1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,360 If you have your Bibles, please meet me in Second Kings chapter 2 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,200 16. And as you turn there, I want to 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,040 testify that I feel a little bit more inspired this Friday 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:14,120 evening. And I'll tell you why because 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,400 there have been different things I was reading in the Scriptures 6 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,280 this week, but one particular passage has been my focus of 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,880 meditation. And they are the words of Jesus 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,160 Christ, specifically in the Gospel of Luke when He was 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,960 helping those two destitute disciples on the road to Emmaus. 10 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,760 And he said something there in Luke 2425 to 27. 11 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,240 And I so wanted to meditate on these truths that I had to 12 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,560 memorize it and take it with me wherever I was going throughout 13 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,880 this week. In that passage he finally looks 14 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:53,040 at those two disciples of his, and he says, O foolish ones, and 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,120 slow of hard to believe all that the prophets have spoken. 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,600 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:04,200 things and enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and all 18 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,400 the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:14,120 concerning Himself, two things stood out to me. 20 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,880 Number one, it was the Word all. It appears three times, all, 21 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,920 all, all. And what moved me was that the 22 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:31,160 Lord Jesus Christ handled all of the word of God, saw prophet in 23 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,080 all of the word of God, interpreted and applied from all 24 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,920 of the word of God. Second to that, the Holy Spirit 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,960 was very specific in saying how he handled the word of God in 26 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:52,400 that he interpreted it to them. And that word interpret is very 27 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,400 plain. What Jesus did is he came to the 28 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:59,680 Scriptures and he brought up the meaning of the Word of God. 29 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,480 So Christ didn't just simply reference a few verses. 30 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,720 He was in general in how he pointed to a certain passage. 31 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,720 He would take a text and he would break it down and 32 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,840 translate it in a way that was understandable. 33 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,800 And why that moved me was the outcome of it. 34 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,680 Because when you Scroll down to verse 32, those two same 35 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,960 disciples reflected on their encounter with this man who is 36 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,040 mysterious at first, but then later revealed that he was 37 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,440 indeed the resurrected Christ. And they admitted, did not our 38 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,480 hearts burn within us when He talked with us, not just when he 39 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,840 talked with us, when he opened to us what the Scriptures? 40 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,080 It was the interpretation of the Scriptures that caused a flame 41 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,320 to grow in their hearts that burned away all the cobwebs of 42 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,640 apathy and weariness of unbelief. 43 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,040 And that's what we endeavor to do here in this church, to 44 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,240 interpret the Word of God with the hope that our hearts would 45 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,240 burn within us every single time we encountered the Word of God. 46 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,360 And so just meditating on that, I couldn't wait any longer for 47 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,040 this Bible study, hoping that even in an obscure passage like 48 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,360 this, we would experience something supernatural, that the 49 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,640 presence of God would be more real to us because of the word 50 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:28,680 of God. Explain to us, Amen. 51 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,480 Well, can we ask him for that? Lord, we thank you for this time 52 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,920 together. And we, Lord, believe in the 53 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,800 power of the Scriptures. But Lord, we are also aware that 54 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,080 we need the power of the Holy Spirit. 55 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,600 So we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you would 56 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,640 save this meeting from becoming a flat, stale lesson. 57 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,960 Instead, we pray for life changing truth. 58 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,640 We want to see Christ. We want to know his wisdom, his 59 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,440 character, his heart. And Lord, we trust that you will 60 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,320 guide a step by step in the study in his name. 61 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,320 We pray these things. Amen. 62 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,280 Well, last week we briefly examined the biographies of 63 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,760 several kings in rapid succession, all within a single 64 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,839 chapter. But as we approach Second King 65 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:23,880 16, the brisk pace that we experience will come to a sudden 66 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,280 halt. The reason for that is because 67 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:30,560 this entire section is designated to a single king. 68 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,960 It's as though the author of this book, back in chapter 15, 69 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:41,880 put the pedal to the metal, and as we come to the beginning of 70 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,560 chapter 16, he slams on the brakes. 71 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,200 Evidently, there's something that he wants us to see here. 72 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:54,840 Carefully, he slows things down so that we can observe certain 73 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:58,680 traits and truths connected to this one ruler by the name of A 74 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:03,440 Has. And this is significant because 75 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:08,880 A Has is recognized as one of the most shameless and infamous 76 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,040 kings in Judah's history. If you were hoping for a more 77 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,960 spiritual, scenic, and encouraging route, I'm afraid to 78 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:17,240 tell you that's not going to happen. 79 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,080 We are going to see something very discouraging. 80 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:26,280 And I know last week we were trying to digest this horrible 81 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:31,120 montage of one failing king following another. 82 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,400 But we have to trust in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that 83 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,680 though this will be a heavy chapter, it is for our good. 84 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,600 There's something here for us, and that's what we have to do. 85 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,280 We have to honor this text for what it says. 86 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,360 And they're going to be familiar things that we see with a has. 87 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,640 But there's something that stands out about Him, and it's 88 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:52,920 in the last 10 verses of this chapter. 89 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,680 We're going to try to fulfill all of this text, and it's in 90 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,720 the later part of it that we see something unique about Him. 91 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:01,160 But we can't rush there just yet. 92 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,120 So let's now begin the first 3 verses. 93 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,400 A second King. 16 In the 17th year of Pika, the son of 94 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,640 Ramallah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to 95 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,760 reign. Ahaz was 20 years old when he 96 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,920 began to reign, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. 97 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,880 And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, 98 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,720 as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the 99 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:31,400 kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an 100 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,560 offering according to the despicable practices of the 101 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,720 nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 102 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,880 There's a massively important truth found in these first 3 103 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:46,040 verses. There are many things that we 104 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,280 can say, but I just want to drive home one thought. 105 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:55,040 Good fathers don't always produce good sons, and bad 106 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,560 fathers don't always produce bad sons. 107 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,520 We're reminded right out of the gate who A has father was 108 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,320 Jonathan. We looked at him again last 109 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:08,480 week, but let's be reminded what kind of king he was back in 110 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,080 chapter 15, verse 34. Jonathan did what was right in 111 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,760 the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah 112 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,840 had done. That's a rare occurrence. 113 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,720 You would expect then, that his son A Has would follow in the 114 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,960 steps of his pious and righteous father. 115 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,880 But we don't see that. Do we know? 116 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:32,000 Quite the opposite, he did what was evil in the sight of the 117 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:33,320 Lord. And remember, this is a king of 118 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,040 Judah and he's imitating the kings of Israel. 119 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,200 And one of the things that we mentioned last week that's worth 120 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,960 repeating is that godly influence does not always 121 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:51,360 promise godly imitation. Parents need to know that 122 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,240 parents who love Christ and honor his word and live for his 123 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,600 glory, they need to be comforted because I can tell you've had 124 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,920 conversations with those who are thinking I must have done 125 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:03,920 something wrong. I, I must have not prayed enough 126 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,800 or, or set a good enough example or have amazed my children 127 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:12,680 enough with God and what it's like to walk and worship God. 128 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,520 That's not always the case. You have many instances where 129 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,400 people make their own choices despite what's before them. 130 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,800 The flesh is that persuasive. The environment that we are in, 131 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,680 in this generation is that powerful. 132 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,000 Satan is that tricky. So it's not only a truth for 133 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,840 parents, it's a truth for pastors and leaders in the 134 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:37,640 church as well, those who make disciples. 135 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,960 Even though you may not be an elder in a church, as much as 136 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,159 you hope that your example and that the fragrance of Christ 137 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:48,200 that rests on you would inspire absolutely everybody under your 138 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,000 influence, that's not always the case. 139 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,160 If people sat through the best preaching in the person of Jesus 140 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,960 Christ and walked away wanting to kill him, Don't be so 141 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:04,320 overwhelmed when people do not respond to your passionate 142 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,160 presentation of the truth or how you walk in that truth by the 143 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,680 grace of the Holy Spirit. Good fathers, good leaders, 144 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:14,360 don't always produce good sons. That's not to say that there is 145 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,160 no impact or potential opportunity in the presence of 146 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,760 the righteous, but it doesn't guarantee it. 147 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,640 On a more encouraging note, 1 is not bound to continue the legacy 148 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,960 of ungodly influences as well. Where do I get that from? 149 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,520 Well, when you consider who A as his son is. 150 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:38,760 So Scroll down to chapter 18 and look at this familiar name in 151 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:45,280 second Kings 18 verse one in the third year of Hoshiya, son of 152 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:51,000 Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of a Has king of Judah 153 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,480 began to reign. Look at verse three that 154 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,720 chapter. And he did what was right in the 155 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,200 eyes of the Lord according to all that David his father had 156 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,440 done. Now when was the last time we're 157 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,040 getting ahead of ourselves here? But when was the last time you 158 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:10,960 and I read about a king, even a good king, who did what David 159 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,800 had done? Hezekiah will prove to be one of 160 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,000 the greatest kings in Jerusalem's history, one of the 161 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,160 great reformers of the southern Kingdom. 162 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,760 Ahaz was his dad. How does that work? 163 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,440 Well, it just reminds us that you should never believe the lie 164 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,360 that the lack of guidance or Christ like example, growing up 165 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,960 as a justifiable reason to remain defeated in your 166 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,520 spiritual growth or in your ineffectiveness. 167 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:45,560 And I've heard this from people. If only I had a godly father. 168 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:49,400 If only I had a believing mom. If only I had a better crowd in 169 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,400 my life, especially in the formation of my early years. 170 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,120 If only, if only, if only. What would I be now? 171 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,520 What would I look like now? Would I have to deal with this 172 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:04,200 trauma or these habits or this frame of mind? 173 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,280 And if you're not careful, if you think about what was lacking 174 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,200 in your life, you will always remain immature. 175 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,160 And you allow unbelief to callous your heart and never 176 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:20,560 trust that God is able to bypass all of that lack and work 177 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:24,760 directly in your heart and do miracles in you. 178 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:30,520 Hezekiah destroys any excuses. And I'm not here to condemn you. 179 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,120 I'm here to encourage you don't look back and say, what if? 180 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,800 Look up and say, please do a work in my heart. 181 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,320 If you did it in this man who had every right and excuse, so 182 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:46,240 to speak, of walking in evil, oh surely you can do it in me. 183 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,400 Sure, you can help me walk righteously and make an impact 184 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,000 for the glory of God. Now let's move on, shall we? 185 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:03,520 In chapter 16, verse 3, he did these despicable things, and 186 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,720 we've seen in many occasions that these kings in the Book of 187 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:12,320 Kings have similar accounts in the Book of Chronicles, namely 188 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,400 Second Chronicles, and it's no different for this man. 189 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,000 What you find in Kings here is quite jarring, but it gets even 190 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,360 worse when you consider Second Chronicles 28. 191 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,040 We don't have time to turn there, but here's what you'll 192 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:29,520 find about Ahaz in Second Chronicles 28, that he also 193 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:34,960 resurrected Bale worship. And here we read that he burned 194 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:40,160 his son as an offering. But in the mirroring account, we 195 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,360 learned that he burned his sons, plural. 196 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:50,000 So he sought to essentially exterminate his descendants as 197 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,040 an act of worship. You'll find that in chapter 28 198 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:54,600 verse three of Second Chronicles. 199 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:02,480 Which made me wonder if A has had this evil ambition, how did 200 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,960 Hezekiah come about? Have you ever wondered that 201 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,160 where did Hezekiah come from? If according to Second 202 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:14,800 Chronicles he burned his sons, Well you have to come to 2nd 203 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,320 Kings 18. When we study it, we'll consider 204 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,840 it further I'm sure. As if this wasn't twisted 205 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:26,480 enough, A has surpasses the preceding kings and yet another 206 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,840 way with his evil deeds. It's found in verse four. 207 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:35,080 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and 208 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,160 on the hills and under every green tree. 209 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,720 We've seen this picture of these high places, the mention of 210 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,520 these high places on so many occasions. 211 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,200 But here's where it's different, with many of the kings, 212 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,080 including the good kings, these high places, which were really 213 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:55,720 convenient stations of worship that distracted people from 214 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,880 going to the one place that got designated for worship, namely 215 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,960 the temple. They were just tolerated. 216 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,480 They were ignored. They weren't adequately dealt 217 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,360 with or addressed. So many kings would just let 218 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,160 them be. They didn't really deal with 219 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,000 them. It has takes it a step further. 220 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,840 He doesn't just ignore them, he participates in them. 221 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,320 He himself sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 222 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,800 This man is vile. This man is wicked. 223 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,960 Sam is between a good father and even a godlier son. 224 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:32,600 And when I came to this point in my personal reading, I thought 225 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,960 to myself, how much longer can this go on before there is 226 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,160 divine intervention? When will God step in and stop 227 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,200 the madness? Look at verse 5. 228 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:49,160 Then Resin, king of Syria and Pika, the son of Ramallah king 229 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:54,640 of Israel came up to wage war on Jerusalem and they besiege Ahaz 230 00:14:54,640 --> 00:15:00,960 but could not conquer him. It's not surprising that an 231 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,240 invasion was on the horizon, or maybe shocking is that this is 232 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,760 Jerusalem. But still, God already warned 233 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:13,280 his people that if you continue in rebellion, the final stage of 234 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,640 judgement is that I will have 4 nations come and ransack, take 235 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,400 over everything, and even pull you out of the promised land. 236 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,120 But here's what's more surprising is the last part of 237 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:27,680 verse 5. You have a coalition, You have 238 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,760 Israel that's so wicked now that they're partnering with Syria to 239 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:34,840 actually come against Jerusalem. But notice what it says here. 240 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:41,800 They could not conquer him. Why is that? 241 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,280 Is this another instance of the Lord allowing things to get so 242 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:51,120 bad so that A has would realize the trajectory of his ways and 243 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,280 then repent and give himself over to the Lord? 244 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,160 Perhaps, but I think there's something deeper going on here, 245 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,840 and you're going to find the answer in another book of the 246 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,480 Old Testament. Can you guess what book that is? 247 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,160 Good guess, but I'm thinking of another book. 248 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:12,880 What book speaks about A has in great detail apart from Second 249 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:18,600 Chronicles? Isaiah, Isaiah Chapter 7. 250 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,480 Did you know Isaiah was a prophet during this time? 251 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,440 And God sent Isaiah to Ahaz to give him a word. 252 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:30,320 A word of what? You ready for this 253 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,080 encouragement? Isaiah 7 verse one. 254 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,520 Let's read. We're going to read 6 verses on 255 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,040 a row here, so pay attention. Don't allow yourself to get 256 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,240 distracted. It's going to be worth it. 257 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:47,560 Isaiah 7 verse one In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son 258 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,400 of Uzziah king of Judah, Resin the king of Syria, Pika the son 259 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,200 of Remalia the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war 260 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:59,680 against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 261 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,200 When the House of David was told Syria is in league with Ephraim, 262 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,720 the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees 263 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,240 of the forest shake before the wind. 264 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:16,160 And the Lord said to Isaiah, go out to meet Ahaz, you and Sheer 265 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:20,560 Jaisha your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on 266 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,760 the highway to the washer's field. 267 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,359 Pause. God knows exactly where you are. 268 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,840 See how specific that is? Just a thought. 269 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:37,000 First four and say to him, Be careful, be quiet, do not fear 270 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,720 you, do not let your heart be faint because of these two 271 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,960 smoldering stumps of firebrands at the fierce anger of resin and 272 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,520 Syria and the son of Romalia. Because Syria with Ephraim and 273 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,680 the son of Romalia has devised evil against you, saying, let us 274 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,600 go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for 275 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,080 ourselves and set up the son of Tabil as king in the midst of 276 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,680 it. I have a lot of questions, don't 277 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,760 you? Let's try to answer the main 278 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,680 one. Why is the Lord God comforting 279 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:16,280 and reassuring A man, a king who gave every reason not to expect 280 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:21,360 it, who didn't deserve it. We're not talking about Hezekiah 281 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:22,920 receiving a promise of deliverance. 282 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:29,400 A has a man who burned his children alive, a man who was 283 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:34,720 worshipping false gods. And God sends a great prophetic 284 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:40,080 voice to him and says, don't be afraid, they're not going to 285 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:48,120 succeed, be at rest. Simple answer, I guess, the 286 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:51,920 grace of God. But I think we're given enough 287 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,800 detail to know that it's more complex than that. 288 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,960 It's not just the grace of God. I believe the reason why the 289 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,080 Lord is ready to step in in this way is because of the 290 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,680 presumptuous ambition of these kings. 291 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:09,320 Look back at verse 6, especially the last part says here that the 292 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,400 king said, let us go up against Judah and terrify and let us 293 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:17,000 conquer it for ourselves and set up the son of Tabulus king in 294 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:21,960 the midst of it. It's that part that makes 295 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,680 everything clear. Because you see, the goal of 296 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:31,200 Syria and Israel was not just to destroy Judah, it was to 297 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:37,840 overthrow the Davidic dynasty and to put a king of their own 298 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,400 choice on that throne that has been promised to David and his 299 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:47,560 sons. So what you have here is 2 kings 300 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,960 not just threatening Ahaz, but challenging the promise God made 301 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,520 to the House of David. Whether they realize it or not, 302 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,320 they were not just coming up against a city, they were waging 303 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,080 war against the character of the Lord Almighty. 304 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,800 God made a promise to this house, and we have to look at 305 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,120 the spiritual element of this. This is Satan with yet another 306 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:18,120 attempt to try to delete what God said and prove to the world 307 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:22,040 that He can't keep His word. Do you see the deeper meaning to 308 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:23,880 this? Do you see now why God is 309 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,000 stepping in? There's something great at stake 310 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,400 here. You have a very real threat 311 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:35,280 attempting to sever the messianic line, and God is not 312 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,840 going to allow that to happen. And so he's going to step in. 313 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:44,160 And we see here that these two nations are, again, not trying 314 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,880 to just complete a military feat. 315 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,920 They're trying to undermine the redemptive purposes of the Lord. 316 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,840 That's what's happening, and it's in this very passage where 317 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:57,880 you and I find one of the most quoted Messianic prophecies 318 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,840 concerning the birth of the Savior, right? 319 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,640 Look at verse 13. And I hope understanding the 320 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,720 context makes this passage so much sweeter to your soul. 321 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,640 Isaiah 713 And he said here then, O House of David, is it 322 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,440 too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 323 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,760 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. 324 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,000 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and 325 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:26,840 shall call his name Emmanuel. So you pluck that out and you 326 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,200 quote it around Christmas time. And people are warned by the 327 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,120 thought that this was a prophecy given 700 years before the time 328 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:36,080 of Christ. But leave it in its context and 329 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,480 see how profound this prophecy is that the Lord is not just 330 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,000 approaching a has to promise Him deliverance. 331 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,920 Look very carefully because there's a lot of debate about 332 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,440 what this prophecy really entails. 333 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,800 Here's a clue, verse 13 and he said here then, O House of 334 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:58,480 David, he's not just speaking to a has because you have a lot of 335 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,800 people attempting to say that this prophecy deals with what 336 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,800 was going on merely 700 years ago under a has his 337 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,480 administration. No more than that. 338 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,320 There's nothing to do with the Messiah, supposedly, but here's 339 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,760 my first clue. Isaiah is speaking to the House 340 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:21,440 of David, to the dynasty of David, to the seed of David, so 341 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,840 to speak. And what does he want to say? 342 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,320 He wants to reassure the House of David that in this 343 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:34,000 frightening time and in any time, God's promise will be kept 344 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:37,560 and it will be known through the birth of a supernatural child. 345 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,080 In other words, this child he will secure and he will fulfill 346 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,880 God's promise to David. Because later on in Isaiah 96, 347 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,080 with that same theme in mind, he adds to who this child will be. 348 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,640 Doesn't he not in verse six that a child will be born and his son 349 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,280 will be given and he will what? Increase the government and of 350 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:00,800 peace. There will be no end. 351 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,120 And this child, out of all these amazing titles given to him, the 352 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,440 one that stands out I believe the most is the fact that he 353 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,360 will be mighty God. He'll be mighty God. 354 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,960 So how this fits with the story is that House of David, you have 355 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,280 nothing to fear now, and you never have any reason to fear 356 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:26,280 because there's a child coming who will fulfill my promise, and 357 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:31,160 that's our Christ. So there's a deeper war going on 358 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,720 here. There's something beyond the 359 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,320 surface that we are supposed to grasp. 360 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,280 That's why God steps in for His name's sake. 361 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,240 Ultimately. Let's come back to 2nd Kings 16, 362 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,920 shall we? How is Ahaz going to respond to 363 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,480 this prophetic word, to the kindness of God, the mercy of 364 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,000 God? Well, it's here in verse 6 at 365 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,440 that time resident, the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria 366 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,640 and drove the men of Judah from Elath and the Edomites came to 367 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,000 Elath where they dwell to this day. 368 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,160 So pause. It's not as though a has was not 369 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,520 going to be chastised at all. You go to this and you see 370 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,280 expounded in Second Chronicles 28. 371 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,640 They suffered a lot. They lost a lot of their 372 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,000 citizens. They lost some land. 373 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,240 So the Lord isn't just winking at this man's sin. 374 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,600 He promises and he protects the Davidic dynasty, but he allows A 375 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,320 has to be punished. It gets worse. 376 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:32,640 Verse 7 So A has sent messengers to Tig Tiglath, thy Lizer king 377 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:38,000 of Assyria, saying I am your servant and your son come up and 378 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,600 rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria, from the hand of 379 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:46,400 the king of Israel who are attacking me instead of melting 380 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,560 at the mercy of God. Instead of hearing this word 381 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:55,640 from Isaiah and saying so foolish, look at my lineage, 382 00:24:55,640 --> 00:25:02,000 look at my ancestry. Look, I'm I'm a son of David and 383 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,160 crying out to God to receive his help. 384 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:10,520 He turns to a wicked nation and look at the desperate language 385 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:15,120 he applies. I am your servant and your son. 386 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:18,960 This is what he says to the king of Assyria. 387 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,200 If only I'd say that to the king of the heavens. 388 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,560 And so many thoughts ran through my mind at this juncture, and 389 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,280 the main one that came to me is this. 390 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:35,320 No man is truly autonomous. We all serve someone. 391 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:40,640 We all serve something. And the choice is yours, who 392 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,680 your master will be. And I'm aware that there might 393 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:48,040 be some here, more likely people who will watch us later that 394 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,120 would object. What nonsense. 395 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:56,600 I'm a servant to no man. I'm the master of my faith. 396 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:03,520 I'm the captain of my soul. I call the shots and I respond 397 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,600 to that on the basis of the authority of God's Word, that 398 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:12,000 one of the things that sin does to deceive us is make you think 399 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,440 that you have boundless freedom when in fact you're a slave. 400 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:21,000 You think you're free. You're actually a prisoner to 401 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:27,480 your corrupt nature. The Bible speaks about us being 402 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,480 a servant of one or two things. You're either a servant to sin 403 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:35,840 or you're a servant to God. Those are your options. 404 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,040 And even if you think you're serving self, you're serving 405 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,520 sin. That's exactly what's happening. 406 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,440 And here's what you have to do. Please listen carefully. 407 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,200 If you believe that there is relief or help outside of 408 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,400 surrendering to the Lord Jesus Christ, you can expect the same 409 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,200 outcomes that we see here with Ahaz when he throws himself at 410 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,240 the feet of a wicked master. What happens next? 411 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:06,040 Look at verse 8. It has also took the silver and 412 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,600 gold that was found in the House of the Lord and the treasures of 413 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,000 the King's house and sent the present to the king of Assyria. 414 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:19,440 So this man, in order to persuade Assyria to come to 415 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,440 their defense, depletes his own resources and strips the 416 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,480 treasures out of the House of God. 417 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:31,600 Because there is always a cost to having a master over your 418 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,040 life apart from Christ. Always. 419 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,840 And it's a heavy price. It always is. 420 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,840 And here's what blows my mind about a has. 421 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,840 If he had just looked to the Lord and said, I am your servant 422 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,120 and I am your son, he could have saved all those resources. 423 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,280 And more than just save them, God would have gladly added to 424 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,640 them. This is the difference between 425 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,160 Christ as our master and any other master. 426 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:00,960 We're going to expound to that in a moment, but I want to let 427 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,120 you know that this is a promise that the New Testament makes for 428 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,720 those who choose Christ. Can I remind you of Romans 622? 429 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,120 It's worth highlighting, but it has this language in it 430 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:14,720 concerning slavery, namely slavery to God. 431 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,360 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become 432 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:23,240 slaves of God, Paul says, what's the outcome of that? 433 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,840 The fruit you get leads to sanctification and it's end 434 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:32,880 eternal life. Now when you hear slave, what 435 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,640 things come to mind? Somebody's a slave to someone 436 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,480 else. You think of loss, the loss of 437 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,400 freedom, the loss of integrity, the loss of joy. 438 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:47,440 But Paul clarifies, when you're a slave of God, you gain, you 439 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,880 win, you receive the fruit. Is what? 440 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,680 Sanctification, a spirit, empowered work and 441 00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,200 transformation in your life. You inherit that power, you 442 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,000 inherit that promise, and here is the end of it, eternal life. 443 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,520 How can you lose? You can't lose. 444 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,760 So we see here that to be a slave of God, you win. 445 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:14,480 And that's why those apostles in the beginning of their letters, 446 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,400 they unashamedly say we're bond servants of Jesus Christ. 447 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,160 We're bond servants of Jesus Christ. 448 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,360 We're bond servants of Jesus Christ because they want to say 449 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,960 one of two things. One, they want to say this is my 450 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,240 loyalty to him. I'm a slave. 451 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,960 I'm forever owned by my God. And two, He is a worthy master. 452 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:38,200 He gives you the choice. Take my yoke upon you. 453 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,320 Take it. You can refuse it. 454 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,640 Take it. And when you put it on, you 455 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,200 realize this is light. This is light. 456 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:53,120 This isn't heavy. And so we see here that this man 457 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,240 chooses otherwise, and it's so sad to witness because it only 458 00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,520 gets worse. That's not the only outcome of 459 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,960 choosing another master. Verse 9. 460 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,960 And the king of Assyria listened to him. 461 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,520 The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, 462 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,720 carrying its people captive to cur, and he killed resin. 463 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:21,600 Here's what you can expect if you so choose to submit yourself 464 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,400 to someone apart from the Savior. 465 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:29,160 You can expect deceptively profitable results. 466 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:35,640 Not just profitable results, Deceptively profitable results. 467 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,440 What happens here? He pays the price. 468 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,200 He bribes Assyria. Assyria, stepson on his behalf, 469 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,760 goes to war with Syria, defeats the king of Syria. 470 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,520 What can be more permanent in a victory than that? 471 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:59,280 So you wonder if he has thought to himself, it worked, it 472 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,560 worked. I didn't have to give up my sin. 473 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,280 I didn't have to repent. I didn't have to confess that 474 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,720 I'm this or that. I just turned to a powerful 475 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,120 nation. I paid them and they're able to 476 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,560 do this. Who needs God? 477 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,720 Well, what we're going to be reminded of is this, that sin 478 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:27,800 often times when it is indulged, when it is pursued, is sweet, 479 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,640 but it will eventually turn sour. 480 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:36,040 Always, always. And it's not until you go to 481 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:40,120 Second Chronicles 28 where you see that take place. 482 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:42,840 Now let's turn to the parallel account. 483 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:49,080 I want you to see the playbook of sin because when A has said 484 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,760 to Assyria, I am your servant and your son, what he was 485 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:57,120 essentially saying was we as a Kingdom want to become a vassal 486 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,600 state. We are subjugating our Kingdom 487 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,760 to the partial ownership of your Kingdom, Assyria. 488 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,720 So essentially what he does is he allows Assyria to put a leash 489 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:12,760 on his neck and notice what happens in Second Chronicles 28 490 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,720 verse 20, the added commentary of this outcome. 491 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,040 So Tiglath pilots are king of Assyria came against him, him 492 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:25,080 being a has by the way and afflicted him instead of 493 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:29,680 strengthening him for a has took a portion from the House of the 494 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,320 Lord and the House of the king and of the Princess and gave 495 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,400 tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him. 496 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,560 It didn't it was temporary reprieve. 497 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:47,800 It was short lived. I've yet to have anybody show 498 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,160 me. Point to me somebody who has 499 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:54,000 walked away from the Lord Jesus Christ and we're better off. 500 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,600 Do you know somebody? Prove it, Show me. 501 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,480 I've never seen it in these 12 years of walking with Christ. 502 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,360 Oh, don't be fooled by the social media post. 503 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:11,880 They don't come to church anymore. 504 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,560 They're not serving the Lord anymore, but they're all smiley 505 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,360 with their filters in a place that you know no Christians has 506 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,920 no business being at, with people that no Christian has any 507 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,520 right according to the Word of God associating with. 508 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,160 And they look all dandy and they look all comfortable and they 509 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:28,560 look like they're having a grand time. 510 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,640 You can't yoke yourself to another master. 511 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:37,520 And no true joy and no true strength and no true help. 512 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:43,240 You'll never see it. And it's in Second King 16 where 513 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:48,880 we're reminded of that, how Syria will weaken a HAS and it 514 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:54,960 will bring Judah to a new law. And this is where I believe A 515 00:33:54,960 --> 00:34:00,000 HAS stands out. Verse 10 of Second King 16. 516 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:06,800 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pilasur, king of 517 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,120 Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. 518 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:16,560 And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest, a model of the altar and 519 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:20,199 its pattern exact and all its details. 520 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:25,000 And Uriah the priest built the altar in accordance with all 521 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,320 that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. 522 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:32,080 So Uriah the priest made it before King Ahaz arrived from 523 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:37,679 Damascus. This is shocking. 524 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,600 So now Ahaz makes his way to meet with the king of Assyria. 525 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,000 I'm sure to thank him. And when he comes into that 526 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,400 region, Damascus, something catches his eye. 527 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,840 An altar obviously dedicated to a false deity. 528 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,960 And there's debate here. Was this an Assyrian altar, 529 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,520 presumably because Assyria invaded and took over, and 530 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,600 perhaps to pay homage to their God, they set up this altar and 531 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:12,480 worshipped on it in this land. Or is this plainly an altar that 532 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:16,440 was belonging to the Syrians? And why that's up for debate is 533 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,720 because when you go to Second Chronicles 28 and you don't have 534 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:22,720 to turn there, you read explicitly that it was an altar 535 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:26,000 dedicated to the gods of the kings of Syria, not us Syria. 536 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,840 If it's us Syria, then you have King A has deceived and 537 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,400 thinking, oh, it's it's the the gods of the Assyrians. 538 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,760 I brought about this victory. If it's an altar dedicated to 539 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:43,280 the Syrians, then you just have another case of a darkened mind. 540 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:47,560 What happens when a man long enough turns his back on the 541 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,040 Lord? It skews his judgement. 542 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:56,480 Imagine I'm going to replicate this altar that the Syrians had 543 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,760 in worship to their God when their God clearly could not 544 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:05,400 deliver them. We underestimate how sin can 545 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:10,960 make people stupid. And we look out in the world. 546 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,800 We say, how are they doing that? How are they believing like 547 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:15,640 that? How are they acting like that? 548 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,280 Such is the consequence of sin. It it's scars and it Mars and it 549 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:25,200 muddies and it blurs and so you look at it like it just doesn't 550 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,520 make sense. And that's why some people think 551 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:30,280 it's more Assyria because I just they can't fathom how you would 552 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,720 take the Syrian altar to his home. 553 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:37,240 Well, we can believe it because that's what sin does and empires 554 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:40,840 you. Either way, we see that this man 555 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:45,560 is wanting to copy paste this altar and bring it to the House 556 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:52,760 of worship in Jerusalem. This is staggering, and I don't 557 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,200 know what's more shocking and disappointing, the king who made 558 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:57,240 this request or the priest who complied with it. 559 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:03,040 Gone are the days when temple ministers in Jerusalem would 560 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,560 stand up to tyrannical requests of kings to meddle the affairs 561 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,720 of Israel's center of worship. We've seen in our study how in 562 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:16,320 different occasions, priests would stand up to kings who try 563 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,920 to interfere and tamper with the temple, risking their lives in 564 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:23,480 doing so. And you would hope that this 565 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,040 would be another case of it. And what do we find? 566 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:31,240 You are the priest bending over, giving over to this man's 567 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:35,720 disgusting request. And this morning I was 568 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:38,280 meditating on this text, and my mind went to another passage of 569 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:41,520 Scripture, not anywhere near here, back in Exodus. 570 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:43,040 And you know this. You don't have to turn there in 571 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,800 Exodus 32, when the leader of the people of Israel is on a 572 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,520 mountaintop communing with God, receiving instructions for this 573 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,400 covenant nation. And in the impatience and the 574 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:59,680 feverish lust of the nation of Israel, they turn to Aaron, who 575 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:07,520 was the high priest up and make for us Gods. 576 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,680 What did Aaron do? He complied. 577 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:19,640 If you aspire to be a leader in the church, listen very 578 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,600 carefully. You have to be continually on 579 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,000 guard, and you have to be continually filled with the Holy 580 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:30,160 Spirit because pressures will come from all sides to amend how 581 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:35,440 God ought to be worshipped. And that pressure may come from 582 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:39,920 governmental leaders like Ahaz or may come from the very people 583 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,440 that you're trying to lead into pure devotion, like in the 584 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:49,160 Exodus with Aaron. Whether you are a parent or a 585 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:55,680 pastor, stand your ground and honor God's word no matter what 586 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,800 it costs you, because one compromise will always lead to 587 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,480 more. That's we're going to find out. 588 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:07,840 How do we see it in this story? Well, he requests that this 589 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:10,840 altar would be built. Now let's look at verse 12 of 590 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:15,840 Second King 16 And when the king came from Damascus, the king 591 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:19,200 viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the 592 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:22,880 altar and went up on it. Hold on, hold on, what are you 593 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:27,200 doing? He went up on it. 594 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:31,400 Look at verse 13 and burnt his burnt offering and his grain 595 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,320 offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of 596 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,040 his peace offerings on the altar. 597 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:42,960 Apart from this being a foreign altar, you have now a has 598 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:44,960 believing he can operate as what? 599 00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:49,000 A priest? Have we seen any king try to act 600 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,560 like a priest before Uzziah? Did it go well for him? 601 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:58,440 This is dangerous play here. You're flirting with death. 602 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:03,760 Oh, there's so many things that we can say about this passage, 603 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,360 but let me just make one observation. 604 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:11,880 Here you have a man who is anti God, anti repentance, anti true 605 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,920 worship. But he seems very, very 606 00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:21,120 interested in spiritual matters. Do you see that for a man who 607 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,600 doesn't want God, doesn't want the word of God, doesn't honor 608 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:28,720 the prophetic word, he's heavily invested in religious affairs. 609 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:30,880 Don't you see this elaborate description? 610 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:33,440 He gave this offering and that offering he wanted out of all 611 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:35,760 the things that he took out of Damascus, he wanted an altar 612 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,320 built. What's the lesson here? 613 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,280 You have many people today who claim to be spiritual and 614 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:42,400 religious. That doesn't mean that they know 615 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:45,720 God. That language is being thrown 616 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:50,160 around all the time now means very little these days. 617 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,720 And here's where it hits closer to home. 618 00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:58,480 It's a sobering lesson for us that you can be so preoccupied 619 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,160 with religious activity and be so far from God at the same 620 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:04,240 time. Isn't that right? 621 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,240 What about Herod? We're told her that Herod heard 622 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:14,160 John the Baptist. Gladly preacher, I love when you 623 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:19,480 preach the sermons man, you get me thinking you, you inspire me. 624 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:23,080 Or you can think and you can inspire on your way to hell. 625 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:30,040 If you have not repented and put your trust in the Lord Jesus 626 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:33,160 Christ. You can be in front of an altar 627 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:37,200 every weekend. You can lift your hand and put 628 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:40,280 it in the bucket and raise. You can do all of that. 629 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,360 Still not know God? Here's Ahaz. 630 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,920 If you don't know who this man really was and saw him at it, 631 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:49,200 this is, you would think, wow, look at all those offerings. 632 00:41:49,720 --> 00:41:53,840 Wow, look at all the investment. Surely he's a spiritual man. 633 00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:58,680 No, he was a wicked man. He was a wicked man. 634 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:02,800 And so we have to understand what it truly means to be born 635 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,840 again, transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and giving to 636 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:10,240 the Lord what He truly asks of us. 637 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:16,240 Faith and from that place of faith regeneration and the Holy 638 00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:20,120 Spirit working in us to offer true and pleasing sacrifices to 639 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,080 him. So we see this man preoccupied 640 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,560 with these things, but it gets worse. 641 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,160 Let's come back to our main text in verse 15. 642 00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:34,520 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest saying on the great 643 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:39,040 altar, burn the morning offering and the evening green offering 644 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,680 and the King's burnt offering and his grain offering with the 645 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:43,760 burnt offering of all the people, the land and their green 646 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,280 offering and their drink offering and throw on it all the 647 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:48,880 blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. 648 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,440 But the bronze altar shall be made for me to inquire by. 649 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,640 Now here's what's amazing. He asked of this after something 650 00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:00,880 he said in verse 14, because we we assume here that this altar 651 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:03,000 was made. We don't know exactly where was 652 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:08,480 built, but verse 14 clarifies its new location And the bronze 653 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:12,160 altar that was before the Lord, He removed from the front of the 654 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:15,720 house, from the place between his altar and the House of the 655 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:19,560 Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. 656 00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:25,600 What do we make of this? We remember the Tabernacle that 657 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:28,240 was later the temple. When you walk through that 658 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:31,760 Eastgate into the temple courtyard, the first thing you 659 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:36,600 would see is this bronze altar, and on that bronze altars where 660 00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:39,480 all the main animal sacrifices took place. 661 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:42,960 And that's why it's so important to read through Exodus, 662 00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:46,520 especially where God gives specific instructions about not 663 00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:50,080 just what's to be built, but where was to be built, where was 664 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:52,680 supposed to be stationed, what materials it was to be made of. 665 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:55,680 And that's what we see here, that it was supposed to be the 666 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:57,480 first thing that somebody would witness. 667 00:43:57,480 --> 00:43:59,560 Why? Because God wanted to be the 668 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,200 first message that you would know when you walked into His 669 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:06,280 presence. I'm a Sinner and I need 670 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:10,280 atonement. I need something, someone to 671 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:14,240 stand in my place to receive judgement on my behalf. 672 00:44:14,240 --> 00:44:16,120 That's the first message that you're to get. 673 00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:22,400 And what does this man do? He removes the altar, tucks it 674 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:27,040 away in the corner and replaces it with this brand new altar. 675 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,480 This is a madman. He's thinking to himself, I 676 00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:36,360 think that the temple needs a fresh change, a touch up, if you 677 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:41,280 will, an update. And he feels liberty to maneuver 678 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:47,240 and remodel the House of God. And here's the warning for us. 679 00:44:47,560 --> 00:44:52,920 Please listen very carefully. Innovation and syncretism are 680 00:44:52,920 --> 00:45:00,720 always at the front door of the church, waiting to rearrange the 681 00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:07,400 household of God. And often times they make subtle 682 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,320 advancements. Notice that A has didn't destroy 683 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:13,240 the bronze altar. He just moved it. 684 00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:18,760 Right, He just moved it. And I argue that churches and 685 00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:23,200 ministries do the same today, meaning they don't outright 686 00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:28,840 cancel core tenets of our faith. Clear doctrines in the Word of 687 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:32,200 God, they just make false ones more central. 688 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:36,600 And so the emphasis of their message and their efforts is no 689 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:38,560 longer what God designates for his church. 690 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:43,360 It's what is the latest fad. Let's make that the thing that 691 00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:45,560 people see. That's what we're known for. 692 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:50,560 And let's just push aside what God wanted from the beginning. 693 00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:55,040 And if anyone protests or expresses concern of what's 694 00:45:55,040 --> 00:46:01,680 being presented, what's preeminent, here's the strategy. 695 00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:03,720 Oh, no, no, no, no. Just like A has. 696 00:46:03,720 --> 00:46:06,200 If anybody came up to A has and said A has, where's the bronze? 697 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:08,760 Although it's over there. I don't know. 698 00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:10,800 It's over there. Don't we believe those things? 699 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:12,560 Did you see the statement of faith on our website? 700 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:15,440 Oh, yeah. Yeah. 701 00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:17,960 You believe in the gospel. But why are you all about social 702 00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:21,200 justice then? Oh, yeah. 703 00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:23,800 You believe in regeneration. Then why are you proposing, more 704 00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:29,320 than anything else, race? I can give you example after 705 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:33,600 example after example. Let's just push it aside and 706 00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:37,680 let's bring this now. I think that's actually going to 707 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:43,720 be something God blesses. Another way of seeing this is 708 00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:49,040 how destruction to our faith begins by simply removing or 709 00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:52,240 replacing things in the Bible that we don't like. 710 00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:56,880 I don't mind the Ark of the Covenant. 711 00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:02,560 I don't mind the curtains. It's just the bronze altar. 712 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,880 Let's just move that. Let's just deal with that. 713 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:13,280 And every generation has known a different assault on different 714 00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:14,840 truths, and sometimes there are more than one. 715 00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:18,960 Can I see? Can I tell you what I see today? 716 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:21,920 What's becoming more and more prominent? 717 00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:33,200 Elders aren't just men. Women can be elders as well. 718 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:39,000 And that's becoming more and more popular. 719 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:41,240 And you think, well, what's the big deal? 720 00:47:41,240 --> 00:47:46,200 You're just moving it aside. You're just changing it a little 721 00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:50,120 bit. You can never do that and think 722 00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:52,600 that a little leaven won't affect the whole lump. 723 00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:58,360 Wherever the Bible is clear on an issue, you stand your ground 724 00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:03,680 and you defend it, and you preach it and you counsel it. 725 00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:10,240 And yes, we're charitable and we're gracious when things are 726 00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:11,760 maybe a little bit more ambiguous. 727 00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:21,000 But I want you to see how this strategy is an ancient 1, little 728 00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:27,000 by little now, outright bloating things, just moving them, 729 00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:32,880 replacing them, covering them, coloring them. 730 00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:40,880 What happens we see here that after they move it, he gets 731 00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:42,240 specific instructions to your eye. 732 00:48:42,240 --> 00:48:43,960 The priest, right? He says this is the altar that 733 00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:45,720 we're going to be performing sacrifices on now. 734 00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:50,880 But notice the last part of verse 15 and all the blood of 735 00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:53,720 the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be 736 00:48:53,720 --> 00:49:01,160 for me to inquire by. So hold on, what's this man 737 00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:02,600 thinking? I'm trying to figure it out. 738 00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:05,680 I think I'm on to something though. 739 00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:11,720 He has enough awareness that it would not be good for his image 740 00:49:11,720 --> 00:49:15,880 if he destroys this altar or completely ignores it. 741 00:49:16,080 --> 00:49:18,800 Perhaps. Or maybe he's just convinced 742 00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:21,160 that, you know, yes, we're going to have this altar. 743 00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:26,680 But as long as I keep this intact, surely I can inquire of 744 00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:30,560 the God of Israel and receive some kind of benefit from him 745 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:33,560 while I have this altar here as well. 746 00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:41,240 And here's the lesson that people who outright challenge, 747 00:49:41,240 --> 00:49:46,120 change, delete, replace, clear, choosing the Word of God, many 748 00:49:46,120 --> 00:49:52,920 of them believe that they can still access God and believe 749 00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:55,480 that he will shower them with favor and understanding. 750 00:49:56,720 --> 00:50:00,960 What I mean by that is they're deceived as though they have the 751 00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:04,800 right to remodel God's blueprint for his church or maybe maybe 752 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:08,120 even for your own life as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and 753 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:15,280 that you can have total access, total blessing, total, whatever 754 00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:19,000 you want to call it. And yet the psalmist says, if I 755 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:22,600 cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have heard 756 00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:28,080 me. You can't explicitly, you can't 757 00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:32,240 directly disobey and expect God to give you his ear. 758 00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:37,600 Yes, that's all. And there are many people who 759 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:40,600 think the same. We can live in sin. 760 00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:45,760 I think that everything's OK as long as I pray in the name of 761 00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,920 Jesus. He's not a genie, he's not a 762 00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:53,800 good luck charm, He's a person, he's a king, he's a God. 763 00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:57,440 Well, he has unfortunately didn't see it that way. 764 00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:01,400 And we see here something quite interesting. 765 00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:04,880 The last part of the study. Look at verse 17. 766 00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:09,440 And King A has cut off the frames of the stands and remove 767 00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:12,360 the basin from them. And he took down the sea from 768 00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,560 off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone 769 00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:18,000 pedestal. And he covered way for the 770 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:22,240 Sabbath that was that had been built inside the house. 771 00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:25,280 And the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the 772 00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:27,800 House of the Lord because of the king of Assyria. 773 00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:29,760 So what happens here? Let's just look at it. 774 00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:32,000 Slowly. The king went from replacing the 775 00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,480 bronze altar with his own innovative altar. 776 00:51:34,720 --> 00:51:36,800 And then from there he begins to now mess around with other 777 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:40,680 articles in the House of God. Verse 17, he cuts off the frames 778 00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:42,200 of the stands, remove the basin from them. 779 00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:44,840 He took down the sea from the bronze ox and that were under 780 00:51:44,840 --> 00:51:46,760 it, and he put on a stone pedestal. 781 00:51:47,400 --> 00:51:52,960 A little leaven effects a whole lump. 11 is the whole thing. 782 00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:55,160 It started with one thing to replace. 783 00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:56,440 It started with one thing to change. 784 00:51:56,560 --> 00:51:58,840 And now all these other things are being eaten away at. 785 00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:02,240 Erosion now is coming to the entire place. 786 00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:06,840 And though that is, I'm sure one thing that we can take from 787 00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:09,640 this, I think there's another angle to it, that when you and I 788 00:52:09,640 --> 00:52:13,800 accept and establish something that God disapproves of, 789 00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:20,080 something that's clearly against His will, it will begin to ruin 790 00:52:20,080 --> 00:52:25,760 other things in your life. No matter what that sin in sin 791 00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:28,280 is, if you hold on to it, if you refuse to acknowledge it for 792 00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,880 what it is and turn away from it, give it a little bit of time 793 00:52:33,320 --> 00:52:36,640 and it will begin to now bleed into other matters. 794 00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:40,920 It will affect your marriage. Sin will take a toll on your 795 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:43,600 finances. Even sin will impact your 796 00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:46,680 health. It will it will destroy 797 00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:49,440 relationships. It will weaken your ministry. 798 00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:52,240 It will dull your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. 799 00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:56,640 It will rob from you the experiential presence of God. 800 00:52:57,480 --> 00:52:59,800 What I see here is that it began with one choice, but then it 801 00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:04,280 began to affect so many other things, such as the way of sin. 802 00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:08,520 It's rarely localized. It can really be contained. 803 00:53:08,720 --> 00:53:12,000 It's like cancer. It devours and it wants to 804 00:53:12,000 --> 00:53:13,880 destroy everything. It wants to shut down every 805 00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:16,160 vital organ. It wants to kill you. 806 00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:24,000 If only we would see sin that way, like cancer, like a lethal 807 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,600 disease, like poison, a drop of poison in a cup. 808 00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:30,320 You wouldn't drink that cup. Even if it looked like water, 809 00:53:30,320 --> 00:53:32,160 even though it looked clear, you would have put it in your mouth 810 00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:34,840 because you know just how dangerous it is. 811 00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:38,200 He has thought that he can just replace an altar, put the real 812 00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:40,000 one aside. And what began to happen? 813 00:53:40,960 --> 00:53:45,840 Corruption in the courtyard with other things. 814 00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:49,280 When you read Second Chronicles 28, you know what it came down 815 00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:51,360 to. The doors of the temple were 816 00:53:51,360 --> 00:53:57,400 shut, and it would take Hezekiah to open those doors again and 817 00:53:57,400 --> 00:54:01,680 bring life to the temple. Here's ramaning. 818 00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:04,560 Notice the last part of verse 18. 819 00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:07,880 Why did he do all this? Because of the king of Assyria. 820 00:54:10,120 --> 00:54:13,880 Because he had a new master. And in case we didn't get it, 821 00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:18,080 the author ends this account by reinforcing why A HAS was doing 822 00:54:18,080 --> 00:54:20,640 what he was doing. He was a slave. 823 00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:26,040 And in order to appease his new master, he made all these 824 00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:27,680 changes. He went to great lengths of 825 00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:31,200 disregard the one who was sovereign over Assyria and all 826 00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:35,080 nations for that matter. And here's where I personally 827 00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:37,560 landed at the end of this chapter. 828 00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:42,080 It's so mind boggling to me that this man who said to Assyria, I 829 00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:45,840 am your servant, I am your son, was in fact a son of David. 830 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:51,640 David who did what? He gave up of his personal 831 00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:55,960 fortune to invest in the temple, even though he wouldn't be able 832 00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:59,640 to see with his own eyes, to beautify the temple, the exact 833 00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:04,600 opposite of this man. And did you know that David 834 00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:07,080 himself expressed to God that he was his slave? 835 00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:11,160 Oh, yeah, he had a throne. Oh, yeah, he had a mighty army. 836 00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:16,600 But he even expressed to the Lord, I am your slave in a way 837 00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:18,760 perhaps that you might have missed. 838 00:55:18,960 --> 00:55:21,760 Here's our final passage of Scripture, Psalm 40. 839 00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:24,960 Let's go to verse 6. This is a Psalm of David. 840 00:55:25,520 --> 00:55:41,280 Notice what he says. In sacrifice and offering you 841 00:55:41,280 --> 00:55:45,000 have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. 842 00:55:45,720 --> 00:55:48,560 Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 843 00:55:48,560 --> 00:55:51,560 This is a messianic Psalm, yes, but I believe there is an 844 00:55:51,560 --> 00:55:53,480 element of it that is personal to David. 845 00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:58,600 He's telling God what he really wants and notice this 846 00:55:58,600 --> 00:56:01,880 interesting phrase. You have given me an open ear. 847 00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:07,080 Now face value, that just may seem like him saying you've 848 00:56:07,080 --> 00:56:09,240 given me an ear that is attentive, that is willing to 849 00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:12,080 listen, that is ready to obey. Whatever you give as a command, 850 00:56:12,080 --> 00:56:16,320 I will comply. But I believe there's something 851 00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:17,480 else too. There's an illusion. 852 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:23,720 There's an allusion to a custom of the Old Testament relating to 853 00:56:23,720 --> 00:56:27,200 Hebrew slaves. Write this down for another 854 00:56:27,200 --> 00:56:30,520 time. It's an Exodus 21 where you have 855 00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:35,080 instructions given by God about Hebrew slaves, Hebrew owners who 856 00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:38,600 had Hebrew slaves, and they were to work for someone for six 857 00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,320 years, but on the 7th year they were to be set free. 858 00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:44,960 But there was a choice that could be made from the one that 859 00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:47,560 was set free. The slave, if he loved his 860 00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:51,560 master, if he loved his wife and his children whom he had under 861 00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:56,800 his master, he could go back, look at his master in the face 862 00:56:56,800 --> 00:56:58,760 and say I want to be your slave forever. 863 00:57:00,800 --> 00:57:04,480 And the ritual was this, that his ear would be placed at the 864 00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:09,760 door and an awl would Pierce that earlobe, and that would be 865 00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:13,200 the mark of his permanent servitude to that master. 866 00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:16,920 Goes to show what slavery must have been like for somebody to 867 00:57:16,920 --> 00:57:21,960 even have that option, at least in the context of Israel. 868 00:57:24,200 --> 00:57:27,960 And I think that what David is saying here to God is just that 869 00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:34,280 you've given me an open ear. And do you know why some people 870 00:57:34,280 --> 00:57:35,720 don't believe that's what David is saying? 871 00:57:36,240 --> 00:57:39,280 Because when you look at in the Hebrew, the word ear is plural. 872 00:57:40,880 --> 00:57:45,240 So how that would translate literally is ears. 873 00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:50,800 You have dugout for me. So how can that be connected to 874 00:57:50,800 --> 00:57:53,800 Exodus 21 when it was one ear that was highlighted? 875 00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:57,720 So this, this, this just must mean that he is speaking about 876 00:57:57,840 --> 00:58:00,280 his willingness to obey. He's in tune with the will of 877 00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:04,200 God and he wants to be in tune with the will of God always. 878 00:58:05,640 --> 00:58:09,840 Or could it be that David is saying something special and 879 00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:13,440 knowing what the law of God was, he looks to the Lord in this 880 00:58:13,440 --> 00:58:16,440 Psalm and he says, Lord, I know that in Exodus 21 that if a 881 00:58:16,440 --> 00:58:19,000 slave loved his master, he would OfferUp one year. 882 00:58:19,400 --> 00:58:23,360 I want to give you both of mine. I don't want to just give you 1. 883 00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:27,000 I want to give you both my ears. Take them. 884 00:58:28,640 --> 00:58:30,920 Do whatever you need to do in me for me to be completely devoted 885 00:58:30,920 --> 00:58:33,280 to you. I won't just give you 1 to 886 00:58:33,280 --> 00:58:34,520 Pierce. I'll give you both. 887 00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:40,280 Have all of me take control. I surrender and I submit myself 888 00:58:40,280 --> 00:58:44,640 to you. Ultimately, that's Jesus, 889 00:58:45,560 --> 00:58:48,200 because the same passage is referenced in the book of 890 00:58:48,200 --> 00:58:51,000 Hebrews concerning Christ and His perfect obedience to the 891 00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:54,480 will of the Father. Here's my question for you at 892 00:58:54,480 --> 00:58:58,280 the end of this study. How much of you wants to be 893 00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:05,000 completely for Him? How much is there any part of 894 00:59:05,000 --> 00:59:06,680 you that you have reserved to yourself? 895 00:59:07,760 --> 00:59:10,600 Is there any area in your life where you know God's Word is so 896 00:59:10,600 --> 00:59:13,000 clear on it, but you refuse to let it go? 897 00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:16,240 Or maybe you've grown up hearing something. 898 00:59:17,680 --> 00:59:20,360 You've grown up worshiping at an altar that is not really the 899 00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:24,000 altar of God. You've been trained to worship 900 00:59:24,040 --> 00:59:26,880 at something that has replaced the truth. 901 00:59:30,520 --> 00:59:33,800 Are you willing to obey everything that God reveals 902 00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:37,200 about himself? Are there some things that you 903 00:59:37,200 --> 00:59:42,680 feel liberty to change? I want to tell you today that 904 00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:47,520 what the Lord deserves, because He is worthy, is you 905 00:59:47,520 --> 00:59:52,520 surrendering everything to him, a slave of God, a slave of Jesus 906 00:59:52,520 --> 00:59:59,040 Christ. I want to encourage you tonight 907 00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:02,520 that at this Bible study you would make that decision, if you 908 01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:07,200 haven't yet, that you would echo the psalmist cry. 909 01:00:09,120 --> 01:00:11,920 Lord, you're not after ritual. You're not after my attendance. 910 01:00:12,800 --> 01:00:16,800 You're not after my money. You're not after my ministry 911 01:00:16,800 --> 01:00:19,960 service. You want me. 912 01:00:22,560 --> 01:00:31,600 So take my ears, take my heart, take my life and seal it for the 913 01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:33,800 rest of my days to your ownership. 914 01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:38,840 And I will do so gladly. His yoke is easy. 915 01:00:39,720 --> 01:00:43,160 His burden is light. There is no master like Jesus. 916 01:00:43,680 --> 01:01:12,360 Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, that Your Word 917 01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:21,880 is ferociously powerful. We ask that our hearts would 918 01:01:21,880 --> 01:01:23,480 burn within us, if they haven't already. 919 01:01:29,520 --> 01:01:33,720 Help this ministry and every ministry represented here to 920 01:01:33,800 --> 01:01:39,680 honor Your blueprint for the House of God and for us as 921 01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:45,120 individual temples of the Holy Spirit, from top to bottom, side 922 01:01:45,120 --> 01:01:47,240 to side. May every component, every 923 01:01:47,240 --> 01:01:50,200 element, be aligned with your desires. 924 01:01:52,760 --> 01:01:55,080 Renew in awe of you and us, Lord. 925 01:01:57,760 --> 01:02:00,520 May we never give in like Uriah the priest in this story. 926 01:02:01,080 --> 01:02:06,040 No matter who makes the request. In this day and age, help us 927 01:02:06,040 --> 01:02:11,880 stand our ground. And Lord, we tell you gladly 928 01:02:12,440 --> 01:02:15,840 that we do not rely on innovation, human ingenuity, 929 01:02:16,400 --> 01:02:20,880 ideas, what's new, what sparkles, what's popular? 930 01:02:20,880 --> 01:02:26,160 Lord, keep us in the ancient paths and help us trust that 931 01:02:26,160 --> 01:02:30,680 Your word is sufficient. So Lord, give us eyes to see 932 01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:33,760 what Your will is in your word. Give us hearts that adore it. 933 01:02:34,400 --> 01:02:39,200 Help us love you Lord, and if there any, anything that we do 934 01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:42,640 do for you, Lord, anything that we do say on your behalf, may it 935 01:02:42,640 --> 01:02:47,080 come from a heart that belongs to you completely. 936 01:02:48,120 --> 01:02:51,000 And so, Lord, at this time, we just want to sing to you and 937 01:02:51,000 --> 01:02:55,520 worship you and honor you. In Christ's name we pray, Amen, 938 01:02:56,160 --> 01:02:58,200 Amen, Amen. Why don't we stand and worship 939 01:02:58,200 --> 01:03:25,160 the Lord? I failed to mention how a has 940 01:03:25,160 --> 01:03:30,480 goes to Syria to get the pattern of a false altar to bring it 941 01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:34,640 back to Jerusalem. Do you remember what Naman the 942 01:03:34,640 --> 01:03:36,760 Syrian did after he was healed by God? 943 01:03:38,440 --> 01:03:41,200 He asked for the dirt of the land of Israel so that he can 944 01:03:41,200 --> 01:03:45,000 bring it back to Syria and make an altar to the true and living 945 01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:47,560 God. And it's really a foreshadowing 946 01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:51,120 of how the Gentiles are going to respond to true worship. 947 01:03:53,160 --> 01:03:57,800 And the Jews, most of them, really would miss it when Christ 948 01:03:57,800 --> 01:04:02,040 would come. The Word of God is amazing, and 949 01:04:02,040 --> 01:04:05,720 I never failed to be amazed at the Providence of God. 950 01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,760 Here we are talking about the House of God and the Old 951 01:04:08,760 --> 01:04:10,600 covenant. And this Sunday we're going to 952 01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:14,480 come together, if the Lord wills, to look at what Jesus 953 01:04:14,480 --> 01:04:18,160 wants out of his church in Revelation 2 and three. 954 01:04:18,240 --> 01:04:21,880 What does he want? What does Jesus think about our 955 01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:24,200 church? That's what matters the most. 956 01:04:24,880 --> 01:04:28,440 I can't wait to do it with you. Let's pray. 957 01:04:33,280 --> 01:04:39,400 Help us, Lord, to not forget these things. 958 01:04:39,520 --> 01:04:43,040 Chain them around our hearts. I'll keep them close. 959 01:04:43,040 --> 01:04:46,480 Lord, we pray that we would not forget and that you would bring 960 01:04:46,480 --> 01:04:49,240 them to mind and times where we need the most. 961 01:04:49,720 --> 01:04:51,760 Lord bless this time of brief fellowship. 962 01:04:52,120 --> 01:04:55,480 May we be a company of people always who have burning hearts 963 01:04:55,480 --> 01:04:57,200 because of the Word being open to us. 964 01:04:57,560 --> 01:05:00,520 We thank you for this time. We don't take it for granted and 965 01:05:00,520 --> 01:05:03,320 we look forward to it again. Should you tarry, we pray these 966 01:05:03,320 --> 01:05:05,640 things in the living name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 967 01:05:06,120 --> 01:05:10,600 Amen and Amen and Amen. The Lord be with you if you call 968 01:05:10,600 --> 01:05:11,960 this place home or if you're visiting this Sunday. 969 01:05:11,960 --> 01:05:14,920 We're glad to be able to see you if the Lord wills. 970 01:05:14,920 --> 01:05:16,480 Take Care now. Have a wonderful night. 971 01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:17,400 God bless you.