Now in our study from 2nd Kings,
I'm referencing 2nd Kings chapter 20 verses 1 down through verse
11. But now I want you to turn for
the message this evening from an amplification of what is said
about Hezekiah being sick unto death to Isaiah Isaiah chapter
38 and we have more information given to us here I'm entitling
the message from the words found in this chapter where it says
there the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah when he had been
sick and was recovered of his sickness and So this is Hezekiah's
song of deliverance. It's his song. It's his song
of deliverance. And I pray that all of us can
sing this song of deliverance with Hezekiah and say that salvation
is of the Lord. is of the Lord. We all have this
terminal disease of sin and the Lord by His grace put away our
sin and had delivered us from the pit of corruption and made
us new creatures in Christ. Hezekiah as we studied last week
and the week preceding was a blessing to the people of Judah. where
he reigned as their king. You remember he was 25 years
old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. God says of him that he did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord. In 2 Kings 18 we
read this, that Hezekiah, he claimed unto the Lord. He kept
the commandments of the Lord. And the Lord was with him. And
then it says, the Lord prospered him wherever he went. The Lord
prospered what he did. We talked about how Hezekiah
in boldness, in great boldness with zeal, removed all the relics
of idolatry. Remember? He even removed the
high places that other kings wouldn't touch those high places.
He break the images of idolatry. He even took the brazen serpent
that Moses had made and cut it up in pieces because the people
thought it somehow brought God's favor to them. And he said, call
it in the Huston, it's just a worthless piece of brass. He stamped out
every image, every sign of idolatry. And he told Israel to worship
the Lord and to trust the Lord God of Israel. God says it to
him so that after him there was none like him among the kings
of Judah. You remember he restored the
temple worship. He repaired the building. You
remember all those blood sacrifices that he brought and how they
worshiped the Lord. It was a day of revival and a
day of rejoicing. And then we talked about how
he reinstituted the Passover and brought everybody there in
Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast. We saw his faithfulness
in our last message from 2 Kings 19, how he defied the armies
of Assyria and cried unto the Lord for help and for deliverance. We have this right here in Isaiah
37 verse 20, look at that. Isaiah 37 20 now therefore. Oh Lord our God save us From
his hand that is Sennacherib That all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that thou art the Lord even thou only He cried
unto the Lord for help and the Lord sent one angel It says,
the angel of the Lord, and destroyed, remember, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers,
and also had the king of Assyria, Sennacherib. God said he's going
to die by the hand of his own sons, remember? And he did. The Lord executed him as well. Now, we see the Lord sent an
invading army of the Assyrians and the Lord defended Hezekiah. Now we see the Lord sending an
army of sickness And Hezekiah was terminal, sick unto death,
as it says in verse one, Isaiah 38, in those days was Hezekiah
sick unto death. And Isaiah came to his house
and said, set your house in order, you're gonna die. Hezekiah cried
unto the Lord for mercy. And the Lord heard his prayer. And it says, he saw his tears.
And the Lord added 15 years to his life. Fifteen more years
to live among men. Now the Lord even gave a great
sign as it says here in Isaiah 38 verse 8. Behold I will bring
again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the sun
dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees
by which degrees it was gone down." They say, well, that's
impossible. Not with God. Not with God. The Lord gave a great sign to
him to verify the fact of his healing. God turned back time. He turned back time. What an almighty, sovereign God
we serve. Anything, anything too hard for
the Lord? He controls whatsoever the Lord
please, that's what he does. He stopped time and turned it
back 10 degrees. Now what's the lesson for us
here in this story of Hezekiah? Hezekiah being a faithful believer
and being a faithful believer does not exempt us from trial,
heartache, and sickness, does it? And even death. Whether we are young, a young
believer or an old believer, Abraham of old had most of his
severe trials in the last days of his life. Some of God's faithful
servants of the past suffered years of sickness and even early
death. Many of you know about the ministry
of Charles Spurgeon. He was sick for 30 years of his
38-year ministry, he was sick for 30 years. Oftentimes, he
would have to take weeks or months off out of the pulpit to recover,
to have strength enough to come and preach the gospel. And when
he was just 58 years of age, his life was over. His ministry
was over. Augustus Toplady, the writer
of the song, Rock of Ages, died of tuberculosis August 11, 1778,
just 38 years old. Some of God's faithful servants
have died early, early on. Bridget sang the song, How Much
I Owe, by Robert Mary McShane. McShane was born in 1813 and
died in 1843, just 30 years old, a young man. I read a little
bit about him this week. He served as a mission. He was
a missionary to Palestine. He went there in 1839 and in
1843 his ministry was over, just a short time, a short time. The beloved brother of Mary and
Martha, Lazarus, you remember, was sick and dying, and he did
die. And the sisters sent word to
the Lord, saying, He whom thou lovest is sick. And they said,
later on, after Lazarus had died, when the Lord finally came, you
remember, he tarried on purpose. He tarried on purpose until Lazarus
had been dead four days. And they said, Lord, if you'd
been here, he wouldn't have died. Well, the Lord, in His purpose,
delayed and Lazarus did die, but that's not the end of the
story, is it? The Lord raised him from the
dead. But see, being a believer does not exempt us from sickness
and eventually death, the death of the body of this flesh. But
being a believer does bring us grace for the trial and eternal
blessedness after death. We buried some dear, dear folks
here over the years. I was out preaching for Joe Terrell
several years ago, and his congregation, most of them are in their 70s,
80s, or 90s, and he'd been out there about 30 years. I said,
Joe, how many funerals have you had? He said, just two. And I
said, my goodness, I've had at least 20 or 25. the people that
died from this congregation. But for the believer, dying is
a blessed thing. To be absent from the Lord is
to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord rather.
For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Death to the believer
is not punishment, it's promotion. It's promotion. The Lord said,
precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints. Dying for a believer is a special
thing. It's precious to the Lord. It's
the Lord calling a believer home. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord. Now, I want to use this God-given
and inspired word of Hezekiah found in Isaiah 38 verse 9 down
through verse 20. and used the words of his testimony
of salvation from the Lord, when the Lord healed him when he was
recovered from his sickness, this was the writing of Hezekiah.
Notice verse 9. The writing of Hezekiah, king
of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered. Now we know
this is a miracle of grace. God healed him the way he did. I see four things in verse 10
down through verse 20. The first thing I see is this,
is despair of conviction. Secondly, dependence of heart
faith. Thirdly, deliverance of the soul. And then lastly, dedication of
gratitude. Those four things. Despair of
conviction leads to dependence of faith. Dependence of faith
receives deliverance by God redeeming grace. Deliverance by His grace
always leads to what? Gratitude, thanksgiving, and
dedication unto the Lord. You see, it's a chain. It's a step. One step leads to
this step and that step. Despair of conviction leads to
dependence of faith. Dependence of faith receives
deliverance by God's redeeming grace. Deliverance by God's grace
always leads to dedication of gratitude. We sing this chorus
sometimes. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy salvation so full and free. You see, deliverance leads
to gratitude. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And everything give thanks. I
don't want to just seek an experience or a
feeling as we seek salvation in Christ. I don't want to seek
just an experience or a feeling. However, those who do seek Him,
the Lord Jesus Christ, do experience salvation in their heart and
they do experience these four things. The first one is this,
the despair of conviction of our sin. God brought Hezekiah
to the end of himself. Look at verse 13. I reckon till
morning that as a lion so will he break all my bones from day even to night will thou
make an end of me. He says up here in verse 12,
my age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent
Just folding up that frail tent. I've cut off like a weaver my
life. He will cut me off with pining
sickness from day even to night. Wilt thou make an end of me?
Here we see despair and conviction of our sin. God brought Hezekiah
to the end of himself. He made Hezekiah to know his
only hope was found in the Lord, not in his flesh. He knew his
flesh. He couldn't do anything about
his sin or his sickness. And this is exactly what the
Lord does in Holy Spirit conviction. He makes us to know that without
Him, we are hopeless. Without Him, we are helpless. Without Him, we are dead in sin,
guilty, vile, and lost in sin without Him. And then He revealed
unto us what we are, S-I-N, that we have nothing, are nothing,
and deserve nothing but His wrath and His judgment. Now hold your
place there and find this familiar scripture, John 16. Remember John 16 when it talks
about the Comforter will come? You know the Comforter brings
conviction of sin. Isn't that interesting? Nevertheless,
John 16, 7, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that
I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not If I go not away, for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto
you." John 16, 7. You with me? Verse 8, and when
he is come, he will reprove or convict or convince the world
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, Of sin, because
they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged. When the Comforter comes, He
will convict us of sin. This is what Holy Spirit conviction
is about. He convicts us of sin. Not talking
about what we've done, talking about what we are. Sin before
God and Adam all died. He convicts us of righteousness, what we need and don't have.
He's the Lord our righteousness. And then he convicts us of what
we deserve, judgment and condemnation. The wages of sin is death. Someone
said in the past, if you miss Holy Spirit conviction, you'll
miss true godly repentance. If you miss true repentance,
you'll miss true faith. If you miss true saving faith,
you'll miss Christ who is salvation. You see, without faith, it is
impossible to please Him. The Lord said, without me, Without
me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Certainly, without Him,
we cannot believe the gospel, can we? It's said in our day
that man-centered, useless religion has dismissed the need of Holy
Spirit conviction of sin. They don't even talk about it.
They have substituted making a decision for Jesus for Holy
Spirit conviction. They have replaced Holy Spirit
conviction with walking down an aisle and joining the church.
They have swapped Holy Spirit convictions for kneeling at a
mortars bench and praying through and call that salvation. You'll
never look to Christ alone for all salvation till you're truly
convinced you are lost Guilty and ungodly in His sight. You'll never cry for mercy until
God shows you what you are and what you deserve. Before God
clothes us, He must strip us. Before God saves us, He must
condemn us. Before God heals us, He must
wound us. Before He justifies us, He's
got to kill us. Before He finds us, He'll make
us to know that we're lost without God, without hope, and without
Christ. We will never truly embrace the
Lord Jesus Christ until we see our need of Him. You see, He that believeth to
you who believe, He is altogether precious and altogether lovely. Saving faith looks to Christ
alone and the gospel teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ
came to save sinners. So there is a conviction of our
sin. The second thing we see is this. Dependence of faith. Dependence
of faith. Look at verse 14 of Isaiah 38. Dependence of faith. Dependence
of fate, like a crane or a swallow. So did I chatter. I did mourn
at the dove. My eyes failed with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed. I am stripped. Undertake for
me, what shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me,
and himself hath done it. I shall go softly all my years
in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these things is the life of my spirit. So wilt thou
recover me and make me to live." Here we see the dependence of
faith. When Hezekiah realized he had no hope in himself, he
had no hope in Isaiah. Isaiah said, you're going to
die. He cried to the Lord alone for mercy. He took his place
before the throne of God as a mercy beggar, and God heard his cry. The Lord said, I've heard your
prayer. I've even seen your tears. I'm going to give you 15 more
years. He says in verse 14, I'm oppressed. I'm oppressed in anguish
and despair. And then he says this, undertake
for me. If He doesn't undertake for me,
I have no hope. Undertake for me, He's saying,
be my Savior, be my surety, be my healer, be my all and in all. Saving faith as a single eye
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's looking unto Him to undertake
for us in all things. Isaiah 45. Remember? Turn just
a couple pages. Isaiah 45. The Lord said, verse
21, There's no God else beside me. The last part of verse 21.
A just God and Savior. There is none beside me. Now
look unto Me. Look unto Me. Don't look to the
law. Look unto Me. Don't look to yourself. Look unto Me. Don't look to your
tradition, to your church. Look unto Me and be saved. All
the ends of the earth. I am God and there is none else. The only just God and Savior. Look unto Me. Undertake for Me. This is exactly what the Gospel
is all about. And this is exactly what he has
done for his covenant people. The Lord did undertake for us.
He did undertake for us to honor the law of God for us. He said,
I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to honor it. Isaiah
42 verse 21 said that he will magnify the law and make it honorable.
He did undertake for his covenant people to put away their sin
by the sacrifice of himself. He did undertake for us. We couldn't
put away our sin. He did undertake for us to establish
a perfect righteousness for us by His obedience, by His faithfulness,
whereby He freely gives us that righteousness that's His. He
freely imputes that to us by His grace. And the Lord does
undertake for us to establish perfect righteousness that justifies
us before God. And the Lord does undertake for
us right now. In that everlasting covenant
of grace, the Lord undertook for us as a surety, didn't He?
As a mediator, as the advocate. And now He ever lives to intercede
for us right now. He still yet does undertake for
us. You see, that's our cry. That's
the cry of faith, isn't it? Oh Lord, I'm oppressed. Undertake
for me. Undertake for me. I love what
it says in verse 15. Himself hath done it. You see
that, what shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me and
himself hath done it. He's done it. You see, salvation
is not sinner you do this, sinner you do that. Salvation is D-O-N-E,
done. Done. Who done it? Himself hath done it. Now that's
not good English, but it's good theology. I shall go softly all
the years in the bitterness of my soul. Himself hath done it. The Lord said, it is finished. Psalm 69 verse 4 says, wisely
consider his doing. And then Psalm 118, 24 said,
this is the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. Saving
faith is dependent faith, is it not? It depended upon Him. I know whom I have believed and
persuaded He's able to do all that He had promised. Saving faith is dependent faith.
It depends upon the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish salvation
for us. Another Psalm says, Psalm 57-2
says, He has performed all things for us. Did He leave anything
undone? He Himself hath done it. The
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not dependent upon our doing,
but upon His doing, upon His dying, His blood, His righteousness
alone. The gospel is a declaration,
the gospel of God is a declaration of what Christ has done for us,
not what we must do for Him. Do you ask the difference of
this ministry here? And all the other ministries
that I know of in this county, the ministry and the gospel that
we preach is a gospel that accomplished by Christ. He had done it himself. It's not he paid a part and then
you pay a part. The gospel is a declaration of
what Christ had done for us. The gospel of God is not about
you, is it? It's all about him. Him, Him. Saving faith, something else,
notice it always breeds this too. I shall go softly all my
years in the bitterness of my soul. Saving faith also breeds
a spirit of humility. I shall go softly all my years
with a broken heart or bitterness of soul. Psalm 34 says, the Lord
is nigh them of a broken heart, save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. Saving faith always slays pride
and gives meekness of heart, a repentant spirit, dependent
and confident upon Christ. We are the true Israel which
worship God in the Spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence, no confidence in the flesh. Saving faith also
gives all the glory to God alone. Look at verse 16, Isaiah 38,
O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the
life of my Spirit, so wilt thou recover me and make me to live. Saving faith gives all the glory
to God. Look what it says there. Thou
will recover me. Salvation is a recovery. Those
chosen by His grace and saved by His grace quickly and constantly
give Him all the glory alone for the salvation of the Lord.
Remember that Psalm 115 verse 1? Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. But unto thy name do we give
glory for thy mercy and for thy truth sake. Saving faith gives
all the honor and glory to God alone. Remember Abraham, he was
strong in faith, giving glory unto God, being fully persuaded
of all that God had promised, he's able to do, able to perform.
Here's the third thing, verse 17. Deliverance from sin by the
power of God's grace through the redeeming blood of Christ.
Look at verse 17. Or behold, for peace I had great
bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it
from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind
thy back." Now where's the back of God? I don't know. Deliverance from sin by the power
of God's grace through the redeeming blood of Christ. Justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hezekiah now enjoys great peace and happiness though he had great
bitterness of soul. The words may be rendered here,
Behold, I am in peace. I had great bitterness of affliction,
but now I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
What great deliverance Hezekiah now enjoys. What great deliverance
he now enjoys. Notice carefully the characteristics
of this recovery or of his salvation. And this is true of all believers. His deliverance or redemption
was due to God's love for him. Did you see that? For thou hast
in love to my soul delivered it. Redemption and deliverance
were due to God's love for him. This is true of all of God's
This is true of all that God does by His purpose and His grace. His love is electing love. We're chosen by that electing
love. His love toward us is sacrificial love. Here in His love, not that
we love God, but that He loved us, sent His Son to be the sacrifice
for our sin. His love is saving love. Thou
hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption.
Selecting love, sacrificial love, saving love, and certainly sovereign
love. God who is rich in mercy for
His great love wherewith He loved us when we were dead in sin. His deliverance and every sinner's
deliverance is due not only to His everlasting love but also
to His redeeming blood. Thou hast cast all my sins behind
thy back. Now without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. Not just any blood. The blood
of bulls and goats cannot put away sin. We are redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ. Hezekiah is saying that all my
sins are gone because of the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He has put away all our sin completely. It says in Hebrews 10, 17 that
their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. He has
put away our sin infinitely as far as the east is from the west,
so far as He removed our sin from us. He's put away our sin
absolutely. Turn a couple pages to Isaiah
44. Verse 21, remember these, O Jacob
and Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed thee, thou art
my servant, O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have
blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgression, and as a cloud
thy sins, return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. O sing,
O heavens, for the Lord hath, here we get right back to it,
the Lord had done it. Who put away our sin? The Lord
had done it. I like that. He put away our sin completely,
eternally, absolutely, and finally. Micah 7.19 said they're cast
into the depths of the sea. What a blessed God and Savior
we have. He chose us freely by His grace,
redeemed us with His precious blood, called us out of darkness
from the pit of corruption, and translates us into the kingdom
of God's dear Son. He hath done it. I want you to
turn to this psalm and read it with me. A portion, verse 1 of
Psalm 40. 1, 2, and 3 of Psalm 40. The Lord hath
done it. I waited patiently for the Lord.
Psalm 40 verse 1. He inclined unto me and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit. Isn't
this Hezekiah's story? Well, this is David's story.
This is every believer's story. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also
out of a horrible pit, out of the myrrhy clay, set my feet
upon a rock, Establish my goings and he put a new song in my mouth
Even praise and do where God many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord That's our song isn't it and that leads
us to the last thing dedication of Gratitude gratitude gratitude Look at verse 18, for the grave
cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, they that go
down to the pit cannot hope for truth. The living, the living
shall praise thee, as I do this day, those who are made alive
in Christ. The fathers to the children shall
make known thy truth. The Lord, look at verse 20, the
Lord was ready to save me, therefore we will sing my songs to the string instruments all
the days of our life in the house of the Lord. The living, the
living shall praise Thee, so as I do this day. Those who are
made spiritually alive, quickened by His grace, by His transforming
power, shall praise Him now and Forever worthy is the Lamb that
was slain. I love this statement in verse
20 where it says, the Lord was ready to save me. He's always ready. He's always
prepared. The Lord is ready to save me.
He's able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.
In Nehemiah 9, 17, Nehemiah prayed, the Lord is ready to pardon. And he is ready to pardon his
people because of the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, we are
ready to praise Him, ready to preach His gospel, ready to sing
songs of praise unto Him all our days. You see that? Sing
my songs to the string instruments all the days of our life. in
the house of the Lord. We do that privately and publicly. Privately in our soul we say,
Would David bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within
me bless his holy name. And publicly when we gather together
in the name of the Lord to preach the gospel and to worship Him
in the house of the Lord. You see that? In the house of
the Lord. Why do we come here? We love
to greet each other and fellowship together, but we come here to
publicly worship the Lord. That's why we come. We come here
to publicly worship the Lord. That's why the scriptures encourage
us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as a manner
of some would do. Hezekiah's Song of Thanksgiving. Oh, he was depressed, and the
Lord recovered him, healed him, and then Hezekiah was determined
to praise the Lord all the days of his life.