Okay, 2 Chronicles 27, and I
also have read in the beginning 2 Kings 15, and just a few verses
there, 2 Kings 15, 32 through 38, but then we have an amplification
that's given to us here in 2 Chronicles 27. And that's where we'll spend
our time this evening. I'm entitling the message from
the words found in verse 6. 2 Chronicles 27 verse 6. So Jotham became mighty. Mighty. Now this is not just
talking about his physical strength, but rather he was mighty through
the Lord. The Lord, his strength. because
he prepared his ways before the Lord." So the title being, Jotham
prepared his ways before the Lord, or as I pointed out in
the reading, the marginal reference has it on the word there, prepared. Jotham established his ways before
the Lord. Or his way was established by
the Lord. His way was prepared by the Lord. Now this is the key to any sinner's
salvation. It is before the Lord. Before the Lord. It is not what we do before men
that may impress for a while, but it is heart, faith, before
the Lord, looking unto our Lord Jesus Christ. We know by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His
sight. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But the key, what is the key? The key to our salvation is what? The Lord Jesus Christ has done
for us before the Lord God Almighty. What has He done for us? He performed
all things for us. Psalm 52, 7. You see, it's His
obedience unto the Lord that is the basis of our righteousness
before God. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. He honored and exalted the law
of God for us as a surety of the covenant. His obedience is
unto the Lord his Father. He said, I always do those things
that please my Father. God said, this is my well-beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Think about this. As God is well
pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ, so too is He well pleased with
everyone in the Lord Jesus Christ. His obedience unto death was
unto the Lord. His sin offering is unto the
Lord, that is, the sin offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is the blood on the altar of the Lord that is unto the Lord
and before the Lord. Many times in the book of Leviticus,
when all those different offerings were given, it was before the
Lord. The blood on the altar before
the Lord. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for us. When He by Himself purged our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. You see, His sin offering His
sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not unto man. Not unto man. His sacrifice for sin for His
people is not up for acceptance or rejection. Not at all. His sacrifice is unto the Lord. He was satisfying God's offended
justice, satisfying God's holy law. You see, this is a Lamb
of God that takes away our sin. We are only accepted in the Beloved
before the Lord. Now, during the 16-year reign
of Jotham, there was he had a blessing given to him. There was a true
prophet of God in Israel. His father evidently Uzziah and
his father Uzziah and Isaiah must have been pretty well acquainted
because Isaiah said when the year that King Uzziah died That's
when I saw the holy character of God. During the 16-year reign
of Joseph, there was a true prophet of God in Israel. His name was
Isaiah. Now the rest of the Acts of Uzziah,
first and last, did Isaiah the prophet. Verse 22, the preceding
chapter, the son of Amos did write. Isaiah was a prophet of
God in Israel during not only the rain turned to Isaiah chapter
1 You probably remember this from our study in Isaiah Verse
1 Isaiah 1 1 division of Isaiah the son of Amos which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah and Jotham,
Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah. There's four kings there who
had a blessing of having a prophet of God among them. But Isaiah
wasn't the only one. There were also other prophets
as well in that day. Hosea, Hosea 1-1, and Micah,
Micah 1-1, also talks about being, they were a prophet in the days
of those same kings. Now, while Israel to the north
in Samaria had many kings during this 16 year period of the reign
of Jotham. And I counted, I counted back
in the book of Kings chapter 15, I counted seven different
kings. Some of them reigned only six
months. Some of them reigned just a year. There was much confusion
going on in the northern kingdom in Samaria with the kings of
Israel. And it says of all those kings,
they did evil and only evil in the sight of the Lord. And many
of them were carried away into captivity by the Syrian army. Judah, to the south, Judah was
blessed with a few kings that did honor the Lord. They did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord. And it's only by the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ that there was a difference between these
different men. We're gonna see next week that
the son of Jotham, Ahaz, he had a terrible, terrible,
terrible reign. Some were left to their own devices,
some were restrained by the power of God to honor God by believing
Him. Now the first thing I wanted
to consider in these 16 years of the reign of Jotham were the
circumstances surrounding his life. His reign and his life
was short, relatively short. 25 years old, he reigned 16 years
and he died. He was 41 years old. You think
the Lord would preserve his ministry and preserve his king, kingship
for many years as he did Uzziah for 52 years. His reign and his
life was short. Man's days are determined of
the Lord. Charles Spurgeon died when he
was just 58 years old. Augustus Toplady and many other
preachers of the gospel died very young, some in their 20s,
David Brainerd, some in their 30s. Toplady was one. I think of another dear friend
that we know that we seem like we would say, well, he died before
his ministry was over. No, he died because his ministry
was over. Brother Cody Gruber was just
57 years old. So I want to look at some of
the circumstances around Jotham's life first of all. Notice verse
2 in 2 Chronicles 27. He did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah
did, albeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord.
Now, when I first read that, I thought, well, he should have
went into the temple of the Lord. No, he shouldn't have. Not as
a priest, not like his father did. And yet the people did yet
corruptly. Jotham saw the terrible mistake
and sin his father committed when Uzziah tried to be his own
priest. Remember, he went into the place,
the holy place, took that censer from off the altar of incense,
and tried to be his own priest, to represent himself before God.
And he tried to approach God without a suitable priest. Jotham
was determined not to make the same tragic mistake. In other
words, he learned from his father's sin. Now that's a good thing.
That's a good thing. He watched his father die in
his sin as a leper. and Jotham had to reign in his
father's stead. When his father was incapacitated
because of his leprosy, Jotham reigned over the king affairs. He took that lesson to heart
and that lesson became a beacon to warn him about the dangers
of usurping the order and power of God. It caused him to walk
humbly before the Lord and to prepare his way before the Lord. I would guarantee you that when
he went to worship, he sought out the priest of God to intercede
for him before God. You see, salvation, and that's
all a picture of our salvation that's by the priestly work of
Christ. To come to God apart from Christ,
you can't do that. There's no other way but through
the Lord Jesus Christ. By His one offering, He sanctified
forever them that are set apart in Christ. It is a great benefit
to us when we see the tragic mistakes of others, the sins
of others, and to, by His grace, avoid the same mistake. The same mistake. How many times
have you seen someone make a terrible mistake and you say to yourself,
boy, I hope I never go that way. Lord, keep me by your grace from
doing the same thing. But also when we sin against
God, may we too learn from that and may the Lord give us teaching
grace to walk humbly and to honor him by faith. This is what we
call teaching grace. Take your Bible and find the
book of Titus, Titus chapter two. Titus chapter 2 verse 11,
for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men, or all sorts of men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, you see this grace is not only saving grace, it's
teaching grace. denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, that we should live soberly and righteously and godly in
this present world, looking for that blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous, zealous of good
things. zealous of good works, not for
salvation, not to be righteous, but to honor God by believing
Him and walking in obedience. The second circumstance of his
life, look back at the text again. The people all around him did
corruptly. You see what it says in the last
part of verse two? And the people did yet corruptly. We read in 2 Kings 5, 35. Howbeit
the high places were not removed, the people sacrificed and burned
incense still in the high places. Idolatry was all around him.
The enemies of all pagan nations surrounded him. The kingdom of
Israel to the north was utterly polluted, was idolatry, and did
all manner of evil. And their kings were in the same
situation. Yet Jotham, and this is by the
Lord distinguishing grace and by his mercy, Jotham prepared
his way and established his way in the Lord by believing God. By standing for the gospel of
God concerning Christ, he contended for the faith that was once delivered
unto the saints and would not compromise. Even though Israel
to the north was pagan, even though he was surrounded by many
that practiced open idolatry, yet he was not swayed. He prepared his way before the
Lord and did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Now,
I thought about this. Is not our day like the day of
Jotham? We have much religion. We're
surrounded by it, aren't we? How many churches do you think
you've passed when coming from Louisa to Pike County. I mean, you pass by building
after building after building. We're surrounded by false religion. We're surrounded by religion
for the most part that's pure idolatry. It's full of will worship,
free will worship, creature worship, but not worship of the true and
living God. May God give us much grace to
never compromise His Word, His truth to satisfy others. It reminded me, the Jotham situation
and our situation, it reminded me of Paul when he stood in Athens
on Mars Hill. Remember? And he looked around
and he said, I perceive these people are most superstitious,
they're most religious, and they have an altar to this God, that
God, and that God. And then Paul said, I pass by
one altar, and it said to the unknown God. And the apostle
Paul declared the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ unto them. He saw they had much religion,
but no salvation. Thirdly, the other circumstance
of Joseph's day was this, and this was a blessing. There were
some of God's prophets living in his day, preaching the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. What would it be like to sit
under the ministry of Isaiah? Isaiah who had the vision. What
did Isaiah write about? What did he preach about? The
Lord Jesus Christ. And that helped him, Jotham in
his day, prepare his way before the Lord. That established him
in the way of salvation. To him give all the prophets
witness. Jotham knew Isaiah and knew of
his ministry and no doubt he took advantage of that and sat
under his ministry and heard him preach the gospel. Now what
a blessed privilege God has given us and to his people to have
the Lord in his mercy to send us faithful gospel preachers. We're blessed. We're blessed
among all people of the earth. Faithful gospel preachers to
tell us the truth. To set forth the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Determined to preach Christ and
Him crucified. Salvation only by the Lord Jesus
Christ. And to do it from the word of
the Lord. Do it from the written Word of the Lord. And that prepares
our way, that establishes our way before the Lord. That is
generally how the Lord prepares His people, blesses His people,
feeds His people through the ministry of the Word. When Paul
left those elders at Ephesus, there in Acts chapter 20, you
remember what he said, I do not shun to declare unto you all
the counsel of God. And that's Christ. And then he
said, feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own
blood. Take heed to feed the church
of God. And that's what we try to do
each week. We take the word of God and declare the word of God. Never discount the means God
has ordained to bless his church. We just read a letter from this
young man over in Germany. How the Lord had sent the ministry
of the word of the Lord to this man's heart. And the Lord had
blessed him with the knowledge of the gospel. The Lord said,
I'll send out my word where I will, and it'll prosper where it will,
and it won't return to me void. If God is pleased to send us
a messenger with his message, Let us be ready to hear it and
hear that message and then be obedient to that message unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. By doing so, being obedient to
the word of the Lord, that is, believing the gospel, we will
be established just as Jotham was. We shall be prepared in
the way of the Lord. Salvation by His grace. Psalm
119 verse 9 says this, says this, wherewith shall a young man cleanse
his ways by taking heed thereunto the word of the Lord. That's how we find about who
God is, who we are, who the Lord Jesus Christ is, and how he saves
sinners. The second thing I want us to
consider Also learn from, we learn something of Joseph's character
as well, by which he was established before the Lord and how he prepared
his way before the Lord. Verse two, he did that which
was right in the sight of the Lord. Now, the only way that
is possible for a sinner to be right in the sight of the Lord
is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way that
we can do right and be right in the sight of the Lord is to
win Christ and be found in Him. That's why Paul says, I count
everything else done, lost, and ruined. To stand upon His grace
justified freely by His grace, to be cleansed by His blood,
the blood of Christ cleanses us from all our sin, and to have
a justifying righteousness before God, which is none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ alone. To be right in the sight of the
Lord. But what a blessing that is.
To be justified in the sight of the Lord by His grace. Jotham not only wanted to do
that which was right according to the word of the Lord, he wanted
to be right in the sight of the Lord. How is that possible? Only
in Christ. In Him was all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and we stand complete in Him. Jotham realized
that he lived openly in the sight of the Lord. The Lord looked
upon his heart. You see, nothing is hid from
the all-knowing, all-seeing eye of God. All things are naked
and open with whom but for the eyes of whom we have to do. Therefore, it is useless to play
the hypocrite before God, like the Pharisees did. Remember,
our Lord said, you are those who justify yourself before men,
but God knows your heart. God knows your heart. that which
is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight
of the Lord." You see, Jotham went about seeking the Lord's
will, seeking the Lord's favor, doing so knowing the Lord saw
every thought of his heart and every motive of his heart The
Lord so strongly condemned those self-righteous men, didn't he? Remember the words of the Lord
unto Samuel, when he went down to the house of Jesse to anoint
a king, and Samuel thought he found the right one, tall, dark,
and handsome, the oldest one of Jesse's son. And God said,
you're looking just on the outside. I'm not looking that way. I'm
looking on the heart. He looked at all seven of those
older brothers of David, and then he said to Jesse, is there
anything else, anyone else left? And he said, I've got just one
runt, David. He's a shepherd boy out there
in the field. Samuel said, go get him, fetch
him, we're not going to have dinner until he comes. And as
soon as David walked in, God spoke to Samuel's heart and said,
that's the Lord's anointing. David was a man after God's own
heart. One who sought the glory of God.
Something else about Joseph. Joseph was a believer, his character,
that was not easily moved away from his hope. Because the marginal
reading on verse 6 says that he was established. He was established
in a way. That is, his heart was prepared
and established in Christ the right way. Now, how was our heart
fixed? Let's turn to a couple of Psalms.
Psalm, the only Psalm. That would be Psalm 62, right? Psalm 62. You see, his heart was fixed,
his heart was established, his heart was prepared, because God
had given him a new heart. Psalm 62, verse 6, He only is
my rock, and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation, my glory,
the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust in
Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us." His heart was fixed. He could not
be moved. And then back a couple pages,
Psalm 57. Verse 7. Psalm 57, verse 7. My heart is fixed. Notice the
marginal reference there, it's prepared. God prepared His heart. Oh God, my heart is fixed. I
will sing and give Thee praise. Every believer has been given
a new heart, a new divine nature, and that's what God does in regeneration. He said, I'll take away that
stony heart and I'll give you a heart of flesh. I'll give you
a heart that loves Me and wants Me, a new heart, a new divine
nature. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. You see, there is no salvation
in us apart from that new birth, that new heart. And that's what
God gives in salvation. That's why we say regeneration
is a must. It's just not reformation. You
can reform reform and reform the flesh and do all religious,
this religious act and that religious act and this and that and everything
else. Unless God invades your soul
and gives you a new nature, a new heart, makes you a new creature
in Christ Jesus, all you are is religious without Christ,
which is not salvation, is it? except a man be born again, he
cannot see the Kingdom of God, he cannot enter into the Kingdom
of God. Our heart by nature is what?
The heart of stone, isn't it? The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked, Jeremiah said. Our heart's a
heart of stone, cold and dead in sin. The Lord must do a supernatural
work of grace in our heart or it will remain a heart of stone,
dead in sin. God must quicken us. God must
make us alive. Being confident of this very
thing, that God who has begun a good work in you, he'll finish
it. He'll finish it. Christ in you
is a hope of glory. Now, lastly is this. Not only
something of his circumstance, something of his character, but
lastly, The particular honor that the Lord God put upon him,
found in verse 6. Jotham became mighty. Now, this is not talking about
physical strength. This is talking about his spiritual
strength. And his spiritual strength was
the Lord his God. Jotham became mighty. being mighty
in the Lord. And that prepared his way before
the Lord in the sight of the Lord." Because salvation is of
the Lord. He was mighty and resolved. Look
at verse 3. 2 Chronicles 27 verse 3. He built the high gate, the house
of the Lord. Or he repaired the high gate
of the house of the Lord. And on the wall of Ophel, He
built. Moreover, verse 4, He built cities
in the mountains of Judah, and in the forest He built castles
and towers. Fortification. He built up the
gate to the house of the Lord. He built up the wall, and some
think that's referring to the porch of the temple. Believers,
like Jotham, are determined in their heart to honor the Lord
our God. As I love that story of Joshua,
where he said, for me and my house, we're going to serve the
Lord. You all can do what you want,
but for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. He was
mighty in his resolve to honor God, to believe God. Secondly,
he was mighty in faith against his enemies. Look at verse 5.
He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and he prevailed. He prevailed. Now why did he
prevail? God had given him the victory.
He prevailed against them and the children of Ammon gave him
the same year 100 talents of silver, 10,000 measures of wheat,
10,000 of barley. So much did the children of Ammon
pay unto him both the second and the third year. He had complete
victory over the enemies of the Lord because the Lord had made
him strong. Jothun believed the Lord was
going to give them the victory over the enemies. He believed
God, and he went out and fought for the glory of God, and the
Lord gave him the victory. Much like Abraham believed God,
it was counted to him for righteousness. You see, faith is the precious
gift of God. What a privilege it is. Jotham
believed God. What a precious gift we have
when God gives us faith to believe Him. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. It is only by faith that we can
enjoy the exceeding great and precious promises of God. It's
only by faith. that we enjoy the promises of
God by believing God. Abraham was strong in faith giving
glory unto God. It is only by faith that we enjoy
the complete victory Yet the Lord Jesus Christ has given us
victory over sin, the victory over death, the victory over
Satan, the victory over hell and the grave. It's only by faith
that we enjoy the complete victory the Lord has given unto us by
faith. Thanks be to God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus,
having spoiled all principalities and powers, He made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them Himself. Jotham became mighty, the Lord
strengthened him, because he was established in the way of
the Lord, prepared, his heart was prepared and fixed by God,
and it was all before the Lord his God. I want to live and die
like Joseph, don't you? May God give us grace. May God
enable us by his grace to have our ways established in the word,
in the gospel, to have our hearts prepared in Christ before God,
to have a new heart, to love him, to want him, and to rest
with assurance and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let
me tell you a key about assurance. Never seek assurance. Seek Christ. Believing Him, you have assurance. Confidence in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are the true Israel which
worship God in His Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus. We have no confidence
in the flesh, but we have confidence in Him, don't we? The Lord said, fear not, I'm
with thee, be not dismayed, I am thy God, I will strengthen thee,
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Those
established upon the rock of Christ will not be moved. If you wanna read this with me,
you can, if not, just listen, but find Isaiah 28. Here's why
we cannot be confounded, ashamed, or moved. because of this foundation
that God has laid, Isaiah 28, 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried
stone, precious cornerstone. He is a sure foundation. He that
believeth shall not make haste. You know what that means? Never
forced out. Never be confounded. Never be
ashamed, resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. So Jotham became
mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord. He not only did that which was
right, but he was right in Christ, being made righteous in the Lord
Jesus Christ.