Our reading is on the second page of our hymn sheets, the second book of Chronicles, chapter 33, and we're going to read from verse 10 to 25. The first verses, which we'll refer to later, they record how wicked and evil Manasseh actually was. So now we can to the part where Manasseh was converted. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David on the west side of Gihon in the valley even to the entering inn at the fish gate and compassed about Ophel and raised it up a very great height and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings, and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Ishmael. Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only. Now the rest of the Acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up rows and graven images, before he was humbled, behold, they are written among the saints of the seers. So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house, and Ammon his son reigned in his stead. Ammon was two and twenty years old, when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father. For Ammon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them, and humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself that Ammon trespassed more and more, and his servants conspired against him and slew him in his own house. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against King Ammon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son, king in his stead." That's fatherly reading of God's holy word. We're on to look at Manasseh and his conversion. Perhaps firstly to notice, Manasseh was the son of the godly king, Hezekiah. If you remember, Hezekiah had been told to put his house in order, that he would die and not live. He cried to the Lord, and the Lord added to him 15 years. If Hezekiah had not had those extra years, then there would not have been a son, there would not have been Manasseh, there would not have been the line to Christ. Manasseh is in the line to Christ. So three years after his life was extended, then Manasseh was born. We know that because Manasseh was only 12 years of age when he came to the kingdom. So, and yet his reign was some 55 years. God wrought in Manasseh's life, and he was converted. We see the real change though, Manasseh's son, Ammon, he was not converted, he was not saved, he was destroyed, and then his son, Josiah, was that godly king, Josiah. So the Lord had Hezekiah, a godly king, Manasseh very wicked but converted, then his son wicked but destroyed, and then another godly king raised up. But Manasseh, he was reversed the reforms that Hezekiah had done. Hezekiah had done a lot of reforming, cleansed the worship, cleansed the temple, but Manasseh reversed that. And he introduced pagan practices, he built altars to foreign gods, actually in the temple, in the two courts of the temple, and he promoted divination, and he shed much blood. He was a very, very wicked king. And you would think, how could there be any hope for him? Why would God have mercy on him? Reminds us of the Apostle Paul, sore as he was, who also hailed men and women to prison, who also was a very wicked man, and yet God had mercy on him. And it is a reminder of the sovereignty of God and the mercy of God. So, looking at Hezekiah, we see another point I'd make is that his two accounts of Manasseh There's this one in Chronicles, there's one in Kings. The one in Kings does not record his repentance or him being saved. This one does. If we only read one account, we would think that he died under the wrath of God. It's the same as the dying thief. When we read one account in Luke, we read that one of those thieves was saved. If we read the account in Matthew, we read that both of them were casting the same in our Lord's teeth. Of course you put the two accounts together and at first on the cross both thieves were railing against the Lord but then one thief was shown who the Lord was and was brought to pray Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. We indeed justly, this man, have done nothing amiss. It's a good reminder to always have two accounts. You could have someone, perhaps on the last few days of their life, and they might have visitors to the room. Perhaps it was an ungodly man or woman, a person that did not know the Lord, and one visitor went in and they came out and they said, We can't see any signs of grace, any sign of the work of God in that person. Another person comes in the next day, or perhaps even an hour or so later, and they say, what God has wrought, what a difference, this person is humble, they're praying, they're crying for mercy. And the other person might say, well that was not what I saw. Well no, it wasn't what they saw, but the Lord had made a change. And it's a good reminder for us to remember when God works, there's a time before he worked that a person is ungodly and a hater of God. When he works, then he changes. And I knew in my life when the Lord worked with me, it was instant. It was within minutes change from one to another. And the Lord does that. It wasn't brought into full assurance of faith. But that change takes place sometimes very gradually, but sometimes very, very quickly, like the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. So here, what was it that the Lord used? He used sins to bring him to repentance, and he used the king of Babylon, or the king of Assyria who carried him to Babylon. And so when Manasseh was there, we read, when he was in affliction, then he besought the Lord his God. We would remember that not all affliction and trouble and sickness brings a person to pray to God. It doesn't. It doesn't automatically do that. Some people it makes them even harder. They say, if there is a God, why did he allow this? Why has this come? And it works the opposite. But God does use these things and he did in Manasseh's case. And some of you might think back in your lives and remember what God used to bring you to repentance, to bring you to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And with Manasseh here, he was brought to pray, to pray to the Lord in his trouble. How many of you can remember the times that you prayed to the Lord in your trouble, and you cried unto the Lord in your trouble? This was the beginning. You think of Psalm 107, where right through that psalm they fell down, there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. So this is what God did with Manasseh. He brought him to be in trouble, outwardly, in affliction, in prison, as a captive. He cried to the Lord, and then the Lord heard him and brought him again to Jerusalem. Now here's a very big test as well. There's a lot of people that when they're in trouble they'll pray to the Lord and the Lord brings them out of trouble, they forget the Lord. You think of the ten lepers that were diseased and they prayed to the Lord, asked the Lord for healing and he said go and show yourselves to the priest and as they went they realised that they were healed But one, when he realized, he turned around and gave thanks and glory to God. The Lord said, but where are the nine? Were there not ten healed? Where are the nine? Men naturally will just pray when they're in trouble, take the blessing, take the help, and go on their way and forget the giver. And the blessing here is reaffirmed. This is not what Manasseh did, because God brought him back to the kingdom. And then we'll see, what did Manasseh do? Did he still continue on as a pagan? Did he still continue to have those altars? No, he didn't. And so you see the reality of his repentance. The Lord not only restored him, but gave him real repentance and godly sorrow. And that could be seen by taking away the altars, undoing all the damage that he'd done, and it was shown the reality. I remember many years ago, I was in Australia, I was about 8 years of age and a lady was in hospital, she was of our congregation, she hadn't ever made profession but it appeared she was on her dying bed and she had a wonderful testimony and my father wanted us children to go and hear her testimony and he brought me along And this lady, her name was Grace actually, and she took me by the hand and she said, Roland, don't ever leave that little chapel at Melbourne. And it seemed so, so genuine. And my father wanted to see this big change in this person. Well, there's only one problem. She didn't die. And the Lord raised her up, and she went back to the chapel. And she sat in the back of the chapel with her novels, And she just completely defied my father, the pastor. It wasn't real repentance at all. And the Lord raised her up just to show that this was not real. If she had died, we would have all thought she would have gone to heaven. But because she lived, then you saw the reality and it wasn't really repentance at all. And I've always remembered, even though I was unsaved myself, it was going to be another 11 years before the Lord saved me, I've never forgotten that time. One thing since looking back, what she was exhorting me to do was to never leave the little chapel. I believe if someone has really been brought to repentance and to know the Lord, she would have said, never leave the Lord Jesus Christ, always love the Lord. Religion is not based on an individual chapel or denomination or whatever. We're sent in Christ. The crown is put upon his head. And that will be the testimony of God's people. It's a wonderful thing here to read this with Manasseh. It gives great hope for those who have loved ones or know people that are walking in a very ungodly way. It gives hope for us. Satan might accuse us and say, you've been such a sinful, evil person in your life, you can never be saved, you can never make up for it, you can never repent. Well, Manasseh couldn't restore those whom he killed, but he could show that he's really sorry for it, and he really repented. And, of course, real repentance, it will bring us to repent before God and to be trusting in the precious blood of Christ to save us from our sin, not our own righteousness, not our own goodness, but what Christ has done, what God has done. And that really, in what Manasseh did, restoring the worship of the true and living God, was what he was pointing to.