Let's turn to our Bibles now in Second Kings chapter 19.
And as you turn there, I want to ask you, what do you do when
you're caught in a dilemma that seems to have no way out, when
you are confronted with a circumstance that does not
provide any visible door to escape?
Does the Word of God provide any kind of counsel, wisdom for the
most righteous Christ honoring and profitable outcome for
suffocating threats or dead end situations?
I'm here to tell you from the beginning it does.
And what we have before us in this chapter is a blueprint
given to us by the Holy Spirit through the example of Hezekiah
that shows us how each of us in this place can receive divine
intervention. I'm talking about heavenly
invasions in our lives for a variety of predicaments that are
outside of our control. And so being here tonight, I can
guarantee you this, that you will have your faith built up,
that your heart will be prepared for those cloudy days, that you
will hopefully know what to do when you are surprised by an
attack. And if we remember, hopefully
from last week, we concluded with Hezekiah's three
representatives returning to the king with torn clothes and the
awful report of a serious, blasphemous intimidation.
And Hezekiah in this new chapter is going to give us a play by
play of how we can respond to things that overwhelm us, not
things that we've created for ourselves necessarily, though
this still works for such situations, but for anything,
but for really anything, especially those things that we
did not expect. And this obstacle, though it is
unique to this man, provides principles that are timeless.
Hezekiah's actions are driven by convictions that you and I can
share and possess and live by. And with that, expect the same
kind of results if we implement them by faith.
And so we're not going to complete this chapter, but I
want us to look at Second Kings 19 verses 1 to 13.
But we'll read in one sitting the 1st 7 verses.
Let's do that. As soon as King Hezekiah heard
it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth
and went into the House of the Lord.
And he sent a like him who was over the household, and Shebna
the secretary, and the senior priest, covered with sackcloth
to the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos.
They said to him. Thus says Hezekiah, this day is
a day of distress, of rebuke, and a disgrace.
Children have come to the point of birth, and there is no
strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God
heard all the words of the Rapsheke, whom his master, the
king of Assyria, has sent to mock the living God, and will
rebuke the words of the Lord your God has heard.
Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.
When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah
said to them, Say to your master.
Thus says the Lord, Do not be afraid because of the words that
you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria
have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in
him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own
land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.
O righteous Father, we believe with all of our hearts that we
are handling the very oracles of God.
We tremble at Your word. This is Your book.
We believe that, but we need Your help to understand it, and
we need Your help for it to burn in our hearts.
And so, Lord, the same grace that you gave to your disciples
in Luke 24, where you open their minds to understand the
Scriptures. We pray that Your sweet guidance
would be felt tonight as we look at every verse with
intentionality and great hunger. So Lord, we submit every faculty
of our beings and we trust that You will reward us in Your word.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
It's no surprise that Hezekiah imitates the grief and the
sorrow of his servants concerning the ordeal that
surrounds them. And we can take comfort to know
that we have liberty to feel the weight of such things of a
situation that may overwhelm us with honesty and in integrity.
However, Hezekiah in this moment teaches us something very vital
that we should never allow our emotions to dictate or to
paralyze us from making the necessary steps to discovering a
solution. So although he rends his
garments here, he does not stay in that state.
He actually picks himself up and as a reflex, almost
instinctively, he makes his way toward the House of the Lord.
Now, it would be wrong to assume that Hezekiah, in his
desperation, went into the holy place or the most Holy Place.
Those areas were designated for the priest alone.
What he did do, though, was enter into the courts, the
courts of the temple that were available for any worshipper.
And here's the wisdom of Hezekiah's initial steps in
response to this news that was devastating, life threatening.
He planted himself in an atmosphere of faith.
When his faith was challenged, he planted himself in an
atmosphere of faith. And that place is so obvious,
the House of God. Even in the old covenant, we
learned that something powerful happens within the walls of
God's dwelling place. And what we see over and over
again by way of promise and example is that when we enter
and when we participate in the corporate gathering, we receive
either an awakening or a strengthening for our faith.
And I wonder when I was reading this the other day, I wonder if
the words of the psalmist Asaph came through in Hezekiah's mind,
because Asaph, Psalm, Psalm 73, presents his own personal crisis
of faith, but it also tells us the turn around, where it went
from misery to revelation of hope.
And something that's offering to you and me.
Look at Psalm 7316 and 17. This is very famous, very well
known to us. But when I thought how to
understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went
into the sanctuary of God. Then I discern their end, that
precious word. Until something happened to
Asaph's faith the moment he stepped foot into the courts of
God. And the same thing happens with
Hezekiah. Understand this, both in the old
and in the New Covenant, the Lord designed His dwelling place
to be a channel of clarity and confidence for His struggling
people. Listen, where you are sitting
tonight carries the power for doubts to dissolve.
Where you are tonight and where you go every Sunday has so much
potency, so much promise for things that try to sabotage our
hope and our vigor and our joy and to reverse it at the place
our feet on a solid rock within a a small time frame of just
being exposed to where God calls us to be as His people can do
wonders. So I want you to tuck this truth
deep in your soul for times like this.
Like Hezekiah, though, yes again, his predicaments are very
peculiar, but the idea of being surrounded, as we just saying,
do not discount for a moment the rich remedy of standing with
God's people and singing the truths of God, of sitting under
the washing of God's Word as it is expounded and as it is
preached and as it is taught, even when it is read.
Do not dismiss what can take place as you park your weary
soul in the midst of the sweet fellowship of Spirit filled
believers. It absolutely breaks my heart
when I look at Christians who do not consider the gift of the
church for the hurting. Now, we studied the Old
Testament and in great detail. I believe there are a lot of
differences between the Tabernacle and the Temple.
Does anybody remember the names of the two pillars that were
placed at the porch of the Temple of Solomon?
Because we studied this in First Kings.
If you know what, you can say it out loud.
Two names for these two pillars. One was you can say it louder.
Oh, I know. People whisper because they're
worried. Well, let's turn there.
First King 7/21, because this is what Hezekiah would have been
confronted with when he entered the courts of God.
First king 7/21, he set up the pillars at the vestibule of the
Temple. He set up the pillar on the
South and called its name Jakin. And he set up the pillar on the
north and called its name Boaz. And on the tops of the pillars
were Lily work. Thus the work of the pillars was
finished. So we have Jacob and Boaz.
Jacob means he will establish and most believe that Boaz
implies in him is strength. And so this is designed by God.
These pillars are testifying of God's faithfulness in one
establishing His house and sustaining the temple along with
the dynasty of David. That's what the people would
have been confronted with as they walked in the shadows of
those pillars. God is faithful.
He created this place, He will maintain this place, and He will
be faithful. But I believe there's a personal
application that as these worshippers made their way into
this place, they would have also understood that true
fortification comes from God experience in God within the
House of God. There's a level of impartation
that can only be realized there. You know, as I was just speaking
from my heart to the Lord before the Bible study, another passage
came to mind. And again, it's another famous
one. But sometimes with these
familiar Psalms, we, we miss the the application.
So you don't have to turn that. But listen, Psalm 92 and verse
12 and 13, we read about the righteous flourishing,
flourishing like a palm tree and growing like the cedar of
Lebanon and flourishing in the courts of God.
So in Psalm 9212 and 13 you have the word flourish appearing
twice, but there's something in between.
If we're going to flourish, we have to be planted in the House
of the Lord. That's what it says in those two
verses. The righteous will flourish like
the palm tree. The righteous will flourish in
the courts of our God. But in between the flourishing
there is the requirement of us being planted where God calls us
to be planted. I'm afraid people do not know
great heights in their faith because they don't have the
discipline or the conviction to live in God's house.
Being planted mean that's where your roots are, that that's
where you get life, that's where you get your nutrients.
And so for those who have a light attitude towards God, how
God's house, they will not know the fragrance and the
flourishing that can come from there alone.
Well, let's now come back to our main text and look at verse 2
because this is not the only thing that Hezekiah did.
This particular trial would require more spiritual
reinforcement. So in verse 2 it says that he
sent a like him who is over the household and Shebna the
secretary and the senior priest covered with sackcloth to the
prophet Isaiah. So the next thing that this man
does is he sends a message to this nobleman of God.
And while gathering publicly with the priest and fellow
worshippers was valuable, having a personal confident was just as
essential. Now you hear that?
You think that's common sense. Unfortunately, it's not so
common. Unfortunately, many believers
lack the wisdom of choosing the right counselors in their lives.
They often gravitate towards ill informed advisors, but not
Hezekiah. Hezekiah makes the choice to go
to a man who walked with God. Here's my question for you.
Was this, was this something that Hezekiah did immediately
when learning that he was surrounded by Syria or is this
an afterthought? Any idea?
Think about last week's study that Hezekiah have a lapse of
faith in Second Kings 18. He did one, we know that he
entertained partnership with the nation of Egypt, which went
against what Isaiah preached about in his very book.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt.
Secondly, what it What did Hezekiah do to try to appease
Assyria? Anybody remember?
It had to do with the House of God.
He didn't go to the House of God to see God.
He stripped the gold from the doors.
He took the treasures from God's house and he laid it at the feet
of this enemy of God. Better late than never, sure.
But before we read Hezekiah humbling himself and coming to
this man who had a special relationship with the Lord,
That's why he says in his inquiry, it may be that the Lord
your God. He's not saying that Isaiah's
God is not his God. He's just acknowledging that
Isaiah has a special relationship with God.
But before he does this, he trusted in the flesh.
Before he does this, who knows what kind of advice he received
from others? And it makes us wonder.
It raises the question, how many problems could this man have
avoided if he had gone to Isaiah first?
And here's my question for you. Can you identify someone, a man
or a woman, who clearly walks with the Lord, offering sound
counsel because their life overflows with the wisdom of
God? And if you can identify such a
person, let me ask you this. Is your relationship to them
something that is reliant upon you getting yourself in trouble?
Do you seek counsel and correction and instruction after
only after you find yourself in a mess?
Or is it a pre emptive conviction?
Is this something that you look for before you make any
significant decisions? Learn from this man's example.
Yes, it's better late than never, but he could have avoided
many issues if he had just believed that in the in the
counsel of many there is safety. So now he reaches out to the
prophet. But what does he ask of the
prophet? Look at verse 4 at the end of
it. Therefore, lift up your prayer
for the remnant that is left. There are times in life where
the most needed thing is biblically grounded practical
advice. There are some people who just
need to be told what to do and not have to really pray about
it. There's some people who pray to
the degree where they disobey. Prayer does not replace
practical obedience. But there are also other times
where a situation demands something of you, where the only
thing and the only thing you can do is pray.
This is one of those situations. But Hezekiah was not just a man
who prayed. He was a man who believed in the
power of others praying for him. Do we?
I've learned something in my study of God's Word that
righteous men and women of God not only pray, they covet the
prayers of others. You see here with Hezekiah, he
asked Isaiah to partner with him in this way, and you see it
throughout the New Testament, notably with the apostle Paul in
2nd Corinthians 111. He tells the Corinthian Church
of all the churches, come on the Corinthian church, so you must
also help us by prayer. Then he goes on to say, so that
many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted
us through the prayers of many. It is generally agreed upon that
the Corinthian church is one of the most troubled assemblies in
Paul's day. They had a lot of problems.
I actually think if any of us walked into the Corinthian
church today, we would think you guys aren't believers.
There's no way. Imagine, imagine a majority of a
church that doubted the resurrection.
That's what we're talking about here.
And that's just one slice of the problem that was going on in
this congregation. But listen, as imperfect as they
were, the apostle still asked them to intercede on his behalf.
That's staggering to me. Because he's not just saying
this to be courteous. He's not.
He's not saying this to seem humble.
He actually believed that even with struggling Christians who
genuinely pray, they can touch God.
Think about this. Be moved with this, that you
have one of the greatest Christians who've ever lived, a
giant in the faith, requesting a bunch of troubled Christians to
help him in prayer, sincerely believing that through their
prayers heaven will send help. And so, so many things come to
my mind when I meditate on this. God will honor even the prayers
of such weak Saints. We just take the time to bend
the knee, call out to him and ask, Lord, you must do something
for our brother Paul. You must do something for our
church. Paul had this understanding, and
he shares it with us so that we can believe the same thing.
But listen, you cannot arrive to this conviction unless you're
first convinced of something deeper.
Do you know why so many people don't pray?
Can I tell you why I'm talking about Christians?
Nevermind the world. You know why so many Christians
don't pray? Because they don't believe how
weak they are. They don't understand just how
needy they are if there's going to be anything lasting and
genuine to come through in their lives or in their situations or
in their ministries, or whatever it may be.
We see it with Hezekiah. Did we miss it?
Go back to Second Kings 19 and look at the end of verse 3.
Let's just read the whole verse they said to him.
Thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of distress, of rebuke,
and of disgrace. Children have come to the point
of birth and there is no strength to bring them forth.
That's just a parabolic way of saying we're at our wit's end.
There is nothing left within ourselves to produce any good
results. Anything valuable, anything that
will deliver us from this crisis, we have no more
strength. We need something outside of
ourselves to bring a solution. Weak people pray, and I'm not
talking about weakness in in terms of falling into sin, A
revelation of your absolute dependency on a good and
powerful God. And this mighty man of God
understood that. And so he asked this prophet to
pray. And what I find so glorious
about this truth is that this appeal is not strictly about his
own preservation. Look at verse 4 again.
He mentions God three times, does he not?
It may be that the Lord your God then Scroll down.
The king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God and again
and we'll rebuke the words that the Lord your God.
What is this man consumed with the glory of God, the glory of
God. I say I'm asking you to part of
me in prayer because God's name is at stake here and not just
God's glory, but look at the last part of verse 4.
Therefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.
This is how this verse convicted me.
How much of my praying is motivated for God's glory and
the good of others. That's what I thought.
There is nothing wrong and asking God to come through for
us personally, but we got to broaden our understanding of
what prayer can do. We got to understand what it is,
what are the ingredients that invites greater testimonies of
answer prayer in our lives. And one of them certainly is for
the glory of God. And surely the Lord will honor a
person who has enough love for a precious St. to say God.
I'm praying for the remaining remnant.
Hezekiah inspires me. And so yes, he goes to the House
of God, but he also goes to a man of God, a friend, and he
believes that as they both pray, God will do something.
Now look at this. Hezekiah is immediately rewarded
for his faith in verse 5, when the servants of king Hezekiah
came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, say to your master.
Thus says the Lord, do not be afraid because of the words that
you have heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria
have reviled me. So Isaiah was ready with a
prophecy. That's not to say that he
disregards the call to prayer. Next week we're going to see
that both Isaiah and Hezekiah are going to pray.
They're going to pray. But the the purpose of this
section is to show how God wanted to provide immediate
relief to his Servant, and he does so on the basis of his
word. He he wields and presents them
His precious word. Thus says the Lord.
Yes, I'm aware that this is a personalized declaration, but
there's something about this peculiar prophecy that can
comfort us as well. I understand that this is unique
to the story and to this man, but what's the essence of the
message? What is Isaiah saying to
Hezekiah? The main thing is God is fully
aware of the evils committed by your enemies.
In fact, if you read back, Hezekiah admits that he's
doubting. Look again.
Look at verse 4. It may be that the Lord your God
heard all the words of the rapture.
So what was the concern of Hezekiah?
I hope God really heard what we heard.
Isn't it freeing to know that you can come into God's presence
stumbling in doubt with imperfect faith and He'll still
answer you? Because the very approach, the
very act of prayer is a demonstration of faith in
itself. So God will honor that.
So here, imagine, here's here's the guy saying it may be that
God hurt. I'm hoping that God heard.
I'm hoping he saw what we saw and the Lord reassures him.
I did hear it. I heard the words of the
servants of the king of Syria, the words that reviled me.
What's the take away from this? I believe 1 main take away is
that there is a flood of peace awaiting those who believe that
God sees and knows absolutely everything taking place in your
life, especially the source of your pain and turmoil.
In fact, that is one of the introductory revelations of the
nature and character of God that the Scripture provides us.
Do we remember what Hagar called the name of the Lord when she
was visited by the Angel of the Lord in the wilderness?
The God who sees? But there's something deeper in
that message. Go to Genesis 16.
When I was looking at this, it made me so excited to do a study
in the book of Genesis. We will do so very, very soon.
I think. Genesis 16.
Look at verse 13, this is when Hagar was mistreated by Sarai
and she flees into the wilderness and the Angel of the
Lord, a pre Incarnate manifestation of Christ comforts
her with a promise and this is how she reacts.
And Genesis 16 verse 13 So she called the name of the Lord who
spoke to her. You are a God of seeing, for she
said truly here I have seen Him who looks after me.
Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Royi.
It lies between Kadesh and Bered.
And before I say anything, I find it so encouraging that the
first theophany, which is a manifestation of God in a very
tangible way, the first manifestation of God for a woman
in the Bible is here. This is the first time a woman
experiences God in such a way. And why that should move us is
because who Hagar is, she's a servant.
She she's not in direct covenant with God like Abraham and his
wife were. In fact, they were mistreated by
those who had this covenant with God.
And yet the Lord honors Hagar with a special experience and a
promise, even though in our estimation she is unworthy.
She she's not a likely candidate to know this and to experience
this. And this so moved this woman
that there's a well where it happened and she names it.
She she, she creates this monumental thing and she calls
it beer. Lahoy Roy, meaning what it
means. You are a God of seeing, and
this was not just a personal reference for her.
It was a public, public testimony so that if anybody
would come to this well and realize its name, it would be
associated with a refreshment of a deep well filled with crisp
water. You are a God of seeing.
And this monument for public testimony worked.
Does anybody know the next time that this name, the name of this
well, appears in the Bible? It only appears a total of three
times. This is the first one.
Any idea when it appears next? It's in Genesis.
Somebody said it, I think Isaac go to Genesis in chapter 24.
This is when the servant of Abraham looks for a wife for his
master's son Isaac, and Rebecca's on her way to her new
husband. And we read this in Genesis 2461
and 62. Then Rebecca and her young woman
arose and rode on the camels and followed the man.
Thus the servant took Rebecca and went his way.
Now Isaac had returned from Beer Lahai Roy and was dwelling in
the Nugget. Why do we need to know that
Isaac was at this? Well, now we don't have concrete
evidence. Can I tell you what I believe?
I believe he wanted to plant himself by the revelation that
God is the one who sees. Why do you need to find comfort
in that truth? I think you find the answer in
verse 67. Then Isaac brought her into the
10th of Sarah, his mother, and took Rebecca, and she became his
wife and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his
mother's death. This man was struggling with the
loss of his mother, and I believe that he was at the well
that was named. You are the God of seeing.
To just receive that truth for his own hurt, his own grief.
Isn't it amazing that where Hagar names us well, God
provides an answer beforehand. And mending her heart, How did
He do it? He appeared to her in a very
real and powerful supernatural way.
Now fast, for the next time this well is brought up, you have
Isaac. And we learned that he was
struggling with the loss of his mother.
And could it be that the Lord who saw comforted Isaac not with
a theophany, but with a wife, a companion, a new relationship?
Now let me give you the third time it is mentioned.
It's also with Isaac very nearby.
Come to Genesis 25, verse 11. After the death of Abraham, God
blessed Isaac his son and Isaac settled at Beer Lahai Roy.
So why does he go back to the well again?
Because now he loses his dad and I believe Isaac needed to return
to that truth. You are the God of seeing.
So collecting these these three unique references, is it
coincidental that each time the name you are the God who sees
you are the God of seeing appears in in relation to
relational pain? With Hagar, it was the hurt and
betrayal of those that brought her into their home and and and
because of their lack of faith set her up only for her to
experience the brunt and the rejection of the whole thing
abandoned. And then you come to Isaac and
the loss of both his parents is in connection with this well
that carries this revelation, the peace that comes with the
knowledge. God sees me and he doesn't look
upon me with indifference with with just it's not just his
omniscience that's an operation here.
He he sees with his heart. He sees with the preparation of
bringing a solution to bring some kind of relief to you.
So how much do you believe that that as you're trying to manage
the suffering, God sees and he doesn't leave us there.
He's ready to do something to rescue us, to bring us some kind
of level of hope and and sanity. That's what we see with Isaiah's
message to Hezekiah. God knows you're not in this
thing alone. He is aware and not not just
aware. He is your partner and He is
going to bring a solution. That's what he says in verse
seven of our main tax. Behold, I will put a spirit in
him so that he shall hear a room and return to his own land, and
I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.
We'll see that next week, but let's complete the study
together with the last five verses here.
Once Hezekiah received this promise of victory, everything
began to shift in a new direction.
Look at verse 8. Let's read it down to verse 13.
The rapture could return and found the king of Assyria
fighting against Libna, for he heard that the king had left
Lahish. Now the king heard concerning
Tirhaka, king of Kush. Behold, he set out to fight
against you. So he sent messages again to
Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah, king of
Judah. Do not let your God, in whom you
trust, deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given
into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to
all the lands, devoting them to destruction.
And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations
deliver them? The nations that my father's
destroyed, Gozen, Haran, Rezaf, and the people of Eden who are
in Telesar. Where's the king of Hamath, the
king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharbaim, the king of
Hina, or the king of Eva? So what's happening here?
This is so important to to note, we read that the Rap Shakur
returns. He's reunited with the king of
Assyria because of a new scrimmage that takes place at
Libna. So this is another city of
Judah, right? Originally they were there at
Lahish, and now something happens at a new city.
So they go there and the Rap Shakur, the spokesperson for the
Kingdom of Assyria, joins the king.
And at the same time, they received news that the king of
Kush, a foreign enemy, is approaching the Assyrians, ready
to fight them. So the Rap Shaka, now in
desperation as a last ditch effort, sends a message to
Hezekiah in Jerusalem saying it's time to surrender.
It's this final attack to try to get them to give up.
But here's what's different. The Rap Shaka is not nearby to
speak with his voice. He sends a letter.
How do we know that? Look at the beginning of verse
14. Hezekiah received the letter
from the hand of the messengers and read it.
So now it comes in the mail. And there are a couple of
important insights regarding this that can help us understand
how the enemy operates. Remember last week we looked at
how the enemy wars against our minds and, and the seven lies,
at least seven of the lies of the father of lies that we
should expect. So we're we're here again, we're
looking at how Satan works. And one way that we know he
works is that if he can't keep you from being exposed to God's
word like you are here tonight, if he can't keep you from
receiving God's word, he is ready to assault you after you
receive it. Notice the timing of Seneca reps
threats. It came shortly after the
comforting ministry of the prophet Isaiah, the message of
victory that was guaranteed. And almost immediately, Hezekiah
receives another voice saying, don't believe it.
It's not going to happen. Come on.
Look at look at this and look at that.
And so he is revisited with the same lies that we looked at last
week. And here's what you have to
understand. I see so many Christians, they
miss this in the same way that the king of Assyria did not
easily give up to discourage and lie to the servant of God.
You and I should be ready always for the same kind of approach
and at the same time the same relentlessness to stand up
against those lies. So people who struggle, they
come, they're like, you know, I barely have any strength to even
show my face anywhere, but I'll do it.
So they come to the House of God and they walk out and go, well,
that didn't really do much for me.
They call the man of God. They call a friend who's a woman
of God. And they and they receive prayer
and nothing seems to change right away.
So what do they do? They just give in.
They just surrender. They just wallow.
Is that what we see Hezekiah doing even though there's a
second attempt from the king of Assyria?
No, look again at verse 14. Hezekiah received the letter
from the hand of the messengers and read it, and Hezekiah went
up to the House of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.
Almost a copy paste of what we read earlier.
So he is attacked again. And what did you do?
All right, fine, I'm going. I'm going to the House of the
Lord again. He's assaulted again.
His faith is being challenging. What did you do?
I'm going to pray again. I'm going to keep my head in the
word. I'm going to, I'm going to still
fellowship with the Saints. I'm not just going to give up.
This is a war. Scripture tells us we're
wrestling against these things. And so be reminded that Satan
will not give up. Why do you give up so easily?
This man's a wonderful example not to give up.
Here's the second thing. Although the goal of Snack Reb
was the same, his method slightly changed.
Remember the first time he amplified his voice and he spoke
in the language of the citizens of Jerusalem, the people of
Judah. I'm here for you.
You're all coming with me to Syria.
Now he's at a distance, so he sends a letter.
The enemy is very creative and he has different methods of
messing with us, different avenues, different means,
different servants, and so there are times where Satan will
inspire and implant a lie directly into your heart.
Do you know, do I know how I know he can do that?
I may not explain, be able to explain how that works.
All I know is that it happens. Let me give you a New Testament
example. Look at John 13 verse 2.
This is in the upper Room discourse, at least in
preparation for it in John 13. Two, what do we read during
supper when the devil had already put it into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him?
Now you read later on this chapter that Satan entered into
Judas. So this is not the devil working
in Judas's heart because he abided in Judas.
No, that would come later. This, I believe, is evidence
that Satan can put things in our hearts, and the way we make room
for that is through sin, disobedience, sometimes fear,
unbelief. There are footholds that we can
give to. Satan is not what we read in
Ephesians that we should not go to bed before the sun comes down
in our anger, lest we give a foothold to the devil.
So one of the ways where Satan can meddle with us is directly
the mechanics of that. I may not be able to explain.
I just see that it's possible sometimes Satan can lie to us
and discourage us through other people, people that we know and
people that we don't know. Can anybody provide evidence for
that in the New Testament? Good.
I heard it. Peter and Jesus, Matthew 1623.
Get behind me. What Satan?
And why was Peter in that moment a tool for Satan?
Because his mind was set on the things of men and not on the
things of God. His thinking was not in
alignment with the truth, so Satan could take advantage of
that. And how was Satan going to try
to get to the Son of God through one of his closest friends?
I wouldn't use as an excuse for you to call people Satan, by the
way. Be very slow to do that.
Satan can also use seemingly innocent, even charming things
to persuade us. I think of Genesis 31, the
serpent being the craftiest of all the animals approached Eve.
There are so many Christians who lack discernment.
They don't even understand how the things that they entertain,
the things that they keep as pets, and I'm not talking about
actual pets, entertainment, things that they allow here and
then here, and they are being discipled into unbelief.
They are being aroused to sin, failing to understand that the
Prince of the power of the air is in charge of this evil world,
and he is clever enough to use clever things to clutch us and
to create fogginess in our thinking and to weaken us in our
fight against his lies. Despite all the weapons that the
enemy may wield, we possess 1 weapon that defends against them
all, the written word of the living God.
And even in this very battle, what do we see?
A clash of two messages. One message from God who says
I'm going to give you victory, Hezekiah, and a message from the
enemy who says don't believe him.
Which one will Hezekiah believe? That is really the essence of
spiritual warfare, by the way. Every single day you and I have
to muster up the strength, and the strength is really given by
God if we receive it from Him humbly.
But we try to find the strength in God to believe Him.
It really boils down to that, right?
Why do people sin? Because they believe the lie of
that temptation. Why do people sin?
Because in that moment where they give in to that temptation,
they don't believe God. They believe this will satisfy
me, where God says no, this will hurt you.
They believe that this will prosper me.
When God says no, this will poison you.
They believe that this will bring purpose to me.
When God says no, this will deform you.
And so the essence of spiritual warfare on a daily basis is
choosing to believe God. That's how we know victory.
And when you and I say no to lies, whether it's in the form
of a temptation for a lust or to fear, when we choose to believe
God, that's one step of V1 step closer to knowing all that God
has for us and to being the ones who have Satan underneath our
feet. Well, I think this is a good
place to pause before we continue.
Will we choose to believe God? Is there anything in your life
where you are not trusting God? Lay your unbelief.
Lay the lies that have bombarded you all week, all month, maybe
even all year. Lay them at the feet of the
Lord, as you now find yourself in the House of the Lord.
Spread it before God. And even if your faith is not
complete, trust that your very act of surrender is enough to
move God to move on your behalf. Finally, let's ask God to help
us believe that He sees everything.
We tend to believe that for our accountability.
No, let's believe that for our good.
Believe it for your comfort. Believe it for your future,
believe it for your pain. Lord, tonight we've heard your
voice so loud and clear. Help us believe every part of
it. We pray for any discouragement,
any overpowering temptation. Any recurring lie seems to never
be able to go away. We asked by your divine
intervention that today would be the turning point and that the
struggling one tonight would have the same testimony as Asaph
until I went to the sanctuary of God and discern their end.
Lastly, Lord, we asked for Maranatha Bible Church that
whenever these doors are opened and people choose to come in,
they would know greater clarity and confidence and that we would
have your perspective imparted for our predicaments.
And it's it's very possible, Lord, that as we even walk out
of here, the enemy is waiting to cause us to doubt.
So even though we may not feel the inspiration that we sense in
this very moment tonight or even tomorrow morning, help us not
give up and go to war and show up here on Sunday and stay on
our knees and make those phone calls until we overcome.
We worship you tonight. We say thank you for this Bible
study. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Let's stand, let's worship the living God together.
He sees us, He knows us. I
want to offer you maybe a tip to recalibrate your prayer life.
A tip that's helped me since I first came to Christ.
We've all been there where you try to be intentional to pray
and you're instead visited by a mental reminder of your laundry
and the things that you got to do and maybe situations and
instead of praying about them, you're just thinking about them.
In those times I I stop and I sometimes even will say this out
loud. I am talking to Jesus Christ of
Nazareth who walked this earth 2000 years ago, died, was
buried, rose from the grave and is seated at the right hand of
God and promised me that if I ask anything in his name, He not
only hears me but will answer me.
Jesus Christ sees me in this very moment and it never fails
to help me get back into real praying.
And I can tell you over a cup of coffee about the times we're
leaving that kind of a room, that kind of a moment in my car
or a long walk where he showed me.
I, I heard you and I see you and it's no different for you.
So we're going to end this time tonight.
But after hearing all that, I'll be remiss not to make an
invitation. If you need a miracle from God,
if you need somebody to partner with you in prayer for anything,
I'm here. Nothing spectacular, no
spectacle, just simple prayer between two siblings in Christ
to believe in all powerful God, to help you where you might feel
surrounded. Amen.
Well, we thank you for the study.
We thank you that we don't just study these truths, we can live
and experience them. We pray that we would be a
people of the book, not just in knowledge, but with testimonies
of how what we've studied we can also experience and say it's
true, it's true, it's true. Lord, go with us.
We set you before us and you're our right hand.
Therefore, we will not be shaken and we pray for your protection
over every baptism candidate for this Sunday.
We pray for your name to be exalted this upcoming Sunday and
that there will be great praise and honor for your name.
We love you and we we are privileged to serve you.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.