THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Kings: The Kings Of Israel And Judah From Solomon To The Babylonian Captivity

II. The Divided Kingdom, 1 Kings 12:1-22:53

W. The High Cost Of Compromise

(1 Kings 22:41-50 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

A lot of people today view compromising Bible truths as not only tolerable, but at times even good:

(1) In the marital realm, a letter to the "Dear Annie" column in the Republican-American, August 11, 2018, p. 6C reported, "I am trying to adapt to . . . (c)ouples living together before marriage," what the Bible calls the sin of fornication, but Annie Lane's reply read: "Worry . . . more about what is in their hearts. Wish them a very long and happy marriage . . ." as if fornication was at least tolerable if not acceptable.

(2) In the business realm, though Scripture condemns covetousness and stealing that is behind Marxist ideology and its offshoot in socialism that promotes taxing the rich to give to the poor, many "young people, who are among socialism's most ardent fans" think "replacing capitalism with socialism makes you better off," what "has never happened in the history of mankind." (Ibid., "Quotable," August 10, 2018, citing Investor's Business Daily August 9 editorial, "Democratic Socialism: Who Knew That 'Free' Could Cost So Much?")

(3) In the realm of doctrinal belief, The Berean Call website has posted a nugget from Dave Hunt's book, Occult Invasion that reads: "'The Pope stands firmly with a theory which contradicts not only the Genesis account of creation but other key portions of the Bible as well. And today's leading evangelical magazine, Christianity Today (begun and still backed by Billy Graham) supports the pope in his endorsement of Evolution.'" (thebereancall.org, August 5, 2018, citing Dave Hunt, "Nuggets from Occult Invasion - Theistic Evolution: A Convenient Compromise")

Need: So, we ask, "If many treat compromise on Bible truths as tolerable or good, is such compromise harmful?"

I. Though Jehoshaphat generally lived righteously (1 Kings 22:41-43, 46), he compromised in some realms:

A. Jehoshaphat compromised in doctrinal belief, 1 Kings 22:43b et al.:

1. He initially removed the high places of worship (2 Chronicles 17:6) that unbiblically and paganistically competed against and thus detracted from the temple worship of the Lord (Deuteronomy 12:1-7).

2. However, "when the people restored them," Jehoshaphat "did not again obliterate the restored high places" (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 535; 1 Kings 22:43b), tolerating unbiblical practices in worship.

B. Jehoshaphat compromised in marriage, 1 Kings 22:44: he formed an alliance with evil Ahab (2 Chronicles 19:1-2) by unbiblically marrying his son Jehoram to Ahab and Jezebel's evil daughter Athaliah (2 Chronicles 21:5-6; 18:1-3; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 2 Chronicles 18:1-3; Deuteronomy 7:3-4.

C. Jehoshaphat compromised in business: he made an unbiblical alliance with Ahab's evil son Ahaziah in a venture to acquire gold from Ophir by way of ships from Ezion-geber, 1 Kings 22:48; 2 Chronicles 20:35-37a.

II. These compromises led to great costs for Jehoshaphat, his descendants and the godly prophet Micaiah:

A. Jehoshaphat's compromise in doctrinal belief through not consistently eradicating the high places of worship later helped influence his son Jehoram to follow false gods when he became king, 2 Chronicles 21:1, 5-6a.

B. Jehoshaphat's compromise in marriage led to his own lineage being nearly eliminated:

1. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram was influenced by his wicked wife Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, to kill all of Jehoram's brothers to secure the throne for only his descendants, 2 Chronicles 21:1-6.

2. When Jehoram died in divine judgment for his sins (2 Chronicles 21:12-20), his son, Ahaziah, ruled until Jehu's prophesied purge of Ahab's lineage led to Jehu's slaying of Ahaziah, 2 Kings 9:1-28.

3. Athaliah then slew nearly all of Jehoshaphat's grandsons to secure Judah's throne for herself, with only one infant escaping by God's grace to preserve the Davidic Covenant, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12; 2 Samuel 7:4-17.

C. Jehoshaphat's compromise in business was judged by God Who wrecked Jehoshaphat's ships at Ezion-geber before they could sail, 2 Chronicles 22:35-37. [1 Kings 22:49 explains that Jehoshaphat later refused a request by Ahaziah to have his men join Jehoshaphat's men in the ships, so Jehoshaphat finally learned not to compromise in his associations if he wanted God's blessing and not His punishment!]

D. In addition, as we previously learned, Jehoshaphat's marital compromise with Ahab's daughter undermined his own spiritual walk, adding hardships to his life and leading to the persecution of the godly prophet Micaiah:

1. Jehoshaphat's compromise led to laxness in his walk: he asked for God's guidance in going to war with Ahab when he should have heeded God in avoiding an alliance with him, 1 Kings 22:1-4; 2 Chron. 19:1-3.

2. Jehoshaphat's compromise led to his discomfort: he had to face Ahab's hateful comment about godly Micaiah, causing Jehoshaphat enough discomfort that he publicly rebuked Ahab for it, 1 Kings 22:7-8.

3. Jehoshaphat's compromise led to his spiritual discontent: he had to face the ministry of 400 compromised prophets, creating tension in his own heart over their false message, 1 Kings 22:5-7, 11-12.

4. Jehoshaphat's compromise led to the persecution of the godly prophet Micaiah: it caused Ahab to summon Micaiah to testify and suffer being publicly slapped by a false prophet (1 Kings 22:24) and led to Micaiah's being imprisoned and fed sparingly by Ahab, 1 Kings 22:26-28.

5. Jehoshaphat's compromise led to a lack of wisdom: though hearing godly Micaiah's prophetic warning against joining Ahab in battle against the Arameans (1 Kings 22:14-23), Jehoshaphat then foolishly heeded Ahab's directive that he dress in his royal robes to be a recognizable, royal target for the enemy while Ahab tried to protect himself by disguising himself to look like a regular soldier, 1 Kings 22:29-30.

6. Jehoshaphat's compromise thus led to his being terrorized in the battle, 1 Kings 22:32.

7. Jehoshaphat's compromise thus finally led to his near loss of life in the battle, 1 Kings 22:32-33.

Lesson: Though initially personally walking uprightly with God, king Jehoshaphat compromised in doctrinal belief, in marriage and in business, leading to many great problems for him and for many other people.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ for salvation from sin and hell, John 3:16. (2) As believers, may we NOT unbiblically compromise AT ALL, for the EVENTUAL costs are VERY GREAT for US and MANY OTHERS!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

(1) We apply the lesson of this message to the issues presented in our sermon introduction (as follows): (a) On marriage, Hebrews 13:4 ESV directs: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous." Regardless of today's "new morality," Scripture adheres to the "old morality" of physical intimacy only between a man and a woman in marriage. (b) On business, Scripture prohibits covetousness and stealing in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:15, 17), so Marxist ideology, including communism and socialism, are evils to be avoided by believers. (c) On creation versus evolution, since Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6 interpreted Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 literally to hold that in the beginning, God created humans male and female, making Eve from Adam's literal rib by special creation so that they were in reality "one flesh," God set the precedent for outlawing divorce, cf. Matthew 19:6. By this interpretation of Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, Jesus held to pure creation, so we must do the same or treat Him as teaching error, making Christ a sinner Who is unable to be our substitutionary atonement and thus sabotaging the Christian faith! We must then hold to pure creation as a belief essential to our whole Christian faith.

(2) However a very critical area of compromise that many believers often practice is that of functioning independently of the written Word of God, the Scriptures. Isaiah 8:19-22 teaches that such independence leaves one walking in deep spiritual darkness and even coming under destructive Satanic influence!

In the last few years, and climaxing on our recent vacation when we were faced with an unusual number of situations of believers in crisis, I with my wife have seen believers functioning independently of Scripture in ways that deeply concern us (as follows): (a) trying to develop the Galatians 5:22-23 fruit of the Spirit as character traits by self-discipline in violation of Romans 7:24 and 8:3-4 that claim only the Holy Spirit can produce this in us as we rely on God; (b) viewing an unusual experience as being of God without validating it as being so from written Scripture like Deuteronomy 13:1-4 with 2 Timothy 3:13-17 direct; (c) viewing a lack of emotional or physical self-control as an act of God in a believer when Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 14:32-33 reveal God never causes believers to lack such self-control; (d) women exercising authority over or teaching men, be they their husbands or Church leaders, in violation of 2 Timothy 2:12-15; (e) functioning independently of and insubordinately to Church leaders in violation of Hebrews 13:17; (f) critiquing a Biblically superior person's teaching or preaching of God's Word independent of Scriptural authority and/or of Scriptural criteria in violation of Jeremiah 28:1-17 and Isaiah 8:20 and (g) Church leaders of an area Gospel preaching church strongly pressuring their Church members to attend a joint worship service between their church and a cult like the Jehovah's Witnesses that denies the eternal deity of Christ and holds to a false gospel of salvation by works in violation of Galatians 1:8-9, 2 John 9-10 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15.

For my part, and for my own walk and influence in this body, I am coming off my vacation with great zeal to think and act in complete dependence on the Word of God. I hope and pray that everyone else here will do likewise.

We must function in full alignment with Scripture, for the cost of compromise it is just too high!

May we trust in Christ for salvation. May we not compromise Scripture with false views.