Would you turn to 2 Chronicles. We're going to be
looking at 2 Kings, but there's a verse in 2 Chronicles 32 that
I'd like to read first. Now this is the one verse account of what
took place in 2 Kings about Hezekiah. But look in this verse 31. How be it in the business of
the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon who sent unto him
to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land. It's talking
about the moving of the sundial, God left him to try him that he might know
all that was in his heart. Now let's read about this event
in 2 Kings, beginning in chapter 20. Verse 12. At that time, Barodak-Baladan,
the son of Baldan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto
Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah
hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious
things, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious
ointment and all the house of his armor and all that was found
in his treasures. There was nothing in his house
nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not. Then came Isaiah, this is the
same Isaiah that wrote the book of Isaiah. Then came Isaiah the
prophet unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, what said these
men? And from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said,
they are come from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said,
what have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered,
all the things that are in mine house have they seen. There's
nothing among my treasures that I've not showed them. And Isaiah
said unto Hezekiah, hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the
days come that all that's in thine house And that which thy
fathers have laid up in store unto this day shall be carried
into Babylon. Nothing should be left, saith
the Lord." All these things that you've shown them in your pride,
they're all going to be carried into Babylon. And of thy sons
that shall issue from thee, which thou shall beget, shall they
take away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of
Babylon. Speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, and you can think of Daniel and
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah,
good is the word of the Lord, which thou has spoken. It's right. And he said, is it not good if
peace and truth be in my days? Because we know from the Chronicles
account that the Lord said it's not going to take place in your
day because of the way you've humbled yourself. Verse 20 and
the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he
made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city.
They're not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings
of Judah. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers. And Manessa,
his son, reigned in his stead. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And we ask that you would be
pleased in your mercy to speak to our hearts from your word. Enable us to worship thy son.
Enable us to bow before him. Enable us to trust him completely.
We ask that you would forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake,
that you'd cleanse us for Christ's sake, that you'd cause your gospel
to be preached for Christ's sake, and that you'd give us hearing
ears for Christ's sake. Lord, accept our thanksgiving
for him. Now bless us for his sake, in his name we pray, amen. Now that passage scripture I
read about the Lord leaving Hezekiah. He left him to demonstrate to
Hezekiah what was in Hezekiah's heart. The Lord already knew
what was in his heart. But the Lord left him. And this
last act of Hezekiah is a bad act. There's no greater king
than Hezekiah. And the Lord, for wise and holy
purposes, left him to himself. And his last act was a bad act,
for lack of a better word. Now, look in chapter 18 of 2
Kings. Let's read this concerning Hezekiah. Now, it came to pass in the third
year of Hosea, son of Elah, the king of Israel, that Hezekiah,
the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. Twenty and five
years old was he when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty
and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abbai,
the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his father,
did. This is how special this man
was. He was just like David, the man after God's own heart.
And he demonstrated this. Verse four, he removed the high
places, and break the images, and cut down the groves, and
break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made. For unto
those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he
called it Neshatan, a worthless piece of brass. He trusted in
the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among
all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. This is
how blessed by grace this man was for he claimed to the Lord
and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments,
which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him and
he prospered whether so ever he went forth. And he rebelled
against the king of Assyria and served him not. Now, I suppose we could almost
say in some respects that Hezekiah lived a charmed life. Look at the Lord's grace toward
this man, that he was enabled to follow the Lord so completely
and so fully. What a blessing of grace. Now, he was by grace a godly
man. He was, by grace, a wealthy man. He had great wealth. He was victorious
in his battles. He fought against the king of
Assyria. The Lord fought for him, actually.
And he won. He was a man who experienced
a miracle of healing. He was promised a long life.
He had a special relationship with Isaiah, the prophet. What
a blessing that was. Wouldn't you count that a blessing
if the Lord enabled you to have a relationship with Isaiah, the
prophet? He had seen this remarkable sign
of the sun going backwards 10 degrees. And he was honored by
God. He was honored by men. He was
famous all over the world. And so in a sense, he seemed
to have a charmed life, didn't he? until this last event of
his life. And the scripture says the Lord
left him. Now, what would happen to you
if the Lord left you? Don't have to stretch our imaginations,
do we? The same thing that happened
to Hezekiah would happen to us. He became filled with pride over
how the Lord had blessed him. And I say twice in my notes,
and I marked them out this morning, very few men can deal with prosperity. And I marked it out, no men can
deal with prosperity. No men. Every man, me, you, and
everybody else, will be filled with pride and start taking credit
for that which the Lord has done. No man can deal with prosperity.
Hezekiah is an example of that. Now, verse 12 of 2 Kings 20. At that time, after he had experienced
this miracle by God and the shadow went 10 degrees backwards, At
that time, Baradocladon, the son of Baladon, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he had heard that
Hezekiah had been sick. Now, I believe that, for one
thing, these men from Babylon were worshipers of the sun, and
they had seen this miracle, and the scripture actually says they
saw this and came to talk to him about this. But it was more
than that. This was political in nature. They had seen how Hezekiah had,
through the Lord's help, destroyed the Assyrian nation. And they
thought, we want to get on his side so he can help us. So they
came flattering, flattering, letting him know how important
he was, how rich he was. They were really impressed with
him. They flattered him. They brought
him a present, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick,
verse 13, and Hezekiah hearkened unto them. Now, evidently, these
men asked Hezekiah, let us see your riches, let us see your
wealth, let us see your power. We're so impressed with you.
We're just impressed. And Hezekiah said, I'm impressed
too. And he let him see all of his
glory, and all of his power, and all of his riches, and all
of the things that made him wealthy. It was pride. It was pride that
motivated him at this time. He was thinking of all the way
the Lord had blessed him, and he does what everybody does,
as long as they have an old nature, a sinful nature. He started thinking,
this is, I am something else. I have been enabled to be obedient.
I'm different from other people. I'm impressed, and I'm going
to let these people see my greatness. Hezekiah hearkened unto them
and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver,
the gold, the spices, the precious ointment, and all the house of
his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing
in his house nor in all of his dominion that Hezekiah showed
them not. As great a man by grace as Hezekiah
was, no king like him before him or after him, the best king
of Judah, as great a man as this man was, he proved himself to
be a weak, sinful, flawed individual just like every other person
on this planet. Isn't that so? proved himself when the Lord
left him to himself. Verse 14, then came Isaiah the
prophet unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, what said these
men? And from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said,
they're come from a far country, even from Babylon. You remember
when we're introduced to Babylon in Genesis chapter 11? They're
the folks who tried to make a tower that would reach all the way
to heaven. And they represent salvation by works, they represent
false religion, they represent all those things. And for some
reason, Hezekiah felt a need to impress these people. He wanted
them to be impressed with him. And whenever we feel a need to
impress the men of this world and the religion of this world,
we're in trouble. And that's what he was doing.
He was trying to identify with them. May the Lord cause us to
never in any way want to identify with the religion of this world.
But that's what Hezekiah was doing. He was trying to show
them his wealth and all the ways the Lord had blessed him. Verse 15. And he said, what have
they seen in thine house? This is Isaiah speaking once
again to Hezekiah. And Hezekiah answered, all the
things that are in my house, mine house, have they seen? There
is nothing among my treasures that I've not showed them. Now,
he shouldn't have been talking like that in the first place.
This is the Lord's house. What I have, it belongs to the
Lord. It's not my house and my treasures. But that's the way he was approaching
this. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah,
hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come, this is
how severe this sin was, what he did. Somebody says, well,
what's wrong with that? Well, evidently something was bad wrong
with it because look what Isaiah says. Behold, the days come that all
that's in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up
in store, and to this day, all this treasure that you've demonstrated
that you have and showed to them, these same people, it's gonna
be carried into Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is gonna come
and sack this place and take all your treasures and bring
them back to Babylon, and he's gonna take you and bring you
into Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith
the Lord, of thy sons. that shall issue from thee, which
thou shalt beget, shall they take away and they shall be eunuchs
in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah unto
Isaiah, good is the word of the Lord. Whatever the Lord says
is good. Now we know from the Chronicles
account that he humbled himself upon this. He saw the wickedness
of his ways and he humbled himself before the Lord. Good is the
word of the Lord, which thou has spoken. And he said, is it
not good if peace and truth be in my days? Now, the Lord told
him that this is not going to happen because you humbled yourself.
This is not going to happen in your days. And some people say
this is not what he's saying, but I think it is. Well, as long
as it's not happening in my days, good. Good, I'm okay with that. I don't have to experience that.
But now turn to 2 Chronicles 32. Now here, the writer tells us
what the Lord thought about this. Verse 31, how be it? Second Chronicles 32, 31, how
be it in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of
Babylon, these people that came to see all that Hezekiah had,
who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in
the land. God left him to try him. that he might know all that was
in his heart, that Hezekiah might know all that was in his heart. Now, look in verse 24 of this
same chapter. In those days, Hezekiah was sick
to death and prayed unto the Lord, and he spake unto him,
and he gave him a sign. But after all the Lord had done,
But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done
unto him, for his heart was lifted up." How often do we see that
in the scripture? Uzziah is blessed by God, but
his heart is lifted up. And what happens? What about
Nebuchadnezzar? He said, look at all this kingdom
that my hand has brought. His heart was lifted up in pride,
and the Lord knows how to abase them that walk in pride. Now
Hezekiah at this time, as gracious a man as he was, as much blessed
as he was, yet the Lord's going to show him what is in his heart. What if the Lord left me? What if the Lord left you? leave
you to yourself. There is no sin that you and
I would not commit if the Lord loved us. As a matter of fact,
any sin that you and I do not commit right now in the present,
it's due to the restraining grace of God. It's because God will
not allow it. Now let me show you this in Genesis
chapter 20. You know, thinking about this,
it is amazing how proud and self-righteous we can become when there's certainly
no ground for it in any respect. Look in Genesis chapter 20, verse
4. But Abimelech had not come near
her, Abraham's wife, Sarah. Now, two times Abraham let his
wife go into a harem to save his own skin. I try to put myself
in Abraham's place. I wonder what Sarah said to him
after that. I'm sure she was pretty upset. And he did it twice
to save his own skin. But Abimelech had not come near
unto her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous
nation? Said he not unto me? She's my
sister. He lied to me. And she, even she herself, said
he's my brother. In the integrity of my heart
and the innocency of my hands have I done this. And God said
unto him in a dream, yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity
of thy heart, for I also withheld thee from sinning against me.
That's the only reason you didn't. I withheld you. I prevented it,
therefore I suffered thee not to touch her. I think that's
interesting. He said it was in the integrity of my heart. I
don't think so. I don't think so. But go back
to 2 Chronicles verse 25, but Hezekiah rendered
not again according to the benefit done unto him, for his heart
was lifted up. Therefore, there was wrath upon
him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled
himself. for the pride of his heart. He
saw how wicked he was. He found out what was in his
heart when the Lord left him. So the wrath of the Lord came
not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. That's why he was saying,
good is the word of the Lord. It's not happening in my day.
I'm thankful for that. I can see me making that response.
I can see that so clearly with me. As long as it doesn't happen
to me, everything's okay. That seems to be what Hezekiah's
saying. I know a lot of people say, well,
that's not what it means. Well, it seems like that's what
it means to me. Verse 27, and Hezekiah had exceeding
much riches and honor. He made himself treasures for
silver and for gold and for precious stones and for spices, for shields,
for all manner of pleasant jewels. Storehouses also for the increase
of corn and wine and oil and stalls for all the manner of
beasts and coats for flocks. Moreover, he provided him cities
and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance. For God had
given him substance. The same Hezekiah also stopped
the upper course of Gihon and brought him straight down to
the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered
in all his works. He even made some kind of conduit
where water was brought into Jerusalem. So when their enemies
besieged them, they still had access to water. He was some
kind of amazing engineering feat. And I've read where you can still
see it today, what he accomplished. Verse 31, how be it? In the business of the ambassadors
of the princes of Babylon who sent unto him to inquire of the
wonder that was done in the land, God left him to try him that
he, Hezekiah, might know all that was within his heart. The Lord blessed him. He was
filled with pride, just like me or you would be. Just like
me or you would be. As long as we have these old
natures, that's the way we're going to respond. It's not right,
but Hezekiah found out. Turn with me in closing to 2
Corinthians 12. It is not expedient for me, doubtless
to glory, I'll come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above
14 years ago. He's speaking with such humility
at this time. Whether in the body, I cannot
tell. Whether out of the body, I cannot tell. God knows. Such
a one caught up into the third heaven, and I knew such a man,
whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. God
knows how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable
words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one
will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory. but in my infirmities,
my weaknesses. For though I would desire to
glory, every man does. I do, you do. Foolish as it is,
every man desires to glory. For though I would desire to
glory, look at the way the Lord's blessed me. He's brought me up
into the third heavens. I guarantee if the Lord did something like
that with me, you'd find out about it. You'd find out about
it. I'm special. I'm special. The Lord's blessed me in an unusual
way. I've been given revelations that
you haven't been given. I'm letting you know in on them.
Aren't you grateful? Now that's what he's talking
about, the way the flesh reacts. For though I would desire the
glory, I shall not be a fool, for I'll say the truth, but now
I forbear lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." Boy, Paul must
be something that the Lord's done this for him. He must be
holier than other people. He just has an experience that
other people just don't have. Now, the Lord's going to prevent
that from taking place. Verse seven, and lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations
there was given to me Who gave it to him? The Lord. The Lord. There was given to me a thorn
in the flesh. Now, let me say something about
a thorn in the flesh. It hurts. It's painful. It's difficult. Let me also say
this about a thorn in the flesh for a believer. It's not going
to kill them. A thorn in the flesh hurts you, but it's not
going to kill you, is it? It's terrible, but it's not gonna
kill you. Paul calls it the messenger of Satan to buffet me, to strike
me black and blue, lest I should be exalted above measure. This
was a gift of God's grace. For this thing, I besought the
Lord three times that it might depart from me. And there's been
so much speculation as to what that thorn in the flesh is. There's
no way anybody has any way of knowing. It's vain to, well,
I think it was this, I think it was that. Well, I know it
had something to do with his flesh. We're sure of that. And
we know it was very painful. We're sure of that. But what
it was, who knows. For this thing, I besought the
Lord three times that it might depart from me, and he said unto
me. Notice he didn't say, no, it's
gonna stay there. You know, if he would have said
that, well, I'm not going to be bothered
by it anymore. But he didn't say that, did he? He didn't say
it's going to remain. He just said this, my grace is
sufficient for thee. Are you satisfied to be saved
by sheer free grace? My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore,
will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions
and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, then am I
strong. Now here's the point. Lord left
Hezekiah. So that Hezekiah might know what
was in his heart. Hezekiah found out what was in
his heart. And Hezekiah was left right here. All I have is Christ. I do not have anything else. All I have is Christ. What a
blessed place to be. Amen.