2 Kings chapter 21 will be our first passage. 2 Kings chapter 21, and we're going to look at the
first 18 verses. was twelve years old when he
began to reign and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem and
his mother name was Ziba and he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord. We'll stop right there just for
a minute. Hezekiah was his dad. Hezekiah
was a good king. It says in verse 20 of the previous
chapter and the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might
and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water to the city,
are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings
of Judah? And Hezekiah slept with his fathers. And Manasseh,
his son, reigned in his stead. Now Hezekiah was a good king
and he slept with his fathers. And now we have this young king,
Manasseh. He begins to reign and he's 12
years old. He's not really wet behind the
ears, as they say. Twelve years old. But he reigned
55 years. So what, 67 when he died? So he reigned a long time. So what he did, and what's recorded
here, he did for a number of years. Let's read on. He did that, verse 2, which was
evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the
heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah, his father,
had destroyed. And he reared up altars for Baal
and made a grove, as did Ahab, king of Israel, and worshiped
all the hosts of heaven and served them. And he built altars in
the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said in Jerusalem, will
I put my name? And he built altars for all the
hosts of heavens in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And
he made his sons pass through the fire and observe times and
used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards.
He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke
the Lord to anger. And he set a graven image of
the grove that he had made in the house of which the Lord said
to David and to Solomon his son, in this house And in Jerusalem,
which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I
put my name forever. Neither will I make the feet
of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers,
only if they will observe to do according to all that I have
commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant
Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not, and Manasseh
seduced them. to do more evil than did the
nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
And the Lord spake by his servants the prophet saying, Because Manasseh
king of Judah had done these things, abominations, and had
done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, and were before
him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore
thus saith the Lord of God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing
such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah and whosoever heareth of
it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem
a line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab. And I will
wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning
it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant
of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies.
And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,
because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have
provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came forth
out of Egypt even unto this day. Moreover Manasseh shed innocent
blood very much till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another
beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin in doing that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord. Now the rest of the acts
of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin that he sinned Are
they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings
of Judah? And Manasseh slept with his fathers,
and was buried in the garden of his own house in the garden
of Uzziah. And Ammon his son reigned in his stead." It's not a very pleasant chapter
in this young king's life. He did evil. He did evil. how prone we are to such evils. We're born this way, we act this
way, we enjoy this way. I assume that his father, Hezekiah,
would have sorely disapproved if he were living. But he wasn't
living. There's all manner of corruption.
Let's just look at a few of them. Verse 3, idolatry. Well, what
does that mean? Well, in this situation, they
would put up an idol, you know, stone or wood or whatever. But
in our day and age, anything and everything that goes before
God. Seek ye His kingdom and righteous
first. Anything that we put before God
is an idol. Anything. Verse 3, He did astrological
worship, and there's no gods. We know that. They can't move.
They can't do this. They have no arms. They have no eyes. They can't
move. They can't see. In verse 5, He substituted heathen worship
in the place of God in God's very house. Verse 6, He made His sons to pass through
the fire. He observed unholy times and
magical arts and heathen servitude. Verse 7, graven images were put
in the place of the house of Solomon. And this all points
to a greater spiritual hardness of heart. You could say this
guy was, this boy, this man, this boy king was, and I'm not
going to say he's reprobate because we don't know that, but I'm saying
he was just shy by his attitude and his action. Verse 9, there's seduction. He
says in verse 9, look at how it's worded. But he hearkened
not, Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations
whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. That
word seduce is to cause to go astray. He on purpose caused
the people to go astray. like the one called Deceiver
in John Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress. He knew what he was doing and
he still did it. That's woe be to them that deceive
others and cause them also to go the way of Balaam. Now, that
does not relieve that person who's gone astray following somebody
that's gone astray. That does not relieve them of
their responsibility. Every individual is responsible. But you've got
the blind leading the blind, and they're both in a ditch.
But the lead blind, the head blind person, he knows what he's
doing. That's why I do not have any
tolerance, any respect for people who do not preach the gospel.
Because they ought to know better. They don't. But they're doing
what they're doing either for money, they're hirelings, They're
doing what they're doing because they like to do that. They like
the attention or pride or money. Verse 16, look at this. Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent
blood very much till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the
other. Murder, shedding of innocent blood. Oh, how such calamity
rivals even the Holocaust that we are familiar with or mass
murdering in the days of the saints in Rome. How can we endure? Just reading this, it's upsetting. It stains upon our very nature
and character. All against God, and so we see
man's inhumanity towards man. And yet spiritually, this is
what we are. This is what we are. Well, I
didn't do this. We do sin because of what we
are. God condemns us because we do
things, but we do what we do because of what we are by nature,
birth, and practice. And if God would withhold His
grace, even amongst believers, if He would just stop, we'd go right. And I've done
this and I haven't done this in a long time. Take my Bible or a hymnal. and I got it huddled up here,
and I move my hand, what's that? Gravity. That's a law of gravity,
a law of nature, and that's just like us. We have such a tendency. But let's look at, he says, are
these not written in the books of the Chronicles of the kings
of Judah? Well, let's go look at 2 Chronicles. Let's look at
this account. And I like it, it's interesting
how it's worded in verse, 17 now the rest of the acts of Manasseh
and all that he did and his sin that he sinned Are they not written
written in the book of Chronicles kingdom Judah? Well, let's go
to 2nd Chronicles chapter 33 Here we go again Here we go again
verses 1 through 11 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began
to reign and reign 50 and 5 years in Jerusalem and But did that
which was evil in the sight of the Lord like unto the abominations
of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children
of Israel? He built again the high places which his Father
had broken down. Verse 4, he built altars. Verse
5, he built altars for all the hosts of heaven. Verse 7, he
set a carved image, an idol, which he made in the house of
God of which God said to David and Solomon, this is my house. Verse 9, Manasseh made Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do worse than the
heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.
Same story. Some phrases are worded different. Here we go again, we can re-read
such horrific, unmentionable transgressions and abominations
before men and Jehovah God. Do we see ourselves here? Do
we acknowledge if God were to leave me alone, I'd be in these
two chapters. Here we stand, guilty, condemned,
as charged. We would say we have no king
but Caesar. Away with the Christ. I do not
need Him, I do not want Him. We would say, I'll build me a
tower that goes up into heaven and I'll be His God. That's in
every boy, woman, girl, man, child, that's in every heart
outside of grace. If we stopped Manasseh's story
at the end of verse 11, if we stopped there at verse 11, We would say, it's over. We would
say, yeah, he is reprobate. There's no hope. But I couldn't
believe this. I'm like, is this the same guy
we're talking about? Well, it is. We have no king
but Caesar. If we stopped the store here,
we would surely pronounce Manasseh. He's hanged. He's criminal. Guilty
from birth. Guilty by practice. Guilty in
truth. He's without hope, without God,
without the covenant promises, heading straight for hell. That's
what we would say. But I believe Romans says something a little
different. It says, where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound. But God, but God, there's the
but that we want to hear. But God who is rich in mercy
and His grace and love wherewith He loved us. Well, let's look
at the second part of Manasseh's story. Manasseh, a glorious story
of a sovereign, distinguishing, and chastening hand of our most
merciful God to His own. Let's look at verse 11 and go
forward. This, one of the old, I can't remember, it was somebody
in one of the pastor's study years ago, an old, it may have
been Gil, I don't know who it was. A parishioner came in to his
office and said, did you hear? The Lord saved old so-and-so. He said, I can't believe He saved
old so-and-so. And the pastor said, I despair of no soul since
the Lord saved me. Do we feel that way? Well, look
at this rascal. Look at this Jacob. He was a
trickster, was he not? A mama's boy? Wherefore, verse
11 in 2 Chronicles 33, 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, Manasseh, 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 God and heard, God heard his supplication
and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh
knew that the Lord, he was God. Let's just stop there. As God in his sweet providence
shows us here, he intends to bring all his sheep back home. And in doing so, he once again
demonstrates, our Lord, that he is on the throne and will
bring his people to repentance and faith. Without repentance,
repentance and faith, they go together. Faith and belief go
together. Trust and repentance, all these
things are the grace of God. They are God-bestowed. Look at
verse 11 and the first part of verse 12. God will take away
the golden crown of ease from this Manasseh and worldly lusts
and give us the chains of correction and humiliation which draws us
to Christ. Manasseh was brought among the
thorns and bound him with fetters, which is chains, and carried
him to Babylon. Would you rather have a golden
crown of ease, no trouble, no problems, no concerns, or would
you rather be humbled by fetters, humbled by chains? God will do
what He will do, what pleases Him, and He will have His people. I mean, just remember what the
1st and 2nd Kings, chapter 21, what was going on there and how
horrible He was. All the things He did. But God has a people and He will
bring them to Christ. When He was afflicted, it says,
When he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and
humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers." Turn
to Job chapter 5. This story is borne out in so
many places in the scripture. Job chapter 5. Just two places
I want us to look. David said, it was good for me
that I had been afflicted. And this is what Job is saying.
And this is what Hosea will say. We'll look at that passage. Job
chapter 5 and verse 17. Behold, happy is the man or the
woman or the boy or girl whom God corrects. Therefore despise
not thou the chasing of the Almighty. Yes? And I'm not going to tell
you this story, but if you want to ask me afterwards, a faithful
gospel preacher, whom I know and you love, told me a story
about what he would have the Lord do
if he'd be pleased to his children. And I'd never heard it and I
was actually shocked. I was shocked that he said this.
But he meant it. Turn with me to Hosea chapter
2. Hosea chapter 2. Hosea chapter 2 and verse 15.
It's very interesting. He says, verse 14, Therefore,
behold, I will allure her, the church, his people, and bring
her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her. And I will
give her her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for a
door of hope. I'm gonna bring her through the
valley of Acre for a door of hope. Now I looked up that word
Acre and that means trouble. The Hebrew word means trouble.
In trouble we often see clearer than ever before God's mercy,
God's sovereignty, God's graciousness and His long-suffering to us. If you're not thirsty You don't
want water. You don't need to drink. You
don't need to go to the fountain of living waters. It is just
so. But I thought this was really
interesting. Not only that, but in verse 14 he says, I'm going
to bring her into the wilderness. And there I'm going to speak
comfortably to her. And I'm going to bring her the vineyards. I'm
going to give her vineyards. Where? In this valley of trouble. In trouble, hope. A door of hope. Well, back to our text in 2 Chronicles
33 and verses 12 and 13. He says, He says, And he was in affliction,
and besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before
the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him, and was entreated of
him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem
into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord
was his God. What is this but the obvious
display of reigning grace made known to one of His dear elect? Turn to Jeremiah 31. This is
what we have going on here. He prayed unto Him and was entreated
of Him. It's repentance. It's what we
have here. Jeremiah 31 verses 18 and 19. I, says God, have surely heard
Ephraim bemoaning himself. Thou hast chastened me, and I
was chastened as a bullock, unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, says
the chastened one, the believer. Turn thou me, and I shall be
turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was
turned, I repented. So repentance is the grace of
God. It's nothing that we do. Surely
after I was turned by the God of all grace, I repented, and
after that I was instructed, I spoke upon my thigh, and was
ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach
of my youth. Personal responsibility. I killed
Christ. I spat on Him. I would have gladly
rammed the crown of thorns upon His head. Oh my word, yes, He
gives His children the grace of repentance. And they will turn unto Christ
the Redeemer and Him only for forgiveness of sins. No one else,
no one else. And I like how it's worded in
our text. Look at this word, entreated. I prayed unto Him and He was
entreated. That word is interceded. He was interceded. on the behalf
of Himself. He didn't intercede for Himself.
Or let me rephrase it, Manasseh was interceded on behalf of,
by God the Son. And who is it that daily intercedes
for the sheep? His name is Emmanuel. He was
entreated. He was interceded. And also, I love how this is
worded, in verse 13, "...and brought Him again." He brought
Manasseh again. If God through Christ brings
you back to God, then you are brought and bought and kept by
the power of God. Has to be. Absolutely. And also
again in verse 13, the latter part of verse 13, Then Manasseh
knew that the Lord he was God. Yes, you and I will know that
God is our God. that God has been appeased, He's
been satisfied, He's been honored, and we do not add one thing to
any of this work of salvation, justification, sanctification,
glorification. It's all of grace, Alpha and
Omega, stem and stern. Now verse 14 through 16, we're
free from the law. And now after this, He built
a wall without the city of David. I suppose maybe he tore it down
and needed mending on the west side of Gihon and the valley
and even the entering into the fish gate encompassed about and
raised it up very great height and put captains of war in all
the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange
gods and the idols 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, thank
offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel."
There's repentance. Because repentance is action. It's action. It's like, this
way was wrong. This is the right way. I'm walking
in it. But there's works after salvation,
these things that he's doing. You see, it's just, I'll just
sit there and let everybody else do something. There is works
after salvation, it's what James talks about. But they're all
wrought in us by the gracious Spirit. Now we do all that we
do, building walls, mending fences, apologizing for something that
the Lord brought to our mind. These things are actions. We do it because the love of
Christ constrains us. Not because you got a checker and say, okay,
I want like a grocery list. We worship Him, Christ. We honor
Christ. We live for Christ. We give for
His cause. We sacrifice for His glory and
we will count it as a privilege to suffer for His namesake. You
don't have to turn there, but in 2 Samuel chapter 24 and verse
24, we will do nothing for Christ if it costs us nothing. Remember,
he was at the threshing floor of Arunah, and Arunah's gonna
give him everything here, sacrifice the Lord, I'll give you everything.
He's like, no, I'm not gonna do it, because it's not costing
me anything. I'm freeloading. We do that because we love Christ.
He's done so much for us, and we are debtors to his free grace.
Let us love much. We don't do anything for Christ
that costs us nothing. In closing, look at verse 18
and 19. I don't know why this is different.
I don't claim to know. I'm just glad it's in here. Because
I'm a sinner myself. Now, the rest of the acts of
Anasheh and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers
that spake to him in the name of the Lord of God Israel, behold,
they are written in the book of Kings of Israel. Verse 19,
his prayer also and how God was entreated of him in all his sin
and all his trespass. And the places where he built
high places and set up groves and graven images before he was
humbled. Behold are they written among
the sayings of the seers. And so Manasseh slept with his
fathers and they buried him in his own house. And Anon his son
reigned in his stead. I'm glad the story didn't stop.
I'm glad the story didn't stop at verse 1 through 10. So I believe
this Manasseh and we will say or acknowledge with all the redeemed
Isaiah 55 12. This is what I believe we will
do as Manasseh did. Isaiah 55 12 For ye shall go out with joy,
and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you in singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands." We are going to follow suit with all
the redeemed, and going to follow suit with all the creation, and
we're going to join in glorious song. I like the outdoors. I like to
hug trees. I like streams. I like all these
different things. Tommy Robbins told me when we were on vacation
with him down years ago, he said, there's nobody that can appreciate
the creation like a believer. And he's so right. We see the
hand of God. The redemptive, substitutionary
hand of God. in everything we see. And secondly,
in Jeremiah chapter 24, in closing, Jeremiah 24 and verse 5. This is what we
sing, this is what we say, this is what we know. Jeremiah 24
and verse 5. Thus saith the Lord, the God
of Israel, like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that
are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good." We acknowledge
it. We don't know what's going on.
We don't know what's going to happen in this country tomorrow. It
may be too far gone. We don't know these things. But
we know this. We're going to sing. And it's
for our good? It is for our good. If I can read this, I will do so. And
when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden
gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. When Christ
shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall
fill my heart. Then I shall bow in humble adoration
and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art. Then sings my
soul, my Savior God to thee. How great thou art. How great
thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God to thee. How great thou art. How great
thou art. Indeed, we can sing. He gives us songs in the night.
He does indeed. Nathan, would you close us please?