Turning your Bibles back again
to 2 Chronicles 24, as we make our way through our last consideration of a very
uniquely blessed young man named Joash. You can follow me in your outline.
It's in your bulletin, the pastor's commentary. If you read carefully what the
historian said about the latter end of this king of Jerusalem and Judah, you can understand why the title
of our message is as it is. Joash did not finish well, did
he? Now I want you to remember now
that when you're reading the scriptures, you're reading the
Word of God. And what that means is God's speaking to you. Now the account might be 2,000
years old, 3,500 years old, but we've already learned, haven't
we, there's nothing new under the sun. so when we read these events
as they have occurred throughout history and God's given them
in recorded scripture, they're there for our learning, they're
for us. These things were written for
our sake that we might not lust after evil things as our forefathers
did. The things that were written
before time were written for our learning and that we through
patience and consolation of the scriptures might have hope. I
would say that one of the most germane aspects of worship is
when the text is read. Subsequent to that there may
be a blessing in the preaching but there is no blessing in the
preaching unless there's a blessing in the reading and a blessing
in the hearing of the reading so that the preaching makes sense
to us. I'd encourage you to learn how
to hear the Word of the Lord, folks. As we're gonna see, that
was this young man's problem. Joash seemed to have started
off well, but his latter end was something else, wasn't it?
His latter end was something else. Well hath Joash's father
David said, listen to this, this is Psalm 51 verse 11. cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit
from me that's what his great-great-grandfather the King said to God don't cast
me away from your presence don't take your Holy Spirit from me
in another place David said in Psalm 19 keep me back presumptuous
sins. That's the King speaking. Keep
me back from presumptuous sin. In that same Psalm, Psalm 19,
David says, For who can understand the error of his ways? Do you know if you really knew
your heart would be omniscient. You would know everything. The
heart of man is like a deep pit, the preacher said, and only a
man of understanding can draw it out. Don't you ever ask the
question, why did I do what I did? David being the king who was
anointed of God who was filled with the spirit said God who
can understand the error of his ways How does a person start off so
well and end up so bad I'll tell you why as There is a mystery
to godliness There is a mystery to iniquity
too there is a mystery to the nature
of the kingdom of God, there's a mystery to the darkness of
this world too. Lust is enticing and sin is deceitful
and iniquity is a mystery. It's a mystery and it's closer
to you and I than you might want to think. And if it wasn't for
the grace of God I'd go just the way Joash went. Please hear
me now. What Joash should have done is
what David did when David felt the subtle lurings of his heart,
prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I
own. Keep me Lord, keep me Holy Ghost,
keep me Holy Spirit. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Keep me, Holy Ghost. That's the title of our message.
Keep me. If I don't hear nothing else
Pastor Jesse says today, I'm going to hear that word. Keep
me. Keep me, Holy Ghost. Keep me from sinning against
you. Keep me from going astray. Keep me from departing from the
truth. Keep me from turning against your preachers. Keep me. Are
you hearing me? Keep me, Holy Ghost. Those are
wise words. David had another son, you know
what his name was? Hezekiah. We'll see him down
the road. He was a good king, too. You
know what God did? Because Hezekiah didn't say,
keep me, Lord, when his heart was moving on him, and his mind
and thoughts were departing from the principles of Scripture,
and he began to drift from the Lord. He didn't say, keep me,
Holy Ghost. Keep me, Spirit of God. You know
what God did? for him in 2nd Chronicles around
35-34, God left him. That's what the text says. And
God left him to try him to show him what was in his heart. This
was the son of David too? Where should have Hezekiah cried
out, keep me Lord? Are you guys hearing me? It's
the title of our message, keep me Holy Spirit. keep me Holy
Spirit." Now was Joash a hypocrite? As some of our theologians would
say, now we see the true joy, now we see the true colors his
latter days he really proves himself never to have loved God,
never have desired God. How can you do what Joash did
and be a lover of the truth and a lover of God and a child of
the living God? How can you do what Joash did?
I'm here to tell you you'll do exactly what Joash did if God
takes his hands off you. Am I telling the truth? Some of the theologians said
that he was a hypocrite. It was just a matter of time. His circumstances
hindered him from being able to act out of his true colors,
but over time sin emerges and we show ourselves for what we
are. That's a valid argument. There's no doubt about that.
Judas Iscariot showed up for who he was. The sons of Aaron showed up for
who they were. Many many of the scripture characters
show up for who they are and who they were in their latter
days That's why Paul told Timothy don't lay hands on anybody real
soon Some folks in show up early and other folks sins show up
later But I'm here to tell you some folks in don't show up until
Judgment Day. They're such good hypocrites.
I But what you and I are going to do for this hour is to discern
something relevant to our understanding of the grace of God and our calling
as the people of God, and that's this. As children of God, born
of God, saved by his grace, grounded in the truth as it is in Christ,
you still need the Holy Ghost to keep you. Did you get that? No, I don't believe that Joe
Ash was lost at all. I don't believe that he was unsaved.
I don't believe that he was a hypocrite. I don't believe that he was void
of the reality of grace. I don't think he was ignorant
of God. I don't think he was pretending to love the truth
and the glory of God. I know that he was a son of David.
You got that? It's what we learned this morning
in Sunday school. The very germane question that was raised is,
how is it that our children act out the same manner in which
we behave when we bring them forth into the world. What is
this noetic effect of sin as it transfers from one generation
to the next generation and the behavior patterns of our fathers
follow into the life of the children? It's called sin! That's what
it's called. It's called sin. And we concluded,
and I believe rightly so, the only answer to your sin problem
is God's grace. Will you guys hear what I'm saying?
You will search in vain for an answer to the problem of your
sin until you land square on the grace of God. That's the
answer to your sin problem. As it was for Joash. But there's
some lessons here. See, the problem with Joash was
not only that he was a son of God, he was a son of David. Think about this now. Just like
David's other son, Solomon. And like Solomon's son, Abijah. And like Abijah's son, Asa. And
like Asa's son, Jehoshaphat. Remember Jehoshaphat? And like
Jehoshaphat's son, Jorah. And all down the line, these
are all sons of David. They're sons of God, but some
of them are sons of David. And because they're sons of David,
they've got two natures running through the stream of their spirit
and blood. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
So do you. And the thing that we are observing in our text
is a son of David. Now I want you to think about
this with me. I'm arguing that Joash is indeed a child of the
living God. His problem was that he left
off depending upon the Spirit of God to keep him in his ministry
and in his calling. Tragic is the day the child of
God starts leaning upon his own understanding. Tragic is the
day when the child of God begins to walk after the flesh. Tragic
is the day when the child of God thinks he knows so much that
he doesn't need God anymore. Tragic is that day. God will
prove to you that you need him. God will prove to you that you
need him. Remember now, God did a lot of things for this boy
that were remarkable. Haven't we learned that over
the last couple of weeks? So I want to call your attention
to several things in relationship to our text. What I want you
to think about with me as you put your feet in Joash's shoes,
and you can sense that's what I'm trying to do, because you
and I are just like Joash. You and I are just like Joash.
Every true child of God is a Joash. Do you know what that means?
God had mercy on you. The first point in your outline,
look at it, I want you to see it. The first point in your outline
is this, listen to it. The privilege of being chosen
of God and called. The privilege of being chosen
of God and called. Do you know that's a privilege?
Do you know for God to look at you was an act of divine mercy? Do you know that God didn't have
to look at you? He could have left you to yourself.
He could have passed you by. Do you know the only reason that
you are an object of God's mercy is that he looked upon you in
mercy and in grace and love and did something for you that you
weren't even interested in doing for yourself. Am I telling the
truth? John chapter 15 verse 16 Jesus said you didn't choose
me. You didn't choose me. Don't go telling people you chose
me. I chose you. I saw you. I called you, I drew you to myself
with the cords of a man and with the cords of love. I brought
you to myself and I ordain you that you should go forth and
bring forth much fruit and that your fruit should abide. He made
it clear to the disciples before they became apostles bearing
the message of redemption that they don't go out trying to make
a name for themselves. The only reason that they're
in the kingdom of God is because in eternity past the Father looked
upon them in mercy, did something for them. Am I telling the truth?
did something for him. So one of the things the child
of God has to constantly do, sister, we have to constantly
look to that rock from which we were hewn and that pit from
which we were dug and say, Lord, I thank you for your mercy. I
thank you for your grace. I thank you for your salvation.
Am I telling the truth? Remember that pit? Do you remember
that pit from which God got you? Do you remember it? Do you remember
that hole from which God dug you? Do you remember how you
never knew God? You never thought about God?
God was far from your thoughts. You were wrapped up in your wickedness
and evil deeds and God reached down by his mercy and touched
you. Remember that? That's what you
got to do to keep from falling. You got to remember how that
the Lord your God brought you out of the house of bondage.
You got to remember that. I want to help you. Go with me
to Ezekiel 16. I want to show you what God did
for you. In Ezekiel 16, God's dealing with a group of rebel
Hebrew people, several hundred years after Joash. They're in
captivity now. And they're raising the question,
how come it's so hard and so difficult? And God's saying to
him through his prophet Ezekiel, the reason why it's so hard and
so difficult for you now is because you forgot where you came from.
want you to remember where you came from and he says so then
preacher show Israel her abominations chapter 16 verse 2 verse 3 and
say thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem your birth do you see
when you were born and your nativity was in the land of Canaan your
father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite You know what
are you saying? Your father worshipped idols
and your mother worshipped idols. They were pagan too when I called
them. And you, when you were born,
listen to what it says in verse 4. As for your nativity, that's
when you were born, child of God. Those of you who are listening,
the term nativity means your birth. In the day that you were
born, your navel was not cut. Neither were you washed in water
to supple you. You were not salted at all nor
swaddled at all. Do you see what verse 4 says?
Your condition before the grace of God scooped down and touched
your life was as if someone had taken you when you were born
and threw you out in the open field and left you there. They
had no care for your soul. No concern for your life. They
didn't cut the umbilical cord. They didn't take salt to wash
you. They didn't swaddle you in clothing and garb in order
to keep you warm. In other words, no one cared
for your soul. Can you see the picture? This is our condition
before God comes in mercy to save us. Now watch this. This
carries a two-fold reality. It's a wretched condition because
the people that should have cared for us didn't care for us. Some
of you know that experience. I do too. The people that should
have cared for you didn't care for you. And when they threw
you away, neglecting you, they left you in the most vulnerable
state any child could be in. You see, when you're a child,
when you're just born, you're totally helpless. You're totally
helpless. You can't help yourself. You're
just sitting out there in the open field. The sun's beating
down on you, the wind's blowing, and perhaps over time, if somebody
doesn't intervene, the animals will start chewing on your flesh.
See what I'm saying? This is our condition before
God touches us in mercy. God said, you were left in the
open field. We would like to call this an
abortion, but this is basically a rejection of the child after
the child is born. You and I were all rejects under
the curse of sin, left in the open field to die under the wrath
of God prior to God coming into our life. You ought to be thankful.
Are you hearing what I'm saying? You ought to be thankful. Now
watch this. God doesn't look at everybody
that way. There are a whole lot of children just die in this
world. Am I telling the truth? Joash should have remembered
Ezekiel chapter 16 because you remember, Athaliah went after
all of the children. She went to kill all of the seed
royal. Isn't that right? She would have
killed Joash too if she could have found him. Isn't that right?
But God had mercy on Joash. See, you and I were under a sentence
of death. There was no reason for us to
take our first breath and then our second breath and all the
breaths we're breathing today. There's no reason for it. We
should have died from the womb. this is what God is saying to
Israel this was your condition national Israel listen to it
verse 5 no I pity you to do any of these things to you to have
compassion on you but you were cast out in the open field to
the loathing of your own person in the day that you were born
verse 6 and when I passed by you do you see it when I passed
by you what would have happened to our soul children of God if
God had not passed by us what would have happened to our soul
if he would have left us in our sin nature left us in our ruin
left us in the fall of Adam he says and when I passed by you
I saw you polluted in your own blood that was our condition
under the wrath of God under the curse of sin and I said unto
you when I saw you in your blood live live isn't that a good God
When I saw you in your blood, I said, live. I said, you see
what God is doing? God is taking credit for your
salvation. God's taking credit for you being alive today. God's
saying the only reason you're breathing today is because of
me, because I passed by you. I saw you in your mess. I saw
you helpless and hopeless and hell bound. And I looked upon
you and I decreed that you should live. Am I making some sense?
God said live. Yea I said unto you when you
were in your blood live. I like the way David said it
in Psalm 71 you have given commandment to save and Lord you have saved. Verse 7 I cause you to multiply. I caused you to multiply as the
bud of the field. You've increased, you've waxed
great, you've come to excellent ornaments, your breasts are fashioned,
your hair is grown, whereas you were naked and bare. You see
the picture? God has grown her up now. He
took care of her from the time she was born. He nurtured her.
He educated her. He endowed her with all his virtues. He adorned her with external
beauty. She's a beautiful sister now.
She's a beautiful sister all because of God. Do you see it? Do you see it? What is God evoking
from her? He's evoking from her a sense of gratitude for where
she is from where she came. And sometimes that's what God
wants from you before you get in trouble with God. See it? Oh, this is a beautiful sister
now. She must be about 13, 14 years old. Because they married
between 13 and 16. Verse 8. Now, when I passed by
you and I looked upon you, behold, your time was a time of love. I spread my skirt over you and
covered your nakedness. Yea, I swear unto you, and entered
into a covenant with you, saith the Lord God, and you became
mine." Isn't that a good God? Watch this now. He saw you naked,
without a covering, having no righteousness at all to stand
before His holiness. And He covered you in the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. And he looked at you with eyes
of love and pity, and he entered into a covenant with you. You
didn't enter into a covenant with him. Salvation is not your
agreement with God, but God's agreement with himself to save
your soul. And that's what God did. That's
what God did. And he said, You became mine. Verse 9, Then washed I you with
water, yea, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you. Thoroughly
washed away your blood. Didn't leave a speck of blood
there. Didn't leave one stain of sin there. Didn't leave one
stain of iniquity there. In the eyes of God, God's people
are absolutely pure from sin. In the eyes of God, we are spotless. In the eyes of God, we are totally
righteous. In the eyes of God, there is
no iniquity at all. And if God can't see it, your
enemy certainly can't see it. That's a good position to be
in. That's a good position to be in. Listen to what he goes
on to say. I washed you thoroughly and I anointed you with oil.
What is that anointing? The Holy Ghost! I clothed you
with broidered work, even the work of my son Jesus Christ.
I shod you with badger skin, even the endurable righteousness
of Jesus Christ that can weather any storm. And I girded you about
with fine linen, and I covered you with silk." She's a ray,
didn't she? He took care of that sister,
didn't he? I deck you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets
on your head, and a chain on your neck, and I put jewels on
your forehead, and earrings in your ears, a beautiful crown
upon your head. This is the Queen. She's glorious
in her array. God hooked her up, didn't he?
Isn't she looking good right about now? Watch this, and he
did it all. He did it all. That's what he's
saying to her. he's saying to her your beauty it's from me
listen to the language verse 13 you were you thus were you
decked with gold and silver and your raiment was a fine linen
silk and brought at work you did eat fine flour and honey
and oil and you were exceedingly beautiful and you prospered into
a kingdom and your renown went forth among
the heathen for your beauty Now watch this, because it was perfect
through my goodliness. See it? Which I put upon you,
saith the Lord. See, and when a redeemed child
of God, go back to your text now, 2 Chronicles, remembers
the goodness of God in his life or in her life and remembers
how God saved them and brought them to the place that he did,
the child of God is going to have a hard time finding themselves
neglecting the necessity of the Spirit of God in their life.
They're going to realize how good God has been to them and
going to continue in that mercy. You and I are privileged to be
chosen of God and called. In your outline, I say that there
are four things that occur when God calls you, when God chooses
you. He not only chooses you, but he rescues you. Isn't that
what he did for Joash? Rescued him from death. Then
he hides us, doesn't he? He hides us in Christ. Do you
know right now you're hidden in Christ? Child of God, listen
to me. If the enemy could get to you,
he would. And He puts you to death right
now. And the only reason that He can't get to you is because
God has placed you in Christ. Do you believe that? The Bible
tells us very plainly that God placed us in Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
30. And in placing us in Christ, He placed us in a strong tower.
He placed us in a refuge, a hiding place, a cover from the storm. When you're in Christ, you're
safe. That's the reason why you're here today, because Christ has
kept you, because God placed you in him. Remember little Joash,
little Joash, taken by his auntie and his uncle and stored into
the house of the Lord and kept for seven years, kept. That's
what God has done. And then God exalted him. Remember
that? God exalted him and made him a king child of God Do you
know that he exalted you in Christ and made you a king too? Do you
believe that he exalted me? He made me a king When Christ
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. When he
was exalted to the right hand of God the Father, so was I in
him. Ephesians 2, 5 through 8. God
has placed me in Christ at his right hand so that I reign as
a king. Do you? I reign as a king before
God right now. Pastor, how do we reign as a
king? By faith. What is it that overcomes this
world? Is it not even this? Even our faith? Faith in Christ
sets the child of God up so that he overcomes the whole world
through Jesus Christ. That's good news, isn't it? I
overcome my sins by faith. I overcome the devil by faith. I overcome the world by faith
and that faith in Jesus Christ. That's what it means to reign
in this world with Christ. The child of God that's looking
to Jesus, he's a victor in Jesus Christ. He sits on the throne
and he reigns with Christ over this world. How else do we reign?
We reign through the gospel. we got a message from the King
himself and as his ambassadors and sons we tell the whole world
that they must escape the wrath of God that's coming. We declare
to them that Jesus is Lord, sovereign Lord and as his sons and daughters
we reign with him in the gospel. Joash should have remembered
that. Joash should have remembered that God put him on that throne.
Isn't that right? God put him on that throne. Point number
two, the purpose of our calling. Why did God call you? Why did
God call you? I'll tell you why he called you.
He called you that you might enter into the work which he
had purposed for himself through Jesus Christ in the building
of the church. Listen to what our text says in 2 Chronicles
24, where it speaks of Joash's heart and mind again. We read
this last week, but I want you to see it again. Listen to it.
In verse 24, verse... Here we go. Verse four, and it came to pass
after that Joash, after that, that Joash was minded to repair
the house of the Lord. Do you see that? Now this comes
to pass after the commentator says in verse two and three,
and Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord
all the days of Jehoiada the priest. And Jehoiada took for
him two wives and he begot sons and daughters and it came to
pass after this that Joash was minded to repair the house of
the Lord. Now in the King James it says
he was minded. In the literal translation this
is what it says, it was in Joash's heart to repair God's house. And every believer called by
God's grace has the mission and commission to see to it that
God's glory is magnified in his house. And so as we look at the
life of Joash, what we will see is the chief burden of the people
of God. When God saves you and he calls
you, he doesn't call you to live a life willy-nilly doing whatever
you want to do. Am I telling the truth? See,
I remember when God saved me. I was 18 years old when God began
to deal with me by His grace and reveal His gospel in me and
to me by the Word of the Lord. It became apparent to me that
God has a program. You know what that was? To build
His church. The vision was vivid to me that
God had called me out of darkness into His marvelous light in order
to see sinners redeemed from the same darkness that I was
in. Is that a burden on your heart? Is that a burden on your
heart? do you think that God called
you so that you can be healthy wealthy and wise we don't deal
with that here in a moment God when he saves you he calls you
for a purpose and you should have the same mind that Joash
did the building of God's Church and I remember Joash is David's
son remember what happened to David God called David by his
grace to remember he was out in the field keeping sheep and
He didn't know the call of God from the man on the moon. In
his father's Jesse's house, Samuel was anointing, seeking to anoint
his sons, and none of the sons were called of God to be the
king. He called David in, he anointed David, and God brought
David into the kingdom after many years. Isn't that right?
God subdued David's enemies and when David was established on
his throne 2nd Samuel chapter 7 verses 1 through 3 says this
David looked out of his house which was built with cedar wood
he had a top-notch house looked out over on the hill where the
tabernacle was and he saw God's house all tattered and torn and
old and raggedy and you know what the scripture says and it
came into David's heart to build a house for God Sounds like Joash,
isn't that right? Sounds like Joash. See, all of
God's seed have the same experience of grace and all of God's seed
have the same desires in mind. Watch this now. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and everything
else will be added. When you become a child of the
living God, what becomes important to you is what's important to
God. And what's important to God is God's glory. what's important
to God in terms of his glory is how that glory is manifested
through redeemed sinners. So Joash is minded to do that
work that only the children of God are minded to do. This is
the purpose of our calling children of God. You and I are called
to this task. Peter says in 1st Peter 2 verses
5 through 9 that you and I are a spiritual priesthood and spiritual
house, living stones that are called by God to give him praise
for the glory of his grace for having redeemed us from all iniquity.
So we become a priesthood of redeemed sinners serving the
true and the living God. That's your primary job. Did
you hear what I just said? You go to work every day, You
go to work to pay your bills, to put food on the table, and
to take care of those necessities of life. But your primary calling
is to show forth the praises of Him who has called you to
virtue and glory. That's your purpose. Your purpose
is to open your mouth and declare the goodness of God to sinners
who don't know that goodness. That's your purpose. That's your
purpose. And that's what happened to Joash. Joash was called and
he entered into the world. he definitely entered into the
work look at point number three but there's always problems in
the process do you see that this is this gets us right down where
the difficulties are in life you remember when God first saved
you and you were on the honeymoon phase we got and everything was
going well and And I think I wrote it in our article here, too.
It might be in the pastor's commentary this week or next week. I don't
know. Let's see here. Yeah, growing
worse. Do you see that? Let me read that for your exhortation.
Look at it in the front of your pastor's commentary. Growing
worse, and it's in the question form. I get this frequently from
people who have come to know something about the grace of
God After a period of time of understanding
what God has accomplished for them, here's what they say to
me, Pastor Jesse, I seem to be getting worse rather than better. What's my problem? Well, here's
what the writer says, real gospel progress in sanctification. Do you see that? Real gospel
progress in sanctification. The quotation is from Daniel
10a, Isaiah 6, 5, Job 42, 5 and 6, and 1 Timothy 2, 15. Read
them in your own time. Some sincere believers make a
mistake. Some sincere believers mistake
a clearer view and deeper sense of their depravity for an actual
increase in sin. See that? The Christian seems
sometimes to himself to be growing worse. When actually, it is only
that he sees more clearly what in fact, he really is. That's why I told my brother,
I don't see him now. I hope he didn't leave getting
mad at me in Sunday school. Talking about our foibles and
our piccadillos and the euphemisms. Where my brother at? Remember?
Talking about the euphemisms. You know, we make mistakes. No, you sin. This is called sin. And when the Holy Ghost is in
you, which is the light, he shows you sin the way God sees it.
And so it looks worse, because you know sin don't look that
bad when you dim the lights. That's why men love darkness
rather than light, because the sin don't look so bad. But when
the lights get cut on, you see sin for what it is? Am I telling
the truth? Yeah. Now listen to it. In the early
stages of our Christian life we have usually but a slender
acquaintance with the evil of our sinfulness and the depravity
of our hearts. The mind is so much taken up
with the pardon of eternal life that it is but imperfectly acquainted
with those depths of deceit and wickedness which lie hidden in
itself. At first we seem to feel as if
the serpent is were killed. Killed him, dead. I ain't got
no problem with the devil no more. I'm saved, sanctified,
filled with the Holy Ghost, stepping on his head, punching him in
the eye. I'm good to go for a little while. For a little while. For a little while. And if you're
walking in the truth, God will show you that that's just not
true in yourself. Now you have the choice of either
being a hypocrite like a lot of people are, pretending that
they have the victory over the devil, being real like redeemed
sinners who know that their victory over the devil is in Christ.
Am I telling the truth? Now listen to what he goes on
to say. At first it seems to feel as if the serpent were killed
but we soon find that he was only asleep. For by the warmth
of some fiery temptation he is revived and hisses at us again. Am I telling the truth? Nothing
astonishes an inexperienced believer more than the discoveries he
is continually making of the evils of his heart. corruptions
which he never dreamed to be in him are brought out by some
new circumstances. It's like turning up the soil
which brings out worms and insects which did not appear upon the
surface. Oh child of God listen to me.
The first work of the Holy Ghost in John chapter 16 verse 8 is
to convince you that you are sin. You've been convinced yet? See what I'm getting at? That's
the work of the Holy Ghost. Because God's going to bring
you to the truth. He wants you to walk in the truth. He wants
you to be real with other sinners out there. So he's going to convince
you of what you are by nature. Listen to what he goes on to
say. Or, to vary the illustration, his increasing knowledge of God's
holy nature the perfect law which is the gospel and the example
of Christ is like opening the shutters and letting light into
a dark room the filth of which the inhabitants did not see until
the Sun beings disclosed it to him do you see do you guys remember
the experience of having the room dark and you you turn the
Venetian blinds up and allow the Sun to come in and you see
all of those dust particles in the air And you go, man, am I
breathing that? No, you're not only breathing
that, that's what you are. See, when we see things the way
God sees them, we see them in the truth. Now I want you to
see what the goal of this work of sanctification is all about.
Listen to it. The goal is to drive him to see
his perfection as only in Christ. Got it? only in Jesus Christ
that's the goal that's the goal now listen to what the text tells
us we are in 2nd Chronicles our outline says the payoff of persistence
no we're dealing with the problem in the process verse 5 And he
gathered together the priest and the Levites and said to them,
go out unto the cities of Judah and gather all Israel money to
repair the house of your God from year to year. Do you see
that? And see that you hasten the matter. Listen to what it
goes on to say, how be it the Levites did not hasten it. You
know how hard it is to get money from people? Joah has got a problem
here though. the problem is bigger than our
text actually is implying in order to know this problem you
would have to go to the alternative passage which is 2nd Kings chapter
23 2nd Kings 23 or is that in our outline I think it is 2nd
Kings 23 not 23 2nd Kings 14 verses 4 and following and what
you would find out is that it took Joash 23 years to get those
folks accumulate enough money to build the temple. Now I want
you to think about this as we move forward. God saved Joash,
God filled Joash with the Spirit, Joash is ready to do the work
of getting the temple built, he's working with Jehoiada the
high priest and remember Jehoiada the high priest is a representation
of who? The Holy Ghost and he's minded to repair the temple and
he gives order to bring about the money necessary to get the
temple built and But the priest don't do what he says do. Now
why do you wonder that happened? What was that all about? In 2
Kings 14 here's what we're told. The priest gathered the money
but they didn't bring it into the temple. Well what did they
do with the money if they didn't bring it into the temple? They
bought them cars and houses luxurious things for themselves. They hoarded
the money to themselves to enjoy a lavish lifestyle for themselves. After a 23-year period Josiah
begins to wonder how come the house of God is still tore up
and then he pursues and he finds out by asking Jehoiada the priest
what's going on and Jehoiada the priest tells him the same
thing. We haven't been able to get the
job done Look at verse 6, And the king called Jehoiada the
chief priest, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of
the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the
collection, according to Moses the servant of the Lord, and
of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
Now what I want to drive home as we get ready to move to our
next point is for Joash it was important that God's temple be
glorified. Only the people of God think
like this. But what in fact was happening was, in the whole of
the culture of Israel, Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel, the people
were neglecting the worship of God. In the whole of Israel,
they were still engaged in idol worship and self-gratification. In the whole of Israel, they
were prospering in the flesh, but they didn't see to it that
the kingdom of God was built. Are you understanding what I'm
getting at? Joash is concerned about this. So what do you do
when the priesthood, who is under obligation by the law to make
sure that the people give the money necessary for the building
of the kingdom of God, what do you do? Here's what our text
says. He persisted to make sure it
was done by telling Joahida to tell the priest to do this over
in verse 8. And at the king's commandment they made a chest.
Do you see it? And set that chest outside of
the gate of the house of the Lord. Now watch this now. There's a big old chest outside
of the temple. Which means the chest is not
inside of the temple. Which means the priest who worked
on the inside of the temple can't get to the chest. Which means
we can get the money now because we have circumvented The crooked
priest from getting the money. Because Jehoradah puts a captain
right at the chest to make sure when the money gets in there,
it doesn't get to the priest. And if you go to 2 Kings chapter
14, Joash says this is the way it's going to be. And the priest
said, OK, OK, OK, we give up. Why? Because they've got enough
money for their own life now. See, ain't nothing new under
the sun. The same struggles that were going on then is going on
now. But I'm trying to help you understand
how God was operating in Joash's life to see to it that the work
of God being glorified and the repair of the temple took place.
See, if you really didn't care about God, you wouldn't have
to overcome these hurdles. You'd leave it alone. You'd just
say, you know, it's too hard for me to fix. There are too
many people who aren't interested in the cause of God and truth
for me to be all by myself trying to make this happen. So the king
could have capitulated, couldn't he? But he didn't he pressed
forward made sure that there was enough money to build the
house And I want you to see it for yourself here. Look with
me at verse 10 through 13 And all the princes of the people
rejoiced and brought in uh brought in and cast into the chest until
they had made an end Now it came to pass that at what time the
chest was brought into the king's office by the hand of the Levites
and when they saw that there was much money the king's scribe
and the high priest officers came and emptied the chest and
took it and carried it to the place again That thus they did
day by day and gathered money in abundance and the king and
Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the
house of the Lord and hired Masons and carpenters to repair the
house of the Lord also much as wrought iron and brass to mend
The house of the Lord what's taking place here the work of
the Gospels getting done? What's taking place here is the
king is being blessed of God to see to it that the kingdom
of God is built. What's taking place is Matthew
6 33. Seek ye first the righteousness of God and all these other things
will be added. That's what's taking place here.
Now mark this children of God. We're going to see this here
in a moment. The only way that the work of the gospel can actually
get done is if God the Holy Spirit blesses it. Do you hear me? The only way that the work of
the gospel can get done in my life and in your life is if God
the Holy Ghost blesses it. You and I won't accomplish anything
in our life for the glory of God by our strength. Have you
figured that out yet? One of our brothers was saying
this morning as he was contemplating the weakness and sinfulness of
our human nature, you know we go out, we set out to do a thing
for the Lord, isn't that right? Never do it. We talk about doing
something for the Lord, never get it done. We talk about what
we're going to stop doing and keep doing what we said we were
going to stop doing. Am I telling the truth? And you're
wondering why you can't do what you want to do and you can't
stop doing what you're supposed to stop doing. Because you need
the Spirit of God to help you in the work. See what I'm saying? And here while I'm arguing for
Joash, because that's what I'm doing, I'm arguing for Joe Ash
because many of the commentators call this man lost. I don't think
he's lost at all. I think he's saved and I think
God has used him for the purpose for which God has used him. And
remember what I told you, Saints, when you go through the scriptures,
what you learn is God raises up all of his people to do at
least one thing. There's one thing that God has
gifted you to do. And when you find that one thing
that God has gifted you to do, do it. And when you do it, God
will bless it. But if you try to do other things
that God hasn't gifted you to do, you might fail again and
again and again. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
But that one thing that God has gifted you to do, if you employ
that gift by the grace of God and the strength of the Holy
Ghost, you will be blessed. You will be blessed in that thing.
And you will be more than conscious, watch this now, that it was all
of grace. That it was all of grace. That you weren't doing
it, but the grace of God was doing it through you. And what
we see in verses 11 through 13 is what we see in our outline
is the payoff of persistence. Listen to verse 13. So the workmen
wrought, and the work was perfected, or completed, or fulfilled by
them, and they set the house of God in its state and strengthened
it. Do you see that? That's the life
of the church. Listen carefully to me. I want
you to think about this before we move to our next two points
and close. what would happen if you were
the one in charge of God's work you would it get done what would happen if you right
now in the state you're in and with what you're doing As a child
of God, you know you've been saved, you know you've been called,
you know you've been purposed, you know the priorities of the
kingdom of God, you know we're called to go into all the world
and preach the gospel, don't we? We know that we are to preach
Christ to every creature under heaven. He that believes and
is baptized is saved. He that doesn't believe is damned.
We know that. We know we're called to build
God's church, right? What would happen if you were
the one upon whom all this burden was laid? Would it get done? See what I'm saying? Do your
priorities reflect the priorities of the scripture in relationship
to your call as a child of God? Are they all backwards? Are they
all twisted? Are you in a position where the
only thing you can say is, I want to do it, but I don't have time. I'm too busy doing something
else. I'll get to it one day. See what I'm saying? And yet,
we get the privilege of hearing the gospel week in and week out,
month in and month out, year in and year out, because God
is faithful to do his work. Am I telling the truth? But children
of God, you need to ask yourself the question, are you minded? Is it in your heart? to repair
the house of the Lord, to see to it that the kingdom of God
is built, because it works by every living stone in the temple.
Am I making some sense? Or have you been hindered? So
we move on to the next point, the effectual working of the
Spirit. I've actually been elaborating on that as we've gone. But there
are a couple of passages that I want to call to our mind before
we move to this strange and bizarre thing that goes on in verses
17 through 19. Listen to it. The effectual working
of the Spirit of God. Verses 15 and 16. But Jehoiada
waxed old and was full of days when he died. 130 years old was
he when he died. That's old, isn't it? You know,
generally in the Bible, when you get to live 100 years, 110
years, 120 years, 130 years, it's a sign of God's blessing
on your life. what it indicates is that your life has been brought
into conformity with the will of God and so God sustains your
life for a long period of time because you're actually accomplishing
his will. That's what that signifies and
generally you I've seen this too as a child of God and being
in the church a long time I've seen mothers and fathers in the
faith who have lived long long lives in the kingdom of God because
their priority was Christ in him crucified. Am I making some
sense? Long, long lives. Long, long. That's a general rule. That's
not an actual factual fact, but it's a general rule. If you live
for the glory of God, he'll keep you around for a long time. If
you're gonna live for the lust of your flesh, as you sow to
the flesh, you reap of the flesh. And if your priority is not God's
priority, he might just take you out of here. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? This is absolutely the God honest
truth. Jehoiada then, living 130 years,
was the chief reason why Joash did the work that he did. If
you recall back over in verse 3, it made it very clear over
in verse 2, and Joash did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. You got it? So it
seems that what Joash's exploits Indicate is that there was a
correspondence between him and Jehoiada and getting the work
done and that's true with you and me The only way we're going
to get the work done is our correspondence with Jehoiada the Holy Ghost
The Spirit of God has to help us. Isn't that what the Bible
teaches? It's not by power and not by might but by my spirit
saith the Lord I think it was Jesus who said in John 6 63 that
The flesh profits nothing. It's the Spirit that gives life.
And I think it was Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 15 10, he says,
I labored more abundantly than all of them. Yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me. And in Colossians chapter 129,
he said to the church of Colossae, he says, I have striven more
than them all, and God was working mightily through me. Can you
see how Paul was dependent upon the Spirit of God to get the
job done? Watch this, saints. And he got the job done. But
it was because he depended upon the Spirit of God. And all that
was done in the building of the temple, the restoration of the
temple in Joash's day was a consequence of him and Jehoiada the high
priest. Verse 15, and they buried him, that is Jehoiada, in the
city of David among the kings because he had done good in Israel
both toward God and towards his house. That'd be wonderful if
we could stop right there, wouldn't it? But there's always that issue,
isn't it? Number five, the mystery of iniquity. I get the phrase the mystery
of iniquity out of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter
2 says, but the mystery of iniquity doth already work. And the reason
why he hasn't just fully blown up and wrought worldwide total
chaos is because he's restrained. And the restrainer that restrains
iniquity in everybody's life is the Spirit of God. Genesis
chapter 6 in the days when the children of men and the sons
of God were Existing before the flood the Bible says that men's
heart were wicked The thoughts of the imagination of their hearts
were only evil continually and God said I will not always strive
with flesh I Will not always strive with men for his days
shall be a hundred and twenty years You see there's a point
when God stops driving with you he stops striving with the world
and he'll take his hand off the world. Folks, God still has his
hand on this world, but I'm here to tell you it's rising off of
this world slowly but surely. The evil that you and I see taking
place in our society is a result of God's taking his hand off
this world. Am I telling the truth? God's taking his hand
off this world and the mystery of iniquity is emerging. Now
listen to what the text says in verse 17. We got a few more
lessons and I'm done. Now, after the death of Jehoiada,
came the princes of Judah and made obeisance to the king. Then
the king hearkened unto them. Do you see that? Now why are
these folks coming to the king after the death of Jehoiada?
Because they knew, had they come to the king while Jehoiada was
alive, they would have never gotten their propositions and
their schemes and their deviant goals across in the life of Joash. They would have known that Jehoiada,
who represents the Holy Ghost, would have restrained them from
their schemes and plans to deceive Joash and to bring Joash into
their plot. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
So here's the next point, and it's very, very important. Our
outline says the mystery of iniquity. Jesus warned us in Matthew 24,
verse 24, there shall rise false prophets and false teachers who
shall show great signs and wonders. Even deceiving, if possible,
the very elect. That means in the day in which
you and I live, you and I are under constant assault by false
prophets and false teachers. Am I telling the truth? And you
and I are under temptation continually to depart from the true and the
living God. You are under trial right now, child of God. to abandon
the gospel of God's sovereign free grace and to enter into
pagan religions because the consensus is suggesting that's what you
do. Right now you are being tempted to depart from the wooing and
drawing of the Holy Ghost in the false religion into which
you will be deceived and perish under the wrath of God if you
do so. I'm here to tell you that's what's
going on right now in this very culture. Some of you in this
room are vacillating between two opinions. Whether or not
you're going to bow the knee to the true and the living God
and abandon yourself to the grace of the gospel or whether or not
you're going to listen to that counsel. That's speaking in your
ear and heart now. See, Jehoiada's sister is gone.
Jehoiada, he died. God took Jehoiada away. Now the
king's left to himself, right? Now he's left to himself. What
should Joash have cried when Jehoiada died? Lord keep me. Holy Ghost keep me. Keep me back. Preserve me. Watch over me. Uphold
me with your free spirit. Isn't that right? But he didn't
do so and you know what happened? The enemy came into the camp.
Here's a verse for you on a practical level. This is Psalm, not Psalm,
Matthew chapter 6. Remember the disciples asked
the Lord Jesus, they said, Lord, teach us how to what? Have you
asked the Lord to teach you how to pray? And here's what Jesus
said, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Right? Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our debts as we
forgive others. Now watch this. And lead us not into temptation.
Got it? lead us not into temptation.
Why would God lead you into temptation? Because you presume upon him,
because you arrogantly assume that you can lean upon your own
understanding, because you are inclined to walk in the counsel
of the ungodly and stand in the way of sinners and sit in the
seat of the scorner. See what David said in Psalm
119 was keep me back from presumptuous sins and You know what presumptuous
sins are? Arrogant sins, high-handed sins,
where you start saying, well, you know, I'm just going to do
this thing because I want to do it. Have your heart ever contemplated
that? Sure it has. When that happens, you fall on
your face and say, God, keep me. Are you hearing me? When
you start listening to doctrines and practices and teachings that
you know are contrary to the Word of God, and the Holy Ghost
is nudging you and giving you a sense of warning, He's trying
to warn you from imbibing that false teaching. You better say,
Holy Ghost, help me! I don't have the discernment
within myself to be able to determine whether this thing is good or
right. I'm not self-determining. I'm not omniscient, more than
that. Sometimes, because of the mystery of iniquity, you'll know
what's right and you'll still want to do what's wrong. So now
you must cry out, even though I know what's right, I don't
have the power to stop my heart from doing evil. Am I telling
the truth? See, this is called the fear
of the Lord. This is called the fear of the Lord. Joash is sitting
there in council with all of these princes now. These men
are wicked. They've been worshipping Bill,
they've been worshipping the gods of Joash's grandmother Athaliah
and great-grandmother Jezebel all the time that Joash was on
the throne. They waited good until Jehoiada died, now they're
coming and speaking into Joash's ear. Can you imagine what they're
saying? Joash, look man, Jehoiada's gone. And that old-time religion
that you guys been practicing, worshipping Jehovah up on that
temple, come on man, we through with that. You're talking about
Bible exposition and Christ exalting God encompassing theology and
preaching Christ and him crucified in Christ alone the grace of
God Oh, come on, man. That's old man. We're doing a
bunch of new stuff today. The Lord's doing a new thing Have
you ever heard that one? Have you ever heard that one Ramel ain't nothing new under
the Sun All of the tricks of the devil are the same since
the fall of man. I nothing new and whenever the
devil calls it new is nothing but sin I guarantee you by the
time you engage in it his ugly head will pop up and the name
on this forehead will be seen I think was the preacher who
said in the book of Proverbs cease my son from the words which
causes you to err from the words of knowledge. Joash is listening
now to counsel that's telling him that it's all right to depart
from the truth that his father Jehoiada had taught him. He's
listening to that counsel. They're reasoning with him. They're
giving him every argument that he should abandon the truth.
Josh, everybody's worshiping the new thing now. Look out your
temple man, where you been? Okay, we got this going on over
here, we've got that going on over there, and here you are
over here in this little old hole worshiping Jehovah. Jehovah's
done man, that's old. I want you to hear what the text
said. Listen to it. Now after the death, verse 17,
of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah and made obeisance to
the king. Now watch this. Then the king
hearkened unto them. See it? And they left the house
of the Lord. They left the house of the Lord
God of their fathers. served groves and idols and wrath
came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass." Isn't
that plain? Man, look at that. The very house
that was the refuge and protection of Joash the baby, he's abandoning. The very house that brought him
up under the truth of the gospel, he's abandoning. the very God
that had preserved him by his grace and set him up on that
throne and made him king of Israel, he's rejected. Saints, how do
you do that? By presuming upon God the Holy
Ghost and leaning upon your own understanding. Are you hearing
me? Are you hearing me? See, I can hear the Apostle Paul
now. Here's what he said, I run Not as one that beats at the
air. I fight as one that beats at the air. And I run in order
to obtain that incorruptible crown. I'm running as if ain't
but one person getting it. I'm striving to enter in. And
I bring my body into subjection of obedience. I buffet it. I
restrain it by the grace of God. Last, while I have preached to
others, I myself become a reject. God throw me to the side because
there was a divorce between the truth of God and my heart. Are
you hearing what I'm saying? And again this is why David said,
I'm getting ready to wrap this up, Lord cast me not away from
your presence and take not your Holy Spirit away from me. he
said it again in the psalm, Lord let not any iniquity have dominion
over me then I know that you favor me. Now why is David talking
like that? Because he had tasted the ravages
of his own sinful willfulness. Remember that? A whole year,
a whole year had gone by after he had killed Uriah. took his
wife and God withdrew from his presence and let him feel what
it was like to be without God for a year. Some of you are struggling
with your theology now. So wondering pastor, does pastor
believe in the perseverance of the Saints? I sure do. Does pastor
believe in the preservation of the Saints? I sure do. Does pastor
believe in the sealing of the Holy Ghost? I sure do. I believe
the Word of God. Then what is Pastor talking about?
I'm talking about what happens when leadership and when a local
church begins to presume upon the truth of the living God and
the sovereign Savior tells her itself, if you don't repent and
look to me, I will put your candlestick out. Are you hearing me? You know
what you look like as a candle with no light? Darkness. gross darkness, gross darkness. But saints that's the mystery
of iniquity. Point number six says the hardness of heart against
the truth. Look at verse 19. Yet he sent
prophets to them to bring them again to the Lord. Do you see
that? And they testified against them but they would not give
ear. Now are you like that when you hear the Word of God? Do
you chafe at God's truth? Do you say, I hear what he's
saying but my heart is going with the way that it wants to
go? Because that's what they did. Man, do you understand? You know I read this about three
weeks ago before I even did the exposition and something said
to me, how powerful is idolatry and false religion that it could
take even a child of God, get a hold to him when God takes
his hand off of him and allow him to run palm oil into that
thing. How powerful is the demonic influence of false religion when
you subject yourself to it. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
This has to be a... Listen, when you've met the true
and the living God, And you can find yourself contemplating abandoning
him for this. Somehow the enemy has sold you
on a package that has wrapped you up and tied you down and
strapped you in and led you into captivity. Am I telling the truth?
This is a powerful influence drawing on Joash. How powerful? Look at what happens.
The text tells us, not only did he harden his heart against the
truth, But look at what it says in verse 20. And the Spirit of
God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest,
which stood above the people and said unto them, Thus said
God, Why are you transgressing the commandments of the Lord,
that you cannot prosper? Because you've forsaken the Lord,
and he hath also, what? Forsaken you. Verse 21. And they conspired against him. Who is the they? The rulers that
came to Josiah in the first place. Who did they conspire against?
The preacher calling the people to repentance. Are you seeing
it? They conspired against the preacher
like they conspired against Joash. See, they're taking the kingdom
back for Athaliah. Listen to it. And they stoned
him with stones, and this is remarkable, at the commandment
of the king in the court of the house of the Lord. Isn't that
tough? Isn't that tough? This is the
king that said stone him. This is the king who repaired
the house of the Lord, who persisted for 23 years to get the job done,
and then all of a sudden, listening to the counsel of the ungodly,
says stone the very preacher that's calling them back to a
path of righteousness. How do you do that? I'll tell you how you do it when
God takes his hand off of you, because you presume upon him.
That's how you do it. Do you know, child of God, apart
from the grace of God, you will do the very same thing that Joash
did? Do you know that? Have you figured
that out yet? Not me. Don't say that. Please
don't say that. God will show you. God will show
you. See, my message is simple and
I'm closing right here. My message is simple. My message
is simple. You and I must depend upon God's
Spirit to keep us every day. Is that clear? Every day. And here's how I want to close.
The race is not given to the swift. the race is not given
to the strong but he that endureth to the end the same shall be
saved and saints if we're gonna make it to the finish line here's
the way we're gonna do it and this answers my brother's question
earlier this morning when he said how do you live the Christian
life you don't Christ must live it in you you can't live the
Christian life just drop that I'm living the Christian life
no you not you live in a religious life How do you live the Christian
life? Are you ready? Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despised the shame, and sat down at the
right hand of God the Father, drawing us to himself by his
Holy Ghost as we continue to look to Christ. That's how you
gonna make it. Did you get that? Amen.