When the Good News isn’t Good News
By Rev. James May
Good news is hard to find in the media of this world. Sensationalism, bad news, murder and mayhem are what sells papers or keeps the public tuned in to their favorite news channel. I discovered a long time ago that if I listened to too many news broadcasts on the radio or TV, or if I spent too much time reading the newspaper, that all of the negativity and bad news would eventually affect my mind and make it so much harder to preach without always going back to the latest news story. That’s not where a Christian should dwell. If you put in negativity, guess what is going to come out! That’s right, “Negativity”.
In fact, about the only thing that I’ve heard is good news on the TV is when I hear of my favorite sports team winning their game, but then even that has a negative side because in order for my team to win, another team had to lose.
Sometimes good news is superseded by bad news like the man who went into his doctor friend’s office for a checkup and while he was there they began to discuss investments in the stock market, comparing how their portfolios were doing. After a thorough examination and a long discussion, the doctor left for a long time. When he finally came back into the room he said, “Well, Sam, I have some good news and some bad news!” Fearing the bad news, Sam asked for the good news first. The doctor said, “According an article in the Wall Street Journal, your stocks are going to split and gain a lot of value. You stand to make millions within very quickly.’ Overjoyed at this good news, Sam then said, “Great, that’s wonderful news. Now what’s the bad news you spoke of?” The doctor looked at him and sadly said, “I guess the easiest way to say this is that in about 6 months you’ll be able have a really first class funeral.”
Sometimes we grow so accustomed to hearing bad news that we don’t even recognize the good news when it comes.
That’s kind of the way it is with preaching the gospel. When someone who is lost in sin hears the gospel it has a two edged sword effect upon his life. First there is the bad news when he discovers that he is lost and in sin, but the good news hidden in that bad news is that there is a Savior, Jesus Christ, whose blood has the power to wash away sin and give us new life by being spiritually born again.
In 2 Chronicles chapter 18 we see this happening in the life of King Ahab. Of course, if you know the history of Israel’s kings in the Old Testament, you will recognize that name Ahab, because he was one of the worst kings that Israel ever had. He was an idolater and played around with the occult, delving into witchcraft and seeking the advice of witches in order to gain knowledge of the future and how to lead Israel.
King Jehoshaphat of Judah had come to the aid of King Ahab who was then king over the northern kingdom of Samaria. Jehoshaphat had been duped into joining Ahab against a common enemy who dwelled in Ramoth-Gilead. Just because they were both kings over people of Israel, Jehoshaphat thought he owed it to Ahab to join in the battle. Little did Jehoshaphat know that he was getting himself into something that he would soon regret.
We need to be very careful of the alliances we make and the friends we keep. Just because someone agrees with you doesn’t mean that they will make good partners in any business proposition. Some of the most compromising situations we can get ourselves into is when we think that we have so much in common with someone and we think we can trust them and then once we’ve joined their cause we find out that their “cause” may not be so good after all.
Jehoshaphat had some doubts about what he was getting into. Ahab was just being too confident and too quick to move in attacking the enemy.
2 Chronicles 18:4, "And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day."
A few verses before, the Bible says that Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance. The reason for all of that is given right her in this verse. No matter what he faced, Jehoshaphat was quick to take it before the Lord and seek the counsel and direction of the Lord. My friends, if we want the riches of God’s grace and the blessings of God in our lives, we must learn to follow Jehoshaphat’s example. Seek God first, and everything else will fall into place.
King David learned this lesson well, for he said in Psalms 63:1, " O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;" This isn’t just talking about getting up before the crack of dawn to seek God’s face, even though that’s often a good time to do so. I know that I can often hear God’s voice best early in the morning before all of the noise and business of the day begins to get in the way. Most of the best sermons I’ve ever received from God have come in the wee hours of the morning when all was quiet. Sometimes God even wakes us up in the middle of the night with a thought or a song that keeps rolling over and over. That’s when I write down some quick notes because I know that once I fall back asleep, the chances are that those thoughts will be gone.
David learned to seek God early! That means that he sought God when the problems began, not after he had tried to solve them first like he did with Bathsheba. David learned the hard way that seeking God first, before making a move, can help us to avoid a whole lot of trouble that we might face if we don’t seek Him. How much trouble could we have avoided by seeking God first? Maybe we wouldn’t have had that little argument with the kids or the spouse. Maybe the day at the job would have gone better. Maybe things would have been a lot different. Sadly, most people don’t seek God until after they are neck deep in the alligators instead of seeking the will of God before they ever jump out of the boat and into the waters.
Ahab heard the request of Jehoshaphat and called upon his prophets. Notice I said, “His Prophets”. These prophets were nothing more than “Yes Men” who only told Ahab wanted they thought he wanted to hear. They were hirelings, there to make the King like them and therefore to support them in their “ministry”. They didn’t know the voice of God, and even though they often said, “Thus saith the Lord”, in reality, God hadn’t spoken to them at all. The only voice they heard was their own greedy heart; and the words they spoke were lies; all lies.
The worst part about it was that Ahab knew they weren’t for real, but it made him feel good about himself so he encouraged them to keep on. Ahab didn’t want to hear the truth! He would rather believe the lie because it suited his own purposes. It’s not that he didn’t know the truth; he just didn’t want to hear it unless it agreed with his own heart’s desire!
I’ve been in places where I’ve seen this in the church too. There are people who will come for advice, but they really didn’t want to hear the truth. They just wanted someone to agree with them and put a stamp of approval on what they wanted to do. If I were to give them the Word of the Lord, they didn’t want to hear that because it made them to know that they were probably going to make the wrong move and suffer the consequences. My question to them was always, “Why did you come to me? Did you expect me to go against God’s Word and agree with you? What kind of a pastor would I be if I told you anything other than what the Bible teaches?”
Many times, knowing their circumstances and understanding why they thought the way they did, it would have been easier just to agree with them and let them go on their merry way. But I knew that what they wanted would eventually lead to disaster; a broken home, a lost job, financial difficulty or even the chance that they would backslide and lose their way with God. The easy path is seldom the right path. If you’re going to live for God keep in mind that you are always going to be swimming upstream against the mainstream current of life. You can’t be a friend of the world and follow the ways of the world and expect to please God. You can’t do things your way, or the world’s way, and then expect God’s blessing upon what you do. There’s your way, the world’s way, the devil’s way and then there’s the right way, which is always God’s way! So learn to seek Him early and get on the right way, right away!
One by one, those 400 prophets of Ahab came before he and Jehoshaphat as they sat upon their thrones in the middle of the threshing floor which gave them sufficient room for everyone to gather in a large convocation. It was like a convention of prophets, all saying the same thing. “God is with you Ahab! Go up and defeat the enemy at Ramoth-Gilead! “Thus said the Lord…”
Some of the false prophets even went the extra mile in their efforts to appease the king. One of them named Zedekiah even forged some iron horns like those on either a bull or a ram and went around pushing people ahead of him on the tip of those horns saying, “Thus saith Lord… with these iron horns you will push Syria and defeat them.” Now that was an impressive display, so it must have been a true word from the Lord. Who would go to that extreme just to lie?
Let me tell you people of God, it doesn’t matter what kind of show of the flesh that someone will display in trying to make an impression upon you. I don’t care how many times they say, “Thus saith the Lord…” I don’t care how spiritual they may act; or how pious they may seem to be; let every word be put to the test of God’s Word. Try every spirit and let the Holy Spirit help you to discern what is of God and what is not. Too many of God’s people have been led astray through the words and actions of some well-meaning “prophetic word” or “word from the Lord just for you” by someone who hasn’t heard from the Lord at all. They are moving in the flesh, in their own knowledge of your circumstances and it leads to trouble, not deliverance and victory.
King Jehoshaphat felt something was wrong. This was just not right. Even though these are prophets and even though all 400 are in agreement, something is amiss. Jehoshaphat knew the voice of his God, and the voices he was hearing just didn’t sound like the voice of the God of Israel. There was a bad feeling, a spirit of uncertainty and a darkness that hung over the whole crowd.
2 Chronicles 18:6, "But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?"
Ahab was cornered! There was one more prophet but he was a prophet that Ahab rarely called upon and didn’t like to hear from. The problem was that this one prophet was the only prophet that really had the anointing of the true God of Heaven upon him. He spoke the truth and told it like it was whether Ahab liked it or not. He was not a “Yes Man”. His name was Micaiah.
Jehoshaphat insisted and Ahab sent for Micaiah. I can only imagine that when the true man of God walked in, something within the heart of Jehoshaphat knew that this was the one who would speak the truth. There was a witness of the Spirit of God between them, just like you and I can run across a complete stranger and feel that kinship of the Holy Ghost. God knows those who are His and he will help us to know one another by the unction of the Holy Ghost. Of course, Ahab already knew that Micaiah would speak the truth with favoritism. He dreaded the word that the true prophet of God had to say.
One of Satan’s favorite tricks that he plays on Christians is to try to get us to compromise in our convictions, to go along with the crowd in how we think and to be tolerate, understanding and even sympathetic to his cause.
- You find that on the job when you are being asked, or ordered, to do something that goes against your beliefs and integrity.
-You find that in the church even, when another brother or sister in Christ who may not have the same convictions on certain activities will act offended when you refuse to participate. They’ll call you a “Holier than Thou” person.
-You’ll find that in government, and even though a Christian may have all of the best intentions in the world of doing the right thing in office, the pressures are tremendous to go along with the views of those who have compromised their convictions for the sake of expediency and unity to get their favorite laws passed.
-We even find that in the ministry when we are pressured to change our views upon the Word of God because of cultural changes and seeker friendly programs that are being pushed by a denomination.
- We can find that even in the style of worship when we feel pushed to change to a modern form of music that relates more to the younger age group, or there is pressure to stick to the old ways to keep the older crowd happy.
Change is inevitable and there must be allowances that makes ministry and worship relevant and powerful for as many as possible, but the sad fact is that no matter which way we go, someone isn’t going to be happy all of the time. That’s just a fact that we have to deal with and get past it. It’s hard to hold the line on convictions and to really know the Mind of Christ in some situations.
When Ahab’s men reached Micaiah they tried to get him to compromise too. Come on Micaiah; look man; every other prophet of God has given the king good news. They have prophesied a great victory and the king is happy. Please don’t go before the king and mess up the whole thing. Let Ahab be happy and agree with all of the other prophets. Give him encouragement and be in unity with all of the prophets.
I love Micaiah’s answer, 2 Chronicles 18:13, "And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak."
That’s integrity! When the true Prophet of God speaks, he must speak the truth of God’s Word. If it makes the king mad; or if it exposes the lies of the other 400 false prophets; or if it agrees with them; let it be the truth of the Word of the Lord and nothing else. Micaiah would not compromise the message, whatever it would be. He wouldn’t purposely cause problems but he wasn’t going to compromise to avoid problems either.
When Micaiah came before the kings and Ahab asked him to prophecy concerning the coming battle with the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead, the prophet began to speak, but Micaiah knew what the king wanted to hear so he began to speak in a manner that was sarcastic and insincere.
Go on up to battle Ahab. That’s what you’re going to do anyway, so go on and do it. God ahead, after all, every prophet has already said that you will defeat the Syrians. What are you bothering me for? Just go on up and win.
Notice something here – Ahab was an evil king, even worshipping idols and leading Israel into the worship of idols. He was a manipulator and a conspirator in arranging King Jehoshaphat to join him, but even this evil king knew the difference between the truth and a lying spirit.
I believe that no matter what the situation is that we may face, we already know the truth and we will know when it’s a lie. The Holy Spirit convicts and points out sin; and He also leads us into all righteousness. Satan’s lies and the deceit of evil men will only draw us aside if we cast aside our ability to discern the truth and know the spirits that move the hearts of men.
When people come for answers, most of the time they already know the answer, they just don’t want to admit it. If you know God and you have even a basic understanding of God’s ways, you will know the right from the wrong. God’s way is always right and will always follow His Word; while every other way leads to compromise and defeat. You’ll know the right way if you’ll just listen to the voice of the Spirit. Call it conscience if you will, call it conviction; but whatever you call it; God is always there to lead you to the right path.
Ahab knew beforehand that Micaiah would not give him good news. That’s why he didn’t want to hear what the man of God had to say. He only wanted to hear the voice of those who agreed with what he already wanted to do.
Then Micaiah told him the true Word of God.
2 Chronicles 18:16, "Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace."
Ahab looked at Jehoshaphat and said, “I knew it. He never has a kind word for me. He never tells me anything good. He’s always bearing bad news. That’s why I hate to hear him speak.”
Let me tell you people of God, if that’s the way you think then consider this. Maybe the reason you only get bad news is because you’re on the wrong path that leads to destruction and God is trying to turn you around. This evil king of Israel was defying the will of God and then got upset when God tried to tell him that he was doing wrong. That’s called insanity. You’ll never hear the good news until you’re doing the right thing.
Micaiah spoke again. God had now revealed the whole truth, and even revealed the events that were going on in the spiritual realms to bring this whole scenario to pass. Ahab, if you really want to know the whole truth, here it is in all of its sordid details, but I promise you, you won’t like it.
2 Chronicles 18:18 Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; 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 18:19 And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.
2 Chronicles 18:20 Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?
2 Chronicles 18:21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.
2 Chronicles 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.
It’s not popular to speak the truth when it exposes the lies that men want to believe. It’s not popular to stand firm in your convictions and speak the Word of the Lord without fear or favor. It’s not going to make you a friend of the world to preach against everything that the world thinks is so great. But who are you going to serve, God or man?
As for me, I cannot but speak the Word of the Lord! If it angers the church, if it angers the denomination; if it angers other preachers or if it angers those who are living in the world of sin and darkness, and especially if it angers the devil, then so be it!
Only by preaching the Truth can men be set free. There can be no deliverance in lying.
You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free. Let us always speak the truth without compromise.
Ahab’s good news from his false prophets wasn’t good news at all. It was really bad news hidden under a sweet-talking tongue. Micaiah’s bad news wasn’t really bad news at all. It was good news hidden under the voice of correction. If Ahab had listened and obeyed God, this could have been a great day; but it was not to be because Ahab chose to believe the lies.
In the end the battle was lost, Ahab was killed, the false prophets ran and hid for their lives and no doubt many were killed. Jehoshaphat escaped with his life by disguising himself but faced a sharp rebuke for having taken part in a battle outside of God’s will. There was a price to be paid for disobedience; and the price is often very high.
There are times when the good news isn’t good news. When we tell people that all is well and that God loves them as they are, that’s good news to the hearer, but it really isn’t good news because it speaks nothing of our need for repentance for sin and Savior.
There times when the bad news isn’t really bad news. When we hear the gospel and are convicted of sin, it brings us to a place of godly sorrow. That’s not such good news. But the good part is that it leads us to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that is really good news. Let us stay on the Lord’s side and speak, preach, teach and live only according to the truth of God’s Word. That’s the only way to victory.
