The Lord Jesus Christ reminds
us that nothing in this world is lasting. Nothing in this world
is enduring. Everything comes to pass. Nothing, that is, except the
words of the Lord himself. The gospel those things that
the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed and declared and taught to his
people. The gospel of grace and peace
will never pass away. We read a little bit earlier
in Matthew chapter 24, heaven and earth shall pass away, but
my words shall not pass away. the very elements of the ground
that we stand upon, the created heavens, the physical reality
around about us, it will soon disappear. Sooner than Christ's
words. Those rocky mountains will disappear. They will crumble and fall. That mighty Missouri will all
dry up. The big sky will be rolled up
like a scroll, but the gospel will never lose its power. What we have, friends, this morning
In this testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ has given us is
more enduring than anything else in our lives and it is more important. The Lord God will never lose
his power and he will accomplish all his will and he will secure
the ends of his desire. And this reinforces the dependability
and the durability and the trustworthiness. of our Saviour's statements and
teaching to us. When we come out here on the
Lord's Day morning, when we gather to worship together, these things
that we hear, these things that we engage with, these are the
real realities, the eternal truths. These are the things that remain
when everything else and everyone else goes away. Let me put it another way. There
is nothing and there is no one in this world that you can really
trust and that you can really depend upon than the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. He is the eternal word. He is the one that will endure
forever. The Bible speaks of the faithful
word. It speaks of the word of truth.
It speaks of the word of life in order to emphasize this nature
and power of Christ and of the things that he has said. Sooner
or later, everyone leaves. Sooner or later, everything ends. But the Lord Jesus Christ says,
my words shall not pass away. I implore you this morning, I
encourage you, lay hold upon the words of Christ. They are
all you will ever have in this world. Whenever we read or whenever
we hear the phrase that the Lord is speaking. Let us give particular
attention to it. I'm not a great fan of red letter
Bibles. I think that it gives a wrong
impression because it suggests that some words in scripture
are of greater importance and priority than others. The whole
of our scripture was given for our doctrine and our instruction
and our correction. These things are all important
to us. Nevertheless, the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ, nevertheless, the words of God, when he speaks
ought to draw our attention particularly. The Lord has spoken from the
beginning of time. The Lord's words will be there
at the end of time. And he speaks still today to
those who have ears to hear. The Lord's people therefore love
to hear, thus saith the Lord. The Lord's people rejoice when
they hear, thus saith the Lord. We delight in the living God
who speaks. who ministers, who comforts,
who draws near to his people, who declares and reveals and
whispers in his people's ears. We love the Lord that speaks
to us, the Lord who says, thus saith the Lord. And what comforted
Hezekiah in his day comforts us still in our day. For whatever
trouble we face, whatever problem we have, and we may not ever
be statesmen or kings that have to stand on a city wall and think
about the implications of an advancing army and the siege
which must come and those who will die of our own family and
friends and people. We may never have those responsibilities. But we have our challenges too.
We have our difficulties. When we look at our own children,
when we look at our own lives, when we look at those who look
to us, and we feel the weight of responsibility day by day
in our everyday experience. But as Hezekiah drew comfort
from the, thus saith the Lord, so let us draw comfort from those
same words of life, the words that endure forever, the gospel
truths of the Lord Jesus Christ. The words of Rabshake, they were
vain and inane words. And yet, the reality is that
we are so forgetful, and we let things worry us and vex us that
we ought not to. We ought not to be a fearful
people, and yet our faith is so feeble. We have, like the
disciples, little faith. Lord, grant us stronger faith. Lord, grant us the strength to
rely more upon your words. And yet in providence, the Lord
is even able to make our little faith a blessing and a benefit
to us. Because in our feebleness and
in our frailties, As we face our difficulties and our trials,
we are made to feel our lack of strength and we are made to
feel our need of help. And we are brought to that place
of humility when we must stand in the presence of the Lord and
say, Lord, help me. I don't know what to do. And
this is the first lesson that we have from Hezekiah this morning. I like the way that this passage
begins. It begins with the little phrase,
it came to pass. We read that often in scripture. It's a phrase that regularly
we encounter in a verse, and we simply read over it. We kind
of say that it simply means it happened, and then this happened,
and then this happened, and then it came to pass, and it came
to... But there's more to these words than simply an occurrence. Because these words remind us
both that it was happening according to the will of God, it came to
pass according to His purpose, and also that all things pass. All things come to us in order
to pass. All things come and go. And that reinforces what we have
already learned this morning, that nothing will endure save
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It came to pass, we are
told, when Hezekiah heard it. The things that he had to face,
the problems that he had, these things caused him great concern. Hezekiah trusted God, let us
not doubt that for a moment. He believed in the word of the
Lord. But yet when he heard these things
that Sennacherib said, that Rabshakeh had shouted against Jerusalem
and against the Lord, we are told that he rent his clothes. He covered himself with sackcloth
and he went into the house of the Lord. You see, just because
we trust the Lord, it does not make us immune from the fear
of man or the weakness of the flesh. We do encounter things
in this life that cause us great concern. We know the truth in
our hearts, but in our heads lurk shadows. dark places, anxieties,
and doubts. We all have what-if moments. We all think to ourself, what
if this happens? And what if that happens? And
what am I going to do if the next thing occurs? And the Lord
God says to his people, these things come to pass. These things
that are brought on you, these things, they come to pass according
to my will. I'm in control. Don't let your
mind run away to things that might never happen. Why would
you do that? Why would you bring darkness? Why would you bring doubt? Why
would you bring uncertainty into your mind? When you know better
than that, you know the truth. You know what the Lord has said.
You know that you are in the palm of His hand and no one can
ever pluck you out of the palm of His hand. You know that you're
safe. You know that you're saved. Why
would we fear? Why would we let these doubts,
these temptations come upon us? And yet that is the reality of
our flesh. That is the way that we are built. The Lord constantly has to bring
us back and bring us back and remind us, thus saith the Lord. These things will pass. And their
coming upon us and their passing is designed to bring the Lord's
people time after time to see Christ and His strength and His
enduring power in all our circumstances. And so it was with Hezekiah. Look what he did. Look what the
king did. He rent his clothes. He probably had the best clothes
in the whole of Jerusalem at this time. And he rent them,
he tore them apart. He wasn't going to be presented
to the people looking good. He was showing the people here
that there was something to be concerned about. He rent his
clothes. He covered himself in sackcloth. He took the meanest garb that
he could find and he put it upon his shoulders and his head. and
he went into the house of God. Hezekiah humbled himself before
the Lord. It's as if he's saying, well,
here's the trappings of wealth and power, and it's not worth
a thing. It's as if he's saying, give
me sackcloth, give me the poorest, most common, the dirtiest, the
meanest kind of wear, because that's all I'm worth. and he
goes into the presence of the Lord and he bows before him. I know that many of you have
endured severe trials recently. I know that many of your experiences
and your hearts have smarted under the circumstances that
have transpired You know God is in control. But that doesn't
take away the pain. The dark places are real. The wounds are tangible. But do not these experiences
make us humble? Are they not harsh and hard as
they appear in the experience, means by which the Lord brings
us broken to Himself? We look at our families, we look
at those around about us and we lament for them and it drives
us to our knees. And the things that we've built
around about us, they take a proper perspective. With Hezekiah, it
was his clothes. He rent them apart. He says,
these are worth nothing. And the Lord does that. He teaches
us that these things are worth nothing. He alone is the only one that sustains
his people. He brings us through the dark
places to teach us these truths. He brings us into times of doubt
and uncertainty to drive us to our knees before Him. Whatever,
let me say it, whatever brings us to that place before the Lord
when we are humbled before them is good, is good. Whatever humbles
us before the Lord brings us to our knees. Pleading to Him
for help is a good thing, though it might hurt and it might smart
and it might last for a long time. What Hezekiah did in public
as an example to the people there of Jerusalem, rending his clothes,
covering himself with sackcloth, going into the house of the Lord.
He did it in public as a witness. We do it. I trust in private,
in the quietness of our own homes, in the seclusion of our own bedrooms. We say to the Lord, Lord, this
isn't worth anything. If you take these things away
from me, so be it. But Lord, give me yourself. Give me your presence. Give me your comfort. Give me
your help. And see what else Hezekiah did.
He sought out the Lord's prophet. In the circumstances of the Old
Testament dispensation, I think this is pretty much the same
as seeking out Christ. For the Lord's prophet was the
one who carried the word of the Lord, and the Lord Jesus Christ
is the eternal word of God. If you wanted to go to the Lord,
you went to his prophet. If you wanted to hear what the
Lord was saying, you sought to face the presence of the prophet. And in 2 Kings 19 verse 2 we
read, He sent Eliakim, which is over the household, and Shebna
the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth
to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos. It's interesting that the elders
of the priests were included in this impressive delegation. And it's interesting too that
the Lord had seen fit providentially to give them the blessing of
Isaiah there accessible to them. Isaiah was invited, he was asked,
he was implored to intercede on their behalf. The Lord has made every believer
in him in these gospel days Priests in their own right, that we can
go, as it were, no longer through an intermediary, like a prophet,
but directly to the Lord Himself. We have God the Holy Spirit,
we have the living Christ with us day by day. And the Lord hath
made every believer a priest and a king. that we should each
have the ability to go to Christ personally. That wasn't available
to kings in days gone by. Shame on us if we neglect that
privilege which the Lord has given us, to pray to him, to
speak to him, to commune with him personally now as a king,
as a priest. For the Lord has given us these
blessings. Now I want you to notice something
very interesting about why God has given each elect child of
God this wonderful access to him. Right now, right here, anywhere
we are, that access immediately. We don't need to go and seek
out the prophet. We don't need to go and seek
out the man of God. Peter says, 1 Peter 2 verse 9,
Ye are a chosen generation. You've been privileged above
all the generations of this world. Those of you who live in this
gospel age, ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. and holy
nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light." These privileges, these gifts,
this access is given to us to show forth the praises of Christ. Our going to God Our approach to God, those experiences,
those hardships which humble us and bring us to our knees,
those experiences which cause us to go into the house of God,
cause us to exercise this kingship, this priestly role that each
saint now possesses, is designed to show forth the glory of Christ. Even our very bitterest experiences
show forth the glory of Christ as they bring us closer to Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is thereby
glorified. We bless our Saviour, not merely
with our words, but with our hearts, with our minds, with
our needs. Our Saviour is lifted up as His
people come to Him in prayer and praise. And so you see we're
in a win-win situation. We get help and the Lord Jesus
Christ gets glory. What could please his people
more than to have such access into his presence? I want to
think about something else with you. I have a little granddaughter. I've got several of them here
today. And they have a saying, when
things are going well, they say, best day ever. I think it comes
from a film or something. It's the best day ever. Well, here's another quotable
quote for you. This one comes from Hezekiah. And he says, this day is a day
of trouble. This day is a day of trouble. And I guess some of you at least
know something of the sentiments of that statement. And they said unto him, thus
saith the delegation speaking to Isaiah, thus saith Hezekiah,
this day is a day of trouble. and of rebuke and blasphemy,
for the children are come to the birth and there is not strength
to bring forth. Hezekiah gives us a graphic picture
here of a woman come to the full term of her pregnancy. The baby's near, the woman is
in the very process of giving birth, but neither the mother
nor the child have strength enough to give birth. And there's a beautiful spiritual
picture here for those that have eyes to see it. Because sinners
have no spiritual strength to bring about their new birth. Those who come under conviction,
those who are brought by God the Holy Spirit under a sense
of law conviction or to see their guilt. Those who are abused by
the circumstances of their life and their consciences who lament
their troubled state. Their greatest desire is that
they might find peace from this conviction, from this sin, from
this judgment, from the sense of need that they possess, but
they discover that they have no strength to improve their
situation. No spiritual ability to come
to Christ. And that's the lie that so many
churches promote today. They say, come to Christ, come
to Christ. It's easy, it's simple, it's
there to be had. And the reality is that when
the Lord's people truly are brought under conviction of sin, they
know because they are taught of the Lord. to realize and understand
that they have no ability to come to Christ. They cannot come
to Christ. It's like telling a dead man
to get up and come and accept his prize. He's not capable of
that. And except one who has strength
comes to our aid. We fear all is lost. Death is near, judgment looms. Eternal darkness lies ahead. And what am I going to do? What
am I going to do? Friends, if you've ever been
brought into that fearful state, I say you can do no better than
Hezekiah did. You go to the Lord in prayer. You humble yourself before Him. And indeed, as Hezekiah did,
ask God's preacher to pray for you too. He went to Isaiah, the
son of Amos. Those who know the Lord often
find themselves in dire straits. They're tempted, they're tried,
they're tossed to and fro like a cork in the ocean. They're
fearful of foundering upon the rocks of conflict or sinking
into the depths of despair. And we cannot do better in such
a situation than going to the Lord and Savior in prayer and
asking for His help. Let's not just talk about it.
Let's practice it. Let's do it. Let it be the experience
of those who feel their needs before the Holy God. 2 Kings
19, 4 and 5 says, it may be the Lord thy God will hear all the
words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master,
hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words
which the Lord thy God hath heard. So we bring before him such circumstances
as is upon our hearts. Whatever your case may be, And
it won't be the same as Hezekiah's. And it won't be the same as mine,
nor mine yours. But whatever it is, we can take
it to the Lord. Let us practice it. Let us do
this thing. Hezekiah says, wherefore lift
up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. So the servants
of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Who is the remnant that Hezekiah
is speaking of, the remnant that is left? Well, it's probably
a reference to the fact that already the northern tribes had
been taken, already the children of Israel had been lost, and
now the cities of Judah were under the heel of the king of
Assyria. Several of the walled cities
had already been taken. Now Jerusalem lay in the path
of this irresistible force. The remnant that were left, the
few that were left, and yet I cannot read this word in scripture without
remembering Paul's message of the remnant God has saved. out from amongst the Jewish people
even under gospel days. In Romans 11 verse 5 he says,
even so then at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. Jews and Gentiles brought together
in gospel days through the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is a testimony of the fact that God has reserved himself a people. God is a people in this world,
a particular people, a peculiar people, a distinct and definite
people. And one by one, he is calling
them out. The gospel, the power of the
gospel is its means, the way by which it reaches that elect
people, finds them out, seeks them out, goes wherever it needs
to go in order to find them. That's why I say it is such a
privilege in these days to have a gospel preacher amongst us.
because it speaks of the fact that the Lord has his elect in
that place, his people that he is gathering out. It's a comfort,
it's a solace to those who gather under the gospel that the Lord
is still doing a work in our day, in this place. I tell you
there are cities in this country, cities that don't have a gospel
testimony. Where do those people go? Where
are they going to go to hear the word of the Lord? At this present time also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. Let's forget
the fanciful dispensational teaching of the Jews and all that's going
to happen in the end times. All these people, be they Jew
or Gentile, are saved together by the only way of salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel.
Romans 10 verse 12 says, for there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Do you hear that? Hear
that? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Is that not what Hezekiah did?
And is that not what his example leads us to do? Those of us who
have a sense of need, those of us who are humbled before the
Lord, call upon his name. For the testimony of the apostles
is this, that whosoever does will be held, will be delivered. And he has given us a promise
to believe. I don't know if there's a greater
blessing in all the world than to receive a word from the Lord. A promise, if you like, that
he has heard your prayer and he has granted your request. A promise that he has heard your
prayer and he's granted your request. The delegation was sent
from Hezekiah to Isaiah the prophet. And Isaiah said to them, thus
shall ye say to your master, thus saith the Lord. There's those words again. Oh,
the comfort of hearing a thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the
Lord, be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard. with which
the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I
will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and shall
return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword
there in his own land." Satan comes to the people of
God. And he says, you're not good
enough. You're just not good enough. And he whispers in their
ears and he says, you're a kidder. You're kidding these people and
you're kidding yourself. But you can't kid me. And Saren says, I know you. I know you. I know who you are. I know what you've done. I know where you've been. I know what you've said. I know
what you think. I know what's in your heart.
I know you. We go back a long way together. And he says, I know things about
you that these people that you're sitting with don't know. And don't you think that you
can escape me? Don't you think that you'll be
getting away? And he says, God might save some
people for heaven, but you're not one of them. Let me tell you what the Lord
Jesus Christ says about Satan. Satan was a murderer from the
beginning. and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Satan is
a liar and he is a murderer. And let me add this, he is a
thief. He lies to the people of God
in order to rob them of their comfort in Christ and to take
away their assurance of faith. He murdered the souls of Adam
and Eve by tempting them to sin, and he has murdered all their
posterity there by the fall, such that all men are dead in
their trespasses and sins. But here is a promise that we
can believe. Those who trust the Lord, those
who have faith in Him, those to whom these gospel truths have
been revealed. Friend, here is a promise for
you to believe. Thus saith the Lord, be not afraid
of the words that thou hast heard. Be not afraid of the words which
thou hast heard. All who look to the cleansing
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ are being saved. They have been saved, they will
be saved, they are being saved right now. All who believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ are saved and safe in the hands of their
God. All who call upon the name of
the Lord are saved. The Lord himself says in John
6, verse 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Coming to
the Lord, coming in sackcloth and with rent clothes, coming
with a solemn humility, is coming to Christ for salvation. How
fickle men are Sennacherib's days, they are numbered. They're
already numbered. The Lord says, behold, I will
send a blast upon him and he shall hear a rumor and shall
return to his own land and I will cause him to fall by the sword
in his own land. I like the Lord's behold here. It says, watch this, watch what
I'm about to do. Watch this, behold. Let me read
a couple of verses to you. We're going to jump ahead a little
bit in the story, but you're allowed to do that occasionally.
In 2 Kings 19 verse 35, here's what it says. And it came to pass that night
that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of
the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand. And when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib,
that's the blast. That's the blast. So Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, departed and went and returned and dwelt at
Nineveh. And it came to pass as he was
worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that Adramelech and
Sharezer, his sons, smote him with the sword and they escaped
into the land of Armenia. And Esau had on his son reigned
in his stead. Listen, the Lord has promised
to save his people. He is bringing that salvation
to pass. The angel of the Lord is already
about his business of delivering the Lord's people and bringing
judgment upon their enemies. The Lord has promised and he
will accomplish their salvation by the death of a substitute,
his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that salvation is not conditional
upon our goodness or our willingness or our commitment or our faith
or our faithfulness. It is according to the purpose
of God. He is doing all His will. In fact, the reality is that
it doesn't depend on you at all. And that's why the gospel is
all of grace and why the gospel is all of mercy. It is freely
given. It is undeserved. And it is freely received and
freely possessed. because Jesus paid it all. Joseph Hart, the English hymn
writer wrote, let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness
fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. This he gives you, this he gives
you. It is the Spirit's rising beam. Lord, grant us grace to receive
thy boundless mercy and faith to trust in thy redeeming love. Give us peace in the face of
our doubts and fears. Come confidence in the promises
of our sovereign King. Teach us thy way. Teach us that
in thy Son, our precious Saviour, nothing can harm or hurt us outside
of thy good will and purpose, for our spiritual good and for
thine eternal blessing. Amen.