1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:01,400 We'll teach in here. All 2 00:00:16,460 --> 00:00:18,140 right. Good morning, everybody. 3 00:00:19,020 --> 00:00:26,700 Go ahead and turn in your Bibles 2 places, Second Kings 18 and 4 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:35,840 then put a finger in Second Chronicles 29 and we are going 5 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:45,720 to kind of skip forward Last week we talked about King Good. 6 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:51,560 I'm glad I'm talking to myself. King you Uzziah good. 7 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,400 Thank you. Trey's paying attention. 8 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,160 Thank you. At least I got one guy 9 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,680 appreciate that. So King Uzziah and what happens 10 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,400 to King Uzziah at the end of his life? 11 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:07,800 He is struck with leprosy because he decided he was going 12 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,760 to be a priest instead of being a king and became very puffed up 13 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,680 and proud and thought that he, the king, was the king and he 14 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,720 could do everything whether he was appointed by God to do such. 15 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,760 But he found out the hard way that that wasn't the fact. 16 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:30,960 So we Fast forward to go through his son and the next son and we 17 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:37,880 get to King you Hezekiah and Hezekiah gets go ahead, you're 18 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,920 we're going to start in second Kings 18 verse one. 19 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,560 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshiya, son of Elah, 20 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:51,560 king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the king of a the son of a has 21 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,560 king of Judah began to reign 20 and five years old was he when 22 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,920 he began to reign and he reigned 20 and nine years in Jerusalem. 23 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:07,160 His mother's name was also name also was Abby and the the 24 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:12,440 daughter of Zechariah in verse 3 and he did that which was right 25 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,920 in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his 26 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:19,840 father did. And then it goes on and it lists 27 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,720 the things that he did about removing the high places and 28 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,520 breaking down the images all the way to, we know the bronze 29 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,480 serpent that Moses makes in the wilderness for the children to 30 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,280 when they're dealing with the, the fiery serpents. 31 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,920 And they, it had gotten to the point that they started to 32 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,200 actually worship that Brazen's brazen serpent. 33 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,160 And Hezekiah destroys it and says this, this is not what 34 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,160 we're here for. We're not here to worship an 35 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,440 idol, which is what you're making this out to be. 36 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,360 And he cleans out, he cleans house really. 37 00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:02,760 And, and we see Hezekiah in both Second Kings, Second Chronicles 38 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,080 and in Isaiah, and he has probably the most recorded about 39 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,440 his reign other than David and Solomon. 40 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:17,000 He is the next king in the quantity of how much the Bible 41 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:22,320 gives about his reign. And because of that, I think 42 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:27,880 there's a reason God wanted to show over and over like Uzziah. 43 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:38,480 We we read about Uzziah that he did and he did that which was 44 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,920 right in the sight of the Lord according to all his father and 45 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,160 Messiah did and he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had 46 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,480 understanding in the visions of God. 47 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,560 And as long as he sought the Lord God made him to prosper. 48 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:58,440 And Hezekiah knows this, watches his grandfather, great 49 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:05,280 grandfather Uzziah, reads about Uzziah, what he did early on in 50 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:10,320 his life, how he fails and falls into leprosy. 51 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,600 Then his father or his great, that would be his grandfather 52 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:21,279 Jotham takes over. And Jotham is not against what 53 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,760 God does. In fact it says in the Bible 54 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:31,080 that Joseph or Joseph verse 2 of 20 chapter 27. 55 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,760 And he did that which was right in the side of the Lord 56 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,480 according to all that his father Uzziah did. 57 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:42,360 Howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord and the 58 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:48,360 people did yet corruptly he he he didn't go against what God 59 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:50,960 wanted. He didn't shut the House of the 60 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,880 Lord. He didn't go sacrifice under 61 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:58,160 idols, but he watched and saw what happened to his dad and 62 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,120 said, I don't want anything to do with this. 63 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,640 That's fine with you. You can go ahead and have your 64 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:05,920 religion thing, but I'm I'm good. 65 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,240 I I don't want anything to do with what my dad had to deal 66 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,600 with. And and you kind of look at it 67 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,080 and kind of don't want to give him a pass, but you could 68 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:20,800 understand the wow, my dad doing well, doing, doing what God 69 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,680 wants. And and from a kids perspective 70 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,600 and a worldly perspective, you kind of look at Uzziah and go, 71 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,440 he was doing great. He was doing great. 72 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:36,440 And then God gave him leprosy. How is that a good thanks for 73 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,120 following me? And and you, you do one wrong 74 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,680 thing and now you're cursed for eternity and and you're you 75 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,920 basically die a horrible death. And now Jotham gets on the 76 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,280 throne and he kind of has that. I don't want anything to do with 77 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:55,320 this. I don't look at what God God did 78 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,920 to my dad. And so he takes a very cold 79 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,080 stance on on on following the Lord. 80 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,440 He he again, it says that he does everything that was right 81 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,440 in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father 82 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,280 Uzziah did, but he entered not into the temple of the Lord. 83 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,120 He he didn't want anything to do with it. 84 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:22,600 So you have Uzziah, who started out well, got puffed up and 85 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,800 thought he was going to be the priest as well as the king And 86 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,200 God said Nope, strikes him with leprosy. 87 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,800 Jotham comes on the scene and says fine keep doing your whole 88 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,480 God thing but I'm out of here I don't want anything to do with 89 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,560 it. Then his son A has comes on the 90 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:49,280 scene and you can imagine from a father that turns away from God 91 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:55,960 to a son that doesn't want anything to do with God to the 92 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:00,200 next son A has who jumps total ship. 93 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,880 Your look, you're there in Second Chronicles 29 turn back 94 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:10,560 to 28 verse one and a has was 20 years old when he began to reign 95 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,800 and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. 96 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,160 But he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord 97 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,280 like David his father, for he walked in the ways of the kings 98 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,760 of Israel and made also molten image images of Balaam. 99 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:31,280 Moreover, not just that he he worshipped and he he had images 100 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,840 made. Moreover, he burnt incense in 101 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,960 the valley of the son of hymnal and burnt his children in the 102 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,560 fire after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord has 103 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,200 cast out before the children of Israel. 104 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,280 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, on 105 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:54,000 the hills and under every green tree. 106 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,560 Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of 107 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,600 the king of Syria, and they smote him and carried away a 108 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,440 great multitude of them captives, and brought them to 109 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,560 Damascus. And he also was also delivered 110 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,280 into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a 111 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:17,600 great slaughter. A has jumps, I mean, headlong 112 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,280 into idol worship to the point that he's sacrificing his own 113 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,320 children in worshipping these gods. 114 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:30,160 And and you can kind of think, all right, well, we, we went 115 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,640 from Uzziah, who started out great ended horribly. 116 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,000 His son doesn't really want to see anything about God, but just 117 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,480 allows it to continue to we're we're we're not even talking 118 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:43,960 about God. We're jumping into the other pit 119 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:49,080 and, and now come Hezekiah and you can almost wonder that the 120 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,880 the children are in those that are living in Judah are going, 121 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,080 what are we going to get into next? 122 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,000 I mean, we were we were up on the mountaintop. 123 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:04,160 Uzziah had our Kingdom was set up so much that it was almost 124 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,440 like Solomon. It was that prosperous and we 125 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,320 were up on the mountain. And then he kind of takes a 126 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,520 downhill turn and then Jotham, his son comes and we we level 127 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,600 off on the little plateau. It's not as great as it used to 128 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,040 be, but we're we're not in captivity. 129 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,440 And then his son Ahaz and we just plummet to the bottoms of 130 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:31,480 the depths and we're sacrificing children to our God and the gods 131 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:36,360 of those heathens. And and and then his son comes 132 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:43,040 who, who has watched his dad do this now, you know, as as a 133 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,000 child or as a once he starts getting older, you're like, how 134 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,480 many brothers of mine and sisters of mine have you 135 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,440 sacrificed? Luckily I didn't get sacrificed 136 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:58,040 because obviously I'm here as a king, but you've watched all 137 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,000 that happen and you go, all right, what's next? 138 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,680 Are we going further into the depths? 139 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:11,320 Are we going into worst case? But Hezekiah, if you look there 140 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:17,240 verse two, and he did that which was right in the side of the 141 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:23,520 Lord according to all that who David his father had done. 142 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,280 Now Hezekiah is known. If you're still, if you still 143 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:34,320 have a finger in second Kings, look at verse 5, Second Kings 144 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:38,760 18, verse 5. He talking about Hezekiah 145 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:43,040 trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was 146 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:48,640 none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that 147 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,320 were before him. Now that's a high praise. 148 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:57,280 God says that Hezekiah was such a great king that there was 149 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,920 nobody better than him before or after him. 150 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:11,080 That's including David and Solomon and Hezekiah looks and 151 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,840 we're going to get into some of his characteristics, I guess is 152 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,560 a way what we'll talk about and he's probably going to turn into 153 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:25,800 two weeks, but that's all right. He follows after God so closely 154 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,160 because he's seen what has happened. 155 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:34,480 He's a, he's a 25 year old man who decides that I'm not just 156 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,760 going to follow after what my dad did. 157 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,400 I'm going to look back in history and I'm going to read 158 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,080 about those kings that came before me. 159 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,280 And just like every king that has ever taken the throne, I 160 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:53,920 don't think even Ahaz or Ahab or any of them said I would like 161 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:59,280 this country, this Kingdom to be captured and destroyed and 162 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,640 plummeted into wickedness. I want this Kingdom to be 163 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,280 desolate. Every king that is in the Bible 164 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,920 and every king that ever sits on the throne wants best, the best 165 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,680 for the Kingdom They because if the Kingdom does well, I get 166 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,840 more money, I get better puffed up and everything. 167 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:21,560 So the kings even Ahab and a has want what's best for the 168 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:26,640 Kingdom. But just like Uzziah, God only 169 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:31,520 blessed when they sought after him and we'll see in Hezekiah's 170 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:37,120 life the characteristics that he had to look at the history of 171 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,800 all the kings. Yes to to learn about them to 172 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:46,480 see who did they align themselves with who who because 173 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,760 think of I mean, you're a kid growing up in the palace, just 174 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,240 like Moses learned all the things that needed to happen. 175 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,840 So you when you become king, when you become Pharaoh, like 176 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:01,800 Moses was trained to be, he would know what to do. 177 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:08,240 Hezekiah was trained the same way of what here's here's the 178 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,680 book about David, here's a book about Solomon, here's a book 179 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:16,000 about all the kings before you so you can learn what to do when 180 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,960 your turn comes to be king. That was just the normal thing. 181 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:25,280 And and the sad thing is a lot of them that grew up decided, I 182 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:31,160 like some of this. And I know he kind of fell into 183 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,040 idol worship, but he was all right. 184 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,320 I mean, the Kingdom still survived. 185 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,360 And, and so they, they do what a lot of Christians do where 186 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,000 they'll stick 1 foot into religion and 1 foot into the 187 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,000 world. They're miserable. 188 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,440 They would never tell you they're miserable, but they're 189 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,200 just happy just getting right by. 190 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:56,120 I can say I'm good enough to be called a Christian, but don't 191 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,880 put me into that, that category of sold out and crazy and and 192 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,720 and Bible thumping and I ain't that crazy. 193 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,320 I I'd like to have a little bit of fun. 194 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:11,320 So a lot of the kings balance that and Jotham is a good 195 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,160 example of that. You go ahead, have your religion 196 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,400 that go, go ahead and worship God the way you want to do. 197 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:23,240 And, and I'll even do what I can to not go against that, but 198 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,000 you'll never find me in that temple. 199 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,600 You'll never find me at church. I'm just a good person. 200 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:34,120 I'm morally right. But Hezekiah looks at everything 201 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,200 and looks at back through the ages and goes, I don't want to 202 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,840 follow after what my dad did. I don't want to follow after 203 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,640 what my grandfather, what my great grandfather, what all the 204 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:50,600 generations before me of the kings that did somewhat right. 205 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,480 I'm going to look back and it's talks about that all that David, 206 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:59,840 his father had done. I'm going to go back to the man 207 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:06,880 who was the king who loved God, who loved God's word and try to 208 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:13,120 follow humans still, but try to follow as close that he could to 209 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,240 what God wanted that Kingdom to be. 210 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,560 And Hezekiah looks back and goes, that's what I want to 211 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,120 model after. When, when you look at your life 212 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:27,320 and you as a Christian, look at examples, we, we have all these 213 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,560 autobiographies and, and different people in, in our 214 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,840 bookstore about, you know, praying hide and, and you've got 215 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:40,680 a bunch of different men and, and ladies that have came 216 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,320 through the history and we can look at their lives and go, OK, 217 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,840 I'm going to model this. I'm going to model that, but the 218 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:53,760 problem is, is we, we always model it after someone down the 219 00:15:53,760 --> 00:16:00,360 line, someone that still isn't as as close as they can be when 220 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,200 we need to be following after what Christ did when, when you 221 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,960 look and try to model your life, you need to model it after 222 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,160 Christ, not not after praying hide. 223 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:17,160 He had a great a lot of good things to add into your life and 224 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,040 to follow after. But your bar needs to be set a 225 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,400 lot higher. It needs to be set higher. 226 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:31,480 Just like Isaiah, Hezekiah looked at, OK, he did well. 227 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,360 He did well, but he failed here. He did well, but he failed here. 228 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,320 He's going to look as far back as who was the closest to what 229 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,240 God wanted him to be, and that was David. 230 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,240 Now he didn't have Christ. He didn't have the New Testament 231 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:52,280 to model his life after Christ. He didn't have the the no 232 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:57,800 account of God ruling. He ruled through Moses and those 233 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,840 and he he looked after those. But there wasn't a God sitting 234 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,280 on a throne like we see in Revelations. 235 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:09,680 So the model that that Hezekiah had to look at the best and the 236 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,319 the the the closest to the word of God would have been David. 237 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,680 And he said, I want to have that as my Kingdom. 238 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:21,079 I want to have that as my life. I want to model after the best 239 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:27,319 possible, not the kind of good, not the horrible, but I'm not 240 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:29,200 fine with just being in the middle. 241 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,560 I want to find what who the best one was and follow after that. 242 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,040 And that's what we see him do through his life. 243 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:40,800 Let's pray and we'll get into this lesson. 244 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,240 Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for being in your house 245 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,000 this morning, for the rain and for the, the safety that you've 246 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,560 given us. I thank you for your word, God, 247 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:55,800 those that you've given us as examples and, and people to 248 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,520 model after and to model, not to do. 249 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,000 And God, I, I pray that you help us as we look at Hezekiah's 250 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:09,080 life, that you showed him through your word how to live. 251 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:13,320 And I've just pray that you help us to, to see the, the things to 252 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,640 gain and the things to shun as we look at these kings. 253 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,920 God, I just pray that most importantly that we look at your 254 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,920 life that you lived here on earth and we model our life 255 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:32,400 after yours and we get as close as we can to you and and get as 256 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,280 close as we can so that those around us can see you and not 257 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,440 us. God, I thank you for everything 258 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:40,840 that you do in Jesus name I pray Amen. 259 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,480 First thing I want to see is his stability. 260 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,320 We we've talked about a lot of kings about they started out 261 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:53,200 well and then they failed. They they were turned to and fro 262 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,200 from this wind of doctrine is what in the New Testament talks 263 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:02,240 about as in the later days. But Hezekiah was, was stable in 264 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:07,040 his his faith and stable in what he was going to do for this 265 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,800 Kingdom. And it was all dealt with, how 266 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:15,960 he looked at history, how we looked at those around him and 267 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,440 how he looked upwards. And the first thing as we see is 268 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,840 he looked backwards, like I said there. 269 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,440 And in Second Chronicles it says that he did that which was right 270 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,080 in the sight of the Lord according to all that David, his 271 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,920 father did. David was the, the like I said, 272 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,920 the best example of a king that would follow after God. 273 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,400 And that's the example that Hezekiah looked at. 274 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,880 He he could have looked at his great, great grandfather, 275 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,520 Uzziah, who who did well, started out great, and he could 276 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,280 have modeled his life after that. 277 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:54,720 But then there was the ending. I don't want that. 278 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,400 I don't want leprosy. All right, well, let's look at 279 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:07,120 we can look at a man who was not too bad. 280 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:13,040 We we can go, we can go further back to ASA or Jehoshaphat, or 281 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,400 we can look at, but those kind of had the same where they did 282 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,120 some good things, they did some bad things. 283 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:27,440 And, and he looks back at David because while, while his 284 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:32,120 father's before him didn't do horribly, he didn't want just to 285 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:36,880 meet the minimum standard. And that's what so many 286 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,840 Christians do is we meet the minimum standard. 287 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:44,680 What is the minimum I have to do to still be called a Christian? 288 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:50,200 What's the minimum I can get by with and not look so weird to 289 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:57,040 the world? And, and, and as a king, you got 290 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:01,320 to think that you're you're, you're the, you're the Kingdom 291 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,080 of Judah. Only Israel's up here. 292 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:11,280 And we'll look at this when we look later, but I don't want to 293 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,600 stick out to where people are like, that's a weird king. 294 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,040 That is it. Look at what he's doing. 295 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:24,320 I mean, we could look at his father Ahaz and go, you 296 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,480 sacrificed your sons, you sacrificed your children. 297 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,800 We look at that as weird, but it talks about that's what the 298 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,200 heathens around him were doing. So he was just trying to blend 299 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,240 in with everybody else. But Hezekiah wanted to be 300 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,400 different. He wanted Judah to be like 301 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,960 Israel was back When David was there, he looked back and he 302 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,360 looked to a man who loved God and loved God's word. 303 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,280 But he didn't just look back, he looked around them. 304 00:21:54,600 --> 00:22:00,160 Look at if you're still there, Second Kings 18 and look in 305 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:07,400 verse 10/9 and it came to pass in the fourth year of king 306 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:13,400 Hezekiah, which was the 7th year of Ho Hoisha, son of Elah, king 307 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:20,720 of Israel, that shall met shall I practice these shamanizer king 308 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,760 of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 309 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,320 And at the end of three years, they took it. 310 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,760 Even the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the 9th year of Hoisha, 311 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,400 king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 312 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,360 Now this is during Hezekiah's reign, very early in his reign. 313 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:46,480 But Hezekiah saw what happened to Israel and goes, I don't want 314 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,160 that. I'd rather stay in my place. 315 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,800 I don't want another country to come and destroy my my people, 316 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,280 my city, everything that I'm building. 317 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,480 And then he kind of looks and goes, Why did that happen? 318 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:08,760 Because all accounts, they were fortified. 319 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,720 Ahab had had fortified the cities. 320 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:18,200 Samaria was well protected. But what was it that destroyed 321 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,840 Samaria? It was their sin. 322 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:26,040 And Hezekiah saw what the sin of a nation did for them. 323 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:29,440 So he knew. He looked back and said, David, 324 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,240 that's the one I want to follow after. 325 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,240 That's the one that I want to try to become and and have the 326 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:40,960 same nation like looked at Israel and said, I, I don't want 327 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,880 that taken captive, my city destroyed, besieged the people 328 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,960 murdered and and taken into captivity. 329 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:57,120 I don't want that either. So follow after David, get rid 330 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:01,400 of the sin, and most importantly, as he looks upward, 331 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,280 Isaiah 11 talks about who Isaiah was. 332 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,320 And Isaiah was the prophet in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, 333 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,720 Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He was the prophet at that point 334 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,520 in time and and being Hezekiah being the end of that. 335 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,400 Isaiah's older Isaiah has a lot of wisdom, a lot of 336 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,080 understanding of going on of what has happened in the prat in 337 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,000 the past. And Hezekiah looks to him and 338 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,720 and tries to glean as much off of the man of God that he can to 339 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,120 get things right. And we see there in Second 340 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:42,920 Chronicles 29 verse three, what he does. 341 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:48,640 He talking about Hezekiah in the first year of his reign, in the 342 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,800 first month opened the doors of the House of the Lord and 343 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:58,040 repaired them. Now if you look back, Second 344 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:02,480 Kings opened the doors. Why? 345 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,640 Why are we talking about opening doors? 346 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:14,920 Well, the his father had shut them not not Second Kings. 347 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:21,600 I wrote it down. Second Chronicles 28 verse we 348 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,040 read talking about who A has what 2 through 4. 349 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:29,880 But look at verse 22 of Second Chronicles 2822. 350 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:35,160 And at the time of his distress, talking about A has, did he 351 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,360 trespass yet more against the Lord? 352 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:43,160 This is that King A has, for he sacrificed unto the gods of 353 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:47,320 Damascus, which smote him. And he said, Because the gods of 354 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,320 the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to 355 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:56,040 them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him 356 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:01,720 and of all Israel. 24 And A has gathered together the vessels of 357 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,440 the House of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the House 358 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,920 of God, and shut up the doors of the House of the Lord. 359 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,360 And he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 360 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:18,400 A has doesn't just go against what God says to do and goes and 361 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,560 it talks about he goes yet more against the Lord. 362 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,800 Ahaz closes the doors of the temple says nobody's going in 363 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,640 here not not just that I'm going to go follow after idols, but 364 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,600 nobody's worshiping God. We're we're destroying 365 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,040 everything. We're getting rid of this one 366 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:41,280 God and and getting rid of following the the God of Abraham 367 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,280 Isaac that led us out of Egypt and all the history of 368 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,160 everything. But he looks at those gods, 369 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,920 little G of those around him and said that's who we're going to 370 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,840 follow after and and shuts the the doors. 371 00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:01,480 And that's that's why it talks about in verse 3 of Hezekiah's 372 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,760 reign that he opens the doors of the House of the Lord and 373 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,560 repaired them. And he brought in the priests 374 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,480 and the Levites and gathered them together in the East St. 375 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:18,240 and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves 376 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,880 and sanctify the House of the Lord God your Father's and carry 377 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,640 forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 378 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:33,480 Now, now, remember the a has a shut the doors basically said no 379 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,240 more worship in here. What are the point? 380 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:42,840 What is the job of the Levites to take care of the House of God 381 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:49,800 to to that's where the priestly lying through Aaron basically 382 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:55,120 all you have no jobs anymore. Yeah, I'm I'm shutting down the 383 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:57,600 factory. So now you have no job. 384 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:02,560 And so these Levites were obviously had to do something 385 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,920 during a has light his reign. So they start working and doing 386 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,840 other things and and that is why Hezekiah says we're opening the 387 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,320 doors. But before you get going in 388 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,720 there, you got to sanctify yourself. 389 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,000 You've been in this world and and getting muddy and getting 390 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,800 dirty. You're not stepping foot in this 391 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,680 place that way. Sanctify yourselves and sanctify 392 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:36,240 this house. Hezekiah spirituality again 393 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:43,320 going from his father to him is like going from darkness to 394 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:49,160 turning on the lights. It was a total 180 in between 395 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:54,000 his father and him and And as we consider the life of Hezekiah 396 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,240 from the Bible of the record, it seems that the most important 397 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,440 place Hezekiah had was the House of God. 398 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,480 He cared about the House of God. Second Chronicles 29 three 399 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,240 specifically says that in the first year of his reign, the 400 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:17,000 first thing it does in the first month open the doors of the 401 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,760 House of the Lord and repaired them. 402 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:24,600 He made this his priority. When I take office, these are 403 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,920 the first things I'm going to do is what he would have, you know, 404 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,960 when trying to run for, I guess you don't run for kingship. 405 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,240 But you know, if they were running for it and he had his 406 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:39,360 slogan or, or the first things he was going to do, he would 407 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,000 have talked about the first thing I'm going to do is open 408 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,840 these doors and we're fixing this. 409 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,760 And he does that not just after everything's hunky Dory and 410 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,520 things are running smoothly. He does it in the first month as 411 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:57,360 he starts because he realizes where he needs to start with 412 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,040 this country. Where do I and how do I get this 413 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,920 country from the depths of depravity of murdering and 414 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,720 sacrificing children to being pleasing to the Lord. 415 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:17,480 It starts in the House of God and and he first takes care of 416 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,040 that. He wanted the place to be 417 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,880 accessible and he wanted to to be attractive, which is why he 418 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:28,400 repairs it. And he tells them to carry forth 419 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:32,040 the filthiness out of this whole out of the holy place. 420 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:39,800 In, in if you continue reading, he, it's almost like these 421 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,160 Levites had forgotten what they were supposed to do. 422 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,600 And and he knowing he's not a priest, so he's not trying to 423 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,520 step like his great grandfather did and step over and get 424 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:53,720 struck, but he tries to instruct them. 425 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,520 You've got to get yourself clean to the point that there the 426 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:03,720 amount of priests to be clean, to be able to do the sacrificing 427 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,480 weren't enough. So he tells the Levites because 428 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,600 they are already more sanctified than they then the priests were, 429 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:19,760 which kind of, I don't know that reading through this, that that 430 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,000 was one thing that stuck out the most to me. 431 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,400 The Levites. Now remember some, sometimes you 432 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,320 think the Levites, well, they were all priests. 433 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,800 No, only Aaron's lineage was the priests. 434 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:37,520 They were a part of the Levites. But only Aaron's line were 435 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:39,360 priests. The rest of the Levites were 436 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,520 those that helped in the sanctuary, help clean, help take 437 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,320 care of the grounds, help do the duties of taking care of the 438 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,560 temple. But they were not priests. 439 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:55,000 So you could almost think of pastors and you have the layman 440 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,920 and Hezekiah gets to the point where there's not enough pastors 441 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:04,480 or the pastors aren't sanctified enough, but the laymen were. 442 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:14,560 Look down at verse. I think it's actually in Second 443 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:21,570 Kings. I'm in Seneca. 444 00:32:25,810 --> 00:32:31,680 Yes, thank you. Verse 342934 But the priests 445 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:36,320 were too few, so they that they could not flay all the burnt 446 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,160 offerings. Wherefore their brother in the 447 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:43,600 Levites did help them till the work was ended, and until there 448 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,840 the other priests had sanctified themselves. 449 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:51,160 For the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify 450 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:57,640 themselves than the priests. If that doesn't explain where we 451 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:04,000 are in Christianity Today that that more of those that are 452 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:09,200 sitting in the pews in churches are more right with God than 453 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:15,200 those standing behind the pulpit to the point that that the king 454 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:19,840 says I need, I got to fill this. I've, I've got to have people 455 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,840 that are sanctified to be allowed to do this job. 456 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,520 Johnny, you're more qualified and closer to walking with God 457 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:33,320 than the person standing or the next pastor in line. 458 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:35,960 So you fill the spot until he gets clean. 459 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,200 How sad that was that the priests had not kept themselves 460 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,040 clean enough to be able to just go. 461 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,400 All right, time to go. Let's get working on this. 462 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,560 But it just shows that how quickly and how easy it is to 463 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,240 just fall out of doing what is right. 464 00:33:56,400 --> 00:34:00,680 We can get as Christians get so far away from God that we feel 465 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,960 comfortable. Yeah, I've got a lot of sin. 466 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:07,960 But you know, when I need to, I'll just get clean it up. 467 00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:12,560 I'll when I, when I need to pray, I'll, I'll clean up my 468 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:14,480 life. What does the Bible say about 469 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:16,440 those that have iniquity in their heart? 470 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:24,360 The Lord will not hear them. God wouldn't use priests that 471 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:31,040 weren't sanctified, and the the priests had to sanctify more 472 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:37,040 than the Levites had to because the Levites were closer to doing 473 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,159 what was right than the priests were. 474 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:47,639 That's scary in my opinion, that that those that were set apart 475 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:53,320 that were in the errands line of lineage of life of being priests 476 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:59,560 had dirtied themselves so much that it took so much longer for 477 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,480 them to get clean than just the normal Levites. 478 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,080 Make sure you're clean, Pastor says a lot of times when when 479 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,920 somebody comes and has a problem and they say pray for me. 480 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,200 Are you able to just drop on your knees and pray and talk to 481 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:20,640 God about what's going on, or do you have a whole host of stuff 482 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,560 that you've got to clean out before you can even talk to God? 483 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:29,360 I'm sorry, I'll get to your problem, but I've got a closet 484 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,240 full of sin that I need to get rid of. 485 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:42,320 Be like the Levites, whether you're a pastor in a position or 486 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:47,600 you're sitting in the Pew, make sure your count short because 487 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,240 there's there's times when God will call upon you to do 488 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:55,600 something. And if your account is short, 489 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,680 he's going to be able to use that vessel. 490 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,400 If you're a dirty vessel, it's hard to use until after you 491 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,400 clean it. Pastor talked about, you know 492 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:10,960 it, if you, if you get a speck on this vessel, a cup, it's 493 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,720 still dirty. But if it's a speck, I can clean 494 00:36:13,720 --> 00:36:16,480 that off quick versus a glass full of mud. 495 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,760 And that's, that's the difference between the Levites 496 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:22,920 and the priests here. And we're off on a tangent, but 497 00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:28,320 that's all right. Make sure your vessel is clean 498 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:33,160 enough to be able to be used. Don't have so much dirt in your 499 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,280 life that you've got to clean that up before you can ever be 500 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:41,760 used by God. The Levites knew their job new 501 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:47,720 we made the temple may be shut and we may not have a job, but 502 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:50,240 we're still going to follow after what we're supposed to do. 503 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:54,840 You may see the world running every which way except for the 504 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,560 foot of the cross. Doesn't mean that you get to 505 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:03,160 just put it in coast and coast through this life thinking, 506 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:04,800 well, I'm not as bad as that person. 507 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:10,440 God wants a clean vessel. Make sure we're clean. 508 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,840 So so yeah, we're going to go into next week. 509 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:17,560 So let's pray and we'll get into the next morning message. 510 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,800 Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for your word for for what 511 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:27,240 it shows us in history of what the lives that you used in the 512 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:32,080 lives that you couldn't use. God, I just pray that you help 513 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:37,640 us to to focus on being as close to you as we can and and to get 514 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:42,680 out the sin to get out all the iniquity that we we can have a 515 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:46,440 fellowship and to have a relationship with you and be 516 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,600 able to be used by you. God, I just pray that you help 517 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:54,000 us to clean our lives out that we are a fit vessels to be used 518 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,480 whenever you need us. I pray that you be with Pastor 519 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:01,320 Phil and with your spirit as we get ready for what you've given 520 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,320 him for us. I pray that we open our eyes and 521 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,160 our ears and our hearts to what Your Word has for each and 522 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,160 everyone of us today. In Jesus name I pray. 523 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:11,880 Amen. Dismissed.