1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:06,800 Tonight we are at Second Kings chapter 20, and this is the 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:11,560 final chapter not of Second Kings, but of Hezekiah story. 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,360 And it's been my prayer that Hezekiah has been a source of 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:18,640 great instruction and encouragement to you and your 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,160 walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And my prayer remains the same 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,920 as we come now to this chapter and look at what the Holy Spirit 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,000 has preserved for us in the final moments of his life. 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,920 Now, we won't be completing this chapter tonight. 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:37,760 It is a total of 20 verses or 21, and it's neatly divided 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,560 almost in half. And so we're going to be looking 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,560 at the first half of this chapter together. 12 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,200 And I believe it is beneficial for us to read it in its 13 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,360 entirety, the section that we'll be focusing on. 14 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,880 And so if you're there, begin with me at verse one. 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,000 I will be reading down to verse 11. 16 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,480 Let's just pray, Lord, we ask that you would help us now in 17 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:59,520 the reading of Your Word, the hearing of Your Word, the 18 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,840 interpretation of Your Word, and the application of Your Word. 19 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,560 We need your guidance Lord, and as we open up the service with, 20 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,360 we pray that this would reach our hearts, the innermost parts 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,720 of who we are, so that we can truly know the benefits, the 22 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,240 nutrients of the Scriptures, and that we can help others also 23 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:17,920 taste and see that the Lord is good. 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,520 We commit this time to you, Lord, trusting that you are with 25 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,080 us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 26 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,640 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of 27 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,400 death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son 28 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,120 of Amos, came to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord, set 29 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,080 your house in order, for you shall die, and you shall not 30 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,160 recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,080 the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, Now, O Lord, Please 32 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,280 remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and 33 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,760 with a whole heart, and I've done what is good in your sight. 34 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:59,520 And Hezekiah wept bitterly, and before Isaiah had gone out of 35 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,720 the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him. 36 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,480 Turn back and say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. 37 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,320 Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father. 38 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,360 I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. 39 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:19,720 Behold, I will heal you on the third day. 40 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:25,000 You shall go up to the House of the Lord, and I will add 15 41 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,240 years to your life. I will deliver you and the city 42 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,440 out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this 43 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,680 city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. 44 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,640 And Isaiah said, Bring a cake of figs, and let him take and lay 45 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,760 it on the boil, that he may recover. 46 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,240 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the 47 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,560 Lord will heal me? And then I shall go up to the 48 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,080 House of the Lord on the third day. 49 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:52,760 And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, 50 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,520 that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised. 51 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,240 Shall the shadow go forward 10 steps or go back 10 steps? 52 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,760 And Hezekiah answered, It is an easy thing for the shadow to 53 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,440 lengthen 10 steps. Rather let the shadow go back 10 54 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,120 steps. And Isaiah the prophet called to 55 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,240 the Lord, and he brought the shadow back 10 steps by which it 56 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,120 had gone down on the steps of Ahaz. 57 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:24,000 The first 3 words of verse one are essential to capture in 58 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,720 order to truly understand the depth of this remarkable 59 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:36,040 testimony in those days. This tells us that this took 60 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,760 place at a particular time, particular year. 61 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,000 Actually. Now, if we're not careful, 62 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,400 sometimes we can read our Bible. Though it is very much organized 63 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:50,200 chronologically, it is not strict to depict every event in 64 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,240 that order, and the temptation would be to interpret this as 65 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,880 something that took place after what we studied last week. 66 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,200 What did we study last week? The deliverance of the people of 67 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,480 Jerusalem and the humiliating defeat of Assyria. 68 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,720 But we know that this is not happening after that. 69 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:10,560 Why? Look back at verse 6. 70 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:12,960 Notice what the Lord repeats, what He promises. 71 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,279 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of 72 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,680 Assyria. I thought that already happened. 73 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,560 Well, clearly this is a vow that indicates that deliverance had 74 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,440 not yet taken place. So what do we have here? 75 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:32,040 We actually have Hezekiah experiencing this while Assyria 76 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:37,840 was still surrounding Jerusalem. Now, why is understanding this 77 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,480 timeline important? Because it reveals to us the 78 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,680 intensity of the trials that Hezekiah was enduring. 79 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,120 You see, he was not only trying to be the godly leader that the 80 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,400 Lord called them to be by righteously responding to the 81 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:59,800 vicious threats of a powerful enemy, he was also fighting a 82 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,840 disease that quickly turned deadly all at the same time. 83 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,880 This is meant to remind us that not only are trials inevitable 84 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:16,160 for the believer, but that at times there is a certain caliber 85 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,040 of tribulations that we can expect. 86 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,680 What am I speaking about? The kind where it feels like 87 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,360 everything is going wrong all at once. 88 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,160 That no matter what direction you look to, seems like 89 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,360 everything is falling apart. And if you and I ever find 90 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,840 ourselves in a tornado of turmoil, here's what you have to 91 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:41,240 do. This is paramount. 92 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:43,960 You can never for a moment believe that the Lord has 93 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,280 abandoned you there. Never. 94 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,560 Alternatively, you have to set this anchor in your soul that as 95 00:05:53,560 --> 00:06:00,240 overwhelming as it all may seem, the Lord sometimes permits the 96 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:07,200 piling of pain for a goal, a righteous reason beyond our 97 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,680 understanding, usually in the moment. 98 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,240 It's often something that we learned after the fact. 99 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,040 You know, Hezekiah, he's known as a righteous ruler. 100 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,440 He's known as a man of prayer, but I think people often forget 101 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,200 that he was also a musician. Hezekiah played instruments. 102 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:25,360 I'm going to prove that to you in a moment. 103 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,800 And there is actually what many believe to be a song that 104 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,720 Hezekiah wrote or a poem found in Isaiah's writings in chapter 105 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,800 38. It's a song or a poem, a writing 106 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:42,520 if you will, that he pens after he receives this miracle, after 107 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,920 he is healed. And there is a part there that I 108 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,080 want to bring to your attention for this first point. 109 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:52,160 It's an Isaiah 38 and verse 17. Notice what he says in this 110 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:57,440 journal entry. And Isaiah 38, verse 17, 111 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,840 Hezekiah says, behold, in other words, pay attention to this. 112 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:04,960 You hear us. Behold, the ESB renders it. 113 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,800 It was for my welfare. The word welfare there is 114 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,080 Shalom. You can say it was for my peace, 115 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:16,040 it was for my well-being. It was for my welfare that I had 116 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,160 great bitterness. So as he's reflecting in 117 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:25,160 hindsight, he's saying it was good that I was sick while I was 118 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,240 trying to lead a nation, protecting these people from 119 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,640 being swallowed by an enemy. It was from my welfare that I 120 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:35,280 had. Not just bitterness, great 121 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,040 bitterness, but in love You have delivered my life from the pit 122 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,280 of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your 123 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,800 back. Do you see Hezekiah, as one who 124 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,600 belonged to the Lord, understood that even after great 125 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:54,560 bitterness, he can look back and trust that there was some good 126 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,080 that came from it? Now Speaking of Isaiah, I want 127 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,960 us to now come back to verse 1 of chapter 27, Kings, and place 128 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:03,760 ourselves in his shoes at this moment. 129 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:10,480 The last time that Isaiah spoke in this story was in the 130 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,360 previous chapter, bringing Hezekiah good news. 131 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,800 Good news, the divinely inspired assurance that his enemies would 132 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,800 be defeated. And now he comes with a 133 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,200 different message, and it doesn't seem so good. 134 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,080 It's not an announcement of life, but one of death. 135 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:37,159 It's very brief, but it's very profound. 136 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:42,240 I want you to think about how difficult it would be to tell 137 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:47,200 someone that the rest of their world will go on living, but you 138 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,600 won't. Telling a leader your Kingdom 139 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,880 will survive, but you will not. That's not an easy message to 140 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:59,760 deliver. And what Isaiah exemplifies is 141 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,000 that you and I have to at times speak. 142 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,280 Not just at times, but all the time, no matter how difficult or 143 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,400 uncomfortable make us or others feel what God says. 144 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,520 It moves me that it moves me that Isaiah was the same person 145 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,560 who partnered with Hezekiah to cry out to the Lord that he 146 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:22,000 would send help from heaven, and yet he was also the same man who 147 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,400 gave a difficult word from the Lord to this man. 148 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:28,880 It really proves that he was faithful to God above all. 149 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:34,320 So we also should emulate that. That when we have to warm, we 150 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:35,480 warm. When we have to rebuke, we 151 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:40,160 rebuke When we encourage. Yes, encourage, but take all of 152 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,680 God's word. Don't leave anything out for 153 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:44,560 those who need to hear what they need to hear. 154 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,720 Hezekiah needed to hear this word from the Lord, and there 155 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,640 are times where, yes, we again, we have to help others with 156 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:53,480 God's Word. And there are other moments 157 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,920 where we, yes, help them, but in a way that may seem painful or 158 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:59,120 uncomfortable. Hezekiah, you're going to die. 159 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,320 You're going to die. So here's my instruction to you. 160 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,120 Set your house in order. Set your house in order. 161 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Again, it's a brief message, but so profound. 162 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,000 What does that mean to set your house in order? 163 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:18,360 It's practical, essentially means get your material affairs 164 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,640 in line before your departure from this earth. 165 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,560 Isn't that something? Who's saying this? 166 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:26,120 This is coming from Isaiah's head. 167 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:28,160 No? Thus says the Lord, this is God 168 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,040 saying this. This is God telling one of his 169 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:37,960 servants, I need you to organize your temporal possessions before 170 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,080 you die. And there are many people, 171 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:46,040 including Christians, who refuse even talk about death, 172 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,560 especially their own, because they're fearful. 173 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,040 Yeah, I see something about how God thinks that he actually this 174 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,760 is just want us to think about death, talk about death. 175 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:01,560 He wants us to plan around it, not just spiritually, even here, 176 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:07,840 as we see with our worldly belongings, because such people 177 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,880 who are fearful to even bring it up, mention it, discuss it with 178 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,280 their spouse or their children, end up believing their loved 179 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,400 ones with needless difficulty with the challenges that come 180 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,400 with what happens when a person passes on. 181 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,920 Set your house in order, think about your death, and you don't 182 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:33,280 have to be sick for you to contemplate on that reality. 183 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:37,960 But I like to think that Hezekiah only had to arrange his 184 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,680 material affairs because his heart was already right with 185 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:43,960 God. Is that possible? 186 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:45,520 Absolutely. He was a righteous man. 187 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,240 And there are many, including unbelievers, who have set their 188 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,320 house in order. They have planned accordingly. 189 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:54,320 At the same time, their hearts are not in order. 190 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,920 You see, Hezekiah had the grace. He received a gift from God to 191 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:05,440 be told when he would die. You're you're going to die very 192 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,560 soon. He received Intel. 193 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:11,280 He received that kind of heads up. 194 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,200 Not everybody, most people don't have that advantage. 195 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:20,280 And we can't afford to delay our heart preparation in the same 196 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,240 way we might postpone how we organize our estates. 197 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,200 The former is far more important than the latter. 198 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,000 And so the primary ambition for anybody is that your heart is 199 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,480 first right with God through Jesus Christ, that you are 200 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:35,320 saved. You put your trust in Him. 201 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:39,000 But for those who are even saved, this still applies. 202 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,000 We should be even more motivated not knowing when we're going to 203 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,480 die. At any moment we can suddenly be 204 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,920 called home. Here's a righteous man who is 205 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:51,720 sick. Do you know how old Hezekiah is 206 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,160 at this point? If you do the math in those days 207 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,240 right, the first 3 words. We know that this is taking 208 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,280 place while it's serious surrounding Jerusalem. 209 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,520 That happened at the 14th year of his reign. 210 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,920 Does anyone remember when Hezekiah started to reign his 211 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:09,720 king? How old was he, 25? 212 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,440 Let's do some basic math. 25 + 1439. 213 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:20,080 He's 39 years old and he's ready to die, you can say, in the 214 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,120 prime of his life. A righteous man. 215 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:29,480 So with this in view, we should have the joyous ambition of 216 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,200 remaining in a constant state of faithfulness because at any 217 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,880 point the Lord can call us to graduate in the glory. 218 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,080 Set your house in order. Some of us need to do that, and 219 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:44,960 others need to get their heart in order. 220 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:51,280 Even if you're saved, I hope that you have the ambition to 221 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,360 meet the Lord while being faithful. 222 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,200 However, Hezekiah was not ready to accept this update about his 223 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:01,720 fate. Look at verse 2 again. 224 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,840 And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and pray to the Lord, 225 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,880 saying, Now Lord, Please remember how I've walked before 226 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,160 you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and I've done what 227 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,120 is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 228 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,600 What does Hezekiah do when he receives this bad news? 229 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,080 What we see him do before, whenever you receive bad news, 230 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,440 he turns to God in prayer. But this time it's a little 231 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,440 different because we've observed Hezekiah not just turning to God 232 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:31,840 in prayer, but he would make his way to the House of God. 233 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,960 He would come as close as possible to the glory of God, to 234 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,800 the throne of God. And he would lay his pain at the 235 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,320 foot stool. But this time he's limited. 236 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,480 His body will not permit him. He is ill. 237 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:52,080 So he does what he can to access the most privacy he can achieve. 238 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,800 He turns his back towards his attendance and he faces the wall 239 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:01,280 and he opens his mouth and with his sickly frame he speaks to 240 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,840 his God. This is a thrilling thought to 241 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,600 me. I hope it is to you that we are 242 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:14,320 able to access the listening ear of God in our beds just as much 243 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:18,160 as in the courts of God's house. Isn't that a wonderful thing? 244 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,960 Isn't it beautiful that the Lord is not so strict about your 245 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,520 bodily posture and where you're physically located? 246 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,600 That even as you have blankets piling on you and medicine all 247 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,840 around you, you're not able to get up from that bed? 248 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,520 You can cry out to Him and He will listen to you. 249 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:41,320 And this is what makes prayer without ceasing possible. 250 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:45,880 There is not one place on earth with a weak or lost signal to 251 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:46,920 God. Not one. 252 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,320 And it's in this very account that we also see how swiftly our 253 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,280 prayers reach the throne of the Holy One. 254 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,360 Look at verse 4 again to get a hint of it. 255 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,320 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of 256 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,040 the Lord came to him. What does this mean? 257 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:09,480 That the Lord heard and answered Hezekiah before Isaiah was able 258 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:15,840 to leave the palace? This is incredible that he 259 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:21,480 whispers a prayer. He weeps his prayer, at least 260 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,840 most of it, and the Lord hears him and answers him. 261 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,880 Now listen. The speed of this answer may be 262 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,120 unusual, but the reception of it is not. 263 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:38,360 I want you to think about this. The very moment you and I direct 264 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,840 our hearts to the Lord and intentionally commune with Him, 265 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,720 He hears us the very moment you do. 266 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,960 Some believers have this strange illusion that they first have to 267 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,800 package their prayers perfectly with just the right words and 268 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:01,240 they have to stamp it with in the name of Jesus and send it 269 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:06,720 off with a resounding Amen and hope that it will reach the 270 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,079 Lord. And I'm here to tell you that 271 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,599 God doesn't hear your prayer when you say Amen. 272 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,599 He hears it before you even finish saying, Father, do you 273 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:22,480 believe that about prayer? Perhaps you're reluctant. 274 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:23,880 So let me give you a couple other examples. 275 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,119 This is what came to mind when I was reflecting on this today. 276 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,080 Go to the book of Daniel. Look at 2 examples in Daniel 277 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:34,440 Chapter 9 verse 23 and in Daniel chapter 10 verse verse 12 rather 278 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:44,960 but look at 923 Daniel 9/23. This man was also a man of 279 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:50,000 prayer. Look at the wording of Daniel 280 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,840 9/23. At least the beginning. 281 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,760 He is told. At the beginning of your pleas 282 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,760 for mercy, a word went out, and I've come to tell it to you, for 283 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,880 you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and 284 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,040 understand the vision. Don't read it too quickly. 285 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,640 But what does he say at the beginning, At the beginning of 286 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,160 your plea for mercy? So Daniel, on many occasions he 287 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,480 would fast and pray for weeks. And here we're told that when he 288 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,400 started he was heard. That should bring comfort to 289 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:21,320 you. Doesn't mean that you're going 290 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,800 to get an answer the moment you pray, just means that God hears 291 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,680 you. He's taken into account, He's 292 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,960 listening. Look at Daniel 10 verse 12. 293 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,440 We weren't persuaded there. Hopefully we're convinced after 294 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,920 this Daniel 10 verse 12. Then he said to me, fear not 295 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:42,600 Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to 296 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:47,560 understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have 297 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,960 been heard and I have come because of your words from the 298 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,560 first day. Not amazing. 299 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,600 Again, there are some Christians who believe that they have to 300 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,280 really convince God or try to get His attention. 301 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,120 And the more you fast, the stronger your chances are. 302 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,640 The louder you pray, the longer you pray, the better opportunity 303 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,520 you will have. That's not the case. 304 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:16,840 The very moment you utter your words to Him, you have His full 305 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,480 attention. That alone should bring 306 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,280 reprieve. That alone should bring us much 307 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,040 rest and our pursuit of the Lord. 308 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,560 In prayer, Hezekiah turns his face to the wall. 309 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,120 He speaks to the Lord, and before Isaiah can get to the 310 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:33,440 parking lot, God has an answer for him and tells him, turn 311 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,080 back. I've heard this man's request 312 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,000 and I'm going to give it to him. Let's come back to verse 3. 313 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,520 Let's consider what Hezekiah prayed. 314 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,080 Now, O Lord, Please remember how I've walked before you in 315 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,800 faithfulness and with a whole heart, and I've done what is 316 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,400 good in your sight. I have two questions with this 317 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,720 one verse. Maybe they're the same questions 318 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,200 you have. Number one, is Hezekiah 319 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,160 displaying self righteousness in his supplication? 320 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,720 You might be tempted to believe so I don't think he's doing that 321 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,800 at all. Have you and I seen similar 322 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,680 confessions and some of the petitions we find in the Psalms 323 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:20,920 where there's this appeal to 1's devotion and consistency as one 324 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,400 is preparing to make a request? Yes, we've seen that. 325 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,760 And that's what we find here. Hezekiah understood, especially 326 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,880 under the Old Covenant, that the law promised, and even in the 327 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,440 new Covenant, the law promises us rewards for obedience. 328 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,240 And it's as though here he is appealing to his consistent 329 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,000 devotion as a way of showing that if healed and granted more 330 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,960 years, he will remain loyal as he has been. 331 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,760 Lord, you can guarantee that I will continue to live for you 332 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,320 and serve you. Look at my record. 333 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,560 Look at how I've been walking with you up to this moment. 334 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,880 This is not just a last minute turn around. 335 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,760 I'm here to say, not that God needs remembrance, but it's just 336 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,960 a way of expressing stuff. Or look at my life and see that 337 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,640 I'm making this request because I want to remain here and 338 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:15,880 continue in that faithfulness. Second question, why did 339 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,880 Hezekiah weep bitterly? Any ideas? 340 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,280 Actually want to open it up for possible answers. 341 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,400 Any ideas why this man wept bitterly? 342 00:21:32,980 --> 00:21:40,540 Yes, I think that has to do with it that Hezekiah was concerned 343 00:21:40,540 --> 00:21:43,060 about the state of the nation. I think there are many possible 344 00:21:43,060 --> 00:21:44,660 answers. There's many reasons why we can 345 00:21:44,660 --> 00:21:46,420 weep. In fact, sometimes we weep 346 00:21:46,420 --> 00:21:48,300 because we're so overwhelmed by so many thoughts. 347 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,480 One way of answering this is that this is perhaps just a 348 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,080 natural response to the human instinct of self preservation. 349 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,400 Life is precious. Life is a gift. 350 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,560 And remember, he's 39 years old at this time. 351 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,960 There's so much that he can still give an experience, 352 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:05,800 especially in his service to the Lord. 353 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,480 And so perhaps he's just expressing himself because he 354 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,920 wants to do more and he he's requiring obviously the 355 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,240 intervention from God to, to do that. 356 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,120 But I think there's another idea going on here. 357 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,920 It's difficult not to compare Hezekiah's reaction to what we 358 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:26,760 see in the New Testament, especially with the apostle 359 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,880 Paul, who taught Christians how we should face death. 360 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,800 Right. To to live is what Christ and to 361 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:38,480 die is what game. And in that same context, to 362 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,680 depart and be with Christ is what? 363 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:46,320 Far better, Far better when you come here and you see this man 364 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,960 weeping bitterly and you wonder what's going on here. 365 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,480 And, and I think that is precisely the point. 366 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:58,320 Hezekiah's understanding of the afterlife lacks the clarity that 367 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:02,640 the apostle Paul, indeed that every Christian possesses. 368 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,800 You know, you have many Christians innocently wondering 369 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,320 what advantages do we have in the new covenant in comparison 370 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,240 with the old covenant? And some Christians even believe 371 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,000 that it would be more beneficial to actually be under the old 372 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,040 covenant with all that they experience and all that we read 373 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,960 in the Old Testament. Well, here's one that you can 374 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,680 add to the list that what we have in the new covenant is a 375 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,760 revelation of the bliss of the world to come for the righteous, 376 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,480 something that is not widely known for those in the Old 377 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,840 Testament. Yes, there, there has been 378 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,280 moments, hints given by the Spirit to prophets in their 379 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:45,200 writings as we see that they understood just a murky view of 380 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:50,040 of what's going to happen. But the expansive hope that the 381 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,880 New Testament describes and that you and I have access to was not 382 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,760 given to those who lived under the Mosaic promise. 383 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,720 Do you understand that? Does that make sense? 384 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:07,040 We've been given more light and so profound is this like that we 385 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:12,880 can even interpret impending death differently, differently 386 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,720 than Hezekiah who's seen 185,000 of his enemies slain in one 387 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,240 night. Differently than men like Samson 388 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:28,560 and other heroes of the faith. Maybe you're not persuaded. 389 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,320 OK, let's go to the New Testament. 390 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,120 I want you to see this and Paul's writing in Second Timothy 391 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,040 110. This is one of those verses that 392 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,160 you want to underline if you're trying to understand what 393 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,480 glories outshine that of the old covenant. 394 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,800 Well, here's one of them and listen to how Paul describes it 395 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,480 in second Timothy chapter one. Look at verse 10. 396 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,200 And which now has been manifested through the appearing 397 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:04,480 of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life 398 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:10,320 and immortality to what? What's that word to light? 399 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:15,120 How, how We've been given greater light with something 400 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:21,960 such as immortality through the gospel and the gospel as a means 401 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:23,360 of inaugurating the new covenant. 402 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,640 Through the establishment of the new covenant in the gospel, you 403 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:32,720 and I have been given greater light with, yes, even death and 404 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,880 immortality. Here's one of the rewards of 405 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:41,600 being in this covenant. We can view and understand death 406 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,160 much differently than even the greatest Saints of the Old 407 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,760 Testament. So I believe to some degree 408 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,880 Hezekiah here is struggling with the unknown. 409 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,760 There's a greater fear here, a fear that the average Christian 410 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,160 should never experience. Let's come back to Second Kings 411 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:06,880 20 in verse 4. We read it. 412 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,560 Isaiah, before he even leaves the palace, receives a word from 413 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,680 the Lord, and verse 5 is what I want to focus on. 414 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,160 Turn back, the Lord says, and say to Hezekiah, the leader of 415 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,480 my people. Thus says the Lord, the God of 416 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,800 David, your father. I've heard your prayer, I've 417 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,000 seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. 418 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,520 On the third day you shall go up to the House of the Lord. 419 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,880 Don't read too quickly. How does the Lord identify 420 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,480 Hezekiah? What does he call him? 421 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,640 The leader of my people. Why is that important? 422 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:45,680 The Lord could have said many things. 423 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:47,760 You could have said my servant. You could have said the king, 424 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:53,040 the leader of my people. Here's what I believe. 425 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,360 It has to do with the Lord's willingness to extend Hezekiah's 426 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:01,520 life for the sake of God's people, that this answer of 427 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,320 giving Hezekiah health is not just for Hezekiah. 428 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:07,680 It's for the citizens of Jerusalem. 429 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,080 It's for the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah. 430 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,480 It's for the sake of the shepherding of the people of 431 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,800 God. And here's what we learned. 432 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:24,120 For this, God takes into account every level of suffering and all 433 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:26,680 the parties that are involved in a painful situation. 434 00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:30,680 Isn't that wonderful? Realize that he's not just 435 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,200 thinking about Hezekiah. Yes, he sees Hezekiah, his 436 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,320 tears, and he hears his prayer, but he's also considering what 437 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:42,040 might happen if Hezekiah, this righteous king, dies at the ripe 438 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,320 age of 39. The leader of not his people, 439 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,280 the leader of my people, says the Lord. 440 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:55,080 And what we take from that is God is very much mindful of all 441 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,240 levels of suffering. Yes, he is concerned about 442 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,720 bruised bodies, and he's even concerned about healing our 443 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,640 emotional wounds. We see this in the New Testament 444 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,800 again with Paul. Paul had a friend and a ministry 445 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,120 partner. Pafforditis. 446 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:14,560 What a name. More importantly, what a man. 447 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,800 Pafforditis was ill, even to the point of death, but he was 448 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,400 spared. And do you remember what Paul 449 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,680 said to the Philippians? You don't. 450 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:26,880 It's OK if you didn't. That's the beauty of Bible 451 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,440 study. Philippians 2. 452 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,240 Listen to his words in verse 27 of Philippians 2. 453 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:37,560 Indeed, he was ill near to death, but God had mercy on him. 454 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:39,240 He could have stopped there, but he didn't. 455 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:43,680 He goes on to say, And not only on him, but on me also. 456 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,000 Why were you sick, Paul? No, lest I should have sorrow 457 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,000 upon sorrow. God was not only gracious to my 458 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,640 friend, he was also gracious to me because he understood that if 459 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,360 I lost my friend at this point, I'd be very sorrowful. 460 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:04,800 It's one of those paradoxes, right? 461 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,080 Many of the paradoxes in the Christian life appear in Bible 462 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,400 study. The same man who said in this 463 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:13,040 letter to Dias Gain also said, I just, but I don't want to lose 464 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,280 Epaphroditus this early. The humanity right there, 465 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,960 there's still this transparency, but the pain of death, even 466 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:22,240 though there's so much promise with it. 467 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:29,080 The Lord is not limited to treating physical pain, but he 468 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,600 looks even at your emotional state and he is equally 469 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,200 concerned. He healed Epaphroditus, but he 470 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,520 also saw the sorrow that would have come upon Paul. 471 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,040 And he does something to bring a remedy to both of them. 472 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,480 And this leads us perfectly to what we see in the next thought. 473 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:55,440 And Hezekiah, he says, I've heard your prayer, I have seen 474 00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,280 your tears. This is God saying this. 475 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:06,080 Imagine managing the universe. You know, we have many busy 476 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,760 people here in the West. Many of us are busy here too. 477 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,640 We miss a lot of things when we're busy. 478 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,640 We overlook many things, even sometimes important things. 479 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:21,600 The Lord of glory takes into account the tears of His people. 480 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,440 Now you and I have learned in the New Testament through Jesus 481 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:30,120 teaching that the Father is so attentive to us that He even 482 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,280 counts the number of our hairs. But that's not the only thing 483 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,600 that He counts. In Psalm 56, verse 8, we learn 484 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:41,520 that the Lord keeps count of depending on the translation you 485 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,200 have. The ESV says keeps count of my 486 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:49,000 tossings and other translations are wanderings. 487 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:56,480 He actually records where you go and why you're going, where 488 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,960 you're going and how much you go back and forth in bed. 489 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,360 All your movements are considered by the Lord. 490 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:04,720 And the Psalm doesn't end there though. 491 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:07,600 You have kept count of my tossings. 492 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,760 Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? 493 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:22,160 So he actually counts the amount of tears that stain your face 494 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,200 and create streaks on your cheeks. 495 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:32,840 Who does that? This is profound because it's a 496 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,080 way of conveying that the Lord is deeply considerate and 497 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,920 compassionate toward us. You know, if he just said I 498 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,440 heard your prayers, that would be enough. 499 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,800 But there'd be the danger of interpreting that, as, you know, 500 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,800 putting an application together, like at a governmental office, 501 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,960 and submitting it with the hope that the person behind that that 502 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,800 desk is merciful enough to consider your case. 503 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,240 That's not how God deals with our request. 504 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:06,520 He is up close and personal, close enough to see the liquid 505 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:11,880 streaming down your eyes, and it's impossible to believe that 506 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:16,040 He is dismissive to our sorrow. With verses like this, how can 507 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,320 you even be tempted to believe that thought? 508 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:22,960 And if this wasn't deep enough, the Lord's awareness of 509 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,240 Hezekiah's tears reveals something even more glorious. 510 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,800 Because you see, tears often express what words can't. 511 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,680 Was Hezekiah's prayer detailed? Was it elaborate? 512 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,200 Was it profound? Not really. 513 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,040 All he asked was to be remembered. 514 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,960 Remember, He doesn't make specific appeals even. 515 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:50,000 He just says remember. And here's what I believe that 516 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:54,040 Hezekiah's tears said a lot more than what his words could say, 517 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,040 and God interpreted it perfectly. 518 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,440 God knew everything that was in Hezekiah's heart and he took it 519 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:07,080 into consideration. And here's how I know that. 520 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,880 Look at verse 5. At the end of it, the Lord says, 521 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,600 behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up 522 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,080 to the House of the Lord. We kind of are blinded to the 523 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,240 second part of that promise. We just see, behold, I will heal 524 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:23,440 you. That's not all that the Lord 525 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,640 said. There are things in Hezekiah's 526 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:28,760 heart that he could not put into words. 527 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,640 He had no language for them. He can only cry them. 528 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,280 Here's what I believe. The Lord knew how much the House 529 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:40,120 of God meant to Hezekiah, or else why else would he promised 530 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:41,800 him? On the third day you're going to 531 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,400 be able to go to the courts of my earthly dwelling place. 532 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,160 Why would he mention that? Because he wanted that. 533 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,400 We've seen it in the previous chapters how he would frequently 534 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,360 make his way to the House of the Lord. 535 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,120 And I believe one of the pains, one of the laments of Hezekiah 536 00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:59,160 is that I won't be able to do that anymore. 537 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:04,000 I won't be able to to enjoy these ordinances and be with 538 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,520 other worshippers and experience the glory of God. 539 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:09,719 You might be saying, yeah, but if he dies, he can experience 540 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:11,159 the fullness of it. But remember, he doesn't have 541 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:16,360 the fullness of that revelation. So here he is longing for the 542 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,040 House of God, and the Lord promises him this. 543 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,159 You are going to go back to the House of God. 544 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,480 And that longing is confirmed in his poem in Isaiah 38. 545 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,960 We'll look at it in a moment, but let's see something else. 546 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,800 This is again evidence to show that there were things in 547 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,840 Hezekiah's art that can only be expressed in tears and and the 548 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:37,960 Lord knew exactly what he was weeping about. 549 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,040 Look at verse 6, we looked at it earlier, He promises them I will 550 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,719 deliver you and the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. 551 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,480 Now Hezekiah was already promises in chapter 19, so I 552 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:55,719 mentioned it again was brother David already answered, I 553 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,280 believe it's because the king desperately wanted to witness 554 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,680 the deliverance of God's people with his own eyes. 555 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,000 So the Lord tells him you're going to see it, you're going to 556 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,400 behold it. You're going to watch me bring 557 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,560 absolute and total victory for my name's sake. 558 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:15,840 So here's what we have to take comfort in knowing. 559 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:22,320 God interprets our tears, and all we have to do is come into 560 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,920 his presence. And if you come into his 561 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,920 president, all that you can offer is your tears. 562 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:32,200 You need not to fear 1 moment that the Lord is confused by 563 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,760 them or that he is unmoved by them. 564 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,280 Now He's drawn to us. In fact, Spurgeon said the tears 565 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,360 of the righteous are the diamonds of heaven. 566 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,480 What a beautiful picture and that's not an exaggeration based 567 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:51,000 on what the Lord says about our tears. 568 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:56,080 He bottles them, he records them the diamonds of heaven. 569 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,040 This come back to our main text in verse 6. 570 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:03,440 Consistent with his character, the Lord goes beyond what we 571 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,720 ask. This is just say that he's going 572 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:07,320 to heal him. He tells him the amount of years 573 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,480 he's going to add. Look at the first part. 574 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,760 And I will add 15 years to your life. 575 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:15,560 Be honest. Would you want to know the year 576 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,000 you're going to die? Floor? 577 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,360 Would they grant you that? I can tell you the exact year 578 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:26,160 that you're going to expire. Who would sign up for that? 579 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:29,320 I'm not sure if people want to know. 580 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,080 Most people at least. But for Hezekiah, this was a 581 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,360 sort of source of comfort. This was something for him 582 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:38,200 personally. He didn't ask for the knowledge 583 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:39,960 of how many years he was going to live, but the Lord gave it to 584 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:42,480 him anyway, knowing that it would be a source of great 585 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,760 encouragement and motivation. However, I think there is 586 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:51,840 benefit in pausing and placing ourselves in his position and 587 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:57,600 wondering what would I do if I knew I had 15 years to live? 588 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,400 What would you do? What would that kind of 589 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:08,000 information do to your priorities, to your desires? 590 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:12,280 What kind of strength would it give you over distractions? 591 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:20,480 How quick would we be to reconcile with people to be 592 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:26,160 intentional peacemakers? What kind of oomph would it give 593 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,040 you if I can use that word in your service to? 594 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,520 Would you be more consistent in the ministry that God has given 595 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:35,080 you in the local church? Would you hone in and craft your 596 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,160 gifting? What would it do to know I have 597 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:42,640 15 years left? I mean, at 15 to 39 doesn't make 598 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,440 Hezekiah very old. He's very grateful for this. 599 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:50,600 But just think about it. Just you don't see very often 600 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:53,160 the Lord telling somebody exactly when he's going or she's 601 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,560 going to die. It's very rare occurrence. 602 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,680 Do you know that? Hezekiah answers that very 603 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:05,640 question about his own life on the other side of this 604 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,160 revelation. On the other side, after 605 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:09,880 learning that he had 15 years, do you know he tells us in 606 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:12,480 detail what he will do with those 15 years. 607 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:14,080 Where do you think we're going to find it? 608 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:20,680 And Isaiah 38, let's turn that to see what is Hezekiah 609 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,880 determined for the rest of his life. 610 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:36,400 Look at verse 19 of Isaiah 38. He says the living, the living. 611 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:41,840 He thanks you as I do this day. The Father makes known to the 612 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:48,320 children your faithfulness. Number one, I am going to invest 613 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:52,800 in my family. I am going to unreservedly 614 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,640 declare the glories of God to the next generation and it's 615 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:59,240 going to begin at home. But look at verse 20. 616 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:04,440 The Lord will save me and we will play my music on string 617 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:05,560 instruments. Who's the We? 618 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:11,880 My family. We will play my music on string 619 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:19,200 instruments all the days of our lives at the House of the Lord. 620 00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:23,240 You see it? Do you think he's like mildly 621 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:27,560 excited about God's house? No, no, I'm recruiting my 622 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,440 children. They don't know how to play an 623 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:31,600 instrument. I'm going to teach them how to 624 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:36,840 play an instrument and we're going to invest all of our days 625 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,360 to God's service. We're going to declare His 626 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,920 glories by word and even in song. 627 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:45,880 In other words, to summarize this, I'm going to do what I can 628 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:50,120 to bring pleasure to the Lord and to declare who He is with 629 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:51,360 the audience that He has given me. 630 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:52,720 That's what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. 631 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:55,200 Now, do you need to know that you have X amount of years to 632 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,600 live to have that same ambition? I hope not. 633 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,960 I think we should be even more motivated because tomorrow's 634 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:07,680 never promised that every single day you wake up and there is 635 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:12,360 fresh air in your lungs, you should be excited. 636 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:15,600 I have another day to live, to serve the Lord, to love my 637 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:20,360 spouse, to love my kids, to serve my church, to know more of 638 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,040 God's word, to ask for divine appointments, to speak the 639 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:25,640 gospel. That's what I'm here for. 640 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,360 In fact, that's the very tension Paul felt in that same passive 641 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,280 recess. To depart and be with Christ is 642 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:32,560 far better. The only thing that kept him, 643 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,880 the only thing that made him wrestle, that was to remain on 644 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:37,840 the earth on the account of the church. 645 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,080 That I can contribute something to your fruitfulness. 646 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:43,680 That's the only reason why I want to stay. 647 00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:46,680 It's not because I want to visit that country or I want to buy 648 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,600 that car or I want to finish my my home renovations. 649 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,840 No, no, no, no. The only reason why I want to 650 00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:56,760 stay, so I want to do more for the Lord because there's only a 651 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,280 unique opportunity in this life to glorify God that I can't 652 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,760 repeat in heaven. I will glorify God perfectly in 653 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,320 heaven, but not in a way that I can now with all the temptation 654 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,200 and all the trials. There's a unique opportunity I 655 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:12,960 have now to serve God. Think about it, You, you, you 656 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:18,120 might live 70 years, 80 years, and then eternity, eternity 657 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:21,200 forever and ever. We don't get a redo with his 658 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,960 life. And if you constantly set that 659 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:27,760 before your mind, it'll be very difficult to become lukewarm. 660 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:32,560 Very difficult. I only got one shot at this 661 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:34,400 thing. One shot. 662 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,040 I don't want to waste it. I want to be like Hezekiah all 663 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:40,040 the days of our lives. I'm going to glorify God the way 664 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:44,520 He's wired me to glorify him. What an inspiration. 665 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:51,200 Let's come back and finish this Bible study, the second Kings 20 666 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:55,600 verse 7. And Isaiah said, bring a cake of 667 00:41:55,600 --> 00:42:00,440 figs and let them take and lay it on the boil that he may 668 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:05,000 recover. That's interesting, isn't it? 669 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:09,760 I was expecting a little bit more extravagance, something 670 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,320 more supernatural. Nothing very impressive about 671 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:15,960 taking a cake of figs and applying them to a boil. 672 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:21,640 What does this mean? It means that God uses natural 673 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:26,320 means to perform his will. And it's not a recent idea that 674 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:30,240 God works that way. You find it in the Old 675 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:31,520 Testament. You find it in the New 676 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,920 Testament. Non miraculous interventions 677 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:41,160 providentially provided by God. And if the Lord chooses to 678 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:45,920 express His grace through common means, you and I must still be 679 00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:51,040 quick to give Him glory for it. Hezekiah still wrote a poem in 680 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,640 Isaiah 38 giving thanks to God for saving him. 681 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:58,760 Even though Isaiah had to get a prescription from the local 682 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:06,440 store to help him, he still sang, and he still recognized 683 00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:11,240 God's faithfulness in it. A lot of believers need to be 684 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:16,640 rescued from this idea that the Lord should only be recognized 685 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:19,840 and and praise reports should only be given when inexplainable 686 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:24,280 things happen in our lives. Now you can give Him glory even 687 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:28,640 for the things that seem to be natural and common and ordinary. 688 00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:32,400 He's still behind them because in God's Providence, He allowed 689 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:36,240 it. And so this is what we see here, 690 00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:40,880 which should make us wonder why He follows this with a request 691 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:43,720 for a sign. What is he saying? 692 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,320 Verse 8? Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What 693 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:48,400 shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go 694 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:51,520 up to the House of the Lord on the third day, Huh. 695 00:43:55,120 --> 00:44:01,840 Just take take the promise. We should be hesitant to condemn 696 00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:04,360 Hezekiah here. Why? 697 00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:08,440 Because he doesn't receive a rebuke from the prophet for it. 698 00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:10,720 Is he operating in unbelief here? 699 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:15,040 Is he skeptical of this approach? 700 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,520 I don't think so. I think there's something deeper 701 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:19,840 going on here. You may disagree with it, but I 702 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:22,360 think the best explanation is that Hezekiah wanted to be 703 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:26,040 certain that the Lord was truly behind this healing. 704 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:31,800 Because again, it's a medicinal thing, figs application, you 705 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,960 know, some kind of recipe was being made to help him. 706 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:40,720 And I believe he wanted to be. He wanted to be certain God is 707 00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:43,320 the one who's actually prescribing this less. 708 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,800 When people hear about it, they would be tempted to give credit 709 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:53,040 to figs instead of God. That makes sense when you 710 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:55,760 remember what kind of people Hezekiah is leading. 711 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:02,400 A people who had a tendency of admiring and even worshipping 712 00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:05,760 instruments of God's blessing instead of God himself. 713 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:11,200 Anything come to remembrance? When Hezekiah brought reform to 714 00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:14,320 the Kingdom of Judah, what was the one special thing he had to 715 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:18,120 destroy? The bronze serpent, a means of 716 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,840 bringing healing to the people of Israel many years ago, but 717 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,720 became an object of worship and God was eclipsed by it. 718 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:26,680 This is the kind of people that Hezekiah is dealing with. 719 00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:30,640 I wonder if he was afraid that though natural means were being 720 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:34,520 applied, the glory of God would be missed in it because the 721 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:35,960 people's failure to understand it. 722 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:40,880 So he's asking for an autograph, if you will, something that God 723 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,520 can stamp so that people, when they hear about this 724 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:45,880 intervention, cannot deny that the Lord was behind it. 725 00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:51,280 And Isaiah, he's going to approve. 726 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,600 In fact, this is precisely what happens. 727 00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:59,000 Go to Second Chronicles quickly and we're wrapping things up 728 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:02,200 here. It's Second Chronicles again in 729 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:06,520 chapter 32 is another advantage for what we have to Hezekiah's 730 00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:12,080 story, even this one. Notice what happens after 731 00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:16,760 Hezekiah's healing and after the sign was granted for this 732 00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:19,280 healing to take place. Second Chronicles 32, Scroll 733 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:24,120 down to verse 31. And so in the matter of the 734 00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:27,520 envoys of the Princess of Babylon who had been sent to 735 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:32,680 him, him being Hezekiah, to inquire about the sign that had 736 00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:39,040 been done in the land, God left him to himself in order to test 737 00:46:39,040 --> 00:46:41,960 them and to know all that was in his heart. 738 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,680 Oh, I'm so tempted to touch on that last part of the verse, but 739 00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:47,640 let's focus. Let's focus on the main thing 740 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:50,480 here. Notice that whatever sign was 741 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:55,320 performed, it even reached the inhabitants of Babylon. 742 00:46:56,120 --> 00:47:00,040 Something so remarkable took place that news reached this 743 00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:03,880 Gentile nation, and there was even representatives sent to 744 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:09,360 inquire Hezekiah about it. So I believe Hezekiah's desire 745 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,080 in the Lord being glorified in his healing was granted and we 746 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:16,800 see the fruit of it. So all to say, he's coming from 747 00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,760 a good place when asking for a sign, he's not operating in 748 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,680 unbelief. He's wanting there to be no 749 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:24,440 confusion about who's behind his restoration. 750 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:29,920 What is this sign? Come back to Second Kings 20 and 751 00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:34,720 look at verse 9 with me. And Isaiah said, OK, you want to 752 00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:37,760 sign. This shall be the sign to you 753 00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:39,800 from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He has 754 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:41,720 promised. Shall the shadow go forward 10 755 00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:46,520 steps or go back 10 steps? And Hezekiah answered very 756 00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:49,320 wisely. I mean, it's more challenging 757 00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:54,000 for the shadow to retract and to decline here instead of moving 758 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:56,080 forward. So I want to see it come back 10 759 00:47:56,080 --> 00:48:01,920 steps. Lord says, fine, that's nothing 760 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:04,640 to me. And there's a lot of debate 761 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:08,200 about how this miracle happened, as you can imagine, speculation 762 00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:12,440 and I, you know, all these explanations of how this was 763 00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:15,120 able to take place, but the scriptures do not provide us a 764 00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:16,880 detailed answer. And I think that's the point. 765 00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:22,200 It's a miracle. Miracles exceed explanation. 766 00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:31,720 Miracles suspend natural law. Miracles defy and surpass human 767 00:48:31,720 --> 00:48:35,240 logic. So I don't sense the burden to 768 00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:37,640 come and explain how this happened. 769 00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:41,400 All I know is that it happened. And if we're not careful, our 770 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,520 curiosity can sometimes lead us into discussions that completely 771 00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:48,600 missed the point of the passage. What's the main point? 772 00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:50,760 What are we supposed to leave with? 773 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,280 With this section of Scripture, I think it's obvious. 774 00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,000 God is sovereign over all things, including time. 775 00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:00,520 So what you're supposed to see with what we studied here in 776 00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:04,560 this portrait, if He so chooses, the Lord can reverse the 777 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:11,320 rotation of the globe and He can add or subtract years, months, 778 00:49:11,640 --> 00:49:19,160 weeks, days, hours, minutes, even seconds of your life. 779 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:27,440 He's in control of everything, absolutely everything. 780 00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:31,640 That's what you're supposed to feel from this passage. 781 00:49:34,240 --> 00:49:41,640 He added 15 years to Hezekiah's life, and he made the dial turn 782 00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:49,560 back a few steps. He's that powerful, and if we're 783 00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:54,920 not careful, our preoccupation can be in trying to explain the 784 00:49:54,920 --> 00:50:01,880 extent and the execution of God's omnipotence when the point 785 00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:06,440 is that we're supposed to truly worship Him and live in light of 786 00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:09,920 the power that He has, especially with the time that He 787 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:14,200 has granted us. Sometimes debates can distract 788 00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:19,160 us from the simplicity of living for God, and I believe that's 789 00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:22,920 what Hezekiah was all about. I believe he was that kind of 790 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:25,760 servant. How do I know? 791 00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:27,800 Go back to his request for the sign. 792 00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:32,000 In verse 8, Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign 793 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:36,400 that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go up to the House 794 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:40,000 of the Lord on the third day. What is he concerned about? 795 00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:45,480 More than anything, I just want to know, I want the Lord to to 796 00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:49,280 show that this is from him and I, I want to just be granted 797 00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:51,720 certainty that I'm going to actually go to the House of the 798 00:50:51,720 --> 00:50:53,800 Lord. I want to worship God. 799 00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:55,560 Can you provide that to me, please? 800 00:50:55,560 --> 00:50:57,720 Isaiah. And Isaiah prayed and the Lord 801 00:50:57,720 --> 00:51:03,320 granted it to him. May may that be true of us, 802 00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:08,080 possessed with a passion to serve the Lord. 803 00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:12,360 If he gives us 15 years, five years, 50 more years, whatever 804 00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,880 our days may look like, each of us have an invisible expiration 805 00:51:15,880 --> 00:51:19,840 date. I know that doesn't sound too 806 00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:22,480 encouraging, but it's true. We're all going to die. 807 00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:26,240 What are we going to do with our lives? 808 00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:32,920 And I want to end this way by asking the Lord not to give us 809 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:36,360 revelation about how much time we have left, but with every day 810 00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:38,600 to make the most of it. For His glory. 811 00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:55,850 Let's pray. Lord, we're amazed by you. 812 00:51:59,250 --> 00:52:08,770 We are so amazed by you. Your power is unmatched, 813 00:52:08,850 --> 00:52:14,970 unparalleled, incomparable. But we also see that your 814 00:52:14,970 --> 00:52:22,650 compassion is the same, that you care with a force that's almost 815 00:52:23,240 --> 00:52:26,600 unbelievable, but it's in your words, so we choose to believe 816 00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:34,040 it. Thank you that in a packed car 817 00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:38,680 on a road trip, we can pray and you hear us on flights as we're 818 00:52:38,680 --> 00:52:43,480 sitting beside a stranger, you can listen to our request. 819 00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:49,920 But Lord, while we're able to come to the House of God, we 820 00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:54,880 want to do what we can while we have life to serve you with our 821 00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:59,440 our strength to have no regrets as we age if you allow us to 822 00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,920 age. So Lord, both young and old here 823 00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:10,280 we ask for fresh wind in our sails as we serve you fresh 824 00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:14,920 faith to believe that you can answer prayers speedily. 825 00:53:17,240 --> 00:53:22,800 We just asked Lord that what was shared in this past hour would 826 00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:30,080 melt our hearts, soften us, and that we would be pliable so that 827 00:53:30,080 --> 00:53:32,360 you can mold us to be the men and women of God that you've 828 00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:37,040 called us to be. We love you, we honor you in 829 00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:40,240 this place. What a mighty God you are. 830 00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:43,440 It's a privilege and a joy to serve you. 831 00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:48,280 We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen. 832 00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,720 Amen. Let's stand.