Ahab asked Jehoshaphat if he would join forces with him and take what was his from the Syrians. Hoss thought it was all right but he said, "Before we do anything, before we make any more plans let us inquire at the mouth of the Lord." It is always a good idea to inquire of the Lord regarding any decision that you make. Whether it be getting married, getting a job, any decision in life should be made only after making inquiry of the Lord. Since the will of God was not completed at that time, God having of old time spoken unto us through the prophets in divers portions and divers manners in these last days hath spoken unto us through His Son, it would be necessary to ask the prophets what the will of God was for them in this venture.

Remember Ahab will say later on in this story, "Say nothing to me but the truth in the name of the Lord." There are three points we want to make in this story. The first thing is Ahab wanted to hear the truth if the truth was what he wanted to hear.

IF IT'S WHAT I WANT TO HEAR

O.K. Hoss, you want to inquire at the mouth of the Lord, I've got four hundred prophets of the Lord right here on the premises; let's call all four hundred in and see what they have to say. Four hundred preachers came in and Ahab put the question to them,

"Shall I go up against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall Iforebear)" Now these four hundred were like some preachers to­day, they knew what side their bread was buttered on and who it was that had the butter. So they said, "Go up for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the King."

The head honcho of the prophets was Zedekiah. Zedekiah,with a fitted set of horns on his head, butted around for awhile and declared that Hoss and Ahab would push the enemy all over the place. Evidently one horn represented Ahab and one horn represented Hoss. SAY NOTHING TO ME BUT THE TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. So far, so good. It seems that the Word of God is telling Ahab just exactly what he wants to hear. Zedekiah reminds me of what a former president said one time. Somebody asked him how he advised young people. He said, "I find out first of all what they want to do and then I advise them to do it." This is good advice for preachers. Find out first of all what people want to hear and then advise them to do it.

But don't stop there. Find out secondly what they don't want to hear and never make the mistake of telling them to do it. We have all heard the story of the preacher who was invited to come to a new ministry. This new Church would pay him an astro­nomical salary and he didn't know whether to go or not. He asked his wife what she thought. His wife was a descendant of Jehosha­phat and she said, "I think we ought to ask the Lord what His will is in this matter." The preacher said, "I agree with you, I'll get down on my knees right here and pray, and while I'm praying you go upstairs and start packing." Ahab had already made up his mind what he was going to do before they asked the Lord any­thing in spite of the pious declaration that he would make later on in the story; "SAY NOTHING TO ME BUT THE TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD."

The same thing is true with me in reverse. Most of the Chur­ches that call me for revivals want to hear strong doctrinal ser­mons. I know this and give them what they want to hear. I really pour it on heavy. Give 'em what they want. However, sometimes by somebody's oversight I get into a Church where they don't want to hear it too strong. I still tell it the way it is. The only thing is, I don't feel quite as comfortable —I feel a little uneasy. It is always easy to tell people what they want to hear.

Now the second thing that we bring out is there are some preachers who won't tell you what you want to hear unless it is in truth—the Word of God.

SOME PREACHERS WON'T SAY WHAT YOU WANT

TO HEAR UNLESS IT IS THE WORD OF GOD

Hoss was not convinced that the four hundred preachers were really telling the truth. He must have regarded them as a bunch of liberals. So he asked Ahab, "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him?" A conser­vative Ahab said, "Yes, there is another; his name is Micaiah and I HATE HIM. He never tells me what I want to hear." Hoss said, "Let not the King say so." So Ahab called him in—hasten hither Micaiah, the son of Imlah. Ahab and Hoss sat on thrones and four hundred pereachers preached to this audience of two, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper for the Lord shall deliver it into the King's hands."

The messenger that was sent to summon Micaiah gave him some advice. He told him that the other prophets had prophesied good to the King with one mouth. Let thy word be the same as theirs. Micaiah told him what ever the Lord said he would say. So the King asked Micaiah the same question that he had asked the four hundred. "Micaiah, shall we go up against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall we forebear?"

Micaiah had three things to say. The first thing he said was, "Go and prosper for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the King." It sounds like Micaiah is saying the same things as the
four hundred until we note the King's reaction. He said, "How many times have I told you to SAY NOTHING TO ME BUT THE TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD?" Miciah was being sar­castic. "Sure Ahab, go on up just like the four hundred have ad­vised; go ahead, Ahab."

The second thing Micaiah told Ahab was, "I saw all Israel scattered over the hills without a shepherd." To this Ahab reminded Hoss, "See, I told you he wouldn't tell me what I wanted to hear. He always prophesies evil concerning me."

Micaiah had a third thing to say. He said, "I saw the Lord sit­ting on a throne and all the host of heaven standing before Him, on His right hand and on His left. The Lord said, 'Who shall per­suade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?" Dif­ferent ideas were presented but one spirit stood before the throne and told the Lord that he would go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets. The Lord said, 'Thou shalt per­suade him and prevail: go forth and do so.'"

Hear it again, SAY NOTHING TO ME BUT THE TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. Ahab said, "Put this fellow in prison and feed him on the bread of affliction and the water of af­fliction until I return in peace." Micaiah's parting shot was, "If thou return in peace the Lord hath not spoken to me. HEAR 0 PEOPLE, EVERYONE OF YOU."

Just in case Micaiah did tell the truth, Ahab tried to circum­vent the Word of God. He told Hoss to go up in battle dressed as a King. He himself would go as a private. No one would recognize

him, (not even God who said he would be killed).

In the meantime, the King of Syria instructed thirty-two cap­tains to fight neither with the great or the small but only with the King of Israel himself. Thirty-two captains went into the bat­tle with one thing in mind — get Ahab. They couldn't find him. They saw King Hoss and thought for a moment that it was Ahab, but when they realized their mistake they left him alone. It says the Lord helped him. We are not told how. They looked for Ahab elsewhere to no avail. As far as they were concerned they failed to find him, but God saw him.

A certain man drew his bow at a venture—he did not know who he was shooting at—he wasn't sure he could hit him from that distance. It was a random shot and that arrow found its mark. He smote the King of Israel between the joints of the har­ness, wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, "Turn thy hand and carry me out of the hosts, for I am sore wounded." The battle increased that day. Ahad was stayed in his chariot and about the going down of the sun, he died. One wonders if he thought of Micaiah and his prophecy. James sums it up for us,

"The grass withereth and the flower fadeth but the Word of God abideth forever." The third thing about this story is, "What does it mean to us?"

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO US?

SAY NOTHING TO ME BUT THE TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. For a great many it means the same as it meant to Ahab. Speak the truth to me as long as it is what I want to hear. I have seen this motto on many a Church bulletin board as I drive by, IF THE BIBLE TEACHES IT, WE BELIEVE IT, AND THAT SETTLES IT." That sounds like a good motto. But I see it on bulletin boards of Churches who have different names and who believe different things. Apparently the Bible says different things to different people. Does God tell one person to do one thing and then tell somebody else to do something different? Does God tell some people to be protestant and then turn around and tell others to be Catholic? The answer that many give is the insipid stupid remark, "IT'S ALL A MATTER OF INTERPRE­TATION." You see it one way and I see it another. It all depends on how you interpret it.

It seems to me that we ought to be able to accept the scrip­ture at face value. My wife gets up at five thirty a.m. to go to school. Sometimes when I get up about three hours later I will find a note that says, "Get five pounds of sugar at the store or whatever item we have run out of." I always take the note to the store with me because if I don't I am likely to forget what it was I am supposed to get. If I should show the note to the checkout woman and say, "This note says I am to get five pounds of sugar; where do I find it?" suppose the checkout woman says, "The sugar is in aisle five, but you don't want sugar, you want five pounds of coffee and that is in aisle six." I tell her, "No, it says sugar." The checkout woman says, "That is just your interpre­tation." So I go to aisle six. I am a little confused but before I get five pounds of coffee I see someone stocking the shelves and I say to him, "I think I want five pounds of sugar, the checkout woman says it's coffee." He takes one look at it and says, "No, you want five gallons of milk." I say, "I thought it says sugar." He says, "That is your interpretation; go to the dairy case and get five gallons of milk." So I go to the dairy case and I see the manager coming and I say to him, "I am confused. I think I want five pounds of sugar, but someone told me I want milk." He says, "Let me see that note." "0," he said, "you don't want milk, coffee, or sugar; what you want is five lemons." At this moment I decide that there is only one way to find out for sure and that is to appeal to the original language. I say to him, "But isn't the Greek word for sugar, ZAHCHAREE, the same word we get the English word saccharin from?" The manager of the store, who happens to be a ministerial dropout, informs me that Doctor Zedekiah, who is a professor in Southern Ahab Theological Seminary says that ZAHCHAREE can sometimes be translated coffee, milk or lemon as well sugar. He says, "Sugar in most cases is a bad translation. Doctor Zedekiah says that it isn't too important what you take home: sugar, milk, coffee, or lemons. It's all a matter of interpre­tation."

It seems to me as I read the story of Ahab that there is a danger that some people are going to interpret themselves right into hell fire. Why can't people accept the Bible at face value? The command, Thou shalt not kill, is not any harder to understand than the command, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

SAY NOTHING TO ME BUT THE TRUTH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!