Our message is going to be out
of Isaiah 39, but I want to begin here in 2 Chronicles 32. And
I'll ask you to hold your place here in 2 Chronicles 32 as we'll
come back to it. The triune God of heaven and
earth has given to the believer everything. Everything we need to enter into
God's presence right now, He's given us absolutely for free
by His grace. It costs the believer nothing. It costs God everything. It costs
Him His Son. It costs His Son His blood. But it costs the believer nothing.
And God has given us everything that we have in this life. And were it not for His Holy
Spirit working from His throne in glory in our very midst, we
would surely take everything God has given us with the name
and praise of God on our lips, and we would serve ourselves
and join in with this ungodly world and perish forever. Were
it not for God keeping us. 2 Chronicles 32 verse 22. We know we've been looking at
Hezekiah. We've learned a lot in the way
God dealt with Hezekiah. We've got one more lesson to
learn. I've titled this message, The Trial of Plenty. The Trial
of Plenty. 2 Chronicles 32 verse 22. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib,
the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all, and guided them
on every side. And many brought gifts unto the
Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah, king of Judah, so
that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. In those days, Hezekiah was sick
to the death and prayed unto the Lord, and He spake unto him,
and He gave him a sign, or He wrought a miracle in saving Hezekiah. Now we've seen both of these
things already. Isaiah up to chapter 39. How that the Lord saved him out
of the hand of the king of Assyria. How that the Lord saved him when
he was sick unto death. Now drop down to verse 27. Nezekiah
had exceeding much riches and honor, and he made himself treasuries
for silver and for gold and for precious stones and for spices
and for shields and for all manner of pleasant jewels, storehouses
also for the increase of corn and wine and oil, and stalls
for all manner of beasts and coats for flocks. Moreover, he
provided him cities and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance,
for God had given him substance very much. This same Hezekiah
also stopped the upper water course of Gihon and brought it
straight down to the west side of the city of David, and Hezekiah
prospered in all his works." Now hold your place there and
turn to Isaiah 39. At that time, Merodach, Baladon,
The son of Baladon, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to
Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered. And Hezekiah
was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious
things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious
ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found
in his treasures. There was nothing in his house,
nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. Then
came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto
him, What said these men? And from whence came they unto
thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come
from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What
have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that
is in mine house have they seen. There is nothing among my treasures
that I have not showed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah,
Hear the word of the Lord of hosts. Behold, the days come,
and all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have
laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon.
Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that
shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget, shall they take
away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palaces of the king of
Babylon. then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, good is the word of the
Lord which thou hast spoken. He said, moreover, for there
shall be peace and truth in my days. Very often the trial has
just begun after we think the trial has ended. Hezekiah's sickness was obvious,
an obvious trial to him. We tend to get real humble when
we are in the middle of a trial and we are made to see our utter
weakness. During that attack by the Assyrians,
Hezekiah saw he had no strength. During his sickness, Hezekiah
saw he had no strength. And the Lord worked in his heart
and the Lord humbled him greatly. And Hezekiah was humbled by it.
He said, Behold, for peace I had great bitterness. but thou hast
in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption,
for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." That's what
Hezekiah learned from the trial of his sickness when he was recovered.
Hezekiah was a chosen child of God's mercy. In Christ, Hezekiah
was without sin. In Christ, Hezekiah had eternal
life. In Christ, Hezekiah was washed,
purged of all his sin. The Lord declared this to Hezekiah
through using David as a type, like we saw last week. And he
said, for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake, I'm
going to save you. It's the same as saying, for
mine own sake and for the sake of Christ Jesus my Son, my King,
I'm going to save you. What mercy Hezekiah had been
shown. He'd been shown tremendous mercy. The Lord had delivered
him from the hands of the Assyrians who were mightier than he. Surely
they were going to destroy him. The Lord had given him many gifts
and honors conferred upon him. The Lord had performed this great
miracle in delivering Hezekiah from death and adding 15 more
years to his life. He was forgiven of all his sin
in Christ and he knew it. And no sooner had Hezekiah said
this, look there in Isaiah 38 verse 20, He said, the Lord was
ready to save me, therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed
instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. And no sooner had he said that,
and we read this, turn back to 2 Chronicles 32 verse 25. But Hezekiah rendered not again
according to the benefit done unto him, for his heart was lifted
up. When all this honor came, all
these gifts began to come in, he began to be prospered after
he was recovered from his death. His heart was lifted up, and
he didn't give to God as God had given unto him. Look down
at verse 31, 2 Chronicles 32, 31. Howbeit in the business of the
ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to
inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him
to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." You
mean God didn't know what was in Hezekiah's heart? That's not
what it means. It means He left him to teach
Hezekiah what was in his own heart. What was in his own heart. You know, A bullfrog swells up real big and croaks
real deep and real loud. And a bullfrog is basically defenseless
against every other creature except for flies. That's about
the only creature it can harm is a fly. Well, Sometimes, when
we think the trial's over, we begin to obtain new joy, new
security, new toys, new prosperity, and we swell up like a big old
bullfrog. Our chest pokes out, and you'd
think we were the king of the jungle, when all we are is lord
of the flies. That's it. Vanity and ambition are blinding
and absolutely deceitful. And the heart that's in every
believer, the heart of flesh that's still in every believer,
is deceitful. It's wicked above all things. And we can't know it. If God
leaves us alone and doesn't teach us, we don't even realize the
deceitfulness of our own heart. Hezekiah was a faithful man.
He was a wise man. The Lord said there's none like
him. Absolutely none like him. But Hezekiah was no sooner restored
back to health and back to prosperity and had his enemies conquered
all around about Judah and Jerusalem than he was lifted up in pride. And the Lord left him there to
teach him what he is. You know what? Malachi says that
the Lord shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and that
He will purify the sons of Levi, that is, His royal priesthood. Everyone He's called by His grace
and made a king and a priest unto God, the Lord's going to
refine us, just like purifying silver and gold in a furnace
of fire. And he's going to do it just
like he did right here with Hezekiah. He had already done it by allowing
the king of Assyria to come up against him. He had already done
it by allowing Hezekiah to be sick unto death. And now he's
doing it again through prosperity, through much goods that Hezekiah
has and much honor. And the Lord does this. He purges
His people as gold and silver that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness. You see, if He doesn't take away
everything and shut us up to Him alone, we'll come to God
with the filthy security of our own flesh and our own vanity,
our own vain religious words and doings, and really think
God's going to receive us because of that. And He strips everything
from us and brings us to Christ alone so that through Christ
our altar we come to God with absolutely nothing but Christ
only through faith in Him. And that's how we offer an offering
to God in righteousness. And He also does this and He
makes us willing to serve Him right where He's put us, knowing
that everything's His, and everything belongs to Him, and it deserves
to be used for His honor and His glory, and not for our selfish
flesh. I don't care how we try to candy-coat
it. It's not for that. Well, the Lord said, Abide in Me, and
I in you. He said that you can't bear fruit
of yourself, any more than the branch can bear fruit of itself.
The branch has got to be in the vine to bear fruit. And we've
got to be in Christ to bear fruit. So he says, abide in me, because
without me you can do nothing, absolutely nothing. David had
been tried and David said, Lord, you've searched me and you've
known me. That's what he's doing to Hezekiah,
he's searching him. And he said, and you've tried
me. You've known my down-sitting and you've known my up-rising.
You've known everything about me. You've understood my thoughts
are far off. And he said, Lord, lead me in
the way everlasting. Is that what you want? Is that
what I want? To be led in the way everlasting. I mean, really, is that what
we want? To be led in the way everlasting. The trial is not always over
when we think it's over. Sometimes it's just begun in
prosperity. In prosperity. Now here's the
second thing to get. Second thing to get. Everything
that the Lord gives the believer in this world is for the glory
and furtherance of God's name. We're to use them for His name.
And not to look anywhere else for assistance but our God. The Lord is the salvation of
His people. Salvation is of the Lord. Not partly, all. Salvation is of the Lord. Look at there at 2 Chronicles
32, 22. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of the king of
Assyria. And the Lord saved them from
the hand of all others. And the Lord guided them on every
side. Look there at verse 23. Hezekiah
was a trophy of God's grace before the eyes of all the people. That's
what it's saying, verse 23. Many brought gifts unto the Lord
to Jerusalem. That's who they were bringing
the gifts to, to the Lord. And presents to Hezekiah king
of Judah so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from
thenceforth. The Lord lifted Hezekiah up and
used Hezekiah and all that he did through Hezekiah to show
man can't save himself, salvation's of the Lord. And he made it known round about
by this one man. If you'd have seen Judah at the
time Assyria came up there, you'd have thought, or Jerusalem, you'd
have thought there is absolutely no way Jerusalem's going to,
they're not coming out of this one. Everything about them's
broke down. Everything, and the king of Assyria's
conquered every nation all the way around them. There's no way
they're getting out of this. And he brought Hezekiah and the
remnant in Judah to see it too. And then the Lord brought him
out of it. The Lord brought him out of it. And he didn't get
any help from anybody. The Lord did it. The Lord did
it absolutely. Look down at verse 29. The people
brought this stuff, but look at the end of it. But who gave
it? God had given him substance very much. You see, Jerusalem
had nothing. It was all gone. Everything had
been plundered and pillaged and used for bad causes, and it was
gone. They had nothing. And God not
only delivered them out of the hand of the king of Assyria,
He gave them much substance. He had the people all around
there whose hearts were in His hand, whose substance He had
given to them. He had them bring everything
to Jerusalem and give it to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah. God not only has
saved His people and blessed them with all spiritual blessings
in Christ Jesus and delivered us from Satan and crushed his
head, He's also given us everything in this life and is able to provide
all things for us using whoever He's pleased to use and the Lord
will do it and He don't have to have any help from anybody. Well, what did Hezekiah do when
he found that out? Well, first of all, he hoarded
up what God gave him. Look at verse 27. 2 Chronicles 32, 27. And Hezekiah
had exceeding much riches and honor, and he made himself treasuries
for silver and for gold. Look down at verse 28. Storehouses
also for the increase of corn and wine and oil. and stalls
for all manner of beasts and sheep coats for the flocks. Verse
29, moreover he provided him cities and possessions of flocks
and herds in abundance. That's the first thing he did.
You know what the second thing he did was? In Isaiah 39.1, the
king of Babylon sent his ambassadors to him. in presence to him, and
he said, come on in boys, let me show you everything I've got.
You know what he was doing? You know how we got in this mess
of being sinners, deserving of the wrath of God? You know how
we got in this mess? Satan came. And we said, come
on in. You know how Hezekiah's daddy
got Jerusalem into the mess they were in, in Hezekiah's day? Isaiah
went up to him and he said, hear what the Lord's saying, the Lord's
going to save Judah, you're not going to save them, Ahaz. And
Ahaz turned right away from the Word of the Lord and he looked
at the king of Assyria and he said, come on in boys, we believe
y'all can help us more than the Word of the Lord. You know how
Hezekiah had gotten himself into this mess just prior to the king
of Assyria coming up upon them? He turned from the Word of the
Lord and turned to Egypt and said, Hey boys, come on in. We think y'all can help us get
out of this fix. And God said, Woe to them that
look to the shadow of Egypt and trust in horses and stay upon
that which they can see with these eyes and don't cast all
their care into the hand of the Lord. And no sooner has God saved
him out of the hand of the Assyrian, no sooner has God blessed him
with all this substance to be used to build the Lord's house
and to go forward in the course of the furtherance of the Gospel
of God. And Hezekiah hoards all these
things up and then turns around when Babylon sends him a little
present and says, y'all come on in. Maybe we can form an alliance
together. And come on in and look at all
my treasures and look at what a good ally I will be, because
of all I have. Look at everything I have here,
where I can help you. You see, Babylon hated Assyria. They hated them. And they had
heard everything the Lord did, but something else. Babylon was
a religious people. They worshipped the sun, S-U-N.
And you know how God had done this work? In saving Hezekiah,
He made the sun go back ten degrees. And you know what the Scripture
says, the reason that Babylon came down there? 2 Chronicles
says, they sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in
the land. You see, Babylon, the mother
of harlots, false religions, is not going to come dressed
like a harlot. It's dressed like a harlot, alright,
but it's going to come saying, we believe you're God. We've
been worshiping the same God as you from the beginning. We worship the same God as you.
But you see, the difference between true religion and false religion
is just this simple. True religion worships the God
of all first causes. And in every message, that's
what you hear. The God of all first causes,
in no uncertain terms, doing the work in the midst of the
people. And through that gospel, God brings his people into submission,
into obedience by that gospel. Babylon's religion comes saying,
tell us about this secondary cause, how the sun went back
ten degrees. That's what we want to talk about.
Not the God who did it. Not the God who saved you. Not
the God who's sovereign reigning on the throne of glory. Not the
God who chooses whom he will and passes by whom he will. Not
the God who saved every single person for whom he died purging
them of their sin so that they cannot be lost in no shape, form
or fashion. Not the God who is able to send
forth His messengers in truth and in spirit and call out His
sheep as He says He does in this Word. Don't tell us about Him.
Tell us about the secondary causes He works. And let's talk about
those things and let's make God the secondary and us first. That's
what falsehood is. It's putting me up here and God
down here. All falsehood is that. And if
you just have an ear to hear, you can hear it. You can hear
it. Don't just listen for election and predestination and Calvinism
and Calvinistic and all that junk. Don't listen for that.
That don't mean a thing. Who are they glorifying? Who
are they preaching? Are they preaching Christ or are they
preaching man? It's clear as a bell if you've
got ears to hear it. Be careful. Babylon religion
will appeal to your power and your position and your prestige,
all your pride, because it does not want you. It don't want you. It wants your treasures. A superficial religion has to
have buildings, programs, much activity, everything like that
on Main Street to attract other people into it. And that costs
money. As long as you pay up, you can
be a part of it. Listen to the question Isaiah
asked Hezekiah, verse 4. Isaiah 39.4. Then said Isaiah, What have they
seen in thine house? That's a good question. What
have they seen in your house? Have you declared to them the
glory of God? Hezekiah, did you tell them God's
our salvation? Did you tell them that God has
freely done all this by His grace? Did you tell them that we were
absolutely as helpless as you were four or five days ago when
you were laying on that bed, chattering like a crane and couldn't
even lift up your eyes to God? Did you tell them that's what
this whole nation is? And that's all we are is worthless,
useless grass? Is that what you told them? Or did you fire up your new chariot
and tell them to crawl in and come ride around with me through
the kingdom? Let me show you everything this mighty king's
got. Have you told them that all that
they see, and that they're looking at with their eyes, and that
they think are great riches that God has given us, and they think
that's amazing, and they think the sun going back is amazing.
Have you told them that all of that pales in comparison to the
God who did it? Do they behold a man spending
and being spent for God, for the glory of God, when they came
into your house? Or did they behold a man that's
heaping up treasures for himself and willing to compromise it
all for a bunch of harlots? Which one? Did you make it appear to them,
Hezekiah, that you're in leagues with God and God alone? Or did
you make it appear to them that you're willing to be in league
with them? When our hearts are lifted up
in pride, these are the two great dangers we face. We think that
our possessions are our salvation. And we're easily beguiled into
falsehood. That's what, that's the pride
of the heart. The pride of the heart. Do you remember how we saw Hezekiah? Look there at Isaiah 38. Look
at... Let's see if I can find it here. Look at... Verse 14, Isaiah 38, 14. Like
a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. This was when he was sick. This
was when he was laying down in the midst of that trial and he
had no strength whatsoever. All he could do was say, Lord,
I'm oppressed. Undertake for me. That's all
he could do. Do you remember that? You remember
that? You ever been there? You ever
been to the place where God brought you so low, teaching you what
you are? In that day of conversion where
you couldn't do anything at all but look up to God and say, Lord,
I am oppressed, undertake for me. Do you remember that in the
last trial that you suffered? where you were so down, so beaten,
so broken by the Spirit of the Lord blowing upon your flesh
to where all you could do is look up to God and say, undertake
for me Lord. You remember that? That's where
Hezekiah was. Before, if we'd have gone into
Hezekiah's house, we'd have seen a man utterly dependent upon
God. Now we see a man utterly set
on pampering his flesh and acting as if he's his own provider. This is before they went into
Babylonian captivity. I read how God won to you, to
show you. After they'd come out of that
trial, and God gave them much substance, you know what they
did? They went to building their own
houses, and just said, let the Lord's house sit there. It can
wait, it's not time yet. You know what it took? The Spirit
of God. blowing upon that flesh and teaching
them what he'd done for them. And then, in Ezra 4, when the
adversaries came and said, let us build with you. We worship
the same God. They said, we trust in God. We
trust in God. We don't need any help from this
world. We don't need any help from falsehood
of this world. The Lord saved, the Lord guided,
the Lord gave substance very much. Everything is given of
the Lord to be used in the service of the Lord and for us to know
that the Lord will provide and not us and not Babylon. Well, here's the last thing. The Lord will chasten his children. He will chasten his children.
and his children will gladly receive it. And they'll be corrected. Verse 5, Isaiah 39, 5. Then said
Isaiah to Hezekiah, hear the word of the Lord of hosts. Behold,
the days come that all that is in thine house and that which
thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried
to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of
thy sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget,
shall they take away, and there shall be eunuchs in the palace
of the king of Babylon." Paul, after he had received much
blessing of the Lord and much abundance of the Lord, lest he
was lifted up in pride, the Lord gave him a thorn in his flesh.
And the Lord gave one to Hezekiah. Hezekiah would live knowing that
in days to come, his whole nation and everything he had and his
children would be carried away captive in the Babylon because of him. And he was taught by that, once
again, not to trust in carnal securities. but to know that
His Father is truly going to do that which is right for Him. And where the Spirit of God dwells
in a believer, when the Lord teaches us through His Word,
through His Gospel, through His messengers, through Providence,
we submit to the Word of the Lord. This is what He did. It says in 2 Chronicles 32, 26, It says, notwithstanding, Hezekiah
humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came
not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. Back there in Isaiah
39.8, then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, good is the word of the Lord
which thou hast spoken. And he said, moreover, for there
shall be peace and truth in my days. Well, when he says here
there'll be peace and truth in my days, he's not acting selfishly
here. He's not saying, well, that's
all right with me as long as I have peace in my days. What
he's saying here is, Lord, I deserve to be carried
away into Babylon, into captivity. You've given me something that's
purely of your grace that will have peace in my days, in these
days. But because he was a child of
mercy, because he was without sin in Christ, though he was
full of sin in himself, The Lord never withdrew His love and kindness
from Hezekiah. He never did. He taught him this,
and He never withdrew grace from Hezekiah. This was grace, what
He was teaching him was grace. It's not always... We think of
grace as just all roses all the time, don't we? But grace is
not always... But this was grace. It's not
always how we want it, but it's grace. And this is what he gave him.
And he did it this way because the gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. Those he's everlastingly loved,
he everlastingly loves. We're sons of Jacob. We're sons
of Hezekiah. And we'll do just what Jacob
did. We'll do just what Hezekiah did. But he said, I'm God and
I change not. And that's the only reason we're
not consumed. Because God who chose us and
put us in Christ, who redeemed us by His own blood, said, I
won't turn away from you to do you good. But at the same time
He teaches us, He will teach us that which is good. And He
won't leave us alone. Because He's a faithful Father.
Faithful Father. Alright, so let's end with these
three things and recap this. Here's the first thing. Remember,
the trial may be just beginning. when you think the trial has
ended and you begin to prosper. That's not to scare you. That's
not to frighten you. That's to just understand that. Think about that. Be on guard
against the deceitful heart. We're so proud by nature. So
proud by nature. Consider it great grace when
God shows us what it is in our heart, what we are in our heart.
When He shows us, it makes us to trust Christ alone, trust
our Lord alone. The second thing is remember
that when God prospers us, we're still utterly dependent upon
Him as whenever we were chattering on our face before Him like a
crane. Just as dependent. And we're to use what He's given
us for His glory, because that's why He saved us and called us
and He's given us what He's given us. Anywhere in Scripture that you
see God bless His people with abundance, and it's set there. God took it away from them, or
He did what He did right here. And he corrected his children,
or what he did after Babylon, when he corrected them. And he
said, now, build my house. He does one of those two things.
In Hezekiah's case, he took it all away from them. He allowed
Babylon to come in, and he took it all away. But after he delivered
them out of Babylon, he didn't allow them to take it away. He
does one of those two things. And this is the second to remember
under that second heading too, is to remember that the compliments
of Babylon are dangerous. They're going to appeal to everything
they can to get you to join them. Everything. And what sounds like
we're going to prosper you may really be we're going to plunder
you. We're going to plunder you. And
thirdly, when the Lord shows you that crafty, subtle foe that's
in your own breast and in mine called pride, turn from yourself and flee to
God and ask His forgiveness and you'll find it. You'll find it. Can't you just imagine how ashamed
Hezekiah was again after all this and being brought to this
place? But you know what the Lord said
about this man? And this is still the man that
the Lord said, he trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that
after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah nor any
that were before him. That's grace. That's God saving
Hezekiah because he saw Hezekiah in Christ and he saw him as absolutely
perfect. Perfect. Let's pray. Lord, we ask you, please don't leave us to ourselves. This is what we are. We would surely take the things
you've given us, use them for ourselves, join in with all falsehood, were it not for your keeping,
preserving grace. Lord, make us to truly understand These are not just words. These are not just systems. These are not just things we do one day of a week. Father, teach us that you are
life. Teach us, Father, that You are
indeed righteousness. Teach us, Father, that You are
indeed holiness. Teach us, Father, that You are
indeed our Deliverer. Teach us, Father, that You are
salvation. and make Christ your Son, the
one you're well pleased with, the one you delight in, make
Him all in all. Lord, fill us up entirely In
every space and nook and cranny, fill us up with the light of
Christ. And make us, Father, to walk
on water. Make us, Father, to see that
in Christ Jesus we can do all things. And make us see, Lord, how short
the time is. Make us see that it's just a
short time. Make us truly care and desire
and long to see sinners saved by Your grace. so that we stop wasting time.
Starting in our own homes with our own children, starting in
this place with one another, starting in this community. Teach
us, Father. You've put us here for just a
time that is a vapor. And make us useful. Father, we don't want to be worthless
donkeys that don't even know their master. Make us to truly know why we're
here, whose we are, and who's doing the providing. And Lord, help us to say with
Hezekiah, It's the Word of the Lord. It's good. Whatever you're pleased to do, we ask it now, Father, according
to your riches in glory, according to your abundant mercy, in the
precious name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus
Christ, our righteousness. Amen. What?