In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of men of God who can effectively deliver the word of God to the audience. He compares the young man who appeared before Jeroboam to Elijah, who delivered a powerful message to Ahab in just 25 words. The preacher urges listeners to consider what they are dedicating their lives to and highlights the need for men of God who are in touch with the eternal and can bring the fullness and glory of the word of God to people's hearts. He also emphasizes the importance of knowing God intimately and doing business with the face of God.

1 Kings chapter 13, reading at verse 1, please. 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. 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. 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. And it came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from his side, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand which he put forth against him dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again. The man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and it became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. The man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water in this place. For so it was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. The words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. And he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water with thee in this place. For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread, and drink no water, nor turn again by the way that thou camest. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art. And an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. It came to pass as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back. And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord. Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but came back and hast eaten bread and drunk water, in the place of which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water, thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers. Meaning he would not die a natural death. It came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit for the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him in the way, and slew him. And his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. Behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass, and he came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him and slain him, according to the word of the Lord which he spake unto him. And he spake unto his son, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, the ass and the lion standing by the carcass. The lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass. And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back. And the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. And he laid his carcass in his own grave. And he mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! It came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake unto his son, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. I took time to read it all. Just perchance there might be some of you, especially younger ones, who are not acquainted with the details of the story. So we have been introduced to three men. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, king of northern Israel. The unnamed man of God out of Judah. And thirdly, the old prophet that lived in Bethel. The palmy days of Solomon are over. The kingdom has been rent. Ten tribes have followed Jeroboam the son of Nebat to form the northern kingdom of Israel. Two tribes have followed Rehoboam the son of Solomon to form the southern kingdom of Judah. As the time of the feasts came round, Jeroboam, up there in the north, realized that the godly in Israel would make for Jerusalem to keep the feasts. And so he decided that he must do something about it. So he erected two golden calves, one in Dan and one in Bethel. He decided that he himself would minister at the altar. He decided that he would set aside the tribe of Levi and the sons of Aaron, so he made the lowest of the people priests. He also had a new day, a new date, for the feast of dedication. Say, where would he get the idea of a golden calf? Listen carefully. He got that idea from the failure of a good man. In Exodus chapter 32, when Moses had gone up into the mount, the people approached Aaron. Now they said, we don't know what's happened to this man up there. Make us gods. You remember what happened? The golden calf. You know, they never would have approached Moses with a suggestion like that, for Aaron was never a Moses. Moses was morally nearer to God than Aaron. Brethren, all leaders are not the same. Some are nearer to God than others. There are some things you could suggest to some men you could never suggest to a man who lives near to God. And so the centers were set up, and the day arrived, and the king Jeroboam stands as high priest at the altar, when suddenly, unexpectedly, there appeared a man of God out of Judah, who came by the word of the Lord unto Bethel. God had raised this man to declare his mind and to condemn the falseness of the worship. Look around you today, and there are a host of religious centers, many of them totally contrary to the word of God. And ever and on, God will call men of God to expose the wrongness and fallacy of it all, and to call men and women back to the primitive excellence of divine truth, call them back to the glory of apostolic revelation, and bring to us all the wonder of the word of God. So it says, Behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord. Fifteen times he is called a man of God. Ten times in the chapter, the word of the Lord is referred to. For the man of God and the word of the Lord stand together, indissoluble. He will never be a man of God who will fail to teach you all the word of God. You'll never find a man of God separated from the book. I want you to notice, please, he was a man of God. Will you notice that he is unknown? A man of God came out of Judah. God passed by other men to raise up a man who was unknown. In his sovereignty, he will take up someone who will declare his mind for the time that was then present. God always does that. Oh yes. It was a long time ago when God looked down from heaven to Africa, lying in all its darkness and in the shadow of death. And in his sovereign counsels, he decided a man must be sent to bring light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. What do you think? Now I know you'll call this racism, but never mind. Just listen to me, won't you? God surveyed the whole of the world and ultimately his eye rested in one little country yonder, Bonny, Scotland. God narrowed it down still more to yonder, the little shire of Lanarkshire. Then he narrowed it down again until you come to the little town of Blantyre. And yonder in Blantyre, there was a lady working in the mills, unknown, unrecognized, unheralded and unsung. But he will be God's man for the hour, raised, equipped, molded and fashioned. Yonder to go into Africa to blaze a trail for God that others will follow. Who was he? David Livingstone, man of God. Did you know that David Livingstone had a brother who came to America and died well nigh a millionaire? Maybe you've never heard of him before today, but you've heard of David Livingstone. For what makes a man is the fact that God will lift him up and use him. He's unnamed. He's unknown, but he's unnamed. More often than not, God will name his servant. When God withholds his name, he is thereby drawing attention to the fact that the message is greater than the man, that truth is greater than its bearer, that ever and anon what a man has to bring from God becomes greater than the man. For after all, you can imprison the man, but you'll never imprison the word of God. In Paul's day, they could put Paul in prison, but Rome had no bars, no walls, no jails, no prisons that could contain and restrain the word of God. You cannot restrain and murder that which is eternal. And so, the word of the Lord, the man of God, he came with the word of the Lord. Brethren, back to the book. Back to the book. Younger and older, brethren and sisters, back to the book. And ever and anon, mark the man of God who will stand with the word of God in his hand to explain, to instruct, to teach, to preach, to declare. Yes, that's it. Bible-based, Bible-orientated, comes the word of God through the man of God. Despite his short career and ultimate failure, God still speaks of him as a man of God. Never forget that. There are men, despite their failure, that will carry that stamp by God upon them. He was God's man for the moment and for the hour. Man of God, first used of Moses in Deuteronomy 33, used most of Elisha the prophet, and then only twice in your New Testament, man of God. Here he is. Have you got it? A man linked with God. Just a man, only a man, ever a man, always a man, but a man in touch with the eternal, a man in touch with God, a man in touch with the throne, a man with the word of God, the message of God. Yes, you've heard of the man of the world. You've heard of the man of pleasure. You've heard of the man of sport. I tell you what business is to the man of business, what pleasure is to the man of the world, what sport is to the man of sport. God is to the man of God. He fills the vision of his soul. He claims him completely. The will of God, the word of God, the glory of God is the passion of this man's soul. God is everything to him. He is lost in God and in his service. Yes, a man of God, that character he will retain, a man of God. Brethren, above all else, what more would you covet? Tell me in God's name. Tell me, what are you giving your life to? Have you known as a man of God? I tell you that Canada is crying out for men of God. Vancouver is crying out for men who will come with the touch of the eternal to human hearts, that will bring the word of God in all its fullness, in all its glory, in all its wonder, that will still our hearts, stir our hearts and thrill our souls. Brethren, this is what we're needing. We're needing men of God, men in touch with the eternal. Come again. Suddenly and unexpectedly, as Jeroboam stood by the altar, the young man appears. All eyes are upon him. He carries with him a burden. It's the first time. He'll never give another message. Brethren, listen to me. There were some of you present, you've heard me say this. This is a lonely place. To stand here in God's name with the word of God and the message of God, seeking power from God, a lonely place. It never gets any easier. The burden never lifts. Ever and anon, you're cast before God for the power that's necessary and the ability to bring the word of God to the audience. This man will preach first and last. His first address, yes, his last. Listen to him now please, will you? Will you notice in our version that his address is composed of 72 words? Not 72 minutes, 72 words. Just as Elijah, when he gave his message to Ahab, was 25 words. Oh, can you see a man that can say much and little? We're needing a proverbial ministry. By proverbial I mean to say much and little. And so it was that this man came with his message. Will you notice please, verse 2, that his message is first of all in relation to the future and then, verse 3, in relation to the present. Notice please, he addresses the altar. For the altar was the center of the false worship. Oh altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, a child shall be born, Josiah by name, and he'll burn bones upon you. What's that? Prophecy. 350 years before Josiah was born, God named him through the prophet. That's good. That's good. That God knows the future as well as the present and the past. And that God will talk about a man yet to be born who'll accomplish something for God. Listen, brethren, we are the children of eternity, men of destiny, but we were known by God long before we were born, marked out for specific purpose. Tell you, this is no business of passing the time. Today we fulfill a destiny arranged by God in times eternal, set apart by God for this. God knew all about us before we were born. That's prophecy. Ah, but then, to give a prophetic word, no one would be sure that it would actually take place. So he gives a present sign that his message is from God, verse 3. He said, now, this is the sign. The altar shall be rent and the ashes poured out. In other words, he's pronouncing God's judgment upon the whole system, standing alone in all his youthful ardor, in all his burning passion for God, in all the whole of his inward man, taking up with the glory of God and his loyalty to God, and he pronounces judgment. Jeroboam's abhorred. He looks at him, and Jeroboam can see his religious world crashing about his feet, so he lifts his hand. Arrest him! And it withered, and they couldn't bring it in. With every eyes upon them, and with his hand out there, and just as he shouted, arrest him, the altar was rent and the ashes poured out. Ah, but Jeroboam's a very clever man. Very clever. And so, he turned to the man of God, and he said, entreat now the face of the Lord thy God for me, that my arm may be restored again. I want you to notice something, just a minute. The man of God had only been there a few minutes, yet this evil king Jeroboam said to him, as he sensed it, he says to him, entreat now the face of the Lord thy God for me. In those few minutes, it was impressed upon him that the young man had come from God, that he knew God face to face, that he was in intimate terms with deity. Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God for me. That's it, brethren. That's it. Wherein lies the paucity of men of God amongst us? Wherein lies the paucity of men who assure us in our souls that they'll come with the message of God, the power of God? Just this. Brethren, the failure lies. We don't know God as we ought to know him. Do you do business with the face of God? Come on now. Later on, the old prophet, when he pronounces judgment upon the younger prophet, he says this, thus saith the Lord, because thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord. The old prophet got the sense that here was a man that had received from the mouth of the Lord. That's it. Oh, the glory of the wonder of the presence of God. There to be yonder that the dew of the sanctuary might saturate your soul, that you might know God face to face. From him I'll get my word. From his own mouth it will come to me. Got that? Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, he says as his arm is out. Can you visualize the scene? The altar rent. The ashes poured out. The king standing with his arm outstretched and the man of God standing appealing to God. Strange, isn't it? Not a bit. Not a bit. Is it? Exodus 8 verse 8, didn't Pharaoh ask Moses and Aaron to pray for him to take away the plague of frogs? Acts 8 24, didn't Simon Magus ask Peter to pray for him that these things may not fall upon him? Ungodly men recognizing the power with God of men of God. Brethren, we know God and we know him face to face. And he speaks to us with his mouth. You can get all these ideas, can't you? It's very real, isn't it? Come again. As soon as his arm is restored, now watch his wilyness, said the king, said the king to the young man. Now he says, come home with me and refresh thyself and I will give you a reward. My, that was clever, eh? Now remember eating and drinking is expressive of fellowship. What the king is now saying to the young man is this, come home now. Let's have a little fellowship together and I'll make it worth your while. In other words, the idea was this. If he can get the man of God to go home and to fellowship with him, he's taken away the power of his message. The young man is now having fellowship with a man who represented the false system. The king was saying it to a young man that you might have thought was raw and inexperienced, but the word of God held him. He faced up to the king. He said, listen, if you give me to the half of your house, if you give me to the half of your house, I'm not coming in to eat bread, for it was charged me by the word of the Lord saying, eat no bread nor drink water in this place. He says, I will not come in. Good, good. Listen to me, brethren. Hold to the word of God. No matter who opposes you. Stand fast by the clarity of divine truth and the wonder of its revelation. Don't allow money to buy you. If you'll give me half of your house, Jeroboam, I'm not coming. And he turned for the Lord had told him, don't you come back by the way that you went. So we turn from the scene. My soul is thrilled. The man of God. The word of God. The message of God. The power of God. The face of God. The mouth of God. Oh God, this is everything to us. Brethren, never surrender it, no matter the price that's offered. Now we turn. We're taken now into the town of Bethel to be introduced to who the Bible calls an old prophet. Now listen carefully. If you were to turn to 2 Chronicles 11, you would find that all the godly and Judah made for Jerusalem and left Jeroboam with his feast. But the old prophet didn't go. He stayed at home just a minute. But although he stayed at home, he knew enough not to go to the feast, but his sons went. Have you ever seen that worked out? You got that? An old prophet means a man that God once used, but doesn't use anymore. Have you ever met any? Come on now. An old prophet. You know, it's interesting when you come to your New Testament that Christianity never envisages old men. I don't say they're not aged men amongst us, but spiritually, 1 John 2 says, babes, young men, fathers. In Christianity, you grow up to maturity. Old means decaying, decrepit. Here was a man that God once used, but couldn't use. Couldn't use him even in Bethel, although he wasn't there. He had to bring a young man in on his sovereignty out of Judah. An old prophet. Can you hear the voice coming from Hosea concerning Ephraim? Listen to this. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not. Grey hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not. Got that? Have you met men that once were something for God and of love and lost it? Oh, brethren, it's tragic. It would break your heart. It would break your heart. The tragedy of life, what a man is, and what he might have been, what you are tonight, and what you might have been. That's the tragedy of life. Strangers. To all of you. Now let me go beyond the man of God. To all of you, beware of strangers. You'll devour your strength. The ungodly. Grey hairs are here and there, and he knoweth it not. That's not natural. You can't hide the fact of the grey hairs, can you? Eh? Grey hairs are here and there, but here's a man that's lost something, and he doesn't know it. Samson! Samson! As he rises from Delilah's knees, Samson! He shook himself, and he wish not that the Lord had departed from him. Brethren, I've heard them. Went home and wept, and everything about them has told me they were men that once knew God, but don't know him anymore. Maybe you don't believe these things. I do. An old prophet. Oh, let me give a call today for God to raise up young men. Young men, back to your book. Give yourself to your Bible. You'll spend hours on your career. Do you ever spend hours on your Bible? You want to be something in this world. Will you ever be anything in God's world? Will you not be prepared to sacrifice a thousand dollars a year and leave time to do something for God? An old prophet. Oh, brethren, listen to me, will you? Lest, perchance, Satan breaks you, chokes you, gets you on your knees, you're no longer a man that we can look to. Oh, it's very real. An old prophet. Lamentations talks a little about it. Her Nazarites, her Nazarites were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was of sapphire. Listen, their visage is as black as a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin is cleaving to their bones. Have you got it? Purity gone. Separation gone. Glittered. The radiance has gone from their life. Oh, you can always tell them, brethren. You can always tell them. Men and women in touch with God. A radiance about them that tells you they're different from the rest. Isn't that right? Oh, we're needing men of God. Men of God that fear God more than they fear men. Fear God more than they fear the brethren. Men of God who stand, who are a cut above the ordinary, that stand out. Oh, may the call of God come to you today. An old prophet. His sons came and told him. Ah, they will be at the feast. He knew too much to go. But his own failure to go to the feast had weakened the principle of separation in his family. Come again. So he went after the man of God and he made up on him. Art thou the man of God out of Judah? Yes, that's right. Well, he says now, listen, come home with me and eat bread. He's not now a king. He's a religious friend. An old prophet. Says the young man to him, I'm not I may not. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, you see, what's the matter? I may not return with me. It was said to me. Oh, there's something wrong. When he stood before the king, he says, I will not go. Now he says, I may not go. When he was before the king, he says it was charged me. Now he says it was said to me. The word of the God is weakening and he saw it's losing its power. The religious friend has accomplished what the king couldn't do. Got that? Oh, brethren, beware, won't you? Every element made. Says, now listen to this, said the old prophet, listen, an angel of the Lord came and he told me to say to you that you've to come back with me and eat bread, but he lied. He is a tool of Satan out to smash the consecration of the young man, to smash his separation, to take away his crown. I say, Paul would have dealt with this fella by the way. No problem. Hey, no, an angel from heaven. Preach any other gospel. Oh, Paul would have put him in his place right away. But the young man, the young man is taken in and he seduced them by lying. So they went back and God does a strange thing, but he does strange things, doesn't he? He used the old prophet to pronounce judgment on the man of God. Now he says, you've disobeyed the word of the Lord, the mouth of the Lord, and you've come back and you've eaten bread and drunk in the place whereof the Lord had told you you had not to eat nor drink. Thy carcass shall not come to the sepulcher of thy fathers. He's going to die. He's going to die. Follow carefully. They stood that day, to use our expression, and they shook hands. They'll never meet again. It's one of the most tragic sites. The old prophet that seduced the man of God, the man of God leaving with the words of condemnation ringing in his ears. The old prophet may disobey and live. The man of God will disobey to die. Oh, there's a difference between servants and men. Please brethren, please. This was a sin unto death. He went on his way to meet a lion. The lion killed him. There the body lay. There the ass stood. There the lion stood. Men passed by and noticed it and told it in the city. They came to the ears of the old prophet. It's the man of God. Saddle the ass. The way went along and there it is, the carcass. The lion hadn't eaten the carcass nor torn the ass, restrained. The parable of the roadside. God, listen, the lion and the ass will obey God, but between them there lies the body of a prophet that disobeyed. Creation subject to God but not the man. Isn't that right? The ox knoweth its owner and the ass its master's crib, but my people doth not know. Jeremiah 8, verse 7. The stork knoweth and the heavens knoweth their appointed time. The turtle, the crane and the swallow know the time of their coming, but my people doth not know the judgment of God. The fish, the whale, whatever you like to call it, at the command of God will not only swallow Jonah but vomit him up. The untrained colt will carry the Lord of glory into Jerusalem. Oh brethren, creation subject to the control of God but not the man. What a parable. The carcass, the lion, the ass. Wasn't that the young man? Bold as a lion before the king. As weak as an ass before the prophet. Peter will draw a sword to defend Christ in the garden with the crowd. Before the girl he'll curse and swear and deny his relationship. Oh brethren, this paradox of strength and weakness. Come again. What do you think? They're going to bury him and the old prophet that caused his death is going to take the funeral service. The man that caused his death is going to give the oration. When it was all over he said to his sons, when I die you bury me beside him. That was interesting. For God had said, there's a day coming when Josiah the king will burn bones in this altar. But you know he'll never touch the sepulcher of the man of God. 2 Kings 23. 350 years later Josiah is carrying out his judgments. Clearing the land and he comes to Bethel and he's taking bones to burn in the altar and he says, what's the memorial up there? Watch now. 350 years later they said it's the sepulcher of the man of God out of Judah. Tremendous, eh? He'd only been on the scene a few minutes. Yet he left his mark. Long after he's gone he's referred to as the man of God. They won't burn his bones and the old prophet's with him. I now stay in Kilmarnock. The older ones especially will remember John Ritchie, the film with whom I used to work. Time and again throughout Britain especially men will say to me, did you know John Ritchie? I said no, he was before my time. John Ritchie died and went home to be with the Lord in 1930. But you know there are some people still talking about him and they still appreciate as they read his books and the clarity of his teaching. Say, say, if the Lord took any of us home do you think we would have left any mark on our generation? Come on brethren. Will they say it was a man of God years later, is that right? That's it. Now as I close I want to go back to the open sepulcher. I want you to listen to me as I draw to a close. There are possibly many of you today and in the past few years you have lost loved ones. They've gone home. It may have been a father or a mother. It may have been a son or a daughter. It may have been a husband, a wife, a sweetheart. But you've known the agony that I want to bring to you just in this moment. For the death may have been sudden, unexpected, tragic, for I'm thinking now of the family of the man of God out of Judah buried in a strange place when words filtered back. You know how they would feel. But oh to think that the dark corridor of death is lit up by the glory of resurrection. Brethren listen to me will you please. To die is gain. To die is gain. We're forgetting that. To be with Christ is far, far better than to be with the Lord, to be at home. That's it. Eh? Would you gather that? That to us death is not a tragedy. It's a gateway to the presence of Christ. Listen to this. I took time this morning to write it out. Sleep on beloved and take thy rest. Lay down your burden and crown thy head upon thy savior's breast. We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best. Good night. Good night. Good night. Until the shadows from the earth are cast. Until he gathers in his sheaves at last. Until the twilight gloom is past. Good night. Good night. Good night. Until the coming glory lights the skies. Till those who sleep in Jesus shall arise and he shall come but not in lowly guise. Good night. Good night. Good night. Until made beautiful by love divine. Thou in the likeness of thy Lord shall shine and he shall bring that golden crown of thine. Good night. Good night. Good night. Until we meet again before the throne. Clothed in the spotless robe he gives his own. Until we know even as we are known. Good night. Good night. Good night. Only good night beloved. Not farewell. A little while and all his saints shall dwell in hallowed union indivisible. Good night. Good night. Good night. Amen. Amen. So let it be.