Text: I Kings 12:28-33; 13:1-3
1 Kings 12:28-33 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1 Kings 14:9- But you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and ometal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back
1 Kings 13:1-3 1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
Israel was very comfortable with her Two Golden Calves - NEW RELIGION!
The King offers incense to "his god" And a VAST multitude of worshippers join IN TO WIN THE ATTENTION OF THE RELIGIOUS WORLD!
The spectacle is interrupted by the MAN OF GOD OUT OF JUDAH - Type of Christ! And had the WORD OF THE LORD!
His declaration is the Lord's declaration - ALTAR ALTAR THUS SAITH THE LORD - The altar of jeroboam was a BASTARD altar - a false gospel, a false salvation!
God only recognized the Altar in Jerusalem! (HE ONLY RECOGNIZES THE ALTAR OF THE CROSS)
That altar was designed by the Holy Spirit; Type of Calvary
Jeroboam's altar could not deliver anyone; it represents the millions of the worlds "altars" and sadly the church as well devised by man
Josiah would destroy the altar some 350 years later; ALL FALSE RELIGION was destroyed (only TIME Israel had revival)
ALL FALSE RELIGION will be destroyed by "a child that shall be born unto the house of God" - JESUS CHRIST! (Zech. 13:2)
Altar RENT and ASHES shall be poured upon it! Those who worship at it will experience same thing spiritually!
I. Israel's Idolatry Under Jeroboam
He devised a plan to keep the ten tribes from going to Jerusalem (1Ki. 12:26-27)
Took counsel, but not of God (1 Ki. 12:28; cp. Isa. 30:1)
Made two golden calves
Decreed that the ten tribes not go to Jerusalem to worship, and that they should accept his idols as the gods that had brought them out of Egypt
Set one golden calf in Bethel, and the other in Dan (1KI. 12:31)
Built a house of worship in high places and consecrated the lowest of the people who weren't Levites, making them priests (1 Ki. 12:31)
Ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eight month to correspond with the one in Judah; made an altar, and offered sacrifices to the calves (1Ki. 12:32-33)
Stubbornly rebelled against the Word of God and still made priests of the lowest of the people (1Ki. 13:33-34).
II. The Benefits of the Cross
10. FEAR is dispelled at the cross!
11 The cross is the only thing that stands between man and eternal hell
12 A thrice -Holy God can meet sinful man only in one place - and that is the cross (1 Cor. 2:2)
13 Christ became Man, made a curse by God that we might NOT be CURSED and be free (Gal. 3:13)
14 There is FREEDOM in the Cross (Romans 8:1-2)
III. The Message of the Cross
It's called the EVERLASTING GOSPEL - meaning it don't change with seasons or fads
The Gospel is not based on our moral condition; It's based on HIS MORAL CONDITION! (Heb. 7:26)
It is not OUR WORTH that saves us - It's CHRIST's WORTH that saves us (Heb. 1:3)
There are only TWO RELIGIONS in this world - the religion of Law or the gospel of grace (Romans 6:14)
The gospel declares two things - man is a sinner; and Christ is the only hope for the sinner (and Saint)
The Cross is the only Things between man (and nations) and the judgment of God (1 Cor. 1:17)
This is why Paul told the Church - "PREACH THE CROSS" (1 Cor. 1:23)
The believer never matures beyond the Cross; according to knowledge of the Cross is one's maturity (I Corinthians 2)
It cost God's Son everything to Redeem humanity (John 3:16); It cost man nothing
To go beyond the cross is to either backslide into sin, or put one's faith in other resources
The Holy Spirit's feeling about the cross is find in the Epistles - Especially Paul's letter to the Galatians 1
One cannot have fellowship with God outside the Cross! (Romans 6:3-5, 11)
Everything we have is made possible by the Cross (Co. 2:10-15)
When the Galatians turned away from the cross they were said to be "Bewitched"
The cross tells us that God is for us and not against us
This great sacrifices was necessary to RECONCILE man to God and God to man; a perfect sacrifice was only thing to do that! (John 1:1-2, 14, 29).
9