I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bible and turn with me to the book of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles. If you're in Job and Esther and
going back to where the front, Nehemiah, you'll get to 2 Chronicles. Let me just share this with you. I feel as though that the Lord
has truly laid upon my heart the two messages that I plan
to preach this morning. This is gonna be a part one,
part two. I've entitled both messages,
The Blessing of Revival. Revival, Blessing of Revival.
And just so that you'll know where I'm coming from. In the last verse, of 2 Chronicles
chapter 31, the last two verses. Turn over to the last two verses
of 2 Chronicles 31. About a week or so ago, I read
these two verses. And thus did Hezekiah throughout
all Judah and wrought that which was good and right and true. before the Lord his God and in
every work that he began in the service of the house of God and
in the law and in the commandments to seek his God, he did it with
all his heart and prospered. When I read those two verses,
immediately I made this statement. That's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. No doubt about that. It said Hezekiah, but a greater
than Hezekiah was right here. He sought the Lord with all his
heart, and he prospered in what he did. Well, as I looked at
those two verses, my heart was drawn to back up. and come up to that point, what
happened? And so I'm going to try to take,
in these two messages, I want to try to cover three chapters,
29, 30, 31. Don't let it scare you. I know
I deal sometimes with one verse in Proverbs and we're here for
the whole message. But I'm going to take and I want
to look at what happened in those three verses and bring us, Lord
willing, to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in His work
as the servant of His Father, the servant of Jehovah, to redeem,
rescue, redeem, and save His people from their sins. Now, I want us to start, just
back up, Look at verses one and two in 2 Chronicles 28. I know I'm not going to deal
with this chapter, but I want you to look at this. Scripture
says, 2 Chronicles 28, one and two, Ahaz was 20 years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem, but he
did not that which was right. in the sight of the Lord, like
David his father. For he walked in the ways of
the kings of Israel, and made also molten images of Balaam. Now, he did that which was not
right. You know, we read that often. You'll start talking about somebody,
he did that which was evil. the sight of the Lord. Then you'll
read, he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Have
you ever wondered what they were doing? Well, in these verses today and
in these chapters, I want us to look at what did the scriptures
reveal concerning what was right or what was wrong. He was 20
years old, Ahaz. He was 20 years old, reigned
16 years. 26 years this man was alive on this
earth. And, I mean, 36 years, 36 years,
36 years old. And the scripture says concerning,
and I'll let you read that 28th chapter for the sake of time,
not now, but get a chance, you wanna see what he did. But I
want you to look, scripture declares, Last two verses of 2 Chronicles
28. Here's the summation of his life,
right here. 36 years old. Did not that which
was right in the sight of the Lord. Now the rest of his acts
in all his ways, first and last, behold, they're written in the
book of the kings of Judah and Israel, and Ahaz slept with his
fathers. They buried him in the city,
even in Jerusalem, but they brought him not into the sepulchers of
the kings of Israel and Hezekiah, his son reigned in his stead.
This man Ahaz, he did not that which was right in the sight
of the Lord. Now, in chapter 29, and I'm gonna
begin here, we're gonna pick up, I'm gonna pick up on what
he did, what he did that was not right in the sight of the
Lord. And in these two messages right
here, I wanna deal with the exhortation of the Lord to faithfulness. The walk of a believer. The exhortation to walk and adorn
the doctrine that we believe. Walking faithfully after Christ. Not for salvation. You know better
than that. What's the difference in preaching the works of the law and faithfulness. Well, preaching the works of
the law and thinking that you're saved by keeping them. There's
a big difference in preaching works for salvation. You know we don't believe that. But the scriptures exhorts us
to faithfulness, faithfulness. Scripture sets forth. 2 Chronicles 29, verse one and
two. Hezekiah, now this is Ahaz's
son. Hezekiah began to reign when
he was five and 20 years old. And he reigned nine and 20 years
in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah,
the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right,
in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his father,
had done. Now, what a great contrast between
these two men. Here's a father and a son. One
of them did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
The other one did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord. I'm getting there, I'm getting there. What was the difference
in these two men, number one? Only one, number one. What was the difference? The
grace of God. Grace and good pleasure of the Lord. The scripture
sets forth, John 1, 13, that men, women are born again, not
of blood. Salvation doesn't run in blood.
Just because your parents were believers, that doesn't make
you a believer. not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, or
the will of, I'm gonna make my decision for the Lord. I'm gonna exercise my free will,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of
man. I've told you before, I want God to save my kids. I want the
Lord to have mercy on us right here. I want that. But you know
what? I don't have the ability. I don't
have the ability to impart life to you. how they're saved, how
they're born again, but of God, of God. Immediately seeing the
faithfulness of Hezekiah, minded of the one of whom Hezekiah is
a type You're gonna see this throughout these chapters. Hezekiah
did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and he's a
beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what John
8, 29 says concerning the Lord, of whom Hezekiah was a type,
a picture. Here's what the Lord said. And
he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please him. Hezekiah did that which was right
in sight of the Lord. Verses three to nine, he in the
first year of his reign, in the first month, what he's saying
is this, I mean when he came into power, he started in the
first year, the first month, he opened the doors of the house
of the Lord and repaired them. and brought in the priest and
the Levites and gathered them together into the east street
and said unto them, hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves
and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers and
carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place for our fathers
have trespassed. Now who's he talking about? He's
talking about his daddy, our fathers and before him, all those
that did evil. For our fathers have trespassed
and done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord our
God, and have forsaken him, have turned away their faces from
the habitation of the Lord, turned their backs, and they have shut
up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not
burned the incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place
unto the Lord God of Israel. Wherefore, the wrath of the Lord
was upon Judah in Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to
trouble and to astonishment and to hissing, as you see with your
eyes. For lo, our fathers have fallen
by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are
in captivity for this." Now, what did they do? He's talking
about now something that his daddy had also done. Our fathers,
those like him, have done evil. He said, I want you to sanctify
yourself. Now you know, when we talk about
sanctification, sanctify, it means, actually it means to set
apart. It means to make holy. But also
the scripture here says sanctify yourself. Now we don't set ourselves
apart, the Lord does that. And we don't make ourselves holy,
the Lord does that. But here's what he's saying is,
the word is consecrate. Consecrate yourself. You've got
a calling. God has called you. He called
you. I'll show you this in a minute.
Make yourselves to be consecrated. He's serious about what you're
doing. That's what he's saying. You Levites, you sanctify now
yourselves and sanctify the house of God. Be serious about what
you've been called to do. We see the evidence here of the
depravity of man. We all need to be exhorted to
faithfulness, to be reminded of who we are. Again, not for
salvation, but because of it. Coming over here, talking to
Glenda about this right here. I mean, you take a man and his
wife. I mean, there's two people that
come together. They're married, they're wanted.
Be serious about it. Don't take your wife, your husband
for granted. Be serious about this marriage. Work at it, work at it. I mean,
look, two people in one home, they love each other, but I'm
telling you, we need reminded. She ain't the old lady. She's
not your old lady, that's your wife. The old man, that's not the old
man, that's your husband. Levites, sanctify yourselves. What had Ahaz done? Look what
he says in verse 7. Here's what Ahaz had done evil
in the sight of the Lord. Verse 7 again. Also they shut
up the doors of the porch. Now what does the doors represent?
Now you know this. The Lord said, I'm the door.
I'm the door. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. What does that
mean? I'm the door. I'm the door, you don't come
by your works, you don't come by your will, you don't come
by your own faith. Faith is the gift of God given
by which we know how we come to the Lord. By grace, by grace
you're saved through faith. Not of yourselves, it's a gift
of God. What had Ahaz done? They had
shut up the doors, the proclamation of the door. What he had done? What else had he done? He said
they put out the lamps. Look at verse 7. They put out
the lamps, which pictured Him who is the light of the world.
And they've not burnt incense. They've not burnt incense. There's no proclamation of Him
who is the great high priest. That incense, there was no proclamation
of His intercession on behalf of the people. They've shut the
doors. put out the lamps, did not burn
incense, nor offered burnt offerings, that precious burnt offering,
that burnt offering that was that sweet savor offering, that
burnt offering was the burnt offering that was only for the
Lord, and it set forth the submissiveness and the willingness of the Lord
Jesus Christ to come into this world to save His people from
their sins. And so, what had Ahaz done? And our fathers, that's what
Hezekiah said. Our fathers, they've done that which was evil in the
sight of the Lord. What would they do? They hadn't preached
the gospel. There was no proclamation of
the gospel. Any place where you find that
there's not a proclamation of the glorious gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is what the Lord told his
disciples when he was getting ready to leave. What was his
exhortation to them? You go into all the world and
you preach the gospel to every creature. Why? Paul said, Romans 1 16, it, it
is the power of God of salvation. They've done that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord. They shut the doors. They hadn't
burned the incense. They've shut out the lights.
There's no burnt offerings. They didn't preach Christ and
Him crucified. They did that which was evil.
Hezekiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Look
at verse 10, 11. Now it is in my heart to make
a covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath
may turn away from us. My sons, be not now negligent,
for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him,
that you should minister unto him and burn incense. What comfort
to hear through the mouth of Hezekiah that which only the
Lord Jesus Christ could truly know and declare. This is what he said. He said, don't be negligent,
let the Lord has chosen you to stand before him. The Lord has
called you to be his servant. You that know the Lord, don't
be negligent. God's called you. God's made
you to be what you are. Serve him that you should minister
unto him. Offer that incense. What a blessing to consider that
the Lord has been pleased to choose a people. set him apart
to worship him. Joshua, turn back toward the
front of the Bible. Joshua, you'll come to, you'll
see judges. Joshua, this is what Joshua said,
Joshua 24, Joshua 24. He's exhorting the people here,
verses 14, 15. Joshua says, now therefore fear,
respect, respect. Respect the Lord, serve him in
sincerity and truth. Put away the gods of your fathers,
served on the other side of the flood in Egypt, and serve you
the Lord. And if it seemed evil unto you
to serve the Lord, that's something you just don't want to do. Joshua
said, we'll choose you this day whom you will serve, whether
the gods which your fathers served, which were on the other side
of the flood, or the gods of the Amorite and whose land we
dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That's
a, what a blessed declaration of faithfulness. He said, you know, people do
what they want to do. That's what they do. He said,
for me and my house, we're going to serve God. And just rejoice
your hearts, see that declaration of a desire to be found faithful,
faithful. Back in 2 Chronicles 29, look
at verses 12 to 19. Then the Levites arose, Mahath,
the son of Amasi, Joel, the son of Azariah, the sons of the Kohathites,
sons of Moriah, Kish, the son of Abdi, Azariah, the son of
Jehiah, Jehielel of the Gershonites, Joad the son of Zima, Eden the
son of Joah, the sons of Eleaphan, Shemri, J-I-L, sons of Asaph,
Zechariah, Madaniah, the sons of Heman, Jehiel, Shemiah, the
sons of Juduthim, Shemaiah, Uzziah, and they gathered their brethren
and sanctified themselves and came according to the commandment
of the king. by the words of the Lord to cleanse the house
of God. And the priest went into the
inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought
out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the
Lord and the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites
took it and carried it out abroad into the book Kidron. Now they
began on the first day of the first month to sanctify on the
eighth day of the month. came they to the porch of the
Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days.
And in the 16th day of the first month, they made an end. Then
they went into Hezekiah the king and said, we've cleansed all
the house of the Lord and the altar of burnt offering and all
the vessels thereof and all the showbread table and all the vessels
thereof. Moreover, all the vessels which
King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have
we repaired? Sanctified, behold, they are
before the altar of the Lord. They went in, Hezekiah told them,
he said, I want you to go in there and cleanse this temple. Take out, you know. And they
went in there and they took the stuff that was, the filth of
it, and they took it and they threw it in Kidron. It was a river, Kidron, it was
a brook. in which all the filth of the sacrifices were placed.
But also, that brook Kidron was the brook that the Lord Jesus
Christ went over before he was betrayed by Judas. It was by
that garden. Soon he would be taken and crucified
for all the redemption of his people, and he had to cross through
that. What a picture of what he had
to bear in the putting away of the filth out of the temple. Know you not that you are the
temple of a living God? And look at what they were told
to do. Hezekiah told them, I want you
to go in there and you cleanse out, cleanse out that filth. Now you think about this. Just
what was it that was in that temple? I think the Lord gives
us a good understanding of that which we all have. Hold your
place right here. Coming back, Lord willing. Turn
over to Philippians 3. Philippians chapter 3. Paul the
apostle was moved by the Spirit of God to talk about that which
every believer finds in himself. Now, they cleansed the temple. That temple, picture of Christ,
yes. Picture of Christ dwelling, yes.
No ye not, ye are the temple. Philippians chapter three, Philippians
three verse four to nine. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he might trust in the flesh, I more. Now listen, if you want
to know what's in all of us, What's in all of us? What's in
all of us? Paul said, if you think you had
something to trust in, I had more than you did. Circumcise
the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin. Now let me ask you this, what
was wrong with circumcision? Did the Lord not tell Abraham
that that would be the sign, the token? What was wrong with
circumcision? The Lord told him that. That's
gonna be a sign. But what was Paul trusting? What was he doing?
He was trusting me for salvation. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of history of the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews.
You think you got lineage? Oh, you ain't got no lineage.
No, I got lineage. My mama and my daddy were both
Hebrews. Touching the law, a Pharisee. I walked after the sect of those
that prided themselves in faithfulness, faithfulness, trusted in themselves. The scripture says in Luke that
they were righteous. Concerning zeal, I persecuted
the church. Why? Because those who were of
this way, That one that was coming down to what? Destroy the law?
The Lord told me, he said, I didn't come to destroy the law, fulfill
it. Touching righteousness, which
is in the law, I was blameless. You couldn't find anything. Paul
said, you couldn't find anything in me in his mind. But what things
were gained to me, what were they doing? He has a guy, said,
you go in there and you cleanse it. You cleanse it. Paul said,
Those things that we look at and were things that were set
forth in the Old Testament by the Lord. Those I counted loss
for Christ. Why? Because he trusted in them. He trusted in them. Hezekiah,
this is the king. My memory serves me correctly.
This is coming back to my mind. Was Hezekiah not the king that
took that brazen serpent that Moses was told by the Lord to
make and lift it up? And what Hezekiah do? He had
it ground up because the people were worshiping it. I mean, can you imagine if you
had the actual brazen serpent at your house that Moses made? If you had that, you'd worship
it. You'd worship it. If you had
a piece of the cross of the wood, this was the actual cross. This is a piece of the cross,
you'd worship it. He said, those things were gained
to me, and I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them. These things that he's talking
about being circumcised and being a Hebrew and Hebrew because he
trusted in them, he said, I count them but dung. that I may win
Christ, be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law. He said, that's where I was trusting. That which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ, back in
2 Chronicles. The Lord, he bore our filth. He bore our filth in his own
body. One sacrifice for sin, he's perfected
us forever. But I'm gonna tell you something.
Hezekiah said, you go in there and you cleanse that. Brethren,
we have a daily need of being cleansed. Daily. Because we're all prone to look
at something we've done Thinking that we've done something, well,
as I said before, I believe the gospel, I've trusted in the Lord,
and I began to find some comfort in that which I've done. Well,
I've been preaching, you know, for 45 years. Paul said all these
things that I trusted him. I'm standing here this morning
by the grace of God, and I know that, and still I have an old
man in me that still wants to rebuke me for saying that. No,
no, no, Marvin, no, you ought to find some pride in, surely
you ought to, no, no, no, no. Verse 20 to 24. Then Hezekiah
the king rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and they
went up to the house of the Lord. And they brought seven bullocks,
and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats for a sin
offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah.
And he commanded the priest, the sons of Aaron, to offer them
on the altar of the Lord. So they killed the bullocks,
and the priest sprinkled the blood, and sprinkled it on the
altar. Likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled
the blood upon the altar. They killed also the lambs, They
sprinkled the blood upon the altar. They brought forth the
he-goats for the sin offering. And before the king and the congregation,
they laid their hands on them, and the priest killed them. And
they made reconciliation with the blood upon the altar to make
an atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the
burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. Now, what a blessed reminder
of our Lord and Savior, who bore the guilt. In Leviticus chapter
16, hold your place right here, turn
to Leviticus 16. It says right there, in verse 23, they laid
their hands, they brought in those sacrifices, the bullocks
and lamb, but they brought in those two he goats. Leviticus
16, verse 20. And on those two goats that were
brought on the day of atonement, when he had made an end of reconciling
the holy place, the tabernacle, the congregation, the altar,
he shall bring the live goat. And then the scripture is clear,
Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat.
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel and all their transgressions and their sins, and putting them
all in the head of the goat, send them away by the hand of
a fit man into the wilderness. Now here's what happened. On
the day of atonement, there was two goats that was brought. And
one of them was, lots were cast, and one of them was gonna be
sacrificed. Like here, the priest laid his hands on the head of
that goat, and that goat symbolically carried away the sins. He confessed
all the iniquities, all the sins of Israel upon the head of that
goat, carried it away to a fit man, to a place uninhabited,
brought him away. How far? bore the guilt of his
sins, of the people's sins, his people, his sheep. When he bore
all of their sins, where did they go? Where did they go? Scripture says as far as the
east is from the west, behind the back of God. Their iniquities
I will remember no more. That's more than I can grasp.
But that means that they're not gonna come up again in judgment.
I can tell you that right now. Hezekiah said, you're going to
have to sacrifice this again. That's what his daddy, he quit.
He quit doing it. He did that which was evil on
the side of the Lord. When the Lord Jesus Christ bore
the guilt of his people, his people, who were they? Those
given him, Ephesians 1, 4, by the Father before the foundation
of the world. He's got a sheep. He's got a
remnant. According to the election of
grace, He laid down His life for the sheep. For the sheep. I've always been
told that He died for all the sins of everybody and all you
have to do is accept what He did and then it will become effectual. That's works. That's works. Well no, he's offering it to
him. All I have to do is accept it to make it effectual. That
works. The father gave him a people.
John 10, 15 said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Whenever
Aaron put his hands on that goat, whose iniquities was he confessing
on the head of that goat? The scripture says all the iniquities
of Israel. Well, what about all the other
countries? All the sins of Israel were confessed. And he set the Levites in the
house of the Lord with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, according
to the commandment of David, and Gad the king seer, and Nathan
the prophet. For so was the commandment of
the Lord by his prophets. And the Levites stood with the
instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. And
Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.
And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also
with the trumpets. and with the instruments ordained
by David, king of Israel, and all the congregation worshiped,
and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, and all this
continued until the burnt offering was finished, and when they had
made an end of offering, the king and all that were present
with him bowed themselves and worshiped." Moreover, Hezekiah
the king. commanded the Levites to sing
praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph
the seer. And they sang praises with gladness,
and they bowed their heads, and they worshiped. What happened? Well, they came in, and the scripture
declares that he set He said, the Levites, and after the sacrifices
had been made, he said, the Levites, he said, don't you take the cymbals
and the psalteries and the harps according to the commandment
of David and Nathan the prophet? And he said, they stood up with
the instruments of David, the priest, and they sounded trumpets,
started sounding trumpets. Well, that set forth. Turn with
me to 1 Corinthians 14, eight. What did the trumpets, set forth. This first Corinthian 14 Aids,
Paul the Apostle was dealing with men speaking in tongues,
in languages that they had not learned previously. Languages
that were in real languages, but whenever you speak in tongues,
you had to have an interpreter. Like I said, I don't speak Russian.
I don't speak Russian. I bet you nobody else in here
does either. If the Lord gave me the gift of tongues, of a
language, a known language, to preach the gospel in Russian,
it would be truth. But here's the only problem,
God, one problem. None of us speak Russian. So you wouldn't understand what
I'm saying. These trumpets right here, Paul in 1 Corinthians 14a. He's been talking about preaching
in tongues where no one understood. He said, 1 Corinthians 14, 8,
for if the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle? I can set forth
the gospel as clearly as it could ever be preached in another language
that you don't understand, and that gospel which is set forth
as a trumpet, the clarity, the clarity of it, but if you don't
hear it, if you don't get it, if you don't understand it, it's
an uncertain sound to you. Hezekiah, back in 2 Chronicles
chapter 29, he set those Levites and he started Tell them, she
said, you start playing. They stood up, verse 26, with
the instruments of David and the priest with the trumpets
and Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offerings. And
when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began with
the trumpets, the song of the Lord. What is he talking about
now? Well, look over here at verse
30. Hezekiah the king and the princes
commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the
words of David and Asaph the seer, and they sang praises with
gladness and bowed their heads in worship. They started singing
the songs, the songs of David and Asaph in the gospel, in the
praising of the Lord. Verse 31, 35, and Hezekiah answered
and said, You've consecrated yourselves unto the Lord. Come
near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings unto the house
of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank
offerings, and as many as were of free heart burnt offerings.
And the number of the burnt offerings which the congregation brought
was three score and ten bullocks, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs,
for these were of for a burnt offering to the Lord, and the
consecrated things were 600 oxen and 3,000 sheep, but the priests
were too few, so they could not flay all the burnt offerings.
Wherefore, their brethren, the Levites, did help them till the
work was ended, until the other priests had sanctified themselves,
for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves
than the priests. And also the burnt offerings
were in abundance, the fat of the peace offerings and the drink
offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of
the Lord was set in order there. Here, what, what willingness
to bring unto the Lord that which was worthy, praiseworthy of him. Hezekiah told the people, you
bring the sacrifices and thank offerings unto the Lord. Are we not commanded to bring
our offering? What is our offering? Hebrew
13.5, offer the sacrifice of praise unto the Lord. Lord, thank
you. Thank you for saving me. Thank
you for making me your servant. Thank you for allowing me the
privilege to hear the gospel. Thank you for giving me a heart
to know you. Thank you, Lord, that you've
had compassion upon me. Last verse for this morning,
this service, Verse 36, and Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people,
that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly. Hezekiah and the people rejoice
that God had prepared the people, that God had prepared the people.
Those prepared of God, Those called of God do that which they
do. Now the scripture says, Hezekiah
rejoiced and all the people that God had prepared the people for
the thing was done right now, right now. It wasn't
like Felix. Whenever Paul preached to him,
Felix trembled and Paul set forth. the righteousness of God, the
holiness of God, the majesty of God. He trembled. He told
him, he said, I'll wait for a more convenient day to hear more about
this. We've all heard before, never
brought up that Felix ever heard the gospel again. Ezekiah rejoiced in all the people
that God had prepared. The thing was done suddenly.
I'll tell you this, when God prepares, they move, they move,
and they move obediently. No move was fear being warned
of God. Elijah left the oxen and ran
after Elijah. Peter and Andrew, when called
of the Lord, straightway forsook their nets and followed him.
Zacharias, Zacchaeus, I'm sorry, Zacchaeus, came down, the thief
on the cross, he cast himself upon the mercy of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, you entered your kingdom,
would you remember me? I tell you what, he didn't put
it off for a more convenient time, he didn't have a more convenient
time. Paul the apostle stopped on the road to Damascus, It was
his question, Lord, what would you have me to do? Hezekiah did
that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Opened the doors. Candles were lit, the light,
the incense was burned. They worshiped God in the way
that God had set forth. The sacrifices were done. What
are we commanded to do right here? What are we commanded to
do this morning right here? Preach the gospel. Sing praises
unto his name. Let's hear the reading of the
scriptures. Let's hear what God has to say. I pray that God has
prepared our hearts to worship him for his glory and our good.
Amen. All right, let's take a break.