2 Kings chapter 16. And let's see if we can learn
a little bit by the Spirit of God through the Word of God.
I'm entitling the message, Christ is our altar. Or Christ our altar. Our altar. The altar of the Lord
always sets the sacrifice apart unto the Lord. That's what the
altar does. It sets the sacrifice apart unto
the Lord our God. Someone said, and I don't know
who, a preacher of years ago, said this, Christ sacrificed
his humanity on the altar of his deity. You remember that? I've said that before. He sacrificed
his humanity on the altar of his deity. Now what sets that
sacrifice apart? The altar of his deity. You see,
it's who he is that gives infinite merit, infinite value to what
he did. That which sets his sacrifice
apart from any other is who it is that died for our sins and
who the sacrifice is offered unto. This sacrifice is unto
the Lord. This is the Lamb of God. that taketh away our sin. Upon the altar of God, and that
is our Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Acts 20, 28, that
God bought the church with His own blood. His sacrifice is unto
the Lord. And He accomplished all the purpose
of justifying sinners, putting away their sin, accomplishing
righteousness by the sacrifice of Himself, by which He obtained
eternal redemption for us with His own blood. We're not redeemed
with corruptible things, are we? but with the precious blood
of Christ, upon that altar of his deity, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we studied last week how
the Lord blessed Jotham and how he prepared his way before the
Lord from 2 Chronicles 27.6 and how the Lord established him
in the way. But now we see that his son Ahaz
who was a son of Jotham, totally discarding the way of salvation,
totally discarding the proper way of worship, going the way
of total apostasy, going away from the Lord, and in gross base
idolatry, even burning his children as an offering unto pagan gods. Ahaz did not prepare his way
before the Lord, but rather rebelled against the Lord fully and totally
and completely, and it was the ruin of all of Judah. Now what can we learn from this? Salvation doesn't run in bloodlines. His father was a believer. Ahaz
was a wicked, wicked man and he did many, many wicked things. Now don't turn because you're
familiar with this scripture, but let me turn and read it for
you so I can get it accurately. John chapter 1 verse 12, but
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born
not of blood. Salvation doesn't run in bloodlines,
nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.
My father was not a believer. He was a pagan idolater, but
God, by his grace, made me one of his own. Now, having a believing
father is no guarantee of having a believing son, but even if
your father is a pagan and an idolater, God can still raise
up children to his name because salvation is by his grace. Now,
having said that, we are to raise our children up under the principles
of the gospel as believers. We are to put our children under
the sound of the gospel, but we cannot give them faith. We cannot give them life. We
cannot give them salvation. Ephesians 6 declares we are to
bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. And certainly Jotham, Ahaz's father, did so. But his son was
a rebel who walked totally contrary to the way of David. Did you
see that? Verse 2, 2 Kings 16, 20 years old was Ahaz when it
began to rain and it rained 16 years in Jerusalem and did not
that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father."
All the way back they hold up David as the standard bearer,
don't they? David was a man after God's own
heart. The Lord says, of Ahaz in 2nd
Chronicles 28, don't turn, let me just quote it for you, I've
got it written down. For the Lord brought Judah low
because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he made Judah naked and transgressed
sore against the Lord. Again in 2nd Chronicles 28-23
we read He was the ruin of Judah. Ahaz brought the whole tribe
of Judah down with him and with his sin, with his fall. Now,
let's look at some of the character of this man Ahaz. His character
was in stark contrast to that of David. David was a man after
God's own heart. David was a sinner saved by God's
grace, and David, when he sinned against God, he sought mercy
of the Lord, and he sought to worship the Lord according to
the way of the Lord. He prayed this way in Psalm 51.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my sin, wash
me throughly from my iniquity. Ahath totally disregarded seeking
mercy through the way established by the Lord through the priest
of God, with the blood sacrificed upon the altar of God, and certainly
upon the blood of atonement on the day of atonement upon the
mercy seat. A has totally disregarded the
established way to worship God. Rather, he sought salvation,
he sought forgiveness through his idols. Look what it says
there. He walked, verse 3, in the way
of the kings of Israel. Yea, he made his son to pass
through the fire according to the abomination of the heathen
whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. He sacrificed
burnt incense in high places and on the hills and under every
green shady tree. He was a religious man, but he
wasn't seeking the Lord. in a proper way, he was a pagan,
pagan idolater. Even sacrificing of his children,
as it says in 2 Chronicles 28, he burnt his children in the
fire under Moloch. Why did he do that? To try to
satisfy the pagan god. Something else we know about
This man, verse 5 down through verse 9, when the king of Israel,
Pekah, and Rezan came against Judah, as it says there in verse
5, they came up to Jerusalem to war and to besiege Ahaz, but
they could not do it. You know why they couldn't do
it? Because God said to Isaiah, you cannot have it. They could
not overcome Jerusalem. Ahaz sent for help from a pagan
king of the Assyrians, but they could not overcome Jerusalem,
not because of the move that they had made to hire a pagan
army, but because of what Isaiah, the Lord said to the prophet
Isaiah, if you want to turn back over there, Isaiah chapter 7,
Isaiah chapter 7 verse 4, saying to him, take heed and be quiet,
fear not, Neither be fainthearted," Isaiah 7 verse 4, "...for the
two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of reason
with Syria and the son of Ramaliah, because of Syria Ephraim the
son of Ramaliah hath taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
Go up against Judah, vex it, let us make a breach therein
for us, and set it in the midst of it, even set the king in the
midst of it, even Thalbeel. Thus saith the Lord, it shall
not stand, neither shall it come to pass." God said, it won't
happen. No need to hire an army, just believe me. But he disregards. What does Ahab do? He disregards
the word of the Lord, trusts his own wisdom instead, and goes
out and hires a pagan army. Nothing good will ever come,
no true blessing will ever be given if we disregard the word
of the Lord and trust ourselves. We are not smarter or wiser than
our God, not at all. He says here, don't turn, let
me just read it to you. Isaiah 7 verse 9, If you will
not believe, surely you shall not be established. You shall
not be established. Or you believe not because you
are not established. Because you are not true and
firm in the faith of God. Trusting yourself instead of
the wisdom and purpose of God. You see, believing God, honors
God, doesn't it? Abraham was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded of all that God had
promised he's able to do. Believing God honors God. Not
believing the Word dishonors God, and that's exactly what
Ahaz did. Let us therefore be swift to
hear take heed how we hear, take heed what we hear, and may the
Lord cause us to hear His voice in the written word the Lord
said blessed to His disciples. Blessed are your ears for they
hear. Blessed are your eyes for they
see. I want to see Him, don't you?
By faith, by faith, I don't want to I don't want to see a vision
or hear some strange voices. I want to hear him in the word
and believe him by faith and see him in the word as he's pleased
to reveal himself unto me. Here's the third thing I want
us to think about. When the king of Assyria had
killed the king of the king of Assyria now had killed the king
of Syria reason look at verse 9 and the king of Assyria hearkened
unto him for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and
took it and carried the people of it captive to Kerr and slew
the king of Syria They conquered the capital of Damascus, and
then notice what happens. King Ahaz went to Damascus to
meet the conquering king, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria. And while he
was there, he saw the altar that was at Damascus, and King Ahaz
sent to Uriah the priest the fashion of the altar, the pattern
of it, according to all the workmanship thereof, And Uriah the priest
built an altar according to the king that King Ahaz had sent
from Damascus. So, Uriah the priest made it
against King Ahaz or for King Ahaz from Damascus. Now, what can we learn here? When the king of Assyria had
killed reason conquered the capital Damascus. And we see that same
battle still going on in that country today, don't we? King
Ahaz traveled to Damascus. He saw a pagan altar and was
so impressed by the grandeur of it, the beauty of it, the
art of it, when he compared that altar to the altar of the Lord
that was just brass and plain He prepared this pattern, sent it to the
priest back in Jerusalem and told him, build me an altar like
this one. Ahaz thought the altar of God,
and this is the brazen altar upon which the burnt sacrifice
was offered. Ahaz thought the altar of God,
God was dull and unattractive, plain and old fashioned. He wanted
something new. Something exciting to promote
his idolatry. He wanted something new and improved.
Isn't that what we hear in religious circles today? Oh, that gospel
just old-fashioned. That's just old-fashioned stuff.
We've got something new. We've got something exciting.
We've got something improved. It's better. That old-fashioned
way of salvation by the grace of God. Someone said, the hearts
of idolaters walk after their eyes and go a-whoring after their
idols. That's exactly what Ahaz did. He saw, you remember that scripture
I'm thinking over here that just comes to mind over here in 1
John, and this is what happened to him. All that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. That's everything that happened to Ahab when he saw
that fancy altar and the fashion of it, he said, I've got to have
one like that. I've got to have one just like
that. You see, the hearts of idolaters walk after their own
eyes and go whoring after their own idols. But true worshipers
worship the true and living God by faith in Christ. There's no
true worship apart from, now listen carefully, there's no
true worship of God apart from the truth of God and the gospel
of God, is there? Not at all. The Father seeketh such to worship
Him in spirit and in truth. I heard a preacher recently talking
about the big meeting that they had. Oh, we had a big meeting.
Oh, man, we had a big meeting. He said, we got so carried away,
he said, we didn't even have any time for preaching. It's
just a big whoopee, what Henry used to call whoop-dee-doo. A big whoop-dee-doo. No, no word,
no preaching, no lifting up Christ, just all flesh, emotion, tradition. We don't have time for preaching.
Oh, we've got something new, we've got something better. Won't
you come and join us? Be careful. We walk by faith,
not by sight. Ahaz immediately made a pattern
of it, sent it to Uriah the priest, the chief priest of God, and
he made an altar from that pattern, and he did so without objection,
without dispute. He compromised to get along with
the king. You see what compromise leads
to? What should the priest of God done? He said, ain't no way. I'm not participating in your
idolatry. You can kill me if you want to.
Here I stand, I can do no other. But he compromised and he even
made this altar after the gods of Damascus. Ahaz committed a
great sin against God, but the priest of God was most wicked
to do such a thing, totally forsaking the pattern that the Lord had
laid out. He should have defended the way of worship prescribed
by God, maintained and defended the altar of burnt offering,
the brazen altar, Instead of introducing something new, something
different, it was totally inexcusable. He had no excuse. Guilty before
God. Now he answers for it. We study in the book of Jude,
remember? We are to contend for the faith once delivered unto
the saints. Let us never, ever, even think
for a moment about compromising the Word of God and the truth
of God and the Gospel of God. I don't care who it offends.
I'd rather tell the truth and honor God than compromise and
offend God with you. Thanks be to God. Now here's
what I'm thinking about. We see this priest here who was
so unfaithful who refuses to follow the pattern that God had
laid out so explicitly, plain and clear. Solomon's temple,
Solomon's brazen altar, the burnt sacrifice, the mourning sacrifice,
and he totally threw it away. Thanks be to our God. for our
faithful high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who cannot and
will not ever forsake the way of salvation prescribed by the
Lord our God." And you know what? He is that way. He said, I'm
the way, the truth, and the life. You see, Christ, He is our altar. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
our sacrifice. And He is our faithful High Priest.
We have such a great High Priest, who is passed into the heavenlies,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the sacrifice we have, He
didn't bring the blood of bulls and goats, did He? He brought
His own blood. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ, and He obtained for us eternal redemption. You
see, we read in Hebrews 13.8, about the Lord Jesus Christ who
cannot change. He's the same yesterday, He's
the same today, and He's the same forever. He is the way,
the truth, and the life, and that's not going to change. That's
not going to change. Here's the fourth thing I want
to see, verse 12 and verse 13. When Ahaz came back to Jerusalem,
when King Ahaz had come from Damascus, The king saw the altar
and the king approached the altar and offered Daron. Boy, he said,
I can't wait, I can't wait to sacrifice upon this altar. And
he burned his burnt offering, his meat offering, poured out
his drink offering. I mean, he's bringing the whole
kitchen. He's bringing everything. His
drink offering, he sprinkled his blood of the peace offering
upon the altar. He also brought the brazen altar,
which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from
between the altar and the house of the Lord, and just shoved
it aside, shoved it clear over against the wall. When Ahaz came back, he brought
all of his offerings, placed them upon this strange pagan
altar. He was not sacrificing unto the
true living God, was he? He was sacrificing to the pagan
gods of Damascus. Now, can you say that with a
certainty? Absolutely. Because I've marked
in my Bible over here in 2 Chronicles 28 and verse 22 and verse 23,
2 Chronicles 28, and in the time of his distress did he trespass
yet more against the Lord For he sacrificed unto the gods of
Damascus, which smote him, and he said, Because the gods, the
kings of Syria helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that
they may help me, but they were the ruin of him, and all Israel."
Look what else it says there in 2 Chronicles 28, 24, And Ahaz
gathered together the vessels of the house of God, cut them
in pieces, vessels of the house of God, and shut the doors of
the house of the Lord, he closed the doors, shut it down, shut
down temple worship. And he made him altars in every
corner of Jerusalem. How wicked we are, apart from
the grace of God. Ahaz also instructed Uriah to
remove the altar of God, verse 14, 15, and 16, and thrust it
aside and placed the offering for the people." And look what
he says here, verse 15, "'And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the
priest, saying, Upon the great altar,' this is the great altar,
"'Burn the morning offering.'" the morning burnt offering, and
the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and
his meat offering, with the burnt offerings of all the people of
the land, their meat offering, and their drink offering, and
sprinkle it upon the blood, sprinkle it, all the blood of the burnt
offering, and the blood of the sacrifice, and that brazen altar."
Oh, I'm going to save that for me. and I'm going to use that
to inquire the Lord by." You think he's telling the truth
there? He's just going to shove it aside and discard everything
that God had put in place. He thrust aside the altar of
God and he used this great pagan altar to sacrifice unto his pagan
God. He's saying, we're still going
to have a blood sacrifice, He said, well, we're going to keep
on having a blood sacrifice, just not to the true and living
God. He wanted to see what he's doing. He's mixing some element
of truth with a whole lot of error. And what does it become?
It becomes error. I told you the story before about
my friend Joe Terrell, who used to work for Orkin before he was
a pastor. And he told me one time that
rat poison is 98% good food. It's just the 2% that's poison
that kills the rats. You cannot mix truth and lies. You cannot mix that which is
true and that which is false. You cannot mix grace and works. It won't fly. He did not totally
remove the brazen altar. But rather he said that he would
use it for private matters to inquire the Lord by. Do you reckon
he ever did? No, he didn't. Verse 17 and 18,
Ahaz continued to dismantle the way of worship. Thus did Uriah the priest, verse
16, according to all that King Ahaz had commanded, King Ahaz
cut off the borders of the bases and removed the laver from off
of them. These were the ten brazen, the
brass lavers the priests used to wash themselves in, wash the
blood off from the sacrifice, and took down the molten sea
from off the twelve brazen oxen that were under it and put it
upon a pavement of stone. dismantling the established way
to worship God. He stripped out the brass from
the instruments of the temple, the bases of the lavers, disassembled
molten sea that the priests used to cleanse and to officiate and
represent the people unto the Lord. In spite of all those terrible
things, that Ahaz did to destroy the way of God, to destroy the
altar of God, to destroy the way of worship. In the midst
of all this idolatry, the Lord sent him a message. He wouldn't
hear it, but the Lord sent it to him. Now turn to Isaiah 7.
The Lord sent Isaiah with a message of the coming priest, the coming
altar, to His priest, His altar, His sacrifice that can never
be dismantled, that can never be destroyed, and we know that
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Where sin abounded, grace does
much more abound. During the time when in Jerusalem
the gospel of God was under full assault, the Lord did not leave
Himself without a witness, did He? Isaiah chapter 7 verse 10. Moreover, the Lord spake again
to Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ask it either
in the depth or in the height above. And Ahaz said, Well, I'm
not going to tempt the Lord. You see how crazy this man is? God told him to ask, and he said,
oh, I'm not going to ask the Lord that. He didn't want to
hear, did he? And he said, hear you now, O
house of David. No longer hear Ahaz. Hear, O
house of David. It is a small thing for you to
weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord
Himself will give you a sign." Now, you think of everything
that's going on in Jerusalem. Here's a pagan altar. They've
cast aside the way of worship. They brought Judah to a ruin
and Judah to a low place. Behold, God said, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, And God's going to call His name
Immanuel. You remember what Immanuel means?
God with us. God with us. Now we know the
rest of the story, don't we? Turn to Matthew. You know, that's
written probably 800 years before it was fulfilled. God spake and
it was done. You remember Matthew chapter
1 now. Turn over there. Matthew chapter 1. Here comes that Immanuel. Matthew chapter 1 verse 18. Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was on this why? Matthew 1.18. As his mother Mary was espoused
to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost. A virgin count shall conceive. How can that be? Here it is. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was minded
to put her away privately. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, Savior. For he shall save
his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it
might be fulfilled which is spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted
as God. Notwithstanding the rebellion
of Ahaz, and all that went on in Jerusalem in dismantling the
way of worship, God said, I'm going to send you a sign. I want
to send you the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is Immanuel, which is being interpreted God
with us. And we know the rest of the story,
don't we? In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son in your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. This is Galatians 4, 5, 6, and
7. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Now, Thanks be unto the Lord
for His unchanging gospel, His unchanging purpose. The unchanging
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the power of God unto
salvation, that cannot be frustrated, that cannot be changed, and that
will never be removed. You see, Christ is our altar. Christ is our priest. He's not
like Uriah. He's a priest of God like Melchizedek,
an everlasting priest. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. It says over there in Hebrews
13 that Christ is our altar. You see, He is the one that sets
that sacrifice apart unto God, that's successful, that accomplished
all of God's purpose.