SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Sharper Sword, the publication ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California.
SPEAKER_01: Lighthouse believes that individuals can reach their potential for the Lord as they grow in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We want to hear our Lord say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
SPEAKER_01: Let's join Pastor Doug Fisher as he preaches another important biblical message from the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm very excited to give you this thought this morning.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Chronicles 17.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Kings chapter number 16.
SPEAKER_00: I want to take off my glasses just for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: These are for reading.
SPEAKER_00: Steve, Elizabeth, where are y'all at?
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking.
SPEAKER_00: I'm you're right there, usually.
SPEAKER_00: There you are.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00: Has it been five years?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody, uh, didn't we just snap our finger?
SPEAKER_00: Didn't we just say hello to each other again from coming in from North Valley?
SPEAKER_00: And my goodness, God's been blessing so much.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for caring so much about so many people.
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate you a great, great deal.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll be praying Godspeed for praying for Matthew and his business endeavors and Michael and who knows if he's going to be become president of the United States or not.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll be praying.
SPEAKER_00: I mean that with all my heart and wishing you Godspeed.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Chronicles chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Kings chapter 16.
SPEAKER_00: In 2 Chronicles chapter 17, we are this morning to look to an individual, and we're going to learn one aspect of this individual's life, if you would.
SPEAKER_00: The wonderful thing about the Bible is there's so many different people depicted in the Bible that God wants us to read and study and learn something from the Lord's perspective.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you, the Bible is never going to be mastered on this earth by anybody.
SPEAKER_00: It's constantly revealing something to us.
SPEAKER_00: And I mean men and women who studied for years, they find out there's so much more depth in the Bible the more they study.
SPEAKER_00: May we continue to study ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Chronicles chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at someone that you may know.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may be introduced for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: His name is Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to watch one aspect of his life, but let's get a running start to see who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And remember, God wanted us to be seen, see something about Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that a good way to start?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because we walked in the first ways of his father David.
SPEAKER_00: And would you underline the next few words, and sought not unto Balaam?
SPEAKER_00: Now Balaam was the false God of the day.
SPEAKER_00: Now there's many false gods, but Balaam of that day was the false God of that day.
SPEAKER_00: And notice he walked in the ways of David, and he did not seek, if you would, to follow after Balaam.
SPEAKER_00: He says that specifically, verse 4, but sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in the commandments and not after the doings of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, because he did that, the Lord established or established the kingdom in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: And all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presence, and he had riches and honor and abundance.
SPEAKER_00: God was blessing him.
SPEAKER_00: You won't see in the Bible very often where it says his heart is lifted up and it's speaking about a positive thing, but you see that about Jehoshaphat in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Usually when you see the phrase his heart is lifted up, it speaks about pride.
SPEAKER_00: But in this one instant in the Bible about Jehoshaphat, it says his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So positive.
SPEAKER_00: He made sure that Judah was taught, if you would, about the Lord in verse number nine.
SPEAKER_00: In verse number 10, we see something real interesting.
SPEAKER_00: The fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the land that were around about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that interesting that God's fear and God's protection was so strong that no one even wanted to make war against Jehoshaphat, so there was this peaceful time.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12, Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly.
SPEAKER_00: So we see how God had blessed Jehoshaphat, but now I want you to see the characteristic.
SPEAKER_00: Look at chapter 18.
SPEAKER_00: You're holding your place in 1 Kings 16.
SPEAKER_00: Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 18 and notice verse number 1, verse number 1.
SPEAKER_00: Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, God had given him that, given him favor.
SPEAKER_00: And then I want you to underline the next few words, please.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says Jehoshaphat, even though he had riches in abundance, he had great honor.
SPEAKER_00: He joined affinity with Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: If you're new to your Bible, I want you to know that Ahab is not somebody that walks with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Ahab was married to somebody that's famous, even for those who don't know the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Her name was Jezebel.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a lot of people that don't know the Bible that knows the concept of the name Jezebel.
SPEAKER_00: And certainly if someone's named that, I'm not on them.
SPEAKER_00: But my saying is this to you that in the Bible, when those Christians that study the Bible, when you think of Jezebel, you think of somebody that worshipped and followed after a false God named Balaam.
SPEAKER_00: Someone that had the prophets, if you would, protected, that promoted Balaam.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says Jehoshaphat joined affinity with Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: Affinity is a word that means this affinity.
SPEAKER_00: But affinity means a relationship that influences.
SPEAKER_00: So when it says that Jehoshaphat joined affinity with Ahab, it says this: that he was going to allow Ahab to influence him.
SPEAKER_00: That he was going to allow Ahab to, if you would, affect the direction that Jehoshaphat would go.
SPEAKER_00: It was more than just a friendship, it was an influence.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to remember that Jehoshaphat did not follow after Balaam, but now he joins affinity with someone who does.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, may I say to you, we we work out in the world, but we're not of the world.
SPEAKER_00: We work beside people that are in the world and maybe not believe that what we do, but may I say we are not to allow them to affect us against our God.
SPEAKER_00: We work with them.
SPEAKER_00: We may work for them, but we don't want to adjoin affinity to them where they influence us and pull us away from the work and the will of God for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: You that are in the military, you work beside people.
SPEAKER_00: You that are in uh public service, you work beside people.
SPEAKER_00: You may be going to college and be beside someone.
SPEAKER_00: But may I say, whatever you do, we are to be careful about not joining affinity where they influence us away from the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: And in this situation, Jehoshaphat joins affinity to Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to hold your place right there, please.
SPEAKER_00: We're coming back to 2 Chronicles 18 in a moment, but just so you know the extent of this, look at 1 Kings 16.
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for turning there.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Kings 16.
SPEAKER_00: And remember now, Jehoshaphat himself, the Bible says, did not seek unto Balaam.
SPEAKER_00: But notice who he joins affinity with, the influence.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Kings 16, you're doing great.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 30.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 30.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the explanation by God who Ahab is.
SPEAKER_00: And Ahab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what it says: above all that were before him.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see in verse number 31, his wife's name's Jezebel, and they would go and serve Balaam, and notice they worshiped him.
SPEAKER_00: And then they reared up these altars unto Baal, unto, if you would, Balaam.
SPEAKER_00: And he built these altars and influenced many people to worship a false God.
SPEAKER_00: This was the king of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Israel was to be a peculiar people unto God.
SPEAKER_00: And here was this king taking that peculiar people that was supposed to be serving God and influencing them heavy to serve a false God.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you, in Ahab, verse 33, made a grove.
SPEAKER_00: And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, we're not talking about somebody who just visited Baal.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about somebody who lived, promoted, breathed, was so much against God, the true living God, that God says he did more than all the kings of Israel to provoke them.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah, all the days of his life, was sent by God to try to, if you would, rebuke Ahab and Elijah and Ahab were enemies against each other.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Elijah represented the true and living God.
SPEAKER_00: Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: Ahab was so, and I hope you don't mind the word, so wicked.
SPEAKER_00: And Jehoshaphat knew that when he joined affinity to him.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat was aware of that when he allowed Ahab to begin to influence him.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat had a walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat was blessed by God.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat had a kingdom that was at peace because God gave him that peace.
SPEAKER_00: But he, if you would, played around in such a way with the affinity of Ahab that it began to influence him in the wrong way.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to see this morning, look back at 2 Chronicles 18.
SPEAKER_00: You're doing well this morning.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Chronicles 18, and follow with me just a little further.
SPEAKER_00: In verse number one, Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it interesting that God had given him that?
SPEAKER_00: And then the second part of the verse, but he joins affinity with Ahab, who provoked the Lord God of Israel to more wrath than any other king.
SPEAKER_00: And you'll see in verse number two that Ahab persuaded Jehoshaphat to go with him.
SPEAKER_00: And verse number three is the specifics.
SPEAKER_00: Ahab approaches Jehoshaphat and says, Wilt thou go with me to Ramath Gilead?
SPEAKER_00: And notice what Jehoshaphat said.
SPEAKER_00: He answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you that not only did Jehoshaphat do wrong, but he led the tribe of Israel or the tribe of Judah wrong.
SPEAKER_00: We need to look at something in our lives, please.
SPEAKER_00: We think, well, it doesn't hurt anybody else what we do, who we let influence us.
SPEAKER_00: Brother, I want to tell you, whether you have a family or not, somebody's watching you.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody is observing you.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you're part of a family, whether you have what you think you don't have anybody that you're influencing, every Christian has somebody watching them.
SPEAKER_00: Every Christian has an impact on somebody.
SPEAKER_00: Every Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you consider yourself a leader or not, doesn't matter your status.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you, we need to say this to the teenagers too, because teenagers as Christians, somebody's watching you.
SPEAKER_00: The young people are watching you.
SPEAKER_00: The eight-year-olds, the nine-year-olds are watching you.
SPEAKER_00: They're observing what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00: And as you get older and older, may I say, uh, as the as for some of us the gray hair comes, some of us the no hair comes.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you that somebody's watching us.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's observing us.
SPEAKER_00: And in this case, Jehoshaphat led Judah and said, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the next thing that happened, and we're not going to go into detail on this because of time.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat, when when Ahab says, Let's go up to Ramath Gilead and we'll go to war together, we'll we'll join forces together, we'll we'll have an affinity together, we'll have a league together, we'll have a covenant and alliance together.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat said, uh, let's inquire of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Let's ask God what he thinks.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and if you read the next little bit, and I'll let you read maybe after church or sometime, you'll see that uh uh uh uh Ahab acquiesces to do that.
SPEAKER_00: A prophet comes in.
SPEAKER_00: And oh, when the prophet comes in, they call him in.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Ahab says, I don't like this prophet.
SPEAKER_00: This prophet always tells me what I don't want to hear.
SPEAKER_00: And Jehoshaphat encourages him on says, Let's ask what the Lord has to say.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you, Ahab already didn't want to hear it, he wasn't gonna listen anyway.
SPEAKER_00: And finally the prophet prophesies and uh tells the truth, and and uh God pronounces the judgment.
SPEAKER_00: And notice what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Ahab does something in verse number 26.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 26.
SPEAKER_00: With that prophet that represented the Lord, told the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 26.
SPEAKER_00: Thus saith the king, put this fellow in prison and feed him with bread and water of affliction, with the water of affliction until I return in peace.
SPEAKER_00: You know what Ahab does with that prophet?
SPEAKER_00: He said, put him in prison and just give him bread and water until we return.
SPEAKER_00: It should have signaled something, Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat should have woke up and said, Something's wrong with that.
SPEAKER_00: The prophet just prophesied, and now my newfound influential friend is putting him in prison.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, there's signs and indicators along the way.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat should have backed out of that thing, but he didn't, and God records it.
SPEAKER_00: The next thing you'll see happening is something that I want to highlight with you in verse number 29.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the king of Israel, that's Ahab, said un Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and I will go to the battle.
SPEAKER_00: But Jehoshaphat, you put on, you put on your robes like a king.
SPEAKER_00: You dress like the king going to battle.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna, I'm not gonna dress like the king.
SPEAKER_00: You go out and dress like the king.
SPEAKER_00: So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat is the one who wears all his uh king's uh robes, if you would, in the chariot, and and is obviously the leader of the group, and and Ahab has himself disguised.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because in verse number 30, you'll see the the king of Syria said, I only want to go after the king.
SPEAKER_00: I only want the king dead.
SPEAKER_00: And may I say to you, Ahab knew what was about ready to take place, and Ahab knew that that captain of the host of Syria was targeting him.
SPEAKER_00: And when they saw Jehoshaphat and all his king's attire, if you would, they said, There's the king.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go after him.
SPEAKER_00: That's what that's what we were told to do by our king.
SPEAKER_00: We're supposed to just go right after the king of Israel, supposed to go right after Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you, Jehoshaphat got set up.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00: The ones we think sometimes are for us are just using us.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say it again.
SPEAKER_00: In the world, sometimes there are new rules.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean no rules?
SPEAKER_00: Someone doesn't fear the Lord, they'll just use you.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're a Christian or not.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to condemn the world.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying we ought to be careful who we hang around too much.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta tell you, I've been uh I hate to confess to you.
SPEAKER_00: But I I think, you know, you say, well, where was it?
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to go into detail, but you know, were you hanging around the world?
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you, you can hang around worldly Christians and get took.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean, get took?
SPEAKER_00: I know that's terrible, terrible English, but you get took.
SPEAKER_00: You get used.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking 15, 18 years ago, boy, did I hang around somebody that was rock walking right, seemed to walk right?
SPEAKER_00: And boy, did I get what?
SPEAKER_00: Took.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I got took bad.
SPEAKER_00: What did it teach you?
SPEAKER_00: It taught me a little bit about these scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: What to be careful about.
SPEAKER_00: They say did it cost you?
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00: You mean you mean personally?
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, personally.
SPEAKER_00: What was it?
SPEAKER_00: That they took you on.
SPEAKER_00: Money.
SPEAKER_00: Still paying for it.
SPEAKER_00: Some lessons don't go away overnight.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they linger and keep teaching and teaching and teaching and teaching.
SPEAKER_00: While Jehoshaphat goes out to battle, the king of Syria had said, only go after the king of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: The king of Israel didn't have his attire on.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat did.
SPEAKER_00: They said, There's the king of Israel, and they were looking right at Jehoshaphat, and they came towards him in verse 31, surrounded him.
SPEAKER_00: But Jehoshaphat cried out, and notice what happened.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord helped him.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord helped him.
SPEAKER_00: What a charitable God.
SPEAKER_00: Even though he knew that Jehoshaphat had affinity, if you would, join forces with, allowed to influence, the Lord helped him.
SPEAKER_00: And God moved them to depart from him.
SPEAKER_00: Notice, God moved them.
SPEAKER_00: This wasn't a tactical maneuver.
SPEAKER_00: This was God getting involved.
SPEAKER_00: God protected the king of Jehoshaphat even though he was out there in the wrong place with the wrong person.
SPEAKER_00: He protected Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jehoshaphat cried out.
SPEAKER_00: And may I say, if you read the story, uh Ahab got what Ahab was supposed to get.
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to go into detail, but you read the story.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody somewhere drew a bow at a venture.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what that means.
SPEAKER_00: They stuck their bow in the air and pulled it back and let it go.
SPEAKER_00: And that arrow found its place right between the armor of Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat escapes.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the next thing that happens in chapter number 19, stay with me, you're doing great.
SPEAKER_00: A prophet shows up to talk to Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: A prophet by sent by God shows up, if you would, to talk to Jehoshaphat in verse number two.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what the prophet says in the last half of the verse.
SPEAKER_00: Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the prophet said?
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat, you're not supposed to be out here with the ungodly, those that hate the Lord, joining that affinity.
SPEAKER_00: Please listen.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to work beside someone, it's another thing to let them influence us in actions.
SPEAKER_00: I'll say it again.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to work beside someone, it's another thing to let them influence us in wrong actions.
SPEAKER_00: And Jehoshaphat was influenced into wrong actions.
SPEAKER_00: But look at the next verse.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: In one verse, he says, God helped you.
SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't be, if you would, out with the ungodly.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you loving them that hate the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 3, nevertheless, there are good things found in thee.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it good that God's realistic?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it good that he presents a balance here?
SPEAKER_00: He says, You shouldn't be out here with Ahab, but you know what?
SPEAKER_00: The prophet says, there are good things found in you.
SPEAKER_00: You've taken away the groves out of the land.
SPEAKER_00: You prepared your heart to seek the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You brought, if you would, them the law you had them teach.
SPEAKER_00: So here is Jehoshaphat learning a lesson, and God, if you would, didn't pronounce final judgment on him.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat is taught a lesson that you shouldn't have done that.
SPEAKER_00: And for two chapters of practical application, Jehoshaphat has a great walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: A wonderful walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: God blesses him in the next battle.
SPEAKER_00: God gives him great spoil for all of Judah.
SPEAKER_00: God does a wonderful thing.
SPEAKER_00: But now I want you to see the rest of the story.
SPEAKER_00: The end of it.
SPEAKER_00: Please don't miss.
SPEAKER_00: Look at 2 Chronicles chapter number 20, and we finish with this.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the end of Jehoshaphat's life.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse number 35.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, verse number 35.
SPEAKER_00: Even after God spared Jehoshaphat, God blessed Jehoshaphat, God returns back to show us something in the Bible, and he shows us the end of Jehoshaphat's last action, verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: And after this, did Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, join himself with Ahaziah.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know who Ahaziah is, I'll just give you this scripture to write down 1 Kings 22, 51.
SPEAKER_00: Ahaziah is Ahab's son.
SPEAKER_00: And Ahaziah does just as wickedly as his father.
SPEAKER_00: Ahaziah also worships Baal.
SPEAKER_00: Ahaziah influences everybody the same way his dad did.
SPEAKER_00: Ahaziah does just what his dad was.
SPEAKER_00: And Jehoshaphat joins himself to Ahaziah.
SPEAKER_00: And notice verse 36, he joined himself with him to make ships, to go to Tarshis.
SPEAKER_00: And they, they, Ahaziah and Jehoshaphat made the ships.
SPEAKER_00: Well, when they make this navy, God does something.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 37, right in the middle of the verse, because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.
SPEAKER_00: And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshus.
SPEAKER_00: The last thing recorded about Jehoshaphat is he gets into a project with Ahab's son.
SPEAKER_00: They build these ships, they build this merchant fleet to go and do trade, and God comes along and breaks the ships.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, I don't know what breaking the ships means.
SPEAKER_00: But God, who created this world, can break ships.
SPEAKER_00: It just says they were all broken.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in my mind's eye, I actually don't quite know what that means.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if God just reached down and blew a mighty wind on them and sunk them all.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he just reached down and made them crack in half.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what he did.
SPEAKER_00: But I know this it says that God broke the project.
SPEAKER_00: He broke the ships.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he was displeased with Jehoshaphat, because there he went right back again and joined himself to one that was definitely against the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do something in my life, and God says, now I have to break what you've done.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not going to bless it.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not going to bless your endeavors.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to bless what you prepared for.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to bless what your project was.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to bless your business.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to bless you in this area.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to bless this.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you know who's influencing you, and you know you're under the wrong influence.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Ahab.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I did already.
SPEAKER_00: You know I saved you when you fell prey to Ahab's trickery.
SPEAKER_00: You knew they was going to kill you, and I helped you, and then I blessed you again.
SPEAKER_00: I even warned you.
SPEAKER_00: I had the prophet show up and warn you, and you went right back to it again.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm just going to break what you planned in conjunction with the son of Ahab, Ahaziah.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read you this scripture, please.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Proverbs.
SPEAKER_00: He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
SPEAKER_00: But a companion of fools shall be, say it, destroy.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read it to you again.
SPEAKER_00: He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
SPEAKER_00: But a companion of fools shall be destroys.
SPEAKER_00: Brethren, who we hang around is what we become.
SPEAKER_00: Who we hang around in affinity is what we become.
SPEAKER_00: If we walk with the wise, we get wiser.
SPEAKER_00: But if we're a companion, companionships means more than just a friendship.
SPEAKER_00: If we let fools influence us, it makes us foolish.
SPEAKER_00: Now we all had our times.
SPEAKER_00: We've all had where, oh gee, I wish I could turn back the hands of time and not have done that.
SPEAKER_00: But brethren, may I say to you that we don't want to have our works broke.
SPEAKER_00: We want to have our works blessed.
SPEAKER_00: We want the works of our family to be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: We want the works of our business, of college education, of ministry to be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: We want God's blessing and him to get glory.
SPEAKER_00: There's a little story, and it's a it's a kind of a silly little story, but it's something that maybe you won't forget about Jehoshaphat.
SPEAKER_00: Because the end, the last thing said about Jehoshaphat was he made this merchant marine navy, if you would, with uh with Ahaziah, the Ahab's son, who walked just as wickedly as his father against God, provoked the God of Israel, if you would, and God broke Jehoshaphat's works in the end.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the last thing we read about him.
SPEAKER_00: There was a farmer, and by the way, this is uh actually a true story, and the farmer uh had a cow that they used to do in the old days, uh, and where I grew up, uh, they used to hand milk uh many, many years ago.
SPEAKER_00: So I grew up in the farming community, and and they had some milking machines that they were pretty primitive, and so a few of the farmers I knew uh weren't that rich and didn't have automatic uh machines, and they would go out and milk the cows in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: You know, 3:30, 4 o'clock, it all started.
SPEAKER_00: And uh they'd milk the cows by hand and into the bucket, you know, put the bucket under there and milk the cow by hand, and and then, you know, take the bucket and dump it out into the creamery and uh, etc.
SPEAKER_00: etc.
SPEAKER_00: It was all by hand.
SPEAKER_00: This one farmer said he had this very honry cow.
SPEAKER_00: Really honry, just stubborn.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I had to watch that cow.
SPEAKER_00: I'd be milking away, I'd get that bucket almost three-quarters full, and he said, You're not gonna believe it, but once in a while that cow would turn around and look at me.
SPEAKER_00: He said that would look at me.
SPEAKER_00: And then if I looked, that cow would try to stick its foot right in the bucket.
SPEAKER_00: He said, That cow gave me the sweetest milk.
SPEAKER_00: But you understand if a cow sticks his foot in the bucket, it ruins the milk.
SPEAKER_00: Do I have to explain that?
SPEAKER_00: You say, why'd you give us this illustration?
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat, the last thing we read about him that God wrote was that God broke his works.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know how many kings did so many good things and then at the end of their life stuck their foot in the bucket and ruined what they had done.
SPEAKER_00: Ruined, if you would, the the influence they had.
SPEAKER_00: We could name king after king that's depicted in this Bible, who who did well, and then at the end stuck their foot in the bucket like Solomon.
SPEAKER_00: We think of Solomon as a great king, and he was, but the end, he ruined his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: He began to marry what he wasn't supposed to, and then he began to build houses of all those women that he married, he began to build little G God houses and build them on what's called the Mount of Corruption.
SPEAKER_00: And his kingdom, the blessing that was on Solomon's kingdom, God removed his hands and stirred up enemies.
SPEAKER_00: And it got very bad in Solomon's kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because at the end, after 20 years, with 20 more years to go, he began doing something against what God would have him to do.
SPEAKER_00: And his kingdom that was peaceful, that was calm.
SPEAKER_00: When the next king shows up, they said, Could you please, in a kind manner, could you please relieve us of the grievous burden of your father?
SPEAKER_00: The peace had gone.
SPEAKER_00: The presence of God wasn't as strong.
SPEAKER_00: There were adversaries now against Solomon, who was by David to be called a man of rest.
SPEAKER_00: May I say to you again and again in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: People stuck their foot in the bucket, ruined what they had done.
SPEAKER_00: We have a gracious God.
SPEAKER_00: We have a wonderful, loving God.
SPEAKER_00: God protected Jehoshaphat even when he joined the finity.
SPEAKER_00: Then he sent a prophet to say, Should thou help the ungodly and love those that hate me?
SPEAKER_00: And warned him and then blessed him again.
SPEAKER_00: But the end, he returned back to it again.
SPEAKER_00: And the last thing we read, God broke his works.
SPEAKER_00: I make this statement to you today, and I just know that this was the message for the morning.
SPEAKER_00: Not that I really have uh a thought in mind for anybody in here except the warning to all of us, including me, including every family in here, including every person in here, brother, why take advantage of the mercies of God?
SPEAKER_00: Why count his mercies uh in such a way that we don't try to walk the way we're supposed to walk?
SPEAKER_00: And when the Holy Ghost says to us, be careful, when the Holy Ghost puts us our spirit in check, when the Holy Ghost says to us, uh, be careful how close you get to that situation.
SPEAKER_00: Be careful how close you get to something that you know you shouldn't be playing around with.
SPEAKER_00: And you know we have a conscience, and you know the Holy Ghost does that once in a while.
SPEAKER_00: You know the Holy Ghost will look at something that we're doing and he'll make us uncomfortable with it.
SPEAKER_00: And then he'll make us more uncomfortable with it, and he'll be patient, and he'll make us more uncomfortable with it.
SPEAKER_00: And we know we probably shouldn't be doing it, and he's so patient with us.
SPEAKER_00: Brother, there comes a point in time where we should take heed.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it means saying no to Ahab, saying no to Ahaziah, or saying no to someone else, that's going to be tough to say no to.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't have any names or faces.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying, one of the things that we've had to learn and I've had to learn is sometimes I've had to say no to someone.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: How'd you learn that?
SPEAKER_00: By saying yes to someone I shouldn't have.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, by saying yes to someone that I shouldn't have.
SPEAKER_00: You learn how to say no to someone else.
SPEAKER_00: Jehoshaphat took the warning, but he went right back to the same family and got involved with Ahaziah, who he knew was following in his father's footsteps, and did it anyways.
SPEAKER_00: And God recorded it in our Bible, and the concept is this if we walk with the wise, we shall be what?
SPEAKER_00: Say it, everybody, if we walk with the wise, we shall be what?
SPEAKER_00: But a companion of fools shall be, say it, destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: We just need to trust the proverbs that they're true.
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't received Christ as Savior, I want to tell you, you're amongst some people today that believe the best thing that could happen to you today is for Jesus Christ to save you and give you, if you would, a new born-again spirit, a new man, a new nature within.
SPEAKER_00: Through the repentance of salvation and repentance of sin, believing that Jesus Christ is, that he came, that he died, that he's alive right now, and asking him to forgive us of our sin.
SPEAKER_00: We want to tell you the wisest thing you could do would be to receive Christ as Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Would you say amen to that?
SPEAKER_00: And then may I say to some of us, maybe the message is for us to say, be careful.
SPEAKER_00: Be careful.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let somebody pull you out of the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let somebody uh uh cause you to uh be in a place where you shouldn't be, doing something you shouldn't do.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, they won't use me that way.
SPEAKER_00: This is just one illustration in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: There are so many of these, and we, me included, need to take heed this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If we walk with the wise, we shall be wise.
SPEAKER_00: But a companion of fools, God says he destroyed his works, his merchant fleet, his ability, if you would, to use that to get gain for Judah.
SPEAKER_00: He broke the ships.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that we would take heed to that today.
SPEAKER_00: And please, and don't go out of here with a negative, like, man, I came to church and and he jumped all over me.
SPEAKER_00: I just read scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: We came to be edified.
SPEAKER_00: We came to have a closer walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have anything personally against anybody.
SPEAKER_00: I myself am a man.
SPEAKER_00: Man, we're all in this together.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean we're in this together?
SPEAKER_00: We're just trying to get through life pleasing God.
SPEAKER_00: We just want to give God glory in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And this is just a message of a reminder what we need to be careful of.
SPEAKER_00: That God might deal with us personally.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to this message by Pastor Doug Fisher of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California.
SPEAKER_01: To learn more about Lighthouse Baptist Church, visit our website at www.lighthousebaptist.com or call 619 461 5561.