1 Kings 22:8
Ahab, the king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
“The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.
It is generally supposed that opinions adopted by the great mass of mankind, especially if they are maintained also by those who from their personal advantages and official character are considered as best qualified to judge, must, of necessity, be right. But, whatever deference may be due to the opinions of others, we cannot concede to any man, or to any number of men, that measure of confidence which is due to God alone. Even in relation to the sciences, we frequently find that universally received axioms are at length exploded, and systems of a very different aspect are established in opposition to them. In religion there is but one standard, to which everything must be referred; and however numerous or learned the people may be who would impose their opinions upon us, we must bring them all “to the word and to the testimony,” and discard everything which accords not with that unerring test.
On a subject of great importance to the kings of Israel and of Judah, no less than four hundred prophets were consulted; and they all, with one voice, gave their judgment in such a way, as to flatter the pride, and gratify the inclinations, of those who consulted them. But there was one poor despised prophet, Micaiah, whom Ahab had intentionally kept in the background, because he dreaded the advice which he might give; and, when inquiry was made respecting him, Ahab said, “I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad!”
Now, though this saying had respect to one individual, and may therefore be supposed to be confined to him, the reason assigned by Ahab is of a general nature, and is applicable to all who faithfully declare the mind of God. This saying therefore of Ahab will furnish me with a fit occasion to show,
I. The necessity imposed on every faithful minister.
A servant of God must declare the truth consistently and fearlessly. Fidelity to God is essential to his very character!
1. God requires it of us.
Ministers are ambassadors from God, and must deliver faithfully the message entrusted to them. An unfaithful man may be called a servant of God; but he is, in fact, a servant rather of the devil, who assumes in him the appearance of “an angel of light! 2 Corinthians 11:13; 2 Corinthians 11:15.” Paul’s representation is this, “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful! 1 Corinthians 4:1-2.” And to every such character God gives this solemn charge, “He who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully! What is the chaff compared to the wheat? Jeremiah 23:28.” We are not to fear the face of man, but to speak the truth of God, “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious! Ezekiel 2:6-7.” And when men say to us, “Prophesy unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits! Isaiah 30:9-10″—our answer must be like that of Micaiah, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says unto me, that will I speak! verse 14.” God has plainly told us, that “if we seek to please men, we cannot be the servants of Jesus Christ! Galatians 1:10.”
2. It is of the utmost importance to all to whom we speak.
It is to be expected that men who look to us for instruction will imbibe the opinions we convey. And if we deceive them in relation to temporal matters, the mistake, though injurious, may be rectified; but if we mislead them in their everlasting concerns, the consequence must be eternally fatal!
It is doubtless a great misfortune to any, if, like Ahab, they are betrayed by false prophets and by blind guides; but, like Ahab, they will reap the bitter fruits of such erroneous counsels.
Our blessed Lord, by a very simple figure, conveys to us this truth in a most convincing way, “If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch? Matthew 15:14.” We cannot doubt of this, in relation to this world; nor is there any more reason to doubt of it in relation to eternity. It will be no excuse to any, especially to any who have had the Scriptures in their hands, that they were deceived. They had access to the fountain of knowledge; and they might have obtained by prayer the influences of the Holy Spirit to instruct them; and therefore they are altogether responsible for the errors they have imbibed, and for the counsels they have followed. In them will surely be fulfilled that declaration of the prophet, “The leaders of this people cause them to err; and those who are led of them are destroyed! Isaiah 9:16.”
3. The salvation of our own souls depends upon it.
As from God we have received our commission, so to God are we responsible for our execution of it. In truth, so solemn is our responsibility, that nothing but a conviction that we are “called to it by the Holy Spirit,” could prevail upon us to undertake the office of ministering to immortal souls. Hear what God himself has spoken to us, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood! Ezekiel 3:17-18.”
Here you see that if the consequences are fatal to others, they are doubly so to ourselves; for those who perish through our unfaithfulness, have only their own souls to answer for; but we must perish under the accumulated guilt of destroying, not our own souls only, but the souls of all that have been committed to our charge!
Well does the Apostle Paul again and again make that request, “Brethren, pray for us;” for indeed we need your prayers; since we are sure to incur man’s displeasure, if we are faithful; and God’s displeasure, if, through any motive whatever, we shrink from a full discharge of our duty.
Ahab’s mind towards the faithful Micaiah shows to every minister,
II. The recompense the faithful minister must expect for his fidelity.
It might be supposed, that in proportion to the fidelity with which he exercises his office, a minister should be loved; but by the ungodly world he will rather be hated like Micaiah, and for the very same reason, “because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad.”
1. This hatred to the faithful pastor will be invariable.
If we go back to the beginning of the world, we shall not find one faithful minister that ever escaped the hatred of those around him! Noah “condemned the world” in his ministrations; and was regarded by them with scorn and contempt. If we ask how Moses, David, Elijah, and all the prophets were treated? Our Lord has told us, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?” As for the Apostles, our blessed Lord plainly warned them, that they also would have their cross to bear, being “hated, reviled, persecuted, for his sake.”
But it may be thought that our blessed Savior could never become an object of aversion to any; since the perfection of his wisdom, and the extent of his goodness, and the efficiency of his power—would preclude a possibility of his being regarded with any feelings but those of love and gratitude. Yet, though “he spoke as never any man spoke,” and wrought miracles far more numerous than those which had been wrought from the foundation of the world, he was more an object of hatred than any other man! As he says, “The world cannot hate you; but it hates me, because I testify of it that its works are evil, John 7:7.”
Even at this day there is not to be found on earth one faithful minister who does not experience the truth of that assertion, “If they have hated Me, they will hate you also.” It matters not what wisdom these servants of God exercise, or what talents they possess, or what blamelessness they maintain; if they will discharge their duty faithfully to God and man, they shall surely be made conformable to their Savior’s image in this respect; for, “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! Matthew 10:25.”
2. This hatred to the faithful pastor will be universal.
It is not the profane and profligate alone that will hate the servants of God; but the moral, the sober, and those who have in some respect a regard for religion. Indeed, those who are of more decent habits are, for the most part, the very leaders in opposition to the faithful ministers of Christ; insomuch that Satan found not any more willing or more efficient instruments to persecute Paul and Barnabas, than a number of “devout and honorable women, Acts 13:50.”
As bound as kings are to protect the servants of the Most High, they have often been found their most cruel oppressors. Ahab would gladly have wreaked his vengeance on Elijah, even as Jezebel had already done on a vast multitude of the Lord’s prophets. And at different periods have the great and mighty of the earth exerted all their power to extirpate the servants of the Lord. From this enmity, no rank or order of men is exempt, “the fat bulls of Bashan” have been forward to lead the way; and “dogs have joined in compassing” about the servants of the Lord, to destroy them.
Even little children have encouraged one another in this impious work. No less than forty-two of them ridiculed Elisha, saying, “Go up, you bald head! Go up, you bald head!” expressing thereby their contempt, if not their disbelief, of the miracle that had been wrought in the assumption of the prophet Elijah in a fiery chariot to Heaven.
Just so, at this day, we can scarcely have a surer criterion of the state of men’s minds towards religion, than in the conduct of their children towards the faithful ministers of Christ. So true is that declaration of our blessed Lord to his faithful servants, “You shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake!”
3. This hatred to the faithful pastor will be inveterate.
There is no other thing which excites so much enmity as this. Persons guilty of any crime meet with some compassion; and, if they are treated with too much severity, they will find some to vindicate their cause. But a faithful servant of Christ may be persecuted with ever so much virulence, and none will venture to interpose for him. Ahab acknowledged that he had no other ground of displeasure against Micaiah, than his fidelity in declaring the messages of the Most High. And when he avowed both his hostility to him, and the grounds of it, Jehoshaphat, notwithstanding his piety, dared not to espouse the cause of this hated prophet any further, than merely to suggest, “Let not the king say so.” And, when he heard the prophet doomed to imprisonment and all its attendant horrors, he uttered not one word in his defense, but left him to experience all the wrath of his vindictive persecutor.
So it was with our blessed Lord. When he stood at Pilate’s bar, not one, out of the many thousands whom he had healed, would bear testimony in his favor, or endeavor to avert from him his impending doom.
So it is at this day, “all manner of evil may be spoken, and spoken falsely,” respecting a pious minister; and the utmost that anyone will dare to say in his behalf, is, “Let not the king say so.” True it is, that persecution does not rage to the same extent as formerly; but this is owing to the laws of the land, and to the spirit of toleration which has superseded the bigotry of former times. The enmity of men’s hearts, if unrestrained, would break forth with the very same fury that it ever did; and the cry of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” would be heard, wherever the character of Christ and his Apostles was exhibited.
Desirous, however, of approving myself to God, let me address:
1. Those who, like Ahab, determinately follow their own way.
Of Ahab’s idolatries, I say nothing. The point before us is, his determination to follow his own way for his own temporal advantage. And need I say how common a character this is? I dare not, then, “speak flattering words” to such people. No, “I cannot speak good concerning them, but only bad.” Indeed, my brethren, God’s will must be regarded by you as of paramount obligation; and, if you will not obey his voice, you must inevitably perish.
Tell me not whether a Jehoshaphat concurs with you, or false prophets uphold you; if all the Jehoshaphats in the universe concur with you, or all the false prophets in the world support you—I care nothing about it! It is at their own peril so to do; and it is by God’s Word, and not by man’s precept or example, that you shall be judged in the last day. Let me not, then, be deemed “your enemy, because I tell you the truth! Galatians 4:16.” I cannot “sew pillows to your arm-holes,” or “daub your wall with untempered mortar.” “I cannot speak peace to you, when there is no peace! Ezekiel 13:10-11; Ezekiel 13:16; Ezekiel 13:18 with Jeremiah 6:14.” Believe me, brethren, there is no happiness but in serving God; and there is no safety but in an entire surrender of your souls to him.
2. Those who are induced to make compliances which their own consciences condemn.
Be assured that a holy firmness in the way of duty is best. Your ill-advised compliances will only bring shame and trouble to your own souls. Who can tell what might have been the result to Ahab, if Jehoshaphat had acted with the firmness that befit him? He might, perhaps, have prevented all the evil that ensued.
And you also, my brethren, if you will be faithful to your God, may prove blessings to many, whom by your dissimulation and cowardice you deceive. Let every child of God consider himself as a witness for God; let him “shine as a light in a dark world;” let no consideration under Heaven tempt him to be “a partaker of other men’s sins.” Let him “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them, Ephesians 5:11.” Yes, let him rebuke sin, though he is hated for it; and act uprightly, though he be abhorred for it! Amos 5:10.
Whatever any man may suffer for righteousness’ sake, let him rejoice in the thought, that they so persecuted the prophets that were before him, and that in proportion to his sufferings will be his reward in Heaven! Matthew 5:11-12.
Charles Simeon