Can We Be Sure?

Introduction

May I encourage you to be opening your Bibles to the Old Testament book of first Kings. First Kings chapter 13. In this chapter we read the story about the prophet from Judah, who was commanded to the Lord to go and place a curse on the altar that had been built by Jeroboam, the king of Israel. I’m reading now first Kings chapter 13. Well the scripture says, And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, O altar, altar. Thus says the Lord, Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David, and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken. Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out. So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, Arrest him. Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. Then the king answered and said to the man of God, Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored to me.

So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. Then the king said to the man of God, Come home with me, refresh yourself, and I’ll give you a reward. But the man of God said to the king, If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you, nor would I eat bread and drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the Lord by the word of the Lord, saying, You shall not eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came. So he went another way, and did not return by the way he came to Bethel. Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel.

They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, Which way did he go? For his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it, and went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread. And he said, I cannot return with you, nor go in with you, neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for for I’ve been told by the word of the Lord, you shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by by going the way you came.

And he said to him, I too am a prophet as you are. And an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you to your house that he may eat bread and drink water. He was lying to him. So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water. Now it happened as they sat at the table that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. And he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord, because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, drank water, in the place of which the Lord said to you, Eat no bread, and drink no water.

Your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers. So it was after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by his by the corpse. And there men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way, heard it, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord.

Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to him. And he spoke to his son, saying, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled it. Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse, nor torn the donkey. And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb. And they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother. So it was after he had buried him that he spoke to his son, saying, When I am dead, and then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried, and lay my bones beside his bones.

For the saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.

One of the saddest stories in the battle.

Fearlessly. He had gone to the altar that Jeroboam had built and placed in Bethel, and before the king himself, he had placed a curse on that altar. One might wonder, why would God punish a man who did most of what he said for him to do? And yet, I believe this has been preserved in the book of God as a lesson for us today. To understand how important it is to obey all of what God says. Not just some of it or most of it. But rather, whatever is the word of the Lord that we have, we can be sure whether or not we are really obeying God when we do what he says, as we were just singing. Trust. Trust in the word of God, trust in the Lord, trust and obey.

You know, when you look at this, uh, the timing was shortly after the Israelites had been divided into two kingdoms. You perhaps know the story after the death of Solomon. There was Jeroboam who took the ten northern tribes called Israel thereafter, leaving Rehoboam as king over the southern tribes called Judah. Now Judah had Jerusalem, of course, in it, and there is where the temple was, where God had commanded his people to come and to worship him. So Jeroboam, in order to preserve, you might say, the northern kingdom, built two golden calves and set one at Dan and the other at Bethel, and reasoned with the people that it’s too hard, it’s too difficult to go up to Jerusalem. You could worship God and Dan andor Bethel.

And so it was in that setting that the Lord sent this man from Judah. And he goes to Bethel, where this altar is. And before Jeroboam the king, he places a curse on that altar and prophesies that even it would be split asunder and the ashes poured out. When he said that, can you imagine the anger of this king Jeroboam, who had already been presumptuous to even build the altar and tell people this is God’s way, you can worship here. Jeroboam said, You know, arrest that man. And his hand went out like that, it became withered. And he could not draw it again to himself. And then he prayed for this prophet from Judah. Please pray the Lord again that he may restore my hand. And he did, and his hand was restored.

A sign from God that the man really was of God to enable him to resume the natural use of his hand. But also, as he had prophesied, the altar was split in two, and the ashes were poured out, as he said, another sign, it was from God. At that point, Jeroboam the king said, Come home and refresh yourself. You can come to my house. Sort of as a reward. And maybe an attempt to appease the Lord in all of this. Man from Judah said, I cannot go home with you. The Lord not only had told him to come to Bethel and place the curse on the altar, but also he was not to eat or drink in that place, nor was he to return by the same way he had come.

Refusing the offer of the king, he starts, of course, a different way home. And then the story turns to the old prophet who was from Bethel. His sons came back and told him about this man from Judah who placed the curse on the altar. The old prophet saddled the donkey, went out and found him, and said, Come home and eat with me. And you know the answer? Oh, it’s the right answer. I cannot go home and eat with you. The Lord told me, and he goes through the same instructions, not to eat or drink in this place. He knows what the word of the Lord is. But the old prophet lies and says, Oh, an angel appeared to me and told me it’s right. It’s okay.

You can come home with me. So, believing the word of the old prophet, this prophet from Judah goes home with him. Would you have done that? After all that’s been done. This man says, The Lord told me this. The angel appeared to me, and it’s all right. But of course, the sad part of the story is that while he is in the home of the old prophet eating, again, the word of the Lord comes. And because he has violated what God told him to do, he would not go back home or be buried in the tomb of his fathers. A lion met him in the way, and he was killed. And it is a sad story, you might say, for many reasons. I picked this lesson or this particular story in the Bible for a reason, as our folk here know, and maybe if you’re visiting, you may not know.

But we have announced for several days now that at our 11 o’clock assembly, Brother Adam Willingham is going to be speaking on the subject. Where did they all come from? We’re living in a time where there are many different kinds of churches. Can they all be right, although they’re teaching conflicting and contradicting doctrines? And so it’s an important lesson, but I thought at least as a sort of, in a way, a preview of attitudes. How is it possible that there can be so many hundreds and maybe thousands of different kinds of churches? I believe this story illustrates very well some of the attitudes that have caused divisions in the religious world. Even good and sincere people.

1. He Trusted Him Because He Said He Was a Prophet

Why you may say, why was it that he lost his life? And let me give you at least three or four reasons. First of all, he trusted this man because he said he was a prophet. Now, if a prophet comes and tells you that God spoke to him, and it’s all right now, I can see why maybe from that point of view he was persuaded it’ll be all right to go home with him. How often is it that there are people today who would say, well, if a if a preacher said it must be right. You know, the devil sort of has preachers who have a Bible under their arm, and if they quote at least some scripture, maybe even most of what they say is from the word of God, but it’s that part that’s not from the word of God that is condemning.

This man was a prophet of God. And some trust this because a preacher says it. Without demanding, he opens the book and proves it from the word of God. You see, there are preachers today who are false teachers. Jesus warned us about that. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 15, he said, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they’re ravening wolves. Preachers can be false. Jesus said that. Test them by their fruits. In fact, I find one of the most fearful verses in the Bible. I’ve often said to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 13 through 15, where the Bible says, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder. For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. Indeed, there are those who come as angels of light, the devil does. And his preachers are going to be coming as preachers of righteousness. The devil doesn’t come in a red suit waving a flag, this is Arab, it’ll take you to hell. He does not come that way. He’s a liar. Jesus said, the Father lies. So we need to test even preachers. Just because they claim to be a preacher of the Word of God, you need to get your book open and test them. Make sure. He trusted him because he was a prophet. You can understand maybe why. As people sometimes do today.

2. He Was Sincere, Feeling in His Heart It Was Right

But also, I would say this man from Judah was sincere. Perhaps he felt in his heart that this was the right thing to do. Have you had people say, oh, you know, I came to the Lord and it was the most wonderful feeling in my heart? It just swept over me when I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. Indeed, there should be a feeling of joy and rejoicing when one obeys the gospel. But it might be that the lie of the devil has caused some to believe a lie in the place of the truth. And that’s a danger also. Even though he was sincere and believed it, he could believe a lie, couldn’t he? You remember the story in the Old Testament about the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob?

How his brothers hated him out of jealousy. And they sold him to the Ishmaelites. Joseph went down into Egypt. But his brothers took the coat of Joseph and took it back to their father, dipped it in blood, the coat of many colors. And they didn’t say now Joseph is dead. All they said is or asked is, is this your son’s coat? In Genesis 37, verse 33 of Jacob, he recognized it and said, It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt, Joseph is torn to pieces. You know, did he believe sincerely? Yes, but it was a lie, wasn’t it? In fact, over 25 years later, for all these years, Jacob has believed that his son Joseph is dead. But at Genesis 45, after quite a story of his brothers, Jacob’s other sons, being sent to Egypt because of a famine to buy grain.

And then Joseph is now second only to Pharaoh and over this, and he recognizes the brothers. They don’t recognize him at first, but finally the story unfolds, where Joseph identifies who he is and sends them back to get his father Jacob. But when they come back, the scripture says then they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he’s governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart stood still. Because he did not believe them. After all these years, he’s felt it in his heart. He’s believed it, but he was wrong, wasn’t he? Is that a story to teach us something about just feelings in our heart?

Don’t make it so. Feelings can be mistaken. Even in the New Testament, I guess one of the most outstanding cases is that of the apostle Paul, we know is the great servant of the Lord. Yet when he was arrested and he stood before the council, Sanhedrin Council in Jerusalem, and Acts 23, verse 1, quoted Paul looking earnestly at the council and said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day. Now, beloved, we ought to have good consciences. But good conscience by itself doesn’t make it right. Paul was mistaken, but he had lived in good conscience. In fact, in chapter 26 before the king, he said, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

This I also did in Jerusalem. Many of the saints I showed up in prison having received authority from the chief priest. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. I thought this was right. That’s why he did it. But he was wrong, wasn’t he? Feelings can be mistaken. Again, a fearful passage to me is found in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 9 through 12, where the scripture speaks about the coming of a lawless one, how it is according to the working of Satan, with all power of signs and lying wonders, with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

It is possible for us to be so prejudiced or hardened in our heart that we close our eyes and will not believe the truth. And in the place of it, God allows us to believe a lie. It’s important that we keep an open heart. And when we demand, give me the word of God, we make sure that it’s recorded in its context and applied correctly. And that we be open to it. Even if it makes major changes in our life, we’re going to make certain that we are receiving in love of the truth and not believing a lie in its place. Well, yeah, these two reasons. The prophet from Judah went home. He perhaps trusted because he said he was a prophet. And because even the prophet of the man from Judah was sincere and feeling in his heart it was right.

3. He’d Obeyed Most of God’s Commands

But thirdly, he’d obeyed most of God’s commands. I mean, it took it took some nerve, you might say, to go and face the Jeroboam face to face in front of this altar and put a curse on it. And even then to refuse the goodness of the king to go home and eat bread and drink water in this place. And he’s done most of what God said. He had even left and gone back another way. There’s some good people who religiously, you might say have done most of what God said. But here comes some preacher who says, Well, just accept Jesus as your personal Savior. If you just believe, that’s all that’s involved. That’s really at that point when you accept him as your Savior. You’re saved.

Well, you might say they’ve heard the word. It took some faith to believe in God. It takes some faith to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And so maybe at that point, having heard the word that much of it, they believe. Is that all? Is there more? Can we stop at just belief? Some have felt in the heart that they’re saved because of that. John chapter 12, verses 42 and 43, even the scriptures speak about the rulers of the Jews. Many believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. We can believe and yet not fully obey. We stopped short of what God said.

Even those who would say today, just believe, accept Jesus as your Savior. This is a verse I often read to them. And I’ve yet to find somebody to say, Oh, well, these rulers are saved. No, everybody knows these rulers are lost who would not confess him, though they did believe, they just had not fully obeyed. You’d remember on the day of Pentecost, after Peter went the eleven and preached about the Christ, did he fulfilled prophecy, raised from the grave. And they were cut to the heart. They believed. It was an ideal time when they asked, What shall we do? It was an ideal time for Peter to have said, Well, just accept Jesus as your personal Savior. If you’ve accepted, that’s enough. Or the mind has just said, Well, just say the sinner’s prayer.

What did Peter say? He said, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He didn’t say, just stop. Now you’ve done enough. In fact, just accept Jesus as your Savior. Passages like James chapter 2, verses 19 through 24 should cause us all to stop and say, wait a minute. Believing, if it’s just mental acceptance, the Bible says something more is needed. In verse 19 of James 2, you believe that there’s one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

Do you see that faith was working together with his works and by works, faith was made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God, and it was a candidate him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Then notice 24, you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. As an illustration, faith must be made perfect or mature by obedience. Yes, he had obeyed most of what God said. And today, when preachers say, Well, just say the sinner’s prayer, again, they are like this same class of people who may believe. Peter could have said to them that they’ve been a cause, just say a prayer and let’s and follow me in this prayer. That’s what preachers today do.

But instead, Peter said that these believers repent and be baptized. Every place in the New Testament, not one where an alien sinner was told, just say the sinner’s prayer. I’ve always said there is a case of a sinner who was praying. In Acts chapter 9, you remember after Saul of Tarsus saw the vision of the Lord, went into Damascus, and there at the instruction of the Lord, the scripture says he was praying. Lord spoke to Ananias and sent Ananias to Saul. He said, Arise and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. He’s had a vision. He has no doubt believed, for now he’s gone into the city and for three days repented by his fasting and praying.

4. Perhaps He Thought the Holy Spirit Was Leading Him

But when Ananias came to him after this vision, after believing, repenting and praying, he was told, and now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Acts 22 and verse 16. Indeed, he had done most of what God said. He trusted this man because he was a prophet. He was sincere, feeling in his heart this was right. He’d obeyed most of God’s commands. Perhaps he thought the Holy Spirit was leading him. Well, this old prophet said an angel had spoken to him. An angel? Why? Maybe that was the Lord’s message. But you know what the apostle Paul in Galatians 1 wrote to the churches of Galatia? Brethren in Christ, who had begun to believe some Judaizing teachers who were false.

And he wrote this very strong message when he said, I marvel at your turning away so soon from him, who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another. But there’s some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. Important message to all of us. Good, sincere people may do just as this prophet of Judah, doing most of what God said. And believing maybe someone who claims to be a preacher of God and may make you feel good in your heart. And in fact, you may say, I’ve obeyed most of what God said.

And you know, maybe it’s the Holy Ghost, our Spirit, that’s leading me. The question ought to be upon every one of us. How can we be sure? How can we be sure if the Holy Spirit is leading us? The answer is first of all, from the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, what is his work? In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, beginning in verse 10 through about verse 13. The scripture there describes the whole work of the Holy Spirit this way. God has revealed them to us through his spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. You notice the verse? That we might what? Know the things that have been freely given to us by God. And then Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 13 said, These things we also speak not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. What he’s saying, the very things that you read in your Bible are revealed by the Holy Spirit. If you want to know what the message of the Holy Spirit is, you can find it. In fact, Paul wrote in Ephesians 3, verses 3 to 5, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery as I have briefly written already, by which when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

5. Can We Really Be Sure?

How can we know what is the Holy Spirit’s word, which is God’s word, by that which has been revealed? So really the basic answer to the question, can we really be sure? How can you know whether or not you’re in a saved condition? Ask Trey to read this morning from first John two, and here’s why. In first John two and verses three to five, the apostle says, By this we know that we know him. That’s pretty important, isn’t it? By this we know that we know him what? If we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected in him, by this we know that we are in him.

Conclusion

So the test is upon every individual. How about yourself? Can you say, I know that I have searched the word of God, obeyed the word of God, left nothing short of the word of God. Whatever he says, I will do. Attitudes toward God’s word are so very important. Let us not be like the man from Judah, who did most of what God said and was a good man in many ways, but his failure to keep all that God said cost him his life. We’re going to close with a word of prayer. And then for those who are visiting may not know, but we will have just a brief break and then go to Bible classes. And at the end of the Bible classes, we’ll come back in the auditorium.

And at uh really 10 55, we’ll begin our worship, at which time the Lord’s Supper will be served. And following that, our lesson by Brother Willingham on where did they all come from? Power of me in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are so grateful for the beautiful day, and mostly for the opportunity that we have to gather together as your children. Help us, Father, to read your word and to understand it properly, and then commit ourselves to obeying it. That in all things we may please you and not ourselves. Keep us, Father, as your servants and save us family. In the name of Christ we pray. And amen. You’ll be dismissed now at this time.