Grace Gospel Network presents
Recovery of the Gospel. Pastor Kent Clark. Now here in
2 Chronicles chapter 32, a wonderful story. I love the stories of
the Old Testament of how God delivers His people and encourages
His people. We are the people of God and
God still delivers. in the same way that he delivered
in Old Testament times. So let's begin in chapter 32,
beginning with verse 1. And the establishment thereof,
Sennacherib king of Assyria, came and entered into Judah and
encamped against the fenced cities and thought to win them for himself."
Now you got the picture, maybe a little muddy with King James
version, but Sennacherib king of Assyria comes down and literally
desires to overtake the people of God under King Hezekiah. Verse 2, And when Hezekiah saw
that Sennacherib was come and that he was purposed to fight
against Jerusalem, he took counsel with his princes and his mighty
men to stop the waters of the fountains, which are without
the city, and they did help him. So there was gathered much people
together, who stopped all the fountains and the brooks that
ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the
kings of Assyria come and find much water?" So, first of all,
Sennacherib is going to have a water problem. Also, he strengthened
himself and built up all the wall that was broken and raised
it up to the towers, another wall without, and repaired below
in the city of David and made darts and shields in abundance."
Somebody has told me many times in 50 years, if I believed what
you believe, I'd just sit down and wait for God to do it all.
No, don't think so. Our God is a God of means. And
one of the greatest things that we can praise God about when
you think about it is that God would use you or me. Who am I? That's what we talked about last
week. Who am I? That God has blessed me and I
give back to him that he gave to me. That's all I do when I
give back. And he set captains of war over
the people and gathered them together to him in the street
of the gate of the city and spake comfortably to them. He spake
comfortably to them, saying, Be strong and courageous. Be not afraid nor dismayed. for the king of Syria, nor for
all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us
than with him. With him is the arm of the flesh,
but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.'
And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, the
king of Judah." Resting words. and being comforted. That's what
I want to talk to you about. Verse 9. After this did Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, send his servants to Jerusalem, but he himself
laid siege against Labuchish and all the power with him and
Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all of Judah that were at Jerusalem,
saying, Thus saith Sennacherib, king of Assyria, whereon do you
trust? that you abide in the siege in
Jerusalem. I don't suppose the devil ever
comes and asks you any questions like that. Look at this mess. You're about to be defeated.
Wherein do you trust? Verse 11, Does not Hezekiah persuade
you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst,
saying, The Lord God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king
of Assyria. King Hezekiah said, God's going
to save us. And Sennacherib mocked. Is this what King Hezekiah is
saying to you? That you have a God who's going
to deliver you from my army? You're going to starve to death.
That's what's going to happen to you. Look at verse 12, "...hath
not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars,
and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before
one altar, and burn incense upon them?" Hasn't King Hezekiah taken
away all your false gods? You think Hezekiah is your friend?
You see, Sennacherib thinks that somebody out there still longs
for their false gods. that Hezekiah has destroyed.
And that Sennacherib, by saying these things, is going to get
some folks on his side and give Hezekiah some problems. It would
be like somebody saying, hasn't Clark taken away from you some
of your idols? Verse 13, Know ye not what I
and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands?
We've won every victory. We've destroyed nations. Were
the gods of the nations of those lands anyways able to deliver
their lands out of my hand? You see, this is the way the
devil talks. You're going down. You can trust your God all you
want to, but you are going down. That's what the enemy says. Look
at your brothers and sisters and those around you. They haven't
won the war. Kraken's taken them down. Were the gods of the nations
of those lands anyways able to deliver their lands out of My
hand? Who was there among all the gods
of those nations that My Father's utterly destroyed that could
deliver His people out of My hand, that your God should be
able to deliver you out of My hand? Now therefore, let not Hezekiah
deceive you nor persuade you on this manner. Neither yet believe
him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver
his people out of my hand and out of the hand of my fathers.
How much less shall your god deliver you out of my hand."
Poor Sennacherib. He's about to learn a great lesson. And if you read on, you'll find
out he died. Was killed by his own crowd.
You see, We say here at Grace Gospel Fellowship, there is no
God like our God. We have seen his mighty works. I think of Pharaoh who said to
Moses, I don't know your God and I will not let this people
go. But he did. But he did. You see, there's none greater
than our God. is the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. You know, for years I lived in
a situation where in going to church, I mean, as a child growing
up, where religiously I was abused. I was. For years I was abused. And that abuse, spiritual abuse,
caused many problems in my life. And I think many defeats. God would not have his ministers
abuse his people. When our God prepares a nation
for a change, he sends a man with the change. I know God has
sent me here to Pontiac. I know that. As many warts as
I have and the sin that's in my life, I still know one thing.
God sent me. I know that. God's preachers
have to be God sent. Not mama sent, but God sent. I've heard mothers say, oh, I
just want my boy to be a preacher. Well, he might be, but he'll
be a panty-waist preacher unless he's called by God. Sent by God. A man with an earthen girdle
and eating locusts and wild honey like John the Baptist. A wild
man. Oh, I so fit. Hezekiah had a zeal for God. I flunked the test so often in
my own life, giving myself the test. But one thing I know, I
have a zeal for the worship of Jehovah. I have a zeal. More than anything else, I want
to eat and drink to the glory of God. I want this church to
say, to God be the glory. When you're delivered from whatever
your addiction is, I want you to say, to God be the glory. Great things He has done. And I'm going out a little bit
on a limb, lest some think I'm self-righteous. But when you
pray for me and you make sure you thank God for me as your
pastor. Because I'm nothing without God,
you see. I'm just a hammer. I'm a nobody. Ken Clark isn't doing what's
going on around here. Or the elders of this church.
It's not our mental capacity. It's not the works of our hands.
This place is a miracle place of God Almighty. And I say to you, as I often
do, without God, this place goes down in 24 hours or less. Very,
very true. For the worship of Jehovah. And
Hezekiah led the nation in a glorious reformation. Oh, it looks like
we're going down. You know, we're living in a country
that has approved killing babies and sodomy. That's two things
about America now. We believe in the right to sodomize
and we believe in the right to kill babies. That is the United
States of America. There's something bad wrong with
that. If you think that God is with this nation, you must be
blind as a bat. Amen. That's true. I know that's
true. So, we need reformation. We really do. We need a revival.
We need an awakening. We need the church to stand up
and step up. It is God's way of reformation
to send a preacher. Isn't that crazy? God sends a
preacher. I mean, you know, I think if
I was God, I'd have done it some other way. I mean, if I was God,
I think I would take the elite of the world, the fine speakers,
the educated. But think about it. God comes
over here to a rescue mission. Bunch of drunks and prostitutes
and self-righteous church people come in and out of this place.
And God does mighty things. Isn't that something? Hezekiah was a man who was attractive
to people. The people did not object when
he broke down the idols and cleansed the temple. It was a wonderful
thing when God sends a man who can guide others right, especially
in times of apostasy and spiritual decline. God gave a leader who
becomes a guide back into the old path, a voice in the wilderness,
calling us back. And he did it. Hezekiah did it
with a tone of triumph, with a tone of triumph. I know many
Americans have given up. Many Christians have given up,
especially after the Supreme Court's last verdict. I just
want to say to you, as I said Wednesday night, the Supreme
Court spoke a long time ago when there was not men and women in
black robes. Oh, there you're catching on,
aren't you? And the Supreme Court's ruling has not changed. Men are
to marry women and women are to marry men. And God said so. And that hasn't changed. Somebody said to me this past
week, what are you going to do when two homosexuals come in
and demand that you marry them? I'm going to jail. But Hezekiah talked with a... I don't want to chase that rabbit
right now, so I'm going to get... Hezekiah talked with a tone of
triumph. He did. We've read it. His whole
tone is not, things are too bad, so let's all just give up. I'm
not a give up guy, because I've got a God who can do whatever
He wants to do, whenever He wants to do it. So Hezekiah encouraged
his men of war by exciting their faith in God. What I want to
do is excite your faith in God. Our God is able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask for things. Tuesday night, I'm going to speak
to the tea party. I'm going in there with words
of victory. This battle is not over. Our
God is able. Be strong and courageous. That's
what Hezekiah said. Be strong and courageous. Don't
take a back seat. Don't hold the fort. Take the
fort. Be strong and courageous, he said to them. Sennacherib
was only an arm of the flesh. Hezekiah said, they're nothing
more than an arm of the flesh. And it was a powerful arm of
the flesh. Yet their power was that of the omnipotent God. Hezekiah said things like this.
Don't you know? There are more that be with us
than be with them. So don't you know that the people
looked out, seeing Sennacherib's great army, and they said something
like this. Let's see. He said that there
was more with us than be with them. If we're counting noses,
that isn't true. But we're not counting noses,
we're counting on God. Jehovah God. The omnipotent God. The people believe God's man.
They believe God's man's testimony. And so there was no mutiny. There
was no fault finding with leaders and breaking up into cliques.
That's so often true in the church. They followed God's preacher.
You know, people call us chicken eaters and a thousand other things. And I'll tell you, a lot of chicken
has entered the ministry here. I do love Kentucky fried chicken
and so forth. You can call us what you want,
but we're God's servant. There has to be power and authority
in the pulpit. And the people of God have to
see the preacher as God's man with a voice in this wilderness
speaking to you. And I want to say to you, without
apology, God sent me here today to tell you, thus saith the Lord. That's what God's man does. He
sends God's man with a message. See, that's why some of you think
sometimes that I've been reading your mail. But I have no idea what you've
been doing this week. But God sent a message. Listen,
if the shoe fits, wear it. God's talking to you. Don't start
trying to, who told the preacher? I know somebody told him. We
had a good service Wednesday night. I didn't know a whole
lot of things, but boy, I must have been pushing some buttons
Wednesday night. You never know what you're going
to miss here on Wednesday night. The Bible says, as Hezekiah spoke,
the people rested themselves. You shouldn't leave here sweating,
unless you're without Christ. You should leave here rested. Oh, I came up to the house of
God anxious. And I came up to the house of
God nervous. And I came up to the house of
God feeling I was a failure. And I came up to the house of
God feeling like I wasn't going to make it. But, oh, I have found
rest today in the house of God." The people rested themselves.
Now, I want to tell you this. Above and beyond anything else,
the pastor's duty is to comfort God's little children. And I'm
going to say this to you. Your life has failed. Your marriage
has failed. Your children have failed. The
economy has failed. You don't have a penny to your
name. You come up to the house of God, you shouldn't be beaten.
And then on top of that, you have failed. You got drunk this
week. Or you used this week. Or you
lusted this week. I could beat you up about that,
but I'd be beating myself up too. But anyway, the point being
this, when you come up to the house of God, as a child of God,
you shouldn't leave here bleeding and bloody and guilty. You ought
to leave here resting in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You see, the battle of life rages,
doesn't it? Is life a battle? Dying's easy. Life is tough. Isn't that right? Every day. Every day it's a battle. And it rages. And God's children
are beset on every side. On every side. You say, what
do you mean by that, Preacher? I mean this. Not only do you have problems
out there, you have problems in here. You yourself are a big
problem for yourself. Are we not? Isn't that our testimony?
If I just had to deal with the world, I'd be all right, but
I have to deal with Kent. And Kent in the flesh is self-centered. Kent in the flesh, in my flesh
dwells no good thing. So every day, I have to deal
with this guy. That's a battle. And we're often
caused to weep by our frailties and our failures. But you know
what? Our Father has sent the Paraclete,
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. And do you know
what He's called? The Comforter! Jesus said, now
I'm going away. I'm not going to be here in person.
But I'm not going to leave you like little alley rats. I'm not
going to leave you as orphans. I'm going to be here with you.
Now, wait a minute. I'm going away, but I'm going
to be here. Can you explain that, Jesus? Yes. I'm going to send
the Comforter. And He's everywhere at once.
So, if you're in Michigan hurting, He's here. If you're in Africa
hurting, He's there. The Comforter has come. The Holy
Spirit of God who comforts us. He's not left us as orphans.
In fact, the Scripture is constantly saying things like this. Comfort
ye, comfort ye, my people, saith the Lord your God. Comfort. What a sweet thing it is. Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, the Son of Man, and cry unto
her that her warfare is accomplished. Do you ever feel like you're
not so saved? Do you ever feel like, maybe
I'm not the Lord's? The Comforter has come. And you
know what the Comforter does? He takes you back to Calvary.
And at Calvary you hear this word, Jesus paid it all. You
are sin free. You are debt free. You are free
from condemnation. You will never come into judgment.
I know what the devil does. He's the Sennacherib who says,
you know what you did. You know what you did. He's the
one that causes fear where you are afraid. I love these passages. Psalm 127 says, Except the Lord
build a house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the
Lord keeps the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain
for you to rise up early. and to sit up late and to eat
the bread of sorrows. That's all vain. You shouldn't
be staying up all night. You shouldn't be worrying yourself
sick. Oh, Lord, I'm preaching to myself.
You shouldn't be fretting. Yeah, it's all vain. You can stay up all night if
you want to, but it's not going to change one thing. Just stay
up and worry and worry and worry and worry and worry. And you
can pop pills to try to get rid of the worry, but after the pill's
gone, after the alcohol's gone, after the crack's gone, after
the heroin's gone, after it's all gone, you're still worried.
It's all vain. But when God comes, And that
still small voice says, I will never leave you, nor forsake
you. I have loved you with an everlasting love, and in tender
kindness have I drawn you to myself. And I give unto you eternal
life, and you'll never perish. Neither shall any man be able
to pluck you out of my hand. My Father which gave you to me
is greater than all. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there
you may be also. And didn't he say this? Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Is life a labor
for you? He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will rest you. Take my
yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in spirit. He spoke comfortable words. And
the people rested themselves. They rested themselves. Yes,
Pastor. Yes, preacher. Yes, Lord Jesus. Thank God. You've been listening
to the Recovery of the Gospel with Pastor Kent Clark. You can hear the rest of this
message and many more on sermonaudio.com. You can also like us on Facebook. Thank you for listening. These
are the men of grace. alone so alone there is no feeling
do you wander lost in time have you lost the rhyme and meaning
do you ever want to cry cry so hard it's never ending don't
despair you're not alone hear the message that he sings Someone who cares Someone with
you everywhere Someone who knows just what to do God, is that
someone just for you? Have you ever been so low that
the floor looks like the ceiling? Run away and had to hide from
the tears that you were feeling. Did you ever need a friend in
your cold, the darkest hours? Don't give up, there's love for
you. Just reach out and feel the power. Someone who loves you Someone
who cares Someone with you everywhere Someone who knows just what to
do God, is there someone just for you? Someone who cares, someone with
you is where Someone who knows just what to do God is at the
wonder for you It doesn't matter what you've
done Or whom you've become It doesn't matter what you've said
Or where your path has led It's never quite too late to break
And change your fate Oh, when you call, when you call, when
you call He will be there Someone who loves you Someone
who cares Someone with you anywhere Someone who cares God is there
someone wonderful for you Someone who loves you like you
did us. Someone with you everywhere. Someone who knows. That's what to do. God is that
someone just for you.