Sermon, 3/30/03 pm

Jim Huskey, The Pride of Life

This morning in our lesson we looked at some principles that are time-

less, because man hasn't changed. The appeals Satan made to Eve in

the garden of Eden, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the

pride of life, we said have been at the root of man's problems. We

noticed those were the same temptations the devil tried to lay at the

feet of Jesus in the wilderness; John says they are the ones that are

still around today.

It's interesting to see those principles illustrated in life and there

is illustration after illustration in the Bible of how those principles

work. We saw the in the life of Eve; but there are some other stories

in the Old Testament that illustratate those principles very vividly,

as well as what happens when they are followed.

In I Kings 21 there is a familiar story to those who are familiar with

Old Testament history. It has to do with one of the wicked kings of

Israel by the name of Ahab and something he wanted. Now Ahab, you'll

remember, had selected for his wife, Jezebel, and she stirred him up to

do evil more than perhaps anybody. I Kings 21 beginning, "And it came to

pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard,

which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab the King of Samaria.

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may

have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house; and I

will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to

thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth said to

Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my

fathers unto thee. And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased

because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for

he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And

he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat

no bread." I Kings 21:1-4.

So a series of events began because a man wanted something he didn't

have. Two things entered into it - primarily the pride of life. "I

want that." Then, of course, there could be the appearance of it. "I

want a garden of herbs I can look out on because it's close to my house,

and I like that, too." Everybody at one time or another, is confronted

with that problem. We all see things at times we'd like to have. We

all see things that please us and we would enjoy. The problem is, some

folks will go to any lengths to get those things that they may satisfy

themselves.

Well, you'll remember, Ahab came home, laid down and pouted like a

five-year-old child. Jezebel came in and wanted to know what the

problem was. "And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the

Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or

else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it; and

he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard." I Kings 2l:6. Now

listen to the way in which Jezebel approached him. "....Dost thou now

govern the kingdom of Israel?...." Vs. 7. In other words, 'aren't you

the king?" "...Arise and eat bread and let thine heart be merry; I

will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." Vs. 7.

Well, we remember - Ahab got his vineyard. We remember how Jezebel

had a setup feast proclaimed, then false witnesses were brought in,

Naboth was put to death. Then she went home and told Ahab to go out

and get his vineyard, it was his now. So Ahab went; but on the way

there he met a prophet. "And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the

Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is

in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone

down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith

the Lord, Hast thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shalt

speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs

licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine."

Vs. 17-19.

Ahab evidently got scared for a little while. For about three years

he's quite as a mouse. I think Elijah had gotten his attention. But

about three years later the same problem is going to get in into trouble

again. I say the same problem - look at chapter 22 of I Kings.

"And they continued three yeaars without war between Syria and Israel.

And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of

Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto

his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still,

and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?." I Kings 22:1-3.

In other words, 'That's ours, we need to go get it back.' They had

survived three years without it. BUT THAT'S MINE, I WANT IT BACK!!!!

Now how far will someone go. Well since Jehoshaphat is there, he

asked, "..Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead?..." to reclaim it, it's

ours. Jehoshapat said yes, but wanted to enquire of the Lord first.

Well, the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men.

Well, we know where they come from - they were fed by Jezebel, they

were prophets of Baal, they were "yes" men, they were going to say what

the king wanted to hear. I guess that was an appeal to the ego, too, to

know that all he had to do was call those men in and know they're going

to proclaim that whatever he wanted to do, God would say it's all right.

So they came in, say "...Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the

hand of the king." Vs. 6. Well Jehoshaphat wasn't a complete fool.

He said "....Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we

might enquire of him?.......There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of

Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord; but I hate him; for he doth

not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let

not the king say so." Vs. 7,8. So they sent for Micaiah and in the

meantime, Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron; and said,

"....Thus saith the Lord, with these shalt thou push the Syrians, until

thou have consumed them. And all the prohets prophesied so, saying,

Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper; for the Lord shall deliver it into

the king's hand." Vs.11,12. The messenger that was sent to get

Micaiah told him on the way back to the king, 'Now listen, let me

clue you in; all the rest of the prophets have prophesied good concerning

the king of Israel; now you do the same.' Vs. 13. So Micaiah came in

and in verse 15 we pick up, "So he came to the king. And the king said

unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or

shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go and prosper; for the Lord

shall deliver it into the hand of the king." Well, that's what the

messenger told him to say, wasn't it!!!! "And the king said unto him

How many times shall I adjure (command) thee that thou tell me nothing

but that which is true in the name of the Lord?" Vs. 16. Why didn't

he tell his other prophets that? Have you ever thought about that?

Micaiah told him exactly the same thing the four hundred prophets of

Baal told him - exactly the same thing. But now Ahab knew they were

telling him what he wanted to hear and why they were telling him that.

They ate at his table. Listen to Micaiah, "....I saw all Israel

scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd; and the

Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house

in peace." Vs. 17. These have no master - what's happened to him??

GUESS!!!! "And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not

tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord

sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on

his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall

persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said

on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth

a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.

And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth,

and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he

said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go forth, and do so.

Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of

all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee."

Vs. 18-23. Pride of life - how far will it carry a fellow, what will

it cause him to do? It's already caused him, through his wife, to

take the life of another man and take that which belonged to another

man. Now he wants a city. And the Lord has said through the prophet

Micaiah, 'If you go up there, you're going to die. If you go, you

die, you "ain't" coming back alive.' How bad did he want that city?

I don't know if he wanted the city that bad or if he thought he could

fool God!!! Both of them have to do with the pride of life - I'M THE

KING!!!!!

So Ahab told Jehoshaphat 'I'm not going to put on my royal robes; you

go into battle arrayed as king and I'll go in arrayed as a soldier.'

Now a long time ago the prophet had told Abab he was going to die -

Elijah told him that. In the very place where the dogs licked up the

blood of Naboth, they would lick up Ahab's blood. Now Micaiah had told

him if he went to Ramothgilead he'd die. He wasn't going to come back

alive. But the pride of life said "That's mine and I want it badly

enough and I'm smart enough I can fool the best of them." So you

know, he went. The king of Syria had decided that if Abab came up to

the battle he wasn't going back alive. He was going to do everything

in his power, to he assigned his leaders to fight against nobody but

the king of Israel. They came after Jehoshaphat thinking he was the

king of Israel. When they say he wasn't Ahab, they just turned aside

and let him go. But he was the only king they saw, the only one

dressed like a king. But a bowman drew a bow at a venture; he was

fighting in the battle like I used to hunt quail, just firing at

nothing in particular. That arrow pierced the armor of Ahab and

he died. They took his chariot back and washed it out near the pool

where the dogs had licked the blood of Naboth; and the dogs came and

licked the blood that was washed from the chariot of Ahab - just like

the prophet said.

Now that's how stong that tool of the devil is. That's how strong it

is. That's what it will cause a man to do if he lets it get the

best of him. We see the same things repeated in our lifetime today.

Man hasn't changed and since man hasn't changed the need for the gospel

has not disappeared. Man hasn't changed; oh, the environment in

which he lives is a little different, techonology is much more

advanced, but man is still the same. The gospel is still the most

needed commodity. It's not food, it's not water, it's the gospel.

All the lack of those other commodities will do is kill you physically;

but the lack of the gospel will leave you dead, sure enough, the

second death, it's called in the Bible, from which there is no return.