Rich Jones – 2023-03-19 Nehemiah 4:1-17

Building a Beautiful Life
Ruth 1:14 to 2:23
February 25-26, 2023

The story of Ruth is really a love story, Ruth and Boaz. It’s really one of the most beautifully written stories. In fact, it’s studied by students of literature. It’s a wonderful example of prose and poetry, even secular students will study it. Not only is he beautiful in the sense that it’s a great love story, but it’s also prophetic because it speaks of our redeemer, Jesus Christ, is prophetic in that sense and the relationship that God desires to have with us through His Son the redeemer.

Also, it is a story that reveals a deeper truth of how God builds a beautiful life. Now, we know God’s heart, His support, His favor and blessing on those who walk according to His purpose, but how does God build that life that is beautiful? That’s what you see in the story. By His sovereign hand, how He moves in that life to honor His name and to build that which is beautiful in the life.

I. Nothing Just Happens

Now, I did not say easy life. In fact, it was written during very difficult times. It was written during the times of the judges where it says that every man did what was right in his own eyes. Now, that’s going to be trouble right there. It’s interesting also to note that God always has a remnant. There are always a few. Even when many are turning their back on God, there are always a few who hold fast to the call and purpose of God in their life. You see this in the story as well, “For it’s right, everyone must choose his own way.”

The words of Joshua still ring true when he challenged Israel to choose you today, this very day, who you will serve, then he added, “But as for me in my house, we’ve decided, we’ve settled the question. As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.” Life lesson each was choose his own way, to do what’s right in your own eyes, or to walk according to the ways of God. Because when you walk by the ways of God, you’ll see that his sovereign hand moves, that he begins to build that which is beautiful in your life.

A. Stay faithful in difficult times

Let’s read it. We’re in Ruth 1:1, “Now, it came about in the days when the judges governed that there was a famine in the land of Israel. A certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab.” Now, Moab is on the other side of the Jordan, on the east side of the Jordan River. They’re going there to Moab because there’s a famine in Israel.

It says that he left with his wife and his two sons. Now the name of the man was Elimelech. Now, that’s a great name. Actually, in Hebrew, it means my God is the king. It’s a great name. The name of his wife was Naomi. Her name is also wonderful. It means pleasantness. That’s such a beautiful name, isn’t it, Naomi, pleasantness? The names of their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. Their names also have meaning. The names of their sons reflect the difficult times in which they were living. For Mahlon, his name means sickly, and Chilion means pining away. Now you know times are bad when you name your children sickly and pining.

It comes to no surprise that they die. Here’s the story. They entered the land of Moab and remained there. Now, Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died and she was left with two sons. Then those two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, they took for themselves Moabite women for wives. They’re there 10 years, so they find a wife amongst the Moabite women. Now, the name of the one was Orpah. Now, you have heard the modern– in our modern day, there’s Oprah. You know of Oprah. Her name actually at birth was Orpah, but they misspelled it on in her birth certificate and she liked it, so she kept it. Back to our study. That means nothing.

The name of the other one was Ruth. They lived there about 10 years. Now, both Mahlon and Chilion died. Then the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. She rose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people and giving them food.

She departed from that place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Naomi then said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back, return each of you to your mother’s house. Go home, go to your mother. May the Lord–” She uses here the name of the God of Israel, Jehovah, Yehovah, “May the Lord be kindly with you as you have done kindly with the dead and with me. May the Lord, Jehovah, grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. Go and find a new husband. Go home.”

She kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept. Now move to Verse 14 for the sake of time, “They lifted up their voices and they wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went home, but Ruth clung to her.” Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her Gods. Go, go with your sister-in-law.” Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you.”

Then she gives this wonderful speech, “For where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die. There, I will be buried. Thus, may the Lord–” and she uses Jehovah, “May the Lord do to me and more, if anything, but death parts you and me.” Oh, what a woman of character is this.

B. Don’t allow your heart to become bitter

Well, when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more of this matter. They both went until they came to Bethlehem. They came about that when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was stirred because of them. The women of Bethlehem said, “Is that Naomi?” She didn’t look like the same Naomi. She said, “Don’t call me Naomi.” See, Naomi means pleasantness, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara.” That means bitter, “Call me bitter. For the Lord, the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me, so I’m bitter. You can just call me bitter.”

Then she said, “I went out full, but the Lord Jehovah has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” Naomi returned and with Ruth, the Moabites, her daughter-in-law who returned from the land of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Now, we got to read part of Chapter 2 because this is a love story and we need to meet Boaz. Chapter 2, Verse 1, “Now, Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech whose name was Boaz.” Now, his name also has a meaning. His name means strength. If you want to name your Son a good name, don’t name him Mahlon. Name him Boaz, there’s strength in the name. Ruth, the Moabites then said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean amongst the ears of grain after one in whom I might find favor.”

She said, “Go my daughter.” It was common, of course, in those days. Gleaning was the provision for the poor. The farmers were instructed to not harvest all the way to the corners but round off the corners and leave that for the poor. Then anything remaining in the fields also they could pick up and glean. This was, again, the provision for those who were poor.

Actually, there’s gleaning communities or societies or clubs you can join even today. She said, “Go my daughter and glean.” She departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. She just so happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem where he lived, and he said to the reapers there in the field. Notice his greeting, he’s like, “Good morning,” and then he adds, “and may the Lord be with you.” What a wonderful greeting he gives to his reapers, his workers. “Good morning, may the Lord be with you.”

Then you see right away their respect for him, for they reply, “And may the Lord bless you, sir.” Aye, right away you just love Boaz. Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the Reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” He did not recognize her. The servant in charge of the reapers answered and said, “She’s that young woman, a Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.” Then she said, “Please let me glean and gather after the reapers amongst the sheaves that she came and has remained from the morning until now. She’s a hard worker. She’s been at it all morning. But even right now, she’s sitting in the house for a bit.”

Boaz came to Ruth and said, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field. Furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids. Let your eyes only be on the field which they reap and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you, and when you are thirsty, go to the water jar and drink from what the servants draw.”

She fell on her face, bowed to the ground, and said, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me? I am just a foreigner.” Boaz answered and said to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me. I have heard the report of how you took care of your mother-in-law and how you left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and how you came to your people that you did not previously know. All of this has been reported to me. May the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have now come to seek refuge.”

All right, these are the verses that I want us to look at. What a wonderful story filled with tremendous important lessons for how God builds a beautiful life. We got to start with this principle. Nothing just happens. She just so happened to glean in the field belonging to Boaz. Nothing just happens. Also, it says that it just so happened that there was a famine in the land. Wait, this is the land that God said is the land flowing with milk and honey. There’s a famine in the land where Moses had set, in the book of Deuteronomy.

This is a land of abundance and a great blessing. If there’s a famine in the land, it’s because your hearts have turned hard. Your hearts turned hard, and you walk away and you turn your heart towards the Lord, then the land will be hard. God is using it. Nothing just happens. God’s using it to stir them sup, to bring them back. God’s heart is for revival.

If people are hard of heart, then he will allow harder times, nothing just so happens. Therefore, a life lesson comes to us. Stay faithful in difficult times, because of the famine, a certain man of Bethlehem and Judah went to live in Moab with his wife and two sons. Now, they came from Bethlehem. Bethlehem in Hebrew has a great meaning. Beit Lechem, it means the house of bread.

Now, that’s irony. What? You live in Bethlehem, the house of bread and you got to go to Moab because there’s no bread? That’s irony. They do leave Bethlehem and go to Moab because there’s a famine, but here’s the lesson. The grass is not greener on the other side of the Jordan. I’ve been to the other side of the Jordan, and I will tell you that the grass is not greener. In other words, if life is difficult, if there’s a famine of difficulty, don’t walk away, stay faithful. Don’t walk away, stay faithful.

By the way, you’ve heard that expression, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. You heard this expression. Did you know it’s actually scientifically proven that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? I will prove it to you. Ready for this? Scientifically, I am going to prove to you now that the grass is actually greener on the other side of the fence. You ready for this great scientific proof?

You can’t wait. Right? “Oh, yeah. I can’t wait, prove it.” All right, I will. You’re on your side of the fence and you’re looking down, straight down on your grass. You’re seeing because the blades are straight up and down, you’re seeing all the flaws, you’re seeing all the stuff in the dirt, you’re seeing all the flaws, but when you look at your neighbor and the grass on the other side, you’re seeing the blades of grass from an angle and the grass on the other side, all the angles like this, they hide the flaws. It looks like it’s greener, scientifically proven. Didn’t think I could do it, did you?

On the other side of the fence, it is scientifically proven to be greener because you’re seeing it at an angle. You think, “Oh, it’s greener on the other side of the fence. I will thusly go over to the other side of the fence.” You go over there and then you look down, and what do you see? Wait a minute, this is just as flawed as where I left. This is the lesson.

People do this. They have troubles, they have difficulties, and they look for something greener. They look to get out. I got to get out of this thing. I got to get out of this thing. I got to look for something better. They start looking for greener stuff until they get there. Moab was not the land God gave them. This was not the land God promised them.

In fact, Moab is a picture of the world. This is how God spoke of Moab. Notice Psalm 60:7-8. God speaks, He says, “Mt Gilead is Mine.” That’s in Israel. “Manasseh is Mine.” That’s in Israel. “Ephraim is a helmet of My head.” That’s in Israel. “Judah is My scepter.” That’s in Israel. “But Moab is My wash bowl, and over Edom, I will throw my shoe,” says the Lord Almighty. See, a wash bowl is where the dirty water collects after you wash something. That’s the way I think of Moab, He says.

In that culture, and it’s still true today, throwing a shoe is one of a ways to give a very strong insult, even today. Maybe some of you remember back in 2008 when then President Bush was in Iraq and he was giving a press conference. During that press conference, an Iraqi journalist took off his shoe and threw it at the president, who had to duck. Remember the story? It was an insult of epic proportions. Did he mean that? Then he took off his other shoe and threw that also as a way of saying, “You belong under my foot. That’s where you belong.” That’s the insult of the thing, right?

God is making it very clear how he feels about Moab. That’s not the place of blessing. Oh, you think it’s greener? Yes, life was difficult in Bethlehem, but stepping out of God’s will is not the way to an easier life. Stepping out of God’s will is not the way to an easier life. Naomi will discover that life in Bethlehem was not as bad as she thought. Later Naomi will say, “I went out full, but the Lord brought me back empty.” It’s a life lesson.

There was a famine, but she was still blessed. She had her husband, she had her sons. In other words, count your blessings. Yes, it’s difficult. Yes, you’re going through troubles. I mean, count your blessings. What is that old song? Name Them One By One. Thank God. Thank God for what you have. Keep walking, press through, and be thankful for what you have.

Many of you know my story. We were raised in poverty. I did not know any family poorer than ours growing up, all my growing up years. I didn’t know anyone poorer than us. Yet my mom, who I respect, all my life, I respected my mom. She would say to us over and over, “But you be thankful.” Of course, we knew how poor we were, so we’re on this and that, “Now, you be thankful.”

I remember one day I was at school, I was in, I don’t know, sixth grade or something and I loved lunch at school because we got free lunch and the nice big, back in those days, you get a nice big tray. Philip was the home maid; the cook was Millie Coleman. I still remember Millie to this day. I was so thankful “Oh, thank you,” as they put on whatever, “Thank you. Thank you.” Finally, they’ll put a thing, a milk on there. One day I’m out in the cafeteria eating my lunch and Millie Coleman comes out and stands next to me.

At first, I think I’m in trouble, and then she says, “Now, Richard, every day you come to the line, and you say thank you every day. I just want you to know that I noticed that. That’s a good thing. I hope you stay thankful all your life and of course my first thought was, “Oh, praise God, I’m not in trouble.” I still remember Millie Coleman. I still remember that lesson that she gave me all these years later because it’s a right. In fact, you can see it’s a theme that runs through the entire Word of God from the beginning to the end.

To Naomi, she stayed 10 years in Moab. During this time, her husband died, her sons died, and she’s left with these two Moabite daughters-in-law. She tells them to go home. She’s planning to go back with nothing. Nothing good came of this, which is to say nothing. See, you’ll never be satisfied in the world in Moab. There’s nothing out there that will satisfy. It’s like the story of the prodigal son. Remember the story in Luke 15, how this young man had a large inheritance, and so he went into this city, and he spent it all on wild living, parties, women, all of it, all the world thing.

He had a lot of money to a long time to go through all that money. A lot of parties, but there’s nothing. I don’t care how much money he had. He would never be satisfied. Because the world cannot satisfy the desire of the soul. Anybody who’s done the wrong thing knows exactly what I’m talking about. There’s nothing in the world that will satisfy the hunger and the desire for the soul. Anybody want to agree with me? Anybody want to add your testimony? You know it so.

For the soul desires more. The soul desires something glorious, something beautiful, something meaningful, something of Godly purpose and value of life. That’s what the soul wants. There’s nothing out there that will do that. Count your blessings. Finally, Naomi decides to go back to Bethlehem, to the house of bread. She’s decided that it’s bad enough despair in her father’s house.

Reminds me of a hymn that we used to sing when we were very young. I love the words of the hymn He Giveth More Grace. I’ll just quote some of the words. When we’ve come to the end of our hoarded resources, he giveth and giveth and giveth again. I don’t know why, but that line always caught me. When we’ve come to the end of our hoarded resources, our Father’s forgiving has only begun. He giveth and giveth and giveth again. Stay faithful, keep walking. Go walk through the difficult times. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will walk with you through it. Then there’s this then, don’t allow your heart to become bitter.

It’s difficult times. Naomi returns to Bethlehem, and so when she arrives, the city is stirred. They were surprised that her appearance, “Is that Naomi?” In other words, sometimes a hard life writes its story on the lines of the face. Sometimes a hard life writes its story on the lines of the face. “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara. For the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.” She has resigned herself to believe that God was against her. That God had been dealing bitterly with her. She can’t see.

Now, we have the story. We have the end. We know how this thing ends. She didn’t know how this thing was going to end. She couldn’t see. That’s part of the problem. You don’t know how your story’s going to end either. You don’t know where this thing is going to go. You don’t know. Because you can’t see, many people when they encounter difficulties, they make wrong conclusions, and they react wrongly to those conclusions.

God has dealt bitterly with me. She’s blinded, she cannot see, and then the troubles and the trials of darkness and despair. God is doing something. God is at work, and faith believes that even if you cannot see that God is at work in your behalf. Faith believes that, even though you cannot see, faith believes that God is at work in your behalf. Psalm 127, I love to quote it. It’s vain to rise up early. Vain means empty. There’s nothing. It’s empty. It’s vain to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors.

That means I got to do this thing. I got to work this thing out on my own. I got to figure this thing out. I got to work this thing out. I got to do this thing out. I got to do this thing. He said, no, that’s empty. That’s vain. Nothing won’t come of that. Do you not know? That it is He who gives to His beloved? That’s what He says you are. It is He who gives to His beloved, even when He’s sleeping. You’re sleeping, you’re not doing anything. God is at work on your behalf. Her bitterness blinded her.

Bitterness blinds. Bitterness keeps people from trusting God. See, when you’re blaming God, it’s very hard to trust him. When you’re angry with God, it’s very hard to trust him. Many people, when they encounter difficulties, they have decided that God is dealing bitterly. They get angry. They get bitter. I will tell you that no good comes of it. No good comes of it because you have a very hard time trusting. In the very time, you need to trust God, in the very times when you need more.

I understand pain, I understand hardship, I understand difficulty. Many of you know my story. Our daughter was killed. She was murdered. I understand the pain, but I know this, I know that bitterness would do no good. To believe that God walks with you faithfully through the trial, is to believe that God is working in ways you cannot see. Romans 8:28, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God. Not angry with or bitter with. There’s that love of trust and faith, those who are called according to his purpose.”

Now, that verse doesn’t mean that God will cause all things to be good. It means that God will work all things together for your good and for His glory. An example, when Jonah was running from God’s will, Jonah, the prophet of Old Testament times, was given the mission to go to Nineveh and preach to the people a message of repentance. He did not like the people of Nineveh. He didn’t really want to go. He didn’t want them to find repentance.

He booked passage on a ship going in exactly the opposite direction. That ship ran straight into a storm and Jonah recognized immediately that God was using that storm to turn him around. God is working even in the midst of the storm to bring about His purpose. Go back to the story of Ruth. Notice this part. God takes character and builds. He will build a beautiful life.

II. God Takes Character and Builds

The storyline now shifts from the hardship of Naomi to the hearts and the character of Ruth and Boaz. Naomi decides she’s going back to Bethlehem. She urges Ruth and Orpah to return to their homes, to their Gods, to their mothers, to find new husbands and build a new life. “I’m going back empty,” but Ruth refuses and she gives that amazing poetic beautiful powerful speech. “I will not leave you, do not urge me to leave you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die. There, I will be buried.” What a woman of character and faith. Now, we see faith arising.

Then we meet Boaz and we see his heart and his character even in the pages of the story. When the heart and character, we see in both of them become the building blocks that God uses to build a beautiful life. It’s a principle of Scriptures. God takes those building blocks and builds. Jesus said, for example, in the parable where Jesus taught the parable about a farmer sowing seed. It’s like a picture of the Word of God being sown on different types of hearts without going through all of the different types of soils or hearts.

Speaking of the last one, the only one that bore any fruit was Luke 8:15. The seed in the good soil, good heart, these are the ones, the people, who’ve heard the word in a honest and good heart. Then they hold it fast. They are the ones who will bear fruit and they’ll bear fruit with perseverance lasting bearing of fruit. They have that building block and honest and good heart, and they take hold of the Word of God and then He builds.

A. Heart and character are blessed of God

See, in other words, heart and character are blessed of God. Ruth’s kindness and her grace are seen in her care for Naomi. She wants to glean in the fields for both of them. You see the character of Boaz in even a simple greeting that he extends to his workers when he greets them in the morning. “Good morning, may the Lord be with you. May the Lord bless you.” Then they respond, “And may the Lord bless you, sir.” Right away, you love Boaz. You see his heart, his character, grace of his countenance.

See, grace should be seen in even the simplest things of life. Boaz, he could have treated his men harshly. No doubt it would’ve been quite in common in those days, workers were considered very low on the scale, meager earnings. The boss was the owner, was all that. It’s very common for the owner, the boss to be very bossy, a bossy boss. Anybody ever have a bossy boss? I’ll tell you what, it’s not fun.

I hope that you’ve never been a bossy boss, but to have such a thing, it’s part of the character. It’s a reflection of character. How do you treat people? It’s part of your character, the continents of your character. Jesus said, “You know how it is out there in the world amongst the gentiles. You know how it is? Those who have authority lorded over those who are under them.” What does that mean, lorded over? It means that they’re bossing. They think they’re all that, they treat people very low and they’re all big and all high up and mighty and whatever. They speak very down. You know how it is out there.

It ought not be this way amongst you. You’re in the Kingdom of God now. That who desires to be greatest be the least, and who desires to be first, then be the last. The character of your countenance should be seen in the simplest things. Notice Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, always, seasoned as though with salt so that you’ll know how you should respond to each person.”

Then you see this principle, grace comes back to you. How beautiful is this to God takes character and faith and builds a beautiful aspect of life, so that when you take the character of God and God builds it and blesses it, it comes back to you. “May your wages be full,” he says to Ruth, because she says, “Why are you treating me with such favor? I’m a foreigner.” He says, “Because all that you have done for your mother-in-law has been fully reported to me. How you cared for her. You did not leave her. You left your father and your mother in your home and you came to people you didn’t know, to care for your mother-in-law. All of this has been reported to me.”

B. Grace comes back to you; how beautiful

It’s beautiful. Grace comes back to you. May your wages be full wages or that which comes back to you under whose wings you have come to seek refuge. It’s the principle of your beautiful life. Grace comes back to you. You sow with your character and God blesses it and it comes back to you. Let me give you this out of Luke 6:36-38. “Be merciful, I want you to be full of mercy just as your Father is merciful.” In other words, God wants you to be full of mercy. Why? Because your Father is full of mercy. Be gracious. Treat people with grace. Why? Because your Father is gracious.

Be kind. Treat people kindly. Why? Because your Father is kind. Be patient. Why? Because your Father is patient. Be merciful. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, press down, shaken together, and running over, for by your standard of measure. It will be measured to you in return, because it will bear fruit 30, 60, 100 fold. By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.

C. Live in the shadow of the Almighty

In other words, don’t be stingy with mercy. Don’t be stingy with grace. Don’t be stingy with forgiveness or kindness. “All that you have done, I’ve heard the story, the report.” Grace is coming back to her. Then there’s this, “Live in the shadow of Almighty.” When they left Bethlehem, they left the presence and the protection of God. This is a powerful statement. It’s better to walk with God through the difficulty than to sink your own way without him. Don’t dwell outside of the shadow of the Almighty. When Ruth and Naomi come back, they have come back because they’ve decided to dwell under the shadow and to seek refuge under his wings.

Proverbs 18:10. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and are saved.” Don’t run away, run toward. Many people when they have troubles and difficulty and the bitterness and the anger in their hearts cause them to run away from God. No, you run toward God and don’t walk, you had to run.

For Psalm 91:2. “He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Oh, I love that Scripture, “To abide there in the shadow of the Almighty.” “I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress my God in whom I trust.” Oh, what a great psalm. Then lastly, we’ll close with this, “God gives handfuls on purpose.”

Later on in the story, Boaz tells his workers, “I want her to glean here in this field and I want you to pull out of the sheaves. I want you to pull out handfuls on purpose. You leave them right in front of Ruth. That’s what I want you to do. I want you to give handfuls on purpose, so that when Ruth goes home at the end of the day,” Naomi says “Where have you been gleaning?” Now, you would find such as this, so she says, “Well, I was gleaning today in the field of a man belonging to Boaz,” “Did you see Boaz?” “Boaz?” “Boaz is our kinsman redeemer.”

D. God gives handfuls on purpose

Handfuls on purpose. Boaz is a picture of Christ, in the picture of God’s heart and desire to give handfuls of blessing on purpose. Now you can say handfuls on purpose, but you can also say handfuls for a purpose. When God pours His favor, and His purpose is for a reason. God is constructing something in your life. God is building something in your life. There’s a purpose God is doing something. Now, this is a love story. Boaz gives handfuls on purpose, but he doesn’t know it yet.

God’s going to give handfuls on purpose to him. For before this story is over, he will find a bride of character and faith and beauty. He is a picture of Jesus Christ who took even a foreigner like us into the fold and loved. It’s a story of love, of God’s love, of God’s redeeming love, to win your heart, to win your faith, to win a relationship to you. I quoted that hymn earlier.

I want to quote just a little more. “He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater. He sendeth more strength as our labors increase. To added afflictions, He addeth His mercy. To multiply trials, He multiplies peace. His love has no limits. His grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known unto men. For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.”

When you’ve come to the end of yourself, your Father’s forgiving has only begun. His heart is to win you. His heart is to draw you. His heart is to bless you with a beautiful life. There’s nothing out there that will satisfy the hunger and the desire that you have in your soul. Nothing. Your soul will only be satisfied in that which God will bring. Seek that and He’ll bless you. Father, thank you for your heart to show us yourself how beautiful it is to see how you build that which is beautiful.

Church, how many would say to the Lord today, “God build faith and character and then take that and build in me that which is beautiful. I want to honor you. I have come to know it. There’s nothing out there for me. It’s you I need, It’s you I seek, It’s you I desire. There’s nothing out there. It’s you. I seek you, I want more. I want you to build my life”? Church, how many would say that to the Lord today? Would you say is that your desire? I want you to build my life. I want my life to honor you. You have purpose. I want it. You send your glory. I desire it. I want more.

Church, how many would say that God is stirring, God is calling you, God is calling you? Will you come? Will you respond? He’s seeking relationship. He’s desiring more. Will you come? Would you just raise your hand to the Lord if you would say to the Lord, “I want you to build my life, you build it. You do it. I want you. There’s nothing out there for me. It’s you.” Just raise your hand to the Lord if that’s your desire. Father, thank you for everyone whose hand is raised, whose desire is for you. Bless, pour out your spirit of life. Revive your church. Revive us, oh, Lord, we love you for it now in Jesus’ name, and everyone said, can we give the Lord praise and glory and honor?

Faith that Overcomes Obstacles
Ezra 4:1-6
February 4-5, 2023

Overcoming obstacles, that is the theme of this study because Israel now is going to be facing some very difficult times. If you remember the story, God has called them to go back. It’s the story of the great restoring of Israel after they had been defeated by Babylon, the city was destroyed, the temple, the house of God burned, and then the people are carried away into exile those 70 years. Even during those 70 years, God gave them hope. God wanted them to have hope because He had for them a great calling and purpose.

He sent word to them, even while they’re in that 70 years of exile, He encouraged them through the Prophet Jeremiah by sending them a promise that they can hold on to, that God would restore them. We read it last week, but it bears again repeating, Jeremiah 29:10-11, 14, “Thus says, Jehovah the Lord, when those 70 years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you, I will fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place.” Here is that famous verse, “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare,” which means good.

“I have a plan in mind for you, for your welfare and not for calamity,” He says. “To give you a future, to give you a hope.” He says in verse 14, “I will restore your fortunes, and I will gather you from all the nations when I sent you,” declares the Lord. There is that and promise to hold onto. After the 70 years were completed, Cyrus, who is king of Persia, who defeated Babylon, now, he is the king. He sent a proclamation calling all the Jews that lived in his kingdom to return to rebuild Jerusalem and the holy temple. They have a purpose, they have a calling, go back and build.

God’s purpose and God’s calling is to build. Even so, God is the one who gives meaning and purpose, and calling to your life. That’s true. Even though God is the one who gives that calling and that purpose, there still will be opposition to that purpose in your life. There will be trouble, there will be difficulty, and that’s what this message is about, overcoming obstacles. Jesus said the same. He said the same with a promise. Notice John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me, you may have peace.” He’s talking about peace in the midst of trouble, obstacles, difficulties.

“In the world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, man.” Now, that’s a word for faith, “Take courage, man, I have overcome the world.” See, there are principles for overcoming obstacles. Troubles and trials are a fact of life, but defeat is not. You do not have to be defeated. Trials and difficulties are certainly and can be discouraging, but they must not shipwreck your faith. See, God wants to equip you in advance, and that’s what this message is about, equipping you in advance so that you can be victorious and overcome the obstacles that will be against you.

Whenever you move in God’s purpose, there will be spiritual attacks. There will be spiritual warfare, there will be opposition that comes against you. That’s the story. In Chapter 2, it gives the list of names of those leaders returning, and the Jews with them. In Chapter 3, they begin the work. They’re coming back now to Jerusalem, and they’re beginning the work of laying the foundation for the temple. After they’ve just finished the foundation, and that’s all they did, but that was so important for them, they paused for celebration and worship.

It was so exciting for them. The singers sang, the musicians played. The rejoicing was loud that they could hear it a great distance away. They’re just so excited. They’re building, finally building, and they’re shouting and singing, but it says that there were also those in the ground who were weeping. They wept because they remembered the temple. “Oh, this is not what we had. One day we had the glory of Solomon’s temple,” and they’re weeping. It broke their heart to think about all that they had lost. It says the weeping was so loud and the rejoicing was so loud you couldn’t distinguish one from another.

Now, this is understandable, this weeping. If we can understand it, if you made terrible errors in judgment, and that cost you dearly, you can certainly look back and be discouraged when you think about all that was lost because of what you did. If you stay discouraged, if you stay beaten down, it will keep you from God’s purpose. It will keep you from fulfilling God’s calling in your life to build again, to rebuild this thing. See, they had lost everything, but it’s time to rebuild. If you keep looking back, if you keep thinking back about everything you lost, then it will keep you from what God wants to do now.

Let me give you a great verse. Philippians 3:13-14. “One thing I do,” Paul writes, “forgetting what lies behind.” You want to talk about some past, Paul certainly had some past. He had some things he wasn’t very proud of, pretty much ashamed of some of the things he did. “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on.” That’s right. That’s the key to rebuilding, “Press on toward that goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus.” See, God sent word to those there in Jerusalem who were so discouraged.

“This is nothing like what we had before. Oh, it’s such a sad thing. Oh, we’ve lost so much.” God sent some prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, to strengthen and encourage them. God said through the prophets, “You remember the former glory? There is a glory yet to come that will make even the former glory seem as though it we’re nothing.” Let me give you the verse because it’s just such a great word. Haggai Chapter 2. You got to read the whole chapter, but Chapter 2, these verses where God says through the prophet, “Who was left among you who saw the temple in its former glory, and how do you see it now?

I. Spiritual Advance will be Opposed

Does it not seem to you as nothing in comparison? But take courage, Zerubbabel, declares the Lord, for I am with you. I will shake the nations, I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts, and the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former glory, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place, I will give peace.” There is that prophetic word. You’re thinking about the past. God is thinking about the glory yet to come. Oh, it’s far greater than you have understood ever before. God sends word to encourage them, and there are principles for overcoming opposition.

Let’s read, we’re in Ezra 4, beginning in verse 1, “Now, when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel, when they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the father’s households, and they said to them, let’s do this together. Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God.” Now, these, by the way, are what later were known as Samaritans. These are the people living just north of them. If you remember the story, Assyria had defeated the north, carried those people away, and then brought another people to take their place, and they intermingled with them. They somewhat followed God. That’s why they say, “Let’s do this together. Let’s build with you. We, like you, seek your God, and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us up here, but Zerubbabel,” who is the Jewish governor, he would’ve been king except he has no throne, “and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the father’s households of Israel said to them, you have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God.” No, “But we ourselves will together build to the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.

No, you will not work with us. No.” The people of the land didn’t like that answer, and so they discouraged the people of Judah. They frightened them from building. In fact, so much so that they had to strap on weapons. They were in fear of being attacked so much was their fright. Then they hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. Now, in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation. In fact, they’re against them.

They’re opposing them so much that they write a legal letter of accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. All right. Now, these are the verses I want us to look at to consider the life lessons and applications for us today starting with this, spiritual advance will be opposed. Right away, you get a sense of the danger here when Ezra refers to these people as enemies, and their opposition is clever, it’s deceptive, and it’s powerful. They are against them. This is a ploy, they are against them. They are against these Jews. By the way, there are a lot of people in the world today that are against Jews.

See, the enemy knows very well the significance of the temple of God there in Jerusalem and will resist it at every turn. He doesn’t want worship of God happening there. He doesn’t want Israel to have spiritual revival. I submit to you that the devil is anti-Semitic. Anybody agree with me? Of course, he’s anti-Semitic. He’s against Israel, and there are many who agree with him. See, the enemy– Now, let’s look at it personally. For you are the temple of God now. The Scripture says you are the temple of the living God now, and every spiritual advance in your life will also be opposed by the enemy.

See, God doesn’t want worship happening in your life. He doesn’t want spiritual increase to be happening in your life. He doesn’t want the rebuilding of the work of God in your life. He’s going to oppose you and resist you at every turn. Think of this, God is doing something beautiful in this church. God is doing something beautiful. God is doing something amazing. God is doing something in your life. There is a hunger for more of God. There is a hunger for more of God’s glory. There is a hunger for more of God’s word and for spiritual revival.

There is spiritual increase, and you can be sure that the enemy will resist it in your life. See, in other words, to be forewarned means that you can be prepared. There are spiritual principles for overcoming obstacles. Let’s look, from this perspective, beware of the compromise of cooperation. Notice, verse 2, “They approached Zerubbabel, the governor, and said, come, let’s do it together. Let’s build with you, for we, like you, seek your God.” You can imagine how tempting this might be. They didn’t exactly have an overabundance of workers.

A. Beware of the compromise of cooperation

They were only maybe I think 46,000 who came total back. This is a fraction in what they were. They didn’t have a lot of workers. This was very tempting, you might think, but this is a very clever attempt of the enemy to bring compromise. See, if the enemy is offering to help you, you can be sure that it will not end well, and so they have a decision to make. “Let us work together. Why don’t we help you?” There are key points in your life, key decisions that will turn the course of your life. This is one of those key decisions. This would not have ended well if Zerubbabel had agreed to let them work together.

For I submit that once they got their foot in the door that they would have then pre-empted worship, they would’ve pre-empted honor to Jehovah. The next thing you know, the whole thing would be spiraling out of control. You can see the result of the spiritual compromise in the history of Israel in the north, the Northern Kingdom. From the beginning to the end, you see spiritual compromise and it did not go well for them. Spiritual compromise never ends well. Anybody agree with me? The enemy wants you to compromise, but it never ends well.

From the very beginning of the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam was the king, he didn’t want people going to Jerusalem to worship. He created a new religion made on golden calves there for the people to worship, “These are your gods, O, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt, worship them.” From that strategy, we can see something because he even imitated the Jewish feasts. See, this is the strategy of the enemy today. There are many false religions that have been created by imitating the authentic faith of Jesus, the authentic faith of the church.

See, in other words, if a counterfeit there is going to create a counterfeit $100 bill, you can be sure that it will look amazingly like that which is authentic. That is the nature of spiritual warfare today. Let me give you a great verse in the New Testament, Galatians 1:7-8, “There are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ.” I’ll tell you what, that’s happening right now today. There are many who want to distort the Gospel of Christ. Then he adds, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel that’s contrary to what we have preached to you, let him be anathema, let him be accursed.”

That’s a very strong word. Spiritual compromise. Here’s another example. This is toward the end of the kingdom there in the north. I mentioned Assyrians defeated Israel, displaced them, and then moved another people to take their place. These people, they knew nothing about the God of Israel, so the king of Assyria instructed that a prophet of God be brought in to teach these people how to honor God. The result was nothing short of disaster because you cannot mix the two together. That’s what they sought to do. They didn’t want to let go of what they had before.

B. Beware of that which is partly true

They wanted to mix the two together. I tell you, you cannot mix them and have anything that is spiritually of any power. You cannot mix the two together. Spiritual compromise always ends badly. It was true then, and it’s true today. Here’s the word that the prophet spoke about that. 2 Kings 17, “To this day, they do according to their earlier customs. They do not fear the Lord, nor do they walk in his statues.” While these people respected the Lord, they also served their own idols. They wanted both. While they respected the Lord, they also served their own idols, their children likewise, and their grandchildren, as their fathers did so they do to this day. That spiritual compromise would not end well. In fact, Paul writes it this way, 2 Corinthians 6, “What fellowship has light with darkness? What harmony has Christ with Belial? What has a believer in common with an unbeliever, and what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God,” just as God said, “I will dwell in them, I will dwell amongst them and walk among them. I will be their God, they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate.” God is saying the same to us today, “Come out and be separate unto the Lord for spiritual compromise is a scheme of the enemy.” Then there’s this, out of this story, beware of that which is partly true. See, the danger of the words of these enemies is that they were partly true. They did worship God. Problem is that they didn’t worship God alone.

They wanted both. Now, there is today even very similar things. The politically correct thing today, is pressure to co-exist saying, “After all, we serve the same God. After all, don’t we serve the same God?” I submit that we do not. I respect the fact that people can choose to worship any God in any manner they choose, but I cannot be pressured into a compromise of cooperation with them. I learned this lesson many years ago. The church was very, very young, and I was invited to a prayer breakfast hosted by the governor of Oregon. I forget the governor, his name now. He was a doctor. What was his name?

Kit, yes, thank you. He was the governor in those days, and he invited us to a prayer breakfast. Now, I suppose I should not have been surprised that he invited leaders from every imaginable religion and some that I doubt that could be called a religion at all. I sat there growing more and more and more uncomfortable. Then at one point, they brought up some kind of Shaman or something or other, and we were all supposed to take communion with Mother Earth. I decided, “I don’t belong here. This is not the place that I need to be.”

I was very happy that I was given a seat in the back of the room because I was able to stand up and leave and I came back. I got to tell you, I came back. I walked in the doors of the church, and then, “Oh, praise God, I’m home.” We’re supposed to pray together? I cannot pray with anyone who is praying to a different God. I cannot pray to any but the one who sent His Son to die on the cross for my sins. Amen. Let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. Let me add this. This current woke society is pressuring believers in Jesus Christ to compromise.

II. Stand Firm in Your Faith

Isn’t that true? There’s tremendous pressure today in the woke culture pressuring believers in Jesus Christ to compromise. I am aware of churches that are compromising. We are hearing now of woke churches. I’ve come to the conclusion that when I come to the end of my life, that when I stand before the Lord, I’m not going to be giving an account of how woke I was. I’m going to be giving an account of what I did with His Son, Jesus Christ, and whether I led the church to stand firm in Jesus Christ. I will give an account of how I lead this church.

Now, let me just say, we are not going woke. I will awaken the soul to worship in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what I want. Amen? Amen. Zerubbabel and the others said, “No, we have nothing in common. We have nothing in common in that we should build the house of the Lord together. We will do it ourselves.” We stood firm, and there’s the principle. Stand firm in your faith. These are days where there will be opposition but to stand firm in your faith. See now what happened next is important. When Zerubbabel and the leader stood firm, the attack of the enemy increased.

Oh, at first, they were being all nice. “Oh, let’s work together.” They’re being all nice, and then as soon as they are rebuffed, as soon as they don’t get their way, now they go on the attack. That is the nature of spiritual warfare. “So, the people of the land,” verse 4, “discouraged the people of Judah. They frightened them from building. They hired counselors against them.” Oh, and they did much more as we will read. Wrote letters accusing them. There, what a picture of spiritual attack. See, if the enemy can get you discouraged, if the enemy can get you frightened, you will soon come to the place where you want to quit.

A. Persevere against the accuser

See, that’s the picture of spiritual defeat. When you come to the point where you want to give up and quit you need to be strengthened again because God wants you to stand firm, persevering and pressing forward. Stand firm in your faith. 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on the alert. Stand firm in your faith. Act like men. Be strong,” Paul wrote. A great word. Then there’s this, “Persevere. Stand firm, and then persevere against the accuser.” The enemies of the Jews then wrote a letter of accusation against him to the new king of Persia, Ahasuerus.

Interestingly, the letter, the accusation contained truth. Later on in the chapter, verse 15, he writes in the letter, “Search the record books and you will see. Look it up. It’s true. Look it up. It’s right there, it’s in the record. Look it up.” This accusation, there’s truth. He says, “Search the records. You will see that that city is a rebellious city damaging the kings and provinces. They have incited revolt. Therefore, that city was laid waste.” It’s true, and it was true. Israel had stood firm against kings and provinces in days past. They had revolted against the Babylonians who laid waste to the city. It’s true.

What do you do when the accusation is true? The enemy is a liar, but there’s many times when he does not need to lie because there’s plenty against you. What do you do when it’s true? This is a scheme of the enemy. He, in fact, is called the accuser of the brethren. Revelation 12:10, “The authority of his Christ has come for the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down. He who accuses them before our God, day and night.” See, here’s my point. The thing is, there is enough baggage in everyone’s past to stand accused. In everyone’s past, there’s enough baggage, there’s enough something that everyone can stand accused.

The enemy always has something he can use to accuse you, and he does not even have to lie, but here again, it’s only partly true in the sense that the enemy deliberately leaves out the fact that Jesus paid for your sins, and He paid for them in full. Oh, he forgot that point. That is a very important point as a matter of fact. Yes, we all have sins. Yes, we all have a past. Yes, we all have things, but Jesus paid it all, and God says to you, “Now, arise and rebuild.” That’s what I want you to do. “Now, arise and rebuild.” Amen. Sure, let’s give the Lord praise.

For then we see this, help is on the way. See, when the king of Persia, notice this, what an interesting turn, when the King of Persia, Ahasuerus, receives this letter, he did look it up and it was true. He immediately issued a decree to make the men stop their work. The city must not be rebuilt. They stopped the work. It worked. What do you do when there are accusations against you, and they’re true? Answer. What do you do when there’s accusations against you, and they’re true, and you’re trying to rebuild your life? What do you do? You stand firm, and you wait for God to move in your behalf.

B. Help is on the way

Stand firm, and you wait for God to move in your behalf, for help is on the way. You press on believing that Jesus is your advocate. Let me give you a verse. You write this on your heart. 1 John 2:1, “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.” Now that’s an amazing declaration right there. God surely declares, “I write these things to you that you may not sin,” because sin is against you. Sin is like poison to the soul, but if anyone does sin, please know that you have an advocate.

Oh, this is such an important thing because so many people have it wrong. They think that when a person blows it, when a person sins or whatever, they’re convinced that God is so angry with them that God pushes them back. That God rebuffs them, “Be gone, I have nothing to do with thee. You have blown it again. Separate yourself from me, for you have sinned and you have failed again.” Many people are convinced that God is angry and is looking for ways to get even with them. I’m reading here in the Bible that says, “I’m writing these things that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.”

This I know. If Jesus Christ is your advocate, then help is on the way. Now, He’s going to send to them– First, help is on the way. First, one thing He’s going to do, He’s going to send to them prophets to strengthen them, to bring a word to them, to speak words of life to them. God will do the same. God will move by His word. He began to speak words of life. He will use His word to speak forth life. He will strengthen you. First, he sends the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, prophesying in the name of the God of Israel and encouraged them to build.

“They told us not to build.” “Build. Stand up, build.” Ezra 5:2, “Then Zerubbabel and Jeshua arose and began to build the house of God, which was in Jerusalem.” It is been, they stopped the work for I think it was like 15 or 16 years. That’s how long they stood discouraged. “They arose and began to build the house of God, which is in Jerusalem.” The prophets of God were right there with them, supporting them. Help is on the way. First thing God is going to do is speak life, speak right into your soul. Speak life, speak His word. He also is at work in your behalf in ways you cannot see.

See, faith believes that if God is for you, then He is moving in your behalf. Help is on the way. What happened next was interesting. They began to build. Tatnai, the governor of the province sent a letter to Darius now, who is now the king of Persia, asking that a search be conducted and if these people have authority to build the house of God. Interestingly, he did not tell them to stop. He sent a letter asking, do these people have permission. Ezra 5:5, “But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report should come from Darius.”

The king issued the decree, and a search was made. What he found was that decree from Cyrus all those years before. He wrote a letter back to Tatnai, the governor. I got to tell you, this is one of the most amazing letters you will ever read. This is nothing short of amazing. You got to listen. Okay, I’m going to read to you some of this letter. I’m telling you in advance, this is amazing. It’s a declaration that God is a very present help in times of trouble. Listen to this letter, Ezra 6 in the verses there. “Now, therefore Tatnai, governor of the province, keep away from there.

Leave this work on the house of God alone. Moreover, I issue a decree of what you are to do for these people.” Listen to this. “The full cost of this is to be paid out of the royal treasury and from the taxes from your province.” I don’t know about you, but I’m loving this right here. “You’re going to raise some taxes and you’re going to pay for it. This, without delay. I don’t want any more delays. I want this done. Whatever else is needed, you will give it to him, and you will do it daily, and you will do it without fail.” That’s my God right there.

Amen? Amen. I love that part of this story because everything is against them. Everything is against them. God was for them, and they changed everything. Everything was against them, but God was for them. That changed everything. See, to believe that God works in such a way is to look and to watch. I can tell you stories, oh, the stories of how God has rescued and saved and has been miraculous. I could stand here for literally hours telling you how God has rescued and saved in my life. It is nothing short of miraculous. Anybody else have stories like that?

Yes, let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely, because that letter right there is, that’s the way my God works. Help is on the way. He works in ways you cannot see. You have an advocate with the Father. He gives to His beloved even while he sleeps. Let’s pray. Father, we are so amazed at how you move at your word, how you reveal yourself, how you show yourself strong, how you are very present help in times of trouble. How you work in ways we cannot see. How you strengthen us by speaking words of life into our very soul. Church, how many would say to the Lord today, “I know that we have much against us, I know that there’s much against me, but I will stand firm.

I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced, I’m persuaded He will keep that which I have committed to Him until that day. I know my God, and I will stand firm. I will not compromise. I will stand firm. I believe help is on the way.” Church, how many would just say that to the Lord? Would you just raise your hand to the Lord and declare it? You can raise both hands to the Lord. Just say it to the Lord by raising your hand, “I will stand firm. There is no compromise in me. I will stand firm.” Father, thank you so much for revealing to us that help is on the way, that we can stand firm in these days of great opposition.

That you will strengthen us with your great word and send your Holy Spirit in power. Send that help that’s on the way. We honor you and thank you in Jesus’ name, and everyone said– Can we give the Lord praise, and glory, and honor? Amen? Amen.

The Great Restoring
Ezra 1:1-11
January 29-30, 2023

This is a story of God’s returning Israel back to their homeland after they were exiled, after Israel was destroyed, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, and they were, therefore, exiled into Babylon. Those 70 years. Did you know that it’s never happened in the history of the world that people have been displaced from their nation and then dispersed amongst the nations, and then returned back to their homeland? It’s never happened in the history of the world, but for Israel, it’s happened twice. What a declaration of God’s hand on his people, Israel, but what a tragedy it was that unfolded.

It’s hard to have fathomed that Jerusalem would be destroyed, but that’s what we read. I want to just quote from 2nd Chronicles 36, it gives us this picture. We start in verse 18. It says, “All the articles of the House of God, great and small, and the treasures of the king and his officers, he brought them all to Babylon,” everything. “Then they burned the House of God.” I was like, “Wait, what? The house of God, the Temple is burned? They burned it on fire? The glorious Temple of Solomon burned? How could this be?” When you walked into the glorious place of worship there, it was gold.

It was wood paneled with gold overlay, so to get the gold off, they burned it, and then when it melted into the stones, they broke all the stones apart to get all the gold out of it, but they burned the House of God. “Then,” yes, “they broke down the walls of Jerusalem and burned all the fortified cities with fire.” “They destroyed all its valuable articles and those who escaped from the sword, he carried them away to Babylon and they were servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia.” Now, it’s been those 70 years and the King of Persia arises, Persia is modern-day Iran, and defeated Babylon.

Now, the King of Persia is ruling and is going to send the people back, but the history of this is so important because we understand that God had been patiently waiting for 490 years, God waited, for Israel to come to Himself. That’s a long time, 490 years of waiting, and tells us that it finally got to the point where there was no remedy. The people were following all the abominations of their nations. They even defiled the House of the Lord, which He had sanctified in Jerusalem. It tells us that God called out to them again and again.

He sent messengers to them because of his compassion on them, but they would mock those messengers. They despised His words. They scoffed at the prophets until the wrath of God arose and there was no remedy. Now, it’s a testimony of grace. God waited 490 years, but it’s also a warning. Yes, God is patient and long-suffering, waiting for His people to repent and to come to Himself, but there comes a point, and this is the lesson, that’s the warning of the story. There does come a point when the only thing left for God to do is to give people over to their destruction that they might come to the end of themselves.

See, there’s that point of turning. If a person comes to the end of themselves and cries out to God, that’s one of the themes that we have seen in the Scriptures over and over. God welcomes them home. God never rebuffs them. God doesn’t say, “Oh, it’s too late now.” No, He always makes a way for the returning and the restoring of a sinner to come home. It’s one of the aspects of God that we’ve come to love. This is the story, so let’s read it.

We’re Ezra 1 and we’ll begin reading in verse 1. “Now, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and he put it in writing.” Now, here’s this proclamation, “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord–” and he mentions Him here not by name, “Yehovah,” Jehovah. “Jehovah, God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”

Now, how did he know that? Good question. I will show you. He then says, “Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and let him rebuild the House of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem and every survivor, everyone else at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold and goods and cattle together with a free-will offering for the House of God, which is in Jerusalem.”

There is the proclamation but then notice verse 5, “Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests, and the Levites, they arose, even every one whose Spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the House of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem and everyone else, and all those about them encouraged them with gifts, articles of silver and gold and goods and cattle and valuables, aside from all that was given as their free-will offering.”

“Then King Cyrus brought out all the articles of the House of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods. Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath, the treasurer, and he counted them.” They had an inventory. “He counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah and this is their number. 30 gold dishes, a thousand silver dishes, 29 duplicates, 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of the second kind, and a thousand other articles, and all the articles of Golden Silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.”

What a great story of the great restoring and the rebuilding of the people of God in Israel, in Jerusalem. Great lessons for us to take hold of for our day-to-day, starting with this. God stirs the Spirit. We see this in the story. God stirs up his people. Even today, God is stirring up his people, but before that, I want to give a backstory. The backstory here is on 150 years before any of this took place, God called Cyrus out by name in the writing of the prophet Isaiah. Now, imagine 150 years before any of this took place, Cyrus’s name was written in the book of the scroll of Isaiah the prophet.

I’ll read it to you, Isaiah 44:28, “It is I,” God says, “Who says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd and he will perform My desire. It is he who declares of Jerusalem, she will be built, and of the temple, your foundation will be laid.” The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the Jews living there in Babylon showed Cyrus his name in the skull of Isaiah. Can you just imagine Cyrus reading the scroll of Isaiah written 150 years before, and there’s his name? See, the Scripture tells us that he was so amazed and so impressed that it motivated Cyrus to fulfill what was written in the Book, and that’s why I say, God has appointed me to do this thing.

I. God Stirs the Spirit within You

It’s written in the Book. It’s interesting how it says in verse 1, “In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus that he made his proclamation.” Now, that word stirring is a good word, but it’s perhaps better understood in this interpretation. When we think of stirring, we think of stirring a pot or stirring a dish or something, but it’s perhaps not the best understanding. It would be better understood as the awakening of the soul or opening the eyes of the soul or arousing the Spirit with them. That’s the idea.

In fact, in Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it whatever he wishes.” I think some of your Bibles might say they’re like rivers, but the better word is channels of water because it’s a picture of a farmer opening and closing the gates of the irrigation channels, sending water this way or that according to his purpose. In other words, as easily as an irrigation gate can be open, God can turn the heart of a king to accomplish his purpose. It’s the sovereign hand of God moving amongst the nations. That’s a picture of it. Powerful, but He uses the same word stirring to describe the stirring of His people and God is still stirring his people. In this case, He was stirring them to go home. God stirred them and then let them choose. Would you notice verses 5 and 6, “Then they arose everyone whose spirit God stirred to go up and to rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Everyone else, all those around them encouraged them sending gifts of silver and gold and other things.” In other words, some were stirred and chose to go back, others decided not.

A. You respond according to your desire

They would stay there in Babylon and live as they always had lived. Here’s the thing, you respond according to your desire. Those who do long to go back had something else they desired. Those who wanted to stay, they desired the things of Babylon. See, many had grown quite comfortable there. They’re in Babylon. Now, at first, they hated it. They were slaves in a foreign land, but after a while, they settled in quite well. In fact, Jeremiah the prophet instructed them to build new lives there. Jeremiah lived, of course, during this time. He was not exiled.

He stayed in Jerusalem, but he sent word to them, he wrote, we have it. He wrote to them this word of prophecy, but he encouraged them to settle there. Notice Jeremiah 29:4-7, very interesting, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel to the exiles whom I send in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses, live in them, plant gardens, eat their produce: Take wises, become fathers and sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons. Give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there, do not decrease:

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Settle in and pray for it. Increase, be productive, buy houses, plant gardens, but now, it’s been 70 years. 70 years have been completed, it’s time to go home, but many of them did not want to go home. They had gone quite comfortable there in Babylon, quite complacent there in Babylon. After all, what’s not to like? It was a thriving city. There were theaters in Babylon, there were restaurants in Babylon, there were Starbucks on every corner in Babylon.

Although in those days, they served Turkish coffee. Have you ever had Turkish coffee, by the way? If you go to Israel with me, we’re going to be actually there in just a few months. Turkish coffee is, oh, you got to try it. You want to talk about strong coffee? Woo, what do they do? Let me tell you how they make it. They take the grounds grinding very, very fine, and they put the coffee grounds right in the cup and then put a little cardamom in for a little spice.

They put the water over it, then they stir all these grounds together, then they let us settle, and then you sip the bold, bold coffee. It’s like tar, it’s so thick. You keep sipping it until you get down to the mud and then you’re done. It’s like, “That’s coffee.” Oh, you can get coffee. They got restaurants. You can buy the finest Persian rugs now in Babylon. Babylon had everything a person could desire or was there? Many Jews living in Babylon were longing for the day that they could go back.

B. God stirs the heart of those who desire more

For Babylon in all of its wealth, all of its opulence, all that it had wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough. They wanted more than that. See, here’s the thing. God stirs the heart of those who desire more. There are those today who know in their heart that this world is not enough. Did you know that Babylon represents the world? In fact, what do you think are the two cities mentioned most in the Bible? Two cities, which two cities are mentioned most times in the Bible? You would say Jerusalem, right? Exactly. Second one, Babylon.

It is a city contrasted to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the holy city of God, right? Babylon is the contrast to it, it’s the world. In fact, in Revelation, Babylon is referred to that great Whore. Well, that tells you right there. It represents the world. It has so much to offer that there are those in their heart who know that this world is not enough. God has something more. There are deeper places for the soul’s desire. There is more meaning and purpose than can be found in the pleasures of the world. There is more.

David wrote this. Psalm 63:1-5, “Oh God, You are my God; I seek You,” I see you earnestly. “My soul thirsts for You; My flesh yearns for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” That’s the picture of the world, a dry and weary land, and all that it has to offer, all the pleasantries of Babylon. It’s still a dry and weary land. There’s no spiritual water because he says, I love this phrase, “Because your loving kindness is better than life.” Remember, we used to sing a worship song many years ago based on those words.

“So beautiful, your loving kindness is so good. It’s better than life. Because of that, my lips will praise you as long as I live. I will lift up my hands to your name and in you, my soul is satisfied as like with marrow and fatness.” See the pleasant things of the world. Now, we have to admit the pleasant things of the world are very pleasant. Lattes, cappuccino, caramel macchiatos, I love them, too. Red Robin, pizza, air conditioning, oh, watching football while eating popcorn and Doritos, the world’s pleasantness is quite pleasant.

I have to agree. It’s pleasant, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough for me. It’s pleasant, but it’s not enough. These things cannot satisfy the soul, the soul that desires glory. When I think of that, I think of Moses. Remember when he was interceding in behalf of Israel, Israel had sinned greatly, you know the story. Moses is interceding for them and while he’s praying, he takes opportunity to ask for something personal, just for himself. Well, I’m asking something for me, what would you ask? If you could ask God for anything, for you, for yourself, what would you ask?

Moses has opportunity, he said just for me, something for me, “Show me your glory.” Why did he ask for that? Moses has seen more of God’s glory than any living person and he wants more. He had been on the mountain with God those 40 days and another 40 days, so much was he in the presence of the glory of God, that when he came down from the mountain, there was a physical radiance of glory upon his face. He has seen more of God’s glory than any living person and you want more? Right, you know why? Because Moses knew that glory is beautiful on the soul.

II. God Decrees the Years

There’s more. This world’s not enough, it’s not enough for me. There were many in Babylon longing for Jerusalem. They wanted the promises of God far, far more than the treasures of Babylon. When I think of that, I think of a quote that comes from Calvin Miller. He wrote a trilogy of poems and the final one is called The Finale. Just a quick quote, he says, “The world is poor because her fortune is buried in heaven, but her treasure maps are of the earths.” That is a powerful statement. Let me quote it to you from Psalm 137:1-5, “By the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” Zion is the mountain in which Jerusalem is built. “By the rivers of Babylon, we sat, and we wept when we remembered Zion upon the willows, in the midst of it, we hung up our harps.” Harps are for singing and making music. We hung them up. “For there, our captors demanded of us songs. Our tormentors demanded mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing? How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. I will never forget you.”

That city of God’s possession. See, when I think of that, this is very much like an expression that Jews have used for almost 1,000 years to express their hope for Jerusalem. That expression is this. Next year in Jerusalem, they’ve been saying this for more than 1,000 years, that Israel was defeated by the Romans in 70 AD and dispersed amongst the nations. The saying came to them as a way of holding onto hope. They might be in Bulgaria or Germany or Russia, or somewhere, and then as they’re saying goodbye to their Jewish friends, they would say next year in Jerusalem, the hope next year in Jerusalem.

At the end of their Seder, their Passover supper, it will be part of their Passover prayer. Next year in Jerusalem, we will celebrate together. Next year in Jerusalem. L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim. Even sounds beautiful. These words gave hope to Jews. There’s always been a great longing for Jerusalem in the heart of Jews, but now what’s interesting is they have their homeland now, and yet, they still say it. They say it, they’re in Jerusalem, but they say it because something is still missing. What is it that’s still missing? Messiah?

The ultimate meaning of that phrase next year in Jerusalem means next year in Jerusalem with our Messiah, holding onto that hope, still awaiting, still longing. Today, they’re still waiting, they’re still longing. Their great hope that Messiah would make himself known. Well, he did make himself known, and he won’t make himself known again at the end of the age when he steps foot on the Mount of Olives and enter Jerusalem to rule in reign than nations of the world at the end of the age.

First, he would defeat the enemies of Israel who have come against it and he will defeat them there in the battle of Armageddon, and what a great glorious day that will be, but it says that they will recognize him, they will look on him whom they have pierced and realize it was him. It was him. They will mourn as one mourn for an only son, but it says he will pour out on them the spirit of grace and the spirit of supplication. The blood that was shed for the sins of the world will be extended to the people of Israel and all Israel will be saved and all the people will be joined together.

Gentile and Jew, under the banner of Jesus Christ, all will be made together in the name of our Lord and Savior and Messiah of Israel. Amen. Let’s give a little praise the beautiful day. The we who are believers in Jesus Christ. The word Christ means Messiah. We know who our king is. There is nothing missing for those who want more. You can have more. You want more of God’s glory. I delight to give it to you. I’m so thankful that you desire it. You want more, I’ll give you more.

More of God’s peace, more of God’s joy, more of God’s glory for anyone who wants more, but then I want to say this, God still decrees the years. Even today, God decreased the years. See, Jeremiah wrote, 70 years have been determined. This is the decree of God. No amount of one thing we’re wishing or even praying could have changed the decree of God. God issued that decree. By faith, he must now take hold and believe it. Waiting patiently and believing that God’s heart for them had never changed. They had to believe God’s heart had never changed.

Jeremiah who was there in Jerusalem when the soldiers of Babylon came and were destroying the city, tells us that he wrote and penned the words which we read in his writing of Lamentations. He wrote, wow, the army of Babylon is destroying his people. He wrote down the words, great is thy faithfulness. Oh Lord God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with thee. I’m quoting now from the hymn that we have written based on these very words, that his mercies are new every morning. Writing these words as his people are being subjected to the Babylonian soldiers.

A. Faith determines your perspective

He is believing in God’s heart. Great is thy faithfulness. Oh Lord, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee, thou changeth not thy compassions they fail not, as thou has been forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness great, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning, new mercies I see. He wrote that in the very time of their destruction because he believed in God’s heart. I tell you, I believe in God’s heart for me. I know my Lord. I know in whom I have believed. See, this is the thing. Faith determines how you see. Faith determines your perspective.

How you see life has everything to do with how you interpret the things that happen to you. See, when you see through the lens of faith, it changes everything. When that decree of Cyrus went forth, no doubt there were Jews living in Babylon who heard it and said, “Why? Why should me go back? What did God ever do for us? Did he say this? No. He stood by while our city was destroyed, and we should go back?” I think not. Why did God even allow this to happen, to which someone could say.

That’s the way you see it. That’s not the way to see it. That’s the way I see it. You know what’s interesting? Today, we’re living in a time of tremendous cultural wars. Cultural battles. You know why? Because people see things so differently. One side sees the same thing, but they see it very differently than the other side sees it. Oh, how you see it when they determine the course for your conclusions will be based on your interpretation? There are many today who experience tragedies and they say the same.

Why did God allow this to happen? You say, God loves, then why does he allow me to suffer? See, if you interpret it wrongly, it will change the course. If you interpret it wrongly, you’ll respond wrongly. You’ll become bitter, you’ll become angry. If you become bitter and angry, it will divert the course. I know about this very well, and if you know of my story, my daughter was murdered. How do you interpret that? If you become angry and bitter, it will divert the course. See, faith changes your view of the thing.

You may not understand why something happens. I cannot explain why, but this I know. If you believe God is with you through every tragedy and through every storm, and that he will see you through it. Jesus even said, “In this world, you will have many troubles, but take courage. I have overcome the world.” Promises of God to Israel. In the Old Testament, he spoke the same. “Child you are mine. I called you by name. The waters, the floodwaters wouldn’t all to overwhelm you. The fire will not burn you. I’ll be with you.”

See, faith changes your view of the thing when you believe in the heart of God being for you. I quoted from Jeremiah 29, let me give you some more verses. In fact, some of the greatest verses that we love to quote, love to write plaques and cards comes right out of these verses but look at the context. Jeremiah 29:10-14, “Thus says the Lord, when 70 years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place.”

B. God’s decree of years still stands

Here it is. Here’s the famous verse we love. “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare,” that means good not through calamity, “to give you a future, to give you a hope.” Then you’ll call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart, and I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes. I will gather you from the nations where I sent you, declares the Lord. Faith believes in the heart of God. I’ve been through many troubles, but I know my God, I know that He walks with me through every one of them. My God is faithful. His heart for me has never changed. I know His hand is all my life. I know His favor is poured out. That’s how I see life, and it changes the course if you don’t. Then I want to say this, God’s decree of years still stands, even today. Let’s step back for a moment and I want us to take a large view of the history of the world and of prophecy.

Jeremiah discerned that 70 years were determined for that exile because he understood that Israel had neglected in keeping the Sabbath years for 490 years. Now, the Sabbath year came every seventh year. It was a year of giving the land rest, Sabbath rest. It was an aspect of faith to believe that God would bless them so abundantly in the sixth year that they would’ve much to provide for them in the seventh year. It was an aspect of faith. Now, by the way, even modern farmers know that you must give land rest. You can ask modern agricultural experts, you got to give the land rest.

God knew what he was saying there, but He was also giving rest to His people. In fact, today that we called it a sabbatical, there are companies today, I think Intel’s one of them. You don’t get a whole year off, but you get time to rest. You need that restoring. God knew, but they had to believe it was part of His relationship to them, but they would not honor Him in the keeping of these Sabbath years. God waited patiently for 490 years. That is some long-suffering right there.

Notice 2 Chronicles 36:20-21. They were carried to Babylon to fulfill the word of the Lord by the prophet Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed its Sabbath. All the days of its desolation, it kept Sabbath until 70 years were complete. 70 sets of 7 years, 490 becomes a very important number in the history, but also the future of the world. Let me explain. 490 years, God was patiently calling out to His people to come to Himself, but they marked the messengers of God, they despised His words, they scuffed at His prophets until there was no remedy.

He discerned that these 70 years were because of this. Daniel now, the prophet Daniel, he was exiled when he was just a young man. Living in Babylon, he received this message from Jeremiah. When he received it and understood that this decree was set determined by God, he immediately went into a deep and humble prayer. You want to read a prayer, that’s amazing. Read Daniel 9, it’s one of the greatest prayers ever written in the history of man is so powerful. At the end of this prayer, God responds to Daniel by giving him another decree of 490 years.

There were 490 years in their history, 70 years of exile, and now another decree of 490. Notice, Daniel 9:24, “70 weeks have been decreed for your people.” Now, week is seven days, in this case it’s a set of seven years. “70 weeks of years have been decreed for your people in your holy city to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity,” speaking here of Jesus on the cross, “to bring in everlasting righteousness.”

The gift of God is a righteousness of God poured out because of Christ on the cross, “to seal a vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy place.” 70 years or 70 weeks of years is 490, the degree of God. He further then divided it into 7 sets, that’s 49 years and then 62 sets of 7, adds 7 and 62 is 69. There’s one remaining seven-year period set off. Notice, Daniel 9:26. Then after the 62, you have the seven and the 62, that’s 69. “After the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and then nothing,” the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

“Then the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed 70 AD,” but yet there remains this final seven-year period. These years yet to be fulfilled by God’s decree, there will be seven years of trouble yet to come upon the earth. Jesus said that there will be troubles and anguish leading up to those years, very much like a woman in childbirth, in any woman who’s had a baby knows that the pangs of childbirth will grow closer together and greater in intensity as the event draws near.

That is a picture of the anguish and trouble that will come upon the world as we draw nearer to the latter days. Today, we sense it. Those with spiritual discernment are sensing that there is something that’s happening in this world right now. There is a spiritual darkness that is arising in the nations of the world. This world is changing. Anybody agree with me? This world is changing. Jesus spoke of that, and it’s going to be leading up to that seventh remaining or that 70th remaining week, but 490 is the days of God’s grace, of God’s patient waiting.

He’s extended that last week as a patient waiting. It’s a number of years of God’s grace giving opportunity for people to come to repentance, to receive that forgiveness. Interestingly, I mentioned this on Wednesday and it certainly bears repeating. Interestingly, when Peter came to Jesus and asked, “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Now, no doubt Peter thought he was saying something quite generous there because it was a cultural thing of the day. Three strikes and you’re out.

As a third time there, you’re out, you’re done. Get out of my life. You’re done. Three strikes, you’re out. That was the cultural thing. Peter thinking he was being very generous. “How many times shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” I’m sure he expected the Lord to say, “Peter, you are amazing, none of the other disciples could have thought of this.” Jesus did not say that. What he said was, “I do not say to you up to 7 times, but I say to you up to 70 times 7.” There’s no coincidence in this number. I say to you, you forgive 70 times seven because it is a number represents God’s grace and God’s forgiveness.

He’s saying that, but He is also declaring that it is the power of transformation. There is a power to transform in this. Here’s what I mean. Someone offends and you forgive because God says to forgive. You have been forgiven much, you should forgive. It is a nature in the heart of God to forgive. You do that, you decide, you choose to forgive out of honoring God in your life. It’s very difficult, you don’t want to do it because that offense hurts, but you do it. I forgive. That’s one.

Then offense comes again, and you out of obedience to the Lord, out of honor of God in my life, He says that I ought to forgive. I will forgive, I choose to forgive. That’s two. Then offense comes again, and you forgive because you want to honor God in your life, so you forgive, you choose it. That’s three. Then offense again, but you choose to forgive out of honor to God and you forgive. That’s four. Then you choose, and then you choose, and then you choose to forgive, and to forgive, and to forgive. See, was Jesus really suggesting that we would keep track? Was Jesus really suggesting that one would count to 490 times of offense? You would have to have an app for that. You know how many times you’ve offended me? Oh, I got it right here, that’s 485. You know what? Five more times and then you’re out. No, you forgive and you forgive and you forgive and you forgive. You choose to forgive until you don’t have to choose to forgive anymore, because now is who you are. Your nature is that of forgiveness. You have been transformed.

You now forgive because it is who you are. You are a forgiving person by character. You have been transformed. It is the power of God to transform when you walk in it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The forgiveness by choosing to honor God in your life will transform you. It’s the number of God’s grace. Let’s pray. Father, thank you for showing us, revealing to us that there’s more. For this world, it’s not enough. All that it offers. Even though the pleasantness of the world, it’s not enough for me. There’s more. I want more. Church having would say that to the Lord.

This world’s pleasantness is pleasant, but it’s not enough. It doesn’t satisfy my soul. I want more than that. There are deeper places for the soul’s desire. I want glory. That’s what I want. I want more of you, God in my life. I want more of your peace. I want more of that love poured out. I want more of the spirit. I want more of the joy of the Lord. I want more glory. Is that your heart, your desire? Would you say that to the Lord by just raising your hand as a declaration of your heart and your prayer to ask?

God, you say that I can ask for more while I’m asking for more. I want more. Because this world is not enough. Doesn’t satisfy. I want you, more of you and only you will satisfy the soul. Glory. I want glory. Father, thank you for everyone stirred, stirred. Your spirit is still stirring. Your people stirred up to want more. We love you, Lord. We give you honor and praise for meeting us in this place today in Jesus’ name and everyone said, let’s give the Lord praise and glory and honor. Can we do that?

Josiah’s Revival
2 Chronicles 34:14-33
January 14-15, 2023

I’ll tell you, God loves revival because God loves you. Here’s what I mean by that. God grieves when He sees what’s happening in this world. There’s such brokenness and despair. I have never seen so much brokenness as that we are seeing today, but you got to see it from God’s perspective. It grieves the Lord to see all that comes from following after the flesh, from leaving the worldly life. He sees the brokenness of it, but when that person turns their life around and comes to a place of personal revival, God rejoices.

In fact, Jesus said the angels of heaven rejoice when even one sinner repents. What a picture is that? One sinner repents and the angels of heaven start rejoicing. God delights to see revival. God delights in it because you see, God doesn’t stand by idly when a person is making terrible decisions and destroying their life. No, God is on the move. God is sending His Spirit to draw them, to convict, to bring them to an understanding of life. He continues to draw and reach out to them. Jesus gave parable after parable describing the heart of God in the pursuit of sinners.

Over and over, He spoke of that. He pursues them because He loves them. See, God loves sinners. Oh, this is so important to see. God loves sinners, and He sent His Son to go and seek them and to draw them. When they come to a place of revival, God delights in it. That brings us to 2 Chronicles 34 because this is a story of revival. Now, in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, there were three kings that really stood out from the rest because they were kings who brought revival. You got to start with David. David, of course, was the king that all of the other kings were compared to because of David’s faith, David’s heart after God.

Now, yes, I understand David certainly had his failures. They’re infamous, I understand that, but one thing must be surely said of David, he never turned his heart after the gods of the world. There was nothing in them that David desired. God was enough, God was more than enough. Jehovah was the heart that David had, and so he was a king who brought revival. All of the kings were compared to him. Then there was Hezekiah. We’ve been studying about him recently. He was the greatest of the kings after David because his revival transformed the nation and prepared that nation for the troubles that were going to arise.

There’s where’s a lot of lessons for us because there is trouble that is a storm cloud on the horizon even now. There needs to be a revival to prepare for the spiritual warfare that is arising in this world. There is tremendous spiritual warfare, and there needs to be a revival and to prepare for it. Hezekiah is famous for that. What’s interesting about Hezekiah is that his father was the worst of the kings in the south, and Hezekiah saw enough of his father’s evil that he wanted nothing to do with it. He had the authority to do something about it, which speaks, of course, of the significance of leadership and responsibility to influence others towards that which is good and godly.

Then there’s Josiah. He’s the king that we’re going to look at today. All of his life he tells us he was faithful. He never turned to the left or to the right all the days of his life. Interestingly, he also had an evil father. That is just such an interesting thing. He saw enough of that evil, and he wanted nothing to do with it. He took the opportunity to make that choice for himself. It was a decision that he made to live his life with the honor of God and to bring about a revival. This revival is filled with lessons for us to take hold of today. Let’s read it.

I. Each One Must Decide for Himself

We’re in 2 Chronicles 34. We’re going to begin reading in verse 14. We’re going to pick it up right in the middle. What happened was he decided to pursue the God of his father, David, and then he saw that the temple there in Jerusalem had fallen into disrepair. The kings before him had allowed the idols, the Baal, or Molech, or Ashtoreth there in the temple of all things. It had fallen into disrepair. Josiah raised the money and was doing the work of repairing the temple when they found a book. That’s where we pick up the story in verse 14.

When they’re bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book. It was The Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses. Now, a little context to this, by the way, we all are so used to having the Word of God. All of us, we have two or three Bibles oftentimes. We all have a Bible, and some of us, many Bibles. We have full access to the Word of God any time we want. They did not. It was a very rare thing. If there was a copy, it’s because someone hand-wrote it. A scribe would write it out by hand, and it had become into such disuse at this point that no one had a copy.

When they discovered a book, The Book of the Law of Moses, this was a tremendous find. Notice verse 15, “Hilkiah the priest responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, I found the book, The Book of the Law in the house of the Lord. Hilkiah gave then the book to Shaphan. Shaphan brought that book to the king.” Now, he reported further word saying, “Now, everything that has been entrusted to your servants, they are doing.” He’s going to give a report on the construction. They’ve emptied out the money which was found in the house of the Lord.

They delivered it into the hands of the supervisors and the workers, but moreover, Shaphan the scribe then said to the king saying, “And one more thing, Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. Imagine this scene. There’s the king, he’s sitting on his seat, his chair of authority, and Shaphan the scribe comes in, gives him a report of the repairs and whatnot, the workers. Okay, that’s all good. “Oh, one more thing, we found a book.” “You found a book?” “Yes, we found The Book of the Law of the Lord that was given by Moses.”

“Really?” He sat and listened while Shaphan read it. Now, his response to it is part of the nature of the story. He hears this. Notice what follows. “It came about, verse 19.”That when the king heard these words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.” Now, remember in the Jewish culture in those days, for one to tear his clothes, it was a sign of deepest grief. It represented a tearing of one’s heart. It’s like, imagine a father gets word that his son died in battle, let’s say. Then the father would say, “No,” and he would take his clothes and just tear them, “No.” He’d just tear his clothes as a sign of deepest grief.

A. Revival begins with a tender heart

This is what he did. He hears the word. What a reaction is this? He hears the word, and “No.” He tears his robe and begins to weep. The word here is a deep weeping. This is a very interesting reaction but notice what follows. Verse 20, so then the king, after tearing his clothes and weeping, he commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, Abdon, the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, and he said, “Now, go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of this book which has been found.

For great is the wrath of the Lord which is poured out on us because our fathers have not observed the words of the Lord to do according that’s all that’s written in this book.” It’s like, “Now, I see. Now, I understand why we have such trouble and travail. Our fathers have walked away from God. Now, I see it. Go, inquire of the Lord for me. Verse 22, Hilkiah and those whom the king had told, went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. Now, she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter, and they spoke to her concerning these words.

She said to them, “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel, you tell the man who sent you to Me, thus says, Jehovah, Behold, I am bringing evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the curses written in that book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore, my wrath will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus you shall say to him, thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words, which you have heard.

Because your heart was tender, because you humbled yourself before God when you heard the words against this place, and its inhabitants, because you humbled yourself before Me, because you tore your clothes, because you wept, I truly have heard you.” Now, this is such an important key. “Because you are tender of heart, because you tore your clothes, you humbled yourself, and you wept, truly, I hear you. Behold,” verse 28, “I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all that evil that I will bring on this place, and on its inhabitants.”

They brought back this word to the king. Now, would you notice what he does next? Because it is epic. “Then the king hearing this, he sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. Then the king went up to the house of the Lord, and then all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, priests, Levites, all the people from the greatest to the least of them.” A great assembly, a vast assembly he gathered, and then he read himself, the book. Now, I love this thing. He did not defer to the priest. He didn’t have somebody else read it.

The king himself stood up, everyone is gathered, great to the least, and he says, “Hear the word of the–” They had never heard this all their life. Can you imagine never hearing the Word of God ever? He said, “Hear the Word of the Lord, O, people.” Then he himself read all of the words of the Word of God. Then it says, verse 31, “The king stood in his place next to the king’s pillar, and he made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord.” He’s making a covenant with the Lord, to keep the commandments, and testimonies, and statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to do, to reform the words and the covenant written in this book.

Then, moreover, he made all that were present there in Jerusalem, and in Benjamin, to stand with him. Everybody stand on your feet, and then all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they all made a covenant entering in to do that which is according to the word of the God of their Fathers. Then he’s not done yet. Josiah then removed all of the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel. We’re talking here about from the south to the north. All the lands that belong to Israel, he’s going to get rid of all the abominations, all that is offensive to the Lord, get rid of all of them.

Then it made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God, and throughout his lifetime, they did not change from following the Lord God of their fathers during the entirety of his life. That is an amazing story. That is revival, and there’s great lessons for us to learn out of this story, starting with this, each one must decide for himself. Here, Josiah had a father that was very evil, and he saw the evil of his father and had to decide. People respond differently when they see evil, brokenness. Each one must decide. Some follow after it, some repeat it.

Others say, “I want nothing to do with that.” Not many of you know my story. My father was an alcoholic, not just an alcoholic, but angry, cantankerous, an old cuss, he would say himself he was. It’s very common for children of alcoholics to grow up and become alcoholics themselves. I’ll tell you, it’ll mess up your life. Each one has to decide. I looked at my father and I saw the way of his life, and I said, “I don’t want this. This is not for me. This is not the life, I don’t want to become like this. God has more than that for me.”

There was something that happened. You got to decide. Each one must choose the path he will walk. Each one must decide his course. Now, God is giving each one that choice. Now, God wants you to choose life. He’s drawing you to choose life. He’s thinking very clearly what He wants for you to do, but He’s laying it out before you so that each person would make the choice to choose on their own the life that they will live. Notice Deuteronomy 30:19, God is speaking to Israel through Moses, and He says, “I set before you life and death. I set before you a blessing and a curse but choose life.”

He’s telling them what He wants them to do. “I want you to choose life that you may live. I want you to live, you and your descendants.” Jesus said a very similar thing. “I have come that you would have life. That God my Father sent me to you that you would have life.” God wants you to have life and life abundantly. That’s what God wants, but you got to choose it. Joshua, very famously, at the end of his life, gathered all of Israel together to hear that same challenge. Choose yourselves. See Joshua 24:15, “Choose for yourself today whom you will serve,” and then he made that famous declaration, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

This thing is settled with me. We have made our mind, we know in whom we have believed, we will serve the Lord.” Each one has that choice. Each one must choose to walk as a man or a woman after God. Now, it’s true that we have inherited our father’s disposition. That’s true. We do inherit our father’s disposition, but you don’t have to walk in whatever disposition you were born with. Now, some people are convinced that they cannot change, that their disposition was wired into their DNA. That’s just who they are, and that they cannot change because that’s just who they are.

I tell you that they are quite wrong. God has the power to transform. I have seen God transform some of the most difficult, impossible people. God has turned their life around and made such a transformation that it’s like, the before Christ and the after Christ. It’s amazing what God can do. God is not done. God can still transform because here’s the thing, every one of us in this place, every one of us was born in the nature of flesh. Everyone was born in the nature of flesh. Everyone inherited enough tendencies toward the world to mess up your life.

Everyone has inherited enough tendencies of the world to mess up your life, but do not and never discount the power of God because He can take that and transform it in power.

See here’s this, I love this picture, the temple had fallen into disrepair. Josiah, in following after the Lord, wanted that temple restored to its glory. “This is the house of the Lord. It ought to be a place of glory. Now it’s fallen into disrepair, and they’ve got the gods of Baal and Asherah in there. No, I want this temple repaired.” It’s a picture. It’s a picture because if you have received the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior, the Scripture says you are now a temple.

You can look it up in this Scripture. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit and part of the work of revival is repairing the damage done to your life by the old way in which you used to live. When people come to faith in the Lord, they bring a lot of damage with them. Anybody who’s done the things of the world will relate to it. Oh, there’s a lot of damage that needs to be repaired, and God will do the work of restoring and repairing. In the process of repairing, they find this book, they bring it to the king, who listens intently. There is this great insight that comes from his response. He hears the word, and something stirs. Something happens in his soul.

It stirred because there’s a picture. Revival begins there, in that stirring, in that tender heart. Revival begins with that tender heart. Something stirred. What stirred is that he saw it. I see now. I never saw it before. Now I see. I see. Now we understand why our nation has gone through such tragedy and travail. Our fathers turned their back on God, and they went after the gods of the world. Now I see it. In many, there’s that moment when the eyes of the heart open, “I get it. I see it. I didn’t see it before. Now I get it.” I mentioned my father.

That’s what happened to him. He came to the Lord when he was 75 years old. I’ll tell you what, there’s a testimony right there, it’s never too late to get your life right with God. It’s never too late. At 75 years old, we were sitting together, and I– Too long of a story. The history there is long. We’re sitting there. He had divorced my mom by this time and moved away, back to the home state where he grew up. No one had talked to him for years. Then my older brother died, so he came for the service. He stayed with us. I’m talking with him, early, early, early morning conversation over breakfast, where he says, “I see now what I did not see before.

I’ve wasted all my life, and I’ve drawn away from the people that matter to me. Would you help me make something of my life? Can I come back into your life? Can I get to know your children?” He wasn’t even at my wedding. “Can I come back? Would you allow me back?” To which I said, “Oh, I would love to help you.” The end result of this was that he came to faith in Jesus Christ.

Yes, amen. Absolutely. There’s that moment when the eyes see it, “I didn’t see it before. Now I get it.” It’s like that prodigal son. You remember his story where he got his father’s inheritance early, a great sum of money. He goes into the city, he spends it all on the parties, and the world, and the women and all. Then after he’s out of money, a famine hits the land, and he can’t even get a job now. Then he gets the worst job of all, feeding swine. Then he comes to his senses. There’s that moment. “My father’s servants are treated better than this.”

There’s that moment, “I see it now.” Josiah has that moment. Something stirred when he hears the Word of God, “I see it now. Now I understand.” He connected the spiritual condition to what was happening in the nation. There are real-world consequences to the condition of your soul. Do you believe this? There are real-world consequences to the condition of things in your soul. That’s when faith arises. When you see that, faith arises. He knew that their only hope was to turn this thing around, to turn this nation around, to bring them back under the hand of the Lord.

There’s the life lesson then, is God’s response. You’ve got to see this part of the story. He hears the word, something stirs, he weeps deeply, he tears his robe. He goes to seek and inquire of the Lord, and then God’s response, verse 27, “Because your heart was tender, because you humbled yourself, because you tore your clothes, because you wept, truly, I heard you.” You got to step back and see this because it’s really a very important scene that’s happening. He hears the word, he stirred. He’s hearing the word. When he hears the word, see, he’s hearing God’s heart, “Now I get it.

Now I see God’s heart.” He responds because he’s hearing God’s heart. God says, “Josiah, I heard you because you humbled yourself. I heard you because it mattered to you, I heard you.” Josiah truly heard, so God heard Josiah. Please hear this. Josiah truly heard. He heard God’s heart, and he received it, and it stirred him. It mattered to him, so God says, “I heard you, Josiah.” I’ll tell you, this is my point, it’s an insight into prayer. It’s an insight into prayer. Prayer is not the exact correct formulation of words. That’s not the point of prayer.

Oh, you got to just say the right words to make the prayer as if it’s some kind of formula. No. Prayer, effective prayer, comes out of and born out of revival. It comes from the condition of the heart. It mattered. That’s why the disciples, they saw Jesus and the relationship that Jesus had to his father, and they could see that Jesus prayed, was a man of deep prayer, so they said, “Teach us that. We want to know that.” I tell you, this is a very important thing. God has decided that He will move by the prayers of His people, and therefore, it’s incumbent upon us to understand the insight of prayer.

Notice James 5:16, I love the quote there, “The fervent, sincere prayer–” See, notice that part there, it’s born out of that revival. The fervent, sincere, born out of the heart that’s stirred, of a righteous man, is very effective. Want an effective life? Here’s a great key to an effective life, prayer that is born out of a heart that’s stirred, out of revival. Notice Jeremiah 29:12, another one, “Then you will call upon Me, and you will come, and you will pray to Me, and I will hear you, I’ll listen.” This is the key. This is like a mic-drop moment, “I get it now.

I see now.” God says, “I truly will hear you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” I get it now. It’s one of the deeper insights of prayer. It’s not the formulation of words. It’s the condition of revival in the heart that seeks. See, why did he tear his clothes? Why did he weep? Because it mattered. Does it matter? It matters. See, when I think about that I’m reminded of the story in my own life of a time, I was just beginning ministry. This is more than 40 years ago now. I gave a sermon that was perhaps the worst sermon given in the history of the world.

At least that’s what I thought of at the time. It was so bad. How bad was it? It was so bad that while I’m giving this sermon, I’m having a conversation with myself. The conversation with myself went something like this, “This is a bad sermon. This is really bad.” I’m sinking in the waves, like, “God I’m drowning here.” These thoughts were so big, I was drowning in them. I couldn’t get out of it. This is bad, this is really bad. This is so bad that I stopped the message, and I asked people to pray in small groups. I’m trying to put some kind of spiritual turn on it.

“You know what we should do? I just think we should seek God. We should just get into small groups and pray.” I’m thinking, “Oh, Lord.” Then when the thing was done, my wife was sitting in the front, I took her by the hand, brought her to a back room, and held her, and just cried. It was a deep crying. I know you’re not supposed to cry, but I can’t. I cried. I know. I go home, and one of the guys from the church calls me, my dear friend, Paul. He calls me and he says, “How are you doing?” I said, “Oh, it was bad.” He said, “I was there.” I said, “It was so bad that I took Jordy’s hand, and I went, and I cried.” He said, “You know what? I’m glad you cried.”

I said, “Really? Why?” “Because that tells me that it mattered to you. It mattered, that’s why you cried. I’m glad it mattered to you, and I’m glad you cried.” Josiah saw it. It matters so much that he wept, tore his clothes. Does the heart matter? Oh, it matters to God. It matters above all things. When Jesus was ministering, some of the experts in the law of God came to Him and said, “Now, teacher, which is the highest and foremost of all that God has ever spoken to man?” What a question is that? What is the highest? What’s the greatest word that God has ever spoken?

He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “The greatest, the highest and the foremost that God has ever spoken to man is this. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, and the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I’m commanding you today, write them, they shall be on your heart.” That’s the highest. You know what I say out of that? This is the highest place that you can arrive to in your life. This is the highest place. There is no greater aspect of life than to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

B. A heart that’s tender desires reform

There is nothing greater than that. To seek after the glory of God in your life, the love of God manifest in your soul. There is no greater aspect of life than that. Therefore, it matters, but then would you notice this? A heart that’s tender toward the Lord, desires before Him or change. In other words, a heart of revival wants a changed life. This is a part of revival. A heart of revival wants a changed life. It ought to then impact the way the life is lived. Once you desire the fullness of God, if you desire the fullness of God in your life, it will impact how you live your life.

Notice, Ephesians 3:19, Paul says, “My prayer for you, my prayer is that you will know the love of Christ. This is the highest. If you would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, and that you would be filled up with the fullness of God.” Imagine to be filled up with the fullness of God, how beautiful is that? Then he says, “Now unto Him who is able to do far more exceedingly beyond in your life, all that we ask or even think.” It will translate into, that which moves in your life. There are real-world impacts from a heart like that, to do far more exceedingly and beyond all that we ask from Him and think.

It’s like, I don’t want that. Paul says, “I want you to want that according to the power that works within us.” See, reform happens, change happens when your life is formed by the heart of God, the Word of God. When a person’s heart finds revival, not authentic love, they want that. They want their life to be changed. See, it starts with revival and then comes the life change. When life change comes and is born out of revival, it’s the inside out. That’s the way God moves, from the inside out. I’m reminded of the example of the Jesus movement of the ’60s.

By the way, let me remind you, there’s a movie coming out to theaters all across this country, will be released in theaters right here, and it’s a movie called The Jesus Revolution. It’s a movie about the revival of the ’60s. We got to see it. All of us, we got to see it. In many ways, it’s the history of the Calvary Chapel movement that was intricately part of that Jesus revival. The hippies of that day were a generation of rebellion, anti-everything, and the drugs, just the culture of the whole thing. Their hair was part of their rebellion, their clothes, and they’re not wearing shoes and all.

Chuck Smith began to teach the Word of God, and something happened of revival, but it stirred in their soul first, from the inside. They still had their long hair, still had their bare feet, but there they come to hear the word. It was that which stirred inside of them, from the inside out. Like Roman 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ.” That’s how it’s built. After Josiah’s heart is broken, and he hears this word, he gathers all the people. He gathers all of them to hear the word, that they all might then make a covenant with the Lord.

Then he begins that work of removing all of the abominations, those things that were offensive. See, notice how it worked. Josiah’s heart was stirred. He stirred the people, and then, “Now we’re going to get rid of some things. That’s what we’re going to do. Those abominations, those offensive things to the Lord, we want them out. That’s the stirring of a life change because revival has two parts. This is my point and we got to see. There are two parts to revival. The beginning of revival is that heart that’s stirred, the hearing of God’s word. That it matters that you love the Lord, highest, and first, and foremost.

C. There are two parts to revival

Then comes the second part. The changed life. It’s like you’re saying, “I see it now. Those things are poison to me. These things of the world in my life, they’re standing in the way. I want God, it matters to me. I want more of God in my life. I want to love God with all my heart. I can’t love God with all my heart when these things remain as abominations and offensive things. I don’t want these things in my life. I want these things out of my life.” That is the second part of revival, and there is no revival without it because there are two parts.

You cannot love the Lord with all your heart, all might, and strength and still have abominations in your life. Anybody understand what I’m saying? No, this thing about the revival is that you want to get rid of them. See, that’s the difference. You want to get rid of them. I see it now, I didn’t see it before. I kept them hidden in the closet thinking that they were my friend, but now I see it, they’re not my friend. They’re hurting me. These things are against me. These things stand against all that God wants to do in my life. That’s what I see now.

II. Beware the Outward Form of Religion

I want that out of my life, that’s revival because now you see it. You didn’t see it before, and now you see it. I see it for what it is. How ugly it is. I want it out of my life. I do want to add this, beware of the outward form of religion. In other words, it’s possible to do the appearance of the thing to make the look of righteousness for the look of the thing, thinking that you’re right with God because it looks a certain way. I was thinking of an illustration. Back many years ago when I had more time for counseling, I met with a man who said he wanted to work on his marriage, and said, “Okay, I’ll meet with you.” We met, and I heard his story.

I said, “You know what? These are some things that I really want you to take hold of and work on for your life. I gave these things to him, and then he didn’t do it. We would meet again, and I would say, “Now, these are the things that I really wanted you to work on these things right on your life. Then he would come back, he wouldn’t do it. Then he would come back again, I’d say, “You really need to work on these things,” but he wouldn’t do it. Finally, I said, “You know what? I don’t think you actually want to change. I think that you’re meeting with me only for the look of the thing.”

A. Beware of reform without revival

He says, “What do you mean?” I said, “I think you want your wife to think that you’re working on it, but you’re not. What you need, my friend is revival because there will be no change until there’s revival first.” See, because people do that with God. They want God to think that they’re okay. They want for the look of the thing, but they’re not. In other words, be aware of reform without revival because it’s possible just for the look of the thing. Now, it’s understandable, you see, with children. This actually happens with children and it’s understandable with children.

I’ll explain, but it’s very dangerous in adults, same with children. It’s good for families to create, let’s say, rules of righteousness for how a family will operate. This is very common and good. It’s the reform. In other words, it’s the righteous guidelines. Each one, each child raised up in those guidelines has to find their own revival. See, the Scripture says, Proverbs 22:6, “Raise up a child in the way he should go. Then when he’s old, he will not depart from it.” You raise him up in that way, the guidelines of righteousness, this is what we do as a family.

We go to church, and we pray. These are things we do. The standards of our righteous. We don’t go to those movies, we don’t watch that, we don’t listen to that. Now, a lot of kids will, of course, not appreciate these rules of righteousness. They’ll even resist you. They’ll even kick against some of these guidelines of righteousness. They don’t want to do these things, and they push against them. We raised five teenagers; we had five teenagers in the house at one time. I understand this very well, but when they find their own revival, it’s beautiful.

You raise them up in the guidelines of righteousness, praying that they find their own revival. Each one must find their own. It’s somewhat common for kids to leave the house and go to college, or they work in the world, or whatever, and melt down their life because they were not operating at a revival. They were just living according to your guidelines of righteousness. They didn’t find their own revival. It is possible, isn’t it? It’s common in children, but they must find their own. Pray for them, pray for our kids that each one would find their own revival, because when they do, oh, how beautiful it is.

I was thinking of our kids. All of our kids had an opportunity to go to serve at an orphanage in Mexico. There’s an orphanage that we here as a church support. In fact, I was there when the orphanage was launched. It’s an orphanage for disabled children, and they can never leave, so they end up being older and older. Now, many of them are disabled adults. Our youth would go and serve there. To serve in the name of the Lord is a good thing. I loved to see what happened. They would come back, and they would be so impacted, oftentimes showing pictures.

They start crying. Oh, what happened there was so beautiful. Several of my kids went back later on, and one of my kids worked there for a year, another one for several months. It’s like when they find their own revival, there’s something beautiful. I got to tell you, something happened last night. After the service, I was in the back waiting for the service to get over. A young boy came up to me, I don’t know, maybe 11,12. He said, “I just want to thank you for the message. I felt Jesus here tonight.” I said, “What is your name, young man? How old are you?”

“11.” I looked at him, and I thought, “God has got big plans for this young man.” It’s tremendous when you see revival like this. It’s possible though to do righteousness for the look of the thing when there’s no revival in it. This was, Jesus pointed this out in Matthew 23:24-26. The Pharisees were masters at having the outward appearance without the heart toward God. Jesus’s confrontation is epic. Notice Matthew 23, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees.” Woe is a big word. “Woe to you, you are blind guides.” Don’t you just love the straight-up authority of the Lord Jesus Christ?

“You are blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” What does that mean? Both a gnat and a camel are unclean. You’re not allowed to eat gnats, and you’re not allowed to eat camel. I’m here to tell you, I have abided by this Word of God all my life, not eating either one, but for the show of the thing, if a gnat, which is the smallest of flies, happens to land in the tea, the drink, whatever, a lot of people would just flick it. No. They won’t make a big show of the thing. They take a big strainer, and they strain. “God forbid that I should have even the mistake of consuming a gnat,” for the show of the thing.

Then when they would give their offerings at the temple or whatever, they would bring a trumpeter with them. Who brings a trumpeter? For the show of the thing. Then when they do their prayers, they give their prayers in such a way for the show of the thing. Jesus said, “You’re straining at a gnat, but don’t you see you’re swallowing a camel. You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside is full of self-indulgence. First, clean the inside that the outside may be clean also.” Then let’s close with this. God writes His word on your heart so that you delight in it.

B. God writes His Word on your heart

See, that’s the thing. Delight in it. That’s where revival comes from. When God’s word stirs your soul, and it matters, and you love God because of it, there’s a delight in the soul. Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do your will.” I don’t have to muster myself up. I don’t have to somehow, “Okay, fine.” I delight in it, Oh my God, because your word, your law, it’s written, it’s within my heart. I love You, Lord. I love You, Lord, and it matters to me. I want to live to your honor. I want to live to your glory. It matters to me. It’s written on my heart. Let’s pray.

Father, thank you so much for how you move in power through your word. It stirs us, and we say it matters. Church, how many would say that to the Lord? “It matters to me. I want to love You with all my heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. I want Your glory in my life. It matters to me. I want to live to your glory.” Church, how many would say that? Would you just raise your hand as a way of declaring it to the Lord? It matters to me. I want to love You more. I want your glory in my soul. I want to live to your honor. It matters to me. Father, thank you for everyone who’s stirred of the Lord. We truly love You and honor You in Jesus’s name, and everyone said– Let’s give the Lord praise and glory.

Teach Us to Value Our Days
2 Chronicles 32:22-33
January 7-8, 2023

It’s the new year. The new year is upon us, and it’s that time, of course, when people make their New Year’s resolutions. By show of hands, how many people have made at least one New Year’s resolution, show of hands, at least 1? A lot of people have made New Year’s resolutions.

All right, show of hands, how many people have already broken that New Year’s resolution? Oh, that’s so funny. I looked up, of course, the most common New Year’s resolution, you can probably guess what it is. The most common New Year’s resolution is dieting, to eat better. Of course, yes, after all those Christmas desserts and cookies only added to the winter coat we already had, it’s time to get healthier.

It’s funny, actually, this last year I’ve been really trying to focus on getting healthy myself, eating better and been going to the gym really regularly. Then, last week I went to the gym and I thought, “Whoa, what are all these people doing here?” It was double the number of people that were there, and I realized, “Oh, it’s the New Year. I wonder how many will be here in the month?” You’re with me on this.

You know what’s better, even better than getting physically healthier? It’s spiritual health. My prayer is that this year before us would be a year of revival. That’s my prayer. That we as a church would grow deeper in faith, closer to the Lord, that there would be a drawing near, a hungering after the things of God. That’s my prayer. I tell you, I look back, on this last year, I have been so excited because God has done so many amazing things in this church. It’s been so wonderful to see. There has just been such a hunger after God’s word. When we gather for worship, you guys come out to worship. When we have a gathering for prayer the sanctuary is full, and we’re going to pray.

That is amazing. Amazing, what God has done. I’m saying “Lord, I’m asking for even more. Let’s see– God, pour out your Holy Spirit in even greater measure, upon your church. May we fall even more in love with you. May this be an even greater church of worship and prayer and a hungering after the things of God.” Anybody want to agree with me for this prayer? Amen. Let’s give a little praise. Absolutely.

The beginning of a new year is a good time to reassess. Reassess your priorities, especially spiritual priorities, because as you get another year older, you come to realize the value of the days that you have been given. Psalm 90:12-14, “Teach us the number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom with those days. Oh, satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness.” See, this is revival right here. “Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” What a great Psalm is that? “Teach to number our days,” he said, “Teach us the number of days.” It means to value them, to see how precious they are, “That we may present a heart of wisdom.” That those days that God has given to us mean something. They’re valuable, we treasure them.

In other words, let them increase our wisdom, that we give God that which is of great value. Now that brings us to 2 Chronicles 32. We’ve been looking at this, of course, before the Christmas break, Hezekiah was reigning as king in Judah, in those days. He was a good king. He was, in fact, the greatest king since David and Solomon. He trusted in the Lord, he brought about a great revival, which we were looking at before. He brought reforms that even Solomon had not done, and God used him. God used him. In other words, his life mattered. He used the days that God had given him, and he made a difference with his life.

Because of Hezekiah’s faithfulness and Hezekiah’s revival that he brought to Israel; God saved them as a nation. If you remember the story, Assyria had almost destroyed Judah. Assyria, at this point was a world power and almost destroyed Judah. Hezekiah prepared Israel for a siege, we read. He engineered a tunnel to divert the Gihon Springs to the pool of Siloam there inside Jerusalem, 1,777 feet long, through solid bedrock, 30 feet underground.

Whenever we go to Israel, by the way, we can actually walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnel today. Although so many people walk through it, they don’t drink the water, of course, but it is quite an experience to walk through. As sure enough, Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem, then the King of Assyria wrote a letter to Hezekiah insulting Jehovah, insulting the God of Israel. Hezekiah dropped that scroll up to the temple, laid it out before the Lord, “Read what they’re saying about you, God.” Then he prayed, it was just a simple prayer.

God responded by saying to him, “Because you prayed, because you turned to Me, because you trusted in Me and prayed about the king of Assyria, I heard you. I will put a hook in his nose–” I love this part, “I will bring him back from which he came.” That night, an angel of the Lord came throughout the camp of Assyria and the 185,000 soldiers of Assyria, mysteriously died.

I. Set Your House in Order

That brings us to this part of the story. Surely after that Hezekiah became mortally ill, we don’t know the exact nature of the illness, but we do know that there was some kind of boil associated with it, maybe it was a cancer, we don’t know. The prophet, Isaiah, came to Hezekiah with a message from the Lord, “This illness is terminal. Set your house in order for you’ll die and not live.” How Hezekiah responds to that, he cries out to God for more time. In other words, “I’m not done. Can I have more time?”

God answered that prayer gave him 15 more years, and the life lessons out of this are epic, so let’s read it. We’re in 2 Chronicles 32, and we’ll begin reading in 2 Chronicles 32:22. “The Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, which I mentioned, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side, and many,” notice now, “Many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem, choice presence to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations after this. He defeated the king of Assyria.”

Everyone, all the nations exalted his name, “The great Hezekiah.” “In those days,” verse 24, “Hezekiah became mortally ill. He prayed to the Lord and the Lord spoke to him and even gave him a sign, the sign of the promise that his word would be true.” In fact, Isaiah said, “God will give you a sign, shall the shadow move forward 10 steps or backward, 10 steps.” He said, “It’s common for it to move forward, let it move backward, 10 steps.” It’s an amazing display of God’s power to give a sign like that as evidence and proof that His word was sure.

Verse 25 gives us a little hint of some of the lessons we’re going to learn from his story. Verse 25, “Hezekiah gave no return, for the benefit that he received because His heart was proud.” He became such a famous man; his acclaim was known throughout the known world and his heart became lifted up he was so popular. Therefore, wrath came on him and Judah and Jerusalem. However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.” It did come in later.

“Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor and he made for himself treasuries of silver and gold and precious stones and spices and shields and all kinds of valuable articles, storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine, oil and pens of all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for flocks. He made cities for himself, and he acquired flocks and herds in abundance, God had given him great wealth. He was very prosperous because of the blessing of God.”

“It was Hezekiah who stopped up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon, I mentioned and directed him to the west side of the City of David, really underneath the City of David, and Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. Even in this matter of the envoys, of the rulers of Babylon.” It just makes a short reference here but it’s important to get the bigger picture of what happened. What happened, I’ll tell you, was this, Assyria, after this event, which we described, became quite weakened, they lost 185,000 soldiers and King Sennacherib himself was killed. After this, Assyria became weakened, and Babylon started to arise.

The king of Babylon sent envoys, emissaries, with a gift, and a greeting, “Oh, we heard you were sick, and that you have recovered. Here, we receive a gift from the king of Babylon.” Hezekiah welcomed these emissaries, these envoys, and then showed them all of his vast wealth. It’s like, “Oh, do you see, look at all of the things that I have accumulated. Look at the shields of gold on the throne room of the king and all of the vast storehouses and look at all the–” everything he showed them.

Isaiah came to him afterward and said, “Who were these men? From where did they come? What did you show them?” He said, “Oh, these were from Babylon, the king of Babylon.” “What did you show them?” “I showed them everything, I held nothing back of my great wealth. I showed them everything.” Isaiah said, “This, was a foolish thing. Everything that you showed them will be taken. Everything will be taken.”

It says in verse 31, “Even in this matter of the envoys, of the rulers of Babylon who sent to him to inquire the wonder that had happened to the land, God left him alone only to test him that he might know all that was in his heart. The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and the deeds of devotion behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the Prophet,” we will get to that when we get to the book of Isaiah, “In the book of the King of Kings of Judah and Israel there. Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of tombs of the Sons of David and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him greatly on his death, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.”

These are the verses that we want him to look at. Great lessons for us starting with this, he is told to, “Set your house in order.” It’s a good word. In fact, it’s a phrase that is commonly used even today. Someone who’s facing a terminal illness sometimes a doctor will say, “There’s nothing more we can do, you should get your affairs in order.” You see, it’s a common understanding today. For many people, when they hear that, “You should get your affairs in order,” what that means, for many people, is putting together a last will and testament so that their family doesn’t have to argue about everything after they’re gone.

A. Keep your relationships in order

I submit that if that’s all there is, that you left, that which can be sorted out by a lawyer, that you haven’t left enough that God wants you to leave more than that. Something greater something that does not need to be sorted out by a lawyer, something of tremendous impact, leave behind you. Wouldn’t you rather leave a legacy that you made an impact on the lives of the people in your life? That’s what I want. I want to leave more than just things and money to those who follow after me. I want to leave a legacy of the spirit, I want to make an impact on this world, I want to know that I left this world a little better than how I found it.

Anybody want to agree with me? I want to make an impact, I want my life to matter. To get your life in order needs means that you start to think about the value of your days. The value and the impact of your life, the treasure of your days. You start to think about it, particularly as you get older and your hair turns a little grayer, you start thinking about the value of your days, the impact of what you’re– and I’ll tell you, I’ve been thinking a lot, I have so many goals and as I get older, I have so many goals to accomplish. There’s no time to retire, I got way too much to do.

First of all, one of the goals that I have is that the church would be alive, that the church would be very healthy in the spirit, that there would be a revival in the church. That’s one of my life goals because I love this church and it means so much to me that this church would be alive, oh, that means so much to me. It’s one of my great life goals.

Also, one of my life goals is I want to leave a complete set of sermons from Genesis to Revelation. I want to leave the next generation of pastors that follows after me something that they can resource. Here are all the messages from Genesis to Revelation, every verse, every chapter, here’s it all. I want to leave a legacy. We’re launching a ministry to bless Israel. Pastor Matthew and I are launching that this year, we hope to be making announcements about that, we’re going to make an impact on this world with a ministry that will bless Israel. That’s exciting for me.

I want to write books. In fact, Pastor Matthew has been helping me write a book on leadership and I hope to get that done. I’m editing it, and I’m trying to get that done. I’m excited about that.

I want to write a book on how God makes the soul beautiful. To bring forth a beautiful life. When we fall in love with the Lord, God does that which is beautiful on your soul. That would be so important to leave as a legacy. I have a series of books that I want to write on the life lessons from Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus and each of the books of the Bible. It’s going to take me 50 years to write these books, so God give me 50 more years at least. Amen.

I’m not going to tell you how old I am but there you go. These are my bucket list of things to do. Many people have a bucket list of experiences. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a bucket list of the impact that we can make with our lives? Teach us to treasure our days. Therefore, I think there’s some good insights that we can see. Number one, keep your relationships in order, keep your affairs in order, see, keep your house in order starting with your relationships.

The Scripture clearly teaches that it’s good and godly to keep relationships in order. Notice Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men.” First of all, I like the fact that it says, if possible, because frankly, some people are impossible, but as far as it has to do with you, you do all that you can do to be at peace. That’s putting your relationships in order. Are there thank you notes to write? Do it now. Are there people you need to call to let them know how much they meant to you, how much they’ve impacted you? Do it. Do it now don’t wait, don’t put it off. Are there people you need to call and ask for their forgiveness for something you’ve done? Then do it.

Maybe you’ve been holding on to hurts and wounds and have allowed bitterness to take root. Then let go of it now, because that bitter route is going to keep you from peace and joy and keep you from that beautiful soul that God wants to build in your life. Hebrews 12:15, “See to it,” make sure of it, “See to it, that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness, springing up, causes trouble,” because it will, it will cause trouble on the soul, it will make the soul tremendously unsettled. By that bitter root, many are defiled.

I was thinking of the story of St. Francis of Assisi who was out working in his garden pulling weeds and a young Bible student came up to talk with him and asked St. Francis this question and said, “What would you do if you were told that you only had a short time left to live? What would you do?” Francis famously answered, “I would finish weeding this row of vegetables, that’s what I would do.” In other words, I’ve already done it, there’s nothing left to do. I’ve kept my life in order, I’ve kept my house in order, there’s nothing left undone. “I will finish this row of vegetables, that’s what I will do.”

B. Set your spiritual life in order

I just love that answer. Paul wrote a very similar word of wisdom to the church at Ephesus, this is Ephesians 4:26-27, “In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,” keep your affairs in order. “Don’t let the sun go down even while you’re still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” In other words, settle your account so quickly, don’t even let the sun go down. You’re settling your account so quickly, don’t even let the sun go down. Which is why I like to start all of my angered issues after sunset, then I got a whole other day, I’m just joking.

Now the point is to settle the matter today because the devil will get a foothold. If you allow that anger to stir you up and you hold on to that anger and that anger starts to do something– no, don’t let the devil get that foothold, keep your affairs in order. Then I add, set your spiritual life in order. Hezekiah was told in advance that this would end in his death and to get his house in order. Now, most people don’t have that opportunity, they’re not told in advance. If you were told in advance, wouldn’t that cause you to not only get your house in order, your affairs in order, wouldn’t that also get your spiritual life in order?

Of course, I’ve talked to a number of people who’ve been given a diagnosis of terminal cancer and the opportunity that it brings to think about your life, spiritually. Are you ready? The point is, why wait until such a diagnosis? The word really is, we should live in a way that our spiritual lives are always in order, always fresh in the Lord, always alive in the Lord.

Are you ready? Are you ready now? Would you be ready if you were to stand before the Lord today? Don’t wait to get ready, be ready. You never know anyway, you never know. You never know when your life’s going to end, an accident could happen at any time. Why wait to get ready? Let your house be in order, all of the house. Let the light shine on all of the life, all of the closets, all of the pantry, everything, let it all– when I was single, my house, my apartment always looked in order.

If you were to open the door and came in, you would say, “Oh, it’s in order, just don’t look to the closets and the pantry,” because they weren’t in order. Of course, today, it’s a different story. Today all the closets and pantries are in order, you know why, because I’m married to my wife who loves to be organized. I love that. There’s many things to love but I love that.

Too many people, they procrastinate spiritually, and that’s my point. “Oh, I’ll do it later. I know, I want to get my spiritual house in order. I know, I’ll do it,” and then procrastinate. As we start the beginning of the year, it’s a good opportunity to realize, don’t wait. It’s far too important. Don’t wait another day. Don’t wait, don’t put it off. This is a matter of tremendous urgency, to know that if you were to stand before God today, that it would go well, means the world. If God were to weigh you in the balance, how would you be found?

If God were to weigh you in the balance, it reminds me of that story, later on in the history of Israel, when they are taken captive in Babylon. The story unfolds that a Babylonian king named Belshazzar, he was living the life of really partying it up, he used to host these tremendous parties, the alcohol would just flow, and the women and everything. When they decided, “Bring out the holy articles that we took from the house of Jehovah in Israel, we’re going to drink wine. We’re going to drink wine, and we’re going to have a great party, and we’re going to drink out of those goblets that we brought from the temple of the house of God, that’s what we’re going to do.”

They’re having this party, and they’re drinking the wine and whatever, out of the goblets from the temple of the house of God when out of nowhere, a hand appears, just a hand that writes letters, scratches the letters in the border on the wall and the party comes to a halt. No one can interpret the words– the letters written scrolled by this hand. Daniel, the prophet of Israel, was brought, “Mene, mene, tekel upharsin,” it said. Daniel turned to the king and said, “It means this, that God has numbered your days, that you have been weighed in the scales, and you have been found wanting. There is nothing there. In the scales in which you have been weighed, there is nothing there, and your kingdom will be taken from you this very night.”

In fact, it was prophetic because the armies that are rising against them were stopping up the waters of the Euphrates, that they could sneak in, under the gates. Is it possible that when you stand before the Lord and are weighed in the scales that you could stand there without fear of how you will be weighed? The Scripture says, “All have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God.” If we were to be weighed in the scales, weighed in the balance, and all we had of an account of our lives was the sin that we had lived, I suggest to you that it would not go well in the balance of the scales because we will be set against the holiness of God.

When you put the holiness of God on one side of the scales and the sin of man and the other side of the scales, then we will be found the wanting, we will be found lacking. Is it possible? Is it even possible that a man can stand before the great throne of God and be weighed in His scales and not have any fear, but in fact, be confident on that great and holy day? Is that possible? I submit that it is very possible. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, yes, and well pleased, for rather to be absent from the body and to be present from the Lord.” I am longing for that day.

To be in the presence of the Lord, oh I am very confident of that day, I cannot wait for that day. Oh, I have every assurance of that day. Am I afraid of that day? Oh, that is my coronation day, that’s my victory day. That’s my day when I enter into the glory of my Master. I’m not afraid of that day. Won’t you want to have that confidence when you’re facing life internal? See, I love Hebrew 10:19-22. “Therefore, brethren, since we have such confidence to enter into the holiest place–” you have confidence.

Many people, when they think about the holiness of God, when they really think about the holiness of God and standing before the holiness of God, a lot of people recoil from the thought, “Oh, I would do very badly. If I had to stand before the holiness of God, I would do very badly.” Many people think this way. Paul says– the writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, brethren, we have every confidence to enter into that holy place because we are entering in by the blood of Jesus. Our sins have been paid, and they have been paid in full. As far as the east is from the west so has he removed our transgressions from us.” We have every confidence to enter into that holy place. Ah, that’s a whole another joy, right there. That’s a whole other joy right there.

You don’t have to be afraid. You can walk in the confidence of the Lord. “Therefore,” he says, “Let us draw near.” Don’t recoil, don’t be distant, don’t fall back from the Lord, draw near. Come near to the Lord, and let’s draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of our faith. “I know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded.” I have full assurance of faith. Amen. Anybody else? That’s confidence on the Lord absolutely.

II. Use Wisely the Time God Has Given

Then there’s this now the 2 Chronicles 32, use wisely the time that God has given. When Hezekiah heard that he would die, that this thing was terminal, this illness, he turned his face to the wall, and he prayed. He prayed asking for more time. When he prayed this prayer, he was 39 years old. We know his age. He was 39 years old when he had this mortal illness, and he prayed for more time. 39 years old may seem old to someone who’s 20, but many people feel that 39 is quite young, really, and I should know, I’ve been 39 many times. It’s quite young, really? If you were to get, or someone is to get a diagnosis like this when you’re 39, you’d say, “I’m not done.” I would say the same, “I’m not done.” I’m a little older than that, but I’m saying this thing, “I’m not done.”

A. God is listening

He asked for more time. What we have to recognize is one of the great truths is that God heard. God is listening. This is one of the reasons why you must be very confident in praying, to know that God is listening. He turned his face with the wall, he spoke to God from the depths of his heart. He wept deeply. This is what happened. Isaiah the prophet came to Him on his bed and said, “This thing is mortal, set your house in order,” and then left. As he was walking across the courtyard, while this was happening, Hezekiah was praying before Isaiah could get to the end of the court, God turned him around and said, “Go back and tell him that I heard your prayer and that I will give him 15 years, more.”

If you want to use wisely the time that God has given, then you would be wise to understand the power of praying. We see that power of that praying in several places in Hezekiah’s life, simple, sincere. James 5:16, “The fervent–” in other words, sincere and fervent prayer of a righteous man is very effective. When you think about the value and the treasure of your days, valuing the days, what makes those days effective, is to understand the power of God that is on the move and how that power of God moves through prayers of those who are sincere in their faith, very effective life. There’s so many Scriptures that you can say.

I asked this question, would God have given Hezekiah those 15 more years if Hezekiah had not asked for them? Would God have given those years if Hezekiah had not asked. Answer, no, he would not. James 4:2 you do not have, because you do not ask. It’s right to ask. In fact, Luke11:9-10, Jesus says, “I say to you, ask, I’m telling you to ask.” God says, you can ask. It’s good, ask any and it will be given to you. Seek, keep seeking and you will find, knock and keep knocking and it will be open to you for everyone who asks, receives, and to he who seeks will find, and unto who knocks it will be opened.”

1 John 5:14, “This is the confidence that we have before him, that if we ask anything, according to his will, he hears us.” Of course, he will not answer that which is contrary to his will. There is a side note here, I think it is important to add, and that is this question, does God heal people today. He healed them, he had a mortal illness and God healed him. The question then is present, does God heal today? I submit that God does still heal today and that we ought to ask for the intervening hand of our Jehovah Rapha. He does still heal today. Anybody else agree with me, and that we ought to ask?

B. Use your years for wisdom

The truth is that death happens to the best of us. Even Elisha, the great prophet died from some type of sickness. It is interesting, however, then instead of just healing Hezekiah, directly, he actually had Isaiah apply a common medicine to the boil. That’s an interesting side note. Back to our story, a great lesson. Whatever years you have, use your years for wisdom. Teach us to treasure our days that we might give to you a heart of wisdom.

There’s a great debate amongst Bible, scholars, and commentators, about whether or not it was a good thing that Hezekiah had these 15 more years. because some things happened during these 15 years that were not so good. Some suggest that he didn’t know what he was asking when he asked for more time. The truth is that God is the one who answered this prayer and that it was up to Hezekiah to use those years wisely. He asked for more time, he asked sincerely for more time, God heard his prayer and God gave him the time, but it’s up to Hezekiah, on how he uses those years.

The same is true for you and me. We don’t know how much time God has given. How much time did God give you? We don’t know. Whatever time God has given, the writer of Psalm says, I want to use it for your glory. Whatever I got, I want to use it for your glory. I don’t want to waste my years. I want to use my years for your glory. I want to use my years.

What have you done with the years God has given? What do you wish to do with the years that are before you. The problem in Hezekiah’s life, during those last 15 years, it says, we read in verse 25, that Hezekiah gave no return for the benefits that he received because his heart was proud. It’s one of the temptations of success. Hezekiah prospered greatly. He brought about a great revival, then, as a result of that and then, of defeating the king of Assyria and then all the nations seeing all of this wonder and all the wealth and everything that he did, one of the temptations of success, even if that success is from the Lord, is for the heart to become proud. “I must have been something special for God to do such a thing for me. He must have seen something special about me.” It’s very tempting. The heart can easily become proud.

Notice again, verse 25, because one of the principles that I’ve learned in teaching through God’s word, is that, a lot of times you can take a verse that contains a warning like this, and turn it around and out blossoms a wonderful principle. For example, verse 25, “Hezekiah gave no return for the benefits that he received because his heart was proud,” there’s the verse. Let’s turn that around.

Let’s turn that and let it blossom into a great truth, which is this. If your heart is humbled, and you recognize all the benefits that God has blessed you, then you’ll give a return. Turn that around, turn that verse on its head, you might say, and then blossoms into a great truth. Give a return to the Lord. Has God blessed you? Has God gave benefit to your life? Oh, I’ll tell you what, I look back on my life, I am blessed and blessed.

Oh, I’ve been through troubles. Many of you know the great troubles I’ve endured, but God’s walked with me through every one of my troubles. He’s never left me, He’s never forsaken me. He’s comforted me. He’s encouraged me. He’s strengthened me. He’s blessed me. I tell you what, I have so much to be thankful for. Anybody else want to agree with that? I have so much to be thankful. Yes, let’s give the Lord a blessing.

Then the principle that blossoms out of this verse is, if you can see it, if you can see how much that God has done for you– out of the humility of your heart you say, “God did that. That was God’s glory that did– that was God’s great hand. That was God’s favor. That was God’s heart that did that. I didn’t deserve any of it. He didn’t do it because I was so special. He did it because of his amazing glory. See the humility of your heart recognizes that God did it.

Then, once you see that God is the one that did it, you want to give a return. Like, “God, what can I do for you?” Anything that we do would not be commensurate. It would not be in any way, equal, but it’s still right. Let’s start with giving thanks for it. Let’s start with recognizing and then he’s the one who did it. Let’s start with giving Him glory for it. That’s a great story right there. You know what God finds that it’s a beautiful thing. God says, “That’s beautiful,” when you see that God did it, when you give God glory for it, that’s beautiful. “The Lord has done.”

C. Finish the course well

In fact, God blessed Hezekiah in such amazing ways. Let’s finish with this great lesson. Finish the course well. Even though Hezekiah was a great man of faith and the greatest king since David, it tells us that he run into these troubles. Although we do read in verse 26 don’t miss verse 26 because it is a turnabout. His life was on a great trajectory of success and prosperity. Then he gave no return, so he made some fatal errors but then he humbled himself and he finished the course. Let’s not finish that, let’s not leave his story without reading. Verse 26.

Verse 26, “However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart.” He finished the course. He corrected the course at the end. Praise God. Let’s make sure that his name gets the right recognition at the end. He says he humbled the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Then it summarizes all the blessings and the honor and all the prosperity, “Teach us to number our days. Teach us the value our days.” The Apostle Paul is someone who finished well, when he was on the road to Damascus at the beginning of his ministry, God gave him a task, a life task, to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the gentile world.

When he came to the end of his life, he knew that he had finished the course that he had finished well. That should be our desire, notice, 2Timothy 4:6-7, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”

Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles, and let us run, with endurance, this race that’s set before us.” Oh that’s a good word right there. Run with endurance, the race. God has set a race before each one of us. Your own race, your own journey, your own path, your God has set before each one, your own path, your own journey. Run this race, with endurance, faithful, confident, strong of heart, confident in the Lord. Run well, finish the course, lay aside every encumbrance, that which is holding you back and the sin which so easily entangles.

Let’s run this race with God’s glory being manifest in a beautiful soul, and God’s power being known because his people are effectual in their prayers, and their life is run the race that is run well. That’s what I want for my life, anybody else?

Father we’re so thankful. Oh we’re so thankful for you, how you reveal yourself through your word in such glorious ways, reminding us again of the treasure the value of the days that we have been given. God we want to use those days for your glory. We want them to matter. We want them to count. We want to present to you a life well-lived.

Church, how many would say that to the Lord? I want to present to Him on that great day, when I enter into his courts with confidence on that day, I want to give to him a life well lived. That’s what I want. I want to present my life to him, as a life well lived. I want him to say, “Well done, my son. “Well done my daughter well done, well lived.”

Teach us to value our days. I want to live those days well. Church, is that you, would you raise your hand as a prayer, as a way of saying it, as a prayer to the Lord? God, I want to live my days well, my life well, that you would say, “Well done my son, my daughter well done.” We love you Lord in Jesus’ name, and everyone said–

If you did a study through the Scriptures, you would find that those whom God used most were those who went through the greatest troubles or the greatest trials. You could look at the life, for example, of Joseph or Moses or Elijah, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, on and on. Those whom God used most, oftentimes, were those who went through the most difficult trials, for in this difficult world, there will be many trials. Therefore, your faith will be tested in this difficult world.

One of the, I think, great sayings about that is that faith that cannot be tested is faith that cannot be trusted. You can trust faith that has been tested and tested well because God gives principles in His Word. We’re going to see some of those principles that God would use to strengthen faith in the troubled world. He’s going to build the foundation in your life because He will prepare you in advance. This is one of the things we see also. God knows that troubles are coming.

We live in a troubled world, and God prepares you in advance to strengthen your faith in advance of those troubles. Even now, God is strengthening your faith through His Word. Even through the testing of the faith, through the current struggles and trials that you may endure, God is strengthening in advance. For example, we were just reading in 2 Chronicles about a revival led by the king of Israel in the South called Judah. His name is Hezekiah.

He brought forth a tremendous revival. That revival becomes the preparing for the troubles. The story unfolds there in Judah. The backstory is this, at the time, Assyria is rising now as a world-dominating power. The world has not seen a force like this in its entire history such as Assyria, such cruelty, such coldness of heart, destroying nation after nation, city after city. The north-kingdom of Israel has already been destroyed at this point.

They had already been taken captive, carried off, dispersed amongst the nations like they had done to so many other peoples. After Assyria destroyed the north, they turned their sides to the south, and King Hezekiah and Judah, intending to destroy, intending to consume the people in the south of Judah. To strike fear in the hearts of Judah, the king of Assyria, his name is Sennacherib. We know this in history as well as in the Bible. He sent officers to Jerusalem to weaken and intimidate them in a war of words. That’s very common in battle or war, to begin with a war of words.

Now, this encounter between Hezekiah and Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, becomes a monumental turning point in the history of that nation, for if they had been destroyed, if they had been defeated and then carried away to some foreign place and then other people brought in and to displace them, all of God’s promises made to Israel would come to nothing.

All of us today, therefore, will not be here celebrating the Lord Jesus Christ because all that Jesus did came about because of this victory brought about to Israel through this that’s going to happen. There’s going to be a great victory, but I’ll tell you, a spoiler alert, there will be no battle. This is a fascinating story, a great spiritual battle, but it’s a spiritual battle that will unfold.

There are great applications for us today because we are living in times today where there is a war of words, you might say like I’ve never seen before. You might call them the culture wars of our modern times. The culture wars. The tensions in fighting between the woke generation and those who want to hold to the values that God would give are great extremes.

Anybody want to agree with me on this? That we are seeing a war of words like never before? There are great spiritual lessons for us in the story. Let’s just read it. We’re in 2 Chronicles 32, and we begin reading in verse 1. “After these acts of faithfulness,” here’s Hezekiah’s revival, “Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities and thought to break into them for himself.

Now, when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib, what he had done, that he had intended to make war on Jerusalem, he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off their supply of water from the springs, which were outside the city, and they helped him. Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream which flowed through the region, saying why should the king of Assyria come and find abundant water?” By the way, when we go to Israel, we’ll be there in just a couple of months. In three? Three months, maybe, four.

We’re going to be there, and we’re going to walk through what is famously known as Hezekiah’s water tunnel. You can walk through that tunnel today, and it’s still wet. There’s still water running through it. Your water about up to your waist. It is so narrow. If you’re a little claustrophobic, it’s fun. You walk through it, and it’s like the living Bible right before your eyes. It’s such a fascinating thing.

Back to our story. Verse 5. “He took courage. He rebuilt the wall also that had been broken down. He erected towers. He built another outside wall. He strengthened the Millo in the city of David. Made weapons. He made shields and great numbers. He appointed military officers over the people, gathered them to him in the square of the city gate. Then he spoke a speech, and he’s going to speak words to encourage their faith.” This is what he said.

Verse 7, “Be strong and courageous men. Do not fear. Do not be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of the multitude which is with him.” He had 185,000 fighting men in his army who had besieged Jerusalem. They are outnumbered massively. Perhaps 5 to 1, maybe 10 to 1. Massively outnumbered. “Do not be afraid,” he says, “because,” notice this is a famous, famous, famous saying that Hezekiah declares, “because the one who is with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us to fight our battles.”

The people relied on this. They believed it. They took all, in other words, of these words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. After Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with his forces with him against Hezekiah, king of Judah, and against Judah who read Jerusalem, he sent messengers, in other words, to say in a war of words, “Thus says Sennacherib, king of Assyria, on what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and thirst, saying ‘The Lord our God will deliver us?’ He’s misleading you. ‘He will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ you say. Has not this same Hezekiah taken away the high places of the Lord and his altars and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship only before one altar and you shall burn incense?’

Obviously, he does not know what he is saying. Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all peoples of all lands? We’re the Gods of the nations of those lands able to deliver their land from us, from my hand. Who was there among all the Gods of those nations which my Father’s utterly destroyed, who could deliver his people out of my hand that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him.

No God of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less shall your God deliver you from my hand?” His servant spoke further against the Lord and against His servant Hezekiah. Then he wrote letters to insult Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying in the letter, “As the Gods of the nations of the land have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand, either.”

They called out, and they called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who are on the wall to frighten them, to terrify them so that they might take the city. They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the Gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands. Verse 20, King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, son of Ahaz, they prayed. They went to the temple, they prayed, and they cried out to heaven, and the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria.

It tells us in 2 Kings, an angel of the Lord came and destroyed 185,000. Interestingly, this is recorded in the history books of other nations as well as in the Bible. He returned in shame to his own land, and there, when he entered the temple of his God, some of his own children killed him there. Sennacherib died by the hand of his own children. You can look that up also in history. That’s fascinating.

The Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side, and many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice peasants to Hezekiah, king of Judah so that he was exalted in the side of all nations thereafter. What a great story. The history of Israel turns on this story, but there’s a lot of spiritual life lessons for us to take hold of, for it is about the truth and about spiritual warfare.

In a war of words, and we are living in times, I mentioned, where there is a tremendous war of words, in a war of words, abide in the truth, rely on the truth, stand on the truth. The king of Assyria sends messengers to create fear and intimidation so that they would surrender without a fight. Sennacherib’s challenge is to challenge their faith. “Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you like this.”

This is the same strategy the enemy of your soul uses today, by the way. If he can shake your faith, if he can drive a wedge between you and your God, if he can get you to doubt, if he can cause you to lose confidence in who God is in your life, then your own fear will defeat you. See, this is important. Then if the enemy can be successful at causing you to doubt, then your own fear will defeat you. That’s one of the tremendous principles of spiritual warfare.

The enemy knows how to play on your own fears to defeat you with your own fears, and you will give up without a fight. He tries to drive a wedge, and then he makes his own promises. The enemy makes his own promises, but the promises of the enemy are empty. That’s one of the great things to recognize. The promises of the enemy are empty. Notice the strategy, he’s trying to shake their confidence and their faith to strike fear in their hearts.

Then we know from the 2 Kings, he makes promises. “Come out of that city. Open the gates of the city. Come out to me, and I will treat you well. I will give you your own land. I will give you your own vineyard. Each one will have your own fig tree. You’ll live, and you’ll prosper. Just open the gates of the city and come out to me and trust me with your future. I will treat you well.”

Of course, this is the same strategy the enemy would use today. “Oh, come out. Open the gates of your life and come out to me. You can trust me with your life. Life would be so much more exciting over here in the world. You’re missing out on all the fun, man. The world is where you can live it up. Don’t worry, I’ll treat you well. There’s no death here. All is well on my side.” In fact, when you go back to the original sin of man in the garden, wasn’t this the very strategy that the serpent used with Eve?

Let’s go back to Genesis 3:4-5. The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die.” Because she just said, “The Lord said to us that we must not eat of it. The day we eat of it, we will die.” That’s not true. Right away, he’s trying to drive a wedge of doubt. “That’s not true. You will not die. God is speaking a lie to you,” says the Father of lies.

“That’s not true. You won’t die. God knows. I’ll tell you why He says that. God knows that on the day that you went from it that your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil, and He’s very insecure. He doesn’t want you that.” He is trying to drive a wedge and did between her and God, making her doubt God’s word, offering her something better.

“You can be like God by deciding for yourself what is good or evil. That’s how you can be like God. Why should God get to decide what’s good and what is evil? You can be like God. You can decide for yourself. You can be the master of your own life.” Isn’t that a strategy of the enemy? “Open the gates. Come out to me. I will let you be the master of your own life.” Israel was in the land that God had given to them, promised them. Every blessing that God would give are connected to them being in that land, so no, the promises of the enemy are empty.

Oh, he promises he’s going to make you happier, more satisfied, you’ll have more fun, more joy, more abundance, but we must see it for what it is. A lie from the father of lies. A lie from the pit of hell. In fact, if you open the gates and go out, you’ll find that the end of all of that is death. Therefore, as we look at the story, sometimes silence is the best answer. Notice where it says in verse 18, that they called out to the people in a loud voice in the language of Judah, in Hebrew, they shouted this out to the people up on the walls of the city.

“Listen, people,” and they shouted it out to them, but Hezekiah had given the word, “No one say a word in response. Answering him not a word.” See, sometimes silence is the best answer. This is a tremendous lesson for all of us because he’s trying to shipwreck their faith. It’s clear also that Sennacherib did not know what he was talking about. He’s talking about Hezekiah’s reforms, Hezekiah’s revival as if this was something bad.

Hezekiah’s revival was a very thing that they needed, but what good would it do to give Sennacherib a lesson in the truth? He doesn’t even value the truth. He would not even be swayed by the truth. The answer is no, the truth means nothing to the enemy. Therefore, here’s a life lesson, don’t debate with someone who doesn’t value the truth. Amen? Sure, let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. It’s absolutely right. Don’t debate with someone who doesn’t value the truth.

It’s interesting, we’re all seeing, of course, this war that’s happening in Ukraine. In the very first days and weeks of this war, Russia threatened journalists with 15 years’ imprisonment for reporting fake news. If they so much as used the word “war” in their reporting to Russia or the word “invasion” in their reporting in the borders of Russia, they would be threatened with 15 years for fake news. In fact, the foreign minister in Russia insisted in those early days and weeks that Russia did not attack Ukraine.

Here’s a great lesson. Don’t debate with someone who doesn’t value the truth. In fact, in the garden, it was Eve debating with the serpent that got her into trouble. By the way, Jesus had very strong words to say about the enemy when it comes to the truth. Jesus said about the enemy, “He is a liar. He’s the father of lies. There is no truth in him, and when he speaks a lie, he is speaking from his own nature.” Jesus was getting a little hot as He was making a declaration against him.

Hezekiah told the people, “Do not answer a word. There are times when silence is the most powerful response. You stand on the truth, and let God settle the matter because,” and this is the great principle of the word, “truth will set you free.” See, lies only have power if you believe them. Let me say it again. Lies only have power if you believe them.

See, in times of trouble, turn to the Lord, stand on the truth, receive that truth, and let that truth be a foundation for your life. Let me give you some Scriptures. John 8, is famous, 31-32. Jesus says, “If you will abide in My Word,” abide means stay there, dwell there, place your life there in My Word, “then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. He whom sense that he is free is free indeed.” I love that one. Isn’t that a great truth? Amen. Absolutely right.

I’ll tell you what, that truth, I have quoted that so many times because in my– Oh, I’ve been in ministry now many, many years. I have met many people who have been held captive by lies or a lie, but they’ve been held in a prison of lies, but the truth is powerful. See, lies only have power if you believe them. Once you see them for what they are, and you stand in the truth, then the truth will set you free. Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and is safe.”

Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.” Luke 8:15, “The seed,” he’s talking about the word of God, “sewn on hearts. The seed of the word of God sewn into the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and they hold onto it.” They take hold of it. They hold it fast. “These are the ones that will bear fruit in their life, and they will bear fruit with enduring perseverance.”

You want to bear the fruit of truth and life? Take hold. He says, “Take hold.” Then there’s this part of the story. Back to the 2 Chronicles 32. “God’s help is your strength.” Hezekiah knew that trouble was coming. He gathered the people around him. He spoke that famous verse 7, that speech, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear. Do not be dismayed because of this king of Assyria nor this great multitude.” Then he says this principle, “For the one with us is greater than the one with him.”

Let’s take hold of that great truth. Let’s understand its application because it is one of the great truths of spiritual warfare. See, notice verse 8, “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. God is with us.” Do you believe that God is with you? See, His name is Emmanuel. God is with us. Absolutely. God is with us. If God is with us, then God is with us to help. God is with us to stand strong.

God is looking for those whose hearts are His, that He might show Himself strong in their behalf. With Him is only an arm of flesh. With us is our Lord. This is a fundamental understanding of spiritual warfare. See, Jesus says, “I stand at the door and knock. Anyone who opens the door, I will come in.” In other words, we’ll have relationship and eat together. See, there’s that picture of, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come into his heart.” Jesus takes up residence in your life, in your heart, and in your soul.

See here’s my point. When you invite Jesus, when you open the door of your heart and invite Jesus into your life, Jesus takes up residence in your life, in your heart, in your soul. When you invite Jesus into your life, you have invited the lion from the tribe of Judah. The lion is the strength. That’s why the lion is such a picture of strength. He then becomes the strong man in your life, you might say. I’ll explain what that phrase means, but notice there are other Scriptures that say the same thing.

Notice, here’s the one in the New Testament, 1 John 4:4. “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them,” speaking about the world “because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Same idea. See, by the way, this is why Christians, please take note of this truth. It’s a very important one. This is why Christians cannot be possessed by a demon. By the way, this is important truth. This is why Christians cannot be possessed by a demon.

Now, you may be greatly troubled or distressed or tempted by the enemy, but Jesus is greater than Satan. Jesus is greater than the demonic realm. Now, for example, at one point, Jesus was casting out demons, and the leaders of the Jews, the leaders of Israel, saw Him casting out the demonic with tremendous authority, and they were greatly troubled by this power, so they sent to the crowd who was observing, they said, “Ha, He is casting out these demons by the power of Beelzebub,” which is another word for Satan, the lord of the flies.

Jesus answered in one of the most famous answers, giving some of the most important insights for spiritual victory. Let me just read it to you. You might take note of it. It’s very important. Very, very important. Luke 11:17 and 22, Jesus’ response to this. Jesus says, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. A house divided against itself falls.”

Jesus says, “In other words, this does not make sense what you just said. If Satan is divided against himself, how would his kingdom stand since you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub, but if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Then He adds the illustration, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed, but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, then he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his funder.”

Jesus is explaining the nature of spiritual warfare. In other words, if someone has opened their life to the demonic realm, they have a demon in their life, let’s say, they’re not believers, and Jesus encounters that person to set that person free, then he will bind the strong man of that house who is Satan, the demonic, bind the strong man, and then he can to the house, get rid of the demonic God of that life so that the presence of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ can then become the strength of that person’s life.

See, you get the illustration. If someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night, God forbid, but if someone should break into the house in the middle of the night, then I’m the one, I’m the strong man. I’m getting older now, but you follow my illustration. I’m the strong man of the house. If someone breaks into my house, they’re going to have to deal with me. In that spiritual realm, if a person opens the door of their heart to Christ Jesus, Jesus becomes a strong man of that person’s life now. Amen? Sure. Let’s give a little praise.

This is such an important understanding. This is such an important understanding. Open your heart and let the Lord Jesus Christ into your life. When you invite the Lord Jesus Christ, you have invited the lion from the tribe of Judah. He is the strength of your life now to help you. God sends the presence of the living God to be your help, to be your strength, to give you that victory in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hezekiah understood this truth, so he strengthened the faith of the people.

Then, of course, by saying those very words, “Greater is He who was with us than he who is with them. Only the arm of flesh is with him. The Lord Jehovah, God of Israel is with us.” Then having declared that, having strengthened their faith, he then took action. He did something. What did he do? Verse 20, “King Hezekiah, Isaiah the prophet, prayed. They cried out to heaven. They went unto the temple, and they prayed.” We get more details in another place.

Notice this, this is a very important principle, prayer is the first action of faith. If you’re taking notes, write that down. Prayer is the first action of faith. He strengthened their faith, and now he’s going to take action. Faith that is real is faith that is alive. It moves. It does. It takes action. It does something. It’s not just what you believe. It’s what you do with what you believe. The first action of faith is prayer. The first action of faith is prayer. This is a very important principle.

Oh, I so want us all to take hold of this great principle. The first action of faith is prayer, so he prayed. Interestingly, we read in verse 17 that King Sennacherib wrote a letter, particularly of insult, blaspheming, and insulting Jehovah, the God of Israel, and then we know in 2 Kings what Hezekiah did with his letter. You know what he did with the letter? I don’t know why, I just love this scene. It’s on a scroll, and that’s how they wrote letters, on scrolls.

He brought it up to the temple, he unrolled it, he laid it out on the floor in the temple, and he said, “Lord, read that.” I don’t know why that’s funny to me. I just think that’s interesting. “Lord, read what they are saying about you. Look at what they’re saying about you.” Then he prayed, “Lord, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you and you alone, you, oh, Lord, are our God. Let the world know it. God, show it.” Hezekiah’s first action was prayer.

Notice this, God is pleased with sincere prayer. It’s the first action of prayer, and God is so pleased. If that is your first action, God is pleased. “Very well done. Well done. Well lived. Well lived. Very well done. That’s how you live your life right there. That’s how you do that. First action is prayer. Well done.” God’s pleased. You know his prayer. I gave you his prayer. Simple. Simple, humble, sincere. You don’t have to be an expert at prayer. You don’t have to have a degree in prayer. You don’t have to study the right words.

It’s not about the formula of the words. It’s about the simple, sincere, humble heart, and God is very well pleased. It’s the first action of faith. Does not have to be expertly done. Simple. Simple, sincere, humble, and God is pleased. “Well done. Well done. Well lived, my friend. Well lived.” 2 Kings 19:20-28, we know what God did in response.

“Isaiah the prophet sent word to Hezekiah and said, ‘Thus says Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, because you prayed, because you prayed, because that was your first action of faith, you prayed to me about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard you, and this is what I will do.” I love this. “I will put a hook in his nose, I will put a bridle in his lips, and I will turn him back by the way in which he came. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. I will put a hook in his nose, and I will drag him back, and he will die by the hands of his own family.”

In other words, God was saying, “Well done. I heard you. That’s exactly the right thing to do.” Now, we also read in another place that in response to this tremendous threat that he puts sackcloth on. Sackcloth is what? The cloth from which you make sacks. It is the demonstration, outward symbol, of humility. They would literally take a sack, cut a hole for the neck, two holes for the arms, and put a sack over their clothes.

You might say, “Well, that’s just an outward symbol,” but an outward symbol of an authentic heart is beautiful to the Lord. You must see this in the Scriptures. An outward symbol of an authentic heart is beautiful. God does respect an outward symbol if it is a reflection of that which is authentic. James 4:6, “God gives a greater grace.” Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but He will give grace to the humble.” Matthew 23:12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

God will see to it. God is with us. His very presence is the strength of your life, for this is the great truth. “Fervent prayer availeth much.” I like the King James on this one. “Fervent prayer availeth much.” This prayer is a turning point. It’s a turning point in the history of the nation of Israel. That’s how important this prayer is. Simple, sincere, but it’s important. Listen, God places power on prayer in spiritual warfare. God places power on prayer for spiritual warfare and spiritual victory.

James 5:16, “The fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” Turning to God in prayer is the first action of faith, for it is the acknowledgment that your point of strength is not in the armament or the strength of your life. It’s the strength of God in your life. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh,” in this world of flesh, “we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but they are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

Divinely powerful means empowered by God. We live in a tremendous time of warfare, conflict, war of words, culture wars, and wars and rumors of wars in the world itself, but though we walk in this fleshly world, do not war according to the flesh. This is a spiritual principle. Now, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are spiritual in nature and are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses, and as we know, 185,000 fell. They woke up in the morning. There were corpses before them.

God’s hand still moves today. It’s the same God yesterday, today, and forever. God is still wanting, looking, and searching for those who will trust Him. Those who will rely on Him. Those who believe that “God is the strength of my heart, that greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.” God is looking. God is looking. Let’s give Him praise. God is looking. God is looking. God wants to show Himself strong. God is looking for those that would rely on him. Trust him. Trust him. You’re going through troubles. Rely on him. Prayer is the first action of faith.

Father, thank you. Thank you, and thank you some more. We are so blessed. What can we say? God, when we see you again in all your power and glory, we’re amazed. God, I just pray for everyone in this place today. So many going through troubles, trials. We live in troubled times. Oh, God, you are looking. The eyes of the Lord are searching, that you might find those who will trust, to rely, to believe that if God is in my life, then the lion of the tribe of Judah has taken residence in my soul to be my help.

Church, today, how many would say to the Lord, “You, God, and You alone are the strength on which I rely. I will look to You. I will trust You. I pray to You now, even in the simple, sincere, humble action of faith. I trust You. I have no one in my life that I can rely on but You.” Church, is that you?” Would you say that to the Lord by raising your hand to the Lord? Just declare it. Raise your hand to the Lord.

It’s a way of just saying, “God, I want to just say it. I want to just express it. I want to just declare it. You are the strength. You are the lion of the tribe of Judah in my heart and in my life. I love you, Lord. Move in power. I rely on You now. In Jesus’ powerful name, and everyone said?

The Heart of Revival
2 Chronicles 30:1-27
December 3-4, 2022

There have been great revivals in history, some in our own country in recent history as a matter of fact, and there is actually a movie that’s coming out in a couple of months about a very recent revival that happened of course in the ’60s. It’s called Jesus Revolution. That’s the name of the movie. It’s going to be in theaters all over this country, and it’s about that Jesus movement of the hippie movement of the ’60s. In many ways it’s a history of Calvary Chapel because Calvary Chapel was intricately part of the move of God in the hippie generation.

That’s such an exciting thing that they’re going to have a movie all about it. We’re going to buy out the entire theater on opening night, and we’re all going to go as many as we can fit into that theater and just have a night of celebrating together. It’s going to be glorious. Revivals are amazing, and there were revivals in Israel’s history and we’re going to study one of them now, and it’s all about Hezekiah. He was the king in Judah. Now, remember Israel was divided here. The southern kingdom is called Judah, only two tribes, 10 tribes in the north.

Although at this point, the northern kingdom has been destroyed. Their unfaithfulness, their waywardness, they’re turning their back on God, they have been destroyed. Assyria has come, defeated them and taken many of them captive, and dispersed them amongst the nations, but this is in the south and Hezekiah is the king. He was 25 years old when he became king. We know something about his father and his mother, which are important part of the story, we’ll look at that. It tells us that Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord.

Something happened in his heart that he took hold of the desire to honor God in his life, and it says that he did all that was according to his father, David, had done. Now, that’s a great commendation. All of the kings were compared to David, and then it goes on to say that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, like Hezekiah. Oh, that’s a great thing. Therefore, he’s an important, significant king in the history of Israel. Now, there’s also a Hebrew word that I like you to learn because it’s a very important part of the story, and it’s the word Nehushtan, and you’ll see it comes into the story very powerfully.

It’s one of those words in Hebrew that you should put a plaque on your wall with that word so that when your family and friends come over and say, “What’s that?” Then you can explain all about this revival because this revival points to Yeshua, Jesus as the Messiah in one of the most powerful ways in the Scriptures. That’s how important this revival is. All right, let’s pick it up. We’re in 2 Chronicles 30. We’re picking it up now after Hezekiah has made all of these things to bring about transformation in the nation, and now he’s ready to celebrate a Passover feast.

Now, Passover, of course, was that reminder that God is the one that brought them out of the oppression and slavery of Egypt and brought them out and give them the promised land, and it’s a reminder of course, and it points to Jesus Christ also, but they have not been celebrating it as the Word of God had prescribed at all for years and years, but now Hezekiah has a revival and he’s made all of these things and now he’s ready to celebrate a great Passover.

I. Revival is Made to be Lived 

He sends invitations, and here’s where I want us to look at the story. He sends an invitation out to all of the people that remained in the north. These people who had turned away from God, turned their back and been destroyed by the nation of Assyria, he sends an invitation to them. This is fascinating. Notice 30:1, Hezekiah then sent to all Israel in the north and Judah in the south and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that’s in the north, that they should come to the House of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel for the king and princes and all the assembly in Israel had decided to celebrate the Passover in this second month.

Now, normally it would be in the 1st, but there’s some flexibility, not normally, but there is now, for a reason. It says, because they could not celebrate it at that time. In other words, at the proper time, first month, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers. They weren’t ready for such a large celebration as this, and nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem yet. They established a decree, circulated a proclamation throughout all Israel from Beersheba, way in the south to Dan in the north that they should come and celebrate the Passover of the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem, for they had not celebrated it in great numbers as was prescribed for years.

The couriers went throughout Israel in the north and Judah with these letters from the hand of the king and the princes, even according to the command of the king, and this is what the letter said. Now listen to this. This is a call to revival. Notice what he says. “O sons of Israel. Return. Return to the LORD.” Come back, that’s what he’s saying. “Return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to you.” That’s what revival is. Return to the Lord God of Israel that He may return to those of you who have escaped and are left from the hand of the kings of Assyria.

Do not be like your fathers, do not be like your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of your fathers, so that He made them a horror as you can see, look at the devastation. Now, do not stiffen your neck. That means to be stubborn. Don’t be like that. Don’t harden your heart. Don’t stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield. See. Bow, yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary. That sanctuary where God’s presence is, come, which He has consecrated for himself and serve the Lord your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you.

For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who lend them captive and will return to this land. Do you not know for the Lord your God is gracious? He is compassionate, and He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him. That’s true today. That was the letter. Great call to revival, an invitation. The couriers, they passed from city to city throughout the country of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun all the way in the north, but notice, but they laughed them to scorn and they mocked the couriers.

Nevertheless, I love verse 11. Nevertheless, there were some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun, there in the north, who did humble themselves. There were some and they came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord. Then it describes how they came and they celebrated for a full week. The feast of unleavened bread and the Passover are all together for a full week of fasting, and then it says, when they finished with that week, they had such a wonderful time, they decided to do it all again.

“Let’s do it another week.” That’s like saying, “Christmas was so wonderful. Let’s have another one right now.” Or Thanksgiving, a whole week of Thanksgiving dinners. A whole week of Thanksgiving dinners, and what’s so amazing, let’s do it again. Let’s do it another week. It’s like they’re so excited about what God is doing. They start celebrating, they start rejoicing, and they start singing. There’s such a revival going on they say, “Let’s do it again.” I love that part of the story. All right, this is about revival.

There’s a lot to learn about revival starting with this, revival is made to be lived. Revival can be personal. You can have a personal revival. It can be in a family, a community, a church or a community or a nation, but revival is something that happens– It’s more than just in the heart. If it’s true revival, it will impact the life. It will impact how you live. Notice Hezekiah, he has revival and desire in his heart, so he starts to make a move, he starts to live it. He cleansed the temple. He restored the priesthood. He kept the commands of the Lord that He gave to Moses.

Now, here’s what’s amazing. All right. Hezekiah received all this amazing commendation about the amazing king he was. Here’s the thing, his father was the worst king in the south so far. Well, how did that happen? You went from the worst, the father was the worst to the son who was the best. How did that happen? It’s a very powerful thing, powerful testimony and it’s true today, you do not have to be like your father. The sins of the father do not have to be repeated.

Now, some believe that there is such a thing as a generational curse. Maybe you’ve heard of this. What some believe is that whatever your father was, if he was this despicable figure, whatever, that it therefore, lands on you and that it determines the course of your life. Many you believe this, but I submit that there is something far greater at work than a generational curse, it’s called revival. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Let me just say that if a generational curse determine the course of my life, well, then it failed because according to the statistics and that belief, my father, many of you know my story, my father was an alcoholic, angry, cantankerous, old cast, difficult, raised us in poverty.

According to that belief, I ought to have been ruined by it, but God can do a new work from one generation to another. The sins of the father do not have to be repeated. Now, if you had a wonderful father, praise God for that. That’s a wonderful blessing in your life, believe me, that’s a wonderful blessing, if you had a great father but if you didn’t and many carry that father wound, many relate to my story. Let me just tell you, the sins of the father can end and they can end right here and right now, because the power of the Holy Spirit is in this place to move in power in your life.

That was his father, what’s interesting is about his mother. Now, his mother was a good influence, and I would say the same. My father, I described him, my mother, she was like a hero in my eyes, all the suffering. Can you imagine being in that environment, but she was so faithful. She was so faithful to make sure that we had an opportunity to go to church and to have something good inputted it into our lives. She held this to the write things. The influence of a mother.

See, his mother, his name or her name rather was Avia, that’s the name of his mother. Now, by the way, I love the name Avia because that’s the name of my granddaughter and my daughter gave her that name right out of the Bible, by the way, when we took her to Israel with us one time and we were going through customs passport control and the Jewish person looked at her passport and said, “Avia, that’s a Hebrew name” and she lit up. “Yes, I know”, she was so excited about that. They recognized that and it’s a great name, Avia has a great meaning, but it shows you the influence of a mother.

You compare Avia to Jezebel and there’s no comparison at all. The name means God is my Father, my Father is God. Now, there’s a great depth of meaning to that because I’ll tell you something, it’s personal to me that understanding, God is my Father, is about broke, the so-called generational curse, you might say, in my life because what happened was this, my 21st birthday, I was having in crisis moment it’s my 21st birthday. I am crying out to God, I’m angry. Seemed like everybody else had every advantage because everybody else in the world had a good father and I looked around and I thought everything’s against me because of what I had as a father.

Every disadvantage in life, alcoholic, angry, poverty, the abuse and I looked around and I had, everything’s against me. That’s the way I’ve looked at it, and I’m crying out to God, I’m angry. I didn’t do this. If you ever had that Holy Spirit speak to your heart moment. That’s what happened, I’m crying out to God and I heard that Holy Spirit speak to my heart moment where God broke through all of the anger and said into my heart, “I will be your father now. I understand what you’ve had for a father. I will be your father now.”

Well, it broke through, It broke through. I took hold of it. It was the truth, and it changed everything because listen, if God is your Father, you have every advantage in life. I thought I had everything against me. If God is my Father, then who can be against me? Let me give you that verse that’s out of Roman. Chapter 8:31-37 we love Romans 8, but listen to the verses, “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, then who can be against us?” If God is your Father, then God is surely for you. Would you agree with that?

If God is for you, then who can be against you? Then he adds, “And in all of these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. He always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus.” Amen. Let’s give the Lord praises, it’s such a great understanding. Amen. The name of Avia was given to his mother as the recognition that God was your Father. It’s quite rare, what a great understanding in those days.

A. Do what’s right in the sight of the Lord

Then we see this, Hezekiah did what’s right in the sight of the Lord. Now this is a great part of the revival, in contrast to what? In contrast to doing what’s right in his own eyes. In other words, if there was a conflict between the way God saw it and the what he saw, he would go with God’s ways. Now, this is an important understanding because many people, they are the one who decides what’s right in their life. I will do what I think is right, many people aren’t like this, and they are the judge, they are the arbiter, they are the king of the thing. I will do what I believe is right, but not Hezekiah, and this is part of revival.

No, he did what’s right in the sight of the Lord, in God’s eyes because God’s way is greater, is better. You go with God’s way and you’re going to be blessed. That’s his point, in fact, let me give you some verses. Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.” Isn’t that a great word? Makes you going to think, I need to listen to what God has to say. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is the one who listens to counsel.” Proverbs 16:2, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motive.” Why is it you want this thing? God has something better for you than that.

See, you look at what happened in the north, I talked about their downfall, their destruction. What caused that? Why did they fall? Because they would not listen to the voice, the wisdom. God would send his prophets. God sent the greatest, most powerful prophets in the Old Testament to the people in the north. Yet they would not listen. Why? Why didn’t they listen? Because they desired rather than have Jehovah as their Lord over them, they went and followed the gods of the nations around them. Moloch, Baal, Ashteroth. Why? Because these gods and the nations around them were gods of the flesh. See, they were gods of sexuality, gods of fertility.

You get the idea. They were very graphic and they appealed to the flesh, nature of man. One of the great lessons out of the story, one of the great lessons of revival is that, that which the flesh desires is poison to the soul. You cannot have revival while your soul is being poisoned, it does not work. God wanted them to see that if you allow the flesh to have its way, the price will be high. You might say the enemy has a buy now pay later program. That’s what sin is, it’s a buy now pay later program. I can buy this now, I can have this pleasure now, I can have this sin thing now, and I don’t have to pay for it until later?

Well, that sounds like a great deal, people think, until the later comes. Then the price they come to see is far higher than they ever imagined. God is trying to spare people suffering, hardship, misery, emptiness of life, emptiness of soul. God wants to spare you from that, God would say, listen, if you would abide in revival, if you would allow my Spirit to move upon your soul, I’ll bring such life to your soul that it will bring forth, it will bear fruit in your life. Oh, that which God does is beautiful in the soul. Oh, I want to bless you. If you would just sow the seeds of God in your life, it will bring forth the fruit that’s wonderful.

It’s Jeremiah 29:11 all over again, “I know the plans–” See, plans are for the future. “I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “they’re plans for welfare,” means good, not for calamity. “My plans are to give you a future and a hope.” It’s all about the blessing of God. If you would just trust Him, He’ll bear forth great blessings in your life. That’s what revival will bring about.

I was thinking of an analogy. It’s like what we want for our kids. We want our kids to be blessed. What parent would not want that? We want them to have a good life. Isn’t that true? We want our kids to have a good life, and so we speak things into them and we bear forth into them so that they’ll bring forth and bear forth a good life. I remember at one time we had five teenagers in our house at one time. Five teenagers in our house at one time. I’ve been in counseling ever since.

No, no, actually, listen, I loved it. I absolutely loved having– We had three natural girls, we adopted two boys, and of course they were all compacted together. Oh, the activity, the buzz, the fun, it was really– I actually loved it. In their teens, they would sometimes resist the rules.

Sometimes you push back against the rules. I remember one conversation with one of my kids who shall remain nameless, but one day we’re having this conversation and he’s resisting. I’m trying to help him to see, “No, it’s to your good. That’s why I say no to these things because I’m trying to bless your life, man.” He’s pushing back, and finally he says, “When I become a parent,” oh, here we go, “When I become a parent, I’m going to let my kids do whatever they want.” I go, “Really? That’s why you need a parent right now.”

I said, “Listen, if you do that, if you give your kids everything they want, you are going to have heartache for the rest of your life.” Any parents understand what I’m saying? “It will bring heartache to the rest of your life because you will have ruined their lives.” This is about revival. The soul. When the soul is made alive, it brings forth that which is glorious and beautiful. It bears fruit that’s good.

B. Look unto Jesus, the true serpent of our sin

I mentioned that this revival is all about Jesus, and it’s true. Let me bring that into the story in a way that perhaps might sound provocative at first, but let me explain it. It’s this, “Look unto Jesus, the true serpent of our sin.” There’s a powerful and spiritual point behind such a provocative statement. We read in the Book of Kings that as part of Hezekiah’s revival, he also broke the serpent of bronze which Moses had made in the desert.

They had still this serpent of bronze all these years later, and he broke it because they were burning incense to it. They were praying to it, and honoring it, worshiping it, in other words. He says, “Smash that thing to pieces,” and he called it Nehushtan. That’s that Hebrew word I was telling you about. He called it, “That’s Nehushtan,” which means, “It’s just bronze, people. It’s just bronze. What are you doing burning incense and worshiping the thing? Break it.”

This is essentially an important part of the story because it points directly to Jesus. It’s very interesting part of the story. In Numbers 21, when we were studying back then, we read this story, it took place when Israel was in the desert. Moses was leading them. They were grumbling. They were complaining. They loathed that miserable food, that manana. Manna was a miracle.

Every morning, they had manna to eat, and it was sweet. It tasted like coriander seed. It actually tasted good, but now they’re tired of it, and they’re loathing it, and they’re complaining, and there’s not enough water and they have an attitude, and finally, serpents came among them biting and latching onto them. They cried out to Moses and came and confessed that they had sinned, and God told Moses to form and fashion this serpent of bronze.

The serpents were biting them. “Fashion a serpent out of bronze, set it on wood” standard, a pole, “lift it up that all the people who would look upon this serpent would be healed.” This is directly connected to Jesus. That’s part of this revival. I’d like you to open your Bibles, please, and turn to John 3. You might know that John 3 contains the most famous Bible verse that I think is in the Bible. Most people know John 3:16. Almost everybody has memorized John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” The context of that is this serpent. It’s fascinating.

Let’s read it, read John 3:1. “Now there is a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “‘Rabbi, teacher, “we know that you have come from God as the teacher.” We know this. “For no one can do these signs, these miracles that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”” Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.

“Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he’s old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water,” of your mother, “and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going, so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered and said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you a teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things?”” Then move down, for time, move down to verse 14, he explains. Listen. “As Moses,” here he goes, here’s the connection, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”” In the same way that Moses lifted up that bronze serpent, the Son of Man must be lifted up even so.

That whoever believes, see, all they had to do when they lifted up that bronze serpent in the desert was to look upon him and in faith be healed. He says, “The same way the Son of Man would be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life.” Then He explains John 3:16. That’s the context to the greatest verse in the Bible. Many people do not recognize that John 3:16 is directly connected to Jesus being the serpent of our sin.

What a deep understanding is that that he says, “For God so loved the world,” God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever would look upon Him, whoever believes in Him would not perish– He doesn’t want you to die, He doesn’t want you to perish– but have everlasting life. That’s a powerful understanding. This has everything to do with whether a person will have eternal and everlasting life.

The eternal nature of your soul has everything to do with this story. You might say, “How can Jesus be that serpent of sin?” Well, great question. Paul answers it in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin perfect in every way to be sin on our behalf”, to be the serpent of our sin in our behalf “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That’s glorious. The sin of all of us were placed upon Him on the cross so that all who look to Him will be saved. Our sins are transferred to Him on the cross and He gave to you the very righteousness of God as a gift.

When you stand before God in heaven, if you’ve received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you will not be standing there before the throne of God in your sins, you will be standing there in the righteousness of God that is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That’s where you’re going to be standing. Let’s give the Lord praise. Amen. He says this, Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” The wages of sin is death but the free gift, say, the wages, that’s the pay later part, death. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is life, eternal life in Christ Jesus.” It’s such a deep understanding.

II. God Wants Revival in the Heart

Back to 2 Chronicles 30. God wants revival. This is about revival. God wants revival in the heart. He called this serpent Nehushtan. It’s just bonze, people, and broke it up because they were offering incense and prayers to it. It wasn’t the serpent, the bronze thing that brought life, it was God that brought life. That’s what He’s speaking to. That’s authentic genuine life. See, holding onto or worshiping a religious relic is religion. There’s no present reality in the heart of the worshiper.

By the way, side note, if you go to St. Ambrose Cathedral in Milan, Italy, today, you will see a bronze or brass serpent on this but it is said that in 941 AD an envoy from Constantinople brought the pieces of the bras serpent as a gift to the emperor. They reassembled it and set it up on a nave so that people can come and give it honor and pray to it. Oh, can you just hear Hezekiah? “It’s just bronze, people.” It’s just a thing. It’s just a thing. There’s no life in the thing. Life is found in a sincere genuine relationship with the living God. That’s what revival is.

Reminds me. In fact, part of the Chuck Smith’s story, I’m mentioning in the movie, is the scene where Pastor Chuck arrives to church one Sunday morning, gets there early and someone had put up a sign, “No shoes, no service.” Of course, it’s about those hippies. He took the sign down, brought it into his office, called a meeting that week from his elders, and said, “Who did this?” One of the elders said, “I did.” “Why would you do this?” He said, “Because those hippies, they come in here with their bare feet, dirty, and they sit on the carpet, they sit on the floor with that dirty feet of theirs and they’re just leaving dirt marks and they’re ruining the carpet.”

I love Pastor Chuck’s response. He said, “Well, I’ll remove the carpet before I remove these hippies because I’m not here to honor carpet, I’m here to transform lives.” It’s not about the thing, it’s about the life of God. Some people say, “I’m going to go to church to meet God.” This church, this is just a building, just concrete and steel and carpet and chairs. God is in this place because you’re in this place. The Holy Spirit takes up resident when you ask Jesus Christ into your heart, God is with you wherever you go. God is with you when you’re driving in the car with that attitude. God is with you when you’re in your family speaking to them with that attitude. God is with you.

A. God is inviting you to revival

Yes, God is in this place because you’re in this place. We honor that which God is doing. God is moving in power to bring a sincere, genuine revival even today. Amen. I love this part where it shows us that God is doing the inviting. God is inviting you to revival. I love this letter that Hezekiah sends out. He’s going to celebrate the Passover and he wants everyone to come, so he invites all of Judah, yes, of course, but all Israel in the north. Come to the house of the Lord. What does He say in the letter? “O, sons of Israel, return, come back. How long you wondered? Come back. Come back. Come back that He may return to you those who are left from the destruction and the devastation.”

The Lord God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn His face away from you. The couriers passed from city to city, bringing the letter. It says that they laughed at them. They laughed them to scorn and they mocked. It’s true even today. Oh, so many people today reject God, laugh, scorn, even when they’re going through the greatest of troubles. Israel there in the north had already been defeated, already been destroyed, already come to nothing, taken captive and dispersed amongst the nations, and yet they mock. What you have to mock about? What you have to laugh about? Have you not already been destroyed? Have you not already ruined your life?

In fact, Jesus spoke to this in Matthew 7:13-14. Very interesting and deep word. Jesus said this. “Enter through the narrow gate.” “Enter through the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it, but the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it.”

I love verse 11 where it says, “Nevertheless, they bought the letter, the couriers came from city to city, proclaiming the invitation to come.” Return. Most of them laughed, mocked, and scorned, but it says, “Nevertheless, some of them, some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun in the north humbled themselves.” Some did. Some humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

The hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do what God had said. Some of them came. They were there the whole week celebrating, finding revival, coming back to the Lord. In fact, at the end of that week, they were rejoicing so much. They agree, “Yes, let’s do it again. Let’s do it another week.” There’s always a few. Today, there are so many who mock and scorn. You don’t have to look very far to see it, but God always has a few. God always has a remnant of those that are genuine and sincere that something authentic is moving in their lives. God always has a few. I’ll tell you what, I want to be in that number right there. Amen. Anybody agree with me? Let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. Amen.

B. Revival is clinging to the Lord

Then lastly, I’m going to close with this, revival is clinging to the Lord. It says of Hezekiah that he clang to the Lord and did not depart from following Him. There’s a great word. To clinging to the Lord. You come back to the Lord. You be careful never to leave that place of a newness of life. Do not leave your first love. Keep that relationship to the Lord fresh and new. See, is your relationship to the Lord based on the good old days, something that God did in the past? God wants to do something that is new every morning. God wants to walk with you on the journey of this life and bring newness of life every day. Fresh and new every day. That’s what God is doing.

That’s authentic genuine revival. Never let anything come between you and the Lord ever again because you’ve already seen that when you walk in the things of the world and you walk in the ways of the flesh, it brings destruction to life, I want that which God has for me that which God has for me is beautiful on the soul. I want revival, I want authentic genuine revival because it’s new every morning. Amen.

Father, thank you so much. Oh, how we love you for showing us, Lord, what revival is, genuine, authentic, genuine, coming to the Lord with a desire for newness of life, fresh and new. Church, how many would say to the Lord today, I want revival, new and fresh. I want my relationship to you Lord, to be based on more than just the good old days. I want that which is alive today, new and fresh every morning. That’s what I want. Genuine, authentic, new every morning revival.

God’s Help in Times of Trouble
2 Chronicles 20:1-25
November 5-6, 2022   

As I mentioned last week, really there are different types of troubles. For example, there are the troubles that come of our own making. In other words, we made a wrongful decision, we did a foolish thing and it brought troubles to our lives. That, we all understand. I think in some way perhaps everyone has been there and done that. That’s a whole category of troubles.

Then there are troubles not of our making. They come simply because we live in a broken, a hostile, difficult world. We need to understand that whether that trouble that came in our lives was from our own making or from the fact that we live in a broken world, God wants you and me to seek Him and to seek His help no matter where that trouble came from. You might say, “I don’t deserve it if I did it myself. I don’t deserve the help.”

In fact many think that way. They don’t turn to God for help because they don’t think they deserve God’s help and they think God’s going to shun them. They think God’s going to cast them out. You made the mess, you can just fix it. They think God thinks like that. He does not. Fine, let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. I think it’s important to recognize that God knows the way out. God knows the way out of that trouble.

I was speaking to a fellow one time. This is back in the days when the yellow pages were a thing, looking for a church, just looking for a pastor. He opened the yellow pages and saw us, “I’m calling that church.” I need to talk to a pastor. He came down and we sat and he started telling me about all of his troubles. Oh my, so many troubles and I said, “Can I paint a picture for you of this? You’ve been planting the seeds of these troubles for many years. You’ve been planting the seeds. These decisions you’ve been making, have been the seeds. Now what you’re seeing is that they’ve grown up and now you have a whole field of weeds.”

I said, “I’m here to tell you, God is not the one who made that field of weeds, but He knows the way out of here. If you would rely on Him, if you would ask God’s help now, He will show you the way out of this trouble. I said, “I strongly ask that you would humble yourself and ask God. He would love to answer you. He would love to help in time of trouble. You got to know God’s heart.” He said, “I will.” I said, “Can we pray right now?” We actually got on our knees there in my office turned around on the chairs. I put my arm around him and I said, “You pray first.” I had my arm like this on the chair in front of me.

I put my arm around him. Then he just started crying. I could feel his body just sobbing. His tears started flowing on my arm. My arm is getting wet. I thought, oh– You know that Scripture, “He holds our tears in a bottle”? I thought, “That’s precious tears right there. That’s the tears of repentance. That’s the tears of renewal.” God was doing– no matter where this trouble came from.

That brings us to 2 Chronicles 20. The story takes place in the southern kingdom of Judah. Jehoshaphat is reigning as king here in the South. Now he understands both kinds of trouble. Jehoshaphat made some very poor decisions. Now what’s interesting is that the Scripture tells us that he did very well. Most of his life, he did very, very well. He pursued the ways of God in his life and therefore, God strengthened the kingdom in his control and He was blessed of God.

It’s important to lay that down as the backstory. He did well. For much of his life, he did well, but he brought trouble upon himself when he decided to form this alliance with the king of Israel in the North. Trouble was, it was Ahab. If you know anything about Ahab, you know that he was anything but a good king, very wicked. Then Jehoshaphat went and made a marriage alliance. He arranged his son to marry Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter.

Now, you want to talk about sowing the seeds of trouble, that’s going to grow up into some serious trouble. Then in that alliance, he ended up in a battle that he should never have ended up in. He almost lost his life, but he cried out to God and God intervened, interceded and saved. He learned a valuable lesson. He learned from his mistake. That, by the way, is a valuable lesson unto itself.

After he came back from all of those troubles as he came back to Jerusalem, a prophet spoke to him, “Should you help those who hate God? Should you love those who are against Him? There is some good in you for you have sought God and He yet will do good in your life.” He learned a great valuable lesson which is a valuable lesson into itself. To learn from one’s mistake is a great lesson of life because I tell you, there are some people that are so stubborn that they refuse to learn any lesson from their life. Jehoshaphat did learn and that lesson would serve him very well.

Now in 2 Chronicles 20, he’s facing a whole new set of troubles but these are not troubles of his making. It’s a whole different kind of trouble. This is coming from across the sea. This is coming from across the river, armies of Ammon and Moab and Seir are coming against him and there’s where great lessons come. Chapter 20, let’s read it. We begin reading in verse one.

“Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon together with some of the Meunites came to make war against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat and said, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, the dead sea and the northern sea out of and behold they are now in Hazezon Tamar, that is to say, En Gedi and they’re on this side of the water”, in other words.

Jehoshaphat was afraid and he turned his attention to seek Jehovah, the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. Judah gathered together, all of them, the whole people, all of them. They all gathered together to seek help from the Lord.” He’s calling a national day of prayer. He’s calling a national prayer movement. All of them coming together to seek help from God. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.

“Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court there in Jerusalem. He prayed, “Oh Lord God of our fathers, are you not God in the heavens? Are you not ruler over all kingdoms of all nations, power and might are in your hand so that no one can stand against you? Did you not, oh, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham, your friend forever–

By the way, that is still true today. God gave that to His people “–and they lived in it– his prayer continues “-and have built you a sanctuary there for your name saying, Should evil come against us, sword or judgment or pestilence or famine, that we could stand before this house and we could stand before you for your name is in this house and that we can cry out to you in our distress and that you would hear and deliver.

Oh, now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir whom you did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, now they turned aside from them and did not destroy them. Now look how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from your possession which you have given to us as an inheritance. Oh, our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us nor do we know what to do. Our eyes are on you.”

That was his prayer. That’s a great prayer. All Judah was standing before the Lord. Now would you get the scene? He makes this great prayer. Then it says all Judah was standing there with their infants, their wives and their children. He makes his great prayer and he says, “We don’t know what to do. Our eyes are on you.” They all just stood there and quiet. They just stood there with their babies, the children. “We don’t know what to do. Our eyes are on you.”

They waited. They just waited. Then verse 14, “In the midst of the assembly, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph.”

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, listen. Thus says Jehovah to you, “Do not fear. Do not be dismayed because of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours. It is God’s. Tomorrow, go down against them and behold, they will come up by the Ascent of Ziz and you will find them there the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. You need not fight in this battle. Station yourselves, stand, watch, see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. Oh, Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear. Do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out to face them for Jehovah, He is with you.”

Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. Hearing this Word of the Lord, he bowed with his face to the ground and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. The Levites from the sons of the Kohathites and the sons of the Korahites, they stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud noise.

Now they’re praising God after they bowed on the ground, loud, loud, loud noise of praise. They’re praising God with a loud voice and then they arose the next morning early, went

out to the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they’re going out, see they rise early, they’re getting ready to go out to the place where they can see the battle. Before they go out, one final word from Jehoshaphat verse 20, “Listen to me, O, Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the Lord, your God, and you will be established, put your trust in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

When then he had consulted with the people, listen to this. This is a very famous scene right here. This next thing that happens is very famous in the Bible. He consulted with the people. Then he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire as they went out before the army. He put out the worshipers, the worship team, massive choir, out in front of the army.

Then he said, now give thanks to the Lord. Sing it out, shout it out. Let the musicians and the singers get in front of the army and start shouting it and singing it and declaring it and give thanks to the Lord, for His loving-kindness is everlasting. They just started singing and shouting and praising and the music and the singers and it was loud because worship ought to be loud, and it was that way.

Then, when they began singing and praising, notice this, the Lord sent ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were routed. Now how they did that, how He set the ambushes, we presume that He set one against the other, confusion, rain in the camp for the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, then they turned on one another.

When Judah came to the lookout– They had been marching all the way this morning. When they came to the lookout of the wilderness, they look toward the multitude and look behold, corpses, dead, fighting men lying on the ground. No one escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoils, they found so much among them, including goods, garments, valuable things which they took for themselves more than they could carry. It took three days taking the spoil because there was so much of it. That’s our story. It’s very famous in the Scriptures.

It’s a great story filled with lessons for God’s help in times of trouble. Let’s start with this understanding in principle, face your troubles, face them, face on but face your troubles with faith. See, here’s why I say that because there’s a tendency in people to try to avoid dealing with trouble, try to avoid dealing with their problems. You might say, “We’re just procrastinating.” They avoid. Perhaps they think that they’re going to go away if they just avoid them. You know what I found? I found that they actually get bigger when you avoid them. Anybody doesn’t understand what I’m saying? They don’t go away. They don’t get any better. They get worse.

I. Face Your Troubles with Faith

Face your troubles head-on but face them with faith, believing that God not only will be, wants to be your help. He wants you to turn to Him. There’s a whole thinking in some people it’s like, “You’re only turning to God because you’re in trouble,” to which I say, “At least you know where to turn when you’re in trouble. There’s a lot of people who don’t know that.” At least you’re turning to Him now. God will welcome you. God won’t turn you out.

If anyone understood troubles, it would have been David. David wrote this, Psalm 121:1-2. “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? I know. My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” In other words, if He made heaven and earth by His great power, then by His great power, He can help. Jehoshaphat hears this report of this great multitude coming against him from beyond the sea. It was even reported that they had already encroached all the way as far as En Gedi. That’s their land.

A. Seek the Lord first

This problem wasn’t going away. This problem was coming after him. How Jehoshaphat responded to this trouble is the revealing of great principles of life. Notice, he sought the Lord first. Exactly right. Seek the Lord first. First and foremost troubles come, first seek God. It says verse three, “Before Jehoshaphat faced that, he turned his attention-” it says “-to seek the Lord” because he has seen. He learned this. This was the great lesson from his father Asa. No doubt he was there when that great million-man army from Ethiopia came against Asa, how Asa, his father had trusted in God called out to God and God brought a great victory.

He knew but then he also saw as his father, Asa, relied on his own cleverness when it came to the king of Israel in the north, and how God then send a word of correction. That word of correction was also a great promise. That’s one of the most famous verses in the Bible. It’s one of my favorite verses of all verses. 2 Chronicles 16:9. He was there when that Prophet gave this promise. “The eyes of the Lord search to and fro throughout the whole earth, to strongly support those whose heart is fully His, Shalom, fully His. In other words, God is looking. He’s actually searching for people. He’s looking for opportunity. He’s looking for people who have a heart after God.

B. Seek help with a humble heart

I will strongly support the heart like that. He’s looking for that. Amen. Jehoshaphat had taken hold of this lesson. Not only did he seek God first, he called a national prayer meeting. Then he called them to fast. Now, fasting is an expression of humility. In other words, there’s the principle, seek help, God first but when you do, make sure you come seeking and asking with a humble heart. He called the nation to fast. Fasting is a way of humbling oneself.

The setting aside of the craving for food to seek God with a heart singularly focused on asking and seeking. I wish we had the time. There is such a deep theme that runs in the Bible, seek, seeking God but notice this in 2 Chronicles 7:14, where God gives this great word of great promise. Listen, He says, “If my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray”, you want God’s help, great, you’ve come to the right place but notice.

“If my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin. I will heal their land”. Jehoshaphat, he stood there in the assembly, in the house of the Lord, at the porch of the house of the Lord and he prayed this very prayer. There is something so powerful about a prayer event where you gather whether it be a nation or a people, or a church or a family. There’s something so powerful.

It reminded me we don’t hear much about national prayer anymore, but I was remembering about in World War II when the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, that while that was happening, the President of the United States at that time is FDR, led the nation in prayer. I want to just give you some of that prayer, but there’s something powerful about a nation or a people.

His prayer went like this and this went out broadcast to the world but his prayer was this, “Almighty God, our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true. Give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need they blessings, Lord. The road will long and hard for the enemy is strong, he may hurl back our forces, success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again. We know that by your grace, Lord, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

Of course, he went on to more prayer than that. By the way, this Friday is Veteran’s Day so it’s very fitting to remember that prayer. Absolutely. Our church has gathered– if you’ve been around very much, you know that we have these gatherings where we set aside a Sunday evening of worship and prayer. These are powerful times. When we announce we’re going to have an evening of prayer, we always say all services, all families, our hands on deck, we’re going to pray.

There’s something powerful about praying as a body together, calling out to God, crying out, interceding on behalf of this broken nation, for this troubled world on behalf of those we know in love who need God in their lives. This prayer of Jehoshaphat, is an example of how to pray. If you’re taking notes, please important, note this, his prayer. Number one, declare God’s power over the trouble. This is a great example of how to pray. Number one, declare God’s power over the trouble.

Verse 6, notice, “Oh, Lord, God of our fathers, are you not ruler over all the kingdoms and of a nations? Power and might are in your hand and no one can stand against you.” This is important. See, declaring God’s power when you are facing great troubles, be reminded again of who God is in the greatness of His power so that you would put the perspective of your trouble and the the perspective of who God is in your life. Declare God’s power over the trouble.

Number two, remember what God has done in your life. Remember, look back. Verse 7, “Did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land for your people? Did you not give it to the descendants of Abraham, your friend? Have you not done all of that, Lord?” See now that’s an important aspect of prayer because when you look back on your life, do you have a history with God? Can you look back on your life and remember all the times that God made Himself known powerfully in your life? I’ll tell you, I have a history with God. Amen. God has made Himself known over and over. God has proven Himself. Anybody else agree with me? Let’s give Him praise. He has proven Himself.

See, it’s important when you are praying in those times of trouble, be reminded. Remember what God has done. Be reminded. You have already proven yourself. God, I look back on my life. You have done this and you’ve done that and then you revealed yourself here and you’ve done it before.

Then number three, proclaim God’s name your life. Notice verse 9, “Your name is in this house.” I love this part of the prayer. “Your name is in this house and you said that we could cry out to you in our distress and that you would hear, and that you would deliver.” See, your prayer and min in times of trouble could be very much like that. Your prayer and mine could be like this, “Your name is in my heart. Your name. You have put your name on my life.” Did God put His name on your life? You look at the Scriptures, I’ll tell you, He did. God has put His name on your life because He’s the Father, you’re the son. That makes you related. There you go.

You say, I’m a son. How? Yes, you are a son. You are a daughter, by adoption. He has brought you into a relationship whereby you have been adopted so that you can call God your Abba, Father, the most beautiful, intimate way for a child to call his Papa. That is the relationship that God has with you so that you can proclaim God’s name on your life. Do you not have a relationship to Him by which you can claim that name? Your name is on my life. You are my Father. This is the right way to pray when you’re in trouble, you are my Father. I’m coming to you because you’re my Father.

C. Wait on the Lord

I am your son. I’m your daughter. I’m crying out to you because you’re my Father, because I know that as my Father, you’ll hear and you will deliver, that you’ll help in time of need because I know this. Then, okay, great prayer and then here’s this principle. Wait. Wait on the Lord. Great prayer. Come to Him. Come to Him first. Seek Him, pray and then wait. Notice verse 12. “We are powerless before this great multitude. We do not know what to do.”

Have you ever had a problem so great, you didn’t know what to do? I have. I’ve had trouble so great I didn’t know what to do. That’s a great prayer right there. “We are powerless. We do not know what to do. Our eyes are on you,” and then he waited. They stood there with their babies, their children, just quiet. “Our eyes are on you”, holding the babies. Don’t move until God has given direction. Don’t move until you feel the leading and the peace of God in your life. Don’t move. You’ll make a mistake. Don’t move.

Isaiah 40:28-31. The whole chapter is amazing but listen, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? It is He who gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might, He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble, yet those who wait for the Lord, they will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, they will not get tired, they will walk and not faint.” Now, that is a tremendous verse of promise.

II. The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Wait. You’re in trouble, you pray a prayer like that based on those things and then you wait, then comes the answer, “The battle belongs to the Lord.” They were standing there waiting. Then in the midst of the assembly, the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of their leaders who answered, “this is the word of the Lord” verse 15, “Thus says Jehovah to you, “Do not fear, do not be dismayed because of this great trouble”, this great multitude. By the way, that is a great principle. God will say, I believe, I think God will say the same thing.

Don’t be afraid, don’t be dismayed. I know this trouble is great. I know you don’t know what to do. Don’t be afraid. I promise you, I’ll be with you. Don’t be afraid. Fear will turn you in places you don’t want to go. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed for the battle is not yours. It’s God’s. Verse 17, “You do not even need to fight in this battle, station yourselves. Stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.”

A. Firmly stand and you will be supported

God is promising to deliver them and that the battle belongs to the Lord. That they only need to station themselves and watch and wait for the salvation of Jehovah. Now, as we know from this story, God sent the armies of the nations into confusion and they attack one another while the armies of Judah came upon this scene and they were lying before them, these men who had been slain.

Now this is a powerful example of how God can move in your behalf. Now, let me just add to the story, God does not always move the same way. This is one of the ways, but God does not always move the same way every time in every circumstance. It’s important to recognize that. This is one of the powerful ways that God has moved but that’s why you pray and that’s why you wait, that’s why you ask for God to reveal Himself in your particular circumstance. There are many different ways that God may bring victory, that God may bring help. For example, God may strengthen you in the midst of the trouble. David is the one who wrote, see, “By my God I can run upon a troop.”

David is the one running up on the troupe. He’s not standing while God does it. In David’s case, he’s out there in the thick of the battle believing that God is the one who strengthens him. By my God, I can leap over a wall. He trains my hands for battle so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. He strengthens me in the midst of that then he says, “Your help makes me great.” There’s one example of how God can help. God can rescue by you being in the thick of the thing and God’s strengthening you in the thick of the battle but here is an example where God may tell you not to fight at all. Stand by, watch as God does it. God’s going to do it. God’s going to move in your behalf.

I tell you, you do a study through the Scriptures, you would actually find quite a number of examples where God says, you do not need to fight in this thing. God will do this thing. There are examples like David where he will strengthen. No, you are in it. You are in the middle of it. God’s strengthening you for it but here, there are many examples like this. No, don’t be in it, stand by and watch. There’s an interesting scene that unfolds later on in the history of Israel when the army of Syria surrounded the walls of Jerusalem and their captain called out to the people selling on the wall but the King had given a word of instruction. “Do not answer him. Do not answer him a word.”

That was God’s instruction. Not only are you not going to engage in this battle, you’re not going to say anything either. Sometimes silence is the most powerful answer. See, God may bring help in many different ways. I have seen God do amazing things revealing and helping. One of the ways that I’ve seen God help is by bringing things to my mind when I’m praying. Here’s an example. Just this last week. Many of you know, of course, we’re doing a construction project and we’re about ready to undertake a big part of the project where there’s a lot of wood framing and I was meeting with the framings contractor.

I said, “Oh, this section here, there’s a steel beam there.” He said, yes let me be clear, “I don’t do steel, I do wood.” “Well, the architect calls for a steel beam there.” “We don’t do steel.” “Okay. I need to find someone who can do steel?” “Correct.” By the way, they’re about six months out. What? This is not good. I just went to my office. “God, what are we going to do? We can’t put this whole thing on hold for six months. What are we going to do?” I texted a friend like, “Do you know anybody that does steel?” He’s, “Well, I can put some feelers out, but no.”

I thought, “What am I going to–?” I’m sitting and praying, “God, what am we going to do?” This thing came to my mind. “Well, 15 years ago when you remodeled, there was a guy who did steel.” “Well, yes, that’s right. I wonder if I can still find–” I didn’t know who he was. I couldn’t remember who he was. Where are my notebooks? There were notebooks from the last thing we did. Can I find my notebooks? I asked one of the team to go and they went and found the archives in some musty dusty closet, and they, “Oh, we found some notebooks” and “Oh, good.” I started thumbing through, “Oh, here is the page with the steel.” Found in 30 seconds.

I call him. 15 years ago, “Dennis.” “Yes.” “You answered your phone. This is Rich at Calvary Chapel.” “Oh, Rich, how are you doing?” I say, “You remember me?” “Sure. Looks like you’re doing a construction project.” I go, “Really? You know about that?” “I track you. I follow you.” “Lord, you’re good.” He says, “Need some steel?” You are the man.

There was another time. Many of you know God miraculously provided for me to be able to go to Bible college. It was nothing short to miraculous and I’m now going to Bible college and God miraculously provided, but we still were– I was making very little money as a part-time youth guy and we got to a point where we were out of money and we were out of food.

I remember I was sitting at the cafeteria eating my last peanut butter and jelly sandwich on heels. I know. Wrapped in aluminum foil so I could reuse the aluminum foil. I know, and this is my last sandwich and I said, “God, we’re out.” You know what, I tell you, an interesting thing happened. I actually got excited because I thought, “You know what this means? This means you’re going to do a miracle. That’s what that means. That means you’re going to reveal something. That’s what that means. I know this one. I know that God’s going to do something.”

I’m like, praying, “God, what are we going to do? What am I going to do? We’re out. We have nothing.” Then I remembered. This came to my mind and I said, Oh, there was this older woman who needed someone to chop wood and wanted some of the youth to come and chop wood. I called, her name is Mary. I called, “Mary, did anybody ever cut your wood for you?” “No, dear. No one ever did.” I said, “Well, the winter is coming. Would you like me to come chop your wood for you?” “Oh, that would mean so much to me, dear. Thank you so much.” “Are you still paying $20?” “Yes I would love to do that, dear.” “Oh, thank you.”

I’ll tell you what, that was the most glorious wood shopping job ever because $20, now, this is a few years ago back in the ’80s, that goes somewhere. Then, okay, I’m chopping the wood and everything. Then a couple days later in school, someone came up to me and he said, “Hey, there’s an opportunity for someone to manage these apartments where you can get like free rent and free utilities and a small monthly stipend. Are you interested in that?” “Oh, yes, I am.”

God can answer in all manner of ways, but then there’s this back to our story. In 2nd Chronicles:20, a principle is unfolded, “Firmly stand–“, Jehoshaphat says as they wake up the next morning, they get up early and they’re about ready to march to the place of the battle, they overlook and he gives a speech. When they wake up before they march off, he gives this speech. Verse 20 but in this speech, he says, “If you will firmly stand, you will be supported. You will be established.”

They rose up early. “Listen to me, oh, Judah, put your trust in the Lord. You will be established.” You will be supported. It’s an interesting play in words there as you see the Hebrew, it’s like firmly rely on His support and you will be a supported, like firmly lean and you will be supported, firmly trust and you will be established. “See, for the eyes of the Lord are searching for those whose heart is holy after Him, that He might strongly support them.”

He’s like looking for people that He can strongly support. You don’t have to try to wrestle this out of heaven. You don’t have to try to somehow convince Him. He’s looking for opportunity. Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear–” this is God speaking. “Do not fear, I am with you.” That’s why you don’t be afraid, because I’m with you. Don’t anxiously look about you, anxiously, anxiety. Don’t do that. Don’t have anxiety as you– No, because I am your God. Do you not know?

Listen, “I will strengthen you. Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you.” That’s the same thing. “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I will support you.” See, when you’ve walked with God long enough, when you’ve walked with God through many troubles and you’ve seen that, you’ve seen His strong support, you will begin to rely upon it. You will build life on that foundation. You will strongly rely and He will strongly support. You will be able to say, “I know my God.”

Next time when you enter a trouble, when you get into a great difficulty, you will be able to say, “I know my God, I know how He moves. I know my God, I know He rescues. I know He saves. I know He delivers. I know my God.”

B. There is power in praise

Then there’s this, it will end with this. There is power in praise. They get up early. He gives that speech and then he gets the the musicians and the singers out in front of the army and they begin to praise as they head out of the camp, singing and shouting, praising. “When they began–“, it says, Verse 22, “When they began singing and praising, that’s when the Lord did it. That’s when the Lord set the ambushes and set them upon themselves, it’s when they began to sing, when they began to praise. There is power in praise.

Why is worship, the singing, of the words of God, why is that so important, because there’s power in it. That’s why. It’s giving expression to your relationship to Him, your trust in Him, your faith in Him and so when he put the singers and the musicians out in front, He said, “Get in front of the army and I want you to give thanks to the Lord and give thanks because His loving kindness is everlasting.

Would you notice this? Would you notice that they worshiped before the victory? Some people– I’ll give you thanks after you’ve done it. I’ll give thanks after you’ve rescued. If you prove yourself to me, then I’ll worship. I love this example because they set out to worship before there was even a victory at all because I know it. Your loving kindness is everlasting and my response to you is not dependent on how you move. I trust you no matter what happens my life. Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him. He is mine and I am His and there is no other. Amen. Let’s give him praise.

Father, we are so thankful to you. You are amazing. What great truths are these? God we take hold of them to live them, to abide in them. Church, how many today would say to the Lord, I give you praise for I know that your loving kindness is everlasting. You’ve already proven yourself to me and I will rely on your help for there is no other rock on which I stand. I will rely on your help because there is none other, there is no other rock, there is no other name. There is no other God. I rely on you and you alone.

Church is that your heart? Would you say that to the Lord by just raising your hand as a prayer, as a declaration? I just want to say it. There is none other, you’ve already proven yourself to me. I will stand on this rock. I will build my life upon it. God, we honor you and we thank you now in Jesus’ powerful name and every–

The Blessings of Listening Well
2 Chronicles 18:1-27
October 29-30, 2022     

This message is about the wisdom of listening well to the words of life that God speaks because there’s a difference between listening and listening well. See, God sends His Word with a purpose to accomplish that for which He sent it, which is to do that which is good and glorious in your life, to build the foundation on which you can build your life. The Word of God that He sends forth is not always an easy Word.

That’s where some people struggle. Many people, they only want the easy thing. Here’s the thing. The easy is not always the best. In fact, for those who insist on everything being easy are going to find that it actually brings more difficulties. That’s the paradox. If you insist, oh, I only do the easy things of life, then it will bring great troubles and trials and difficulties.

Those who are willing to hear the words of life, even the difficult words, will find that God is drawing you into the way of greatest blessing. That you will find that God is trying to spare you from great troubles and to bring to you great blessings. Now, that brings us to our story. Our story begins in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel is divided now, 10 tribes in the north, two in the south. Jehoshaphat became king now after his Father Asa was laid to rest in the city of David.

It tells us– this is all backstory. Tells us that the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father, David. He sought the God of his father, took hold of the Word of God, and did not act like Israel did in the north. That is a tremendous comparison about the spiritual condition of things in the north to the south. Oh, were things spiritually dark in the north, but in here Jehoshaphat he’s taken hold of the Word of God.

God’s going to bless him and that of course is a tremendous spiritual principle at work. We were looking at this last week. The spiritual principle is true. Whether it be a nation or a people or a person. Those who take hold of the things of God will find their lives strengthened and blessed. Notice, for example, Psalm 1:2-3, where it says, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.” The Word of God.

Notice the result in his life. “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water.” See, that refreshing resource of life, he’s firmly planted by that so that it yields its fruit in its season, and in whatever he does, he prospers.” There’s a great spiritual principle at work. Jehoshaphat, he pursued the ways of God in his life, therefore, God strengthened the kingdom in his control and Jehoshaphat was blessed of God.

Now, Jehoshaphat even did something that I have not read anywhere else in the Bible. You find it, let me know. He did something very interesting and unusual. What a great idea. He took officials and his kingdom combined them with Levites, these are the priests, and he set them traveling throughout all of the cities of Judah taking with them the book of the law of the Lord– the Word of God– and teaching the people from the book. He did this city by city by city. What a great idea is this. Biblical conferences, teaching the people the Word of God, what a great idea. Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater and was blessed with riches and honor.

That’s our backstory. That brings us to chapter 18. Jehoshaphat was doing so well. That’s the backstory. He decided to build an alliance with the king of Israel in the north. Problem is, the king of Israel in the north was none other than Ahab. Maybe you heard of Ahab. In the Northern Kingdom, it started out bad, and then it went to badder, and then it went to worse, and then it went to worser, and then it went to worsiest, and then you get to Ahab. That’s how bad it was. There was nothing good about Ahab. He was the worst of the worst of the kings in the north.

It tells us not only did he build altars Baal and Ashtoreth, he went and served and worshiped them. As if that were a trivial thing, he went and married that wicked woman, Jezebel. Even today, her name is recognized as the very epitome of evil. I used to think no one would actually name their daughters, Jezebel and then I looked it up. Some people do. Some people actually name their daughters, Jezebel.

However, on the list of popular names, Jezebel rings 3843rd, and the percentage of people who name their daughters Jezebel, the percentage is something like 0.000666% or something like that. Now, we can assume that Jehoshaphat’s intention in building this marriage alliance, his intention was in the right place. After all, Israel in the north, they’re our brothers, why not build an alliance? Answer, because God did not want to build an alliance. God didn’t ask him to do that. God wanted to bring hard troubles on them because they had turned their back. They had forsaken God and they went after the Baals and Ashtoreth and all of that was in the world.

Jehoshaphat never asked God. As we are going to see in the story, it’s going to get him into the thick of great trouble. Only with the help of God does he get out of that trouble. Oh, there will be more trouble still to come later on because his son– this was the marriage alliance. His son married the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Can you imagine having Jezebel as your mother-in-law?

This has been done. The marriage alliance has already been done. In other words, the seeds of trouble have already been sown and it will not end well. To quote from that famous prophet, Hosea, “They have sown to the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind.” In other words, if you sow something worthless and foolish, it will result in a veritable storm of consequence. There are great spiritual lessons from this story and they have to do with listening well to the good words of God, of taking hold of them, even if the word is a difficult word. Let’s read it.

We’re in second Chronicles 18. I gave you the backstory. Now we begin in verse one. Now, Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, which I’ll explain why, but then, he aligned himself by marriage with Ahab. His son married Jezebel’s daughter. Now, some years later, he went down to visit Ahab at Samaria– this would be the capital in the north. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for him and the people who were with him. In other words, he’s putting on the writs. Bringing out the chef and the animals. You are prepared. He’s just going to have a tremendous feast. After all, we’re family now, right?

Then while he was there, Ahab induced him to go up against Ramoth-Gilead. The Syrians had taken this city and he wanted to go against Syria. Ahab, verse three, king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth-Gilead?” He said to him, “I am as you are and my people as your people, and we will be with you in this battle.” However, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “First please inquire for the Word of the Lord.” Now the word Lord is in all caps, and it is the name of the God of Israel, Jehovah or Yahweh. It’s a very important distinction here.

First, before we do this, we should inquire of Jehovah. Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, but these are prophets of Baal, 400 of them. He said, “Shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead or shall I refrain?” They said, “Sure, go up. Yes, god will give it into your hand, into the hand of the king. Sure, sure, sure, go ahead.” Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of Jehovah here that we may inquire of him?” He didn’t really trust these 400 prophets of Baal. “Is there not a prophet of Jehovah?” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah, but I hate him because he never prophesized anything good concerning me. It’s always evil.”

He is Micaiah son of Imlah, but Jehoshaphat said, “Oh, well that not the king say such things. Don’t, speak like that.” Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Quickly, go bring Micaiah, Imlah’s son.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, there were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their royal robes, and they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

They’re putting on this big show. Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah, made horns of iron for himself, and he said, “Thus says Jehovah00”, what do you mean thus says, Jehovah, these are prophets of Baal. Thus says– you’re going to speak for Jehovah? You have no idea. Oh, but there, “Thus says, Jehovah, with these horns of iron, you shall gore the Arameans until they are consumed.” All the Prophets were thus prophesy saying, “Go on up to Ramoth-Gilead and succeed. For the lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

Now, the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Now listen, behold, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king, please let your word be like one of them and speak favorably”, but Micaiah answered and said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” Now, right away you got to like Micaiah.

When he came to the king, the king said to Micaiah, “Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle or shall we refrain?” Now, listen to this answer. It’s almost flipping, almost sarcastic. He almost mockingly, “Sure, go ahead, go on up. Sure, why not? Yes, you will succeed.” Then the Kings said to him, “How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

Apparently, Micaiah had grown quite tired of Ahab and his attitude. “How many times must I adjure you to speak nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep, which have no shepherd, and Jehovah said, “These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.”” Then the king of Israel turned to Jehoshaphat, “See, didn’t I tell you he wouldn’t prophesy anything good concerning me, but evil?” Man, I hate this guy.

Micaiah said, “Therefore–” All is not done. “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne and all His hosts of heaven standing on His right and left, and the Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab, king of Israel to go and fall to his death at Ramoth-Gilead?” One said this, another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, “I will entice him.” The Lord said, “How?” And he said, “I will go and put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets. And then He said, “You are to entice him, and you are to prevail. Go and do so.” Now, therefore, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these, your prophets, for the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”

Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek. He slapped him in the face, and he said, “Oh, how did the spirit of Jehovah pass from me to speak to you?” Micaiah said, “Oh, behold, you will see it. You will see it on that day that you enter an inner room to hide yourself in that day of that great disaster.” Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, return him to Amon, the governor of the city and to Joash, the king’s son, and you say, “Thus says the king, “Put this man in prison and feed him sparing with bread and water until I return safely.” And Micaiah said, “If you return safely, the Lord has not spoken to me,” but then he said, “Listen well, you people, listen well.””

I. Inquire of the Lord Before You Move

Oh, is that a great story or what? This is filled with tremendous insight and spiritual application starting with this, inquire of the Lord before you move. This is a principle you’re going to see it’s a principle of the Lord, wise is the one who takes hold of it. Before you make a great move, before you make a decision– There are so many consequence of decisions, inquire of the Lord first.

Now, Jehoshaphat, he understood this principle even though he did not always apply it. He didn’t inquire of the Lord before he made that marriage alliance with Ahab. You can be sure of that, and now Ahab connives a plan to get Jehoshaphat’s army to fight with his army so as to defeat the Syrians. Now, at first, Jehoshaphat said, “I am as you are and my people as your people and we will be with you in battle.”

He didn’t inquire of the Lord before he committed his troops, but then he realized, “We ought to inquire of the Lord if we should go against Syria at all.” Now, at first, thinking of Israel as we read he had assembled 400 prophets of Baal and inquired, “Should we go against Ramoth-Gilead or should we refrain?” They gave an answer and they gave the answer that they knew he wanted to hear. They didn’t have any spiritual insight. They just told him what he wanted to hear.

A. Your flesh doesn’t want the truth

There is where a great spiritual lesson comes. Jehoshaphat doesn’t trust this. “Isn’t there a prophet of Jehovah here that we may inquire with him?” Ahab answers, “Well, there is this one man, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good. It’s always evil about me.” There’s the lesson. The flesh doesn’t want the truth. The flesh doesn’t want the truth. I mean, how much more must God do to get his attention? You can read it in the story. Over and over, Micaiah had warned Ahab, and Ahab refused to hear the truth. Why? Because the flesh doesn’t want the truth. The flesh wants what it wants when it wants it. The flesh doesn’t like being told no. Yet over and over God gave him opportunity.

See, one of the great insights is to understand that the flesh– I’m talking about the flesh nature, wants very different things than the soul. If there’s a conflict within, there is the conflict right there. The flesh has very different desires than the soul. The flesh wants fleshly things and is driven by fleshly desires. The soul wants soulful things, and if there’s conflict, there it is right there.

See, not only did God leave Micaiah there in the court of Ahab to speak truth, but as we know from the story, from the history, rather, God sent the most powerful prophet in the Old Testament to Ahab. His name is Elijah. This is a very interesting thing to see the heart of God in this. There’s Israel in the north. They had turned and forsaken God. They went after Baal and Ashtoreth. What did God do in response? When Israel is at their greatest spiritual darkness, what does He do? He sends to them the most powerful prophet of the Old Testament, Elijah, because there is a principle that reveals the heart of God.

B. God is relentlessly pursuing

God is pursuing and God is relentlessly pursuing. God is not giving up. He is relentless, and he’ll even send the greatest prophet of the Old Testament to make His power known. What more must God do? Now, we know that God wants us to seek Him. You look at the Scriptures, you will see– This is a theme, very important, God wants you to seek Him with all your heart. Jesus said this, “Ask, and it shall be given. Seek, and you’ll find. Knock, and the door will be opened.” Now, we know this is a tremendous principle. God wants you to seek, but what we also must understand is that God Himself is pursuing you.

God is relentlessly pursuing even if you wander away. You got to see this. God doesn’t quit. God doesn’t throw up His hands. God will pursue you. He will be on and the Holy Spirit will be after you, and the conviction of the Lord will be on you because God will relentlessly pursing you. I think there’s enough people– Amen, let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. There’s enough people who’ve been in that condition that knows that God will not quit.

Ahab, it tells us, did more to provoke the Lord, God of Israel than all of the kings of Israel who were before him. That’s why God sent Elijah to make His power known. How much more must God do? In fact, Ahab’s introduction to Elijah was this. Elijah, this is his introduction. Elijah appeared before the court of Ahab and gave one of the shortest, most powerful speeches any man of God has ever given.

Notice 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah appears before the court of Ahab and says this, “As Jehovah, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand–” in contrast to those Baals and Ashtoreth that you say you follow. I stand before Jehovah and “As Jehovah, the God of Israel lives, surely there will be neither dew nor rain these years except at my word.” Here’s the thing, they look to Baal and Ashtoreth to make their lands fertile, these were the gods of fertility to be the source of rain. Elijah was set by God to shut the heavens, you look to Baal and Ashtoreth as the god of fertility to bring rain on your land, fine, let them bring rain. I just shut the heavens.

What followed was three and a half years of drought. That is disaster for any people. Three and a half years, would you take note of the time period? Very important. Three and a half years. At the end of three and a half years, Elijah appeared again to Ahab. When Ahab saw him, Elijah, he said, “Is that you? You troubler of the Israel.” Elijah says, “I am not the one who has troubled Israel, you have. For you have forsaken the Word of the Lord and followed the Baals”

Then he laid down one of the greatest epic challenges known to man. 1 Kings 18:19, he said, “Now then-“, he said to Ahab, “-gather to me all of Israel at Mount Carmel and bring the other 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” Bring them all, Mount Carmel– By the way, whenever we go to Israel, we love to go to Mount Carmel at this very place. You can just imagine the scene unfolding when you go to this place.

What followed was a showdown of epic proportions. First, Elijah spoke to the people and challenged them all with one of the greatest challenges of the Bible. 1 Kings 18:21, “Elijah came near to all the people and he said, “How long are you going to waver between two opinions? How long are you going to be in this place? Listen, if Jehovah is God, follow Him. If Baal is god, fine, follow him, but is he?” Then all the people did not answer him a word.

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal, “Build an altar. Set an ox upon it. Call out to Baal to answer by fire.” And they called out all day long, hour after hour, they called out. Finally, about mid day, Elijah starts to mock them, “Call out louder. Perhaps he’s on a journey.” “Call out louder. Maybe he’s in the restroom.” Call out louder. Maybe he’s sleeping.” They called out louder, even began to cut themselves. At the end of the day, Elijah built an altar to Jehovah, drenched it with water, called out to God in the simplest of prayers, “Oh God, Jehovah, God of our fathers, answer us now.” Fire from heaven fell. God answered, consumed the offering and even the altar.” What more must God do to get their attention?

You know what’s interesting? The Scripture tells us, in the latter days, there will be a period of great tribulation. It’s a seven-year period of time when God’s wrath will be made known. What more must God do to get their attention? What’s interesting is that that seven-year period is set in two three and a half year periods of time. What’s also interesting is during that same time when God is making His power known, He sends forth 144,000 Messianic believers in Joshua as the Messiah as witnesses in the darkest spiritual time. What does he do? He sends 144,000 Messianic Jewish believers in Jesus Christ.

God is moving to get their attention. What more must God do? Even today, God is declaring, God is making Himself known. Notice this, this is Acts 17:30-31, Paul is making a great speech. Notice what Paul says, “God, having overlooked times of ignorance, God is now declaring that all people everywhere must repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men, that God raised Him from the dead.”

II. Wise is the One Who Listens When God Speaks

What more must God do? God has made His power known. God has furnished proof and evidence. God has demonstrated the greatness of His love and the greatness of His power when He raised His Son from the dead on the third day. God has made Himself known. Amen. Let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. Amen.

Back to our story in 2 Chronicles 18, here’s the thing we need to see. Wise is the one who listens when God speaks. Wise is the one who listens well. There’s a difference between listening and listening well. What is the heart of the one who listens well when God speaks? This is the one who holds God’s Word in high regard. This is the one who respects God, who reveres God, and therefore, holds His Word in high regard. This is the one who knows that God’s ways and God’s thoughts are higher than his ways, and that if he would walk in the ways of God, that he would be blessed. Therefore, he holds the Word of God in high regard.

Notice Isaiah 55, the whole of the chapter is amazing, but notice verses 7 and 9. God is speaking, “Let the wicked forsake his way. Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Wise is the one who holds the ways of God, the thoughts of God, the Word of God in high regard, because God is trying to keep you from trouble. There’s enough trouble in this broken down messed up world that we don’t need trouble from our own foolish mistakes. Anybody agree with me?

A. God is trying to keep you from trouble

There’s enough trouble in this world. We don’t need trouble from our own foolishness and God is trying to keep you from trouble. Notice verse 14, now we assume here that Micaiah has grown weary of Ahab’s attitude because he answers sarcastically oh, sure, go up, yes. Go ahead. You’ll succeed very likely, probably, maybe. Go ahead. Ahab immediately picks up the sarcasm, “How many times must I adjure you to speak nothing but the truth in the name of Jehovah?” Then Micaiah gives that ominous answer, “I saw Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd.” Didn’t I tell you when he only prophesize evil? Man, I hate this guy.

Now, here’s the thing, this is not just a word for Ahab, this is a warning to Jehoshaphat. You may when you read the story think this is just about Ahab. Oh, no. You can almost hear the Word of the Lord, do you see what’s happening? Jehoshaphat, are you looking at this? Jehoshaphat is the one who asked for the prophet of Jehovah. There was Jehoshaphat standing back watching this unfold. Look deeply. Do you see this? Right then and right there, Jehoshaphat should have ended this entire campaign. You don’t see this?

This is a tremendous important lesson, look deeply at what’s happening. There are spiritual forces behind much and we’ve seen with our eyes. Do you not perceive this? Look deeply. What do you see? You’re the one who asked for the prophet. Unwisely, Jehoshaphat ignores these warnings and joins Ahab in the battle. Then the story unfolds that Ahab tells Jehoshaphat, “Now, listen, I will disguise myself and go into the battle as a common soldier. You, you put on your royal robes to enter into the battle.” Jehoshaphat goes along with his ridiculous plan, “Okay.”

He’s far too accommodating. He goes along with his ridiculous plan because you see, Ahab knows that the king of Syria had given the word, “When this battle is enjoined, seek no one great or small, I want only one, I want that king. Pursue nothing and no one, I want that king. I want Ahab.”

Ahab knows this. He tells Jehoshaphat, “Oh, put on your royal robes when you go into the battle. Perhaps they’ll see you and think you’re me.” What a thing is this? This is the father-in-law of his daughter, but he goes along with this ridiculous plan. When the Syrians see Jehoshaphat, at first, they pursue him because they were told, “Seek no one great or small, I want that king.” When they see him in his royal robes, they think it’s Ahab and so they’re bearing down on him. As he sees the enemy bearing down on him, he calls out for help, “Oh, God!” He’s this close to disaster, “Oh, God, help!”

Tells us that the Lord did help and God diverted them from him when they bore down and they could see this is not the one. for they had been told, “I want no one great or small. I want one.” They diverted from him and God saved him. Now later on, when Jehoshaphat safely returned to Jerusalem, he was confronted by a prophet with the Word of the Lord. Notice this is 2 Chronicles 19, great lesson here for us. 2 Chronicles 19:2-4, the prophet is confronting Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate Jehovah and so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord? There is some good in you, but you have set your heart to seek God.”

Should you have done this thing? This thing was very foolish, this thing was not wise, but there is some good in you, for you have set your heart to seek God. Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, went out again amongst the people, and brought them back to the Lord, God of their fathers. Here’s the thing in the story. Jehoshaphat learns. This was unwise, this was tragedy. It almost cost him his life. It was almost a disaster, but God saved him and then he learned and became one of the greatest kings in the south.

There’s that lesson, if you do something unwise, make a very poor decision, can you learn from it? God is not done. Can you learn from it and grow into greater things? God has greater things. God does not cast you out when you make foolish decision, when you learn from it. He became one of the great kings.

See, first of all, it’s wisdom to inquire of God before you make the move, before you make that decision, and if God says “No”, you can be sure that He is trying to save you from many troubles. Oh, there is trouble enough in this life. We don’t need the troubles that come from our own foolishness. Notice Psalm 32:7, “God, You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with songs of deliverance.” God answers Psalm 32:8 a few verses later, God answers and says, “I will instruct you, and I will teach you in the way in which you should go.”

B. Truth is beautiful on the soul

What a great word is this, “I will instruct you. I will teach you the way in which you should go.” “I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” This is a great word, “If you would have a relationship to me by which I could just simply counsel you with my eye,” now every parent understands that the parent can give that look, just that eye. I can just give you my eye and the children know right away what dad is thinking. We’re out and about visiting another family or whatever, the kids start acting up, and then dad gives the look. They look, “Okay dad, time to time to change.” That’s the look. You know what? Let’s have a relationship where I can just counsel you with my eye.

Don’t be like the horse or a mule. A horse needs a bit and a bridle. A mule is so stubborn. How do you get the attention of a mule, that stubborn mule thing? How do you get the attention of a mule? Yes, with two by four, that’s what. Don’t be like that. They have no understanding. He adds this, “Listen, many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, love and kindness shall surround him.” It’s a great word because then we see this, truth is beautiful on the soul. The flesh does not want the truth, but the soul, truth is beautiful.

Micaiah reveals the inner workings in the spiritual realm. Notice verse 19, the Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab, king of Israel, to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?” The spirit said, “I will go and I’ll put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all those prophets.” The Lord said, “You are to entice him and prevail, go and do.” Now at first, it’s difficult for some to accept that God should allow a deceiving word to be used for His purpose until you realize that He was laying the whole thing out. There’s no deceiving word. The whole thing is laid bare. Everything is laid bare before Ahab and Jehoshaphat so that they can discern one from the other. It’s all laid out before you, discern one from the other and choose.

You see this, God reveals it in several places. Here’s one, Deuteronomy 30:15-19, God says to the people, “See, I set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity, choose.” It’s all laid out before you. You can see all of it. I show you the results. I show you the consequence. I set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse so choose life. I love you. I want you to find life. Choose life that you may live, you and your descendants, but I will lay it bare. Everything was laid bare before Ahab and Jehoshaphat and each must choose his own way.

Ahab did not regard God. Ahab did not respect Jehovah. He did not regard truth as something to take hold of and so God used it by a sovereign hand. In fact, it’s interesting verse 33 later in this chapter tells us that when the battle was enjoined that a certain man, a Syrian, drew his bow at random. Now, this was very common. The front lines were the infantry, and then just immediately behind the front lines, were the Archers. It was very common for the archers just to set an arrow on the bow and set it flying randomly, perhaps hit something. It says a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel that day in the one place, in the joint of his armor.

He said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around. Take me out of this fight, I am severely wounded,” and at sunset, he died. I submit there was nothing random about this at all. God’s hand moved, and God’s hand is still moving today. Amen. Let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely.

Jehoshaphat learned one of the greatest lessons of his life and became one of the great kings of the South. Ahab, net disaster. God lays it bare. God’s Word is beautiful on the soul of the one who holds the Word in high regard, who will take hold of it. Those who take hold of it, will find that God will build in you a beautiful soul with a beautiful life with a beautiful relationship to the living God. Do you respect God? Do you honor him? Then hold His Word in high regard. Wise is this the one who listens well because God will bless you and will bring about that which is beautiful on the soul. Let’s pray.

Father, we love you. We thank you. Your heart is revealed through your Word. Your desire is to bless. You lay bare the consequences of life and say, I’m asking that you would choose well, choose life. Church, how many today would say, “Lord, I want to make it known I respect You, I revere You, I hold your Word in high regard. I want to take hold so that You would do that which is beautiful in my soul. Lord, do that in me. That which is beautiful is the desire of my soul. I regard your Word highly. Use it, Lord, in my life.”

Church, is that you? Would you say that to the Lord? Is that your prayer? Would you just raise your hand to the Lord as a way of saying it as a prayer to the Lord? I just thank You, Lord. I hold You in high regard, so I regard Your Word. God, I want to take hold of it. I want it to bless my life. God, I love You and honor You for all that You’re doing, in Jesus’ powerful name, and everyone said–

The Strong Support of God
2 Chronicles 16:1-10
October 22-23, 2022

I want to begin with a question, and that’s this, where does your help come from? On whom do you rely for strength? If you rely on self, that would be self-reliance. If you pull yourself up by the bootstraps, as the old saying goes, then you are self-reliant. In whom do you put your trust? Many, I think, know that the official motto of the United States is, in fact, “In God we trust.” That’s an official motto of the United States. That phrase was passed into law to become the official motto in the 1950s.

The origin of it goes back to the Civil War, where the union took hold of that phrase to capture their reliance on God, “In God we trust,” and so it became official. In the 1950s, the joint resolution of Congress was passed, signed into law by President Eisenhower and that law required that that phrase, “In God we trust,” would appear on all American currency, whether it be coin or paper.

Now here’s the thing, the phrase is no longer true. The nation no longer relies on God, and in fact, great efforts have been made to remove God from all its institutions. I submit that the farther the nation removes itself from God, the weaker it will become. We are seeing this before our very eyes and there is a spiritual reason behind it because there is a great spiritual principle at work. Now, this principle applies, whether it be a person, a people, or a nation.

That principle is this, when you rely on God, you are strengthened and increased. When you turn away from God and rely on anything else as a source of strength, you become weaker. That is true for a person or a people or a nation because it’s about the foundation of your trust, it’s about faith, on whom do you rely? Now, that brings us this 2 Chronicles:16. The backstory is this, the nation is at this point divided. North, in ten tribes, southern, two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. The king at this time is King Asa. He is the great-grandson of Solomon.

At this point, no longer was Israel that great nation that it had once become under David and Solomon. They were a world power, literally, as the nations around them brought tribute in recognition of the strength of that nation that had relied on God. From that high point under David and Solomon, their downfall began shortly after they reached that pinnacle of strength. Solomon, as we were looking at the story, built that temple there in Jerusalem. That temple was built to honor God and it was like one of the wonders of the world.

It was what Solomon also built that became the problem. Yes, he had built a great temple, but he also built these altars to the gods of his foreign wives, meaning, you know the story, he collected all of these foreign wives and his heart was drawn to them in love and it caused his heart to fall away from the Lord. He built these altars to these gods. The result is predictable because there’s a great spiritual principle at work. Solomon no longer relied on God’s help or God’s strength, so the nation became weaker.

Now, that brings us to 2 Chronicles:16, Solomon’s great-grandson, Asa, was king of Israel there in the south. Now, it tells us that at first he did good and right in the sight of the Lord, He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, God of their Fathers, to observe God’s law and commandments, and the result was good. God blessed them and gave them rest on every side and they prospered because there’s this spiritual principle behind it. Asa even built an army of more than 500,000, bearing shields and spears.

Now, we read about this in the chapters leading up, at one point, the king of Ethiopia, now that’s in North Africa, the king of Ethiopia came out against them with an army of a million fighting men. This is just epic in proportion. Asa, of course, is going to draw his army out to meet them. When they go up in battle for nation, Asa called out to the Lord his God for help, and his prayer is very famous. Listen to the words, I’ll just give you some of it. He says, “Help us, oh Lord our God, for In God we trust, and in your Name we have come against this great multitude. Oh Lord, you are our God. Let not man prevail against you.”

Now, that’s a great prayer, a declaration of their trust and their reliance upon God. It tells us that the Lord routed the Ethiopians. In other words, the Lord’s strong support was with them before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled before them, then Israel carried away a great plunder and returned to Jerusalem.

Now, as they were returning to Jerusalem, the Spirit of God came upon a prophet who came out to meet Asa and gave a word to him from the Lord. It was a great word, and that word was this, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you, but as for you, be strong, do not lose courage for there is great reward for you in this.” These words were so encouraging to Asa that it caused him to draw together all the people thereof Judah and Benjamin to renew their commitment to the Lord.

How right is this? “We’re going to recommit ourselves to the Lord,” to seek the Lord with all their heart. It tells us not only the people of Judah and Benjamin, but all the people who had come from the north, they defected the kingdom in the north because they saw what God was doing in the south. God brought these great– This great multitude from the north came. God always has a remnant. Great part of the story. That brings us to the spiritual lessons from 2 Chronicles:16. Asa had done well; I gave you the backstory. He had done very, very well. He had relied on God to help against the vast army that had come against him.

Now in chapter 16, another army comes against them, but it’s not the vast army that he faced before, it’s the army from the north the king of Israel comes out. Instead of relying on God, he comes up with his own clever plan, and it is a clever plan. His plan is to buy his way out of this thing by sending money, silver, and gold to the king of Aram, which is just north up there in Israel. “Let’s make a treaty, I’ll pay you, I’ll pay you very well.” That’s part of the story.

As a result of that move, that decision to come up with his own clever plan and to do it, God sent a prophet by the name of Hanani to Asa, king of Judah, with a word from God. That word which God sent contains one of the greatest verses in the Bible. It has become, for me, like a life verse. Do you have life verses? Do you know what I’m talking about? Verses that mean so much to you that you take hold of them as a theme of your life. Life verse.

I. The Eyes of the Lord are Searching

Well, there’s a life verse here for me in this chapter, and it’s this. It’s a principle that, again, the prophet is speaking to the king. “The eyes of the Lord range to and fro throughout the whole earth in order to show Himself strong in behalf or to strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” Now let’s read the story. We are in 2 Chronicles 16:1, “In the 36th year, the Asa’s reign, Baasha, king of Israel, came up against Judah and fortified Ramah,” this city, fortified it, “In order to prevent anyone from going out or coming into Asa, king of Judah.” It’s like a blockade, you might say, he’s building it up for that purpose.

“Now, Asa then–” here’s his clever plan. He’s coming up with his plan all on his own. “Asa then brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and from the King’s house and he sent them to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, very same city as Damascus, Syria today. He sent a message to Ben-Hadad there in Damascus saying this, “Let there be a treaty between you and me as between my father and your father. Behold, look, I send you money, silver, and gold. Go break your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me. I’ll pay you better. I’ll send you more. Break that treaty.” Ben-Hadad did it.

Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his army against the cities of Israel and then conquered Ijon and Dan and Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. Now it came about that when Baasha heard of this, that he ceased fortifying Ramah. He, in other words, stopped the idea of coming against and blockading and stopped that work. King Asa brought all Judah and it carried away the stones of Ramah and its timbers with which Baasha had been building. With them, he fortified his cities of Geba and Mizpah.

Now, at that time, Hanani the seer or the prophet came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him this, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and you did not rely on Jehovah, Yahweh, the Lord your God, therefore, the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. God was going to do a great thing. He was going to give you victory of the north and even over Aram, but now he’s escaped out of your hand. We’re not the Ethiopians and the Lubim and immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.”

Then comes that famous verse, that principle, “Do you not know the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth then He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have done foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars. You’ve acted foolishly in this. Asa was angry with that seer, with that prophet and put him in prison.” Talk about shooting the messenger. Why you’re angry, you’re the one who messed it up. He was enraged at him for this. Asa even oppressed some of the people. He was so in turmoil and anguish. He didn’t like being confronted, he didn’t like a word like that. He got angry. Great principles here.

These are the verses that we’re going to look at today. We’ll look, of course, at the verses around this at the Wednesday verse-by-verse service. I want us to look at this, particularly verse nine, great principles here out of this very famous verse. Starting with this, “The eyes of the Lord are searching. God is looking for those He can strongly support.” God wants to strongly support, to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is completely His.

A. God searches for those who will believe

In other words, God is looking for those who trust and rely on Him for help and support. In other words, God searches for those who will believe. God wants to show Himself strong. God is looking for those in whom He can show Himself strong to strongly support those who rely, whose heart is completely His. Now, reminds me, later on in the history of Israel when the king of Assyria grows strong and comes against Israel there in Jerusalem, that Hezekiah was king. The commander of the Australian Army sent a message to him saying, “What is this confidence you have? What is this? on whom do you rely that you have such confidence like that?” I just love that question.

Wouldn’t it be great if people said that about you? “What is this about you? What is this confidence that you have? What is this thing that you have in your life? What is this confidence?” He says, “Look, when a vast army of more than a million came out against Asa, he cried after God. Why? Because it was clear he was outgunned and outmanned. If God didn’t help, there would be no help.

In other words, many cry out to God when they’re out of options as if God was the last option to choose. Well, we’re out of options, so I guess we’ll turn to God now because we’re out of options. The point of the story is God ought not to be the last option, God ought to be the first and foremost option. That’s the whole point of the story. On whom do you rely? On whom do you trust? On whom do you look?

When Baasha, king of Israel in the north, came against Asa, he thought he could figure this thing out all in his own. Well, this is not nearly the trouble that that million army was. “I can figure this out. I don’t need God’s help.” He was very clever in his plan. “I’ll buy my way out of this thing. I’ll send money up there and we’ll make this treaty thing and he’ll break that treaty.” Very clever plan. He’s going to figure it out on his own.

I’ll tell you, I have been in ministry many, many years. I cannot tell you how many times people have said to me– they mess up, they do something, they get into some great trouble and you want to speak into it and they resist. “Look, I just got to figure this thing out on my own.” Oh, how many times have I heard that? My answer’s always the same, “No, you won’t figure this thing out on your own. It’s you figuring things out on your own that got you into this trouble in the first place. What we need is the help of God. You need to rely on God.”

Here’s the thing that’s very interesting in the story. Comes up with a clever plan. Sends this message with the treaty, king of the north, Ben-Hadad, listens and attacks Israel from the north so that Israel withdraws, which is to say it worked. Did it work? By all appearances didn’t look like it worked. That brings out a very important spiritual principle. Write this down. This is such a very important principle. Write this down, and don’t write it on paper, get a stone and a chisel. Write this down, “One of the worst things that can happen to a person is to do the wrong thing and win. One of the worst things that could ever happen is to win when you’ve done the wrong thing.”

Reminds me many years ago, a fellow came up to me and he asked me for advice. He was about to make a business decision. It was an investment thing. He knows I’ve got a background in business and thought, “Would you look at this and tell me what you think?” I said, “Sure.” I looked at it and I said, “No, this is not good. I cannot recommend this at all. I don’t think this is good. There are spiritual reasons and there are business reasons. I don’t believe you should do it.” “Okay, thank you for that.”

A couple months later, I ran into him and I said, “Hey, follow up, what happened on that thing?” He said, “Well, interesting, I went ahead and did it.” “You did?” He said, “I went ahead and did it and it worked.” So I said, spiritual principle, one of the worst things that can happen to a person is to do the wrong thing and win. It was still the wrong thing. Even if it worked, it was still the wrong thing. I don’t know, six months, eight months, whatever, later, I saw him again. He came up to me, he says, “Follow up. It crashed. It all fell apart. I lost all of it.”

There is a spiritual principle. What he discovered was that his own clever plan was far less than God’s plan. God intended to give him the army of the king of Aram to him as well as a victory over the north. Now Asa is making a treaty with the very one that God wanted him to defeat. It’s far less. In other words, our clever plans are so often far less than what God desires to do in our lives. Have you seen it? Our plans are far less than what God– I’ll tell you, I am so thankful that God has overridden some of my plans.

I can give you many stories. We don’t have time, but one of them is this, when I first came to the Lord, I was 11, and it was really a very powerful, moving moment for me and I just felt so strongly called to become a pastor. I dismissed it. I figured that happens everybody. When that person first comes to the Lord, they’re so excited, they got so much zeal. Of course, everybody wants to be a pastor. That’s the way I thought and so I dismissed it, but it was always there.

I was in the restaurant business and studied business management at the university, and so I thought that was going to be my life, but it was always there. An opportunity arose when I was in the restaurant business for church, they needed a youth leader, and so I’m a volunteer youth person and that worked into an opportunity to become a pastor or to go to school to become a pastor. God miraculously– Oh, it’s a long story, but He miraculously provided. Now I’m going to Bible College and I’m studying to be a pastor.

Then one day at Chapel, a missionary comes and speaks and I get so excited about what he’s doing in missions that I decided I’m going to be a missionary. I got so inspired. What happened was this, he was the captain of a mercy ship. They would go from port to port to port doing all these works of mercy, and they needed a Bible teacher who would, of course, teach the Bible along the way to those who would come on, and the staff and all that, “Oh, that’s perfect. I’m studying the Bible. Oh, that’s for me.”

I asked him it for a meeting and we had lunch and I’m explaining who I am and I’m excited now to be on– I’ve always had this romantic idea of being on the ocean and always love the ocean, and so we talk. He listens to my whole story. At the end of it, he says, “No, we don’t want you.” “What? We’re talking about me here. What do you mean you?” He said, “Look, no disrespect. I think you’re doing great things, but I don’t think you’re called to this. I think you’re called to be a pastor and you’re not called to being a missionary, so no, we don’t want you. I think you will do more for missions as a pastor than you can ever do for missions as a missionary. No, the answer is no.”

As it turns out, I get seasick just looking at the ocean, it would have been a disaster, complete, unmitigated disaster. Oh, God, thank you for overriding my plan.” Proverbs 19:21, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” Jeremiah 29:11, very famous, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans for welfare,” which means good. I’m going to– I have plans for you. I have plans for your life. I know the plans I have for you and they’re plans for welfare, for good, and not for calamity, to give you a future, to give you a hope.

B. God is seeking those who seek Him

Notice this in the story, God is seeking those who seek Him. If you seek Him, that Prophet said earlier, if you seek Him, He will let you find Him. God is seeking those who seek Him. He’s speaking of the seeking heart. There is in the soul of man a great searching, a great longing in the human soul because there’s something missing. People are looking for love, they’re looking for significance, they’re looking for meaning in life, they’re looking for fulfilment. The problem is they’re looking in all the wrong places. There’s nothing out there in the world that will satisfy the desire for significance, for meaning of life, for the fulfilment of the souls desire.

There’s nothing out there that will satisfy the souls searching, the souls desire, for the world appeals to the flesh, God satisfies the soul. God put that seeking, searching heart in the human soul so that it might find Him, that they might find their greatest desire is satisfied in Him and Him alone. Interestingly, when I was studying at the secular university, Oregon State, of course, later on, as you know, I got a wonderful opportunity and God provided that I could go to Bible College and then study at seminary.

When I was at the university, I took classes in psychology. They have an interesting phrase in psychology to describe a person who has reached their highest point of psychological development, and that is called self-actualization. This is supposed to be the highest level of psychological development according to secular studies. Self-actualization is described as self-fulfillment, I’m just quoting here, “Mainly when an individual becomes actualized in what he is potentially.”

In other words, he actually reaches his potential, the highest point of psychological development. Unfortunately, psychologists admit self-actualization rarely happens. We really don’t know anybody who’s done it, but that is the picture of the psychological highest point. I submit that self-actualization never happens. You know why? Because self-actualization and self-fulfillment contain the word self, and there’s the problem right there.

Self-fulfilment by definition means full of oneself. I submit that is a problem because God made the soul to be far greater than that. That’s very limited if that is the highest point that you believe you can achieve to self-fulfilment, fulfilment of self, full of oneself, that’s the highest point. No, God made the soul far more than that, with far greater capacity than that.

2 Chronicles 15:2-4, the Spirit of God came upon Azariah. He went out to meet Asa, as I quoted, he said, “Listen to me, Asa and Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is with you when you are with Him.” Then he says, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” When you find Him, here’s the point, when you find Him, you will find much more than self-fulfilment. You will find much more than that. When you seek Him and when you find Him, you will find peace, a peace that is beyond understanding Paul wrote. You’ll find a joy that comes from the very presence of the living God in your life. You will find a love by which you say, “My cup overflows,” because this love that comes from the very presence of God in your soul.

When you find Him, you find much more, you find a beautiful soul that brings forth a beautiful life because you feel the pleasure of God. That is the soul’s greatest desire. You feel the pleasure of God and you find pleasure in Him. The greatest aspect of the human soul. I tell you, so many people, they misunderstand Christianity, “Oh, it’s just a bunch of rules, it’s just a bunch of dos and don’ts,” to which I say, “You have no idea of what you speak because God has so much more in store than just a bunch of rules.”

You know what God has for you? A beautiful soul that His presence brings about in your life, that you would find pleasure in God and God will find pleasure in you, that your soul would be made full. God will increase your capacity that you will always seek, always continue to move in greater and greater capacity of the soul.

David understood this. In fact, he wrote in 1 Chronicles 28:4, he said, “God took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.” He said this in Solomon, “God took pleasure in me.” How about 2 Corinthians, there’s a New Testament verse, 5:7-9, “We walk by faith and not by sight. Therefore, we have as our ambition to be pleasing to Him. The heart that is completely His is the heart that keeps sinking, and when you find Him, oh, you find joy, peace, a soul is made beautiful.”

II. God Shows Himself Strong

2 Chronicles 15, “Asa hearing that, they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, God of the fathers, with all their hearts, with all their soul.” Back to 2 Chronicles 16. Then what we see is that God desires to show Himself strong. “God will strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” Notice there’s two parts to that. God wants to strongly support, He’s looking for those He can strongly support. He’s looking for those whose heart is completely His.

Now, that word completely His is a very important word in the Hebrew, and it doesn’t translate as well with the word completely. We know that word, the root of it is shalom, and this is the word Salem. It’s the root of it and it’s a great word. We know that Shalom means peace, but it’s much more than peace. It’s the soul that is peaceably filled with a wholeness of God.

It’s a beautiful picture of a soul that’s made right. In fact, Jews today will greet each other with that very word shalom. They wish for you a peaceable wholeness of your soul in that relationship, that you find pleasure in God and God finds pleasure in you. That’s a beautiful picture right there, much more than self-fulfillment. David wrote in Psalm 16:11, “You have shown me, oh Lord, the path of life, and in your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” He’s describing a beautiful relationship to God, where God finds pleasure in you and you find pleasure in Him.

That’s why worship is so powerful. Worship is so powerful because you are dwelling in the presence of the almighty and your soul is made full of joy and life. You’re finding pleasure in God and God is finding pleasure in you. He inhabits the praises of His people. It’s a glorious, wonderful moment when the church worships because it’s discovering the presence of God is the joy of the soul.

I submit that we weren’t born with a soul like that. That’s a beautiful picture of a soul, finds pleasure in God and God finds pleasure in you. You weren’t born like that, but here’s the good news, hearts can be changed. God shows Himself strong. He’s looking for those in whom He can show Himself strong, in whom He can strongly support, those whose heart is shalom, Salem, completely His.

A. Hearts can be changed

People are not born with a heart like that. People are born with a heart like this. Jeremiah 17:9-10, Jeremiah is describing here the condition in which man is born. He says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.” That’s the condition of man right there. That is a very powerful description. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can know this? Who can understand this? God is speaking, “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind and give to each man according to his ways” Now, that’s a biblical quote, biblical understanding of the condition in which man was born.

I’m going to give you another quote, but this is secular. It’s virtually the same thing. I came upon this quote, this was– The State of Minnesota came up with a Crime Commission. They wanted to understand the nature of the crime. They wanted to understand why criminals do what they do, and so they put together a Crime Commission. They’re going to research the nature of the thing and so this was part of their report.

When I read this, I thought, “Oh, I have to copy that.” That is so amazing because it describes the condition in which man was born. Here’s the quote. Again, State of Minnesota Crime Commission wrote this, “Every baby starts life as a little savage.” I’m just quoting. “He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants and when he wants it, his bottle, his mother’s attention, or his playmate’s toy. Deny him these wants and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He is dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, and no skills.

This means that all children, not just certain children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in the self-centered world of his infancy, given free reign to his impulsive actions to satisfy his wants, every child will grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, and a rapist. That is an amazing description of the nature of man. The good news is that hearts can be changed, eyes can be opened, hearts can be softened, hearts can be broken, stones can be removed, thorns and thistles can be uprooted, lives can be changed, heart can be changed. God is in the business of transforming lives, and he’s doing it even today. Do you agree with me? Let’s give it a little praise.

The question is how does that happen? I submit that it happens because something new happens in that soul. If that was the condition in which man was born, something has to change. God wants to give you a beautiful soul, a soul that finds its pleasure in God and God finds pleasure in you. Well, if that was the nature of which man was born and God wants to do this kind of work and you would have a soul like that, something has to change, and that is the work of God, doing something new for God opens eyes so that you see what you did not see before. “I didn’t see that before.”

When a sinner sees God for God’s heart, the sinner sees that God sent His Son to seek and to save that which was lost, that God sent His Son to go and find sinners and to bring that sinner into a relationship to God and that His Son repaid the penalty of every one of the sins of that sinner and then adopt them as a son and as a daughter and to bring about a relationship to the living God by which the soul can be transformed so much so that God would find pleasure in you and you would find pleasure in God. I didn’t see that before.

When your eyes are opened, something new has happened. God opens ears so that you hear what you did not hear before. God gives new desires so that you desire what you did not desire before. I didn’t know that the soul could be made alive like that. I didn’t know that a person can have a relationship to God like that. Now I want that, I desire that. There is something greater for me in this life than the condition in which I was born.

God is doing new work, something new happens. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things pass away, behold, new things have come.” These things, these new things, these are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. Everything that God does in your life that is new is because of that reconciliation of that relationship between you and God through Christ who sent His Son, God who sent His Son to seek and to save that which was lost, but then there’s this, we’ll close with this, strength of faith brings strength of life.

B. Strength of faith brings strength of life

God wants to show Himself strong. God wants to strongly support those whose hearts are holy His. In so doing, God will strengthen you. God will strongly support and God will bring about a strength of life. Strength of faith brings strength of life. God wants to bring a strength to your soul, a strength of life. God is showing Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are completely His, is one of the greatest promises known to man, but it’s often misunderstood. Some people expect that when they call out to God, that He will move and rescue and save and it will be immediately done at the word of His command.

No. I have seen God very quickly move to rescue and save. I could give you many stories where God has very quickly moved. Call out to Him, “Oh God, help, rescue, and save.” I’ve seen many times God very quickly move, but I’ve also seen God answer by walking with me on a long journey out of the trouble. I’ve seen that also. There is much to learn when the journey is long. When the journey is long, God is using it to strengthen you, to strengthen your heart.

David wrote this in Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on this earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and God is my portion forever.” David understood the source of strength, God will strongly support. God will move in your behalf, but He’ll also strengthen you. David understood it.

Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” David understood this. “I know my God.” Once you have become strengthened in your soul, you can say, “I know my God. I know how he moves.” The faith arises and the strength to the soul arises. God is your help in time of trouble. He will show Himself strong, but He will make you strong for the battle, that you might arise in the midst of the trouble, that you might arise in the midst of the turbulence and be strong in it. That’s how God will rescue and save oftentimes, is by making the strength of Himself known in you and in your life. He’ll both work in your behalf and He’ll work in you.

Notice, for example, David wrote this, 2 Samuel 22:30, David understood this very, very well. David wrote, “By you,” He says to God, “By you I can run upon a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall.” Do you see what he’s saying? David doesn’t say, “Well, there are many troubles in life, but God fights my battles, God solves all my problems, I’ll be home playing the harp.” That’s not what David says.

David is out there in the midst of it. David gets out there in the midst of the trouble, David gets out there in the midst of the trial, David gets out there in the midst of the tribulation. “By my God I can run upon a troop.” David is out there running upon a troop. “By my God, I can leap over a wall.” David is the one leaping over the wall. That’s why he wrote in Psalm 27:3, “Though a host,” that’s a great large number, “Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, in spite of this, I shall be confident because I know that God is my strong support. He shows Himself strong in my behalf and He strengthens the soul within me.”

When David was a young lad and his father sent him to check on his older brothers who were in the Army facing against the Philistines, he came into the camp and he heard the taunts of that Philistine giant, Goliath, “Send out a man to fight if you got one.” This went on day after day after day, and so David arises in the camp and he hears the taunts of this giant, “Send out a man to fight if you got one.” David is incensed because nobody’s arising to fight him. No one’s stepping up.

Notice that David didn’t say, “Oh, I see we have a great challenge here. I can see we have a great trouble here. I see this giant is taunting the armies of Israel. Well, God fights my battles. I’ll be home watching the sheep.” No. David in himself said, “Well, no one arise? I’ll fight him.” “You’re just a lad.” He’s been in battles since he was a lad and David. David says, “I know my God. I know my God. He has already moved. I know my God.” David put himself in the battle.

When he went out to face that giant, his speech told us everything we needed to know right there. That speech told us everything we needed to know about David’s understanding of the strength of the soul because God is the strong support to rescue and save and God is the strength of the soul. 1st Samuel 17:46, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand.” God’s going to do it, but I’m out here fighting it. “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands and I will strike you down so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel so that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by sphere, for the battle is the Lords and He will do it. He will give you into our hands.”

The eyes of the Lord are searching, ranging to and fro looking to strongly support, to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are holy His. Those in whom God finds pleasure and they find pleasure in God. You’ve got a relationship to God like that?

Let’s pray. “Father, thank you so much for revealing the greatness of who you are, that your eyes range to and fro throughout the whole earth to show yourself strong, to strongly support those whose hearts are completely in holy yards, those in whom you have found pleasure and they find pleasure in you. Where there’s a beautiful soul made alive by the presence of the living God. Church, how many today would say that, “I want a soul like that”?

God, I need your hand in my life. I know that you promised to strongly support, to show yourself strong in behalf of those whose heart is holy, shalom, yours. Oh Lord, I want a soul like that. That’s what I want. I want a soul like that. I want a life like that. I want strength like that. That’s what I’m asking. Church, is that you? Is that your desire? Would you say that to the Lord? Will you just raise your hand to the Lord as a way of saying that to the Lord? “I want a soul like that. I want a life like that. That’s what I want in my life. I want that kind of strength. I want that kind of victory. I want a soul that finds pleasure in you and that you would find pleasure in me. That’s what I want.”

Just raise my hand to the Lord if that’s your desire. Father, thank you so much for showing us how great you are and what you would do in the soul that finds pleasure in you. Oh Lord, here we are. Meet us here. Pour out your life. We love you and honor you now. In Jesus’ powerful name, and everyone said– Can we give the Lord praise in glory and honor. Amen.

When God is for You
2 Chronicles 13:1-16
October 1-2, 2022   

I begin with a question. If you could choose, would you rather have God before you or against you? Now, you might say, “That’s obvious. Who would want God against him? Of course, we would want God for us,” but I submit that life’s choices are not always that obvious. For example, many look at the circumstances of their lives, they look at the circumstances before them, and they respond according to what they see before their eyes without considering God at all.

They have relegated God to want the experience at church and have not considered that it is before God that we live and move and have our being. That’s what Paul wrote in Acts 17. But if it is before God that we live and move and have our being, then God is part of our everyday lives and therefore should be factored in to every decision that we make. I call it the God factor.

In fact, when you look at the stories that have been unfolding in 2 Chronicles, you see that very thing. For example, Solomon. When Solomon collected all of those foreign women, as I’ve been mentioning, he had a thing for foreign women. He collected foreign women like some people collect foreign cars. When he did that, was he considering God? No, not at all. When he built altars to these foreign gods, altars of the wives of these foreign gods, even in Jerusalem, was he considering God in any of that? No.

He would find himself on the wrong side of the God factor. That therefore would not end well for Israel. Then after Solomon died, the people of Israel came to his son, Rehoboam asking him to lighten the hard service and the heavy yolk, which Solomon had put upon them, but Rehoboam rejected the wise advice of the elders who had served with Solomon and instead followed the advice of his young friends.

Their advice was to add to that heavy yoke, “Solomon disciplined you with whips, I will discipline you with scorpions.” They thought to teach these people a harsh lesson. Was God factored into that? No, God wasn’t factored into it at all. The result, God was against Rehoboam and he would find himself on the wrong side of the God factor and that would not end well. The people therefore rebelled against Rehoboam as we read.

The nation was therefore divided, 10 tribes in the North under their new leader Jeroboam, and two tribes in the South under Rehoboam. Interesting figure this Jeroboam there in the north. God had told him in advance that this would happen, that he would be a leader of the 10 tribes of Israel. Added this. This, of course, spoken to the prophet of God that, “Jeroboam, if you would listen to the commands of the Lord, if you would walk in His ways, if you do what is right in the sight of the Lord, then God would be for you. God would be your support, and He would build for you an enduring house like He had for David.”

Jeroboam rejected these good words and made those two golden calves before whom the people might worship in the north instead of worshiping the God of Israel at Jerusalem. Question, when Jeroboam rejected those good words, when he made those two golden calves, one at Bethel, one at Dan, was God considered at all? No, God was not factored into that. He would find himself therefore on the wrong side of the God factor, and it would not end well for him or for the North. That’s where we pick up our story.

We’re in 2 Chronicles 13, after Rehoboam had slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. Then his son, Abijah was king in his place. Now, I love the name Abijah, by the way, because it is the same name as my granddaughter. My granddaughter, many of you know her name is Aviah, and Abijah and Aviah are basically the same word in Hebrew, and they’re interchangeable. Abijah and there’s no J in Hebrew, Aviah. Abijah, Aviah, same name. I love telling my granddaughter, “You are named after one of the kings of Israel.” She’s like, “Oh, that’s so exciting.” I love the name Aviah.

Abijah became king, and shortly after he became king, he gathered an army of 400,000 of chosen men, and drew up in battle formation against Jeroboam who came out to meet him with 800,000. Before the battle was engaged, Abijah gave a speech. There, he stood on the hill before them and called out to Jeroboam and the army that stood with him and gave one of the great speeches in the history of Israel.

In this great speech, Abijah warned them all that, “You have found yourselves on the wrong side of the God factor and therefore this will not end well for you.” It’s a great point. Anyone who finds themselves on the wrong side of the God factor will find themselves fighting against God. It’s a great lesson for today. It’s a great lesson for Israel. When it comes to the God factor, I’ll tell you, I would rather have God for me than against me. I would never want to find myself fighting against God, kicking against Him, or resisting Him.

Because I’ve come to discover a great truth. If God is for me, then who can be against me? One of the great truths that Paul wrote in Romans 8. Let’s read the speech. 2 Chronicles 13. Of course, we’ll look at the other verses around it at the Wednesday verse by verse service. 2 Chronicles 13:1. “In the 18th year of the reign of Jeroboam, there in the North, Abijah became king of Judah in the South. He reigned three years in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was Maakah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

Abijah began the battle with an army of valued warriors, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 chosen men who were valued warriors. Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and he said, “Listen to me Jeroboam and all Israel with you. Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the rule, the authority over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?”

That is an interesting phrase which, of course, we’ll look at. “By a covenant of salt, God gave the rule and authority over Israel to David and his sons, do you not know this?” Yet Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the son of Solomon, the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.” Then, worthless men gathered around him, scoundrels who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon when he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them and not strong enough to resist them.

Now, you intend to resist the kingdom of the Lord, through the sons of David being a great multitude and having with you those golden calves, which Jeroboam made as gods for you, then, have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, Jehovah, the sons of Aaron and Levites and then made for yourselves priests, like the people of other lands? Oh, whoever, consecrates himself, whoever wants to bring a young bull or seven rams, anyone, even he can become a priest of what are no gods.

Anybody can be a priest in the North, apparently. He’s saying it’s like what male order priesthood. You want to be a priest? You’re no one, everyone can become a priest. What is this? This is part of his speech. I’m just embellishing a little. His speech continues, verse 10, “But as for us, the Lord, Yahweh, He is our God and we have not forsaken Him and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priest and the Levites attend to their work, every morning, every evening, they burn to the Lord. Burn offerings and fragrant incense. The shortbread is set on the clean table.

The golden lampstand with its lamp is ready to light every evening for we keep the charge of the Lord our God. We have not forsaken Him. Now, behold, God is with us and God is with us at our head. His priests with the signal trumpets are ready to sound the alarm against you, oh sons of Israel. Do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers for you will not succeed. That is his speech. That is a powerful speech. Do not fight against the Lord God of your father. You will not succeed. Jeroboam had set up an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. Now, when Judah turned around, behold they were attacked, both front and rear. They cried to the Lord. They called out to God and the priest blew the signal trumpets, and the men of Judah, they raised the war cry. When the men of Judah raised that war cry, it was then that God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

I. Be Governed by God

When the sons of Israel then fled before Judah, God gave them into their hand. These are the verses that I want to look at. What a wonderful speech, is this filled with tremendous insight for our lives today. Starting with this, be governed by God. That is the call. Notice in verse 5, “Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the rule, gave authority over Israel forever to David and his sons, this by a covenant of salt.”

Now, interestingly, God has given rule and authority over the church also to a son of David. It applies also to us. Now, one of the great principles of being on the right side of the God factor is understanding that he has authority in your life. God is the captain. He sends the commander of the soul through His son, who is a son of David. “Do you not know,” he says, “That God gave rule and authority over your soul to a son of David, even to the church?” His name is Yeshua Hamashiach. Jesus is that Messiah he is referring to. Now, that’s Colossians 1:18-20.

A. Those under authority have authority

He, being Jesus, is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning. The first born from the dad, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace to the blood of His cross. He, therefore, has the authority to speak into our lives. See, the one who will abide well under that authority will find himself on the right side of the God factor, and God will bless your life. In other words, those who are under authority have authority.

Abijah, why could Abijah stand with such confidence? Why such faith? Because he knew he was on the right side of God. He was on the right side of history that God had made a covenant with Israel and it was a covenant of salt, which we’ll see. He spoke with authority because he knew that he was on the right side of God’s authority, and therefore God’s authority was with him. He was under and therefore could stand in that authority. In fact, when you go back in the history of Israel, and even to when God gave the name Israel to their father Jacob, you see this very premise. Go back in history. Remember all of the promises that God gave to Abraham, and there were many. All of those were passed to his son Isaac.

Then Isaac was the father of Jacob and his twin brother, Esau. All of the promises, therefore, of Abraham and Isaac were to be passed to Jacob, but Jacob resisted God. He would resist and resist and tried to bring about that by his own manipulation, you might say, and then finally it culminated to a point where one night he found himself literally in a wrestling match with the angel of the Lord, which many believe is a theophany or an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament.

In this event is a very interesting insight. Now, Hosea, the prophet mentions this in Hosea 12:3-4, he says this, “In the womb, Jacob took his brother by the heel.” Now if you remember the story, they were twins. Esau was born first. As he was being born, however, Jacob took hold of the heel of his brother, Esau.” They said, “Oh, look at that. Isn’t that cute? The brother has a hold of his heel. We ought to call him a heel catcher or heel snatcher.” See, it has a double meaning. Not only one who takes hold of the heel, but one who trips other people up. That is who he became. The manipulator, the deceiver. It says, “In the womb, Jacob took his brother by the heel, and then in later years, contended with God.”

Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed, then he wept and sought his favor. In other words, after wrestling with that angel of God, a theophany of Christ, until daybreak, the angel then said to Jacob, “Let me go. Dawn is breaking,” but he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The angel of the Lord said to him, “What is your name?” Now he’s going to bless him. He’s going to give a blessing, but it comes to this, “What is your name?”

Now, the angel of the Lord knew his name very well. He wanted him to say it because the name revealed the greatest weakness, “My name is Jacob, Heel Snatcher, Supplanter, Deceiver.” God then said, “You have lived long enough being Jacob the Heel Snatcher, the Supplanter. Now your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.”

Now the name Israel has, you might say two sides of that coin. It can mean God contends against or God contends for. Receiving that name, Israel, was the greatest blessing in the very blessing that Jacob needed. If he would abide under the authority of God, if he would be governed by God, then God would contend against those who contend against you. You see the story in his context. You understand the hand of God moving to protect Jacob and what follow next.

B. Don’t find yourself wrestling with God

In other words, don’t find yourself wrestling with God. That was part of Abijah’s speech. Notice verse 8, now you intend to resist the kingdom of the Lord? You intend to fight against the kingdom of the Lord. You intend to resist? You will not succeed. See, in other words, you think because you have a great multitude and you have those golden calves, which Jeroboam– You think you have the advantage. For you are quite wrong. For you are resisting the kingdom of the Lord and you will not succeed. For God is far greater.

Anyone who finds himself wrestling against God will find that he has a tremendously powerful opponent. Whenever I think about this, I think about when I was a wrestler back in 8th grade, what had happened was this, I had never been in a sport in my life and I decided that I wanted to be a wrestler. In 8th grade, having no experience whatsoever, I signed up and they put me on the junior varsity team having no experience whatsoever. I went in my 8th-grade year, starting out in JV. I went in one year from being JV to– By the time that year finished, I was on the varsity team wrestling the best wrestler in the state of Oregon.

Now you’re probably wondering, “How is that possible that you could go from JV to wrestling the best wrestler in the state of Oregon?” I’m glad you asked. What happened was this. They knew that nobody could beat him. Therefore, they thought, “Why waste somebody good? Let’s bring Rich up from the JV. Let Rich wrestle him because Rich can’t beat anybody anyway.” I know, I know. I’ve been in counseling ever since. I’m in. All right, you want me to wrestle with this guy? Oh, you should have seen this guy, just standing there. His chest was like this.

His arms could not rest naturally at his side. He would have to walk like this. I’m thinking, “Okay, all right, all right.” I’m off to the side. I’m practicing my tick downs.” Of course, now I’m out there on the mat with Fred, and the referee says,” Go.”

I swoop in like lightning and I do a tick down on Fred Norgan, and the crowd went wild, and then he turned me over and flipped me just like that, over in about 10 seconds. You find yourself wrestling against God, it’s like that. You will not prevail. Then verse 9, “For good measure,” he adds, “Have you not driven out the priest of the Lord? Did you not make for yourself priests, like the priests of other lands of what are no gods?” In other words, when they drove out the priests of the Lord, they were rejecting God. They were rejecting the God of Israel. The result of rejecting God is trouble, great trouble. In fact, I submit that we are seeing that very thing unfolding in our nation today. Have we not rejected God in all our institutions? Are we not as a nation growing farther and farther away from God? The result will be trouble, great trouble. Are we not seeing this and the nations of the world is not the world growing farther and farther away from God? The result will be, troubles, great troubles upon the world.

Jesus said, “This will be an indication that we are drawing nearer to the end of the age.” Notice, Matthew 24, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him saying, “Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and at the end of the age?” Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one mislead you, you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened. For these things must take place but that is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom will rise against kingdom and in various places, there will be famines and earthquakes, but these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs,” He uses the analogy of a woman in childbirth. Anyone who has experienced that knows that the birth pangs grow greater in intensity, and closer together as the event draws nearer.

That’s the analogy He says, “Even the earth itself, there will be events on the earth itself, which indicate the troubles that will come upon the world, and the wars and the rumors of wars, as the world grows farther and farther away from God, the troubles of the world will increase,” Jesus is saying.

Then he added, “As for you, do not be frightened, stay on the alert, watch, watch for the signs of the times and be ready,” and He means by that to be spiritually on the alert that you are spiritually ready.

II. Take Your Stand with God

I submit that what we are seeing unfolding now in the world, particularly what’s happening in Ukraine, in Russia is the beginning and the result of great troubles. The Russian leader Vladimir Putin does not take kindly to defeat, which is what has been happening. Now that he has annexed these four territories of Ukraine, no doubt and hopefully, you’ve been following in the news, which is a very important thing to do to stay on the alert, watch for the signs of the times.

He has annexed these territories in Ukraine so that he can declare them to be Russian soil, and therefore, would feel justified in defending this new so-called territory of Russia, even with nuclear weapons. We are living in very dangerous days. Stay on the alert, do not be frightened, these things must be but then comes this out of the story in times like that, times like these, take your stand with God. There comes a point where you have to say, decide in whom will you believe. In what will you stand, take your stand with God. Notice firsthand where he says in this great speech, “As for us, the Lord is our God and we have not forsaken Him. He is with us and He is with us as our head and the priests are ready to sound the signal trumpets against you, oh sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, you will not succeed. Do not fight against the God of your fathers, you cannot succeed. Do not kick against God, do not resist.”

In other words Abijah is saying, “We know in whom we have believed, we have taken our stand. God is at the head.” It’s like reminds me of Joshua. When Joshua was about the end of his life and gathered Israel together and made that great challenge. “Look around you and choose who you will serve. Whether the gods of the world, the gods from which you came there in Egypt, but as for me and my house, we have decided, we have settled this. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

A. God is with those who are with Him

There’s a time to take your stand. That’s what he is saying in this great speech because he’s standing in a great principle. God is with those who are with Him. It is a principle that you can stand on. The priests were ready to sound the alarm against the armies of the North. Now, Abijah had with him 400,000 while Jeroboam had with him 800,000. In other words, Abijah’s forces are outnumbered 2:1.

Why such confidence? Because when the priests sound the signal trumpets, it was a signal cry for the help of God to move on their behalf. It was an aspect of faith to believe that God is with us and that those who are with God, they will find that God is with them. Notice Numbers 10:9, “When you go to war in your land against the adversary who comes against you, you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God and save you from your enemies.” It’s an aspect of faith, to call out on the name of the Lord, for those who are with God will find that God is with them.

Shortly after Israel entered into that land that God had promised, Joshua learned this very lesson. They were shortly across the Jordan, when picking up the story, Joshua 5, it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, then he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn. Now, that is a posture when the sword is drawn, he stands and sees this man standing. Again, many believed to be a theophany of Christ and Joshua went up to him and said, “Are you for us or are you for our adversaries?” The man says, “No. Neither.” This is a fascinating answer, “No, neither. Rather, indeed, I come now as captain of the host of the armies of the Lord.”

Joshua, hearing this fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said, “What has the Lord my Lord to say to His servant?” The captain of the Lord said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy,” and Joshua did so. What a great lesson is this? “Are you for us or for our enemies?” No, the question is, are you for God or against Him? This was David’s understanding. David was a man of tremendous confidence but his confidence was in the Lord because he knew that those who are with God, God is for them.

Psalm 27, I tell you is one of my favorite songs you got to memorize them some time. Just a few of the verses. “The Lord is the defense of my life,” he wrote, “Of whom shall I be afraid?” You told me should I be afraid? If the Lord is the defense of my life, why should I be afraid? Though hosting caps against me, in other words, if I’m even outnumbered, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me in spite of this, I shall be confident and my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy, I will sing yes, I will sing praises to the Lord, they will do that, and only that God will be with him,” but there’s something beautiful in this relationship. Then there’s this, God’s covenant of salt is good.

B. God’s covenant of salt is good

It’s a very interesting phrase known as verse 5. “Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the rule and the authority over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?” What is the covenant of salt? It’s mentioned in several places in Scripture, it’s important to understand it as deep and beautiful meaning. Now, a covenant of salt is not a covenant by itself, rather is talking about the qualities of salt applied to whatever covenant it’s applied to. Because salt had several important aspects to it, that were very important. Back in those days, for example, when they would consume meat, they would need to preserve it. They didn’t have like we do today, freezers and refrigerators and all. They would preserve by curing with salt. They’d come to understand how important– It was life-sustaining to understand that salt would preserve. Everything was done with salt. In fact, so valuable was salt that in the Roman days, soldiers would even be given a salt allowance.

In fact, even today we say, “Oh, he’s worth this salt, comes from the very understanding.” It has the preserving aspect. In other words, when God makes a covenant and it’s a covenant of salt, it endures, it stands. When God makes the promise you can believe that that promise stands. That’s the aspect of salt. There’s also another aspect of salt, and that is pleasantness.

It brings out the qualities of the food. When you add salt to food, it brings out wonders, wonderful pleasantness of flavor. This is the aspect of a covenant with salt. For example, Leviticus 2:13, “Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings, you shall offer salt because of what it means.”

Whenever you apply the salt, you are reminded that God’s promises endure, that His covenant stands. Oh, I tell you. I hope you get to go to Israel sometime and taste their fresh bread. Baked, you can imagine with a wood fire oven, flatbread, olive oil, salt, other spices, and aromatics. Oh, my, is it delicious even to smell? Put the salt. It’s a reminder that God’s word stands, God’s word endures.

Then, he adds this, this is Numbers 18:19. He’s speaking of another different covenant. This is a covenant to Aaron and his sons that whenever the people of Israel bring a tithe offering or whatever, that this would be given to Aaron and his son as a provision. “It’s a covenant that I make with you,” He says. Notice Numbers 18:19, “All the offerings of the holy gifts which the sons of Israel offered to the Lord, I had given to you and your sons and your daughters with you as the perpetual allotment.”

It is an everlasting covenant of salt before you, before the Lord to you and your descendants with you. There’s a beautiful picture of this. God’s covenant to rule and reign over Israel, through David or a Son of David is a covenant that will endure and even to this day endures. That covenant also applies to you and me. The church is ruled and reigned over by a Son of David, his name is Jesus.

There’s also then the pleasantness of it. For example, in Colossians 4:6, he speaks of the pleasantness even of those who follow the Lord in how they speak. The speech of a follower of Christ ought to be pleasant. Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as though with salt.” The followers of the Lord. There ought to be a pleasantness because God has done a pleasantness work in you. Have you not received grace? Have you not received forgiveness? Hasn’t God not done a beautiful work on your soul so that you then can speak out of that with a beautiful word, grace?

He says in another place, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth.” No, none, nada, nichevo. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word, such as good for edification. In other words, Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech, oh, follower of Christ, be out of the pleasantness of your soul, season as though with sault so that you will know how you should respond to every person.” Back many years ago when I was in the restaurant business, there used to be a debate amongst those in the kitchen about salt. How much salt do you put in the food?

There was one thought that no salt should be added so that the customer can add whatever they wish. I was of the mind that when they sat to eat a meal, I did not want them to say, “Oh dear, this needs salt.” I wanted them to say, “Oh, how wonderful is this? Oh, how pleasant is this to have this wonderful meal?” It’s a pleasantness to salt and it endures forever.

When God takes a sinner, God takes this sinner in all the ugliness of their nature. The nature of man is quite ugly, I think you would agree. God takes the nature of that sinner and then transforms it. First of all, when He draws a sinner to Himself, He makes a covenant. If you asked Jesus Christ and your heart as Lord and Savior, there’s a covenant. It’s a covenant of blood, which is why we partake of communion. It’s a reminder of that blood, but it endures as a covenant of salt.

When God makes a promise to you and He enters into that covenant with you, you can be sure that stands and nothing and no one can take you from the hand of God your Father. When He brings you into relationship to God, He has adopted you as a son, as a daughter, you can call God your own father, and you can be sure that promise will stand.

Then there’s the pleasantness. He’ll do something beautiful. When the peace of God, it’s a peace that passes understanding is upon your soul. Is that not beautiful? When the joy of the Lord, God’s joy is yours, is that not beautiful? When the love which overflows upon the soul is on you, is that not beautiful? God does a work of taking a sinner in all of the ugliness of their life and all of the ugliness of a sin and begins a transforming work that is very beautiful, and it endures. He’ll never quit, He’ll never give up. He will pursue and move to do that which is beautiful on your life.

Let’s pray. Father, thank you so much for showing us yet again what you do when you take a sinner and draw that sinner to yourself. God, we’ve come to understand that in times like these, you got to decide. God, we take our stand with you. We know in whom we have believed and we’ve set our feet on that rock. As for me and my house, we have served the Lord and we choose to follow you. You stand as head. God, we know that in that covenant you do a beautiful work. Well, God, we open our heart to you and say, here am I. Do that in me. Thank you for being in the rock on which I can build my life. Do that in me. Do that in me Lord.

The Transforming Power of Love
2 Chronicles 8 and 10    
September 24-25, 2022

I want to begin with a quote from a really famous pastor and author. Many of you I think, have read perhaps a lot of his devotionals and books. AW Tozer really a wonderful, insightful writer. I want to quote this because it has everything to do with the less life lessons out of Solomon’s life. Let me just read you this quote. “We are all in the process of becoming,” Tozer wrote. “We have moved from what we once were to what we now are and are moving toward what we shall be.”

Not only are we in the process of becoming, we are becoming what we love. We are to a large degree, the sum of our loves, and we will of moral necessity grow into the image of what we love most. Our loves change, mold, transform us. What we love, therefore is of no small matter. Rather, it is of critical, present everlasting importance. It is prophetic. This is a very important word. It is prophetic of our future. It tells us what we shall become and it therefore accurately predicts our eternal destiny.

Think of the power that turned a pink-cheeked little boy into a Nero or a Himmler. Was Jezebel always that a cursive woman of evil? No. When she was little, she dreamed of girlish delights but at some point, she became interested in evil and worldly things. Then she admired evil and worldly things and then she went on to love them. Thus Jezebel, like clay in the potter’s hand was slowly turned into what she became. What a great quote is that. I love that phrase right there. She was slowly turned into what she became.

That really presents an interesting question. What is it that you want to become? What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of life do you want to live? I don’t mean the work or the money or the business. I don’t mean those things. I mean, the soul, what kind of character within you? What is it that you want your soul to become because it has everything to do with what you love? Now Solomon was quite young, when he became king as we’ve been reading he started out well.

We read that Solomon loved the Lord, but not as much as David his father did. We also read that God appeared to Solomon, and allows Solomon to ask for whatever he wished. “What is it that you would have me do for you,” God said to Solomon, which is a great question. Solomon asked God to give him an understanding heart. He asked for wisdom to be able to judge the people of Israel. To be able to discern right from wrong, good from evil, because he knew that he was insufficient, that he was inadequate to do what he was called to do.

He asked for wisdom and understanding. God was so pleased that Solomon asked for that rather than riches or wealth or honor along life or anything like this. God was so pleased that he said, “I will give you that for which you have asked, wisdom and understanding will be given to you and I will give you what you did not ask for.” “I will give you riches in honor, greater than the kings who came before you, and any who come after.” Now the riches and honor that God gave Solomon, and the greatness of His kingdom was famous throughout the known world at the time.

People came from nations and nations to hear and to see of what had happened in Solomon. They were amazed at what he had built. Even the Queen of Sheba, which is in chapter 9, which of course Jesus mentioned as well. She came and was amazed at what you saw. Solomon had so much gold it says that silver was considered commonplace. He had a throne made of ivory overlaid with gold with two great golden lions on either side, great lions on either side of his throne.

If that was not enough, there were six Ivory` steps leading up to his throne with two lions on every step. Can you imagine coming into the throne room which he called the Hall of judgment? There was 500 shields made of solid gold hanging in that great throne room. Now, one thing that God did not promise to give Solomon, however, was many wives. That Solomon did all on his own. He collected foreign women like people collect foreign cars today. That right there was the compromise that led to the great tragedy that became Solomon’s life.

It’s a tragic story. There are many lessons from his life but the story and the lesson that we want to recognize is that of love. What you love, for when you understand the power of love, the transforming power, it will determine what kind of person you become. You get to decide what is that which you wish your soul to be. Let’s read it. We’re going to read chapter 8 a little later we’ll look at chapter 10 also but I want to begin as it starts out the chapter talking about the power and the greatness but notice to where it flows next.

It came about at the end of 20 years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord in his own house. Took 20 years to build the temple and he built a glorious house for himself. Then that he built the cities which Huram had given to him and settled the sons of Israel there, then Solomon went through Hamath Zobah, capture that. He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath. Great storage facilities, cities to hold all of the opulence and wealth of his grandeur.

He built upper Beth Horon and lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates bars, Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots. Cities for his horseman. Entire cities for horsemen. In all it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land under his rule but then would you go down to verse 11. I want us to focus on verse 11. Solomon then brought Pharaoh’s daughter, remember that he had made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter.

I. What You Love is Prophetic

But notice verse 11, Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David, to the house which he had built for her. For he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David King of Israel, because the places are holy where the ark of the Lord has entered.” In other words, he knew that this was an unholy alliance. He knew quite well that this was an unholy alliance and would not have his wife dwell in the city of David, for where the Ark of the Covenant was, was holy, and she is not.

It’s a great lesson. We’ll start with these verses, starting with this understanding what you love is prophetic. It has a determination of your eternal, but also what your soul becomes now. My wife will not dwell in the house of the City of David, because the places are holy where the ark of the Lord was. He knew very well, this was an unholy alliance. In other words, he did not marry her out of his faith. He didn’t marry her out of his relationship to God. He married her out of a politically expedient decision. In other words, he was looking for love for all the wrong reasons.

Now, of course, we know that this was only the beginning because what you love is prophetic. It started here, but it grew, and it grew and it increased and it got worse so much so that 1Kings 11:1-2, now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh. Moabite, Ammonite, Edomites, Sydonian, Hittite, and on and on. Women from the nations concerning which the Lord has said to the sons of Israel, “You will not associate with them.” They will surely turn your heart away after their gods, then it adds, but Solomon held fast to these in love.

Love is a determining and prophetic power, despite all the wisdom that Solomon had. Now, as I mentioned before, having wisdom and living by wisdom are not the same things, but this is not wise what Solomon did. Because what he did not see, and I’ve said before that wisdom is the ability to see. It’s the ability to see the outcome of the thing that you are doing. It’s the ability to see the outcome of the thing of which you are doing. He did not see. He did not understand that what you love is prophetic. It will change who you are.

A. Beware of that which can master you

Solomon held fast to these in love and it mastered him. It got to a point where that was the master. See, in other words, great lesson. Oh great lesson. Be aware of that which can master you. This old thing began with a seemingly small compromise. Oh sure. God’s word said not to associate, not to intermarry with these people from these nations, but it was politically savvy. Surely, one compromise wouldn’t matter, he must have thought. One compromise. How much can come from one compromise? Well, side note, by the way, not all compromise is wrong. Compromises can be good. That is as long as you don’t sacrifice Godly principles or Godly character.

See, in other words, good can always compromise with good, but anytime good compromises with evil, evil only wins. Anybody agree with me? When good compromises with evil, only evil wins. God even gave the reason for this ordinance, not to marry from these nations because they will turn your heart away from your God. That is the danger of the thing. If you turn your heart away, it’s going to end poorly. See, this is about the transforming power of love.

What do you love? Solomon held fast to these in love, it says. Now, there is a New Testament verse that says similar things to us today. From notice, what John wrote, this is 1st John 2:15-17. Do not love the world. Well, why? Because love is a transforming power. If you love the world, you will become world-like, you will become worldly. It will impact the heart and your soul. Do not love the things of the world because you will become material of the world things. Because all that’s in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life, this is not from your Father. This is from the world and

the world is passing away and also is lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Oh, what a great word. Solomon, by the time he got to the end of all of this, he had 700 wives, 300 concubines. Surely, as God’s word has said, they turned his heart away. Now, this happened as he got older, didn’t happen at the beginning. It happened slowly, bit by bit he compromised because these wives started to pressure him. “I want an altar for my God. Look, you got a great temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel. What about my God? You love me. Don’t you? If you loved me–“

Oh, here’s that. “If you loved me, you would build an altar for my God too.” She would pressure him and pressure him and so then Solomon, “Okay, fine.” He built an altar for her God. Wouldn’t this be one of the problems with having so many wives? “You built an altar for her God, why can’t I have an altar for my God? You don’t love me. You don’t love me as much as her. I want an altar for my God and I want it now.” He did. On the Mount of Olives, oh my goodness, what was on the Mount of Olives? In the city of Jerusalem, all about. This thing got out of control. This thing became a problem.

I can’t tell you how many people would say, “I can control this thing. I got this thing. I got it. I can control this thing.” No, you won’t. This thing is going to master you. Here’s an illustration. Sin is like having a kitten for a pet, only it’s a tiger kitten as a pet. Oh, the thing is so cute at the beginning, so cuddly, so wonderful, so playful. You have so much fun playing with it, but bit by bit, day by day, this thing starts to grow. After a while, fear arises. This thing is turning into a monster. This thing, I can’t control it anymore. This thing has mastered the house. This thing has mastered me.

God did not intend– by the way, God did not intend for men to be swimming in sexuality. That was not the intent, but that’s what happened to Solomon. He had 1,000 wives and then when he built these altars, do you know what these altars were about? These altars to these others’ gods were about sexuality. God’s of fertility. Oftentimes, their idols were graphic. This thing got out of control because you can be assured that God is offended at such things in the holy city in which he had placed his name. This was never God’s intent. God designed marriage. Anybody agree with me? That was God’s design.

B. Loving God guards your heart

God is the one who created the whole idea. Genesis 2:24. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. The two shall become one. That’s God’s glorious creation. God knew what He was doing, but He also knew what he was doing when he said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, because He knew that love guards the heart. Loving God will guard the heart and keep you from those things which will, in fact, destroy.

When Solomon dedicated the temple, we were looking at that last week. On that glorious day that he dedicated the temple, he reminded the people of all the great things that God has done and then he called them to be wholly devoted to the Lord. This is the high point of Israel. If they would’ve just been wholly devoted to the Lord, if they would have loved the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, it would keep them from troubles. It would guard their hearts. You see an interesting transition in Solomon’s life. It began by saying Solomon loved God, but not as much as his father David did.

Then it moves into something greater. Solomon did not follow the Lord fully. Then finally, it became a great offense. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, a life lesson. He loved the Lord, but not as much as David, then he wasn’t holy devoted, and finally doing that which was evil. It is a progression of things made worse because of the condition of his heart. God wants the opposite to be true. God wants to see an increase in our lives that the day that you receive the Lord, Jesus Christ is the day that you begin a glorious journey of increasing.

Because the day that a person receives Jesus Christ is the day that God has welcomed a sinner to Himself, but God will not leave a sinner in the condition in which He found him or her, but God will do a work of transforming. How does He do that? By his power, by his presence, by the love which fills your heart because love is a transforming power. When you increase in your capacity of loving God, your soul will be transformed by it. The glory of God’s presence will transform your life. Oh, may you ever increase.

May you ever increase, so that when you get to the end, you love more at the end that you did in the beginning and then when you breathe your last, you just walk right into the presence of the Lord that you spent your life loving. That’s what I want to do with my life. Anybody want to join me? Yes, let’s give the Lord praise. It’s a glorious understanding. Proverbs 4:23, above all else, guard your heart. With all diligence, guard your heart. Notice, for everything you do flows from it.

Jesus said a very similar word, which we’ll see. “Above all else, above all else, guard your heart with all diligence, for everything you do flows from it.” Be careful because otherwise, step-by-step, degree-by-degree, it will become such that it will increase and increase and increase until it gets worse and worse and worse. What is the old illustration? I’ve no doubt used it. How to boil a frog? One little degree at a time. No animal wants to jump in the boiling water. I tried with a crab one time, they don’t like it.

What happened was this. We went crabbing, and I used to always have them cook it on the dock, and I thought, “Oh, I’m going to do it myself.” I had never done anything like that before. I didn’t know what I was doing. I brought these things home, and I made a big pot, and the boiling water, put the salt in there. I thought, “Well, what do you do?” I took the biggest one we had, and I started to put it in the pot, but he grabbed the edges of the pot. I’m like, “No, you get in there.” I was like, “No. No, you get in there.” We were having this little wrestling match.

Finally, I put it in there, put the lid on, and then I can hear him. I can hear him. I felt so bad. Then, when I took him out of the pot, that’s not the way crabs are supposed to look. It came out like this. No, it’s not right. I said to a friend, I said, “What did I do wrong?” He said, “No, that’s not the way you do it. That’s cruel. Crabs don’t like it. You turn him upside down, and then you put him in upside down, they die right away. Then when they come out, they look like this.” “Oh, I see now.”

Back to the regularly scheduled message. Paul wrote this. Would you notice what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:19? This is a prayer of tremendous importance. “I pray,” Paul’s prayer, “I pray that you would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” See, Paul understood this. Paul understands a great truth. If you could only know, if you could only know how much you are loved in Christ Jesus, if you could only know, it would change who you are. It would change your life. It would change what you want. It would change your future. It would change you because then, you would be filled up. May you be filled up with the fullness of God.

II. Your Heart Directs Your Steps

Love God with all your heart, and it will keep you in the place of greatest blessing because if you love God with all your heart, it will keep you from loving those things which will destroy you. God loves you. He wants your soul to be blessed. Now let’s turn to 2 Chronicles 10, where we’re going to receive some lessons from Solomon’s son Rehoboam that speak right out of this. Actually, we’re going to begin in 9:31.

Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam reigned in his place. Chapter 10. Then Rehoboam went to Shechen, for all Israel came to Shechen to make him king, and it came about when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat heard of this, for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, that Jeroboam returned from Egypt, so they went and summoned him.

When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they said this to Rehoboam. “Your father made our yoke hard, now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and this heavy yoke, which he put on us, and then we will serve you.” He said to them, “Return to me again in three days,” so the people departed. Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders, those elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive. He said, “How do you account to me to answer these people?”

They, these elders, who had served with Solomon, they said to him, “If you would be kind to these people, if you would please them, if you would speak a good word to them, then they will be your servants forever,” but Rehoboam forsook this counsel of the elders which they had given, and he consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him. He said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer these people who have said thusly, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'”?

The young men who grew up with him spoke thusly saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who said, to you these things. ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter,’ you say thus. You say, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. Whereas my father loaded you with the heavy yoke, I’m going to add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips? I’m going to discipline you with scorpions.’ You say that to them.

Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, and the king answered them harshly. He had forsook the counsel of the elders. He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, I’m going to add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, I’m going to discipline you with scorpions.” The king did not listen to the people nor to the elders, notice, for it was a turn of events from God, that the Lord might establish His word, that which He spoke to Jeroboam and to Solomon, for what Solomon did was evil, “The king then will be torn from you, from your son. Although for the sake of your father David, the two tribes will remain with you, Benjamin and Judah.” This thing came from the Lord because what Solomon did was a disaster.

Now what Rehoboam is doing is to further the disaster. It comes from this. Your heart directs your steps. What is in the heart? For the heart directs the steps. The counsel of the elders was wise. There’s a great lesson. Follow godly wisdom when you hear it, for it will change your heart. Follow godly wisdom when you hear it. If your heart directs your steps, then what you receive into the heart is of greatest importance to the condition of your heart.

A. Follow Godly wisdom when you hear it

He consulted with the elders, they gave him good and godly counsel. “If you would listen to these people, if you would be kind to them, speak good words to them, if you would serve them.” Then he consulted with the young men, and they said, “Make it even harsher.” He would not listen to godly counsel because he heard what he wanted to hear. Oh, that’s a problem for so, so many people. When people hear only what they want to hear, they will miss out on the wisdom that God would speak into their lives.

Rehoboam sought the power, the prestige, the fame, the honor of Solomon his father, and he wanted it. He even compared himself to Solomon. “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.” Now, you know the loins means the leg, the great thigh. It’s the strongest and greatest muscles on the human body. “My little finger is greater than my father’s loins.” He’s comparing himself to Solomon. You can just imagine the elders listening to this, “You’re comparing yourself to Solomon? I knew Solomon. I worked with Solomon. Solomon was a friend of mine. Rehoboam, you are no Solomon.”

Too many people, they insist on hearing what they want to hear, but wise is the one who hears the truth, who hears wisdom and takes that into your heart, for that will direct your steps. The treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him. Colossians 2:2-3, “In Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Jesus said this, Luke 6:45, I love quoting this because it’s so important to understand, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart will bring forth what’s good.” Everything flows, everything in your life flows from the condition of your heart.

Then he adds, “The evil man out of the evil treasure will bring forth what’s evil, for the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. The life is lived from that which fills the heart.” What is it you receive into the heart, it will determine the steps you take. This was Solomon’s error. He had the word of God, but he didn’t receive it. He knew the truth, but he wouldn’t listen.

He stopped listening to God’s wisdom. Why? Because he thought more of his own wisdom than he did of God’s wisdom. At some point, see early on in his life, he’s asking for God to give him wisdom. Now he thinks he’s all that he’s all wise. He’s got it all figured out. Was he beginning to believe his own press. Everybody was saying how wise he was, how wonderful he was. Even the queen of Sheba that we read about in 2 Chronicles 9:5-7.

Then the queen of Sheba said to Solomon, it was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless, I did not believe these reports until I came and my eyes have seen it behold that half of a greatness of your kingdom is not told. You surpassed the report that I heard. How blessed are your men. Notice this,how blessed are your men or how blessed are these servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Everybody was saying “Oh how wise you are oh great Solomon.”

“Your wisdom is amazing.” Therefore, nobody was saying anything to him that he would listen to. He would listen to no one, no checks, no balances, no input nothing. He was the great master of wisdom. He’s the one who spoke and everyone else listened. There’s a lot of people like this. By the way side note, I submit that what’s happening in Russia right now with Vladimir Putin is exactly the same problem. There is nobody speaking a word of wisdom into that person. The end result is going to be tragedy for the world. This thing is far from over and there are great tragedies awaiting the world.

Those who are wise in their own eyes have fallen into a deep trap. Those who are wise in their own eyes have become dangerous to themselves. Carefully guard your heart to stay in that place where God’s word is the wisdom that you need to build your life. Let me give you a tremendous word. Proverbs 3:5-7 trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Consider the depth of these words. Trust in the Lord with all your heart do not lean on your own understanding. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil question. Who wrote that? Answer, Solomon wrote that. At the end of his life, he turned this thing around.

You read Ecclesiastes you read Songs of Solomon et-cetera, the other– you see at the end, he saw it. The emptiness of it all, it’s all vanity. He called it for what it is. It’s all emptiness. It’s all vanity. At the end, he turned it around and wrote this. I love that part of the story. His life was a tragedy, but how wonderful to see that he turned it around because it’s a good word even for us today. It’s not too late to turn this thing around. Please hear this. It’s not too late to turn this thing around. If you’ve been walking on a road and you come to see it now it’s been a wrong direction.

You’re heading in the wrong way. It’s not too late. You can turn this thing around. Many you know father’s story, alcohol angry, cantankerous difficult but at 75 years old, he came to faith in Jesus Christ. In this very church he had baptized with my own hands at 75. It’s not too late to turn this thing around. God can heal brokenness. God can heal hurt. God can transform a life. Your soul can yet be filled with the glory of God. It’s not too late. Be on your guard. 2 Peter 3:17, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.

B. Out of a good heart – serve and love

It’s not too late. God can do this thing. God can fill your heart and your soul. What a soul do you want to have? It’s not too late. God can build that which is good and glorious. Then I’ll tell you out of that good heart, serve, love, bless the people out of the overflow of that good heart, that which God is doing. Bless the people around you. Consider the wisdom of the council that Rehoboam received from these elders who had served with his father. If you would serve these people, if you would speak kindly to them, if you would speak good words to them, it’s far greater. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be a blessing to those who are in your life? To pour out upon them out the overflow of your own soul.

Let God do that which is beautiful and glorious in your soul so that out of the overflow of that it blesses the people in your life. Wouldn’t it be glorious to bless the people in your life. It’s such a right way to live. It’s a beautiful way to live. In contrast, Jesus said this Matthew 20:25-28 he said now you know how it is out there. You know how they are out there. You know that the rulers of the Gentiles, they Lord it over them. They’re great men exercise authority over them meaning what? They’re bossy. That’s what, they’re bossy, heavy handed, mean spirited. Those who have authority, those who have a voice, they say hard words. Jesus says, “this is not the way among you”. Whoever wishes to become great, you wish to become great. Let him be the servant.

Whoever wishes to be first among you let him be the slave, just as a son man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for a ransom for many. I love where David wrote my cup overflows. That’s a beautiful picture. My cup overflows. Out of the fullness of your heart, let it overflow as a blessing to the people that are around you. It’s a beautiful way to live. It’s a very much more effective way to live. If there’s brokenness, you cannot bless the people around you.

If you’re hurt and wounded, you cannot bless the people around you. What is that old saying? Hurt people, hurt people. Angry people, beget anger. I want to bless the people in your life, out of the overflow of what God is doing in your life. Isn’t that the way God feeds us? Romans 2:4, do you think lightly of the richest of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that it is the kindness of God, that leads you to repentance?

When someone comes to faith in Christ Jesus isn’t not because they have discovered how much God loves them? That God would invite a sinner to come and pour out his love. Even by paying the penalty for that sin, and then restoring and rebuilding. Love changes people, God’s love, transforms us most of all, Jesus was asked, what is the greatest of all the words that God has ever said? What’s the highest? What’s the foremost? Jesus answered and said the highest, the greatest, the foremost of all that God has ever said is love. God is love. Love is the greatest thing that God has ever said. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart. That’s the greatest word that God has ever spoken.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Then he added this. The second greatest is similar. It’s like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Great truth. If you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength out of the overflow of that, out of his soul that’s filled with God’s glory, you can love your neighbor generously. Someone said, “Well, who is my neighbor?” Jesus gave a parable. A man was on a journey on the road to Jericho and Robbers attacked him, beat him severely, left him for dead on the side of the road.

The priest came by that way, saw the man there, lying in his blood, beaten, left for dead and he crossed to the other side. Short time later, a Levi came, saw him also there beaten and bloodied, and bludgeoned. He also went to the other side of the road, would’ve nothing to do with the man and then came with Samaritan who was on a journey. Samaritans. If you remember were looked down upon by the Jews despised, they had married the Gentiles looked down upon them. A Samaritan came by that way and saw the man there, attended to him, helped him bandaged his wounds, put him on his beast, brought him to the place where he could receive care, paid for it all. If there’s any still left owing, I will pay when I return. Jesus said, “Which of these proved to be the neighbor?”

They answered, the one who cared. Then doing, go and do likewise. Out of your heart that is filled, oh, it’s a beautiful soul that God wants to give you that you would bless. What kind of soul do you want to have? What kind of soul? What a kind of life do you want to live? I don’t mean the stuff with things. What kind of soul? God wants you to have a beautiful soul filled with him. His love, his glory, and it will overflow and it will be not only a tremendous blessing to you, but to everyone around you.

Let’s pray. Father, thank you so much for revealing the greatness of who you are and the love that you would pour out upon us and then you say to us, then we can decide and choose what kind of a soul we’re going to have. Then you give us, how beautiful it would be if you would have a soul made beautiful by the presence of God, by his love if you would just love the Lord with all your heart, then let the overflow bless those that are in your life around you. Your company would say, “Well, that’s what I want.” Now. I want a soul like that. I want you in my life. I want to love you like that. I want your presence and your glory to transform me.

I loved you. I know that love is the power that transforms, then change me, transform me. I want to be like you Lord. I want to bless out of the overflow of that. I want the people in my life around me to be blessed. Lord do that in me.

Build Your Life on the Promises of God
2 Chronicles 6:1-21
September 17-18, 2022

We have reached what I believe is the high point of the history of Israel. Here’s why I mean that. David, when he was king, he conquered the nations all around them, east, west, north, and south. All of these nations giving homage, paying tribute to Israel. From the River Euphrates, all the way up in the northeast, down to the Mediterranean, down to the border of Egypt, all the way out to the desert on the east, really a tremendous amount of accomplishment to bring such peace all around. Then before David died, he anointed his son, Solomon, to be king in his place.

One of the first things that Solomon wanted to do was to build this house of God, the temple that David had envisioned. Oh, David wanted to do something absolutely glorious, magnanimous beyond words. This temple that Solomon built for the God of Israel was super glorious and magnificent. It became one of the wonders of the world. Words cannot describe this temple. The building itself was made with stone and the main room of the temple would be approximately– If we went from the back wall of the sanctuary to the next wall behind the lobby, it’d be about that long. It would be just a little less than from this middle point to that wall in width.

The height would be about 45 feet. This ceiling right here is not quite 30, imagine 15 feet more in height. The sides were paneled with cedar overlaid with gold. Then the floor was overlaid with cypress, also overlaid with gold. Then when you came in the room, which was lit up, of course by the gold lampstands, when you came in the room, it was pure gold. It was just magnanimous in the pillars, the capital and the engravings, and on and on. It was just amazing. Of course, the reason David wanted to build such a glorious temple was to recognize the greatness of our God, that there is no God like you in all the earth.

He wanted to do something glorious. Then when the house was finished, the priests carried in the Ark of the Covenant and set it in the Holy of Holies. Oh, the description of what was there was amazing. Then that is the Holy of Holy, the inner chamber separated by a curtain as thick as a man’s hand with chains of gold representing the very presence of God, the very throne of God there amongst them. Then once the Ark of the Covenant was set in its place, a cloud filled the temple, so thick was this cloud that the priest could barely stand and barely could see. This was the glory of God. This was the Shekinah glory of the Lord filling the house.

This is amazing. Truly the high point of history of Israel, peace all around, promises of God fulfilled, glorious temple built in Jerusalem, cloud of God’s presence so thick, the priest could barely stand in his presence. Then Solomon assembles all of the elders, the heads of tribes, the leaders of the father’s households, all the men of Israel there to Jerusalem. Solomon had built a stand of bronze in which he then stood and blessed the people. Then he knelt on his knees, lifted his hands to heaven, and gave one of the greatest prayers in the Bible. It is so filled with insight and spiritual application to take hold of.

He’s calling them to look and see how God has fulfilled every one of the promises that he has given to Israel. Look and see, God has done such wonderous things for us. It’s amazing to consider what he’s done. Then he calls the people to respond to that with their heart, be wholly devoted to the Lord for God has done great things for us. He has fulfilled every promise that he has made. How right is that? It reminds me of a song we used to sing many, many years ago. It was one of the real simple worship songs that just filled the house with joy and the heart with the light. It captured the very same thing. It went something like this, “The Lord has done great things for us. The Lord has done great things for us.”

He’s filled our mouths with laughter, he’s filled our tongues with singing, the Lord has done great things for us. Then it goes, “And we are glad,” and then women would repeat, “So very glad.” Oh, it was just joyful, how right it is to recognize what God has done. Then to take hold of that to build your life upon, that’s the prayer, that’s the call. Let’s read it. We’re not going to read the whole thing because it’s quite long. We’ll read more of this at the Wednesday verse by verse, chapter by chapter service, but let’s just read starting in 2 Chronicles 6:1. “Solomon said, “The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.”

I.   All God’s Promises Will Stand

See, this is just after the priest said, “There is the cloud of the Lord so thick you could barely see.” “Solomon says, “The Lord said He would do this. I have built you a lofty house, and a place for your dwelling forever.” Then the king faced about and he blessed the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father David, and he has fulfilled it with his hands. He promised it and he has done it. “Since the day that I brought my people from the land of Egypt,” God said, “I did not choose a city of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that my name might be there. Nor did I choose any man for a leader over my people of Israel, but now I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there.”

By the way, I submit that that is still true, Jerusalem is still the city of God. His name is still there and you will see at the end of the age that he will make his name glorious there. Then he says, “And I have chosen David to be over my people Israel. There will be a son of David who will be the one who will sit on the throne. The Messiah is the king, the son of David, and we know who he is, we know his name. His name is Yeshua Hamashiach. Jesus is that Messiah who will come at the end of the age.” Amen.

Then he goes on, he says, “Now, he was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father, David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart, that you wanted to do it. Nevertheless, you shall not build that house.'” David was a man of war. He had shed blood. “No, your son who shall be born to you, he shall build the house for my name. Now the Lord has fulfilled his word which He spoke for I have risen in the place of my father, David and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised, and I’ve built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. There I have set the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the assembly of Israel and He spread out his hands. Now, Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, three cubits high, and he set it in the midst of the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of the assembly of Israel and he spread out his hands toward heaven and he said this.” Now, it’s a very long prayer, we’re only getting to get part of it, but he said, “Oh Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant, showing love and kindness to your servants who art before you with all their heart, who has kept with your servant, David, my father, that which you have promised. You have promised and you have done it.”

Over and over, he says it, “You have promised and you have done it. You have fulfilled with your hand as it is this day. Now, therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with your servant, David, my father, that which you promised saying, ‘You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons would take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before Me. Now, therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed which You have spoken to your servant David. Will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I built. Yet, have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication.

O Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer, which your servant prays before you. That your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward this place of which you have said that you would put your name there, to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place and listen to this supplication of your servant and of your people, Israel. When they pray towards this place, hear thou from your dwelling place, hear thou from heaven, hear now and forgive.’” Oh, there’s much more. We’ll look at it Wednesday, but I want us to take hold of these verses to see and to apply to our lives.

Starting with this, to great understanding, he repeats it over and over, and over. All God’s promises will stand. He wants them to look and see. He reminds them, look back, all of the promises, everything that God has said, and his point is it’s a foundation in which you can build your life. In other words, when it comes to the promises of God, there is a looking back aspect and there’s a looking forward aspect. Solomon is telling them to look back and see every word. Not one word has failed. In fact, he says this in 1 Kings 8:56, “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all of his good promises, which he promised through his servant Israel.”

There’s a great looking back to see it and how right it is to do the same thing. Look back on your life. I look back on mine and I can tell you that God has been so, so good to me. I am so, so blessed. I’ve had troubles, I’ve had great tragedies, but God has walked with me through every one of them. He has fulfilled every word. He has been so, so good to me and I am blessed. Anybody want to agree with that? Is that same for you? Let’s give the Lord praise. Absolutely. See, that’s what He wants to do. You look back and you see what God has done so then you can look forward and stand on the promises.

See, in other words, the more you’ve been through with God, the more you know that you can trust him. You can say, “I know my God, I’ve seen his hand. I know what God does. I’ve seen it. I’ve walked with God a long time now, and I know my God and I know he’ll do it again.” You can stand on the promises of God. See, when you look back and you see it, then you can look forward. See, revival is the beginning of that faithful walking, that standing on the promises of God. One of those promises that we can see in it here is that God promises peace. Not just any peace, it’s shalom peace.

That’s a Hebrew word which means peace, but it means much more than peace. It’s much deeper than that. It means a whole encompassing peace of the soul. It’s really a word that should be about our relationship with the Lord. It’s about peace in the soul because the soul is made right with God. Oh, that’s a whole different kind of peace. David was not allowed to build the temple because he was a man of war. It was to be built by a man of peace, the Scripture says. In fact, the name Solomon comes. The name literally comes from that word shalom, peace. In Israel today, it’s a very common greeting.

Hebrew speakers commonly use shalom as a greeting. You can use it when you greet someone and you can use it when you’re leaving that person, and on the Sabbath, you say Shabbat Shalom. Oh, I think that’s so beautiful. Every week on the Sabbath, Shabbat, that’s the greeting, Shabbat Shalom. When you’re in Israel, you’ll hear it many times on the day of the Sabbath, Shabbat Shalom. How beautiful is that? Sabbath, peace. Sabbath is rest and peace is that word Shalom. That of the soul that’s made right with God. See, it’s not just peace from conflict. Back in the ’60s, during the hippie generation, the hippie time, they made peace even a gesture of– they have peace symbol and it was a mantra of the day because the world was in conflict.

There was the Vietnam war. The world was upside down with all kinds of cultural revolution. It was kind of like the thing, peace man, peace bro. See, that’s fine. That’s peace, but it’s not Shalom peace. That’s a whole different kind of peace. See, at this point in history, there’s peace from conflict. That’s true. There’s no wars, but it’s much deeper than that. It’s resting on the promises. He says God has given rest to His people. It’s the same idea. Rest is not resting from work, it’s more than that. The Sabbath is much more than just resting. See, Shalom peace and rest are connected together.

God gave the Sabbath to Israel to rest as a mark of his covenant with them. He gave the Sabbath year. Every seventh year was to be a sabbatical year. In fact, the modern phrase, the sabbatical– In fact, there are modern companies that give sabbaticals and Intel here is one of those. Isn’t it every seven years? Very biblical I should say. They get it right out of the Bible but here’s the point, it’s not just for rest. It’s much deeper than that the Sabbath day or the Sabbath year. It’s not just for rest, it’s much deeper than that. It’s for the soul to be refreshed in the Lord. It’s to renew the nearness of God. The soul, that’s what it’s about.

A. God promises shalom – peace

Resting on the promises, not leaning on your own flesh. It’s prophetic also. It’s a promise to be fulfilled. Promises Shalom rest, Shalom peace. It’s a promise to be fulfilled. See, it will be fulfilled in that promise coming Messiah. He will be your peace. He will be your rest. You can rest on what He has done. Then your soul will be made right with God because you can rest on what that Messiah has done for you. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. He said in another place, he is the fulfillment of God’s promise of that soul, rest, that peace. That pastor’s understanding, Shalom peace.

John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.” Not like the world do I give you. No, don’t let your heart be troubled, don’t let it be fearful. When your heart is right with God, when your soul is right with God, when there’s a peace in that soul, because of that, you can know that God will be with you through every trouble and trial of the world. Hebrews 4:9-10 is interesting. “There still remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from his.” Resting on that which God did through His Son, Jesus Christ.

See, resting from your own works means that you’ve given up on self-reliance and self-sufficiency. That’s the mantra of the American way, isn’t it? Self-reliance, self-sufficiency, self-empowerment. That’s not faith, however. Faith is trusting in the sufficiency of God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Paul wrote it this way. Philippians 4:11-13, “I have learned to be content.” I see he’s speaking to the same thing, isn’t he? The soul is right with God. I’ve learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Many refer to this as Paul’s spiritual secret. I’ve learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am.

My soul is not dependent upon the circumstance. See, if you have to wait for the circumstance to be right before you’re happy, you’re never going to be happy. If you have to wait for the circumstances to be right, if everything’s got to be right, everything’s got to be just so. No, he’s talking about a soul that’s made right regardless of the circumstance. I’ve learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. I know how to get along on humble means, I know how to live in prosperity. Many frankly, do not. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled or going hungry, of having abundance or suffering need.

I do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That’s the soul that’s made right with God. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. This is Paul’s spiritual secret. Few, if any, have been as spiritually effective as Paul. I submit that is a great life lesson. Hudson Taylor is a very famous missionary to China who became powerfully effective in his life and ministry. He had what many called Hudson Taylor’s spiritual secret. In fact, there’s a book out there called Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. You know what Hudson Taylor’s spiritual secret is? The same one that Paul had.

He wrote it this way, “We are made powerful and effective, not by our striving, we are made powerful and effective by our resting.” Not resting on self-sufficiency, resting on Him, relying on Him, relying on His promises, and His promise is to abide with you. He will be with you every step along the way. That is a promise. What is Solomon saying? Solomon is saying this, “God’s Word does not fail. Look and see, every promise, every word has been fulfilled, that God has promised.” Reminds me a lot of what Joshua said, after Moses, it was Joshua who led the people, across the Jordan, into that land that He had promised.

B. God’s Word does not fail

When he had come to the end of his life, Joshua gathered all the people together, and he said this to them, Joshua 23:14, “Behold, you know, in all of your heart, and all your souls that not one word, of all the good words, which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed. All has been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.” Then he continued in that speech, and he said, “Therefore, choose you this day who you will serve.” If you look and see, not one word of all the good words that God has said has failed, “Therefore, choose you this day who you will serve. As for me and my house,” this thing is settled with me. “As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The promises of God don’t fail because the word of God doesn’t fail. Now, it’s also true, that calamity and trouble come upon the one who are not under God in their lives, because that’s also God’s word, and God’s Word does not fail. See, why is this the one who knows this when he is young? It’s about the course of your life. I’ve been in ministry a long time now, and I’ve met people along the way who had this very interesting perspective. Their perspective is like this, “Look, I’m going to do the world thing, and I’m going to do the world thing until the end, and then right before I die, then I’m going get right with God.”

Let me just say what’s wrong with that. First of all, you don’t know when you’re going to meet God. You don’t know. I submit that it’s right, you need to get right with God and be ready every day, but secondly, such a thought like that misses the point of life entirely. It misses the point of life entirely. What is the point of that thought? “I’m going to do the world. I’ll do the world thing until the very end, and then I’ll get right with God.” What is the thought behind that? I want to do the world because the world it’s where I get some kind of fun. That’s where it is. That’s where it’s happening. Then, of course, I do want my eternal soul to be, I would like to have some kind of eternity to my soul, so, then I’ll get right with God at the end.

What are they saying? They’re saying, I’d rather have the world. They’re missing the point of it, because here’s the thing. The ways of the world do not bring peace to the soul. They don’t bring Shalom peace. You’re not right with God. In fact, what it brings is a conflicted and troubled soul. That’s what that will bring. Anybody who’s been in the world long enough, who’s done the world thing has their own testimony to add to what I just said right there. There’s a lot of people in this room who’ve done the world thing enough to know that you do that world thing, and you’re going to end up with a conflicted and troubled soul. That’s what you’re going to end up with.

Anybody want to add their testimony, I’ll just add mine for you. This is what Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” Determine this course while you’re a young. “Before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, I have no delight in them.” Young people have a hard time understanding this point, because they have a hard time thinking about the distant future. How is this going to end? Well, what is this going to bring about? They have a hard time thinking about the distant future, but I’ll tell you, I’ve mentioned it before, I wish I knew at 20 what I know now about the condition of the soul.

Oh, I tell you, I’ve come to understand the value of the soul. It’s the most important aspect of who you are, far more important than even the physical body. This body of ours will pass, but the soul, the most important aspect of who you are. Oh, how I wish I knew that when I was young, it would have saved me from so much trouble. It would have saved me from so much conflict. Not only that, not only would it have saved me from a lot of trouble, it would have given me a lot of joy. All the joy I missed out on, because I didn’t understand the value of the soul and being right with God.

That’s why that word from Ecclesiastes is the right word, “Remember, in the days of your youth, the Lord God of heaven before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you say, I have no delight in them now.” Know in your heart and soul, that not one word, of all the good words will fail. Why is it the one who knows it when he is young? When I come to the end of my life, I’m sure there will be things that I regret, like the things I did when I was 20, but I know one thing for sure, I will never regret trusting Christ with my life. Anybody agree with me? Absolutely. He is saying, choose.

Joshua is saying, “Choose you this day, the life of blessing, stay in the course, finish the fight, run the race.” There are promises that God wants you to have right now. Take hold, stand there, promises to stand on. There are promises of God that you can have right now, promises that you can obtain by trusting him in faith, by standing on the rock, by believing with all of your heart that God’s word does not fail. You can have these promises right now. I’m going to read them to you, some of the promises, and this is just a short list. You can have life to the full right now. Jesus says, “I have come that you have life, and life to the full.” He’s talking about right now.

Not only for eternity, he’s talking about right now. You can have this right now. You can have the peace that passes understanding right now. Your soul can be made right with God, and you can have a peace right now. That he would give you the desires of your heart, that you would gain new strength, that you would rise up on wings like eagles. That you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, that he would surround you with songs of deliverance in times of trouble. That he would make your feet like hind’s feet, and set you in high places. That you can be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.

II. May God Incline Your Heart to Himself

That you can ask and you will receive, that you can seek and you will find, that you can knock and the door will be opened unto you. That you can seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you. That the prayers of the righteous man will be very effective. You can be spiritually effective and powerful right now because the prayers of the saints are effective. Take hold on the promises of God. Then in his prayer, he says this, “May God incline your heart to Himself.” That’s part of this great call. This is the high point.

Notice verse 14, “Oh Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on Earth, keeping covenant, showing love and kindness to your servants, who walk before you with all of their heart.” That’s what he’s telling the people, “See what God has done? Now, walk before him with all of your heart.” God wants you to walk before him with all of your heart, and he himself will incline your heart to him. He will incline your heart to him. The Holy Spirit is moving upon your spirit to draw your heart to him. He’s doing this even now. He’s by his Spirit, drawing you to himself. His spirit is moving upon your spirit to draw your heart towards him.

That glory of God, I submit that Shekinah glory of God was his presence in that cloud that day, so thick, the priest could not see. When Moses was on Mount Sinai he dwelt with God in the thick cloud. When God led Israel in the desert, he led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. I submit that that same glory is now within you, same glory now within you, because you are the temple of the living God now. Is there a temple in Jerusalem today? No. Is there a temple anywhere in the world today? Yes. Where? Right here, right in this very room, not because of the building because you are here, because the temple is the heart and soul of those who’ve opened their heart to receive.

Notice this 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul writes, “Do you not know?” I love when Paul says that. In other words, this you ought to know, you must know this. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Do you not know this?” Then he adds “The temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” This is to be pondered deeply. This must be pondered deeply. Do you not know you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you, and the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are? To live by that great truth if I submit is a tremendous deep insight that will transform your life.

The Spirit of God is dwelling in you. Inclining your heart. Moving upon your spirit, drawing you closer to himself. He wants you to come nearer. John 16:13, “When He, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all the truth. He will draw you and guide you and lead you to the truth.” Isaiah 30:21-22. Here’s another aspect of that. “Your ears will hear a word behind you.” This is the way, walk in it. This is the spirit nudging, drawing, speaking, calling, moving. This is the way, walk in this. Whenever you turn to the writer to the left and notice, and then you will say to that impure thing, you will say to them, “Be gone.”

Oh, this is a great truth right here. This is a wonderful truth. When the soul is right with God, there’s something beautiful and glorious so much so that you don’t want any impure thing to hinder that which God is doing. When you see it, when you see how glorious, how beautiful is the soul, when your eyes are open to it, then you’ll see that impure thing for what that impure thing is. You’ll say, “I don’t want this thing in my life anymore.” This thing is in the way of that which God is doing that which is beautiful and glorious, and you’ll say to that impure thing, “Be gone.”

Notice the command aspect of that. “Be gone, I do not want you in my life anymore. Be gone, get out.” You’re going to say it like that in a bossy way. “Get out.” To that pure thing. I’ll tell you that’s part of revival right there. That’s part of revival. When that soul is made so beautiful, so glorious that you see that impure thing for what it is. You say, “I don’t want it, get out of my life. I want God and the glory to move in power.” Then there’s this with all of your heart walk in his ways. Notice verse 14, “Oh, Lord God of Israel. There is no God like you, showing loving kindness to your servants, who walk before you with all their heart.”

A. With all your heart – walk in His ways

In other words, it’s not just the heart, it’s the walking. I was speaking earlier about the heart, but notice how he brings it out. It’s the walking. In other words, it’s how you live. It’s about what you do as well as what’s in your heart. Some people they try to separate those two things. Oh, it doesn’t really matter what you do as long as your heart is right. Jesus has got something to say about that. I love quoting Luke 6:45 because it’s just one of the great verses that speaks to this so powerfully. Jesus said this, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart will bring forth what is good. For the mouth speaks, the life is lived from that, which fills the heart.”

Whatever fills the heart from that the life is lived. From that the mouth speaks. If God is doing something beautiful and glorious in the soul, you’ll speak from that. Now he did say the opposite is also true. The evil man out of the evil treasures will bring forth what’s evil. The angry man from the angry heart must bring anger. The bitter person from the bitter heart will speak things that are bitter. The hurt person with the hurt heart will speak things that are hurt. When the soul is filled with the beauty and glory of what God is doing, you’ll speak from that. The good man and the good treasures of his heart will bring forth what’s good. It’s the way of greatest blessing.

See, that’s what God wants. He wants to keep you from all those distresses and conflicts and troubles. He loves you, but if you get to a place where you’ve wandered from God and you find those distresses and conflicts, that Holy Spirit is still going to draw you home. Later in this famous prayer of Solomon there on his knees, lifting his hands to God, he spoke of those troubles, defeats distresses. He said this “When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they’ve sinned against you. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you.

If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there’s blight or mildew or locust or grasshopper. If their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is. If they turn to you again, and they confess your name, and they pray to you in this house, hear that from heaven and forgive them and bring them back.” God will always bring you back. God will always bring you back because he loves you like a good, good father. One of the greatest stories of that has to be Luke 15 and the story the prodigal son. This young man wanted his inheritance early. He received a vast sum of money, went into the city and spent it all on the world, and living the worldly life, parties, women, all of it.

He spent it all because a fool and his money are soon parted. He spent it all, then when he had come to the end of his money, a famine hit the land, and he couldn’t even find a job. Finally, he found the worst possible job for a Jew, feeding swine. Now you might think, “Oh, this is the worst. You can’t get any worse than this.” Oh, no, it does because he soon becomes envious because the pigs have food, and he does not. Then it says he came to his senses. Oh, that is a glorious point in a person’s life. The Holy Spirit drawing.

He came to his senses and he said to himself, “My father’s servants are treated better than this. I will go to my father and I will say, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be a son. I’m not coming home to be a son. I’m just asking for a job.’” That’s his speech. We picked the story up and Luke 15:2-24. He got up, he came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and the father ran down the road, embraced him, kissed him and the son had his speech already.

B. Return to the Lord with all your heart

“Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be a son,” but the father interrupts him. The father said to his servants quickly, “Bring out the best robe and put it on my son. Put a ring on his hand, sandals on his feet for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. This son of mine was lost and has been found.” God will always bring you home. He will not quit. He’ll never relent. He will pursue you and he’ll keep drawing you home but here’s the thing. We see this in that prayer as well. When you return, you return to the Lord with all your heart.

Solomon prayed this. “When your people sin against you for there is no man who does not sin and you deliver them to their enemies and they’re taken captive to a land far off. If they take thought in that land where they are taken and repent, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity saying, ‘We have sinned. We committed to iniquity.’ If they return with all their heart, with all their soul and they pray, then hear thou from heaven and forgive your people who have sinned against you.” In other words, God wants sinners to come. God wants sinners to seek him.

God wants sinners to seek him with all their hearts. Why? Because they’ve been searching for all the wrong things. Oh, they’ve been searching, but they’ve been searching for all the wrong things. There is an aspect of the human soul that’s always searching because for so, so many people, there’s something missing and they don’t know what it is. They’re just looking and searching. They want something to fill that empty thing. They don’t know what it is. God put that there. I submit God put that there so that you would search for him, for only when the soul is made right with God is the soul satisfied.

He put that there so that you would search for him. When you search for him, search for him with all your heart. Then when you find him, you’ll find that he was drawing you, that he was pursuing you. He was drawing you every time. 1st Chronicles 28: 9 David said at the great speech before he passed the baton to Solomon, “As for you, my son Solomon know that God of your father, serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for the Lord, searches all hearts, understands every thought, intent of the thought and if you seek him, he will let you find him. You search for him and you will find that he was drawing you.”

John 4 there is this story of this woman from Sychar. This story so powerfully illustrates this. This woman was a Samaritan and the Jews looked down on Samaritans because they had intermarried with the Gentiles. They thought of them as half breeds and the Jews rejected them, would have nothing to do with them. The chapter begins by saying that Jesus had to go through Samaria. He needed to go. Not just because it was the shortest route. Most Jews would go around Samaria. No, it says he needed to go because he was seeking a lost sheep. This woman from Sychar came to the well where Jesus was resting.

Jesus said to the woman, “Woman give me a drink.” She said, “How is it that you being a Jew ask me for a drink since I’m a Samaritan, how is that?” Jesus responded. “If you knew who was speaking to you, you would ask him for a drink and he would give you living water.” She said, “Sir, give me this living water.” He said to her, “Go call your husband.” He’s going to give her living water but first he says, “Go call your husband.” She says, “I have no husband.” He responds “You have well said that you have no husband for, in fact, you’ve had five husbands. The man you are now with is not your husband.”

She says, “Sir, I perceive you are a prophet” and she turns it to spiritual things. She says, “I know when Messiah comes that he will declare all things. It’s like, she’s pondering. Is this the one? “I know when Messiah comes, he will have the answers.” He will speak off things. Was she searching for God? Was this the day that she would hope that would come? There are many people like this woman. Her life is a mess. She’s had five failed marriages. She’s even given up trying that anymore. She’s not just living with the man.

How many times, how many times had she gone out into the night and looked up to the stars and said, “Oh God, what’s wrong with me? I failed at everything. I failed at every relationship. I’m despised. I’m hated by everyone. I’m lonely. I’m lost, everything I touch fails. I know that when Messiah comes, he will have answers. Where is this Messiah?” He says that he had to go through Samaria. Why? Because he was seeking this woman. He so radically changes her life that she goes into the village and she brings back to the whole Village. “You must meet this man who can seek and save that which was lost.”

One of the great songs, worship songs we sing, ‘Oh, come to the Altar.’ I want to just quote some of it because it speaks to it so well. “Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. He is the one who’s drawing sinners. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the altar. The Father’s arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a Savior. Isn’t He wonderful? Sing hallelujah for Christ is risen.”

Let’s pray. Father, thank you so, so much for the great truths that the soul is made right with you. The glory of your presence changes everything. God, we want you. We want a soul like that. God move in power. We want a soul like that.

For Those Who Desire Wisdom
September 3-4, 2022
2 Chronicles 1:1-13

We come now to that place where David has given his last and final speech that we were looking at last week. David brought a speech of such significance, and then he spoke a word of wisdom to his son, Solomon, and then David breathed his last and went to his Father’s as the Scripture says, Solomon is now the king of Israel.

Solomon, you might know, was the son of David born to Bathsheba. Now, this is the same Bathsheba with whom he had that adulterous relationship and then later married. Solomon is a son of that marriage, and I tell you, it is an amazing declaration of the grace of God. Not only in forgiveness of David, but then to allow a son from this relationship to be the great king over Israel, it’s an amazing declaration of the heart of God.

Now, David gave to his son the name Solomon, and it means peaceable. Now, you even see the word Shalom there, which is Hebrew for peace. He gave him this name, but interestingly, God says, I also give him a name. I give him the name Jedidiah, which means loved of God. It’s such a beautiful expression again of the grace and kindness and the forgiveness of the Lord to have such a relationship to him.

Now, Solomon is famous for several things. He is the one who will build this amazing, glorious temple that David had envisioned. David had envisioned it to be like one of the wonders of the world. He prepared everything, and the architects and the craftsmen and the cedars and the gold that on and on, David had it all prepared. Solomon will build that. Solomon is also famous for wisdom. The wisdom of Solomon is famous.

In fact, if you could describe Solomon with one word, most would say, well, the wisdom of Solomon, that’s the one word that would describe him. That’s an interesting question. Can you describe a person with one word? If people knew you really well, what would that one word be that they would use to describe you? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people could describe you and that word was a name that reflected the honor and the character of the Lord?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they thought of you and said, ah, now here’s a person of grace or faithfulness. See, these are the things that honor God when your name and your character is like Him. Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth.” Now, how did Solomon get wisdom? Great question. Answer is wisdom comes from God.

I.  We Need the Wisdom that Comes from God

The story, as we’re going to read it, as it unfolds, Solomon, sometime after he’s anointed king of Israel, he goes to Gibeon. That’s the place where the tent of meeting dwells, and he offers the sacrifices of the Lord and God meets him in a dream. God meets him there and says to Solomon, ask whatever you wish. What an amazing thing. What is it that you would have me to do for you?

Solomon did not ask for wealth, or honor, or riches, or long life. What did he ask for? Wisdom. I’m asking for wisdom to be able to judge the people of Israel, to discern between good and evil in the judging of the people of Israel. Now, wisdom is the right thing to desire. I think if we were to do a show of hands, many people– Well, let’s do it. Show of hands. How many people say, “I want more wisdom”?

In fact, I want God’s wisdom. I want great wisdom. Show of hands. See, it’s the right desire. In fact, in the pursuing of wisdom, what many people do in their daily devotions is to read a proverb. Much of which is written by Solomon, and many of course see that it contains a lot of wisdom. What they want, wisdom. They will read a proverb every day as part of their devotionals and, of course, there are 31 chapters of Proverbs.

It works out quite nicely. If it’s the 5th, you read Proverbs 5, it’s the 10th you read Proverbs 10. Why? Why do people do that? Of course, they read other places as well, but they want that. Why? Because they want wisdom. Wisdom is of great value. If you’re going through trouble and difficulty, you need wisdom. If you’re making a tremendously important decision that will determine the course of your life, you need wisdom. It’s a right thing to desire.

Let’s read the story of it and then look at the principles that God would have for us in His word. 2 Chronicles 1:1. “Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him greatly. Now Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place, which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, this which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had made in the wilderness.”

They still have it after all of these years, that tent of meeting which Moses made and said, anyone who wants to meet God can go to this place. They still have it, but he makes a note here that David had brought up the ark of God that once dwelled there, but he brought it up from Kiriath-jearim to the place that he had prepared for it, where he pitched a tent in Jerusalem. “Now,” verse 5, “the bronze altar, Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.

Solomon went there before the Lord to the bronze altar, which was at the tent of meeting and he offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.” Now, this is like a magnanimous statement of honor to the Lord. He’s so thankful for the privilege and honor of being the anointed king. A magnanimous statement to the Lord of a thousand burnt offerings or a thousand offerings. “In that night, God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask what I shall give you.” Here it is. What is it that you would have me to do? What shall I give you?

“Solomon said to God, ‘You have dealt with my father David with great loving kindness, and you’ve made me king in his place. Now, O Lord God, your promise to my father David is fulfilled for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?'” I need wisdom to do it.

“God said to Solomon, ‘Because you have this in your mind,” in other words, because you asked this, “and you did not ask for riches, or wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor did you even ask for a long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, so wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give to you,” in other words, what you didn’t ask for, “I will give you riches and wealth and honor such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor those who will come after you.’ So Solomon went to the high place, which was at Gibeon from the tent of meeting to Jerusalem and he reigned over Israel.

Now, we’re going to look more about that, of course, in the weeks to come. Then at the Wednesday verse by verse service, we’ll look at the verses around this as well, but I want us to take hold of some great principles out of these verses starting with this. We need wisdom, but we need the wisdom that comes from God, because there’s a difference. The so-called wisdom of the world is distinctly different than the wisdom that comes from God.

For example, we read in 1 Kings that one of the first things that Solomon does when he became king was to form a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter to become his wife. Now, this was very common in the day for kings and rulers to form alliances with other kings and rulers through marriage alliances, very common, and it was considered the politically savvy thing to do.

I submit that is also an example of the wisdom that comes from man, because this is not what God wanted him to do. May have been politically savvy, but it was spiritually disastrous, as we will read in the story the result of it, because wisdom, and this is an important thing to recognize, wisdom is the ability to see into a circumstance, to see into a situation, to be able to understand what is happening and also to understand what the outcome will be. To be able to see the outcome of the thing is a tremendous aspect of wisdom. For this will not end well. The outcome of this will not be good.

A. The world’s wisdom is foolishness to God

See, there’s a vast difference between this so-called wisdom of the world and the wisdom that comes from God. So much so that the world’s wisdom, God says, is foolishness to God. God makes a comparison, that’s foolishness. Solomon is doing the thing that many did is considered wise, to build alliances, but God has said in His word, do not do this because of the outcome. It will draw the king’s heart away from God. If the heart of the king is drawn away from God, not only will it be disastrous for that king, it will be disastrous for the nation and those who follow after. The outcome of the thing.

See, many, when they’re considering the course of life or what they’re about to do, or the decisions they’re about to make, they do not consider the outcome of the thing. Many oftentimes when they do consider the outcome, their outcomes are too short. They’re only thinking in the moment or maybe the next few days or the next few weeks, but God thinks of not only the entirety of your life, He thinks of eternity in view. Now, we know of Solomon’s life, that this was just the beginning of forming these alliances and taking on other wives from other nations.

He took many, and ultimately, it led to great trouble in his life. We can read in 1 Kings 11:1-2, “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, ‘You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you,'” because the outcome, “‘for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.'” It says, “Solomon held fast to these in love.” He collected foreign women like some people collect foreign cars because he had many of them.

I submit that God’s wisdom is always proven right. Would you agree with me? His wisdom is always proven right. In fact, He says there is a way which seems right to a man, but it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12. There is a way that seems right to a man, thought it was right, but it didn’t consider the outcome of the thing for that, its end is the way of death. To consider the outcome of the thing is the wisdom. God’s ways are better because God’s ways lead to life. Jesus said, I’ve come that you have life and life to the full. I want you to have life. I want you to have blessing. I want you to have the fullness of God, and He knows the way to do it. God’s ways are better.

There’s a better way to live. He speaks to every area of your life, business, finance, family, marriage, relationships. He’s got your soul. He speaks on every level of your life. For example, a principle of the Lord when it comes to marriage, this is just one example of many examples. 2 Corinthians 6:14, He gives this wonderful piece of wisdom. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers.” “Do not be unequally yoked,” He says in another way. That’s a principle of wisdom because of the outcome. “For what partnership does righteousness have with lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness?”

He even gives the reasoning behind the wisdom, or how about Ephesians 5:25? “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church, gave Himself up for her.” Oh, if you take hold of the wisdom of God, it will come back to you in tremendous blessing because God wants to bless your marriage. Anybody believe me? He wants to bless your marriage. He wants you to have a blessed, and God knows how to do it.

If you have your marriage the way God would have your marriage, it will bless your marriage. He wants to bless your life. He wants to bless your family. He wants to bless your finances, your business. He wants to show you the wisdom. 1 Corinthians 3:19-20, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, ‘He is the one who catches the wise,'” he’s talking about worldly wisdom, “‘He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.'”

B. What you desire is what you pursue

It does not bring about the result of God’s blessing on your life. Then we see this. What you desire is what you pursue. What you desire. “What is it you want?” he said to Solomon. What is it you want? What is it you would like? What you desire is what you pursue. I submit we are all pursuing something or meaning some things. We’re all pursuing. That’s the nature of the soul that God gave us. In fact, in the speech, David’s last and final speech that he gave that we just looked at, what was the summation of wisdom that David imparted to Israel as well as to his son?

Seek God then, seek Him earnestly. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him. For when you find Him, you find peace and you’ll find a soul that’s made beautiful in the presence of the glory of God. If you find Him, seek Him, seek Him earnestly. Seek first the kingdom of God and all of these things will be added unto you. We’re all pursuing. It’s the nature of who we are, but what is it that you are pursuing? It’s a very important question.

If we would pursue the things of God, can you imagine the result, what it would bring about in our lives? That’s why David, the culmination of his life wisdom is found in that verse, seek Him earnestly. See, what you desire has everything to do with who you will become. What you desire, what you are pursuing has everything to do with who you will become. If we would desire that which God would do in our lives, ah, you would grow in faith and maturity. I submit that the very things that you desire have been transformed by it. When you pursue God in your life, the very things that you desire will be changed. You will desire differently than you used to.

Do you remember when you were in the world? The things that you desired in the world were quite different than what you desire when you’re in the kingdom of God. In fact, Psalm 37, a great word given here in verses 4-5, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” All right, now there is a wonderful principle of wisdom, how to live your life. In the course of your life, delight yourself in the Lord. What do you delight in?

What is it that is the delight of your desire? Well, delight yourself in the Lord. It’s one of the most important aspects of wisdom. He will give you the desires of your heart. He’ll give you the desires and then He’ll give you the desires. See how I played that out? He says, commit your way to the Lord. See, commit your way. I commit my way to you, Lord. Trust in you, Lord, and He’ll do it. This faith to believe. He will give you the very desire, but your desires will be changed.

If you ask people that are in the world and the people who are growing in maturity in Christ, you will see what they desire are very different things. I remember I was in the world. I did the world thing. I remember what I desired. Anybody else remember? It’s changed. See, because I care about the soul now. I didn’t understand before. When I was in the world, when I did the world thing, I didn’t understand. The importance of the soul, the condition of the soul, didn’t really see it.

Many don’t, they’re quite blind. The soul is the most important aspect of who we are. The soul, this the most important. I didn’t see that, I was blind to that. I was just doing the world thing. I was just doing the flesh thing. I tell you what, you do the flesh thing very long, and your soul is going to get sick. Anybody do the world thing enough to know what I’m saying? I tell you what, if your soul is sick, you are sick indeed. If your soul is alive, you are alive indeed. That is living, when your soul is alive in the Lord, that is life.

II.  In Wisdom, Ask God for Much

Therefore, in wisdom, ask God for much. Ask Him for much. When God asked Solomon, “What is it you wish for me to do?” he recognized his insufficiency. This is the great people. I need wisdom and understanding to judge your people well, I need to be able to discern. He asked for an understanding heart, to be able to see. Discernment means to be able to see into the thing. To be able to rightly divide the thing.

A. God’s wisdom is a great treasure

For the purpose of my calling. He’s anointed for a calling and a purpose. You also have a purpose. God gives to everyone purpose. May that purpose and then calling be so high that you need God’s wisdom to do it, because God’s wisdom is a great treasure, the Scripture says. God’s wisdom is a great treasure. How precious is wisdom? God’s Word says that wisdom is more precious than wealth and great riches. Proverbs 16:16 is just one verse, but there are many. “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold. And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.”

You got a choice. Imagine this way to see it. Imagine you got a fellow here who has both, he’s very, very wise and he’s very wealthy. Then you say to him, now you got to have one or the other. Which one do you choose? You can have one or the other. You can have wealth or you can have wisdom. Which one do you choose? I can absolutely give you the answer right now. I can tell you exactly what he would say. He would say, “Oh, if I get to choose between wealth and wisdom, I’ll take wisdom. Wealth? No, that’ll pass. I can rebuild wealth. The wisdom, got to have my wisdom. I can’t live without my wisdom. I have to have that.” Anybody agree with me? It’s the most– Between the two.

Proverbs 23:23, “Buy truth, and don’t sell it.” Get a speak in here like in investing of your life. “Buy truth, don’t sell it.” Buy and hold and get more. Get wisdom, get instruction, get understanding. Then, Proverbs 4:7, “The beginning of wisdom is, get wisdom.” That’s the beginning, that’s the foundation. The beginning of wisdom is acquire wisdom. Then in all of your acquiring, get understanding while you’re at it, because wisdom sees. Wisdom can see. Sin is blind. Sin is blind, it cannot see. What I mean by that is, those who are involved in the sin of the thing, they can’t see the consequences. They can’t see the outcome, or they’re blind to it. I absolutely tell you that if they could see the outcome, they wouldn’t do it.

If they could see the outcome of the thing, they wouldn’t do it. Anybody agree with me? Sin is blind, but wisdom sees. Solomon knew he needed wisdom for the purpose of his calling.

Me and you have purpose and calling such that you need wisdom to do it, because without wisdom, you may begin well, but you’re not going to end well. You need the wisdom of God to finish what God has started in your life. The wisdom of God, the Word of God is such great value because of the outcome, because of what it does in your life. Psalm 19:7-11, “The law of the Lord is perfect because it restores the soul.”

See the value of your soul? See the value of it? The law of the Lord, the Word the Lord’s is right, is perfect, because it will restore. Restore means it was broken and God will rebuild it. It was broken, but now we’re going to rebuild it on the foundation of life, on the Word of God. The outcome is a restored soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure because it makes wise the simple. God can take the simple and make them wise because they have the wisdom and the principles of God.

The precepts of the Lord are right because it rejoices the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure because it aligns the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether, they are more desirable than gold. Yes, then much fine gold, is sweeter than honey. It’s sweet to the soul. See, the condition of the soul is everything. Is sweet to the soul. It’s sweeter than the drippings of the honeycomb.

B. Learn to discern – applying God’s Word

In keeping them, there is great reward, outcomes. The result of. Therefore, we say learn to discern by applying God’s Word. Learn to discern, to see. How? By applying. See, Solomon asked for an understanding heart to see, to discern. Wisdom is taking the Word of God and then applying it correctly. That’s discernment, because I can tell you that there are many who take the Word of God and use it for their own purpose. You need to take the word of God and apply it correctly. Therefore, you need not only do you need the Word of God, you need the heart of God. The very heart of God will help you to see how to apply it rightly. You need both.

The knowledge of the Word is wonderful, but knowledge by itself puffs up the Scripture says. You need the love and the character of God because love builds up. You need more than just knowledge. You need the heart and the character of God. How do you get wisdom? Well, you get some wisdom simply by the experiences of life. Such as a burner, you get burned and lesson learned. What you and I need is the discernment of the spirit. There is a spiritual discernment, to be able to see the spiritual aspect and ramification and result of the thing that you are considering. There is a spiritual aspect of many things of our lives. To see it.

If you need more wisdom, ask for it. You need wisdom in the applying of the Word of God to your life. James 1:5 is one of those verses that you should underline, memorize, and dogear the page. I had used it and quoted it many, many times. James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach,” and never reproach if you are asking for that, “and it will be given to him.” He’ll do it, He’ll give it to you. You need wisdom? Ask. Pray, ask, and let me just add, and wait. Pray, ask, and wait. Don’t move until you have it.

This is a principle of life. Don’t move, you wait. Don’t move until you have it. It’s so precious. It’s so valuable. You’ll make a terrible decision without the wisdom of God. Pray, ask, and don’t move. Wait. To the peace of God, the Word of God, the Spirit of God, wait. We need to grow in the knowledge of God’s Word? Yes, right, because the Word of God contains the wisdom of God.

2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That’s right. We also need to then have our spirits trained. The Scripture says our senses trained to discern good and evil. Let me give you a great verse. Hebrews 5. Dogear this page. It’s such a right principle. “Everyone who partakes only of milk,” he’s talking about here now the basics of the Word of God, the A, B, Cs literally. “Everyone who protects only of the milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he’s just an infant.

“But solid food,” talking about spiritual solid food, “is for the mature, who,” now notice this, “who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Because of practice. They’ve been applying God’s Word. They’ve been applying the principles of wisdom, and because of practice, they have trained their senses to be able to discern it. Have you ever been into a room, you just walk into a room and immediately you sense there’s something wrong here?

You’re not even in the room two minutes. You just walk into the room, and right away something in your soul. That’s the spirit. See, when you are taking the Word of God and applying it to your life, you are training your senses to discern there’s something wrong here. Maybe you’re speaking to somebody you just met, let’s say, and right away your spirit, there’s something wrong here.

Or the opposite is true. You might be talking to somebody, and you realize there’s something very right here. This is a wonderful person. I would like to get to know this person better. I got to tell you, as we are introducing Roan, it reminds me of when we first had our first conversation with Pastor Jean Marais. This was about three years or so ago and we had a position open, and he heard about it and so he let us know he was interested. I said to Pastor Matthew, let’s call him. Well, he lives in South Africa. Let’s call him. You never know, God can do anything. Let’s call him because there are many obstacles, I’ll tell you.

We called him. I think we talked for an hour and a half. Afterward I said to Matthew, there’s something very right here. There’s something very right here. We are going to pursue. I said right there, we are going to pursue this and if this thing cannot work, it’s very difficult to do that, if this thing cannot work, it won’t be because of us. Someone else is going to have to close the door, but I will pursue, and I will pursue and I will pursue. You might know me. I’m relentless when I get my mindset on something.

C. Don’t just have wisdom; live by it

There’s something very right here. Here’s what’s interesting. I can tell you that’s true with every single person on our staff. Every one of them is a story of getting to know their heart and the spirit saying there’s something very right here. The discernment of the Lord will bless your life. Amen. In other words, don’t just have wisdom, live by it. See, choose wisdom. Which wisdom? The wisdom of God. If you submit a question to worldly wisdom and God’s wisdom, you’re going to give different answers. Once you decide that you’re going to live by the wisdom of God, then choose to live by that wisdom.

Having wisdom and living by that wisdom are not the same thing. This is important. Having wisdom and then living by that wisdom are not the same thing. Knowing the right thing to do and doing it are not the same thing. For example, intelligence. Intelligence, in the same way, is to be used. You can have intelligence and not use it. Let me give you a humorous example. I will use in this case lawyers, not that I’m picking on them but it’s just easy.

These are actual questions that lawyers asked as recorded by court reporters. Attorney, “How is your first marriage terminated?” Witness, “By death.” Attorney, “And by whose death was it terminated?” Witness, “You take a guess.” Here’s another one. Attorney, “Now, doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?” Witness, “Did you actually pass the bar exam?”

This is the last one. Attorney, “Can you describe the individual?” Witness, “He was about medium height and had a beard.” Attorney, “Was this a male or a female?” Witness, “Well, unless the circus was in town, I’m going with male.” I don’t know why I love that. It’s so funny. Case in point, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Need I say more? Can you imagine 700 mothers-in-law? Okay, I’m sorry. That was just being funny. Just being funny there. Please do not send me an email, that was just for humor.

Jesus said this in Matthew 7:24. “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them,” see the difference? “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, he may be compared to a wise man who built his house on a rock.” In Jesus are found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Build your life on this rock because of the outcome, the outcome. The favor of God, the blessing of God. The condition of the soul is the outcome.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much. Oh, how amazed we are at your Word. What you reveal such great wisdom and truth. God, we want more wisdom. We need more wisdom, great wisdom, the wisdom that comes from God, because we want the outcome. We want a life that is blessed of God. We want a foundation that’s built on the Lord, God himself. God, that’s what we want. You said we can ask. That’s our desire. That’s what we seek. That’s what we’re asking. We need great wisdom.

The Heart that Seeks God
1 Chronicles 28:2-10
August 27-28, 2022       

David here is going to give his last and final speech, is coming to the end of his ministry, coming to the end of his rule and reign as King Solomon is going to take the position as king, he will be anointed soon. David gives one last speech. If you had one last speech to give, what would you say? I think what you would want to do is to give the greatest wisdom that you possibly could. What do you want to leave behind wouldn’t it be the ultimate and greatest wisdom, and that is what we see from David.

He assembles there in Jerusalem, all the officials, all the princes, all the commanders of divisions, all the mighty men, all the valiant men. He first, he speaks to all of the leaders of Israel. He gives a word to them, which is just a right word, seek after all the words and the commandments of the Lord your God. Now this David knows is the key to a relationship to God, but a life that is blessed of God. Seek after the words and commandments of the Lord your God in order that you may possess this good land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever. That’s such a great word.

David has come to understand something, that seeking after God, that seeking all of the words of God means to take hold of them for your own life. If you do that, God will bless you. He’ll bless you abundantly and then you can leave good things to your son, your daughters after you. After David gives that speech, he turns to his son, Solomon, who will be anointed as the next King of Israel. He says some of the most profound words that a father can say to his son.

Again, he wants to say those words that would give Solomon the greatest opportunity to have a life that’s blessed. Don’t you want your children to be blessed? I do. I want my children to walk in the Lord. I think all parents here would say the same thing. If your kids walk in the ways of the Lord, I’ll tell you what, it is a blessing to every parent. You so want that for them. Here’s Solomon who’s now been given the task of ruling and reigning as King of Israel, and also to build the temple.

David has brought all the resources and all the materials, all the craftsmen, all the artisans, the stone masons, his gold, silver, all of it, architects it’s ready to be built and he is handing it all to Solomon, but before he does, he gives him a very powerful speech. Part of that is this profound word. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him. It’s not just finding God. There’s the seeking and there’s the finding. It’s not just finding, it’s the discovering of everything that God desires to be in your life.

When you find Him, you will discover that there is a higher way, that there is a better way. There’s a more glorious way to live. If you seek God, He will let you find Him. When you find Him, He will open your eyes that you would discover that God wants to give you a beautiful life, because God wants to bless your soul. Oh, how important it is to have a soul that’s right with God. I tell you it’s so important to have a soul that’s right with God. That’s what it means to have a beautiful life.

God never promised an easy life. I can tell you, I have not had an easy one, but I’ll tell you that God has blessed me because His presence has changed my life. Anybody else? It’s so important to see He’ll bless you. He’ll walk with you on this journey. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him. All right, let’s read this speech. It’s in 1 Chronicles 28 and we begin in verse 2. “King David rose to his feet and he said, listen to me, my brethren and my people I had in my heart to build a permanent home for the Arc Of The Covenant Of The Lord and the footstool for our God, so I made preparations to build it, but God said to me, you shall not build a house for my name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.

Yet. The Lord, the God of Israel chose me from all the house of my father to be King over Israel forever. As we know Jesus is the greatest fulfillment of that because Jesus is a Son Of David. For, he continues, God has chosen Judah to be a leader. In the House of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father, He took pleasure in me to make me King over Israel.”

What a phrase is that? “God took pleasure in me that I should be king over all Israel. Of all my sons, for the Lord has given me many sons, He has chosen my son, Solomon, to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, God said to me, your son, Solomon, is the one who will build my house and my courts, noticed this, for I have chosen him to be a son to me and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely performs my commandments and my ordinances as is done now.”

Now, in the side of all Israel, the side of the assembly of the Lord and in the hearing of our God, he says to Solomon, “Observe and seek after all the words, all the commandments of the Lord your God in order that you may possess this good land and bequeathed to your sons after you forever. As for you my son, Solomon, know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind.”

Oh, there’s so much for us to take hold of here. “Serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” Here are those famous words. “He says to Solomon, if you seek Him, He will let you find him, but if you forsaken Him, He will reject you forever. Consider now for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be courageous and move and act.”

All right, those are the verses I want to look at. Of course, we looked at the verses around this on Wednesday in our verse-by-verse chapter-by-chapter study. I want us to look at these. There are many principles here. Out of this great– a speech filled with wisdom because he wants to equip Solomon to do well in life. God wants those words to be taken hold of by all of us because God wants you to do well in life. With your understanding, He starts out with this, live as a son of your father.

I.   Live as a Son of Your Father

Notice verse 6, “I have chosen him to be a son to me and I will be a father to Him.” This promise is a key. If Solomon could learn to live as a son of the Father, it would be a great key to Solomon’s life and Solomon’s success. It would change everything. I submit that the same is true for you and me. If we could understand what it means to live as a son or a daughter of your father, that you would understand that God wants relationship to you as a father would to a son or daughter.

Jesus referred to God as His Father so many times in the gospels, it’s listed more than 50 times that Jesus referred to God as His Father. In fact, the disciple saw the relationship that Jesus had with God as His Father. They saw Jesus in this relationship praying. Jesus would go off by Himself and He would pray and they could see that He was with His Father and they wanted to understand more.

They said to him, “Teach us that, teach us how to pray.” You remember what Jesus said. He began that instruction on prayer by saying, “When you pray say our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be the name,” but this is a new understanding. This is not the way the Jews understood God. In fact, the name of God is not even spoken because it’s considered so holy and so amazing and power that they will not even say their name. No one knows how to say the name of God.

We think we can make some speculation. It might sound like Yahweh or something like this, but we don’t really know because the Jews won’t say and never have for many, many years. In fact, when they refer to God, even today, they referred to him as HaShem, which means in Hebrew the name, but Jesus said, “When you pray you say my Father.” Now, to learn to live with God as a Father it’s a very important part of our relationship to understand because it suggests relationship, but it also suggests authority.

If God is the Father and we are the son or the daughter, then God has authority over our lives. He’s the Father or the Son. It says, “God chose him to be a son.” God chose you to be a son or a daughter. God is pursuing you to be a son or a daughter because that’s the key to a victorious and blessed life. Adoption is a beautiful picture of that because we are called sons and daughters of God by adoption. God has adopted us. You can look at several places in the Scripture, Romans 8 being one of them.

When we adopted our two boys from Russia many years ago now, 21 years ago, it really became a picture for us of that very, very thing. It was an interesting thing. It started out when we heard that there was a 13-year-old boy here from Russia and there was an agency who brought older children. He was 13, older children rarely get adopted and so they didn’t want to tell him that he was here to potentially be adopted. They said that he was going to be a part of a soccer program, which they put in him into, of course, that was the truth, and we heard that he was here.

In fact, interestingly it was our daughters who said, “We want a brother. He came to us,” and mom her first reaction was, “I’m not having anymore kids. I’m done with that.” “No, no, no, let’s adopt.” When we heard there was a 13-year-old boy that fit into the ages, we thought, “Oh yes.” We called the agency and they said, “He doesn’t know he’s here for adoption so just go visit the family like you’re really great friends.” We never met this family before, but we rang the doorbell and, “Hi, how are you. So good to see you. I haven’t seen you so long.”

We sat and talked to them and we got to meet Sasha and Alex or Alexander, and then we arranged for another picnic together. That’s what good friends do after all, and we had a great time playing soccer together and then we invited him to stay with us as our guests for a week or so at our home. Everyone fell in love with him so we invited him. You are invited. We want you to be in our family. There’s that picture of we pursued, we wanted him to be our son.

Our son was just here. He lives on the East Coast. He works for the federal government. He was in the Marines. He was in Special Forces in the Marines for nine years and now he works for the federal government and he was just here for vacation and oh, what a wonderful time. God gave me a son. What a fine young man he’s turned out to be. God gave me a son, and God gave him a father. There’s a relationship there. There’s a respect there.

A.  Abide under your Father’s authority – well

This is the thing, abide under your father’s authority is the understanding of what he’s saying to Solomon. If you understand what it means to live as a son of your father, then you understand what it means to abide under your father’s authority well. You notice well, not resisting, not chafing not, not, not, not resisting, but well. It’s like that– In many places Israel was called stiff necked, that’s because they would not humble themselves before God. Stiff neck is literally a neck that’s stiff, it won’t humble.

Again, I picture a father putting his hand on the neck of a boy. When our kids were young, that’s a great place to put your hand. It just is so comfortable, but when there’s a wonderful relationship between a father and the son, the son’s response to that hand on his neck is, “That’s so good. My dad his hand is so strong and he loves me. He protects me. All of that strength it’s for me. All of his wisdom it’s for me. You can put your hand on my neck anytime. I love you Dad. Papka is what they say in Russian, but what if there’s that hardness and resistance and that chafing and, “I’m my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do.”

That sounds like an American attitude, doesn’t it? The Scripture calls it sniff neck if that’s the way we act towards God. No, no, no don’t put your hand on, no, but see David is giving his son Solomon a great key. Live under the authority of your father well. It’s a beautiful picture. If Solomon would abide under his father’s authority well, it would change everything. It would be the key to his success because if his father has authority over him, then Solomon will move in the authority of God Himself. It’s interesting understanding.

In fact, we see this in the Scriptures. When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman centurion came to him imploring Jesus saying, “Lord, my servant is paralyzed at home fearfully tormented.” Jesus responded, “I will come and heal him.” This picks up in Matthew 8:8, but the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, just speak the word and my servant will be healed.”

Notice what he says next, “For I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me and I say to this one go and he goes, and to another come and he comes, and to my servant do this and he does it.” He’s saying to Jesus, I understand how this is. You have authority of your Father. All you have to do is speak and my servant will be healed. Jesus when He heard this, He marveled. In fact, he said, “I have not found faith like this in all of Israel.” That’s an amazing thing. “I have not found faith like this with anyone in Israel.” That is a deep understanding.

The centurion understood something about authority that many people do not understand. He had an understanding of faith. If God is your Father, then you are under His authority well. To abide under your Father’s authority well is one of the greatest keys of life. David is giving Solomon one of the greatest keys of life to abide under it well, to abide when God speaks. If God is your Father, you have every advantage in life. See the implication, see the application, see the significance, see the meaning of it. If God is your Father, you have every advantage in your life.

Verse 20, “Be strong and courageous and act. Don’t fear, do not be dismayed because the Lord, God, my God is with you, Solomon, He will never fail you. He’ll never forsake you until all the work of the Lord is done.” Now, this is a good word. It’s every advantage in life. Now, I’ve used my personal story on this because the application is important. Many of you know my story. I grew up in extreme poverty. My father was an alcoholic, not just any alcoholic, angry, cantankerous, abusive alcoholic.

I thought I had every disadvantage. I thought everything was against me, I looked around, I thought everyone else must have had good fathers, of course, later realized that wasn’t true, but on my 21st birthday, it came to a point where I wanted to deal with this with God. I was angry, I was hurt. Everything was against me. I had every disadvantage in life and so I’m telling God what I think, very respectfully, but I’m telling God what I think, and then that word, you ever had the Holy Spirit just impress a word on your heart?

I had that Holy Spirit moment where God just pressed it on my heart, “I will be your Father now.” In other words, I understand. I understand what you’ve had for a father, but I will be your Father now, and I will be a Father like no earthly father could ever be. I will never leave you. Same thing that David said to Solomon, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I put my hand on your life,” and I’ll tell you what, if God’s hand is on your life, you have favor.

B. Receive the word your Father speaks

I thought I had every disadvantage. I thought everything was against me. Now I’ve come to understand if God is my Father, I have every advantage, and if God is for me, who can be against me? Anybody want to agree with me on this? Can we get a lot of praise and glory? Absolutely. If God is your Father, then David says, then receive the word your Father speaks, see, verse 7. If you would resolutely do it, take all of the words that God has spoken. If you would resolutely do the words that God is spoken to you. If God is your Father, then you have weight to His words. His words have authority, His words have power, His words have weight.

Verse 8, “Observe, seek, after all the words, the commandments of the Lord your God, then you will possess the land, bequeathed.” If God is your Father, then His words carry the weight of His heart. Words are powerful, words are powerful in and of themselves because when you speak– I mean, our words are powerful. When you speak it’s your heart that bears fruit. Your words come from who you are.

Jesus said in Luke, 6:45, “The mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.” This is the truth, we know this is true. The good man out of the good treasures of his heart will speak forth what is good, because the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. Now the opposite is also true. Out of the evil of the heart, men will say evil things, harsh things, words that are hurtful. Out of a hurt heart comes hurtful words. Out of an angry heart comes angry words, but out of a good heart, a good man out of the good treasure brings forth what is good.

Here’s the thing. God also speaks from that which fills His heart. When you keep God’s word in your heart, you are carrying God’s heart in your heart. Now that’s a beautiful picture. When you have God’s word see a good man out of the good treasure of his heart. Well, how do you put good treasure in your heart? “Thy word have I treasured in my heart,” David wrote in another place. That’s the idea. Keep God’s word, God’s heart. When you carry God’s word, you’re in carrying the words of your Father.

I tell you, when God sends His word into your life, it will accomplish the purpose of God when He sends that word. God’s words are powerful. Do you believe that? They’re sharper than any two-edged sword, they’re living and active, powerful. When God sends forth His word, He sends them in power to accomplish a purpose in your life, known as Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be which goes forth from my mouth,” but even God speaks for that which fills the heart.

“So shall my word be which goes forth from my mouth for it not return to me empty or void without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” When God sends His Word into your heart, it becomes a foundation on which you can build your life for it will transform who you are. God’s heart will transform your heart, for sure. Then we see this great principle that you can see that David is saying to his son, which is live boldly.

C. Live boldly!

Verse 10, “Consider now the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be courageous.” That’s another way of saying live boldly, man, boldly. Verse 20, “Be strong and courageous and act.” Men of action. Do not fear. Do not be dismayed for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will never fail you, He will never forsake you until all the work of the Lord is done. When you live with God as your Father is to live courageously, boldly, having confidence that if God is your Father, then His hand is on your life, and His help is with you. He will make you bold in action. Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”

Don’t you love that verse right there? I love that verse. That’s a picture of a heart that’s right with God right there. The wicked flee when no one’s pursuing in other words, you’re looking over their shoulder, they don’t know if they’re going to get caught. They might get caught. Anybody see me? They’re living in a state of concern or panic. Let me just tell you something, that is no way to live your life. Anybody agree with me? That is no way to live your life, but when your heart is right with God, when your soul is right with God, there’s a boldness with that.

The righteous flee when no one is pursuing but the righteous are as bold as lion. There’s no one who’s perfect. They’re not suggesting anyone is, but when you’re right with God, when He does a beautiful work in your soul, the boldness of God is the boldness of a lion. Confidence in God is an aspect of faith. Confidence in God is an aspect of faith. I tell you that the more storms and travails that you have walked through with God, the more you have seen His hand guiding you through trouble, the more confidence you have in Him as your Father.

I have walked through many, many troubles, and God has walked with me through every one of them. Anybody want to add your amen and your witness to that? Absolutely. Let’s give Him praise. For you will then be able to say, if you’ve gone through many storms and so many travails, and you’ve seen His hand guiding you through the trouble, you would be able to say, “I know my God. I know my God. I know how He moves. I know that He rescues and saves. My Father. I know my Father. I know my God.”

There is that confidence. If you believe that, then you’ll watch for it and you’ll wait for it. David believed that. Surely you must agree. David was a man of boldness because of his faith. That’s the thing. Proverbs 27, memorize Psalm 27 sometime, it’s a great song but just a couple verses. “The Lord is my light and my salvation so whom should I fear?” David is writing. If the Lord is my light and my salvation who should I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life, whom should I dread though a host encamp against me, though war– He says, though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arises against me in spite of this I shall be confident, confident in God.

II.  Seek God and He will Let You Find Him

1 Corinthians 16, “Be on the alert, stay firm in your faith. Act like men, be bold, be strong,” and then he adds, “And let all that you do be done in love.” That’s the heart of God. You see there’s the thing. There’s a boldness that’s with love. That’s beautiful. There’s this great principle. Seek God and He will let you find Him. That is so deep. That is such a wonderful word. “God searches all hearts,” He says. “God understands every intent of the thought, but if you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” He knows what you seek. He knows what you desire. He knows what you want.

When He says seek, He’s like pursue. People pursue what they desire. Their desires drive them to pursue it. God suggests here that either the heart seeks after God and desires to know God more, or seeks their own way. Turns away from God. That’s the person who wants the things of God, but they don’t want God. They want the things they might receive from God but they don’t want the personal relationship with God as their Father. It changes everything.

Moses is one of the greatest examples. We’ve been looking at that the last few weeks before I took vacation. I love the heart of Moses in Exodus 33, where he wants more of God. He wants to know Him. He’s pursuing, isn’t it? He’s seeking. He says, “Now, therefore, I pray if I have found favor in your sight, then let me know your ways that I may know you.” I want to know you more. Then he said, “Oh I just more thing, show me your glory. I want more.”

A. Serve Him with a whole heart

Moses had seen more of glory than any human alive, so much so that he knew it was beautiful on the soul. I want more. I want to know you. If God is your Father, then there’s a desire for knowing Him because that’s why then David says, “Serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind,” he adds. Serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind. You’re under the authority of your Father well, no chaffing. There’s no kicking. There’s no resisting. “I love your hand on my neck, my Father.”

He says in verse 9, “Know the God of your father.” David is the father here. “Know the God of your father. I knew God. I knew Him well. Solomon, I want you to know Him well.” Wouldn’t that be what God would say to all of us? Know Him well. David wants Solomon to know God the same way that David knew God. David understood what few understand. If God is your Father, then God is your help. God is your help in time of need and His help, David says “Your help makes me great.”

You make my feet like hind’s feet, the feet of a deer. When you go to Israel, you will see these– on the cliffs, it’s like, how can they be on a cliff face? They’re so sure-footed there. That’s why he says “You make my feet like hind’s feet. You set me on higher places. Your help makes me great.” David understood what few understand. He’s trying to give Solomon a great key. If God is your strength, He will be that strength for you. He’s a shield about you. Therefore, serve Him with a whole heart and a willing. What does willing mean? It means I want to, I love you, God. You are my Father. I love you.

Let this matter be settled. Let this matter be settled. I love you. You’re my Father. Don’t kick against it. Abide well under His hand in your life. David wrote this Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water–” Remember we used to sing that song. Beautiful, beautiful. [sings] As the deer panted for the water, so my soul only thirsts thee. It’s so beautiful. As the deer pants, the deer can smell water. They can smell it in the air and they long for it in a dry and weary land. As the deer longs pants, so my soul longs for you.

That’s a willing heart right there. I want you Lord. I want more. My soul thirsts for the Living God. Psalm 63, another one, “Oh God you are my God, and I will seek you earnestly.” You see why David is saying what he’s saying in the song? Because he understands. You’re my God and I will seek you earnestly. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh yearns for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Oh, look around the world. Are we not living in a dry and weary land where there is no water? We’re talking in a spiritual sense. This is a messed up broken world, and in this messed up broken world my soul thirst for you because you’re loving kindness. It’s better than life. That was another song we used to sing. My lips will praise you and I will bless you as long as I live, and I will lift up my hands in your name. Ah, how beautiful is that.

David was a man after God’s own heart and he wanted Solomon to know God the same way. I tell you, I tell you, I tell you if Solomon would’ve abided in these words, oh, it would’ve saved Israel so much trouble. If you know the history of it, we’ll look at it. Oh, if Solomon would’ve abided in these words, it would’ve saved Israel so much trouble. I say to all of us here, if you would abide in these words, it will save you a lot of trouble.

B. Seek and you will find

Wise is the one who knows it when he’s young. I wish I knew God when I was 20 the way I know God today. Anybody agree with me? He says, “Seek Him and He will let you find Him”. Seek and you’ll find, verse 9 is so powerful. “Seek Him and He’ll let you find Him.” There is an aspect of the human soul that is always seeking, always longing, always looking, always searching.

Think deeply. In the human soul there is a deep longing, there’s a deep searching, searching for meaning, searching for purpose, searching for answers. I submit that God put that in the soul that it might be satisfied in God, that we might be those who seek Him earnestly as the deer pants for the water for I submit that the soul is not satisfied until it has found God. It is not just a matter of finding Him, it’s a matter of discovering then all that it means to find Him, because when you find Him you’ll find peace, you will find joy.

You’ll discover that God can make a soul beautiful. You will find help in time of need. You will find that His hand will make you great. He says in verse 4, “God took pleasure in me,” I love this right here. “God took pleasure in me and make me king over Israel.” If you seek Him, He will let you find Him and you will discover God’s pleasure over your life. God’s pleasing. God’s pleasure on your life is beautiful on the soul. The Scripture says, without faith it is impossible to please Him, but with great Faith God takes great pleasure.

I was thinking of an illustration. In 1923 during a quarter mile race in England, Olympic champion, Eric Liddell, tripped over the legs of another runner JJ Gilles and he fell, tripped, caused him to fall off the track. By the time he got up he was 30 yards behind the last place runner. You might know already that this is the substance of the Chariot’s of Fire movie and that is a famous scene.

Probably the most famous scene in the whole movie, maybe it’s one of the greatest scenes of runners as he fell on the track 30 yards behind the last place runner and he gets up and he starts running at a speed. Oh I tell you. I love it when my kids were running because it’s so inspiring. Imagine this scene, he’s 30 yards behind the last place finisher and he has such a speed that he passes every single one of them and won by three yards with music playing in the background.

He had it in his heart to be a missionary, very strong Christian. He made it very well known that he was in his heart to be a missionary. Someone said to him at one time, “Well if your heart is to be a missionary, why do you run? His answer has become famous. “I run because God made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure.” Oh that’s good. That’s good. God made me a pastor and when I teach His word I feel His pleasure. It is beautiful on the soul. God wants you to feel His pleasure. It’s beautiful on the soul. God wants you to feel His pleasure.

God wants a relationship with you that you would feel His pleasure. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him, and when you find Him, you will find all that He is. Let’s pray. Father, thank you so much. You are amazing. What can we say? We want to take hold of these words. We want to live by them. We seek you, we seek you earnestly for you said, if we would seek, you would then us find.

Well, God we want to seek earnestly more of you. We want a relationship where we would abide with you as our Father, and that we would abide under it well, because we want to feel your pleasure. We want the relationship with you where when we find you we find everything that you are in our lives.