Now, would you turn back to 2
Kings chapter 18? It was said of Hezekiah in verse
5 that 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. What a commendation. I've entitled
this message, Hezekiah's Reform. It goes without saying that Hezekiah
was a sinful man. Just like you and I are. As a
matter of fact, his closing days end somewhat in infamy when he
let the princes from Babylon come in and see all of his treasures.
And the scripture said his heart was lifted up with pride. And
his life ends on kind of a down note because of that. He was
a man and the best of men are men at best. He was a sinful
man like you and I are. He was a young man, 25 years
old, and a man that God greatly used and greatly blessed to bring
a great reform in Judah and in Israel. You see, his father,
Ahaz, was a very wicked man. And in Judah, he actually had
the temple doors closed. There was no more sacrifice.
There was no Passover. There was no worship of the living
God. They were worshiping the gods
of Assyria and Samaria, and they were burning incense to false
gods in every city. That's how low Judah had sunk. This was a very low point And
then Hezekiah comes in and there's a great reform that happens under
his reign. There was a great revival. Turn
with me for a moment to 2 Chronicles chapter 29. We're going to be going back and forth between
2 Chronicles and 2 Kings to read about him. But after this great
reform that took place, look what it says in verse 36. of
2 Chronicles 29. This was very much of an encouragement
to me. And Hesychiah rejoiced, and all
the people that God had prepared the people, for the thing was
done, what? Suddenly. All at once. Things were so bad, and they
had fallen so low, but all of a sudden, When God had prepared
the hearts of the people, this thing, this great revival, this
great reform was done suddenly. And if it happened in Hezekiah's
day, thank God it can happen in our day too, can't it? A sudden
great work and great move of the Lord God. Now, Hezekiah's
name means strengthened of God. His mother's name means a worshipper
of God. He was strengthened by God for
this purpose. Now, the first thing he did is
he reopened the temple. Now, Ahaz actually had the temple
closed. There was no sacrifice. As a
matter of fact, he brought idols into the temple. And Judah was
at the lowest point, I suppose, they'd ever been. Ahaz was a
very wicked man and led them into idol worship. And the temple
was actually closed, and the first thing that Hezekiah did
was have the temple reopened. Look in 2 Chronicles 29 once
again, verse 3. Well, let's start in verse 1. Hezekiah began to reign when
he was 5 and 20 years old. And he reigned nine and twenty
years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter
of Zechariah. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his father,
had done. He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month,
opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired it. Now, look back in verse twenty-four
of Chapter 28, and Ahaz his father gathered together the vessels
of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house
of God and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord. And
he made him altars at every corner of Jerusalem and every several
city of Judah. He made high places to burn incense
unto other gods and provoke the anger of the Lord God of his
fathers. And Hezekiah comes in and turns all of that around. Now, as soon as he did that,
you go on reading in 2 Chronicles 29, the daily sacrifices were
restored. Look in verse 20. 2 Chronicles 29. Then Hezekiah the king rose early. and gathered the rulers of the
city, and went up to the house of the Lord, and they brought
seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats
for sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for
Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them
on the altar of the Lord. So they killed the bullets, and
the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar.
Likewise, when they killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood
upon the altar. They killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled
the blood upon the altar. And they brought forth the heat
goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation.
And they laid their hands on them, and the priests killed
them and made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar
to make an atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded
that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for
all of Israel. Now, this had fallen into disuse. But when
the Lord works on a people, this is what happens. I see my daily
need of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I see my daily
need of his precious blood to cleanse me. Oh, I must have his
sacrifice. It's not something that happened
long ago. It's something that I need right now. He re-instituted
the daily sacrifice. And then you go on reading. He
started the Passover again. The Passover had not been in
use at all. And he starts it again. Look
in chapter 30, verse 1, 2 Chronicles. And Hezekiah sent to all Israel
and Judah and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh that they
should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the
Passover unto the Lord God of Israel. And what a Passover it
was. Look in verse 26 of the same
chapter. After going through all the events that do the Passover,
verse 26 said, So there was great joy in Jerusalem for since the
time of Solomon. It had been hundreds of years.
The Son of David, King of Israel, there was none like it in Jerusalem,
this great Passover. Oh, don't you love what the Passover
tells us? God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. What was God looking for? The
blood of His Son. And He said, I will pass over
you. Now, when God revives a people
like Happened here. The Passover is once again restored. And then there was a restoration
of giving. Look in chapter 31, verse 5.
You know, when love is cold, giving is not an issue. Giving
is not important. But when I'm giving the grace
to love the Lord, giving becomes an issue with me. Look what happened
here in verse 5. Second Chronicles 31, as soon as the commandment
came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the
firstfruits of corn, wine, oil, and honey. And of all the increase
of the field and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
And concerning the children of Israel and Judah that dwelt in
the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen
and sheep, and the tithe of the holy things which were consecrated
unto the Lord their God. And they laid them by heaps.
They were bringing big piles of things in. That's what happened
when the Lord was reviving him, this new interest in giving. And then there was a great destruction
of the idols. Turn back to 2 Kings, chapter
18. Verse four. It says he removed the high places. Remember, his dad set up all
these high places for idolatry in every city. And what did he
do? He removed the high places and he 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 a worthless
piece of brass. Now, can you imagine what a stink
that caused? I mean, this is the brazen serpent.
This is what Moses put on a pole and everybody that looked at
it lived. And he calls it a worthless piece of brass. He put out the
idols. Now, understand this. This thing
of putting out the idols, it's a love issue. Yeah, everything's
a love issue when it comes right down to it, but this is a love
issue. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, in Exodus chapter
12, turn with me there. I want you to say this for yourself.
Exodus chapter 20. Verse 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, talking about the idols, Exodus 20 verse 4,
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness
of anything that's in heaven above or that's in the earth
beneath or that's in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not
bow down thyself to them or serve them, for I the Lord thy God
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children of the third and fourth generation of them that,
what? Hate me. Idolatry is born of
hatred of God as he is. And it is an attempt to modify
him to make him more likable. That's all it is. It's hatred
of the living God. But those who love God love him
as he is. And they're intolerant of false
gods because they love God as he is and cannot bear false representations
of him. They hate idolatry. Now, people
with no love in their hearts can't understand this zeal against
idolatry. Now, this description of Hezekiah,
we can see how he brought reform into the land. Now, I want us
to consider him. Turn back to 2 Kings chapter 18. Verse 1. Now, let's consider this man
Hezekiah that the Lord used so greatly. Now, I want to be just
like him, don't you? I want to be a Hezekiah. I want
to be just, you young men, I want you to be Hezekiahs. He was a
young man and look how the Lord used him. This is so encouraging
to me to see what the Lord did with this person. You young women,
you old women and old men too. I'm not talking about ages. You
old men, be Hezekiahs. Young men. I want us all to be
Hezekiahs. Now, verse 1, 2 Kings 18, I came
to pass in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, 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, and his mother's
name also was Abbi, 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. Now, God put his hand on this
young man. And he became more concerned
about what God sees than what man sees. As a matter of fact,
all he cared about was what God sees. And he didn't care a bit
about what man sees. He did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord. His one concern was doing what
was right in the Lord's sight. And if it's right in his sight,
does it matter if it's wrong in everybody else's sight? No,
we really don't care. He did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord. And the only thing that's right
in the sight of the Lord is perfection. A perfect standing before God's
holy law. Hezekiah believed the gospel.
This is how he did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord and had a perfect standing before God's holy law. He believed
the gospel. Doesn't the scripture say that
Do we make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law. In trusting Christ as my righteousness
before God, I have a perfect standing before God's holy law,
and I'm doing that which is right in His sight. Now, when you're
more concerned about God's sight than man's sight, God's done
something for you. Where are you here? Where am
I here? And if a man does that which
is right in the Lord's eyes, a removal will begin. Look in
verse four, he removed the high places and break the images. And can you imagine the criticism
he got for this? All these do this to things that
were important to people. He cut down the growth. And he
break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made. For unto
those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it. He called
it a worthless piece of brass. Now, like I said already, this
thing about idolatry is a love issue. He loved the Lord his
God and he was going to break down all these idols. Now look
what it says in verse 5 about Hezekiah. He trusts in the Lord God of
Israel. He trusted. Look in verse 29
of this same chapter. Now this king from Assyria had
said to the men of Judah, don't listen to Hezekiah. And verse
29, thus saith the king, let not Hezekiah deceive you. For
he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand, neither
let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will
surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the
hands of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah, for
thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by
present." And come out to me, and then eat ye every man of
his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every
one of the waters of his own cistern, until I come and take
you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and
wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil, of oil olive,
and of honey, that you may live and not die, and hearken not
unto Hezekiah, when he persuaded you, saying, The Lord will deliver
us. Have any of the gods of the nations
delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpid? Where are the gods
of Sephirot, Mehenna, and Ida? Have they delivered Samaria out
of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries
that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord
should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? But the people held
their peace and answered him not. For the king's commandment
was saying, answer him not. Now look in chapter 19, verse
9. And when he heard, say of Ter-Hekar,
king of Ethiopia, behold, he's come out to fight against thee.
He sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall
ye speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God,
in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall
not be delivered in the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold,
thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands.
by destroying them utterly, and shall thou be delivered? Have
the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed,
as Gozan, and Haran, and Resban, and the children of Eden, which
are in the Telethar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king
of Arpet, and the king of the city of Seraphirim, of Hena,
and of Ida?" These are all ones he had destroyed. And Hezekiah
received the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah went up into the
house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah
prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone of all
the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord,
bow down thine ear, and hear. Open, Lord, thine eyes, and see,
and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach
the living God." Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have
destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods
into the fire. For they were no gods, but the
work of men hand, wood, and stone. Therefore they have destroyed
them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou
us out of His hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only. We see what his
motive was in doing this. Now, here's his message to the
people. Turn back to 2 Chronicles, chapter 32. 2 Chronicles 32. Here's what he says to the people. Verse 2. Be strong. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 7. Be strong
and courageous. Be not afraid nor dismayed for
the king of Assyria Nor for all the multitude that's with him.
And they were outnumbered. He had a whole lot more folks
than the Israelites. For there be more with us than
with him. Hold your finger there and turn
to 2 Kings chapter 6. I want to show you a similar
passage of Scripture. Then I want you to go into Romans
chapter 8. There be more with us than with them, even though
they were outnumbered. Verse 14 of 2 Kings. Therefore, sent he thither horses
and chariots, and a great host, and they came by night, and encompassed
the city about. And when the servant of the man
of God was risen early, this is talking about Elisha's servant,
and gone forth, behold, and host compassed the city, both with
horses and chariots. And his servants said unto him,
Alas, my master, what shall we do? Now here was this one man
with one servant and one house, and there was a host totally
encircling. What are we going to do? Verse
16. And he answered, Fear not, for they that be with us are
more than they which be within. And Elisha prayed, and said,
Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha. Now turn to Romans 8. There are more with us than with
them. Hezekiah believed the gospel.
That's the bottom line. Hezekiah believed the gospel.
Now look here in Romans chapter 8. Very, very familiar passage
of scripture, but how thrilling it is. Verse 31. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, we've got a
majority. Who can be against us? Now, look
at this passage in verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
call according to his purpose. Now, if God has purposed my salvation, what can hinder it? What can hinder it? There's more
for us than against us. Verse 29, for whom he did foreknow. If God be for us in foreknowledge.
You understand this about foreknowledge. Foreknowledge isn't about events.
It's not about God knowing what's going to take place, which obviously
does. Whom he did foreknow. Not what he foreknew. Whom he
did foreknow. God's foreknowledge is his forelove. He loved beforehand. Adam knew
his wife Eve. This is a reference to God's
eternal love for his people. If God be for me in foreknowledge. Who can be against me? There's
more on our side than their side. Next, he said, for whom He did
foreknow, then He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Now, if God's for me in predestination, if He has predestinated that
I be just like Christ, perfectly conformed to His image, what's
going to prevent it? There'd be more for us than those
against us. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called, called by irresistible and invincible grace. Now, if God be for us in calling,
who can be against us? Moreover, whom he called, then
he also justified. Now, if God justified me, And
he did. That's what Christ accomplished
for me on the cross. My sin was put away. I've given
perfect righteousness. I stand without guilt before
God. Now, if God justified me, who can be against me? Moreover,
whom he justified, then he also glorified. Past tense, not then
he will glorify. Here's how sure I am for heaven.
I'm already there glorifying the person of my representative,
my redeemer. I'm already glorified. Now, if
God be for us, who can be against us? Hezekiah says, don't worry. Turn back to our text in 2 Chronicles
32. Be strong and courageous, be
not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all
the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than
with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the
Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people
rested upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Can you rest on
these words? The Lord fights our battles. Turn back to 2 Kings 18. He trusted in the Lord God of
Israel. Is the Lord Jesus worthy of such
trust? You better believe it. Look what
it says in verse 6. For he claimed to the Lord. Now the first time that word
is used in the scriptures is what? Remember? For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his
wife and they too shall be one flesh. And remember what Paul
said about that in Ephesians 5 31? This is a great mystery.
But I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Now, when he
claimed to the Lord, that means he was glued to Him. He stuck
hard to Him. He stayed close. He wouldn't
get away. This has something to do with
his union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The two shall be one
flesh. David said in Psalm 62, 8, My
soul followeth hard after thee. The same word that's translated
cleaved. It's to be joined, it's to pursue.
Now, listen real carefully. When you cleave to the Lord,
the one thing you cannot be without is Christ. And you cleave to him. You can't
let Him go. You have to have Him. And you pursue Him, and you follow
Him, and you will not let Him go. The one thing that you can't
bear the thought of is standing before God on your own. And you
have to have Him. And you cling to Him. You hold
on, nothing can break your grip. Now, it's because He gives you
the grace to hold on, and it's because He gives you the grace
to cleave to Him and to follow Him. But you won't let go, because
you know you have to have Him. I have to have the Lord Jesus
Christ, and I cleave unto Him. Let me show you what this looks
like. Turn back to 2 Chronicles 31. And thus did Hezekiah throughout
all Judah, and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth
before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began,
in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the
commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered. Back to our text, 2 Kings 18. Verse 6. He claimed to the Lord
and departed not from following him. That word departed means
to decline. To decline. To loosen the grip. To not go quite so hard. Remember the Lord's words, if
any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Say no to himself. Take up his cross daily, the
cross of confessing Christ and follow me. Now, he didn't decline
in this. You know, as as we get older,
we ought not be going backwards. We ought to be going forward
in this thing. What have you done for me lately? We ought
not be thinking, well, I've been following the Lord for all these
years. No, we're not to decline in any way. We're to go forward
in this thing. The most zealous people ought
to be the oldest people. Now, that's he did not decline
in following the Lord. But look what it says next. Verse
six. But he kept his commandments
which the Lord commanded Moses, he kept his commandments. He
that loveth me, he it is that keepeth my commandments. He that
keepeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me. If you love
me, keep my commandments. Not know them, not admire them,
but actually keep them. Now, the only way I can understand
that is in the light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is not talking about knowing what the commandment is. It's
talking about actually keeping it. Turn to 1 John chapter 3.
You're familiar with this passage of scripture. I want to look
at another one, too, but turn to 1 John chapter 3. Verse 23. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ. Do you keep that commandment? Beloved, I keep that commandment.
I do believe on the name of his son. That is my inference into
glory. And love one another as he gave
us commandments. Now, only in believing the gospel
do we keep the commandments the Lord commanded Moses. And in
believing the gospel, we do keep the commandments that the Lord
commanded Moses. Every single one of them, I've
kept. I'm not a lawbreaker. I stand
perfect before God, believing the gospel. Now, remember, do
we make more of the law through faith? God forbid. Yeah, we establish
the law. The only way I honor God's holy
law is not by trying to keep it, but by believing I have kept
it in Christ and resting in that. And let me show you a passage
of scripture that this thrilled me. Look in Luke, chapter one. Luke, chapter one. Have you ever wondered about
this verse? Talking about Zechariah and Elizabeth,
verse 6, it says, And they were both righteous before God, walking
in all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord, blameless. How can that be? I mean, I used
to look at that passage of Scripture. I thought, what kind of people
were they? I mean, this is God, the Holy Spirit's description
of Him. They walked in all the commandments of the Lord, and
they stood blameless before Him. Now, the only way that that can
be understood, and it's real, believing the gospel, this is
me. Did Christ keep all the commandments of the Lord? Is He blameless?
Then so am I. I walked. in all the commandments
of the Lord, blameless, because the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is my very life before God, and I walk before
Him blameless. Now, back to our text in 2 Kings
18. He kept the commandments which the
Lord commanded Moses, and here's why all this took place in verse
7. And the Lord was with him. Here is why he did that which
was right in the sight of the Lord, why he was more concerned
with what God saw than what men sees. The Lord was with him. Here is why he trusted in the
Lord. The Lord was with him. Here is
why he claimed to the Lord. The Lord was with him. This is why he declined not,
but kept his commandments. The Lord was with him in every
way we can imagine and the ways we can't imagine. The Lord was
with him. And look what it says next about him. Verse seven. And the Lord was with him and
he prospered. Whether so ever he went forth.
You know, the scripture says, of the blessed man that whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. In success, he prospered. In
failure, he prospered. It didn't matter what he was
doing, the Lord prospered it. Now that's true of every believer. The Lord prospered it. And look
at what it says next about him. And he rebelled against the king
of Assyria and served him not. Every believer is a rebel. A
rebel against the flesh. A rebel against this world. We
rebel. I'm rebelling right now. I'm
rebelling against my flesh right now. Every believer is a rebel. Every believer is a soldier and
every believer is a rebel. He rebelled against the king
of Assyria. Now, don't you want to be just
like Hezekiah? Well, let me take that where
I ought to take it. Don't you want to be just like
the Lord Jesus Christ? Verse three. Let's read it again. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father
did. 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 Nehushtan.
He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was
none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any the world before
him. 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, is there any reason for
men yet to not be just like Hezekiah? There's not, is there? Let's pray.