Clean Transcript

Hope For The Southern Christian Cause

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• Let's open our Bibles today to 1 Kings chapter 22. 1 Kings chapter 22. I want to read the first 27 verses. 1 Kings chapter 22 verses 1 through 27. The title of the message today is "The Hope for the Southern Christian Cause" or "Last Man Standing." And I think you will understand when I say last man standing. First Kings chapter 22, verse one: "And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today."

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• Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

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• And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand. And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?

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• And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?

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• And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

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• And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son; and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

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• It was General Robert E. Lee who said this: "Everyone should do all in his power to collect and disseminate the truth, in the hope that it may find a place in history and descend to posterity. History is not the relation of campaigns and battles and generals or other individuals, but that which shows the principles for which the South contended and which justified her struggle for those principles."

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• And today, I want to deal with the very principle that's taught clearly in the Word of God. And that is indeed the principle of hope. Everyone needs hope. And in one sense of the word, everyone has a hope of some kind. It may be a false hope. It may be a hope without a foundation, but it's still a hope. False hopes, like the hypocrite's hope, are designed only for failure and destruction. In Job 8 and verse 13, the Word of God says, "So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish." In Job 27 and verse 8, the Word of God says, "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?" Only Christians have a real, genuine hope. Because the Bible tells us very clearly in Romans 15 and verse 13 that our God is the God of all hope. And we have hope because of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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• Now, I want you to hold 1 Kings, but I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 6 and verses 19 and 20. This refers directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. So look in your Bibles, Hebrews chapter 6, and notice, if you would please, verse 19. The Bible, in speaking of Christ, the Bible says, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Note, if you would, in verse 19, "which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast."

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• And let me tell you something. If there was ever a day in which we needed hope, it is today in our time, in our age. You have to consider the facts. Listen carefully. Christianity is cursed, condemned and castigated. Our Christian culture is assailed, assaulted and attacked. Our history and our heritage are under constant, continual, and consistent revision and rewriting. The Confederate battle flag is defamed, denounced, despised.

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• The leftists, the liberals, the progressives, the Marxists, the communists, the fascists, all seem to be enjoying their program of devastation and destruction. Political correctness and hatred for anything and everything that reeks of freedom, independence, character, and common sense seems to be advancing not just daily, but hourly. So, if someone really and truly wanted to be discouraged and depressed and downhearted, all they have to do is consider the circumstances.

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• But I want to show you something. I want you to hold 1 Kings 22, but look in Romans chapter 4. It's this day and time that we must have the faith of Abraham. And notice, if you would, what the Bible clearly states in Romans 4, beginning there in verse 17. And this is in reference particularly to the promise of God. Look what God said to Abram in Romans chapter 4, verse 17. "As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God." Now watch.

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• "...who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." So they haven't yet come into existence, but God calls it as it is in existence because He is the one that brings it into existence. Look what Abram did. Verse 18, "...who against hope..." That is, all the circumstances, all the situations seem to be down. "...who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."

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• So stop and think about that. God had given a promise to Abram. And when Abram looked at himself and he looked at his wife, I mean, he was 100, she was 90. Look at the circumstances, look at the situation. And God had promised him a son. Who against hope believed in hope. And he counted that whatever God promised, God was fully able to perform. I want to try today to inject some biblical hope in our lives based upon the truth of God's Word. All hope is not lost and all is not lost.

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• The wicked do not win. Truth is not always on the scaffold while lies are sitting upon the throne. God is still sovereign. God is still on the throne. He still reigns and He is still governing. As I have said before, everything is going wrong just right. The Bible says in Psalm 76 and verse 10, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." So how much wickedness is God going to allow? And the answer is, just enough that it's going to ultimately redound to His honor and His glory. And that which will not redound to His honor and glory, He's going to restrain.

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• Now, the message of hope that I want to deliver today lies in a web of deceit and dastardly deeds and destruction. If you have paid attention as I read 1 Kings chapter 22, you will find that Ahab is on the throne of the kingdom of Israel. And Ahab was the vilest and wickedest king in the entire northern kingdom, period. The Bible says in First Kings, chapter 21 and verse 25, listen carefully. "But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up." There was none like Ahab that sold himself to work wickedness. Now, it is true that Jezebel may have stirred him up, but he is the one that did it. Ahab was a tyrant.

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• He was a murderer, a blasphemer, an idolater, a pervert, and a thief. He was consumed with himself, his programs, his lusts, his desires. He had no real interest in his people, and he believed that they were there only to serve him. The description of Ahab makes you think of modern-day politicians. Does it not? And there are so many parallels between Ahab and modern-day politicians, it is mind-boggling. But to make matters worse, in 1 Kings chapter 22, wicked, vile, ungodly Ahab is joined by godly Jehoshaphat, who is king of the southern kingdom. Now, Jehoshaphat not only compromised in joining an affinity with Ahab, but he was also thoroughly rebuked for his sin. For instance, if you want to look in 2 Chronicles chapter 19, 2 Chronicles chapter 19, look if you would please at verses 1 and 2. "And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord."

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• Wow, what a powerful question. "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Jehoshaphat, by the way, did not escape with just simply a rebuke. He suffered, and so did his children, and so did his grandchildren, because of his compromise and because of his sin. But that is a different message in and of itself, because you do exactly reap that which you sow.

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• The interesting thing is you look at 1 Kings chapter 22. Jehoshaphat, at one point in this chapter, exhibited some sound understanding, and in another instance, he acted completely insane. Compromise with evil does indeed rob one of common sense. And when we compromise with evil, we lose. So here's the setting. Ahab desires to take back Ramoth-gilead. Now, Ramoth in Gilead did indeed belong to the children of Israel, but it had been captured and possessed by the Syrians. In fact, Ramoth in Gilead was also a refuge city for the Israelites. In Joshua 21 and verse 38, the Bible says, "And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs." Ahab wants Ramoth back. And he wants Jehoshaphat to help him recapture Ramoth and bring it back into his possession and his power. Now, Jehoshaphat, being a godly man, does something that is simply insane, silly, and stupid. What does he do? Well, look at it if you would, please. Verse 3, "And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?"

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• And he said unto Jehoshaphat, "Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead?" And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, "I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses." Can you imagine such an answer coming from a supposed godly man? "I am as thou art, my people as thy people." Spiritually speaking, neither Jehoshaphat nor his people were as Ahab and his people. Jehoshaphat and Judah at this time still remain true to the covenant and remain true to the one true and living God, Yahweh, Jehovah, while Ahab and his people were total, absolute idolaters.

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• I want you to understand something. Our forefathers knew that the southern people were different and unlike those in the north. Did you know that one of the terms that Robert E. Lee and some of the others referred to the Yankees as, was simply, "those people." "Those people." Indicating that we were totally a different people. And we are still different today. Listen to me carefully. A Bible-believing Southern Christian is totally and completely different from a non-believing, politically correct Yankee humanist. We're different.

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• That's all there is to it. We have a different faith. We have a different culture. We have a different history. We have a different heritage. It is the goal of the cultural Marxist to blend all people into one homogeneous blob with no past or no future. And they're only content to exist in the present. Because you can control the people like that. When you understand that there is a difference, you have to come up with this attitude. And this is my attitude.

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• I will not be reconstructed. I will not be reconstructed. I will not deny my faith. I will not deny my ancestry. I will not deny my history. I will not deny my heritage. By the grace of God and by God's grace, I will never be like those people. And so you need to make up your mind that you are different and that you're going to persevere in that difference. And you must maintain your history and your heritage.

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• Now, Jehoshaphat, completely insane in one sense of the word, who said, "I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses." Now Jehoshaphat begins to think a little bit in verse 5, "And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today." Well, why didn't he inquire before he answered, "I am as thou art, and my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses"? Well, all right, let's inquire of the Lord. Let's do that. Well, truthfully, he should have done that before he consented to go with Ahab. But in order to satisfy Jehoshaphat, Ahab summons his state prophets who only told Ahab that which he wished to hear. Notice, if you would, verse 6, "Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king." Notice there's a difference between the word "Lord" in verse 6 and the word "Lord" in verse 5.

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• In verse 5, it's all caps. In verse 6, it's only capital L, then little o-r-d. Because they're using a totally different word. And they said, "Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king." Watch verse 7. "And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him?" In other words, he recognized that these were not God's preachers. These were not God's prophets. These were prophets of Baal. They were prophets of the king who only gave the king that which he wanted to hear. And so Jehoshaphat says, "I want to hear from a man of God. Is there not a prophet of the Lord here?" Watch verse 8. "And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil."

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• And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so."

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• Now, I want you to understand something in verse 8. He said, "There is yet one man." One man. Let me ask you a question. What happened to all the other prophets of God? Why is there only one prophet of God left in the northern kingdom? And the answer is, because they were either expelled from the kingdom or murdered at the instigation of Ahab and Jezebel. Let me show you. Look in I Kings chapter 18 and verse 4. I Kings 18 verse 4. Here we read, "For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water." So he hid a hundred of them that were expelled.

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• The rest of them were probably killed or had to fend for themselves or just simply leave the kingdom. If you would turn over to 2nd Kings chapter 9 and look at verse 7, 2nd Kings 9 and verse 7. Notice there the Word of God says this, 2nd Kings 9. After Jehu is anointed, verse 7, God tells Jehu, "And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel."

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• So, they were either expelled or they were murdered. That's why there was only one.

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• Now, I want you to note something else that's found very plainly in verse 8. "And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him." I want you to note that Ahab acknowledges publicly. And he acknowledges to Jehoshaphat, who was a believer in the one true God, he's acknowledging publicly that he hates the prophet of God. Let me emphasize something.

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• I don't know if this has ever entered into your mind or not. It is not just that our enemies hate our history, our heritage, our culture, our flag. They hate us. They hate us. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is not Southern by any stretch of the imagination, nor is it in poverty by any stretch of the imagination, the Southern Poverty Law Center makes that point exceedingly clear because they are the largest hate group in the country. And yet at the same time, they label anything that is Southern or anything that is Christian as morbid, hateful, racist maniacs. Listen to me carefully.

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• We are hated for who we are and what we represent. Do you understand this simple point? It is impossible to have a new world order as long as you have a people that believe in and stand for freedom, independence, states' rights and historic biblical Christianity. We are the roadblocks. We're the hindrance. We are the immovable objects. And they hate us. Our Lord said in Mark chapter 13 and verse 13, and their hatred should not surprise us because of these words, but our Lord said, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." So it should be really an honor to be hated by those who hate Jesus Christ and his truth.

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• Now, I want you to look back at verse 8 again, and I want you to pay close attention as to why Ahab hated Micaiah. "And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him." Why? "For he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." Wow. "I hate him, because he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil."

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• Well, let me ask you a question. How could anyone prophesy or speak well of or about or concerning a positively evil man? There is a curse upon those that confuse good and evil. Isaiah 5 and verse 20, God says, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" There's a curse upon them. So he says, "I hate him because he does not speak good concerning me, but he always speaks evil concerning me." Let me put you on the spot. How many of you could speak good or well and prophesy good things concerning our modern-day politicians who have violated their oaths, sold their souls, dishonored their marriage vows, perverted their lives, destroyed the Republic, enslaved our people, and denied our history and our heritage? How many can you speak well of? There's one or two that you might say a few good things about. But as a whole, you can't say good things about most of them, because most of them are positively evil, and they condemn themselves by their unfaithfulness and by their greediness.

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• Now, this is something that still amazes me about Jehoshaphat. If you look back at verse 8, "And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him." Here's why. "For he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." Now, Jehoshaphat has the perfect opportunity to set Ahab straight. And to be a real true witness. And all he does is simply says this, "Let not the king say so." Instead of rebuking and reproving, he just simply says, "Let not the king say so." He has missed a perfect opportunity to set the record straight. Instead, he sits silently. And he does not defend the one true and living God, nor the man that represents the one true and living God. I want you to understand something. Silence is consent. And silence is betrayal. I want you to hold 1 Kings 22, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 50. Look in Psalm 50. And let's begin reading there with verse 16.

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• Psalm 50. Watch verse 16. Look what God says. Psalm 50, verse 16, "But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers." When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him.

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• How do they consent to theft? By silence. And partakers with adulterers? How? By silence. God says to sin by silence is indeed a betrayal. It's a betrayal of the truth. And so all Jehoshaphat did was say, "Let not the king say so," when he could have defended Micaiah. He could have witnessed to the one true and living God. When we remain silent and we do not lift up our voices, we're consenting with evil and we're betraying the truth.

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• Now, look, if you would, back in First Kings 22 and verse 9. Watch carefully. After Jehoshaphat asked for a prophet of the Lord, Ahab immediately sends for Micaiah, verse 9. "Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah." I've got a question for you. How did Ahab know where Micaiah was? You have to remember that oftentimes God's prophets were led hither and yon.

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• That's what Obadiah said to Elijah. "If I go and tell my master that you're here, then the Lord's going to take you somewhere else, and then he's going to kill me for lying." So how did Ahab know where Micaiah was? The answer is given to us in verses 26 and 27. Watch what Ahab commands. Verse 26, "And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son; and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace." Carry him back. He knew where he was because he had already had him in prison. He knew exactly where he was. And now he sends him back to be fed with the bread and water of affliction. So they come to get Micaiah. And if you look in verse 13, "And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good."

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• Everybody's agreeing with the king now. You need to agree with him as well. You need to be politically correct, Micaiah. Do not rock the boat. Do not upset the government. Do not upset the powers that be. Speak good like everybody else. Verse 14, "And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak." So, he says, "I'm going to speak what God gives me." Now, I want you to understand what Micaiah does.

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• And he does this in such a way that Ahab knew that he was being mocked. Watch if you would. Verse 15. So Micaiah gets in the presence of Ahab and Jehoshaphat and all the officers. "So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king." Watch. "And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?" In other words, Ahab understood that Micaiah was mocking him and he was mocking the false prophets as well. Wow. Oh, my goodness. Ahab understood the sarcasm, the mockery and the insult. Then he says this, "And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?" Wow. You say, "Micaiah dishonored Ahab."

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• No, he did not dishonor Ahab. He spoke the truth concerning Ahab when he mocked him. Let me tell you something. We must always honor the office of authority. But we do not honor dishonorable men who are holding the office of authority. To be honored, you must be honorable. Let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Kings chapter 3. 2 Kings chapter 3. Because three kings now have come together to fight against Moab. Notice, if you would, and they get into a situation where there's no water. And 2 Kings, chapter 3. Notice, if you would please, Jehoshaphat is there.

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• They find, let's begin reading with verse 11. "But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him." Verse 13, "And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee."

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• Let me spell it out. Here's what he said. "If it was not for Jehoshaphat, I wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire." Wow. That was the attitude of Elisha, the man of God, towards Jehoram, the son of Ahab. He let him know in no uncertain terms that he thought absolutely nothing of him. If you go back to First Kings, chapter 22, verse 16, Ahab says to Micaiah, "And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?" I can hear Micaiah right now saying, "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. I want to tell you the truth."

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• God's going to kill you. He's going to wipe you out. And then he tells him how God has sent a lying spirit in the mouths of all of his false prophets that they might lure him to battle at Ramoth-gilead in order that he might be killed. And so here's what Micaiah is saying. God's had enough of your blasphemy. God's had enough of your perversion, your idolatry and your violation of His law. You're dead meat, son. You're a walking dead man.

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• You just don't realize it just yet. That's why in verses 26 and 27, Ahab is so upset. "And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son; and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you."

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• Now, although Micaiah's words were directed to Ahab, yet he was giving a warning to all that heard, even King Jehoshaphat. Interestingly, no one listened, no one heard, for they all went on their merry way to Ramoth-gilead.

  #47 | 38:20 to 38:42 | cleaned

• Now, all this was introduction. Here's my message, and the message is not going to be long. I want you to go back to verse 8. I want you to watch this. This is the verse that spoke to my heart. "And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, when he asked for a prophet of the Lord, he said, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil."

  #48 | 38:43 to 39:24 | cleaned

• Now notice if you would. "Is there not a prophet of the Lord here?" And Ahab says, "There is one man left." The last man standing. It was one man. And one man only that spoke the truth that ended the tyranny and wickedness of Ahab and his government. Ahab did indeed speak the truth when he said, "There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah." Micaiah was a man. He was a fighter.

  #49 | 39:25 to 40:16 | cleaned

• He was a champion of the cause. In fact, if you would go home and look up the Hebrew word for "man" here, the word actually means not just a man as distinguished from a woman, but it also means a champion, a servant. And Micaiah's name literally means "who is like God." In other words, Micaiah was a servant of the Most High God. He was a fighter and a champion. And notice, if you would, he said there is one man left. There's emphasis upon the numeral one. And by the way, the Hebrew word for "one" means one. It is the same exact word that is used in the Shema Israel in Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." And so he says there is one man left. Micaiah was a singular man.

  #50 | 40:17 to 41:23 | cleaned

• He was alone, and yet he stood, and he stood for truth and righteousness. He stood where no one else could stand or would stand. It's kind of like John the Baptist. When in John 1 and verse 6, God says concerning John the Baptist, "There was a man." Micaiah was a man that was willing to forsake all for the cause. He was willing to walk away from everything. He was willing to suffer for truth and righteousness. You see, one of our problems today is we're too materialistic. We believe somehow that it's things that make us happy and make us complete and make us successful. But the truth of the matter is this, we brought nothing into this world and we're not going to carry anything out of this world.

  #51 | 41:23 to 42:07 | cleaned

• Life is more than raiment. Life is more than food. Life is more than things. And here is Micaiah, one of the greatest prophets of God, telling the king, "God's had enough of you. And God's going to kill you." He was a man who was willing to be imprisoned for his faith and for the truth's sake.

  #52 | 42:08 to 42:31 | cleaned

• Now, let me tell you something. I'm sure that no one in this room wants to go to prison. The biggest thing about prison is the stigma that is attached to an individual once he's been there. There is no stigma against someone being in prison if he's in prison for the right reason. John the Baptist was in prison. Our Lord was in prison. All the apostles were arrested. Paul was in prison numerous times.

  #53 | 42:32 to 43:23 | cleaned

• And in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8, he wrote to Timothy and he said, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." In other words, he says, "Timothy, you might end up in here as well."

  #54 | 43:25 to 43:42 | cleaned

• There's no stigma to being in prison if you're there for the Lord's sake. You stop and think of all the Confederate soldiers that were in Elmira, Point Lookout, and all the other Yankee prisons. And yet, what were the Confederate soldiers fighting for? Not slavery, I can assure you. They were fighting for self-defense and for independence and the right to rule their own lives. Micaiah was a man that was willing to suffer.

  #55 | 43:50 to 44:19 | cleaned

• And he spoke the truth even though he knew it was probably going to add to his afflictions. That's why Ahab said, "Carry him back to the prison and you feed this man with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction until I return in peace." Ha! Micaiah said, "If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me." Micaiah was kind of like General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

  #56 | 44:20 to 44:49 | cleaned

• You could never misunderstand him. When he spoke, you knew exactly what he meant. And he said exactly what he meant. Micaiah said, "If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me." I hear people say, "Well, the past is past." We would do well to heed the words of Robert L. Dabney. Dabney was an eminent theologian, a scholar, and he was also chief of staff to Stonewall Jackson. In his commencement address to the students of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia on June 15, 1882, Dabney made these remarks. Listen carefully.

  #57 | 44:51 to 45:43 | cleaned

• He says, "It behooves the New South in dismissing the animosities of the past to see to it that they retain all that was true in its principles or ennobling in its examples. There are those pretending to belong to this company who exclaim, 'Let us bury the dead past. Its issues are all antiquated and of no more practical significance. Let us forget the passions of the past. We're in a new world. Its new questions alone concern us.' I rejoin, 'Be sure that the former issues are dead before you really bury them. There are issues that cannot die without the death of the people, of their honor, their civilization, their greatness. Take care that you do not bury too much while burying the dead past.'"

  #58 | 45:45 to 46:42 | cleaned

• "...that you do not bury the inspiring memories of great patriots whose actions, whether successful or not, are the eternal glory of your race and section, the influence of their virtues, the guiding precedents of their histories. Would you bury the names and memories of a Jackson, Lee and their noble army of martyrs? Would you bury true history whose years are those of the God of truth?"

  #59 | 46:43 to 47:06 | cleaned

• Principles do not die. Principles do not have funerals. And I will tell you this, folks, the very issues that face us today and the very issues that we are fighting against today are the exact same issues that our forefathers fought against in the war of aggression and also in the war for independence. So we better take heed that we don't bury too much like Dabney says. Are you listening to me?

  #60 | 47:14 to 47:52 | cleaned

• The Christian cause and the Southern cause are rolled into one. How can I say the Christian cause and Southern cause are rolled into one? It was the North who gave the South the nickname of the Bible Belt. And it is true that the South has remained predominantly Christian. I know that not everybody in the South is a Christian, I understand that. But you know as well as I do that many in the South still hold to and believe the Bible to be the Word of God and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. So we have the Christian cause and the Southern cause basically rolled into one and our problem is the same in both instances, whether you're talking about the Christian cause or the Southern cause. You say, what's the problem?

  #61 | 47:53 to 48:45 | cleaned

• We do not have men. We do not have fearless men, men who are unafraid. We do not have men that will stand and speak the truth and allow the chips to fall where they may. We do not have men that are willing to sacrifice. We do not have men like Lee and Jackson, Ewell and Stuart. Where are the men who will follow in the footsteps of Lee and Jackson? Where are the men that will follow in the footsteps of Micaiah or John the Baptist? I want you to listen to what General Lee said.

  #62 | 48:46 to 49:18 | cleaned

• What he said about the past is just as true today. He said this: "Our country demands all our strength, all our energies. To resist the powerful combination now forming against us will require every man in his place." Wow, that's almost like yesterday. "If victorious, we have everything to hope for in the future. If defeated, nothing will be left for us to live for. My whole trust is in God, and I am ready to do whatever He may ordain."

  #63 | 49:21 to 49:54 | cleaned

• "At present, I am not concerned with results. God's will ought to be our aim, and I am quite content that His designs should be accomplished and not mine. The truth is, the march of providence is so slow, and our desires so impatient, the work of progress is so immense, and our means of aiding it so feeble, the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave, and are thus discouraged."

  #64 | 49:54 to 50:23 | cleaned

• "We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence and to call forth greater energies and to prevent our falling into greater disasters. It is history that teaches us to hope." Like I said earlier, principles do not die. They do not have funerals. There is one man, one Yankee officer that I really agree with. E. Benjamin Andrews, who was then the president of Brown University, himself a veteran of the Yankee Army, said this, listen carefully: "The question of greatness is a relative thing. And we in America will probably always differ as to the rank of our prominent men. But if any American father were asked which of our great men he would most want his son to resemble, that father, if he were wise, would be compelled to answer Robert E. Lee." So here's my question. Will you be the one man?

  #65 | 50:23 to 51:51 | cleaned

• Will you be the Micaiah? Will you be the Lee, the Jackson, the Ewell, the Stuart? Why in the world would we trade our manhood, our history and our heritage and truth for a bowl of governmental humanistic pottage? Our prayer needs to be that God will give us men. Our hope in the Christian and the Southern cause is that God will give us men, that God will raise up men with a holy determination and a holy desire to stand for that which is right and holy and true and stand for the faith that's been handed down in the Word of God and will stand with integrity and virtue. What did Ahab say? "There's one man left." The last man standing. And God used the last man to destroy Ahab and his tyranny.

  #66 | 51:53 to 53:09 | cleaned

• God is pleased to use small things and little things to confound the mighty. I know you've heard that God and one man is a majority. It's true that God is a majority in and of himself, but he's pleased to use men. But we need men that are willing to stand and suffer for the Christian cause and the Southern cause. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your goodness and kindness. We do pray, Lord, that you would indeed raise up men for us, men like Micaiah, Lord, who are willing to stand and to do that which is right and holy and to suffer. Men like John the Baptist, men like Lee and Jackson and Ewell and Stuart and a host of others. God, give us men, give us men with backbone and determination. Give us men, Lord, who are willing to fight based upon your word and your truth and will proclaim it no matter what. Give us, Lord, men filled with thy spirit, full of faith, full of righteousness and holiness, integrity and virtue.

  #67 | 53:11 to 54:40 | cleaned

• Give us men, we pray, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we ask. Amen.

  #68 | 54:41 to 54:48 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:37:53Z