Wednesday Night Service 7PM -

Testing.

You are the Lord, the famous one, famous one. Great is your name in all the heavens declared.

Lord, we come before you this evening and we thank you for another day. And thank you for allowing us to be here tonight, Lord. And just ask that you would move mightily by the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord. Move mightily in our lives. And Lord, and just be with Pastor Ryan and just speak mightily through him. Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And every heart was lost, but he brought me in. Oh, his love for his grace.

As a slave to sin, Jesus died for his heart.

Don't you get... Lord, we just come before you this evening, Lord, with an attitude of gratitude. Lord, we thank you. We thank you for who you are, Lord. For how kind. For how loving, gracious, and merciful you are. We thank you for the work that you've done in our lives. We thank you for the work that you are doing. And we thank you for the work that you're going to do.

Lord, we just thank you for your word this evening. May it go out with power and not return to you void, but accomplish the purpose for which you sent it. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Good evening. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 30.

2 Chronicles chapter 30. We've been looking at the kings of Judah. It's been a real up and down process that they've been going through. Some of the kings have been good. Some have been bad. We're currently on a king by the name of Hezekiah. One of the last good kings that Judah's going to have. There'll be one more after him. But other than that, judgment is probably on its way for the nation of Judah.

But last week we started talking about Hezekiah. And Hezekiah came in right after a terrible king named Ahaz. And Ahaz had introduced... Probably unlike any king that Judah had up to that point in time. And brought about apostasy within the nation that was really, really bad. And so Hezekiah comes in and Hezekiah follows the Lord unlike anyone before him except David.

And ultimately sparks a revival in the nation that really no one had seen before. No one would really see again someone who followed the Lord quite like him. And so he began instituting reforms and he restores temple worship. And so in the process... In the process of him restoring this temple worship, we're going to see a handful of things that he does tonight.

The first of which is to once again celebrate the Passover. It says now, chapter 30, verse 1. Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Israel, or in Jerusalem, had decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month since they could not celebrate it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem.

Thus the thing was right in the sight of the king and all the assembly. So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout all Israel from Beersheba even to Dan that they should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. At Jerusalem for they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was prescribed. And the couriers went throughout all the land of Judah with letters from the hand of the king and the princes even according to the command of the king saying, and we'll look at what they send out here in just a minute.

So just to remind everybody of what the Passover is. The Passover was the first main feast of three that every Jewish male was supposed to celebrate every year because it celebrated the nation of Israel's deliverance. From the nation of Egypt it celebrated their deliverance from the bondage of slavery. And so every year they were supposed to celebrate this Passover as a time to be reminded of the freedom that they had in the Lord.

It is if you will the Old Testament version of what we celebrate with communion because we celebrate communion because that celebrates the fulfillment of the Passover sacrifice in Jesus Christ. And so they were supposed to celebrate this every year. It had been a long time since they'd done it because again the nation had been living in apostasy. So they decide, let's make this a big one.

Let's make this a really big deal and bring as many people in as we can. So what we'll do is we'll not only invite the people in Judah, but we'll even reach out to the northern ten tribes. Now remember there was a major rift between the northern ten tribes and the southern two tribes. So this was a major olive branch, if you will, on the part of Hezekiah to invite the ten northern tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh is who that represents, those ten northern tribes to this celebration.

They said, you know what? No matter how divided we are politically, we can find that we can have common ground under the freedom that we have in the Lord just like we as the church. No matter how divided we can become, we should still be able to find that one common ground of Jesus Christ that unites all of us as the church. And so that's what they did. They said this is a great idea.

Now they had to celebrate it in the second month, which was still legal. Typically it was supposed to be in the first month, but they didn't have enough confidence. They had consecrated priests, so it was going to take another month, so they celebrated it in the second month. But they send out these couriers all the way into Israel and throughout all of Judah, and this is what it says in the middle of verse 6.

Oh, sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Don't be like your fathers and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their fathers so that he made a horror as you see. Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to the Lord and to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God that his burning anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land.

For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate and will not turn his face away from you if you return to the Lord God of Abraham. You return to him. Did you notice the theme in this proclamation that went out? The theme in this proclamation is this. Return to the Lord. Get back to what you know you're supposed to be doing because you have turned away from the Lord

and because of that, all of this judgment is coming on you. So now as a nation, let's return to the Lord because notice what he says. If you return to the Lord, he will return to you. If you return to the Lord, he will lead you back into the land because the Lord is gracious. He is gracious and he is compassionate. It will not turn his face away from those who return to him.

And I love these promises that Hezekiah gives out in this particular portion of the word because it's a reminder to all of us that no matter where you find yourself in your walk with the Lord, if you have found that you have drifted from where you're supposed to be in your walk with the Lord, God is always looking for you to turn back to him. God is always looking for you to return to him. As a matter of fact, that's his great call. To everybody who has run from him is return to me.

Return to me and I will heal you. Return to me and I will restore you. Return to me and I will forgive you because that's who God is. And I think we have to remember that both for an unbelieving world that they need to come to the God who has given his life for them. But really this is a call to the church. This is a call to believers. This is a call to the nation of Israel

to return to the place where they were supposed to have been all along to return to the Lord. And I've said it before and I'm going to say it again that revival does not begin in the world. And I think that's important for us to pay attention to. Every revival that has ever begun has not begun with the unsaved first coming to Jesus. Every revival that has ever begun

always begins with the church returning to the Lord. With those who call themselves believers in Jesus Christ getting back to what God has called for them to do. It always begins with a church who begins to confess their sins to the Lord. Who begins to repent of their sins and get back to the place of pursuing God with their whole heart. And then when the church is cleansed

they begin to take the word to an unbelieving world. Revival often tarries because the church won't embrace it. Not because the world's not ready. The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few because they won't get back to the place of returning to the Lord. And so this is what he sends out. He sends out this message and he reminds them of the graciousness of God

and the compassion of God and that God is, is eager and ready to forgive. And I'll remind you of where the northern kingdom has found themselves at this point in time if you don't know. Because if you look back at verse six, the end of verse six it says, O Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel that he may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand of the king of Assyria. At this point in time the only people left in the northern kingdom were the losers.

They were the losers. The people that the Assyrians did not want to take captive. They were the ones that the Assyrians said, you guys stay here and take care of the land. We're taking all of the gifted people. We're taking all of the important people. We're taking all of the rich people and all of their riches. The people that were left in the northern tribes

were the people that the rest of the world viewed as outcasts. They were what the rest of the world viewed as the losers. And that makes it even more precious that Hezekiah reached out to them and said, those of you that are left, why don't you come join us? Why don't you come back to the Lord? And can I say one more thing about those of us as the church? Because while revival begins in the church

as far as us beginning to repent of our sins, revival also begins in the church when we begin to reach out to the unreachable. When we begin to reach out to even the ones that sometimes the church calls outcasts because maybe we don't view them as awesome as the rest of the world does. Or, you know, we reach out to the outcasts and sometimes we as the church need to, remember that those who have stumbled in the church still need someone to reach out to them. Those who have failed in the church still need someone to reach out to them.

Who the rest of the world calls the outcasts, God calls those who He wants to be His children. And this is exactly what takes place here. And so, it's a great sentiment, but I want you to notice how the response is. Verse 10, So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun. But they laughed them to scorn,

and they mocked them. Nevertheless, some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord. Did you notice what happened? Most of the 10 northern tribes, they mocked them and they scorned them. And listen, we need to understand something.

When you reach out to people, sometimes, you're going to get mocked. Sometimes, you're going to get scorned. It doesn't mean you did the wrong thing. It means you did the right thing. It means that their heart's not ready yet. But there were some. There were some that humbled themselves and came to the Lord. I'm always reminded that God gives us a 25% return.

Remember the parable of the sower? Sower goes out to sow seed, and as he sows his seed, only 25% of the seed that was sown actually produced anything. And I'm always reminded of that when I go, oh, man, I didn't get the reaction I was looking for. I didn't, you know, some people are kind of falling away. They don't listen to the message. And my wife is actually

who is usually best at reminding me. Remember, Ryan, God promised a 25% return because three-fourths of the seed that went out fell on soil that never produced anything. It's the 25% that we always hold on to, that remnant of work that God always does. And so, the hand of God was on Judah, and they were so excited. So they're going to celebrate this Passover together.

It says now in verse 13, Now, many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly. And they arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem and all the incense altars, and they cast them into the Brook Kidron. And they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the 14th day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed of themselves and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord.

And they stood at their stations after their custom, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore, the Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean in order to consecrate them.

For a multitude of people, even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves. Yet they ate the Passover, otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, May the good Lord pardon, everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary. So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

So they begin the Passover feast, which was a great time of families gathering together to be reminded of what God did. So each family would have a lamb that they would slaughter and the Levites began to do the job. Of course, they had to take the head of it, even though the priests were supposed to because the Levites, remember, as we learned in the last chapter, were more diligent, to consecrate themselves than the priests were. So they began this process of slaughtering the lambs like they were supposed to.

And so many people gathered there in order to celebrate this Passover meal. But there was one problem that they came across. Many of those who were celebrating this Passover meal and partaking in the Passover meal had not ceremonially cleansed themselves. In other words, there was a process that they were supposed to go through. The people, not the priesthood.

The people had a process that they were supposed to go through. They were supposed to cleanse themselves and they had not followed all of the procedures as they were supposed to. And yet we're given one little commentary on the people. Though they had not cleansed themselves the way that the law had told them to, their hearts were right before the Lord. And so as they partake of this meal,

they realized, oh my gosh, we haven't done what we're supposed to. And so Hezekiah prays for the people. He says, Lord, don't hold this against them because they are celebrating the meal without being properly cleansed. As they're supposed to. But Lord, their hearts are right before you. So Father, heal them and protect them. And did you notice what it says?

The Lord healed everyone who had any kind of issue. And I love this in this moment because was there a proper outside ceremonial cleansing that was supposed to be taking place with the people? Yes. But what did God care about the most? What God cared about the most was the condition of their heart. And their heart was pure before the Lord, even though maybe they didn't look

on the outside like they were supposed to. And again, I think this is a really important lesson for us to learn as the church. Because the longer that we go in the current society that we live in, the longer that we go in the world that we live in that begins to less and less understand holiness and less and less understand what church culture is supposed to look like, we need to realize that some people are gonna come into the church and they're not gonna look like we think they should on the outside. They're gonna wear T-shirts that say things you don't agree with.

They're gonna sometimes wear clothes that you don't think are appropriate for church and you need to just shh. Because what's really important is is their heart right before the Lord? I'm less concerned with the clothing that they're wearing on the outside with whether or not they have piercings on their body or tattoos on their body or whether or not their clothes are church appropriate. I'm more concerned is your heart church appropriate?

And if we don't learn that lesson as the church, which we haven't for a lot of years now, if we don't learn that lesson as the church, we will miss out on an entire, entire harvest of people that wanna come to know the Lord, but they still don't know what church culture looks like yet. And if we are not willing to overlook what they look like on the outside and realize that as long as their heart is right on the inside, God will take care of everything else, then we'll miss out on the harvest. And I love this about Hezekiah because he said, you know what? They maybe haven't done all of the right things, but they've gotten their hearts right with the Lord.

And God saw it too. And he purified them and he cleansed them and they were able to partake of that Passover meal together. As a matter of fact, this is gonna spark such a great revival that I want you to know is what happens. Verse 21, the sons of Israel present in Jerusalem celebrated the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests praised the Lord

day after day with loud instruments. And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight to the things of the Lord so that they ate for the apostles. The point of seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers. There's three very interesting things that begin to take place in the seven day feasting and revival that's happening under Hezekiah because their hearts were right before the Lord.

First of all, they were making sacrifices to the Lord. They were making the proper sacrifices that was supposed to take place at that point in time. The second thing I noticed is that they praised the Lord. There was so much worship and praise going on. There was so much, there was so much praising of the Lord because all of a sudden they're back. And it's like,

I don't know if any of you have experienced this or not, but let me tell you what I experienced in my own life. When I really got my heart right with Jesus, when I really got to where I was walking with God and I was walking in transparency with the Lord and I had dealt with all of the garbage in my life and I was really starting to pursue God, I began to understand what worship was supposed to look like. I began to understand what praise was supposed to look like. And I'll never forget, I used to have all these old Christian CDs and so I started pulling all those out and putting them on.

It was like worship music and things like that. I'll never forget sitting on the floor of my room crying as I'm worshiping the Lord as a 17-year-old kid. And I remember my mom and dad, listen, when you're a 17-year-old kid and you start walking with Jesus, the last people that know about it are your parents, okay? So parents, you just need to know, if your kids don't tell you what's going on in their life with Jesus, it's okay, you're the last person they want to tell.

They will eventually get to you. That's okay. It can happen with me. Just ask my mom later. Eventually that happens. But I'll never forget sitting on my floor and just praising the Lord and crying and my mom walking in going, are you okay? And I'm like, I'm fine. What? What do you need right now? Because it took me a while to want to tell her what was really going on in my life, right?

And so all of a sudden this praise just started flowing and it wasn't because I had to, it was because that was where my heart was. That's what's going on with the people right now. But there was a third thing that went on. And the third thing that went on is there was teaching that was happening in this week. It's translated very interestingly here. It says, verse 22,

then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all of the Levites who showed good insight in all things, in the thing, who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. If you haven't knew King James, you will notice that it says that he was spoken encouragingly to the Levites who were teaching the people the things of the Lord. And I love that because what accompanied the revival, was the teaching of the word of God. Why?

Because it's one thing to get excited about Jesus. It's a whole other thing to learn about it, right? We talked about this Sunday. Everybody can get excited about an emotional experience, but that emotional experience needs to be accompanied with good teaching. Otherwise the emotional experience fizzles and we lose people because now they're not guided because now they're guided by the emotions,

not the truth of God's word. And so what he did is he taught the people. The Levites said, now this is what it looks like to walk with God. This is what God's law says. This is how it is to follow the Lord. And these Levites had good insight and they were teaching the people the truth. Every great revival that you see is accompanied by the teaching of God's word.

As a matter of fact, the teaching of the truth is what usually precedes revival. It's not worship. Worship is the response to revival. Teaching is what brings it. Because as people are taught the truth about sin and they're taught the truth about righteousness, it sparks revival in the lives of people. And this is what happens here. This revival is accompanied with the teaching of God's word.

And so it's something that's gonna last for a while. Well, let's go on. It says, verse 23, then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the feast another seven days. So they celebrated the seven days with joy. Now, that's not what's prescribed. It's not what's prescribed in the law. They were like, this is so great. Let's just do it for another week, right?

I don't know if you guys remember, was it maybe two or three years ago, the revival that took place at Asbury College. I think it was Asbury College in Kentucky. And what started with a chapel service, because I've done a little bit of studying about this, what started with a chapel service turned into a week, if not two week long revival of kids just continuing to show up and confess their sins and be forgiven and be forgiven. They'd be baptized.

And it was like one chapel service turned into a really long couple of weeks. Like professors were canceling classes so that this revival could continue. That's kind of what went on here. Like that week was so amazing. The people were so moved by what God was doing in the nation that they're like, let's do it again. Let's do it for another week. And so they just hung out for another week

and they celebrated more. And it was even subsidized by Hezekiah. Notice what it says in verse 24. Hezekiah the king had contributed to the assembly, 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep. And the princes contributed to the assembly, 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And a large number of priests consecrated themselves. And all the assembly of Judah rejoiced with the priests and the Levites

and all the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah. So there was great joy in Jerusalem because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. The Levitical priests arose, blessed the people and their voice was heard. And their prayer came to the holy dwelling place, even to heaven.

So what a great time to live in Judah, to watch all of this take place. Well, the revival that's gonna happen in these two weeks because it was accompanied with teaching is now gonna move into a lifestyle that we're gonna see for a while that we'll view in chapter 31 here. It says this. Now, when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and they broke the pillars in pieces and they cut down the Asherim.

They pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities each to his own possession. And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks, to give praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord. Well, this revival continues and it continues on with purity in the land.

And I've said this before and I'm gonna keep saying it again. If revival's not accompanied by holiness, it's not revival. If revival does not then begin to produce holiness in the lives of people, it was an emotional experience, not a revival. Because it always should, it always should bring about reaction, change in the lives. And so what did they do? Well, these people went home

and they started tearing down all of the idols. Whether those were idols in their homes, whether those were idols in the community, they start destroying them all. They start getting rid of all of it and tearing down the altars to foreign gods throughout the land. They destroyed all of them. Why? Because that was the thing that led them away from God. And if it led them away from God,

then they wanted to destroy it in their lives. Again, holiness in our life is created by the understanding of my nearness to God. Because as I begin to repent of sins, I realize I'm drawing closer to God. And so as I draw closer to God, I go, that won't help me draw closer to God, so let's destroy it. That won't help me in my walk with God, so let's destroy it.

That's going to destroy me, so I'm going to destroy that. And that idolatry was continually destroyed within the land. And I'll ask the same question I've been asking forever now, I feel like. What are the idols we need to keep destroying in our lives? You see, God keeps moving on our hearts and God keeps showing us things, but the question is, what are you going to do with what God shows you?

Are you going to destroy the idols? Or are you going to continue to put up with them? Are you going to destroy the thing that keeps leading you down the bad path? Or are you just going to keep putting up with it? Because if you just keep putting up with it, we have to begin to question, do you really realize that's destroying your life? Do you really believe that that's what's destroying your life?

Because if you did, you'd get rid of it. I'm just going to tell you right now, I will never go back to doing flat bench press again with a bar. You know why? Because that hurt really, really bad. And I look at that and I go, I'm too old to do it. Matter of fact, I, uh, I've tried to figure out what happened. You know, those moments when you're like, what led me to this?

And my wife so graciously said, Ryan, you're not young anymore. And so she, so she, I think she chat GPT'd it. I think that that's probably a verb now. I was talking to somebody else about this the other day. She chat GPT'd it and said, torn pec. And basically it was like, if you're over 40, this is probably what's going to lead to it. And it was like, everything that I did led up to that.

And it was like, Oh, okay. So, so yeah, let's never do those things again. Right? Why? Because it hurt and it destroyed me. I don't want to go back to do that again. It's the same thing with sin. Why do we run back to the idols that destroyed our lives? Why do I run back to the thing that brought so much pain into my life? Because I don't believe that that's what caused the pain.

So they start destroying the idols, but not only that, they begin to, to establish national worship because Hezekiah goes and appoints the divisions of the priest. He says, let's keep this process of teaching going. So let's make sure that the priesthood does their job. And matter of fact, not only does it create purity, but it begins to create generosity in the people.

Notice what it says in verse three. He also appointed the King's portion of his goods for the burnt offerings, namely for the morning and the evening burnt offerings and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the new moon and for the fixed festivals as it is written in the law of the Lord. So what happens? Well, the King's heart is moved by this, Hezekiah.

He says, I'm going to donate everything that's needed for the sacrifices, everything that's needed for the national sacrifices. He sets the example for the people of generosity. And then they begin to follow the example because notice what it says in verse four. He also commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.

There was a tax that was paid. They call it the tithe that was paid into the storehouse so that the priests could be supported so that they could devote themselves fully to the work of the Lord. And so He says, listen, it's time to go back to doing that again. It's time to get back to the tithe so that the priests can do their job of making sure that you all are following the law so that we don't fall back into that stuff again.

And the people are so moved by this revival that I want you to know how they respond to this command. And they said, how dare you demand that of us? How dare you demand that we give our, no, that's not what they said. As soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field.

And they brought in abundantly the tithe of all. The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep and the tithe of sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God and placed them in heaps. In the third month, they began to make the heaps and they finished them by the seventh month. When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.

And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. What's with the heaps? What's with the heaps? And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, said to him, since the contributions began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over for the Lord has blessed his people and this great quantity is left over.

And Hezekiah commanded them to prepare rooms in the house of the Lord and they prepared them. They faithfully brought in the contributions and the tithes and the consecrated things. And that guy, the Levite, was the officer in charge. Hezekiah said, Brother Shimei was second. So what happened with the people? He said, you guys should go back to doing this tithe that you've been commanded in the law.

And the people didn't just respond with a half-hearted response. The people responded wholeheartedly to bring in the tithes to the storehouse. You know what that indicates? That indicates that their hearts were completely given to the Lord. Therefore, their things were given to the Lord. Listen, we have to understand something. If you want to know where your heart is,

start paying attention to where your money goes. If you want to know where your heart is, look at what occupies the most of it as it comes to your things and your finances. Because that's going to be a really good indication of what the most important thing to you is. Because when we give our hearts to the Lord, our things tend to follow. And so, this is what they did.

They gave so much that they were so blessed. And can I just... I don't ever talk about giving because I don't want to talk about giving because I feel like that's between you and Jesus. But I just want to commend our church about one thing. And that's that you all are a generous group of people. And that is indicative of the fact that God has a hold of your hearts.

And I think that needs to be said sometimes. Because anytime something comes up where it's like we want to send the kids to camp or something like that, you all give so much more than I could have ever given. You know, we had this fundraiser to send people down to Guatemala to help support the mission trip in Guatemala. And I was in awe of how much came in in that fundraiser.

We said, hey, we're doing this thing at Pizza Ranch because we're trying to help offset the cost of kids at camp. And do you know that what they told Jared was... He didn't share this, but I'm going to share it. What they told Jared was our group was so large that they gave us even more of a percentage of the cost of kids at camp. Of the money that came in at Pizza Ranch

than they normally would because our group was so large that came in there. So much bigger than so many of the other groups that come in to support. And I got to tell you, that blesses my heart more than anything else in the world. You know why? Because that tells me that your hearts are given to Jesus and so your things are too. And I praise God for that. Because I know that the Holy Spirit's at work

in the hearts of you all because you're so generous in the way that you handle life. And so, the rest of the chapter is incredibly beautiful. It's boring to read. It's the organization of the priesthood. You should go back and read that at some point in time. We're going to move on to chapter 32. After these things, after these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib,

king of Assyria, came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities and thought to break into them for himself. Can we all just deal with the complexities of what that verse just said? After all of these faithful things, they got attacked. That should tell you something about what oftentimes happens in our lives. Is that when you start faithfully giving yourself to the Lord,

the enemy doesn't like that because you just became a force to be reckoned with and so he's going to send something or someone against you. Sometimes after our greatest victories, our greatest struggles follow along with it. I can't think of who I was listening to this week. Oh, I know who it was. It was Damien Kyle. He was talking about the fact that when he was brand new in his walk with the Lord,

he goes, no one ever told me about spiritual warfare. I think this is the exact spot he was talking about. He said, no one ever told me about spiritual warfare. That oftentimes when God does the most in your life, the enemy comes against you the most. The enemy comes at you the hardest, right? He said, I remember having such an emotion. I remember having such an emotion.

It was an amazing church service where the Lord spoke to me. I said, I wasn't teaching yet. I wasn't even involved in ministry yet. But it was a church service where I was on a spiritual high and he goes, the entire next week was the worst week I'd ever had in my life. And all I could think was, I'm doing everything right now. I gave up all of the sin. I gave up all of the stuff

and not only that, I felt like I hurt from you in a way that I never had before. Why is my life so hard? He said, I showed up to church the next week and I told my pastor, what's wrong with me? I thought I was doing so good. Why is my life so hard all of a sudden? And the pastor said, oh yeah, okay, so you haven't been around long enough for this. That's called spiritual warfare.

The enemy does not like that you're growing in the Lord. The enemy does not like that you've given up all of these things. And so what he cannot do by owning you, he does by trying to discourage you. And this is what happens here. After all of these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib comes against. The nation of Judah. Now you need to understand something about Sennacherib.

He was the king of Assyria or he was the general for the Assyrian armies. And listen, you may deal with spiritual warfare, but what is coming against the nation of Judah is legit, right? Like these are some of the things that the Assyrian people used to do. When they would besiege a city, every time they would kill someone, they would cut their head off and they would put it on a stick and they would post it around the city so that everybody would go, that's what happens when you mess with the Assyrians.

When the Assyrians captured a city and led them off, they would put hooks in the jaws of the people. They would basically take a giant long stringer and they would put all of the people in a long line and put a hook through their jaw that was attached to a rope and they would lead them back to their land into captivity like that. Listen, y'all may deal with a bad week. I don't think any of us are dealing with facing that potential situation.

So when Hezekiah is dealing with what he's dealing with here right now, this is legitimately scary stuff he's dealing with. And so as he deals with this, it says King Sennacherib came against them. Now he makes a very good move here. It says when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and he intended to make war on Jerusalem, he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of waters from the spring which were outside the city and they helped him.

So many people assembled and stopped up the springs and the stream which flowed through the region saying, why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water? Essentially they stopped up the wells inside the city so that no water would flow outside of the city. And then he took courage and he rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and built towers on it and built another outside and strengthened the millow in the city of David and made weapons and shields with great numbers. And he appointed military officers over the people.

He gathered them to him in the square at the city at gate and spoke encouragingly to them saying, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed because the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him for the one who is with us is greater than the one who's with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. The people relied on the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

It's interesting what Hezekiah quotes there. He says, there's more with us than there are with him. I hope that sounds familiar to you. If it doesn't, I will tell you why. I will tell you that he stole that directly from a prophet named Elisha. When an army came against Elisha and his servant was pretty freaked out, Elisha said, don't worry, there's more of us

than there are of them. And then God opened up his eyes to see the army that was all around him, the spiritual army that was all around him. So he speaks these incredibly encouraging words and the people rely on these words, but Sennacherib's not done with his threats just yet. It says, after this, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem, while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces against Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all those who were in Jerusalem, saying, thus says Sennacherib, king of Assyria, on what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst? The Lord, our God, will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria? Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars? Said to Judah in Jerusalem, you shall worship before one altar and on it you shall burn incense? Do you not know what I and my fathers have done

to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able to deliver all their land from my hand? Who is there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Now, therefore, don't let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this and do not believe him for no God of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers.

How much less will your God deliver you from my hand? His servant spoke further against the Lord and against his servant Hezekiah and he also wrote letters to insult the God of Israel and to speak against him saying as the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand. They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall to frighten them to terrify them so they might take the city. And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth the work of men's hands.

So Hezekiah has done the best he can to encourage the people. They've done all of the military preparations that they can. He's spoken all of the encouraging words that he can but at the end of the day Hezekiah, or Sennacherib's a terrifying force and everything that he said was right except one thing. The God of Israel was not like the gods of the other nations.

But again, try to convince someone of that in the moment when they are being threatened with their very lives. So Hezekiah does the only thing you can do in a situation just like this. He finds himself a friend and he begins to pray. Notice what it says in verse 20. But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz prayed about this and they cried out to heaven.

Can I just tell you that there's going to come times in your life where really difficult circumstances come against you and as far as anyone else is concerned there's no reason why you should have victory. There's no reason why you should overcome whatever situation it is that you're facing whether that's a financial situation a health situation a financial situation temptation relationships whatever it is as far as the world is concerned you're cooked, right? You're done. That's the perfect time to find a friend and start praying.

That's the perfect time to invite someone else in on your struggle and start praying. Did you notice Hezekiah did not do this himself? Who did he go and find? He went and found the most spiritual guy he could find at that point in time a guy by the name of Isaiah who had a book named after him because he wrote an entire book of prophecy. He found someone that he trusted

and they prayed. And I don't know who needs to hear this tonight but whatever it is that you're facing that feels too difficult for you you need to stop complaining to everybody else about it and you need to find a friend and you need to pray. You need to find somebody that you can trust you need to find somebody that you can invite in on your struggle and you need to pray. And that needs to be the only thing that you do until God does only what God can do.

Because when Isaiah and Hezekiah started praying they didn't need the military. When Isaiah and Hezekiah started praying they didn't need walls. When Isaiah and Hezekiah started praying they didn't need anyone else to win a battle. What they needed to do was pray and then they needed to watch what God was able to do. Because I want you to notice what happens.

And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king. The king of Assyria. So he returned in shame to his own land. If we were to look back at 2 Kings, I believe it's chapter 19 we would find that one angel of God is going to wipe out 185,000 of the enemy. Why? Because Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed. As a matter of fact, the word will come to Isaiah

that said because he humbled himself before God before me and because he sought my face no one will have to go to battle. I will win this for you. And I'm here to tell you right now more often than not God does not need you to do anything. He needs you to start praying about it. Have you noticed how many times this is what happens in scripture? The other big time I'm thinking about

is when the children of Israel were stuck between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea and they're all freaked out thinking that everything's about to go downhill for them. Really? Really, really fast. And God says, Moses, stop it. I need you to stand still because the Egyptian army that you see before you today you will never see again. And He parted the Red Sea.

They walked through on dry ground and then He covered all of the army in the Red Sea and completely defeated them. And listen, they never saw them again. And this is what happens with the Assyrians. The Assyrians who had already defeated the Northern Kingdom. The Assyrians who were the army to beat at this point in time. They were the great world power at this point in time.

And how many angels did you take note? I'm going to read it to you again. Actually, I'm just going to quote it to you. It took an angel. Ah, one. One angel wiped out 185,000 of the enemy. And can I just tell you how much that puts into perspective what Jesus said when He said, Peter, put your sword away. If I needed to, I could call down 10,000. If I needed to, I could call down 10,000 angels

and we would end this thing right now. Can you imagine what 10,000 angels would do? My gosh. But God wasn't done with Sennacherib yet. So Sennacherib escapes. And so he goes back home. And you can imagine, he's going, I don't know how he escaped. 185,000 of my best dudes just got wiped out and I made it home. It's okay, I'll rebuild, right? We will build back better.

We will make Assyria great again. It's okay, I'll hit all of the political people in this. We will make Assyria great again. And he goes back and he's thinking, I've escaped the judgment of God. As a matter of fact, in the middle of verse 21, there is a 20-year time gap that takes place. It says, let me read it to you again. And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed

every mighty warrior, commander, and officer of the king of Assyria. So he returned to his own land, meaning Sennacherib. 20 years later, when he had entered the temple of his God, 20 years later, when he had entered the temple of his God, 20 years later, when he had entered the temple of his God, some of his own children, some of his own children, killed him with the sword. Sennacherib thought he'd escaped.

I'm smarter than God. God still couldn't take me out. He could take out 185,000 of my best warriors, but he still can't get me. You can't escape God. He's pretty good about that kind of thing. So we're out of time for tonight. So I'll finish out this chapter next week, okay? Father, we come before you and I just thank you for the time that we've had in your word.

And Lord, I just thank you so much for this life of Hezekiah that was so well-deserved. Lord, a man who sought you with his whole heart. And God, knowing that you are not only the God of revival, but you are the God of every victory that we can have. And so Lord, be with us as we go out from here. Keep our hearts, our minds, and our eyes focused on you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Be blessed.