Intro:
I was reminded this week of a conversation I had with a man – 16 yrs ago
A) It happened when I was
Pastoring in Oregon – and a little Church in Corvallis – 25 pp, called – Pastor
B) I Know just the guy – Rob
V. – CCCM –
1) How old is he ? 27, too
young
C) Steve, here is the
question: Do you want to be the one to stand before God – I wanted to do a work in Corvallis...you wouldn’t let Me
– vessel was too young
D) Steve
called Rob and the rest is History – today this is a thriving Church
there of over 1,000 people
1) 56 Acres – new Church
Hezekiah
was another young man that God used in a Powerful way.
A) Saw last time how he was
used by God to spark a revival in Judah
#1 Repaired
God’s house{ His father had closed it down – boarded up – He opened
#2 He
challenged the Priests! –
He challenged them to get
back to the work of spiritually leading and ministering to the nation.
#3 He
reinstituted temple worship and sacrifice.
THE RESULT: Revival broke
out!
As
we come to Chapter 30- Revival is continuing
Read Verses 1-9
Reinstitutes the Passover –
Salvation
Sends
Messengers thru out all the land inviting those who are away to come!
A) Special burden for those
who were lost –
B) Mark of Revival – Burden
for lost souls
C) Hezekiah was not content
– to have this stay in Judah – spread
Important
for a Church to see beyond it’s own four walls
A) Youth Pastor - Bible
studies on HS campuses
B) Tried a lot of things –
some profitable some not
C) Our Lord’s heart – Came
to seek and save the lost
How
many of you Know someone who is backslidden?
Pray for them? – talk to them!
A) Hezekiah has an
interesting name for those who were
backslidden verse 8 Stiff necked
B) Stubborn / rigid /
pigheaded
C) Black Jack – He insisted
on riding near the edge
1) Stiff necked – can’t be
budged
That
is the person who is resisting God !
A) Their necks are called
"stiff" because they won't bend to God's will
B) The Problem is they don’t
realize that He only wants to take them in a good direction { Baseball
1)
God wants us to be yielded and bending – not stiff but easily turning
C) Hezekiah is pleading with
those to come –
1) Enter the Sanctuary
–God’s Presence –Fellowship
In
the Book of 2 Samuel we have a Beautiful Story reflecting God’s heart
A) David came to the Throne
– Son of Jonathan – Meph - heard,
afraid – nurse fled – stumbled
B) Accident left Meph – Lame
in his feet – couldn’t walk
C) He hid out in this place
called Lodebar – nothingness – barrenness
D) Perfect picture of what
sin does to a life –
1) Lame
and barren
David
hears – Bring him here – Carried to the table
Restored
– the rest of his life
A) Meph thought David was
against him – after him
Destroy him – { So not TRUE
B)
David wanted to bless him – because He was the son of his best friend – their
Covenant
C) Jesus established a new
Covenant – all who would humble hearts- believe – Saved
1) Invited to the table
Verse 9 If you return, the Lord will be gracious and merciful –
So
Hezekiah sends the runners everywhere to call
people
back to God.
A) Reminded me of the
parable of the wedding feast
Matthew 22:8-10
“Then he said
to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not
worthy. Therefore go into the highways,
and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered
together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was
filled with guests.”
Notice Verses 10-11 response
“So the runners
passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as
Zebulun; but they laughed at them and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless some from
Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.”
A)
Some laugh and mock
Aaron was younger & I were at McDonalds one day / he was playing on the play
land / kids who were being kind of mean / Dad those kids being mean to me .
Go tell them that Jesus loves them !
He did it, came back & said dad
it didn’t work they just laughed at me !
B) But notice that Some were humble and received
C) Reminds us that – the
message is our job to get out there – The results are up to God !
Christianity
Today largest Christian Publication polled it's readers: Why believers are so reluctant to share
their faith
A.) 87% agreed every Christian is responsible for evangelism/
But Only 52% said they were
active in sharing ! They wanted to find out
- why?
43% said they were too
timid,
40% were not confident in
what to say.
B) Sharing can be scary:
Street witnessing –
1)
One guy Arrested – another thrown off peer
C)
Oversees different – relationships
Tact
and sensitivity: Macdonalds – long line
Rom.1:17 Faith comes by hearing & hearing by the word of God !
I want to leave you
w/ this thought ! God’s word is powerful / it does the work !
A) It is not our effectiveness in sharing
the word that is the issue / in other words it is not how effective you communicate that matters
B) Rock into a pack of dogs –
One that barks the loudest is the one that was hit
C) Person who resist the
most The one God is dealing with!
Hezekiah
had a burden for the lost – sent out his messengers – come – some did some
didn’t –
A) The rest of the Chapter
Chronicles how God met the ones who came – Poured out His spirit
B) Blessed them – Such an
outpouring they didn’t want to stop – let’s go another 7 days
26 “So there
was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David,
king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.”
Great
Joy in Jerusalem – they had not experienced in a long time….. days of Solomon
A) People are looking for
Joy – looking for happiness
B) Search in all kinds of
things-
1) Joy found in Jesus
D) Why are people lacking Joy
4
characteristics mark people's lives
without Christ
A)#1 - Emptiness! no matter how much money, success, power - void!
B.) I think Billy Graham described the emptiness that
those living in the U.S. experience when he said America is said to have the
highest per capita boredom of any spot on earth! We know that because we have
the greatest number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can't even
entertain themselves. They have to pay other people to amuse them, to make them
laugh, to try to make them feel warm and happy and comfortable for a few
minutes, to try to lose that awful, frightening, hollow feeling; that terrible,
dreaded feeling of being lost and alone.
B) Billy was so right,
our society is empty, bored ! /
C) The
World is hurting/Just look at Hollywood - those people from an outward appearance seem
to have it all ! Yet they are so empty !
D) A while back I
was flying back from Oregon I was sitting / make up artist for the stars / talking about the affairs / lifestyle that
business
1)
(emptiness / only Christ fills /
hurt -Only Christ can heal)
E) No surprise – Suicides and
DUI’s trouble –
1)
Empty trying to find something to mask the pain
F)
You tonight void !
2nd
thing that every man apart from Christ is constantly dealing with Loneliness
A) A person can have many friends; hit all the parties / yet deep
down they are really lonely !
I read about an ad in a
Kansas newspaper. It read, "I will
listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00." , "Sounds like a hoax, doesn't it?
The Person who placed the add received 10-20 calls a day
“The pain of loneliness was
so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of
companionship."
B) Loneliness is the first
thing that God's eye named not good.
1) God doesn’t want people to be lonely -
James Lee was a man who was so grief stricken over the loss of his
wife & daughter that – He shot himself in a Phone Booth -
In his pockets they found a child's crayon
drawing, much folded and worn. On it was written, "Please leave in my coat
pocket. I want to have it buried with me."
The
drawing was signed in childish print by his daughter, Shirley Lee, who had
perished in a fire just five months before.
How many James Lees are there in this world? They don't wear signs
saying "I'm lonely--will you help me?" Let's discover these in His
name.
3rd thing people who don’t know Jesus / live
with a sense of guilt!
A.) Head of a mental institution
"release 1/2 my patients if I could find a way to rid them of their guilt"
B.)
As Christians we know guilt is a symptom of a deeper problem called sin
1.) People feel guilt
because they are guilty / missed the mark !
C)
They can’t do anything to get rid of those feelings !
C)
Only Jesus can get to the root of the problem and forgive them their sins
1.) Plagued by guilt today? Jesus can set free
4th
thing …… There is a universal fear of
death
A)
People fear death - unknown what happens after they die!
B) Eats at them - Ignore it
- put out of mind and live for moment - daily
confronted in news
C) But the Bible declares that in His presence is
fullness of Joy!
Those who were away came into His presence and experience great Joy!
Backslidden – God doesn’t want you – not true
Come -