Week
4 Of our series GV – Kings of Judah
A) King Hezekiah Read Verses 1-2
Note:
He was 25 yrs old – when God used him to bring Revival to the nation
A)
Now this should be encouraging to every young person in this Sanctuary tonight
B)
God can use you to do great things –
even though you might feel - - I AM YOUNG
Hezekiah
did what was right in the sight of the Lord like David
A) 2 Kings 18 we are told
this about Hezekiah that he trusted the Lord more
than any of the other kings before him or after him.
B) So he stands out as a man
who trusted God
1) 2 Kings 18 says he clung to the Lord – some translations put it this
way: He followed hard after God
C) 11 Chapters total in the
Bible are dedicated to Hezekiah 2
Chronicles / 2 Kings & Isaiah
Dad was a wicked King –
Introduced Worship of Molech – Hezekiah was spared, major reforms
Read Verse 3-11
The
First thing He puts his attention towards is the house the Lord
A) Ahaz his father had
boarded up the temple
B) Opens the doors –
Establishes worship again
C) Calls the Priest to
Sanctify themselves
D) Cleanses God’s house
E) Don’t neglect calling:
1) Stand before God
2) Serve God
3) Minister to God
4) Offer sacrifices to God {
Institutes temple sacrifice
Calling -
What
do you think of when you hear the term priest
A) Black with collar – Robes
– religious
B) Ever think of yourself as
a Priest?
C) That is what we are told
in 1 Peter 2:9
Turn there
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 ”But you are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of
God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
1. You
Are a Chosen Race
I
know that this is a corporate identity, he's talking about the church. But the
implication is individual, because this race is not racial.
The
chosen race is not black or white or red or yellow or brown.
The
chosen race is a new people from all the peoples—all the colors and cultures
What
gives us our identity is not color or culture. But chosenness.
Never chosen: Picked for the team – left over
A) Passed over for the job
B) Listen, Chosen by God –
Picked you{ He wanted you for Himself
2. Holy nation{ Set apart unto God –
A) Saints
B) Called out of the world –
A saint is like a boat -- the
boat's purpose is fulfilled when it is in the water, but it's function and
usefulness deteriorates when water gets in the boat.
So too for saints when too much of the world gets
into them. Saints must keep their "vessels" in the water of this
world but not let the water of the world get into their "vessel"
Gets more intimate
3. We
are God’s possession, His own special people
Not so much ownership as
identification
4. Called
out ones
A) Called out of darkness –
now in the light
B) Not a people – but now the
people of God
C) Knew no mercy – now we
have received mercy
We
are the not just the objects of His choice, but the objects of His mercy.
I
am chosen and I am pitied—or you could say I am "graced." I am
"loved."
5. You Are a Royal Priest
Royal
Priesthood -
Guzik writes that "The offices of royalty and priesthood were jealously
separated in Israel, but Jesus, who is our King and Priest, has brought them
together for His people."
We have an exalted, active role in God's
presence.
Offer
up Praises – Made to worship
To paraphrase Jim Elliot, we
are just a bunch of nobodies who can now praise and magnify the only One Who is
Somebody.
In
other words He has given us our identity in order that His identity might be
proclaimed through us.
God
made us who we are so we could make known
who
He is. Our identity is for the sake of making known His identity.
The
meaning of our identity is that the excellency of God be seen in us.
Therefore
being a Christian and making the greatness of God known are almost identical.
LIVING
WORSHIP – LIFE A SONG
Priest offers sacrifices:
Sin
offering – Atonement
Burnt
offering - consecration
Thanksgiving
offering – fellowship
1ST YOUR HEART Psa. 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”
2ND
YOUR BODY Rom. 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service.”
3rd YOUR SERVICE PHIL 4:18 “Indeed I have all and abound. I am
full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a
sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.”
4TH YOUR WORSHIP HEB.
13: 15”Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to
God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”