A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, February 25, 2024.
For the “Live in Church” audio of this message, select here.
When we look at the lives of some of the great men and women in Scripture, other than Jesus Christ, we think of people like Abraham, Moses, Isaiah and David. We read the accounts of these men and think that these people were exceptionally empowered—almost like the superheroes that we read about in the comics or see on the big screen.
Before we get carried away with this, we are reminded that superheroes aren’t real (which you’d better not say out loud at Comic Con), and that the character of these heroes invariably had flaws. Superman is known as The Man of Steel but he was supposedly weaker than you or me when he was exposed to Kryptonite. Batman became the Caped Crusader when his mother and father were murdered in the streets of Gotham City, and he carried that with him for much of his adult life. Spider-Man does whatever a spider can, but he also was largely shunned and ignored as a successful crimefighter, and some would contend that he had some emotional issues. You could argue that it was the human nature of these characters that make them even more endearing as crimefighters.
These fictional characters are heroes but all of them are flawed in some manner. They’re not perfect. Neither were the so-called heroes of faith that we read about in Hebrews Chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:1-2 NLT
1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
The Bible does not refer to the people as heroes as we are prone to do. The Bible refers to each of them as being righteous before God BECAUSE of their EXAMPLES of faith. Were they really heroes? You tell me.
Abel was deemed righteous because God accepted and approved of his offerings. Even in his death, his faith shows leadership by example.
Enoch pleased God with his faith so much that he did not experience death. Then Paul follows with this passage in Scripture:
Hebrews 11:6 NLT
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Abraham pleased God with his faith and believed God’s promises to him, but he was far from perfect. There are examples in Scripture where he was impatient while waiting for God and he was also fearful.
Sarah had faith and bore Abraham a child when she was 90 years old after being barren, but God had to challenge her when she lacked faith.
These people and others are recorded as being accepted by God because of their faith in spite of their human nature. Here’s the encouraging message for all of us. In spite of our human nature, we are accepted by God because of our faith. We’re far from perfect, but God accepts us and loves us in spite of who we are. In our love for God, may we live in His Spirit and love others in spite of their imperfections. Love your brother. Love your sister. Love one another because you represent Jesus.
1 John 4:9-12 NIV
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
With this information about love and faith, we will use the balance of this message to explore the life of Jehoshaphat, the fourth ruler over the southern kingdom and son of Asa, the previous king. The first account of Jehoshaphat is in 1 Kings 15:24 with a brief mention as the successor of Asa, and later in 1 Kings 22:1-50. There is a little more detail that we will cover today in Second Chronicles, Chapter 17. He ascended to the throne at age 35 and reigned for 25 years—a fairly long tenure.1
Let’s take a closer look at this and reflect upon how King Jehoshaphat, as a man of faith, not only ruled with the intent of serving the Lord but also did some additional things that other kings failed to do:
- He took a stand on the Word of God.
- He shared the Word of God.
- He received God’s blessing because of His example of faith and obedience to God.
- Jehoshaphat’s people also received blessings because of his faithful leadership.
2 Chronicles 17:1-2 NIV
1 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
The accounts in the Chronicles are providing us with God’s perspective of the leadership of the kings of the day, and Jehoshaphat did what any good ruler would do. He built up the armies in his territory and established Judah as a fortified kingdom. He was doing this because Israel was an adversary to Judah. Now let’s look at verses 3 and 4:
2 Chronicles 17:3-4 NIV
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals 4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.
You may have noticed that the Scripture referred to his father Asa, but now in verse 3 David, who is in Jehoshaphat’s lineage was now being mentioned. David’s earlier years as king were arguably his most faithful and obedient years of service. Why the difference from verse to verse? Remember, this is God’s account of the record of rulers in Israel and Judah, and David is referenced as the standard for all kings that followed him. It tells us how highly esteemed David was in God’s eyes.
Acts 13:22 NLT
But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.
This is very important as to how we, as believers and followers of Jesus, will be successful in our walk of faith. Jehoshaphat was being compared to King David. We are to emulate Christ in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our faith is what is pleasing to God. You see how Saul was removed as king because he was continually disobedient to the Lord.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 NLT
22 But Samuel replied (to Saul),
“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
There is a cost for our disobedience to the Lord, and it can be heavy for those who continually reject the Word of God. We need more leaders in our city, state and country that take the Word of God to heart and lead in faithfulness. If we are under leadership that is not following God, then here’s where we need to be on a regular basis:
1 Timothy 2:1-4 CSB
1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Pray for our leadership. It starts in the home and applies to anyone in leadership wherever you work or live. God has a way of providing His grace and mercy even in the midst of poor leadership. No names, please.
Scripture doesn’t address every single life scenario, but it does cover the essentials. A wise person heeds its godly words of wisdom and maintains a lifestyle that is pleasing to God.
Without a doubt, God responds by extending favor and blessings to those who live a life that is pleasing to God. He did this for Jehoshaphat:
2 Chronicles 17:5-6 NIV
5 The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. 6His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
His actions honored the Lord, and the Lord, in turn, honored Jehoshaphat. How do we recognize when God honors you and me? We recognize it in the blessings that we receive.
A quick note about this: Riches and honor are not promised for any of us. Some believers have a tendency to believe that God will rain down money on them as if the gospel of Jesus Christ is tied to some sort of…prosperity! That’s not how it works, of course, and such a movement is not based on a true faith in God. It is misplaced faith, it is unbiblical, and a lot of people have fallen for this false teaching. It is so dangerous in that people believe that their actions will obligate God to extend them favor. It eliminates the recognition of the sovereign nature and character of God.
The prosperity gospel actually derives its roots from the New Thought movement that originated in the United States in the late 19th century. It was not explicitly a Christian movement, but influenced by Christian ideas, Eastern philosophies, metaphysical traditions, and the growing fields of psychology and self-help. The movement focuses on the power of positive thinking—the belief that positive thoughts manifest positive outcomes, while negative thinking promotes negative circumstances. Another belief in this movement is that the mind has the power to heal the body and attract prosperity.2
David W. Jones, a Christian ethicist, said that “in light of Scripture, the prosperity gospel is fundamentally flawed. At bottom, it is a false gospel because of its faulty view of the relationship between God and man. Simply put, if the prosperity gospel is true, grace is obsolete, God is irrelevant, and man is the measure of all things. Whether they’re talking about the Abrahamic covenant, the atonement, giving, faith, or prayer, prosperity teachers turn the relationship between God and man into a quid pro quo transaction.”2
What does this conclusion in all of this? It’s simple. God is absent in the prosperity movement. I think that’s all that needs to be said about this.
Jehoshaphat did nothing for the purpose of receiving God’s wealth and honor. God gave it to him because it was a way for others to witness the goodness of God. But Jehoshaphat went even further because of the love of God and His Word. He spread the good news of God to the people of Judah because God’s Word had a high priority.
2 Chronicles 17:7-9 NIV
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah. 8With them were certain Levites—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
Jehoshaphat proclaimed the truth of God to the people through his Levite priests and his officials for one purpose—to educate the people! Educate them in the ways of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:4-8 NLT
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Jesus repeated these same words to tell us one of the greatest commandments in the law, and John shared with us earlier the importance of loving others. As Jesus tells us, all of God’s Word, the law and the words of the prophets of God, are summarized with these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).
For a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no greater honor than to be a man or woman of faith. It is pleasing to God, and He enables us to go and proclaim His truth through the power of the Holy Spirit. In turn, as we are obedient to His Word, He affirms us with innumerable blessings. Our prayer life becomes more in tune with the will of God, and our life will reflect that, as well. Look at what happens to Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah because of the king’s faithfulness:
2 Chronicles 17:10-13 NIV
10 The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.
12 Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful; he built forts and store cities in Judah 13 and had large supplies in the towns of Judah. He also kept experienced fighting men in Jerusalem.
Notice that the people on the outside were moved by God Himself to respect Jehoshaphat and the land of Judah with peace and honor through gifts. God was honoring the faith of Jehoshaphat through the actions of the outsiders. Jehoshaphat didn’t ask for gifts. They were given to him because he was faithful to God. Plain and simple. God made Judah into a formidable territory, and no one dared to mess with Jehoshaphat and over 1 million fighting men.
Jehoshaphat was not a superhero. Far from it. He was just an ordinary man. A human being like you and me. God is letting us know through His account in Second Chronicles that Jehoshaphat was faithful to God, trusted in His Word, and held it in high esteem by sharing its truth throughout his kingdom.
Let that be a lesson for all of us. Ordinary people like you and me can and will find favor with God when we simply believe in Jesus, trust in His Word, and remain faithful. It is in His character to honor those who honor Him.
John 12:26 ESV
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Go forth, as servants of Jesus Christ, and share the Good News with others. Always walk in the way, the truth and the life of Jesus.
Copyright © 2024 Melvin Gaines
1 Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, December 22). Jehoshaphat. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehoshaphat
2 Carter, J. (2023, September 2). 9 things you should know about the prosperity gospel. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-prosperity-gospel/
Melvin Gaines 