"What an Influence"
I Kings 16:29-34

I.    We have insight as to the  word  on Ahab. (vs. 29-20)
        There is a word out on all of us in our community.
 

        A.    There is a  word  about his  lineage . (vs. 29)
                    Ahab came from a father that reigned 12 years and no one had ruled worse than the father.
                    He came from a line of evil men.

                    We create a lineage for ourselves based on how we treat our families.

                    Ahab came from a long line of ungodliness--is this what we want for our lives and lineage?

        B.    There is a  word  about his  legacy . (vs. 30)
                    There was a word about Ahab's reputation and there is a word about our reputation.

                    We must decide how we will be. Will we be like Ahab or Josiah?
                    We are either building the Kingdom or we are tearing it down.

II.    We have insight to the  worship  of Ahab. (vs. 31-33)

    All of the following are devil worship.

        A.    Ahab worshiped  self . (vs. 31a)
                    As if he had not done enough, he married a woman who would further tear down worship.
                    In our sin nature, we want to do for ourselves.
                    Ahab did not care what God says--I will marry whom I want to!
 

        B.    Ahab worshiped  his  wife . (vs. 31b)
                    Ahab worshiped her god because he worshiped her.
                    If you make a wrong decision in order to keep peace, you worship your wife or your family.

        C.    Ahab worshiped  Baal  . (vs. 32)
                    If we are not careful, we will be like Ahab. He started worshiping small and progressed to
                        bigger things. We could begin to start small and then worship other things above God.

        D.    Ahab worshiped  Asherah  . (vs. 33a)
                    Ahab worshiped the fertility god or the sex god. He felt he could do anything immoral.

        E.    Ahab's worship  angered  God. (vs. 33b)
                    Just because it looks like things are going good, does not necessarily mean it is.
                    Ahab led people astray for 22 years.

III.    We have the insight to the  work  of Ahab. (vs. 34)

        A.    It was  carried  out  by others. (vs. 34a)
                    People operated under the leadership of Ahab.
                    If we are influenced by a bad person, then we will negatively influence others and our
                        families.
                    We are molding the next generation of leaders. If you do dirty work, you will soon be
                        asking them to do your dirty work.

        B.    It was  costly  to others. (vs. 34b)
                    In Joshua 6:26, he had already made a promise to curse anyone who rebuilds Jericho.
                    Ahab got someone else to rebuild Jericho. It cost him his firstborn and his youngest.
                        Ahab ordered to rebuild something that God had cursed.  Ahab was guilty and would
                        ultimately pay the greater price.

We have a lot of people with a lot of influence.

    Are we leading people to Jesus or closer to Jesus or we leading people away from Jesus?