THE THRONE OF GOD FAVOURABLE
[p. 226] THE THRONE OF GOD FAVOURABLE
In reading from the Old Testament it is only with the thought of illustrating the gospel, for, strictly speaking, the gospel is in the New Testament, and it is only as we understand the New that we can employ the Old as illustrative. The four evangelists, as we speak of them, convey to us the fourfold features of the gospel, and no one can rightly present it to men save as he understands, in some measure, the four records. Matthew records the Lord’s commission. Certain ones were commissioned and given authority to make disciples of all nations, baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit The commissioners of Christ were not to be at all preferential in their service for, all nations were to be in view, and if we are to make disciples of them, it implies not only great power, but great ability to set out the gain accruing from the acceptance of the gospel. The believers were to be introduced into the realm of light; they were to be baptised to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The advantages were enormous, and the servants of Christ were to make clear what these advantages were, and that they really did exist.
In Mark, the advantage is to the believer; emphasis is laid on believing. The preachers were themselves to be believers. They were told to go not to all nations, but to “all the world” and preach to “all the creation”. Mark 16:15. Such, in the mind of God, is the width of the area in which the gospel is to be announced; and, as believers, the preachers were to impress their hearers with the importance of believing, saying, “He that believes and is baptised, shall be saved”, Mark 16:16. Certain signs should follow, too, those [p. 227] who believed; they should be immune from all satanic power. These were no mere theories, they were verities, and the preachers were to make it plain that believers should come into the gain of what they presented.
Then Luke leaves us with a company of people who themselves were the very expression of the thing that the gospel proposed. They were not mere theorists, they were persons who had been blessed, and, as believers on the Lord Jesus, they were full of joy, they were happy people, their countenances betokened that they were the possessors of blessing, and that they had something positive from God. They were full of joy and were continually in the temple, we read, praising and blessing God. So that in Luke we have witnesses; that is what he would call attention to, as we read in Acts 3: 4, 5, Peter and John said, “Look on us”: they were the expression of the thing that they preached. That is Luke.
Lastly, John in his record leaves us with a company of people who had the Spirit of Christ, examples of the kind of men that the gospel produces; not vindictive men, not persecutors, but persons imbued with the Spirit of Christ. He breathed into them, having said, “As the Father sent me forth, I also send you”. John 20:21. They are not called apostles; they are simply disciples, breathed into by Christ, and sent out as He was sent of the Father. They were to be the representatives of Him in the spirit in which they carried on their service, so that He tells them, “whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them” John 20: 23. Think of the Lord having such vessels of grace here upon earth!
As understanding thus the four evangelists, we can see how effective the gospel was. There was power; there was faith; and there was a concrete representation of the product of the gospel in Luke; and then the spirit of forgiveness marks those who [p. 228] were sent out according to John. So that it is in the spirit of the four evangelists that we should approach this great service of preaching the glad tidings, to make it attractive to you. If there is an unbeliever here, one would like to make it clear to you that there is immense gain in becoming a believer. There is not only great danger in remaining an unbeliever, but there is immense present and eternal gain in becoming a believer. Having said all that so that you may understand that I am not simply preaching from the Old Testament, I shall seek to present the gospel as illustrated in this chapter. There are three thrones spoken of in it; one is Ahab’s, one is Jehoshaphat’s, and the other is God’s. It is a remarkable chapter.
I wish to speak first, just for a moment, of God’s throne, and that we need not be afraid of it as it is now. What it will become is another thing. At the present time the throne of God is favourable to man. It may be that you have not thought of this, and that you have a dread of God as on His throne; but at the present time it is favourable to man, and it is favourable because a Man, God’s Son, has been here and has died as a substitute for men, and His blood has been carried in and placed in the very presence of the throne. What was in the tabernacle and in the temple speaks typically of these things. The cherubim of glory represented the authority of God, and it looked down upon the mercy-seat. The mercy-seat had upon it the blood of the victim; that is to say, typically, the blood of Jesus. He is set forth, according to Romans 3:25, as a mercy-seat; “whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood”. God Himself has provided the mercy-seat; it is a mercy-seat with blood upon it. It is Christ, having died and risen, who is the mercy-seat, and God looks upon that mercy-seat, and in virtue of that He can propose to you forgiveness.
[p. 229] He can forgive and justify through faith the guiltiest man or woman on the earth; and, mark you, it is God in His majesty, in all that He is in righteousness, and holiness, and power who presents Himself through that mercy-seat. He is favourable to men. He says, so to speak, ‘I am for you’. God is for us; God is for men, for “God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his [Christ’s] blood, for the showing forth of his righteousness ... so that he should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus”. Romans 3: 25,26. It is a throne that is favourable. Jesus is on it. In Revelation, as you will remember, the Lamb is seen “in the midst” of it. In Hebrews, Christ is at the right hand of it. In Hebrews 1: 3 He is said to be “at the right hand of the greatness on high”; in Hebrews 8: 1 He is “at the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens”; in Hebrews 10: 13 He is “at the right hand of God”, and in Hebrews 12: 2 He is “at the right hand of the throne of God”. So that being there as our representative, as having made, as it says, purification for sins, He has made the throne favourable, and it is favourable while He remains there. When He leaves that position, the throne will be otherwise; it will be against the ungodly; for when He comes it will be “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”. 2 Thessalonians 1:8. That is future; but at the present time, the throne is favourable.
Now Micaiah, the prophet of whom we have read, represents the throne of God. He says, “I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne”. 2 Chronicles 18:18. Ahab was on his throne, and Jehoshaphat was on his throne, clothed in their robes. Ahab represents the ungodly man in power. The Psalms contemplate him; they are full of references to this kind of man. He is in power; he has four hundred prophets; they are his prophets. Earlier, he had four hundred and fifty prophets of [p. 230] Baal; now he has four hundred prophets, nominally of Jehovah. I need not comment further on what he represents. There is an improvement on Jezebel’s time, for although Jezebel was still living, yet her power had waned. We are living in times when Jezebel’s power has waned, but she still has her prophets; she herself, indeed, is a prophetess as we learn in Revelation 2:20. Ahab had somewhat emerged from her dreadful influence, and now he has four hundred prophets who are nominally prophets of Jehovah; they speak in Jehovah’s name; there are many such. Not that one is here to charge evil against any one, but there are many such at the present time. A serious consideration here is that Ahab is allied with Jehoshaphat. Now Jehoshaphat is not exactly the ungodly man, but he is a worldly man. He is truly a believer, but a worldly one. It may be there is some one here who is a believer in Christ, but allied with the world. What is said of Jehoshaphat later is that he loved those who hated Jehovah. Is there any such here who have close friends among the ungodly, and yet who are true believers? You are in a dangerous position. But Ahab is the ungodly man. At the present time, God is ready to plead with the ungodly man, for in presenting the gospel God is no respecter of persons: it is to all, even to the most ungodly. It is through the entreaties of Jehoshaphat here (typically the Christian), that the ungodly man is willing to call for the true prophet. And now we come to Micaiah: he is a persecuted prophet. Ahab says, “I hate him!” 2 Chronicles 18:7. Think of that! It may be there is some one here who hates the preacher because he preaches the truth. Ahab says; “He never prophesied good unto me, but always evil”. 2 Chronicles 18: 7. Why? What else could the prophet say, if he said the truth? How can any one speak to you if you are an ungodly person, save to warn you of the evil to come, to say that your way is [p. 231] crooked, and that you are under the influence of Satan? It may be that you hate the preacher for that; but he is your best friend, for he is telling you the truth. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend”, Proverbs 27: 6. “A flattering mouth worketh ruin”, Proverbs 26: 28. Do not listen to it, but listen to the man who tells you the truth. Ahab was not prepared to listen; his mind was bent on mischief, on his self-willed course; he will go his own way, like Balaam of old.
Many read the history of Balaam and think it unreasonable that God should have acted towards him in the way He did; but Balaam, though he pretended not to do anything without the word of the Lord, all the time in the secret of his heart was self-willed: he had “the reward of unrighteousness” 2 Peter 2:13 in his mind. The Lord knew that, and so the angel stood before him; God would save the man from his wicked course. The dumb ass, speaking with a man’s voice, forbade the madness of the prophet, for it was that; 2 Peter 2:16. So with Ahab here, and so with you, if you are deliberately and continually resisting the faithful testimony of the servants of God. You are in the same position, and God tonight is standing right across your path and warning you, as Micaiah did Ahab. It is serious for you, if you refuse. There are these four hundred prophets flattering the king; they are saying all kinds of fine things to him ‘You are going up and will prosper’, but they were telling him lies. There are many such men today, deceiving souls as to salvation. From the very pulpit lies are being told in regard of salvation, and souls are being deceived, and they are going on their way to darkness, the blind leading the blind; and if blind lead blind, shall not both fall into the ditch? Luke 6: 39. The truth was that Ahab was lost. As Paul says, “if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost”, 2 Corinthians 4: 3. 1 cannot tell who they are;
[p. 232] God knows. Nevertheless, God would save Ahab. Previous to his alliance with Jehoshaphat, when Elijah spoke to him the word of the Lord, he had humbled himself, and God said, “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me?” 1 Kings 21: 29. The least move in your heart God notices. Ahab humbled himself for the moment, and God took account of it but alas! he did not continue. There has to be a definite break made, once for all and it says “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth”, Luke 15:10. Repentance is the thing. Ahab humbled himself, but he did not truly repent of his wicked way. Grief according to God works repentance to salvation never to be regretted. Ahab did not thoroughly judge the matter and here we have him in this chapter resisting the divine messenger, ridiculing and persecuting him. Ahab was a lost man; he is the type of a lost man, a man that will come into judgment. The Lord says, “He that hears my word, and believes him that has sent me, has life eternal, and does not come into judgment” John 5:24. Ahab did come into judgment, because in spite of light through Elijah, earlier, he deliberately persisted in going on his way in rebellion against God. So Micaiah says, “I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne”. 2 Chronicles 18:18. It is as if he said, ‘You are on your throne, and Jehoshaphat is on his, but do not forget that God is on His, and God has the power; you have four hundred prophets and an army, but God has the whole host of heaven’.
When the Lord Jesus sent His disciples out to preach the gospel, He told them that He has all power in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28:18; it is all in the hands of Christ. So Micaiah says, “I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left”. 2 Chronicles 18:18. And what is this great conclave for? It is to deal with Ahab. Terrible thing! God intended that this [p. 233] man, being determined, to go on his course, should come into judgment. And so it will be with modern Christendom, it will come in for delusive teaching; “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”, 2 Thessalonians 2:11. At the present time it is the truth that is presented to you, but as refusing it, God shall send a strong delusion “because they received not the love of the truth”. 2 Thessalonians 2:10. He has the means of doing that. We see this prefigured in the Old Testament chapter we have read. One comes forth and says, “I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets”. 2 Chronicles 18:21. It may be that there are some of you who will be in like case, that instead of God striving with you, as now, that you might believe the truth, He will cause that you should believe a lie. Is that not terrible? “That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness”. 2 Thessalonians 2:12. I do not know anything more solemn than that. And so this one comes and says, “I will entice him”. 2 Chronicles 18:20. “How?” says the Lord. “And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets” 2 Chronicles 18:21; not all Jehovah’s prophets, for the four hundred were Ahab’s prophets, and Micaiah was not one of them. I should not like to be hired by a man like Ahab; I should not like to be drawing a stipend from him. There are thousands upon thousands in like position, and they are exposed to the lying spirit, and they will become the agents of the lying spirit. I do not say that God has sent the strong delusion yet; but I do say that there is a lying spirit abroad; a terrible spirit, surely, and lies are being told about God and about Christ; blasphemous things are being said from the pulpits, and men are deceived by them. Things will become worse when the Holy Spirit goes, and when the church, all true Christians, leave this scene. An awful condition of things will prevail in this world then; what is depicted here will abound,
[p. 234] a lying spirit shall be sent abroad, and men and women all over Christendom will believe the lie; there will be a total abandonment of Christianity, and apostasy, as it is called, will become full-blown, and then the government of God will follow. I warn you, if there is an unbeliever here tonight, that this stares you in the face, for the church may go tonight; it may go at any moment; and then the strong delusion will be sent. Now alongside the wicked spirit, there was this faithful man, God’s messenger, and he says, “I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne”, 2 Chronicles 18:18 having already said, “I saw all Israel scattered as sheep that have no shepherd”. 2 Chronicles 18:16. Is it not so at the present time, that the sheep are scattered? The Lord would speak to you, and the Shepherd’s desire in the preaching of the gospel is that you should not be scattered, that you should come to Him and find your place in His flock.
Now, to proceed a little further with Ahab, so that we may see how judgment finds out the ungodly. He, with Jehoshaphat, is determined to go into the battle, and he says, “I will disguise myself”. 2 Chronicles 18:29. Jehoshaphat put on his robes, and Ahab went disguised, as if he could by his disguisement evade the judgment of God! An unbeliever cannot evade the judgment of God. Even though a Jehoshaphat be clothed with robes, as you may be, God will make no mistake. Twins that may look exactly alike are perfectly discriminated by the eye of God. “Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left”, Matthew 25:41. Such is the unerring judgment of God! And He says, too, “Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together”. Matthew 24:28. The eagle is proverbially keen in eyesight; he sees his prey, and so with the judgment of God, it is unerring. There is no hope for you if you refuse Christ. Doubtless Ahab thought in his heart, ‘Jehoshaphat looks like me; they will attack him’. Time was, indeed, when a substitute was taken. The Substitute has been taken for you. The gospel announces a Substitute, and if you reject Him there is no other. However disguised you may be, God knows you. Ahab goes into the battle and, as he anticipated, the Syrians attacked Jehoshaphat. But the matter was God’s, not man’s; it is with God we have to do, not with man; and Jehoshaphat is saved. Thank God! although the Christian may be mixed up with the world, he is sure to be saved. No sheep of Christ can ever perish, though saved, it may be, so as by fire, but he will be saved, 1 Corinthians 3:15. The Syrians discerned that it was the king of Judah and they were deterred from following him. “Jehovah helped him; and God diverted them from him”. 2 Chronicles 18:31. This is a touching reference to God’s faithful care of His children, whatever their circumstances. Jehovah is the covenant name; God is faithful, even if we are unfaithful. “He cannot deny himself”, 2 Timothy 2:13. God would impress upon the unbeliever that he cannot escape. Even in the midst of the battle and all the confusion, God’s judgment must take its course. Would God stay it? It would look as if Ahab were to escape; but did he? No; “a certain man drew a bow at a venture”. 2 Chronicles 18:33. Think of that! A venturesome bow becomes the instrument of God’s unerring judgment. Is there any hope for you if God can even use a bow drawn at random? Your harness, of what use is it as standing against the divine instrument of judgment? It is futile. Ahab had on armour; but what kind? It was not the armour of God; it was his own, and it was capable of being pierced, and it was pierced. This is a most terrible picture, beloved friends, as warning any ungodly person, any unbeliever, that there is no possibility of escaping the judgment of God. I need not say that the judgment of God is just, and according to truth. This picture is to show you that in [p. 236] circumstances when it was thought there might have been escape there was none. Ahab could not escape; even a bow drawn at a venture becomes the instrument of the unerring judgment of God. So the eagles find you wherever you are.
Then there is poor Jehoshaphat, who is in a false position. He has a throne; but of what good is that? I have no doubt that there was but little difference between it and that of Ahab, and putting on their robes was just a show “in an open place”. 2 Chronicles 18:9. What need was there for them to mount their thrones at a time like that? It was a time rather for taking counsel. But it is the pride of man as he would show himself off. The secret of the destruction of many is pride; it goes before a fall. If you are conscious of it, if some little bit of pride, some little distinction in the world is standing in your way, between you and Christ, judge it now. We all like to pride ourselves in whatever we may have; and there is not a man or woman in the world who has not something of which he or she can take pride in. It is remarkable how we take the things up, and sit down on them, on our thrones as it were. And there we are like Jehoshaphat alongside the wicked Ahab, the husband of Jezebel, the enemy of God. Is that where you are living, with those who hate Jehovah? If so, I grieve for you, and I would beg of you to come down from that throne, that pride. Divest yourself of those robes that you clothe yourself in to your own satisfaction, if not to that of others, and humble yourself. Get out of that false position. As you see how God watches over Jehoshaphat, does it not appeal to you as a believer? You may have had bright days in the past, but the God whom you knew in your bright early days is the same God; He watches over you in your false alliance, in your wicked associations. Jehoshaphat was an object of great interest to God, for he loved God. Much is said of him, much that is [p. 237] honourable, much to his credit; he served God but, alas here he is an ally of Ahab; he is linked up with Jezebel, and he is mounted on the throne of his pride alongside Ahab. I can see him there in the open place in Samaria, and those four hundred prophets, influenced by a lying spirit, prophesying in his hearing. Yet he had a leaning towards Micaiah, as you can see; as every true Christian today has towards those who are of God; even although he might be in a theatre, if there is anything said dishonouring to Christ, it touches his heart. I know of many illustrations of this. So with Jehoshaphat “Let not the king say so”, he says, “is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we might inquire of him?” 2 Chronicles 18:6. He leaned towards Jehovah, in the secret of his heart; and it may be so with you tonight; it may be indeed that in your very wicked associations, linked up with men and women in this world, your heart condemns you, and you long for the time again when you enjoyed the things of God, when you were in the company of those who love God.
It is one thing to be in the company of those who hate Him, and another to be in the company of those who love Him. Christians love Him. And so Jehoshaphat had a leaning towards this faithful man, and God had His eye on him, and He saved him through bitter experience. May you never find yourself in such a position. How narrowly Jehoshaphat escaped! Had it been left to himself, he had gone; but in the midst of the confusion of the battle God Himself intervened, and the Syrians went back. It was God’s doing and Jehoshaphat was saved. He, as I said before, should never have been there. I know well that if you are true Christians, you will never be lost — never; the Lord says, “they shall never perish” John 10:28; but then there is such a thing as being in the company of the world and being saved “yet so as by fire”, 1 Corinthians 3:15 and that was Jehoshaphat’s part. How much happier to be found in association with the people of God, with those who love Him, for there you will never find yourself in a strait like that of Jehoshaphat.
Do not trifle with God. Even although you be a believer and you know your end is sure, you may depend upon it you will “suffer loss”. 1 Corinthians 3:15. I cannot tell you how much loss, but I know this, that you are suffering the loss of the greatest thing on earth at the present time; that is, the enjoyment of spiritual things in the company of those who love God, and who love Christ. What you may lose by-and-by I am unable to say, but I am sure you will suffer loss, and at the present time you are displeasing the Lord, as Jehoshaphat was doing. The prophet brought the matter on his conscience and, according to the next chapter, he was restored.
May God help you tonight if your case is in any way like that of Jehoshaphat. It is your opportunity to get out of any association with the ungodly that you are in, and to get into the company of the godly, where Christ is, where the Holy Spirit is, and where His ministry is maintained. If there is one here like Ahab who is persistently an unbeliever, God is speaking to you; He is giving you a fresh opportunity to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” that you may be saved. Then you shall not come into judgment, but will pass from death into life. Such is the gospel! May God bless His word!