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SERMON: Malachi McIntyre, First Baptist Church of Elizabethtown, IL
19 Plays3 months ago
"Abijam Reigns in Judah"
1 Kings 15 1-8
Recommended
Transcript
Living a Christian Life Despite Challenges
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That's
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probably one of my favorite verses because um I have this old youth pastor. i live down in Kentucky. yeah yeah became a Christian rapper not too long ago and one of his songs is called imitate and it says imitate me as I imitate Christ and so ah just listening to that song and you know, reading it from the Bible.
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If you go out into the world and live as a Christian, then people the people around you are probably gonna, like, you know, some might make fun of you, but some might, you know, wonder how you're living like this.
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If they're having a bad life or, you know, they're going through tough times. they might just wonder how you're getting through everything and so you could tell them about Christ and now invite them to church and everything like that.
Loyalty to God and Avoiding a Divided Heart
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But that brings us to our first point tonight. A divided heart leads to a compromised life. If there's no loyalty to ah God, you will have loyal to sin and just about anything else that goes against God's will.
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2 Corinthians 6.14 says, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness, and what communion has light with darkness?
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And the reason I put that in there tonight is because I kind of felt like it went wrong with our first point, about having a, how a divided heart leads to a compromise life because if I was to marry non-believer, we could go one of two ways.
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One, I bring her up with Christ and help her see who Christ is or she tears me down and I stop, you know,
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essentially following Christ, going getting ah in all of these bad things, and stuff like that.
Strength Through Loving God
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Mark 12.30 says, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
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This is the first we see there that That's what we should do, because if we love God with all our heart, strength heart soul, strength, mind,
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ah who can defeat us? If we believe in Him with everything we've got, there's nobody who can tear us down.
Unique Calling and Living Sacrifice
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Romans 12, says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the miracles of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this work world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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And... we're not all gonna be called to the same thing. Like Chris, as he was growing up, you know he had tough childhood, but he always asked God not to ah to bring him to preaching.
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But what's what's he doing? He's at First Baptist preaching.
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And so whatever God has planned for me and my future, whether it be here or in Australia.
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It's God will. So, um but yeah, so whatever it be, we should always do what God tells us to do because God is always right.
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And we shouldn't while While we are sitting here doing God's will, it doesn't mean we're not going to fall short. But we need to put away our old self.
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Because if we don't, then
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what does anything we say mean? If we go out and live one way and come here and pretend another way, doesn't mean anything.
Faithfulness to God's Covenant
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Now let's look at God's faithfulness to his covenant in verses 4-5. Nevertheless, for David's sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem.
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Because David did what was right and in the eyes of the Lord and had not turned aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life except in the matter of Uriah the Hidite.
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God could have destroyed Judah for the way Abijah was taking over and still living in sin. But he decided to
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spare.
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And he kept his promise with David. And we all know that when God makes a promise, he's going to keep it. It might not be now.
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know not might not be two months down the road. But eventually, whatever he promised you, he'll get it to
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it through. Numbers 23, 19 says, God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. As he said, and he will not do.
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Hebrews 10.23 says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
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None of them back then were perfect, especially David or Abizam or Jeroboam, but
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God you know kept his promise sparing Judah, Israel, and places like that.
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And David's repentance set him apart from kings like Abisham.
Grace Over Sin
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That brings us to our next point tonight. God's promises do not depend on human perfection, but on His grace.
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Romans 5, 20, verse 21 says, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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How are we living? Are we living like David and his obedience? Or like Abijah living in sin and
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not doing what the Lord has called us to do.
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Now let let's read of the short-lived kingdom of the unfaithful.
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There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. Now the rest of the acts of Abijah and all that he did Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
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And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. Then also this also his son reigned in his place.
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That brings us to a final point. More thrives than sin.
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And I know that because, i mean, every time I've gotten up here, the devil's trying to get me after. Every time I speak, I, like, might have just a bad day and and just leave me alone.
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Yeah.
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Paul reminds us in Romans 3, As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.
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They have all turned aside, they have all, they have together come become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no not one. Their throat is an open tune, with their tongues they have practiced deceit.
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The poison of Asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full and cursing in bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood.
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Destruction and misery are in and their ways, and the way of of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
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Abijam's sinfulness led him to continue. the war against Jeroboam.
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We see in James 4, 1-3, where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that bore in your members?
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You lust and do not have murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and In the war, yet you do not have because because you do not ask.
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You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Embracing Righteousness for Peace
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In middle school, um was I was always in trouble. My sixth and seventh grade year until I moved. It was the end of my seventh grade year that i came and lived with my grandma because of COVID.
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So I could actually have help with homework and pass. But um my sixth grade year, I was disrespectful all my teachers, especially subs.
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And I was so mad one day. or it was over nothing. This kid got in front of me and and I wanted my spot back. So... Me and him got into it and then the sub came by and... You know, said something.
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We got back to the classroom and I'm still mad. And I'm just like disobeying her. She goes, get back in the classroom. I said no.
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And then she threatened to call the office. I said, go ahead. And so she goes, okay, go ahead and head to the office. and Which at that time, I had already knew and I had told her that the principal had allowed me to sit outside if I got mad because I was a little obnoxious.
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I don't know how my sixth grade teachers dealt with me, but... Yeah.
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And I was always in fights. You could say a word to me and I'd probably, like, just ramble on about how mad I am. I was a really mad kid.
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But as we see like especially with, you know, Resurrection Sunday, the wicked will war against the righteousness.
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But the righteous continue on and seek peace.
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The war we see here is not the wicked trying to bring down the righteousness, but a war of pride.
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So what kind of wars are we fighting? What side of the war? Are fighting on the righteous side or the wicked side? And I can tell you from experience of being here, if you're on the wicked side, you'll always lose.
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You'll never win.
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You'll always have trials and tribulations that come towards you.
Urgency of Knowing Jesus
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but fully to so devote yourself, church, to the will of the Lord.
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Knowing that he upholds us even when we fall short fall short to sin or
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just anything
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But if you lost, come to know Jesus. We don't know how much time we have left here in this world. It could be 25 years.
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It could be 30 seconds.
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There's not a lot of time
Closing Prayer and Gratitude
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left. Let's pray. Dear Lord, want to thank you for this day. Thank you for everybody who could show up tonight. I just want to thank you for dying on the cross for our sins when you didn't have to.
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just want to pray over our Savior, upon for everybody. In your sins name, amen.
00:17:39
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Well, thank you so much for coming out to hear me speak tonight. I'd like to invite you back Wednesday, and we are in Colossians chapter 3. Any
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any other words before we dismiss tonight?
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Any other words before we dismiss?
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Well, Brother Chris, would you dismiss us a provider? power