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When Grace Is Taken for Granted
October 28, 2026 · 16 min
A dive on 1 Kings 22 — God's mercy toward Ahab, the cost of ignoring grace, and the call to sincere repentance.
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Grace Taken for Granted 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we complete yet another book in our journey through the word of God as we read first Kings chapter twenty two, the last chapter0:22 of first Kings. Verse twenty three, now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster for you.0:34 Last time, we ended our discussion with a, a a conversation about God's amazing grace that was shown to Ahab and to the northern kingdom of Israel. Well, today,0:46 we read what happens when you take that grace for granted and repentance is not followed by reformation. God who helped Ahab miraculously0:58 against the Syrians in chapter twenty now uses the Syrians to end his wicked reign. Now we read of the same event in second Chronicles, two weeks1:10 ago, but the focus there was primarily on the southern kingdom and Jehoshaphat. Today, we're gonna focus on the spiritual condition of the northern kingdom and1:22 how truth was treated or rejected. Now keep in mind, I've said this before, but spiritually, the northern kingdom of Israel can be seen as symbolizing the world while the southern1:33 kingdom symbolizes a remnant that remains faithful to God. So we pick up in verse five where Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, king of the southern kingdom, to1:45 go with him into battle against the Syrians. Verse five. Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire for the word of the lord today. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together,1:57 about four hundred men, and said to them, shall I go up against Ramoth Gilead to fight or shall I refrain? So they said, go up, for the lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. And Jehoshaphat2:09 said, is there not still a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him? Notice who wants to inquire of the Lord. It's the one who is following the Lord, Jehoshaphat.2:22 He says, is there not a prophet of the Lord that we can acquire of the Lord? What's amazing here, what's stunning to me is Ahab, who over the previous2:34 ten to fifteen years had witnessed the unmistakable intervention of God on multiple occasions. So you recall Elijah on Mount Carmel2:46 where the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal were embarrassed and then destroyed. He was there. Deliverance from Syria, not once but twice. And they had a small army. Syria had a2:58 large army, and God delivered them miraculously so that, and as we read before, they would know the Lord was the one who did it. Then we read last time3:10 how god forgave him when he repented in... For the death of Naboth in the taking of his property. It's baffling to me how he could see that,3:22 experience that, but then, I mean, it it intentionally, spiritually speaking, take a long walk on a short pier. I mean, he was walking to his own destruction, ignoring3:34 god's grace and his mercy that had been extended to him. Now we see it here, still happens today. So who are these four hundred false prophets that we read about3:45 here? Well, again, back in chapter eighteen where Elijah had the confrontation with the prophets, it was listed that there were four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and there were four hundred prophets of Asherah3:57 who ate at Jezebel's table. But only the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal appear to be accounted for in chapter eighteen. They showed up, they were destroyed.4:09 So biblical scholars suggest that these four hundred were the prophets of Asherah. By the way, just an observation here. Alright. Just an observation. But the big numbers are4:21 usually not on the side of truth. Truth, more times than not, must stand alone. Verse eight. So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is still one4:32 man. So the the Jehoshaphat says, is there not a real prophet here, a prophet of God? There is one man, Micaiah, the son of Imla, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate4:44 him because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, let the king not... Let not the king say such things. I mean, the4:56 standard by which Ahab was judging the validity of a prophet was whether or not he said something good about him. See, these prophets were not holding, as the prophetic voice of the5:08 church should do, holding government accountable to a standard, a transcendent standard of truth, God's truth. They wanted to comment... They they wanted to be... They wanted access. So they said5:19 whatever the king wanted to say and that was his determination of what was a good prophet and what was not. So Jehoshaphat realizes it's a waste of time to inquire of these false prophets.The Pressure to Conform to False Prophets 5:31 I I want a real prophet of God. Verse nine. And the king of Israel called the officers and said, bring Micaiah, the son of Imla quickly. There's one prophet, Micaiah.5:43 Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote that Micaiah was in prison when he was called, which appears validated by verse twenty six here. So it says, so the king of Israel said, take Micaiah and5:55 return him to Ammon, the governor of the city. Now according to Josephus, he was in prison for rebuking Ahab for sparing the king of Syria three6:07 years prior. So, you know, what we see today and what we've witnessed in terms of what's been described as a cancel culture is not new. And and look here at the pressure to6:19 conform. That's not new either. We see that today, and unfortunately, many are surrendering to it. Verse thirteen. Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying, now6:31 listen. The words of the prophets with one accord encouraged the king. Please let your words be like the words of one of them and speak encouragement. Be6:43 like the rest of them. Don't don't be different. Don't... You know, look. They're they're all together. Be be there. Be be unified with them. Look at Micaiah's response, verse fourteen. And Micaiah said, as the6:54 lord lives, as the lord lives, whatever the lord says to me, that I will speak. Wow. That's a powerful statement. It should be7:06 a defining statement for us. What the lord says to me, I will speak. It wasn't his message, therefore, he couldn't modify it. This should be the position of the church and spiritual leaders today. What the word of god7:18 says, we will proclaim. No matter how... No matter what the polls say or how many false prophets declare something different, it is God's word. It is not ours. Therefore, we cannot modify it. And if we're gonna7:29 follow Jesus, then we have to follow his words. We have to follow the word of God. I recently posted something on, social media regarding homosexuality and marriage, and7:41 someone told me that I needed to get up with the times. Well, let me just say I'm not interested in being up with the times. I'm committed to standing with the one who7:53 is the creator and keeper of time. There there are those in the church who have gone silent on biblical morality or even worse, they have actually attempted to modify the word of8:05 God to justify what God calls sin. And I I cannot say this any more plainly than this. They are false prophets and they will be held accountable for what they're8:17 saying by twisting or ignoring or changing the word of God. Now, even at great personal cost, Micaiah was faithful to the Lord. I mean,8:29 look, as as we mentioned a moment ago, Josephus said he was in prison. He was taken out of prison. You know, I I can imagine him thinking, now if I say something good, maybe they'll let me out of8:40 prison. He was not interested in carrying favor with a godless king. He was being obedient to God. Verse fifteen. Then he came to the king and the king said to him, Micaiah,8:52 shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall we refrain? Same question that was put before the false prophets. And he answered and said, go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the9:04 hand of the king. Now I can only imagine there was a bit of sarcasm there. He said, alright. This is what you wanna hear. I'm gonna tell you. Verse sixteen. So the king said to him, how many times shall I make9:16 you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the lord? So it was obvious that he was just, you know, I think being sarcastic. Verse seventeen. Then he said, I saw9:28 all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, these have no master. Let each return to his house in peace. Verse eighteen. And the9:40 king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil? Notice that Ahab personalizes the message of Micaiah, claiming in9:52 in verse eight that he hates the prophet because he will not tell him what he wants to hear. Does that sound familiar? Rather than accept the truth, Ahab had an alternative10:04 that, he he wanted an alternative that would confirm what he wanted to hear. He wanted his own truth. Verse nineteen. Then Micaiah said, therefore, hear the word of the lord. I saw the lord sitting on his10:16 throne and all the host of heaven standing by on his right hand and on his left. And the lord said, who will persuade Ahab to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead? So10:28 one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forth and stood before the lord and said, I will persuade him. Kinda sounds a little bit like the screw tape letters. The lordSpeak Only What the Lord Says 10:40 said to him, in what way? So he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the lord said, you shall persuade him and also prevail. Go out10:52 and do so. Therefore, look, the lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.11:04 So many have been brought to, ignominious end by listening to false prophets who tell them what they want to11:16 hear rather than yielding to the truth of God. So these false prophets, actually the chief of these false prophets, Zedekiah, strikes Micaiah11:28 after he counters their false prophecy with the truth and he says this, which way did the spirit of the Lord go for me to speak to you? And Micaiah said, indeed you shall see on that day11:40 when you go in an inner chamber to hide. Notice this about Micaiah's response. It was clear. It was calm. See, truth, when you stand on11:52 truth, when you stand on the word of God, it gives one confidence and calm in the face of hostility and ridicule. Now I'll mention this again, even though we discuss it thoroughly in,12:04 in second Chronicles, Jehoshaphat's actions here, not the focus of today's reading or discussion, But I I do wanna mention this, his actions are inexplicable as well.12:17 May he ask for a true prophet? He gets one. He gets the word that this will end in disaster, but not only does he go, he goes ahead and goes forward, but he goes along with Ahab's plan for Ahab to12:28 disguise himself and Jehoshaphat to go in his full royal regalia, making him a prime target. I don't know. Maybe he had a head injury. I don't know.12:40 Alright. Take note of, Ahab's death. Verse thirty four. Now a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his12:52 armor so that he said to his driver of his chariot turn around and take me out of the battle for I am wounded and he goes on and he dies later that day. That may have been a random13:03 arrow but there's nothing random about the word of God. It will go forth and it will accomplish its purposes. So Ahab's son becomes king. He reigns for, just two13:15 years and look at verse fifty two. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebad. Jeroboam is the13:27 benchmark of evil as David is the benchmark for good. Whom... And this is why, because Jeroboam made all Israel sin. For he served Baal and worshiped him and13:38 provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger according to all that his father had done. Alright. We are continuing in our twenty one days of prayer as we approach this election.13:51 I tell you, as we read through these... The kings and the leadership of the nation, we see how important it is that we have godly leaders who will yield to the14:03 truth of god. So let's pray as we, move forward toward election day.14:09 Hi. This is Jimmy Morales with Fervent in Las Vegas, and I am honored to to pray for, this year's elections. The scriptures are clear that all authority that14:21 exists are from God, Romans chapter thirteen. So let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would exercise your authority over this land. And, Lord, that you would raise14:32 up your church to, to vote and to get involved, that you would open the eyes of pastors across this nation to recognize that that this government is under your14:44 authority. And, Lord, I pray that you would give them the the courage to speak out in righteousness for this election. And, Father, we pray for, abortion in this land, that you would protect the14:56 unborn through this election, that you would stop the mailing of the abortion pill, and and, Lord, that you would stop abortion from becoming a constitutional right in15:08 Nevada. Lord, protect the children of our land. And, Father, I pray that you would be glorified as you raise up godly men and women to run for office that would fear you in15:20 office and not be corrupted by money or power, but would honor you in in every decision they make. Lord, we love you and thank you and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.15:29 And I also wanna encourage you to be prepared to vote. We have a resource for you. Text to vote to six seven seven four two. That's vote to six seven seven four two. I'll send you personalized or a link so you can get15:41 a personalized voter guide for the federal races. Again, that's vote six seven seven four two. Until next time, keep standing on the word.The Vision of the Lying Spirit 15:51 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, youThe Certainty of God's Word and the Need for Godly Leaders 16:03 can read through the entire Bible in just two years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Grace Taken for Granted5:26 The Pressure to Conform to False Prophets10:29 Speak Only What the Lord Says15:44 The Vision of the Lying Spirit16:00 The Certainty of God's Word and the Need for Godly Leaders
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