I believe that the Holy Spirit works in those little ways in life.

Chapter 19, Verse 6 and following: he encouraged the leaders to lead well, to lead fairly, to be just, to uphold the Law of God.

I have a burning hammer inside of me to preach this series. I believe with all my heart that this series will be crucial for Reach Church.

Things are going well for Jehosophat. Things are going well for the kingdom. And then BAM. Chapter 20 happens.

ALL IN

Things are going well for Jehosophat. Things are going well for the kingdom. And then BAM. Chapter 20 happens.

This is How he is Repaid

Like I said, each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN statement at the end of their reign.

This is How he is Repaid

ALL IN to what? It’s so vague. ALL IN could mean anything. I’m not going to tell you exactly what I mean by ALL IN…I’m going to allow it to unfold itself through the text…the obvious parallel between this story and you and Reach Church is that Jehosophat and his people CLEARLY were ALL IN for the Lord, let’s be like Jehosophat and his people and ALSO be ALL IN for the Lord. And there are those parallels:

2 Chronicles 20:1–2 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi).

2 Chronicles 20:1–2 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi).

2 Chronicles 20:1 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.

Common Enemy and the MeUnites

You won’t Do it: Out of Nowhere

So, ALL IN means that enemies are going to come up against you and when they do you need to be ready, you need to pray and fast and fix your eyes on Jesus the way that Jehosophat did. And that is true. But you won’t do it. And neither will I. At least not well. Because you can never really be prepared…we talked about how the very first words, AFTER THIS are interesting because there is always an AFTER THIS in life…but it could have easily said AND OUT OF NOWHERE....because that is also how life works. Out of nowhere, I get a diagnosis that I have cancer. Out of nowhere, my friend breaks my heart. Out of nowhere, I seem to be losing my faith.

Verse 1: After This

Dowton Abbey Sudden Death of Character

I won’t tell you which TV show, but Melanie and I were watching a show where one of the main characters unexpectedly dies in the last episode of one of the seasons. It was right at the height of his character development, it was heart breaking…just out of nowhere. And the reason why they did it that way was because he decided in the middle of the season that he wanted to stop doing TV and start doing movies. So it wasn’t part of the story for him to die. He was supposed to be there until the end. He was a main character. And so the critics blasted the actor and the creators of the show because they said how it didn’t fit. But here is the thing…it never does fit. The AFTER THIS’s of life, come out of nowhere every time. It was actually incredibly realistic for him to suddenly die because that is usually the way it goes in life. So being ALL IN certainly means that when these things happen, you are ready…but you won’t be. Common Enemy and the MeUnites

After this, this is how God repays him. The Moabites and Ammonites didn’t even like each other. Yet they are banding together to take out Jehosophat and Judah. Nothing else brings people together more quickly than a common enemy. Jehosophat and Judah suddenly became the common enemy.

Isn’t it amazing in life that there is ALWAYS an AFTER THIS. Sometimes life goes so fast and is so busy that we can’t keep up with all the AFTER THIS’ of life.

And then there is this mysterious THIRD group of people who join the Moabites and the Ammonites and translators of the Bible aren’t even clear as to who these people were…some versions literally say, “the others” joined them. ESV translates them as the MeUnites. What a name. How relevant is THAT name in our time. The ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people UNITE. The Me-Unites. It’s comical. The Me-Unites are the ones who join up against you just for fun.

The past month and the month or two ahead of my family is intense. It is wave after wave of AFTER THIS...

And then there is this mysterious THIRD group of people who join the Moabites and the Ammonites and translators of the Bible aren’t even clear as to who these people were…some versions literally say, “the others” joined them. ESV translates them as the MeUnites. What a name. How relevant is THAT name in our time. The ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people UNITE. The Me-Unites. It’s comical. The Me-Unites are the ones who join up against you just for fun.

Mom and Jehosophat

I’ll take you back a few weeks. Mollie, our third born, graduated from high school. She kind of started the whole AFTER THIS madness with her graduation. I was the graduation speaker. After that, the next morning, we graduated the GCA class…many of them I have watched grow up and helped to raise. AFTER THAT we had two more graduations. AFTER THAT, our oldest Mark, moved out of the house and into his own apartment. AFTER THAT we had the wedding of a young woman in our church to a former orphan from Mexico—my wife was the symbolic mother of the groom. AFTER THAT CJ went to Covenant Camp. AFTER THAT we had our family reunion. AFTER THAT we have church today. AFTER THIS my son will get married next weekend. AFTER THAT my wife is leading a mission trip to Kenya. AFTER THAT both of my daughters will be going to college. And these are just the big events of life. This doesn’t count the inner man struggles, the tests, the daily stuff of life.

So Jehosophat in chapter 19 received his rebuke like a man, seemed to have really changed, made reforms all through the nation, turning people back to God, and this is Jehosophat’s AFTER THIS…this is how God repays him....a great multitude coming up against you.

There is always another test…another temptation…another mountain to climb…another blessing…another opportunity to build the kingdom…another time to invest in your church, in your friendships, your marriage, another day to honor God.

How we respond to the AFTER THIS’ of life show us just how ALL IN we truly are.

Rowing Graphic Versus Jumping into Water Graphic

When we were looking at a graphic for this series, for the sign, for the bulletin, to advertise the series, one graphic we were looking at was a picture of a rowing team.

(SHOW SLIDE OF ROWING TEAM WITH ALL IN)

Every team member is rowing in the same direction. Working hard. That is what it looks like to be ALL IN—to get everyone rowing together, not sitting on the back of the boat yelling out instructions to the people who are rowing. Or criticizing those who are rowing, or being in a yaught behind the team of rowers being pulled by the rowers. There are so many ways I could go with that one. And there is a lot to be said about the church being like a rowing team. We all need to be rowing in the same direction. We all need to be rowing.

But I don’t think that is going to be what it looks like for Reach Church to be ALL IN. I think that being ALL IN to NBJ is going to be less orderly. Less predictable. Less worrying about who is rowing and who isn’t and whether or not you are rowing or not. I think it has more to do with a party of grace. With enjoying the plunder and living out of the plunder. That is why we settled on this one:

(SHOW SLIDE WE ARE USING FOR SERIES with ALL IN)

I think it is going to be more like a leap off a cliff into the water. Being ALL IN in that way. Saying, I give up control. I am going to give myself over recklessly to NBJ. I’m going to take the leap of living into NBJ.

What kind of church would Reach Church become?

Are you ALL IN?

I said earlier that there is always an AFTER THIS in life. But there will eventually be a LAST AFTER THIS for all of us.

ALL IN STATEMENTS ABOUT JESUS

There was another king…850 years later…he had lots of AFTER THIS’…I said earlier that it must have been discouraging for Jehosophat to have done so many great things in chapter 19 only to experience the devastating AFTER THIS in chapter 20. How unfair. How disappointing. But there was another king. 850 years later.

What is my point? You better be ready for all the AFTER THIS’ of life. You better be ALL IN now…and you will see what that means as we continue…for the AFTER THIS’ that you are going to face.

At the start of his ministry, there was a summary judgement made about him just as there was one made about Jehosophat…his was “this is my son, in him I am well pleased, listen to him.” And there were many made about him later...

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

OT and NBJ, Bent Away from NBJ

You may be thinking, wait a second. This is the OT. You have been going on and on about this Jesus stuff for months, now for years, now that we are in the OT we should finally get a break from all that NBJ stuff and move on to more mature things. Believe it or not, I too want to move away from NBJ and more towards other things…

Because that is the natural bent of our hearts.

To move away from NBJ and on to other things.

To be drawn in by Anything But Jesus.

By whatever the political debate of the week is.

By self improvement.

To be drawn in by our own pet issues and legalisms.

To be drawn in by a vague idea of God, but not a specific person, who is Jesus.

To read the OT and these stories as moral examples instead of as one failure after another.

Are you truly ALL IN when it comes to Jesus? When it comes to your faith? Does it guide all of your decisions? Are you ALL IN when it comes to the church? To being here on Sundays among God’s people? To worship together? To encourage others. To serve. To get involved and bless others in relationships. Are you truly ALL IN? You would have to say no.

But thankfully for us, this passage, this story is laced with NBJ. This story points exclusively to Jesus. We will find that Jesus is right in the middle of this story.

We have talked a lot about Nothing But Jesus and what NBJ means in our lives, but this chapter shows us what our lives will look like when we are ALL IN with NBJ. But it isn’t about behavior. It isn’t about following Jehosophat’s example. This passage is a beautiful picture of salvation. And we can be ALL on what Jesus did not what we do. On Jesus’ righteousness not our own.

What would happen if our entire church was ALL IN to NBJ?

In fact, Jehosophat himself is a type of Jesus in this specific story. If he weren’t a type of Jesus, if he wasn’t acting outside of himself, we wouldn’t be able to call this series ALL IN because none of us, including Jehosophat, including his ancestor David, are all in in an of ourselves.

I said earlier that there is always an AFTER THIS in life. But there will eventually be a LAST AFTER THIS for all of us.

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

What does it mean to be ALL IN when it comes to salvation?

You will have to come back next week to find out…but here is a hint…the ALL IN is all about the plunder.

His Response: Set His Face to Seek the Lord

Part Two

His Response: Set His Face to Seek the Lord

AFTER WHAT: Jehosophat Rebuked and His Reforms

We don’t really and truly know how ALL IN we are with the Lord until trouble hits. Verse 3:

But what is the context here? After What?

2 Chronicles 20:3 ESV

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Early in chapter 19, Jehosophat had received a rebuke from a prophet. Now rebuking a king was risky business, even for a prophet of God. But he didn’t execute the prophet, he didn’t complain about the prophet, he received the rebuke like the ALL IN kind of man that he was and he changed. For the rest of chapter 19, Jehosophat is doing good.

2 Chronicles 20:3 ESV

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Chapter 19 Verse 4: he was among the people. He was a people’s king.

I love that phrase in verse 3: he “set his face to seek the Lord”.

Chapter 19, Verse 5: he fortified the cities.

There was another King, 850 years later, who ALSO had groups of people who were normally enemies with each other join together to hurt him and kill him. He also had done nothing to deserve their wrath. Only for this King it was the Sadducees, the Herodians, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the chief priests. And like Jehosophat, this king also set his face...

Chapter 19, Verse 6 and following: he encouraged the leaders to lead well, to lead fairly, to be just, to uphold the Law of God.

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Things are going well for Jehosophat. Things are going well for the kingdom. And then BAM. Chapter 20 happens.

ALL IN. Are you starting to see what ALL IN means?

This is How he is Repaid

2 Chronicles 20:1–2 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi).

So Jehosophat calls the people together …he doesn’t strategize, he doesn’t fortify, he doesn’t panic, he prays in the presence of the people. Look at how he ends his prayer in verse 12:

When we were looking at a graphic for this series, for the sign, for the bulletin, to advertise the series, one graphic we were looking at was a picture of a rowing team.

Every team member is rowing in the same direction. Working hard. That is what it looks like to be ALL IN—to get everyone rowing together, not sitting on the back of the boat yelling out instructions to the people who are rowing. Or criticizing those who are rowing, or being in a yaught behind the team of rowers being pulled by the rowers. There are so many ways I could go with that one. And there is a lot to be said about the church being like a rowing team. We all need to be rowing in the same direction. We all need to be rowing.

But I don’t think that is going to be what it looks like for Reach Church to be ALL IN. I think that being ALL IN to NBJ is going to be less orderly. Less predictable. Less worrying about who is rowing and who isn’t and whether or not you are rowing or not. I think it has more to do with a party of grace. With enjoying the plunder and living out of the plunder. That is why we settled on this one:

(SHOW SLIDE WE ARE USING FOR SERIES with ALL IN)

I think it is going to be more like a leap off a cliff into the water. Being ALL IN in that way. Saying, I give up control. I am going to give myself over recklessly to NBJ. I’m going to take the leap of living into NBJ.

What kind of church would Reach Church become?

Are you ALL IN?

I said earlier that there is always an AFTER THIS in life. But there will eventually be a LAST AFTER THIS for all of us.

ALL IN STATEMENTS ABOUT JESUS

There was another king…850 years later…he had lots of AFTER THIS’…I said earlier that it must have been discouraging for Jehosophat to have done so many great things in chapter 19 only to experience the devastating AFTER THIS in chapter 20. How unfair. How disappointing. But there was another king. 850 years later.

At the start of his ministry, there was a summary judgement made about him just as there was one made about Jehosophat…his was “this is my son, in him I am well pleased, listen to him.” And there were many made about him later...

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

OT and NBJ, Bent Away from NBJ

You may be thinking, wait a second. This is the OT. You have been going on and on about this Jesus stuff for months, now for years, now that we are in the OT we should finally get a break from all that NBJ stuff and move on to more mature things. Believe it or not, I too want to move away from NBJ and more towards other things…

Because that is the natural bent of our hearts.

To move away from NBJ and on to other things.

To be drawn in by Anything But Jesus.

By whatever the political debate of the week is.

By self improvement.

To be drawn in by our own pet issues and legalisms.

To be drawn in by a vague idea of God, but not a specific person, who is Jesus.

To read the OT and these stories as moral examples instead of as one failure after another.

Are you truly ALL IN when it comes to Jesus? When it comes to your faith? Does it guide all of your decisions? Are you ALL IN when it comes to the church? To being here on Sundays among God’s people? To worship together? To encourage others. To serve. To get involved and bless others in relationships. Are you truly ALL IN? You would have to say no.

But thankfully for us, this passage, this story is laced with NBJ. This story points exclusively to Jesus. We will find that Jesus is right in the middle of this story.

We have talked a lot about Nothing But Jesus and what NBJ means in our lives, but this chapter shows us what our lives will look like when we are ALL IN with NBJ. But it isn’t about behavior. It isn’t about following Jehosophat’s example. This passage is a beautiful picture of salvation. And we can be ALL on what Jesus did not what we do. On Jesus’ righteousness not our own.

What would happen if our entire church was ALL IN to NBJ?

In fact, Jehosophat himself is a type of Jesus in this specific story. If he weren’t a type of Jesus, if he wasn’t acting outside of himself, we wouldn’t be able to call this series ALL IN because none of us, including Jehosophat, including his ancestor David, are all in in an of ourselves.

I said earlier that there is always an AFTER THIS in life. But there will eventually be a LAST AFTER THIS for all of us.

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

What does it mean to be ALL IN when it comes to salvation?

You will have to come back next week to find out…but here is a hint…the ALL IN is all about the plunder.

So Jehosophat calls the people together …he doesn’t strategize, he doesn’t fortify, he doesn’t panic, he prays in the presence of the people. Look at how he ends his prayer in verse 12:

Common Enemy and the MeUnites

2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV

O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

After this, this is how God repays him. The Moabites and Ammonites didn’t even like each other. Yet they are banding together to take out Jehosophat and Judah. Nothing else brings people together more quickly than a common enemy. Jehosophat and Judah suddenly became the common enemy.

I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you.

And then there is this mysterious THIRD group of people who join the Moabites and the Ammonites and translators of the Bible aren’t even clear as to who these people were…some versions literally say, “the others” joined them. ESV translates them as the MeUnites. What a name. How relevant is THAT name in our time. The ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people UNITE. The Me-Unites. It’s comical. The Me-Unites are the ones who join up against you just for fun.

Eyes on man discouraged. Eyes on God encouraged.

Valley of Jehosophat and Kidron

So Jehosophat in chapter 19 received his rebuke like a man, seemed to have really changed, made reforms all through the nation, turning people back to God, and this is Jehosophat’s AFTER THIS…this is how God repays him....a great multitude coming up against you.

The valley where this battle was fought became known as the Valley of Jehosophat. It is thought that the final battle of time, the battle of Armageddon, will be fought at the Valley of Jehosophat. The place where Jehosophat prayed in front of the people and said, we don’t know what to do but our eyes are on you.

Another King would also pray in the same valley. Only it became known as the Kidron Valley. There was a Garden called the Garden of Gethsemane where this King, facing his enemies, also prayed in front of his people, like Jehosophat, he expressed great ansgt to God, saying let this cup pass from me, but not my will but your will be done. In other words, I don’t want to do this, but my eyes are on you.

How we respond to the AFTER THIS’ of life show us just how ALL IN we truly are.

His Response: Set His Face to Seek the Lord

He was ALL IN. Are you starting to see what ALL IN means? It’s far deeper than you following some cheap example set by Jehosophat.

We don’t really and truly know how ALL IN we are with the Lord until trouble hits. Verse 3:

I don’t know what is going to happen with my children, I’m scared, I don’t have any answers, but my eyes are fixed on you. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future, with my health, but my eyes are fixed on you.

2 Chronicles 20:3 ESV

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Mistakes of Jehosophat

I love that phrase in verse 3: he “set his face to seek the Lord”.

Dowton Abbey Sudden Death of Character

There was another King, 850 years later, who ALSO had groups of people who were normally enemies with each other join together to hurt him and kill him. He also had done nothing to deserve their wrath. Only for this King it was the Sadducees, the Herodians, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the chief priests. And like Jehosophat, this king also set his face...

I won’t tell you which TV show, but Melanie and I were watching a show where one of the main characters unexpectedly dies in the last episode of one of the seasons. It was right at the height of his character development, it was heart breaking…just out of nowhere. And the reason why they did it that way was because he decided in the middle of the season that he wanted to stop doing TV and start doing movies. So it wasn’t part of the story for him to die. He was supposed to be there until the end. He was a main character. And so the critics blasted the actor and the creators of the show because they said how it didn’t fit. But here is the thing…it never does fit. The AFTER THIS’s of life, come out of nowhere every time. It was actually incredibly realistic for him to suddenly die because that is usually the way it goes in life. So being ALL IN certainly means that when these things happen, you are ready…but you won’t be.

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Mistakes of Jehosophat

Jehosophat was, in this one instance, you won’t be. I won’t be. But here is the reality…Jehosophat wasn’t all that great either.

ALL IN. Are you starting to see what ALL IN means?

He made TERRIBLE mistakes:

So Jehosophat calls the people together …he doesn’t strategize, he doesn’t fortify, he doesn’t panic, he prays in the presence of the people. Look at how he ends his prayer in verse 12:

-Made a very bad alliance with an extremely evil man, King Ahab of the north. Not ALL IN.

This past week, we were at our family reunion at the beach.

2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV

O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

-He made a business alliance with Ahab’s son that he shouldn’t have made. NOT ALL IN.

I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you.

-And he married his own son off to their daughter. She would later kill off all of the Davidic line and only an infant named Joash who would eventually be king was saved. NOT ALL IN.

The valley where this battle was fought became known as the Valley of Jehosophat. It is thought that the final battle of time, the battle of Armageddon, will be fought at the Valley of Jehosophat. The place where Jehosophat prayed in front of the people and said, we don’t know what to do but our eyes are on you.

Another King would also pray in the same valley. Only it became known as the Kidron Valley. There was a Garden called the Garden of Gethsemane where this King, facing his enemies, also prayed in front of his people, like Jehosophat, he expressed great ansgt to God, saying let this cup pass from me, but not my will but your will be done. In other words, I don’t want to do this, but my eyes are on you.

-He was a good king. Not great. Good. Early in his life, in chapter 17 he was characterized as walking in the ways of David. That was the highest compliment a king could be paid. But when he was finally memorialized he got slightly lower marks and this time he wasn’t characterized as walking in the ways of David, but walking in the ways of his father Asa. Asa was also a pretty good king. But he had some kind of foot disease towards the end of his life and for some reason he didn’t pray to God about it, so he just suffered. And he tended to take matters into his own hands.

He was ALL IN. Are you starting to see what ALL IN means? It’s far deeper than you following some cheap example.

Jehosophat Summary ALL IN Statements

I don’t know what is going to happen with my children, I’m scared, I don’t have any answers, but my eyes are fixed on you. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future, with my health, but my eyes are fixed on you.

I said earlier that each king is given a summary statement about his reign, he either does evil in the sight of the Lord, or good in the sight of the Lord, or good with qualifiers, but the highest mark a king can receive is doing good AND walking in the ways of David. Only a few received that mark. These final statements about the kings show us just how ALL IN a king was or wasn’t.

So, ALL IN means that enemies are going to come up against you and when they do you need to be ready, you need to pray and fast and fix your eyes on Jesus the way that Jehosophat did. And that is true. But you won’t do it. And neither will I. At least not well. Because you can never really be prepared…we talked about how the very first words, AFTER THIS are interesting because there is always an AFTER THIS in life…but it could have easily said AND OUT OF NOWHERE....because that is also how life works. Out of nowhere, I get a diagnosis that I have cancer. Out of nowhere, my friend breaks my heart. Out of nowhere, I seem to be losing my faith.

Jehosophat actually received two summary statements—one at the start of his reign and one at the end of his reign.

Dowton Abbey Sudden Death of Character

I won’t tell you which TV show, but Melanie and I were watching a show where one of the main characters unexpectedly dies in the last episode of one of the seasons. It was right at the height of his character development, it was heart breaking…just out of nowhere. And the reason why they did it that way was because he decided in the middle of the season that he wanted to stop doing TV and start doing movies. So it wasn’t part of the story for him to die. He was supposed to be there until the end. He was a main character. And so the critics blasted the actor and the creators of the show because they said how it didn’t fit. But here is the thing…it never does fit. The AFTER THIS’s of life, come out of nowhere every time. It was actually incredibly realistic for him to suddenly die because that is usually the way it goes in life. So being ALL IN certainly means that when these things happen, you are ready…but you won’t be. Jehosophat was, you won’t be. I won’t be. But here is the reality…Jehosophat wasn’t all that great either.

2 Chronicles 17:3–6 ESV

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

He made TERRIBLE mistakes:

-Made a very bad alliance with an extremely evil man, King Ahab of the north. Not ALL IN.

Not to jump ahead, but listen to the summary statement made about Jehosophat at the end of his life:

-He made a business alliance with Ahab’s son that he shouldn’t have made. NOT ALL IN.

2 Chronicles 20:31–37 ESV

Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel. After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.

-And he married his own son off to their daughter. She would later kill off all of the Davidic line and only an infant named Joash who would eventually be king was saved. NOT ALL IN.

It seems that Jehosophat’s ALL IN barometer actually went down from the start of his reign to the end of his reign. He was ALL IN with Asa, his father. Diseased foot.

Isn’t it beautiful and encouraging that even with Jehosophat’s great sins, God looks kindly on him? Why?

King David

But was his ALL IN barometer ever that high to begin with? He was one of a few that was compared to King David…if only for a fleeting moment…but what is it worth to be ALL IN with King David? He was an adulterer, he was a murderer, he was a broken, sinful, flawed human being who was favored by God not because of anything he had done but because God decided to favor him. David wasn’t ALL IN…he dipped his big toe into the ocean…Jesus swam down to the depths of the ocean.

What does it profit a man to be ALL IN with a good example?

Verse 13:

When we were looking at a graphic for this series, for the sign, for the bulletin, to advertise the series, one graphic we were looking at was a picture of a rowing team.

(SHOW SLIDE OF ROWING TEAM WITH ALL IN)

Every team member is rowing in the same direction. Working hard. That is what it looks like to be ALL IN—to get everyone rowing together, not sitting on the back of the boat yelling out instructions to the people who are rowing. Or criticizing those who are rowing, or being in a yaught behind the team of rowers being pulled by the rowers. There are so many ways I could go with that one. And there is a lot to be said about the church being like a rowing team. We all need to be rowing in the same direction. We all need to be rowing.

But I don’t think that is going to be what it looks like for Reach Church to be ALL IN. I think that being ALL IN to NBJ is going to be less orderly. Less predictable. Less worrying about who is rowing and who isn’t and whether or not you are rowing or not. I think it has more to do with a party of grace. With enjoying the plunder and living out of the plunder. That is why we settled on this one:

-He was a good king. Not great. Good. Early in his life, in chapter 17 he was characterized as walking in the ways of David. That was the highest compliment a king could be paid. But when he was finally memorialized he got slightly lower marks and this time he wasn’t characterized as walking in the ways of David, but walking in the ways of his father Asa. Asa was also a pretty good king. But he had some kind of foot disease towards the end of his life and for some reason he didn’t pray to God about it, so he just suffered. And he tended to take matters into his own hands.

I was looking through my email and found my mom’s daily devotional that she sends out to thousands of people every day, I am assuming perhaps some of you read it as well. And I read Thursdays’ devotional and lo and behold it was on Jehosophat. Not only that but most of her devotionals this past week were on Jehosophat. Neither one of us had any idea that the other had developed this special interest in this obscure king—and when I told her I was preaching on him this Sunday, she said that she loves which is the famous battle scene, but that she also loves how the earlier events of his life prepared him for and tied into this defining moment of . And again, that is exactly the way I had planned on approaching the series. I want to stay in as the basis and flash back to various scenes in his life. So if you have been reading her devotional this past week it may not be true that Jehosophat hasn’t been on your mind. I believe that the Holy Spirit works in those little ways in life.

(SHOW SLIDE WE ARE USING FOR SERIES with ALL IN)

I think it is going to be more like a leap off a cliff into the water. Being ALL IN in that way. Saying, I give up control. I am going to give myself over recklessly to NBJ. I’m going to take the leap of living into NBJ.

What kind of church would Reach Church become?

Are you ALL IN?

I said earlier that there is always an AFTER THIS in life. But there will eventually be a LAST AFTER THIS for all of us.

ALL IN STATEMENTS ABOUT JESUS

There was another king…850 years later…he had lots of AFTER THIS’…I said earlier that it must have been discouraging for Jehosophat to have done so many great things in chapter 19 only to experience the devastating AFTER THIS in chapter 20. How unfair. How disappointing. But there was another king. 850 years later.

At the start of his ministry, there was a summary judgement made about him just as there was one made about Jehosophat…his was “this is my son, in him I am well pleased, listen to him.” And there were many made about him later...

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We have talked a lot about Nothing But Jesus and what NBJ means in our lives, but this chapter shows us what our lives will look like when we are ALL IN with NBJ. Are you truly ALL IN when it comes to Jesus? When it comes to your faith? Does it guide all of your decisions? Are you ALL IN when it comes to the church? To being here on Sundays among God’s people? To worship together? To encourage others. To serve. To get involved and bless others in relationships. Are you truly ALL IN? What would happen if our entire church was ALL IN to NBJ?

OT and NBJ, Bent Away from NBJ

You may be thinking, wait a second. This is the OT. You have been going on and on about this Jesus stuff for months, now for years, now that we are in the OT we should finally get a break from all that NBJ stuff and move on to more mature things. Believe it or not, I too want to move away from NBJ and more towards other things…

Because that is the natural bent of our hearts.

To move away from NBJ and on to other things.

To be drawn in by Anything But Jesus.

By whatever the political debate of the week is.

By self improvement.

To be drawn in by our own pet issues and legalisms.

To be drawn in by a vague idea of God, but not a specific person, who is Jesus.

To read the OT and these stories as moral examples instead of as one failure after another.

Are you truly ALL IN when it comes to Jesus? When it comes to your faith? Does it guide all of your decisions? Are you ALL IN when it comes to the church? To being here on Sundays among God’s people? To worship together? To encourage others. To serve. To get involved and bless others in relationships. Are you truly ALL IN? You would have to say no.

But thankfully for us, this passage, this story is laced with NBJ. This story points exclusively to Jesus. We will find that Jesus is right in the middle of this story.

We have talked a lot about Nothing But Jesus and what NBJ means in our lives, but this chapter shows us what our lives will look like when we are ALL IN with NBJ. But it isn’t about behavior. It isn’t about following Jehosophat’s example. This passage is a beautiful picture of salvation. And we can be ALL on what Jesus did not what we do. On Jesus’ righteousness not our own.

What would happen if our entire church was ALL IN to NBJ?

In fact, Jehosophat himself is a type of Jesus in this specific story. If he weren’t a type of Jesus, if he wasn’t acting outside of himself, we wouldn’t be able to call this series ALL IN because none of us, including Jehosophat, including his ancestor David, are all in in an of ourselves.

I said earlier that there is always an AFTER THIS in life. But there will eventually be a LAST AFTER THIS for all of us.

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

I have a burning hammer inside of me to preach this series. I believe with all my heart that this series will be crucial for Reach Church.

What does it mean to be ALL IN when it comes to salvation?

ALL IN

Like I said, each king gets their ALL IN or not ALL IN statement at the end of their reign.

ALL IN to what? It’s so vague. ALL IN could mean anything. I’m not going to tell you exactly what I mean by ALL IN…I’m going to allow it to unfold itself through the text…the obvious parallel between this story and you and Reach Church is that Jehosophat and his people CLEARLY were ALL IN for the Lord, let’s be like Jehosophat and his people and ALSO be ALL IN for the Lord. And there are those parallels:

You will have to come back next week to find out…but here is a hint…the ALL IN is all about the plunder.

2 Chronicles 20:1 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.

2 Chronicles 20:1–3 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Verse 1: After This

The tendency is to

Isn’t it amazing in life that there is ALWAYS an AFTER THIS. Sometimes life goes so fast and is so busy that we can’t keep up with all the AFTER THIS’ of life.

The past month and the month or two ahead of my family is intense. It is wave after wave of AFTER THIS...

I’ll take you back a few weeks. Mollie, our third born, graduated from high school. She kind of started the whole AFTER THIS madness with her graduation. I was the graduation speaker. After that, the next morning, we graduated the GCA class…many of them I have watched grow up and helped to raise. AFTER THAT we had two more graduations. AFTER THAT, our oldest Mark, moved out of the house and into his own apartment. AFTER THAT we had the wedding of a young woman in our church to a former orphan from Mexico—my wife was the symbolic mother of the groom. AFTER THAT CJ went to Covenant Camp. AFTER THAT we had our family reunion. AFTER THAT we have church today. AFTER THIS my son will get married next weekend. AFTER THAT my wife is leading a mission trip to Kenya. AFTER THAT both of my daughters will be going to college. And these are just the big events of life. This doesn’t count the inner man struggles, the tests, the daily stuff of life.

There is always another test…another temptation…another mountain to climb…another blessing…another opportunity to build the kingdom…another time to invest in your church, in your friendships, your marriage, another day to honor God.

What is my point? You better be ready for all the AFTER THIS’ of life. You better be ALL IN now…and you will see what that means as we continue…for the AFTER THIS’ that you are going to face.

AFTER WHAT: Jehosophat Rebuked and His Reforms

But what is the context here? After What?

Verse 1: After This

At some point, there will be a last “after this.”

Isn’t it amazing in life that there is ALWAYS an AFTER THIS.

But what is the context here? After What?

There is always another test…another temptation…another mountain to climb…another blessing…another opportunity to build the kingdom…another time to invest in your church, in your friendships, your marriage, another day to honor God.

But that actually isn’t true. There isn’t ALWAYS and AFTER THIS for you or for me.

But what is the context here? After What?

At some point, there will be a last “after this.”

-At some point, there will not be another “after this” for you or me. There will be a last “after this.” What if today or tomorrow or the next big thing you are called to do or the next big thing you take on isn’t a great “after this” project?

But what is the context here?

After What?

Early in chapter 19, Jehosophat had received a rebuke from a prophet. Now rebuking a king was risky business, even for a prophet of God. But he didn’t execute the prophet, he didn’t complain about the prophet, he received the rebuke like the ALL IN kind of man that he was and he changed. For the rest of chapter 19, Jehosophat is doing good.

Chapter 19 Verse 4: he was among the people. He was a people’s king.

Chapter 19, Verse 5: he fortified the cities.

Chapter 19, Verse 6 and following: he encouraged the leaders to lead well, to lead fairly, to be just, to uphold the Law of God.

Things are going well for Jehosophat. Things are going well for the kingdom. And then BAM. Chapter 20 happens.

2 Chronicles 19 ESV

Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.” Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart: whenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or rules, then you shall warn them, that they may not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright!”

This is How he is Repaid

Chapter 20 happens.

2 Chronicles 20:1–2 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi).

2 Chronicles 20:1–3 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Common Enemy and the MeUnites

After this, this is how God repays him. The Moabites and Ammonites didn’t even like each other. Yet they are banding together to take out Jehosophat and Judah. Nothing else brings people together more quickly than a common enemy. Jehosophat and Judah suddenly became the common enemy.

2 Chronicles 20:1–13 ESV

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

And then there is this mysterious THIRD group of people who join the Moabites and the Ammonites and translators of the Bible aren’t even clear as to who these people were…some versions literally say, “the others” joined them. ESV translates them as the MeUnites. What a name. How relevant is THAT name in our time. The ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people. The ALL ABOUT ME people UNITE. The Me-Unites. It’s comical. The Me-Unites are the ones who join up against you just for fun.

So Jehosophat in chapter 19 received his rebuke like a man, seemed to have really changed, made reforms all through the nation, turning people back to God, and this is Jehosophat’s AFTER THIS…this is how God repays him....a great multitude coming up against you.

After this, this is how God repays him. By allowing three powerful enemies to join together against him.

How we respond to the AFTER THIS’ of life show us just how ALL IN we truly are.

His Response: Set His Face to Seek the Lord

I won’t tell you which TV show, but Melanie and I were watching a show where one of the main characters unexpectedly dies in the last episode of one of the seasons. It was right at the height of his character development, it was heart breaking…just out of nowhere. And the reason why they did it that way was because he decided in the middle of the season that he wanted to stop doing TV and start doing movies. So it wasn’t part of the story for him to die. He was supposed to be there until the end. He was a main character. And so the critics blasted the actor and the creators of the show because they said how it didn’t fit. But here is the thing…it never does fit. The AFTER THIS’s of life, come out of nowhere every time. It was actually incredibly realistic for him to suddenly die because that is usually the way it goes in life. So being ALL IN certainly means that when these things happen, you are ready…but you won’t be. Jehosophat was, you won’t be. I won’t be. And here is the thing…Jehosophat wasn’t all that great either.

He made TERRIBLE mistakes:

-Made a very bad alliance with an extremely evil man, King Ahab of the north. Not ALL IN.

-He made a business alliance with Ahab’s son that he shouldn’t have made. NOT ALL IN.

-And he married his own son off to their daughter. She would later kill off all of the Davidic line and only an infant named Joash who would eventually be king was saved. NOT ALL IN.

-He was a good king. Not great. Good. Early in his life, in chapter 17 he was characterized as walking in the ways of David. That was the highest compliment a king could be paid. But when he was finally memorialized he got slightly lower marks and this time he wasn’t characterized as walking in the ways of David, but walking in the ways of his father Asa. Asa was also a pretty good king. But he had some kind of foot disease towards the end of his life and for some reason he didn’t pray to God about it, so he just suffered. And he tended to take matters into his own hands.

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

His Response: Set His Face to Seek the Lord

After this, this is how God repays him. By allowing three powerful enemies to join together against him.

His Response: Set His Face to Seek the Lord

We don’t really and truly know how ALL IN we are with the Lord until trouble hits. Verse 3:

2 Chronicles 20:3 ESV

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

2 Chronicles 20:3–4 ESV

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

I love that phrase in verse 3: he “set his face to seek the Lord”.

There was another King, 850 years later, who ALSO had groups of people who were normally enemies with each other join together to hurt him and kill him. He also had done nothing to deserve their wrath. Only for this King it was the Sadducees, the Herodians, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the chief priests. And like Jehosophat, this king also set his face...

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

I love that phrase in verse 3: he “set his face to seek the Lord”.

ALL IN. Are you starting to see what ALL IN means?

So Jehosophat calls the people together …he doesn’t strategize, he doesn’t fortify, he doesn’t panic, he prays in the presence of the people. Look at how he ends his prayer in verse 12:

2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV

O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you.

Look at his response…I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you. Being all in means fixing our eyes on Jesus. I don’t know what is going to happen with my children, I’m scared, I don’t have any answers, but my eyes are fixed on you. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future, with my health, but my eyes are fixed on you. Literally it says that Jehosophat “set his face” to the Lord. Turned his face to the Lord. Turned into the Lord. Many times when we are hit with whatever life throws at us, we turn away from the Lord, and it is astounding to me, how little it takes for many people to simply turn away from the Lord.

We will talk about that more another week. He received it and changed. He didn’t execute the prophet. He didn’t complain about the prophet. He heard what was said, he received it and for the rest of chapter 19, Jehosophat is reforming the country. He is doing good things. He is installing judges so there is justice. He is teaching the people the ways of the Lord. Things are good. Jehosophat has obeyed. And then chapter 20 happens.

The valley where this battle was fought became known as the Valley of Jehosophat. It is thought that the final battle of time, the battle of Armageddon, will be fought at the Valley of Jehosophat. The place where Jehosophat prayed in front of the people and said, we don’t know what to do but our eyes are on you.

Another King would also pray in the same valley. Only it became known as the Kidron Valley. There was a Garden called the Garden of Gethsemane where this King, facing his enemies, also prayed in front of his people, like Jehosophat, he expressed great ansgt to God, saying let this cup pass from me, but not my will but your will be done. In other words, I don’t want to do this, but my eyes are on you.

He was ALL IN. Are you starting to see what ALL IN means? It’s far deeper than you following some cheap example.

I don’t know what is going to happen with my children, I’m scared, I don’t have any answers, but my eyes are fixed on you. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future, with my health, but my eyes are fixed on you.

So, ALL IN means that enemies are going to come up against you and when they do you need to be ready, you need to pray and fast and fix your eyes on Jesus the way that Jehosophat did. And that is true. But you won’t do it. And neither will I. At least not well. Because you can never really be prepared…we talked about how the very first words, AFTER THIS are interesting because there is always an AFTER THIS in life…but it could have easily said AND OUT OF NOWHERE....because that is also how life works. Out of nowhere, I get a diagnosis that I have cancer. Out of nowhere, my friend breaks my heart. Out of nowhere, I seem to be losing my faith.

I won’t tell you which TV show, but Melanie and I were watching a show where one of the main characters unexpectedly dies in the last episode of one of the seasons. It was right at the height of his character development, it was heart breaking…just out of nowhere. And the reason why they did it that way was because he decided in the middle of the season that he wanted to stop doing TV and start doing movies. So it wasn’t part of the story for him to die. He was supposed to be there until the end. He was a main character. And so the critics blasted the actor and the creators of the show because they said how it didn’t fit. But here is the thing…it never does fit. The AFTER THIS’s of life, come out of nowhere every time. It was actually incredibly realistic for him to suddenly die because that is usually the way it goes in life. So being ALL IN certainly means that when these things happen, you are ready…but you won’t be. Jehosophat was, you won’t be. I won’t be. And here is the thing…Jehosophat wasn’t all that great either.

He made TERRIBLE mistakes:

-Made a very bad alliance with an extremely evil man, King Ahab of the north. Not ALL IN.

-He made a business alliance with Ahab’s son that he shouldn’t have made. NOT ALL IN.

-And he married his own son off to their daughter. She would later kill off all of the Davidic line and only an infant named Joash who would eventually be king was saved. NOT ALL IN.

-He was a good king. Not great. Good. Early in his life, in chapter 17 he was characterized as walking in the ways of David. That was the highest compliment a king could be paid. But when he was finally memorialized he got slightly lower marks and this time he wasn’t characterized as walking in the ways of David, but walking in the ways of his father Asa. Asa was also a pretty good king. But he had some kind of foot disease towards the end of his life and for some reason he didn’t pray to God about it, so he just suffered. And he tended to take matters into his own hands.

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

I said earlier that each king is given a summary statement about his reign, he either does evil in the sight of the Lord, or good in the sight of the Lord, or good with qualifiers, but the highest mark a king can receive is doing good AND walking in the ways of David. Only a few received that mark. These final statements about the kings show us just how ALL IN a king was or wasn’t.

Jehosophat actually received two summary statements—one at the start of his reign and one at the end of his reign.

:

2 Chronicles 17:3–6 ESV

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

Not to jump ahead, but listen to the summary statement made about Jehosophat at the end of his life:

2 Chronicles 20:31–37 ESV

Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel. After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.

It seems that Jehosophat’s ALL IN barometer actually went down from the start of his reign to the end of his reign. But that doesn’t go along with the narrative we normally hear about good King Jehosophat. I could easily preach a sermon to be

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

Verse 13:

2 Chronicles 20:13–17 ESV

Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”

:

I have been alluding to parallels between Jehosophat and Jesus…and you may be thinking, that’s nice, but this is the OT and sure there may be parallels but Jesus isn’t even mentioned. The fact is, Jesus is mentioned right in the middle of this story. Verse 14:

Look at his response…I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you. Being all in means fixing our eyes on Jesus. I don’t know what is going to happen with my children, I’m scared, I don’t have any answers, but my eyes are fixed on you. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future, with my health, but my eyes are fixed on you. Literally it says that Jehosophat “set his face” to the Lord. Turned his face to the Lord. Turned into the Lord. Many times when we are hit with whatever life throws at us, we turn away from the Lord, and it is astounding to me, how little it takes for many people to simply turn away from the Lord.

2 Chronicles 20:14 ESV

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

Being all in means fixing our eyes on Jesus. I don’t know what is going to happen with my children, I’m scared, I don’t have any answers, but my eyes are fixed on you. I don’t know what is going to happen with my future, with my health, but my eyes are fixed on you. Literally it says that Jehosophat “set his face” to the Lord. Turned his face to the Lord. Turned into the Lord. Many times when we are hit with whatever life throws at us, we turn away from the Lord, and it is astounding to me, how little it takes for many people to simply turn away from the Lord.

The spirit of the LORD…who is that? That is the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit worked differently in the OT than in the NT....the Holy Spirit would come and go…that sounds heretical, but it is true. The Holy Spirit would come upon different people at different times. And that HS is the same HS that Jesus speaks of in the NT. It is HIS Holy Spirit. You could say that this Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit of Christ....the Holy Spirit of Jesus. It’s like having another Jesus. Sounds sketchy, only it isn’t…Paul:

Romans 8:9 ESV

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

1 Peter 1:11 ESV

inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

Peter:

They hurt me. They hurt my feelings. They are hypocrites. They judge me. I have to work out my faith first because this or that happened to me. Jehosophat is facing death for he and his kingdom and he doesn’t remind God of all he did for him in chapter 19, he says, I am afraid, I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you.

What if today or tomorrow or the next big thing you are called to do or the next big thing you take on isn’t a great “after this” project?

-It could have said, out of nowhere. Because that is what it was and that is what happens in life. Things were great, and then out of nowhere, bam.

1 Peter 1:11 ESV

inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

-Matthew dies. People said it didn’t fit. And it didn’t. It never does. That’s why it fit perfectly because death never fits.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and is not mixed with Jesus who is the second person of the Trinity, but is the HS of Jesus. The HS is never in Scriptures isolated from the work of Jesus. And so here in verse 14, we have the spirit of the Lord, the HS of Christ, right there coming upon this musician and giving him a word of prophecy…but in the OT the HS would come and go…but here is the beauty, when you become a Christian, you are filled with the Holy Spirit of Christ, you are filled with Nothing But Jesus, and he doesn’t leave you, he doesn’t come upon you and then go away, he fills you and stays within you.

-July 6 was out of nowhere.

You could say that the Holy Spirit of Christ is ALL IN when it comes to you. When it comes to the church.

So there Jesus is in the middle of this passage.

So how does this story relate to my sermon title then? Usually, this story is preached and told by setting Jehosophat up as an example to follow…and there are lots of ways to follow him in these verses, but that isn’t the primary way…in fact, reading Jehosophat’s response should actually show us not how we can be ALL IN, but how much we aren’t ALL IN and how much we can’t really be ALL IN.

I won’t tell you which TV show, but Melanie and I were watching a show where one of the main characters unexpectedly dies in the last episode of one of the seasons. It was right at the height of his character development, it was heart breaking…just out of nowhere. And the reason why they did it that way was because he decided in the middle of the season that he wanted to stop doing TV and start doing movies. So it wasn’t part of the story for him to die. He was supposed to be there until the end. He was a main character. And so the critics blasted the actor and the creators of the show because they said how it didn’t fit. But here is the thing…it never does fit. The AFTER THIS’s of life, come out of nowhere every time. It was actually incredibly realistic for him to suddenly die because that is usually the way it goes in life. So being ALL IN certainly means that when these things happen, you are ready…but you won’t be. Jehosophat was, you won’t be. I won’t be. And here is the thing…Jehosophat wasn’t all that great either.

He made TERRIBLE mistakes:

-Made a very bad alliance with an extremely evil man, King Ahab of the north. Not ALL IN.

-He made a business alliance with Ahab’s son that he shouldn’t have made. NOT ALL IN.

-And he married his own son off to their daughter. She would later kill off all of the Davidic line and only an infant named Joash who would eventually be king was saved. NOT ALL IN.

-He was a good king. Not great. Good. Early in his life, in chapter 17 he was characterized as walking in the ways of David. That was the highest compliment a king could be paid. But when he was finally memorialized he got slightly lower marks and this time he wasn’t characterized as walking in the ways of David, but walking in the ways of his father Asa. Asa was also a pretty good king. But he had some kind of foot disease towards the end of his life and for some reason he didn’t pray to God about it, so he just suffered. And he tended to take matters into his own hands.

-In other words, Jehosophat was good…but not great. He certainly wasn’t ALL IN. These aren’t examples of how to live. We can glean ways of living…but let’s just say the next time you have three enemies band against you, and you say, I’ll just pray, I’ll just let go and let God, be silent, that may be the right response in that situation, it may not be...because that isn’t the purpose of what you read in the OT.

So how does this story relate to my sermon title then? Usually, this story is preached and told by setting Jehosophat up as an example to follow…and there are lots of ways to follow him in these verses, but that isn’t the primary way…in fact, reading Jehosophat’s response should actually show us not how we can be ALL IN, but how much we aren’t ALL IN and how much we can’t really be ALL IN.

That is what the Law of God does. It should bring us to the end of our trying to be ALL IN.

2 Chronicles 20:20–24 ESV

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped.

This passage is all about salvation. It is a beautiful picture of how God saves us through his son Jesus Christ. Can’t you see it?

2 Chronicles 20:20–25 ESV

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.

This passage is all about salvation. It is a beautiful picture of how God saves us through his son Jesus Christ. Can’t you see it?

2 Chronicles 20:22–28 ESV

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.

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Verse 15: battle is not yours but God’s

Verse 17: the Lord will deliver you.

verses 20-24: All the enemies, all the enemies are defeated. Not some. All of them. Jesus defeated all his enemies. Jesus died for ALL of our sins, not some of our sins. But all of our sins. Jesus died so that we could defeat ALL of our sins—not to be sinless, but that we can have victory over every sin pattern in our lives…he defeated ALL of them. Not some of them. God defeated ALL of Judah’s enemies. They killed each other. Not one was left. Scripture makes a point of saying they were ALL dead and defeated just as Jesus did on the cross for us. In , Paul says that Jesus put ALL of his enemies under his feet. Jesus is our King in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and conquering and restraining ALL his and our enemies.

But that’s not all. God not only defeated all of Jehosophat’s enemies, but he also gave to him riches.

2 Chronicles 20:25 ESV

When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.

How is this story related to us being ALL IN? It’s all about the plunder. The spoils. It’s all about being ALL IN to the spoils of the victory Jesus won for us.

It’s all about the plunder.

Because Jesus not only won the victory for us on the cross over our sins…he not only defeated sin and death for us…we are not only given all of his obedience on the cross, but every good thing that Jesus did, every good thought that Jesus thought, all the riches that Jesus earned through his perfect life and his death are ours.

Justification is not only just as if I had never sinned, but just as if I had always obeyed. And THAT is why we can shout: I’m ALL IN.

Adoption means we are no longer slaves, we are no longer orphans, we are sons, we are daughters, everything Jesus has we have. ALL IN. The response of the people to the plunder is yet another picture of how we too can be ALL IN.

2 Chronicles 20:27–30 ESV

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

2 Chronicles 20:26–28 ESV

On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.

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Come to me all ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.

We have assurance of God’s love, we have peace in our conscience because his righteousness is ours, his standing before God is our standing before God, we don’t need to worry about whether or not God loves us, he is ALL IN with us. So we can move past the elementary things of Jesus, we can know that he loves us, and we can have joy in the Holy Spirit of Christ that fills us up ALL THE TIME, and grace upon grace, and we can encourage one another with this all the more as we see the day approaching.

SO WHAT?

It’s not about a you can do it mentality.

It’s not about let go and let God.

Where is the practical. Well there has already been tons, maybe not neatly packaged in a three point sermon…Abraham Lincoln said when he hears a person preach, “I don't like to hear cut and dried sermons. No—when I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”

It’s all about the plunder.

Are you ALL IN to what Jesus has won for us?

And that is what we do when we grapple with the Law of God…just Jehosophat saying “I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you.” Are your eyes on man or on God? Eyes on man discouraged. Eyes on God encouraged. There you go.

What has he won?

*assurance of salvation: the battle has been won. The battle is going to be won.

Verse 4 alone is enough of a practical…all the people came together, get in church, be here, verse 13 for parents, the little ones were there, get your children in fellowship in the church, stop prioritizing other things above church. But those things will never happen until you grasp NBJ. Until you are ALL IN with the plunder of the victory Jesus won.

*peace with God. That means peace with others. That means you are forgiven so you can forgive.

Rowing Graphic Versus Jumping into Water Graphic

*Joy in the Holy Spirit.

When we were looking at a graphic for this series, for the sign, for the bulletin, to advertise the series, one graphic we were looking at was a picture of a rowing team.

(SHOW SLIDE OF ROWING TEAM WITH ALL IN)

Every team member is rowing in the same direction. Working hard. That is what it looks like to be ALL IN—to get everyone rowing together, not sitting on the back of the boat yelling out instructions to the people who are rowing. Or criticizing those who are rowing, or being in a yaught behind the team of rowers being pulled by the rowers. There are so many ways I could go with that one. And there is a lot to be said about the church being like a rowing team. We all need to be rowing in the same direction. We all need to be rowing.

But I don’t think that is going to be what it looks like for Reach Church to be ALL IN. I think that being ALL IN to NBJ is going to be less orderly. Less predictable. Less worrying about who is rowing and who isn’t and whether or not you are rowing or not. I think it has more to do with a party of grace. With enjoying the plunder and living out of the plunder. That is why we settled on this one:

(SHOW SLIDE WE ARE USING FOR SERIES with ALL IN)

I think it is going to be more like a leap off a cliff into the water. Being ALL IN in that way. Saying, I give up control. I am going to give myself over recklessly to NBJ. I’m going to take the leap of living into NBJ.

What kind of church would Reach Church become?

Are you ALL IN?

Verse 17: the Lord will deliver you.

And I was preparing for today on and off…and my mom has a daily devotional that she sends out over email. If you don’t get it you should. It’s gold. And I hadn’t read them in a while because I had been away and not on email as much. And I opened it up on Thursday and low and behold the devotional was on Jehosophat. Not only that but she spent four or five days this week on Jehosophat. And so when I told her that I am starting a series on Jehosophat this Sunday, today, she mentioned that she just loves the climatic moment of Jehosophat’s life, , but she really likes the way the rest of his reign led up to that moment. And that was exactly how I was planning on addressing the series. I want to use as the basis, and draw on earlier episodes in his life to show how it all fit together. And then she said, I love when Jehosophat said, “I don’t know what to do but my eyes are on you.”

And that was the line I was really focused in on. I don’t think that is a coincidence.

So if you have been reading my Mom’s daily devotional you may have had Jehosophat on your mind this morning. But he isn’t a major character in the Bible. So why did I pick him for this series?

ALL IN: Part One

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