Inquiring Minds

Introduction

It took me a long time to realize the connection between Psalm 73 and that song. I don’t know why it took me so long since the verse is right under the heading. But I’ve got to talk to Glinda about what inspired that song that she wrote. It’s a wonderful song. And I love Psalm 73. So I appreciate that even more. We have sung some wonderful things together. Now let’s direct our attention to the Word of God this morning. My clicker is now back in operation, and I’ve discovered it was I who sabotaged it. So I must, there were no batteries in it. So, and I remember taking them out last Sunday night. So Gary’s off the hook, and I must apologize to him. I always blame Gary, but that’s the default.

It’s always Gary’s fault. If you don’t think advertising is powerful, what if I just said, inquiring minds want to know? You know how old that advertising campaign is now? From the 1980s. You may not even know where it comes from. It’s been so long. That supermarket tabloid, the national inquirer. Not worth the pages that it’s printed on. And yet it’s still in business. And it had that great advertising slogan, inquiring minds want to know. And that’s exactly what people need to do. Is they need to possess an inquiring mind. If only more people had inquiring minds in regard to why am I here? What is my purpose? Who put me here? An inquiring or inquisitive mind is a good thing. And it’s an important first step.

But an essential thing must follow the inquiring mind. And that is turning to the proper source for answers to life’s greatest questions. And even the question of what’s going to happen to me after I die. And so we need to ask some additional questions like, is it real? Is it true? And is it right? And if we turn to the appropriate source, we can find things that are real and true and right. And we need to understand that there is an adversary, the devil, who is all about subterfuge, illusion. He wants to make the inferior appear superior. He wants to make the empty to look filling. He wants to make the counterfeit appear real. And far too many are duped by his deceptive charms. And that’s what happened in the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, when Paul has to engage in what he describes as foolishness in a personal self defense of his apostleship.

He says, I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. He says in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 2, for I betrothed you to one husband, that is Christ, that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid, lest the serpent, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And he talks about in verse 4, one coming and preaching another Jesus whom we have not preached. Or you receive a different spirit which we have not received, or a different gospel, and he says, You bear with this beautifully. And he talks about these men as false apostles and deceitful workers. And they disguise themselves as angels or as disciples of Christ.

And he says, and no wonder. For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it’s not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds.

Oh, they absolutely are. The devil is still doing what he’s done throughout the generations, transforming himself into an angel of life, making things appear to be righteous that are not, appear to be good and true and real, which are not.

1. Inquiring at the Wrong Source

There are a number of Old Testament texts that came to mind to me as I was coming to services a week ago Wednesday night. A number of Old Testament texts that all had this thing in common. And that is that they were inquiring at the wrong source. And I want to look at these four Old Testament stories. The first is found in 1 Kings 22. One of my personal favorites, 1 Kings 22, the story of King Ahab and Jehoshaphat. This is an alliance of which God does not approve. Ahab is a wicked king. Jehoshaphat is a good king. But somehow, Israel to the north and Judah to the south strike an alliance through these two kings and their buddies. And they’re going to go out and fight together.

Syria to the north of Israel has taken Ramoth Gilead. And Ahab says, Hey, that belongs to us. Will you go with me and fight against Ramoth Gilead and take it back? And Jehoshaphat says, sure. My army’s your army. My horses are your horses. Let’s go. But, to Jehoshaphat’s credit, let us first inquire of the Lord. And so Ahab trots in all of his personal prophets. And they’re all saying, by all means, go on up. The Lord will deliver them into your hand. And Jehoshaphat sees through all of this charade and nonsense. And says, Is there not a prophet of the Lord that we can consult here? And Ahab says, Well, there’s this one fellow. But he always prophesies evil concerning me and not good. And Jehoshaphat says, Let not the king say so.

And so they bring him in. Micaiah. And Micai comes and says, The Lord will deliver Ramoth Gilead into your hand. But there must have been something in the way that Micaiah had said it, and what his history was with the king of Israel, that Ahab said, You’re not telling the truth here. Speak to me. How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? And so he goes a little bit further, and he says, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace. And then the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, didn’t I tell you?

Didn’t I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil? And Zedekiah, a false prophet, slaps Micaiah. And then Micai concludes, he says, If indeed you return safely, Ahab, the Lord has not spoken by me. Listen, all you people. Then the battle unfolds. And the king of Syria has instructed his captains to target the king of Israel, Ahab. Instead, they target the other king, Jehoshaphat, and he cries out, it says, and then one of these fellows randomly shoots toward the enemy, random, the providentially guided arrow, the random arrow. He didn’t know he was shooting at the king of Israel. He was just shooting. And he strikes the king of Israel. And Ahab is taken away wounded, and he dies. A fitting end to a wicked king.

Just like Micai had promised. Maicai is the problem. Versus, I am the problem. And so often people want to react negatively to the source of truth and what is real. And do not want to change, to comply to what is actually true. Instead of owning up to the real issue or being humble enough to admit what is right and wrong, they attempt to discredit the source. Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Ahaziah. And the in the father like son department, Ahaziah is sick, and so he sends inquiry to find out about his condition in 2 Kings chapter 1 to the God of Ekron. Elijah, the prophet, hears about this from God. And so he sends inquiry to the king and says, Ahaziah, is there no God in Israel? You’ve got to go consult the God of Ekron. And that led to Ahaziah’s attempt to bring Elijah into come into custody, and he sends out his captain of the 50s, and they’re all obliterated with fire. Another captain in his 50s, and they’re all obliterated with fire. I’ve been mesmerized by this story. I’ve mentioned it twice in the last several weeks.

Hayden, you like this story, don’t you? This captain in his 50s consumed by fire from heaven. Elijah’s the prophet of fire. In the contest at Mount Carmel between the prophet of Baal, and he called, hey, cry to your God a little louder. You talk about going to the wrong source. Cry a little louder unto your God. Perhaps he’s gone off on a journey. He can’t hear you. And after all of that sarcasm, then it’s Elijah’s turn, and he not only is going to have his altar consumed with fire, he’s first going to douse it with water. Two times. He throws water all over it, and then the fire comes down and consumes the sacrifice, and even the water in the trench around the altar. Elijah, the prophet of fire.

And I think this is what actually James and John had in mind when the Samaritans, the Samaritan villages were rejecting Jesus, and he said, You want us to call down fire from heaven and destroy these villages? Consulting the wrong source. Ahaziah. 2 Chronicles 16, we’ll look at this briefly tonight. The story of King Asa. In his latter years, there’s a very short reference made to the fact that he was diseased in his feet. This once good king, however, did not consult God in his disease or in the problems associated with his feet, but it says he consulted the physicians. Trust was a problem for King Asa as he consulted. Not a wrong source per se, but left God out of the equation in his consultation. And then finally, this text in Isaiah chapter 1, the last one that I’m going to reference.

Notice how who or what we consult is the theme in all of these texts. And in Isaiah chapter 1, Isaiah already is pleading. The prophet is already pleading with the people of Israel at that time, shortly after the time of Ahab, actually. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. And so he appeals to them to reason with him. And then in Isaiah chapter 8, in Isaiah chapter 8, Isaiah says, Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. Now, you need to have read earlier to know. His sons’ names are indicative of the future of the nation of Israel.

One is Shir Yahshub. It’s easy for you to say. Shir Yahshub, a remnant shall return, prophesying of their ultimate captivity and God bringing them back from Babylonian captivity. The other child, you thought that was hard. May her shal alhashbaz. I had to practice that for weeks to learn how to say that. May her shall al Hashbaz, swift as the booty and speedy as the prey, which actually speaks to what’s going to happen to them prior to their captivity. And Isaiah, his name means Jehovah’s salvation, and not just his name, but his work and his children. All of them are signs of their need to turn to Jehovah for the solution of their lives. And then he says, and when they say to you, and whoever the day is irrelevant, we shouldn’t be listening to this day, whoever they were, consult the mediums and the spiritus who whisper and mutter.

Should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? Why are you turning to lifeless, empty, and dead sources for your answers? You’re consulting mediums and spiritus. Should not a people consult their God to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. What does that mean? The sun doesn’t come up anymore. Well, yes. In their minds. There’s no enlightenment there. If you don’t consult the proper source for the ultimate answers of life, it is because you have no God. There is no light in your thinking. This reminds me of a text in the New Testament of prayer that Paul prays for the church at Ephesus that we ought to be praying for each other, Ephesians chapter 1.

He says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. That there might be a dawn in your heart, in your mind, that your eyes may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his call. And what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe?

2. What People Are Looking For

Are we consulting the right source? I got the idea to do this lesson because I was just thinking about a friend of mine. About where this person is spiritually and why they have gone down the path that they have gone. And so I started thinking about what is it? What is it that people are looking for as they make choices that pertain to the soul? That they make choices pertaining to this book and the author of this book and Jesus. Where do they end up religiously? What is it that’s driving people and motivating people? Why do they consult what they consult? And it’s because of these things, I think. First of all, they want their conscience to be soothed. Whatever religious choice I make, I want it to satisfy my conscience.

I want to feel good about it. They feel some responsibility to serve God, their creator. They may even believe that He is the one who is the source of this book. But listen. This book clearly, consistently, and continually, points out that religion alone does not save. Even your association with those who actually believe and practice the truth is not a guarantee of your eternal salvation. I think sometimes people feel like that we’re going to ride into the coattails on this church that practices truth and believes truth. That’s not even necessarily so. Much less a church that does not believe and practice truth and does not teach what God’s word does in regard to what makes one a Christian. And what is a right response to Him?

In every nation, he who fears God and does what is right is accepted of it. Acts chapter 10, verses 34 and 35. And yet sometimes we can even feel secure because we are associated with people who are going to go to heaven. What a tragedy. If we don’t become what God wants us to be, if we don’t grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we don’t walk the walk of holiness and walk worthy of our calling, and yet we’re associated with 150 people, many of whom go to heaven. And we don’t.

Because we feel secure. My conscience is soothed. Some people make the choices that they make and consult what they consult because they’re looking for something that’s fun. So that feels good. We’re all about entertainment in this culture. We have to meet the aforementioned sense of obligation, but hey, why not be entertained while doing so? Entertainment with the religious spin. You know, if there wasn’t any payoff to entertainment, people wouldn’t engage in it so often as they do. There must be in entertainment, whatever it is that entertains you, there must be some kind of payoff in our minds to those things. Or we wouldn’t do them. It’s enticing then. In a culture that’s all about entertainment, to seek a religion that provides a similar payoff, people want to be acted upon.

They want something to generate a certain kind of feeling versus understanding that we’re here as participants and givers, not takers. Worship is the activity of the godly, zealous, and diligent mind. I’ll tell you what else, people are looking for. I want a religion that has a good image. And it’s respectable. I want to be able to say I go to such church and that be an image thing that’s respectable in the eyes of other people and makes them think I’m a good person. And by all means, we’re all about comfort, aren’t we? We’re all about comfort when we sleep, right? We’ve got to have a very comfortable mattress. The temperature has to be, it doesn’t matter. The temperature has to be exactly right. I know the specific degrees it must be on the thermostat in the winter and in the summer for us to sleep comfortably.

And that’s important. And if we’re one degree off, Sherry says, Tony, it’s too hot. Just one degree. She knows it. Or it’s too cold. So we have to have comfortable beds. We have to have comfortable seats and chairs in our living rooms. We have to have comfortable homes. And so what makes us think that people don’t do the same thing with their religion? We want a comfortable religion. We want something that suits us. But remember, this religion thing is about a cross. It’s about Jesus dying on a cross. And that doesn’t sound very comfortable. Do you think that was comfortable at all for Jesus? And what about when he tells us to pick up our crosses and follow him? Doesn’t that suggest perhaps a little bit of discomfort?

And when he talks in the Beatitudes, as I mentioned to you last Sunday night, blessed are you when men cast insults? That doesn’t sound very comfortable. Rejoice and be glad, he says. For your reward in the pew is great. That’s not what he says. Rejoice and be glad because your reward in heaven is great. He said, Blessed are you when it persecutes you. There might be an element of discomfort to the right thing. And yet I want to tell you, it’s a driving force in a lot of people’s minds as they make inquiries spiritually. I want to find something that’s comfortable. But what about these significant questions over here? Don’t lose sight of these. Is it real? Is it true? Is it right? Let’s look at something else that people are looking for.

Something that’s not too judgment. You know, it doesn’t call people out too much. Because I’ll tell you what happens. When you say things and you tell other people that they’re not right in a particular belief or action or behavior, when you tell people they’re not right, sometimes they don’t respond very well to that, and things can get ugly. There can be conflict, and people don’t want conflict, especially in our times. And so let’s find a group that doesn’t say things that rubs people the wrong way. Now, ultimately, really, can you do that? Because what about Jesus versus Muhammad? Are you going to take a stand there and say that Muhammad is not a real prophet? Or, hey, you can have it either way, Muhammad or Jesus.

I’m pretty sure some people are going to take a stand there, right? What about a stand on the things the Bible talks about, like sexual immorality? And about drunkenness. And passages that say those that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t you think we probably ought to take a stand there?

If doing those things is going to cause us not to be saved in the end, or we just want a church that doesn’t address any of that because we don’t want to rub people the wrong way.

A social group to interact with. A family. And that’s the motivating force for a lot of people. But again, is it real? Is it true? Is it right? And what are the kinds of things we ought to be looking for? And look, if people in the old, well, you know what the problem with Ahab was, he was just dumb. He was dumb. And that’s why he consulted the wrong sources and listened to those false prophets. I’m going to tell you, Ahab was not dumb. He did not have the IQ of two. And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, didn’t set up those golden calves because he was this country bumpkin who was one of the dumbest guys around.

3. God Satisfying Answers

It was some of these other improper motivations and desires. What are the proper motives? I don’t know about you, but this is sort of the way I am. It doesn’t matter if my parents believe this or not. For some people that’s the defining factor, what mom and dad are going to do, what they’ve always done. What my grandparents did, my beloved grandparents. But am I going to stick with my parents, my grandparents, my best friend? Other people that I respect and admire, other people that have studied the Bible more than me? Am I going to settle with them? Remember what the devil does. His servants even disguise themselves as angels of light. And they influence people. They sway the Corinthians. Don’t think you can’t be swayed by them.

In their pretty speeches. I want to say this is what I keep coming back to. Is what I believe is what I practice. Does God approve of it? Is the path I’m on? Is it a God satisfying course for so many people? It is a self-satisfying course that they’re looking for. Big problem. You will be headed toward wrong answers. Interesting thing is when you embrace God’s satisfying answers, ultimately, you get the ultimate self-satisfying answers. That’s the real irony. Regardless, I want God satisfying answers, regardless of what that means to me personally, regardless of the potential cost, regardless of its unpopularity, or the fact that other people might ridicule and disapprove. I like this little thing that appeared on Facebook. When making a choice, we shouldn’t fear what obedience to God will cause to happen.

4. It's Got to Be Truth

Only what disobedience will cause us to miss. God satisfying answers. We shouldn’t fear what road that’s going to take us down. Only what rejecting God’s answers is going to result in. People fail to make sufficient inquiry most often because we’re conditioned to get our answers quick, easy, painlessly. And they don’t do sufficient inquiry. So flowing out of answer number one, God’s satisfying answers is it’s got to be truth. That’s why I keep coming back to John 8.31 and 32. If you abide in my word, then you are disciples of mine, Jesus said. And so he says it very plainly, clearly defines the fact that if we don’t abide in his word, we’re not his disciples. We can claim whatever we want. We can claim to be loyal to Jesus and love Jesus and be enthralled with Jesus.

But if we don’t abide in his word, he doesn’t regard us as his disciples. And then he says, And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. But you know, I feel good about this over here. I like this. I feel comfortable here. I think I’m going to go call on the God of Ekron. He might have the answers that I need. Should not a people consult their God. You can feel great about it. You can feel free, but you’re not free unless it’s truth. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Our souls are purified. And I had this verse on the slides, and somebody said I went way too quickly. Didn’t get a chance to write it down last week.

1 Peter 1.22. Our souls are purified. In what response? By our obedience to the truth. Consistent with John chapter 8 and verse 32. Without truth, we will not have purification. No matter how wonderful we feel about it. Okay, so this. Would you rather be happily deceived and lost. Or perhaps made a little uncomfortable and challenged. And possess truth. And be saved. What do you want?

5. That Truth Brings Us Peace

It’s a no brainer. And that truth brings us peace. That’s what we should be looking for. Now, I’m not talking about a false peace. I’m not talking about a false sense of security where we feel wonderful and good, even though we’re embracing and practicing error. But in 1 John chapter 5, I’m talking about the peace that comes from knowing that what you have believed is right, and what you are practicing is right, and how you are living is right. He says, These things I have written to you that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have before him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have requests.

We have the request that we have asked of him. You see, this is a peace that comes from an honest investigation of the scripture and a humble submission to the Father’s will. It’s a peace that comes from knowing that what I’m doing is right. That I have honestly assessed the information from the right source, and I have humbly submitted myself to its teaching, regardless of the cost, regardless of the response of others, regardless of what that means in my family. Regardless of how other people are going to treat me or regard me.

As I know that as I resist the devil, he will flee from me. Resist him. Firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. That doesn’t sound too comfortable. But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. I could not help but notice in the song Softly So Softly, we say, Within your presence, there is peace. Oh, there might be suffering that will attend our choice to be faithful to the Lord. But ultimately it’ll be worth it all. In his presence, there is peace. And it’s his offer that I provide for you this morning.

Conclusion

Are you in Christ? Are you sure? What have you done with passages like Mark 16 and verse 16 that say, He who believes and is baptized shall be saved? Have you been immersed in water? In the name of Jesus Christ? Have your sins been cleansed by his blood? Arising to walk in newness of life. I want to tell you. When I submitted to that teaching, I knew that it was right. I knew that when I rose up out of the waters of baptism, that I was being cleansed of my sins, and I was now on a path that would lead to immortality in the presence of Jesus. Are you sure that you’re on that path? Are the answers that you’ve embraced for your soul? Are they true?

Are they real? Are they right? And can we help you to be sure of that? Not our answers, not the Decor Prairie Church of Christ answers. What are those, by the way? Is that there’s some book I don’t have that says Decorporary Church of Christ believes? Does somebody have a copy of that book? We don’t have one of those. But I’ll tell you what book we do have. It’s this book. And we follow and teach the New Testament. Jesus, new covenant. These are the answers for life and immortality. And won’t you embrace them with us and walk with us in them as we strive to understand them evermore, that the eyes of our hearts might be in light. That we might know the wonderful things that God has promised to us in this book.

If you’re subject to his invitation and need to respond to the saving of your soul. Come now as we stand and sing.