Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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Well, this is a meeting particularly for young people, and I trust that what is said might be a blessing to each one, especially for those who are young. And I was thinking of the reign of Jehoshaphat and what God has recorded about him, and I trust it will be a blessing and encouragement for us.
Second Chronicles, chapter 17. I'd like to read a few verses in this chapter. And Jehoshaphat his son, reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed forces in all offenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which ASA his father had taken. And the Lord was with Joshua, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not after Balaam.
But thought to the Lord God of his Father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the Kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presence, and he had riches and honor and abundance, and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he took away the high places and Groves out of Judah.
Well, we find here that God used this man, this king Jehoshaphat. You know what's interesting in the Bible? It says whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. You notice that God passes over the reins of some of the kings with just a very few verses, and in others He gives quite a long.
Large place in his words several chapters.
Often to tell us about their reign. Well, we know why this is, because God is writing this for our good and for our blessing. And so we can learn by the devotedness and we can learn by the failures of those whose lives are recorded. The only reliable history in the world is the Bible, because when men write history, they always slanted a certain way.
To please themselves, whether it's a country or individuals or whatever, but God tells.
Faithfully, what we are, He doesn't hide our failures, but he does give encouragement for us in the path of faith. So I trust that what is said here in connection with Jehoshaphat will be a word of encouragement and also a word of warning, because we're living in very difficult days. And so it was in the time of Israel.
Well, this king Jehoshaphat, he had a godly father, ASA, and he walked to please the Lord in many ways. But we know his heart was lifted up in pride, for ASA thought he was somebody. You know, we can get ideas of ourselves that were somebody very important, still love the Lord, but we allow these things to come in and it says pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. And so poor ASA, we know that.
He lifted, his heart was lifted up in pride. He was angry when someone came to correct him too. He didn't like to take correction. But it's good for us to walk humbly before the Lord, to realize that we are really nothing, nothing in ourselves. Someone has said that when you call yourself a Christian, it's CHRST Christ. And then.
I am that stands for I.
I am nothing. A Christian is a person to whom Christ is all and I am nothing. That's good to remember that, for that's what we really are. And the Lord Jesus said without me he can do nothing.
Well, when Jehoshaphat began to reign, he started out very well.
And it's lovely to see what it says about him. It says here.
In the third verse, and the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not after Balaam, but sought to the Lord God of His Father, and walked in His commandment, and not after the doings of Israel. So we see that there was real devotedness in His heart.
But you know, it was remarked this morning, God tests us. We can start out very well, but the Lord tests us. We can't say well because I've done very well today. I'm sure I'm going to do very well tomorrow. Tomorrow is a different day. Tomorrow we need fresh dependence upon the Lord. We need to start out each day by saying to the Lord, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust.
And I think especially of you, dear young people, because most of the important decisions in life are made in youth.
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Usually before you're 25 or so, you've decided whether you're going to follow the Lord. You first of all, that you accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior. And then I trust you have a desire to remember him and his death. He's asked us to do that, and surely it gives his heart joy as well as ours when we respond to that desire and say, well, I want to remember the Lord Jesus. He's done so much for me.
You choose often the line of work that you're going to follow, sometimes choose the partner that you're going to have in life, choose the place where you're going to live. And all these things are so often made in youth. Oh dear young people, how good it is when you start out to say, my father, thou art the guide of my youth. And again in Jeremiah 10, it says, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself.
It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps and I just encourage you because it was remarked in this morning as meeting how we're living in an age when self importance and you can do it and you're everything. You're number one is the cry of the day. But you know as we read the Bible, we learn that we can't do anything. The Lord Jesus said without me he can do nothing and so I trust this.
Encourage you? Well, Jehoshaphat started out very wonderfully and says.
The Lord was with the Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his David of David. His father sought the Lord God of his father. Well, this was a very, very fine start, and it tells us too, in the sixth verse. His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he took away the high places and the Groves out of Judah, so we can see that he really wanted to go on for the Lord.
And he removed things that were a hindrance. But now as you go on in the life of Jehoshaphat, we see something took place in the 18th chapter. Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab. And after certain years he went down to Ahab, to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him, and persuaded him to go.
Up with him to Ramoth Gilead. And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth Gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people. We will be with thee in the war. And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today.
Therefore the King of Israel gathered together of prophets 400 men.
And said unto them, Shall we go up to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I for bear? And they said, Go up, for God will deliver it into the King's hand. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord beside, that we may inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, But I hate him, for he never prophesieth good unto me, but always evil.
The same as Miccia the son of Imla and Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so. Well, I won't read on too much, but we can see that now a testing time comes in the life of Jehoshaphat.
Tells us here that he had advanced, he had become rich, he had had riches and honor and abundance, but he joined affinity with Ahab. And you know, Ahab was the ruler, the king of the 10 tribes. 10 tribes had turned away from the Lord. They had forsaken the Lord, they had forsaken his center, and they had set up false gods.
And while God in his goodness sent prophets to them, Elijah and Elisha were.
Sent to them still they were away from the place where God has set his name. And we find here that dear Jehoshaphat joins affinity with Ahab. And Ahab, as we know, was married to Jezebel, a very wicked woman. It says there was none that did so wickedly as Ahab, whom Jezebel, his wife, stirred up. Think of what a man for Ahab, for Joshua to join affinity with. We do have to be careful.
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About our friendships.
Yes, our friendships. It says whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. What a serious thing to take. Make friendships with those who have no love for our Lord Jesus Christ, our precious Savior. Well, Jehoshaphat did this and he went down there and he can see the great welcome that that Ahab gave to him. Says he killed sheep and oxen in abundance, you know.
Know if you seem to go along with the world, they'll really treat you well. They'll really make you feel that they want you and that you're part of them and everything. And this was the way Jehoshaphat felt. I suppose there's a little secret that happened here too, that perhaps you'll notice later on, and that is that when he went down there he must have brought some of his family down too, because.
The son of Jehoshaphat married the daughter of Ahab. You know, there's a scripture that says.
Because none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. And you might say, well, that's my business what I do. But our lives do have an influence on others. And think of the sad result that happened a little later on. Jehoshaphat was delivered from this snare and was brought back to the Lord.
This love affair that took place between his son and the daughter of Ahab.
Was the cause of great sorrow. Oh, how important for us to realize that we not only lose out for ourselves, but we influence others too. Some of us who are a bit older can look back in our lives and we can think of a godly young man, godly girls too, who are an influence for good in our lives. Our friends do have a great deal to do with our character and we should be careful.
That verse in the 119th Psalm. In the Psalm and the 16th third verse that.
I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. Isn't that a good definition of the kind of companions that we should have? Let me repeat the verse again. I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
Well, Jehoshaphat goes down here now and he makes this affinity with Ahab, and Ahab asked him to go and partake in a warfare that he was going out into. And Jehoshaphat said, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people. Yes, he said, we'll just go on together. What a sad thing this was. But he did this just to please Ahab. He could have said, well, I have a relationship.
Where they have, because these 10 tribes were actually actually blood relations of the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel, as we know, consisted of 12 tribes, twelve sons of Jacob. And sometimes it's family ties that affect us too. We can allow somebody whom we love in our family to be the influence in our lives, not for good.
We should certainly recognize family ties. That's very important that we do.
God always would have us to acknowledge them, but we need to be careful that we don't allow them to influence us in hindering us and going on in the path of obedience to the Lord. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that will love a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Oh dear young people, be careful of the choices that you make. Well, here's Jehoshaphat now.
And so.
I think Jehoshaphat was a little bit uneasy and he said to him, isn't there a prophet here that we could ask before we enter into this engagement, perhaps we should get the Lord's mind about this.
And Jehoshaphat and he said.
There is yet one man.
Whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, should not have been a warning to Jehoshaphat. There were a great many prophets that Ahab had false prophets, and if we read the whole chapter, we'd see how they encouraged him, told him that they should go up and pour Jehoshaphat. He was he was now committing himself to a course and going on.
In following along with Ahab and poor Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, because he was truthful and faithful, he was put in prison and he had to heat the water of affliction there in prison because they didn't like what he said. Well, Mickey Iah was faithful to the Lord. Mickey Iowa, he wouldn't change his message to please the people.
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There's a great deal of talking today to please people.
Paul said, If I yet please man, I should not be the servant of Christ. We ought not to be men pleasers, but only the Lord Grant that our desire may be to please the Lord. Well, he went out to this battle, and perhaps we, you know the story that the King Ahab, he was put to death. He died in this battle, but Jehoshaphat was spared. The Lord took care of Jehoshaphat.
In spite of all, he cried out to the Lord in the midst of the battle, and the Lord in his goodness delivered him. And perhaps you found yourself in a very difficult spot sometime, and you wonder just what was going to happen. And because you love the Lord, you cried out to him, and he graciously came in. Oh, how good he is. Brethren, we're for failing things at best. But how often the Lord does come in, in spite of what we are. And he delivered Jehoshaphat.
And now Jehoshaphat comes back and I just read in the.
19th Chapter at the beginning here. And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanami the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Joshua, Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore his wrath upon me from before the Lord nevertheless.
There are good things found in thee, and that thou hast taken away the Groves out of the land.
And has prepared thine heart to seek God.
And Jehoshaphat dwelled at Jerusalem, and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. Well, here we see it. When he comes back, the prophet goes out and gives them a rebuke. You know, when the prophet came and rebuked, ASA was angry. He actually put him in prison because he didn't want to take the correction.
Well, none of us like to take a rebuke. None of us like to take a correction. But sometimes it's good for us. And let me say this, if someone does give us a rebuke or correction, let's take it from the Lord. Let's acknowledge that He has allowed it. It's good for us to be humble and realize that sometimes we do need to have a little rebuke. And Joshua treated it in a nice way and the result was blessing in his life.
Well, we can.
Be thankful that Jehoshaphat did at this point turn back to the Lord. Now we'd like to read this 20th chapter because this is a very bright spot in the life of Jehoshaphat. And it came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came unto against Jehoshaphat to battle. And there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side.
And behold, they be it hazes on Tamar, which is in Gedai. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Joshua stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the House of the Lord before the new court, and said, O Lord God.
Of our fathers heart now thou God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen in in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who did strive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abram thy friend forever and a dweller in and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name saying, if.
When evil cometh upon us as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house and in thy presence. For thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction. Then thou wilt hear and health. And now behold the children of Ammon and Moab, and Mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not.
Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes upon Thee. Our eyes are upon Thee. All Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
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Then upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah the.
Son of Benaiah, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation.
And he said, Hearken ye all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the Cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of.
Jeroel, he shall not need to fight in this.
Battle set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. And all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, and the children of the Kohathites and the children of the.
Stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel.
With a loud voice on high. We'll read a little bit more later. But here we see quite a change has now taken place with dear Jehoshaphat. He's taken the rebuke when his prophet came, and he humbles himself and he turns to the Lord. And when a difficulty comes, he's not forming an alliance with Ahab. He's not asking that even his own army would be strong enough to handle this affair. He just looks to the Lord.
Alone. Oh, how good it is to see this. And he becomes an example because it tells us that he bowed himself and that he gathered them together to ask help of the Lord. Isn't this a lovely attitude? And dear young people, there are situations that come in your life. Sometimes we have smaller decisions to make. Sometimes they may not seem very important to us, but sometimes it does seem as if there's a great.
Decision. It seems that all the forces come against us. We look back on our own past and we think, well, I'm just a failure. I can't count upon the Lord because I have failed so often in time past. Oh, how lovely, that verse. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Let us not be discouraged, but let us be like David. Even though he had failed, it says David encouraged himself in.
Lord, his God, and I say to everyone of you, no matter what there has been in the past, do turn to the Lord if there's something coming up in your life, just like in this case with Josiah Jehoshaphat rather, and is something coming up in your life and you feel, oh, I'm just not able to handle it, turn to the Lord. He cares about you. There is no difficulty that's too great for him. There is nothing too hard for the Lord.
And the Lord answered Jeremiah and said.
There's nothing too hard for me. No, He's able for these difficult situations. And so we see here he stands up in the in the fifth verse in the House of the Lord before the new card, and he turns to the Lord and he counts upon his faithfulness. And sure we can count upon the faithfulness of God.
And we're living in very difficult times. The enemy is specially busy in these last.
Closing days of the church's history there are those who are, so to speak, gathered against us too, but we can turn to the Lord and we see also the children were there. We're thankful to see children here too. It's nice to see them brought under the sound of the word. I can be very thankful for a Christian father and mother that they brought me to the meetings and even though I didn't perhaps understand very much little things that I even.
Heard in youth come back to me at times because sometimes of just one little verse that sticks with you and goes with you. I remember hearing about a brother, a very well taught brother in England that delivered a message and it was rather deep in the things of God and a sister came to him after the meeting and said brother so and so.
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I just got one thing out of that long address that you had.
And brother, this brother, I don't remember his name, he said perhaps that was what was meant for you, perhaps that was what was meant for you. And so it is. You will often find that there will be whole meeting and there will be 1 remark that sticks right with you and carries with you. And so we see here Jehoshaphat. He looks back and he says the Lord had done so much for his people in the past.
He said the Lord had power over all the kingdoms of the heathen. He had made a promise when that house was built that if there was any prayer made in or toward that house, that God would come in and deliver them. Did he mean what he had said? Of course he did. Was he able to do it? But he wanted them to be dependent upon him. So he goes back then. He recalls little of their history and that God hadn't allowed them to go into.
Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir.
He hadn't allowed them to go in. Perhaps they didn't understand at the time. Perhaps he didn't understand. Even here we don't always understand God's ways. That's a great thing for us to submit. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. I'm sure that all of us can look back and events have happened in our lives. We say, why didn't the Lord allow me to do this or that? Why didn't He?
Step in in this particular instance than that all things are working together for good to those that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And so he says in the.
12TH Verse O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. He didn't even have a plan worked out for himself. No, he said, we don't know what to do. But that's the time the Lord comes in. Very often when we have a plan of our own, then we're like Jacob. We have a plan and we ask the Lord to bless our plan and we carry out the plan.
But it doesn't work because it was our plan but they didn't know what to do.
Was certainly not what I expect Jehoshaphat expected. I no doubt that he expected that the Lord would tell him how to arrange their army and go out, and that he would undertake, And he did. In some other cases he told David on one occasion to quote against the Philistines and fight against them, and the Lord gave him a great victory. But here they waited, and with his great army that had come against them, the Lord said, stand still.
Of the Lord. There are times to stand still. There are times to go forward.
But we need that dependence on the Lord. And dear young people, I say this for you, and I'm sure that many of us who are a bit older, when we look back in our lives, we too have come to times when we had to stand still and wait on the Lord. If we had gone ahead, we would have made a serious mistake. But He graciously kept us, and He kept Israel at this point from trying to handle His great army in their own strength.
So it tells us here in the God gives them particular instructions, he says, and he used this man Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah in the midst of the congregation.
You notice this that God didn't have outstanding prophets in the 2 tribes. Did you ever notice there were very outstanding prophets in the 10 tribes? There were Elijah and Elisha, but the prophets in the in the 10 tribe, in the 2 tribes, they spoke he was Isaiah and they used Jeremiah and he used other prophets, but they didn't work miracles like Elijah and Elisha. They were people that spoke the word of the.
To them, but there weren't those great miracles that Elijah and Elisha so it just mentions a man who stood up in the congregation here and.
He said in the 15th verse, Hearken ye all Israel, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat.
Thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's, and in the 17th verse He shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
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Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.
How this was certainly a lesson of dependence, that they were just to go out. The battle was not theirs. But then Joshua bowed himself, and with his face to the ground, and they worshiped the Lord. But now I'd like to notice something. If you go back to the 10th of numbers.
10th chapter of Numbers and the ninth verse. And if you go to war in your land against the enemy, that oppresseth you.
Then he shall blow an alarm with the trumpets.
And ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. I think this was what Jehoshaphat was really given to recall, that God had said that he would undertake for them. Now most of the kings didn't seem to follow this pattern at all. They usually went out into battle, but tells us here in the 19th verse.
Of our chapter.
And the Levites of the children of the Koothites and of the children of the Korites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. I believe they did just that. They because we know that they usually had musical instruments in connection with their worship and in their singing. And so they, they did this, they counted upon the Lord to come in. They didn't gather an army even, they just counted upon the Lord.
And the Lord came in and they didn't even have to fight in that battle. Oh, how often we take things in our own hands. How do young people? I just want to encourage you to when these things come up in your life and big decisions have to be made and it does seem at times the enemy comes against you full force. And you say, I just can't handle this situation. It's far too much for me. Remember what Jehoshaphat did and how he has counted upon the Lord and how.
Graciously the Lord came in and he granted a great victory.
And so it says here in the 20th verse. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Decoah. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God. So shall ye be established. Believe his prophets, so shall he prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord.
That they should praise the Lord, praise the beauty of His Holiness, and they went out before the army and to say, praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever. What a strange way this was to go out to battle. But to us, brethren, it just means this, that we're giving the Lord his rightful place. We're giving the Lord his rightful place, we're honoring him.
The scripture says to them that honor me, I will honor.
And how he took care of them. And it says the 22nd verse. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord, sent ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, And they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to slay and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to.
Another. And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and behold, there were dead bodies fallen to the earth and unescaped. Oh, isn't this remarkable, how the Lord just came in, and He began fighting among themselves, and there was no battle. The Lord had taken care of the whole thing.
And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and behold, there were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away. There were three days in gathering the spoil. It was so much. And on the 4th day they.
Assemble themselves in the valley of Barakah, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of the same place was called the valley of Barakah unto this day. Well, we see how the Lord came in and granted them this great victory. There were three days gathering the spoil. Perhaps it makes us think of the Lord Jesus and what He did. It says Christ died for our sins. It was buried in the third day He.
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Again, it's because that mighty victory that the Lord Jesus won at Calvary that there's victory for us, and then it goes on to tell us.
Here and they came the 28th verse, And they came to Jerusalem with salt trees, and with harps and trumpets unto the House of the Lord. And the fear of the Lord was in all the kingdoms of those countries, when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about. Well, how wonderfully the Lord came in and undertook for Jehoshaphat. And why? Because.
Relied upon the Lord. And now I just like to encourage you, dear young people, when these difficulties come in your life and there do seem times when the enemy comes against us full force, and those are times when we feel our utter helplessness. There's just one other I'd like to turn to in Exodus, and we'll see a similar situation when the children of Israel came out of Egypt.
You go back here to Exodus chapter 14.
Verse 5.
And I was told the king of Egypt that the people fled in the heart of Pharaoh, and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, Why have we done this? That would let Israel go from serving us? He made ready his Chariots, and took his people with him. And he took 600 chosen Chariots, and all the Chariots of Egypt, and the captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel.
And the children of Israel.
Israel went out with an high hand, but the Egyptians pursued after them all the horses and Chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them in camping by the sea beside Pihahirath. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast.
Taken away as a way to die in the wilderness. Wherefore hast thou dealt us with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today.
For the Egyptians.
Whom he has seen today shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And then going down, says in the 19th verse. And the Angel of the Lord, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them. And the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.
And it was a cloud and darkness.
To them. And it gave light by night to these, so that the one came out near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong E wind all that night, and made the sea dry land. And the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry land, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand.
And on their left, we see a very similar situation with the children of Israel. Here they were. They had been taken out of Egypt. I'm sure they were very happy at this point that they had been delivered from the ******* of Egypt. But now the Egyptians come after them. And you say, I am so thankful. I know I'm saved. I know I'm going to heaven. But the Egyptians, a picture to us of the world, you know, they came after them and they were going to bring them back into their service. And the children of Israel were very.
Discouraged. And the Lord says to Moses, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And then he tells them at a later point he says, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. Isn't it very often true that we go forward when we should stand still, and we stand still when we should go forward?
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Well, there is a time to stand still and just wait on the Lord. There's a time to go forward.
Forward God, we need to wait the Lord's command. And the Lord granted a great victory for them, and they too sang on the banks of the Red Sea. They sang. The Lord hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. They said that they would make to the Lord a habitation, For we see how the Lord can come in in very, very difficult circumstances.
Well, just a little more about Jehoshaphat here.
31St verse.
30th verse So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about, And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was 30 and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 20 and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shalhi. And he walked in the way of Asah his father, and departed not from it during that which was right in the sight of the.
Lord, howbeit, the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanami, who is mentioned in the books of the kings of Israel. After this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly, and he joined himself with him to make shifts to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships an easy and gaber.
Then Eliezer, the son of Dodeva, the.
Of Marisha prophesied against Joshua, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself unto Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works, And the ships were broken, and they were not able to go to Tarshish.
Always traced a little bit of the reign of this dear king Jehoshaphat. He started out so well. He sought to give the Lord his rightful place, and to encourage the people to give the Lord his rightful place. Then he made this alliance with Ahab, and they went out to battle at Ramoth Gilead. And the Lord graciously came in and delivered him. He ought to have felt very rebuked that this prophet who had prophesied in the name of the Lord.
Was put in prison, and he was the only faithful prophet at that time. Well, Jehoshaphat then came back. The Lord spared his life. He accepted the rebuke that was given to him by the prophet, and he sought to do what was right again. And now we've just read in this 20th chapter how wonderfully the Lord came in, how he turned to the Lord.
Well, the reason I'm mentioning this is, dear young people, we can't go.
On past experiences, we can't go upon something that's happened in our past. We need the Lord each day. How often we have seen ones that have gone on very faithfully and then something has happened in their lives and they've been turned aside because they didn't seek the Lord.
I say again, we need fresh grace for each day, each new circumstance that arises.
And so we see here this that happened, and this is the last recorded thing in the life of Jehoshaphat. He made a, we might say, a military alliance where they have. And now he makes this, perhaps he could call it a business thing because it was with Ahaz, king of Israel, that they were going to go together in making ships. And so he formed really a kind of a business alliance.
The Bible says be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Oh how often it's because we don't walk in that path of separation. The Lord calls us to a path of separation unto himself. Are we giving the Lord Jesus his rightful place? I'd like to just turn before we close to what we have in Second Corinthians about separation.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 14.
Be not unequally oak together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore.
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Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Lord has called us into a path of separation. The world is at work to break down that path. They say, Well, you just have to link up with this and that and the other thing, whether it's a spiritual thing or a physical.
Is in marriage or a business thing? You and I, brethren, are called to a path of separation. And I'm saying this especially for you who are young people, because very often these decisions are made in youth and how often young people have not realized the importance of these exhortations. They form some kind of alliance with unsaved persons, perhaps in business.
Perhaps in marriage. And oh, what a loss.
Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. How thankful you can be. There's a great number of dear young people here. How good it is to seek to form your friendships and make your bonds in life with those who love the Lord Jesus, who want to follow him. And he says, I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. This is the only time that I know of in the New Testament where the Lord takes.
Title of being almighty. You know, we know him as we had this morning as our father. Why does he say, oh that the Lord Almighty? Because you may say, well, it's so difficult, Gordon, you don't understand how difficult it is. The Lord says, no matter how difficult it is, I am almighty, I have all power. I can deliver you, I can help you, I can strengthen you and you'll never, never be sorry that you made a decision.
To make Christ the object in your life to put him first. But I also want to say you can't just do that today and say that's going to take care of everything from now on. It's a daily thing, every day in your life saying, Lord, I need thy strength today. I think we learn this. As I said, Jehoshaphat is a dear godly prophet.
Came rather used of the Lord, but we see had a weekness.
And when he wasn't on guard, how the enemy came in and brought in sorrow. Oh, what sorrow was brought into not only his own life, but into the life of his son. And if we were to trace it still further, the sad effects that it had upon others. None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. You may say, Well, it's my business what I do.
Fell. In a certain sense, yes, but in another sense, don't forget that.
What you do has an effect upon others. If you seek to go on for the Lord, it's going to be an encouragement to others, but if not, it may be a hindrance to others. Oh, May God grant that we'll put the Lord Jesus first in all thy ways. Acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths. O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself.
It is not in man that walk us to direct his steps.
And another version, Jeremiah 3. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, my father, Thou art the guide of my youth.
Shall we sing that little hymn? 318 Oh, Lamb of God, still keep us close to thy Pierce at side Tis only there in safety and peace we can abide With foes and snares around us, and lusts and fears within. The grace that Sodom found us alone can keep us clean.