From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: What was once celebrated is now condemned. And what was once condemned is now celebrated. And those who refuse to celebrate are condemned. Listen, truth is hate to those who hate the truth. That's the world we live in today.

In so many churches, they don't talk about this stuff. It's like, where are people supposed to hear the truth? If we don't talk about it in church, where do kids hear it? On TV? No. In the news? No. They're supposed to hear the truth here.

Guest (Male): Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, we're going to dig into God's holy word and find out what happened to one of the worst human beings to have ever lived. His name was Ahab and he was married to one of the most wicked women to have ever lived, Jezebel. Yet from these two horribly wicked people, Ahab and Jezebel, we can learn a lot about God and about his grace in this message called The Wages of Sin.

We've been in Pastor Jeff's eight-lesson series for the last couple of weeks called Holy Boldness, Lessons from Elijah the Prophet of Fire. This series is also our thank-you gift for your support this month of any amount to From His Heart. And with that gift, we'll also send you the booklet, Unveiling the Mystery of Prayer.

Both for your gift today. Just go to fromhisheart.org for more details. But first, you don't want to miss this encouraging message about the wages of sin. That's right, encouraging. Open your Bible to 1 Kings Chapter 21. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: This message today is a warning. It's a wake-up call to us because the scripture makes it clear, the wages of sin is death. What do we learn about God? What are the lessons that we learn about God from this sordid story and the horrible lives of Ahab and Jezebel? I want to share four lessons with you.

First lesson: God sees everything we do. He sees everything we say. He sees everything we think. When Elijah went down to talk to Ahab at Naboth's vineyard that he had stolen and murdered and taken, he tells him everything that happened. The Lord knew. Now, Elijah didn't know on his own, but God told him what had happened.

He saw it all because the eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good. Now you mark this down. None of us can hide our actions from God. You can't, I can't, no one can. Ahab couldn't, Elijah can't, nobody can. Why? Because God sees everything.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 13 says for there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. God, the very first lesson, he sees everything we say, we think, we do, and why we do what we do.

Second lesson: God can be our friend or he can be our enemy. He can be our friend, and he wants to be our friend, or he can be our enemy. So what determines whether he is your friend or your enemy? If you make friends with sin, you make enemies with God.

Ahab sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Sold himself to do evil before the Lord. In the sight of the Lord means that he didn't really care what God thought. Every single blood-bought child of God, I'm talking about a true Christian, a true born-again Christian, every single one of us knows that there's a battle that rages between the flesh and the spirit, a battle inside.

There's a struggle. There's this pull toward evil and then this desire to walk with God. For the Christian, there's a struggle inside. Every Christian knows that struggle. But there are those who call themselves Christians, and you're not struggling with sin. You've sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

You've totally surrendered to sin. That word in Hebrew, "sold yourself to do evil", sold can also mean surrendered. And that's what Ahab had done. He didn't grow up in his family learning how to worship Baal. He learned that from his rotten wife whom he married.

Kind of an aside note here for those of you who aren't married, you guys especially, don't marry a Jezebel. I think Jezebel was probably really good-looking. Really good-looking. But you've got to look past the mascara and the makeup and see what is in that lady's heart. And ladies, you would look for a guy, you look for a guy who loves the Lord.

He might be handsome like Pastor Jeff, but why do you laugh? What matters is the heart. So you don't link up with a lug nut. You don't marry a Jezebel. You don't marry an Ahab. Ahab married Jezebel and ruined his life because his wife incited him. And he wasn't struggling with sin. He sold out to sin. He had given over to sin.

Some people today, because we've lost the fear of God, we live in a time of sexual revolution. And so we have people that, it's first date and they're in the sack. One date. I did a wedding once that lasted four months. Four months. It made me real gun-shy to ever want to do another wedding, just to be honest with you.

Four months. I called the guy and said, "What's the deal?" He said, "Yeah, I can't be married to her." I said, "We took vows." "Yeah, no way. I just can't do it." I asked him this question. Both claimed to be Christians. I said, "How long did you guys date before you were sleeping together?" He said, "Not long." I said, "How long?" He said, "Not long." I said, "How long?" He said, "Not long." I said, "Was it the first date?" And it was quiet.

First date. Hebrews 13:4, let the marriage bed be undefiled, for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. That's just what the word of God says. The wages of sin is death. And because we've blown off that in marriage. So we start living together. We're not married, but we're living together. No big deal. I'm just doing this stuff.

You've sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, you're doing that stuff. You're not even fighting it. You just say, "Well, this is where I'm living." And so we've gone from fornication and adultery, and then that opens the door to homosexuality. And we live in a world today where it's like if you say anything bad about homosexuality, well, that's hate speech.

It's not hate speech. It's scripture. That's what the Bible says. I found this quote, I thought it was so great. I heard it a couple of years ago from Al Mohler. It says this, "What was once celebrated is now condemned. And what was once condemned is now celebrated. And those who refuse to celebrate are condemned."

What was once condemned, homosexuality was once universally condemned, is now celebrated. That's good, that's fine, that's wonderful. That's the way God made you. Praise the Lord, buddy. That's the way it's supposed to be. It was once condemned, now it's celebrated.

What was once celebrated, which was fidelity and morality and righteousness, that's now condemned. And those who refuse to celebrate are condemned. And they say with what I just said there, they say, "Well, you're all you are is a hater. You just have hate speech." Listen, truth is hate to those who hate the truth.

If you and I are riding in a car, you're driving, I'm the passenger, and you're going 70 in a 35. And I say to you, "You know, the speed limit here is 35." "Well, why are you judging me, man?" Not judging you, just telling you the speed limit's 35. "Well, you're a hater." Not a hater. I don't even work for the traffic department. I'm just telling you the speed limit is 35.

"Well, you're not going to judge me, I'm going to do whatever I want." Okay, well do whatever you want. But I'm just telling you the speed limit is 35. You keep traveling 70 in a 35 and you're not going to like the results. That's the world we live in today.

People just give themselves over, sell themselves to the world to sin. And you do that, friendship with the world is hostility toward God. You make yourself an enemy of God. The enemies of God experience the wrath of God.

Listen, you know one reason I hit this drum a lot? Because people don't talk about it in churches. So many churches, they don't talk about this stuff. So where are people supposed to hear the truth? If we don't talk about it in church, where do kids hear it? On TV? No. In the news? No. They're supposed to hear the truth here.

The reason that I am unwilling to budge an inch on this is because thus says the Lord. God set it up. He set up morality. He said, "Listen, if you want to be blessed, go my way. If you want to be cursed, go your way."

Those, it makes me sick, but those churches who are now endorsing homosexuality, you're cutting people off from the God who loves them. You're cutting them off from grace. You're saying, "Hey, it's good to be an enemy of God." It's not good to be an enemy of God. You need to get right with God so God can bless you. That is critical.

He sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. There's a big difference between struggling with sin and surrendering yourself to sin. God can be a friend or he can be our enemy. It has to do with what you do in response to the Lord.

Lesson number three: God has great patience, but his patience is not without limits. Not without limits. Now, God was patient with Ahab. He gave Ahab a 22-year reign. He gave Ahab warnings that Ahab blew past. Blew past the warning sign.

When Elijah came to him in 1 King chapter 17 and said, "There's going to be no rain except by my word because of your sin." Well, that was a direct shot at Ahab. It was a direct shot at Baal, who's supposed to be over the rain and over fertility and over the agriculture.

No rain. No rain says your God is impotent and God is the real God. Well, that should have gotten his attention. Didn't get his attention. And then when they had the episode on Mount Carmel where Elijah defeated all the prophets of Baal and God showed through fire that he was God. Should have gotten Ahab's attention. Didn't get his attention.

Then when Elijah prayed for rain and the rain came by the buckets full, should have gotten Ahab's attention. Didn't get his attention. And then God was good to Ahab and allowed him to have some military victories. Didn't get his attention. And now the Lord is saying enough.

When the Lord appeared to Moses on the mountain, and Moses had said, "God, I pray, show me your glory." And God said, "I'll let my glory pass by. I'll cover you and hide you in the cleft of the rock. You can't see my face. I'll let you just see the backside of my glory. No man can see my face and live."

He passes by Moses and he covers his face. And as God passes by, he gives his resume. The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness and truth. Now, that slow to anger, I learned this in seminary, I've never forgotten it.

I love this little phrase in Hebrew. Slow to anger means God is long in the nose. You say what in the world? God has a long nose? No, he's long in the nose. He's long in the nose because the Hebrews noticed with their animals that when an animal got angry, you could tell in his face. You could especially tell in his nose.

Bulls are short in the nose. It doesn't take much to tick them off and they'll come after you. God is marvelously patient, but his patience doesn't last forever. So remember this about his patience. His patience must not be misunderstood. We can misunderstand God's patience.

You say how do we misunderstand his patience? We misunderstand his patience by saying, "Well, I guess there are no consequences for sin." Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11 says this, "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil."

I mean, if we sinned and bam, it was just immediate, then that would change our perspective on things. But as the writer once said, "The wheels of God's justice, they grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine." And you reap what you sow.

Galatians chapter 6. But we all know about sowing and reaping. You reap later than you sow. You don't plant on Monday and reap on Tuesday. You reap what you sow. You reap later than you sow. You reap more than you sow. It's the law of the harvest.

So don't misunderstand because judgment hasn't come yet. As the great R.G. Lee preached this passage of scripture over 1,200 times in the sermon Payday Someday, he said these words: "You can eat the devil's corn if you want to, but he'll choke you on the cob."

That is so true. Don't misunderstand God's patience because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly. Therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. And then don't take his patience for granted.

"A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken and that without remedy." Don't presume upon the patience of God. You don't take that for granted. His patience is great, but it's not without limits.

Lesson number four: God is the real sovereign, no matter who might sit as king. We don't understand sometimes why wicked men rule. And where man rules, God overrules. And Ahab is king, and Ahab is a wicked man, and he rules Israel, and Jezebel rules him.

The people are saying, "God, how long are you going to let this go on?" And God is still in charge. And when God decrees a matter, it is done. It is done. He says in verse 21, "Behold, I will bring evil upon you and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel.

And I will make your home like the home of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat." He was the first king in the ten nations that made up Israel after the kingdom split. And he was a terrible king. He became the standard-bearer for bad kings. And God said he was going to sweep away Jeroboam like one sweeps dung away.

That's what he did. He said, "I'll make your home like Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah." Same thing, bad king. The Lord swept him away. His descendants would be eaten by dogs because of the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger and because you made Israel sin.

"And of Jezebel also the Lord has spoken, saying the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel." These are, you're talking about the king and queen. It's a big deal when the queen gets eaten by dogs. I mean, the worst of the worst don't get eaten by dogs. She's going to get eaten by dogs.

It's so funny. Elijah was afraid of her in 1 Kings chapter 19. Remember, he headed for the hills because she said she was going to kill him. He's all afraid of Jezebel. And the Lord says, "Don't be afraid of Jezebel. We're fitting to start singing who let the dogs out on that lady." You don't need to be worried about her.

So what does the Lord do? See, here's the thing. When God decrees something, it's going to happen. Now Ahab, it says in chapter 22, three years have passed and he's going up to battle against the Arameans. And he has linked up with Jehoshaphat, who is king of Judah.

They're going together. Combined armies, we're going to go together and fight the Arameans. And so Ahab tells Jehoshaphat, "Hey, you dress up like a king, but I'm not going to dress up like a king." Because he's worried. See, because he knows the prophecy what's going to happen to him.

He knows that God has decreed Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin on you, pal. You're done. Stick a fork in you. So he says, "I'm going to disguise myself." So he disguised himself and the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, he goes dressed like a king.

The enemy comes to try and attack him and then they find out that's not the king of Israel, we want the king of Israel. Ahab disguised himself. He goes out to the battle. Some Jake-leg takes an arrow from the enemy and he just randomly shoots it in the air.

God takes it from there and he sticks it in a joint in the armor of Ahab. And Ahab says to his attendant, "Take me out of the battle, I'm severely wounded." And he's propped up in his chariot and he's bleeding in his chariot until his lifeblood runs out. And they take him back to Samaria. He's dead.

They wash out his chariot from the blood and the dogs lick up the blood. Just like God said. When God decrees something, there it is. Even Isaiah says, "Even from eternity I am he and there is none who can deliver out of my hand. I act and who can reverse it?" No one. No one.

But now here's the grace. Even in judgment, God longs to be gracious. Even in judgment, God longs to be gracious. Verse 27, "And it came about when Ahab heard these words that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently."

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, "Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring this evil upon his house in his son's days."

God notices when people humble themselves before him. Even when the judgment is pronounced, if people will respond to God, God responds to them. Nineveh heard the message from Jonah, "Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed." And what did they do? They put on sackcloth and ashes and fasted and cried out to God for mercy.

God had mercy on them. Listen, this is a wake-up call. It's been a wake-up call for my own life because we can get going in the Christian life and we kind of compromise here and compromise there. And we need to know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God.

Who's on the Lord's side? Who's going to make a decision today that says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"? Someone in this room, you might be dangerously close to hitting God's wall and where God says that's enough. That's enough.

But you have an opportunity right now to say, "You know what? I've been traveling the wrong road. I need to get on the Lord's side. I need to get my life right with him." Listen, the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Lord longs to be gracious. He waits on high to have compassion. He is looking today to see who will respond to him.

Guest (Male): Has today's message resonated in your heart? Do you realize that you need to turn from your sin and surrender everything to God through Christ by repentance and faith? That is our prayer for you. That is why we are here. It's why we exist.

That's why we've set up a special extensive section on our website for you, and it's the Why Jesus link that'll guide you into your next steps with God. To see all that's available for you there, go to fromhisheart.org, click the Why Jesus link.

Thank you for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles, trusting that you'll be here tomorrow as Pastor Jeff continues with the seventh of eight messages in the Holy Boldness series. Join us on Wednesday for the lesson entitled, A Slap in God's Face. As we open up God's word and share from his heart.