Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
If God is For Us: How To Answer An Attack
We explore this dramatic biblical account from three Old Testament perspectives (2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, and Isaiah), uncovering the enemy's playbook that remains remarkably unchanged today. The devil still questions our trust in God, brings up past mistakes, slanders our good deeds, offers false promises of security, and reminds us of overwhelming statistics against us. Whether it's a medical diagnosis, financial crisis, relationship breakdown, or societal challenge, these tactics aim to produce the same result: paralysis through fear.
I have a wonderful Old Testament victory story for you tonight and every now and then. You just have to have an Old Testament victory story and we're going to comb through it. This awesome story is actually recorded in three different places in the Old Testament. You can find it in 2 Chronicles 32. We're going to flip around a little bit you don't have to open your Bible yet, but I'm about to. It's in 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, and it's in Isaiah. So all these places have this. So we're going to comb all the good stuff out of this story because it will mean something to you today.
Speaker 1:And I want to start with this Romans 8 31 said what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, if God is for us, who can be against us? Who? Who is like the Lord, our God, who reigns on high? There is no God like him in heaven or on earth, who keeps covenant and shows mercy. There is no God like that. And so he is our mighty God. And we're going to go through the story tonight of Hezekiah and then we're going to pray and we're going to lay some things before the Lord tonight.
Speaker 1:But I want to talk about King Hezekiah. You know, growing up if my pastor wanted to confuse everybody in the church he'd say, turn to Hezekiah, chapter three, and everybody would be like and all the baby Christians were like whoa there. And all the old Christians were like there's no book of Hezekiah. Thank you, pastor Osteen. But he is mentioned, hezekiah is mentioned, and so we're going to do let's start with Hezekiah 2 Chronicles 32. I'm sorry, start with Hezekiah 2 Chronicles 32. I'm sorry, 2 Chronicles 32. We will start there and actually, if you, I'm going to give you a backstory first and just as I'm talking you can actually flip back three chapters and you can just start seeing all the little headings there about all the good stuff that Hezekiah, king Hezekiah of Judah, did.
Speaker 1:But I'm going to give you a little backstory. You know the kingdom of Israel was already split. That happened generations ago when the plan of God was for Jerusalem to have the special temple worship there, and. But then some of the tribes moved across the river to a different land and it was too inconvenient for them to come over the river Jordan to Jerusalem to come worship once a year for and for all the feasts, and they said that's too inconvenient. We want to have our own temple in Samaria and we're going to erect a golden calf and we're worshiping the same God. Was it the same God? No, it was an idol, and so they had all kinds of idol worship over, and now Israel is the bad one and Judah is the good one. Judah is the country that has Jerusalem in it, where the true temple is, and Israel and all the kings of Israel some of them were good and some of them were bad. They tried to serve God, they tried to do things right, but Israel ends up falling away and they are taken away captive, by the king of Assyria.
Speaker 1:And the king of Assyria is a big, bad dude. He is mowing through the countryside building an empire for himself. He is taking up land. He is any walled city that has any value. He is just mowing it down with his huge army and he's taking all the riches of it and he's rolling that into the next to hire a bigger army. And he is just a snowball catching fire and um, but thankfully, during this time, little Judah, here's little Judah, and they're just kind of uh, they're like deer in the headlights. Here comes the King of Assyria and he's coming. But wait a minute, hezekiah, he's not like his sinner idol worshiping dad. He has a heart of reform. Everybody say reform. So he's already, for the last 14 years, ever since he was 25 and he took the throne of Israel, from when his dad died, he started a work and he was a reformer. And so let's see what some of the things he did.
Speaker 1:In 2 Chronicles 29 too, it says he cleansed the temple and he actually didn't do it himself. What he did is he recognized that there were priests and Levites who were kind of um, um on sabbatical, uh, because there had been no worship of the Lord and there and it was such a dry time in Israel's worship and Judah's worship. Now, the Levites didn't. They had all gone back to work other jobs. They weren't getting fed by the people, nobody was tithing, so there was no money in it for them. They were just working down at the plant. They were just. They were not consecrated to God. There was no priesthood, no active, consecrated people to, to, to make the sacrifices.
Speaker 1:But but Hezekiah said hey, hey, priests, wake up, uh, consecrate yourselves, cause we're going to start doing, we're going to cleanse the temple, I'm going to have you in there. You get in there and you haul out all those idols. You haul out all of that mess. We are going to cleanse the temple. Who's the temple today? Who is the temple now that Jesus came? We are the temple. So you know there's a force. We can allow the Lord to cleanse our temple, we can encourage other believers in our lives and we can encourage each other to go back to work building the temple, building and cleaning out the church. Amen, I believe that's what we did on Friday.
Speaker 1:And then he, once the temple's cleaned, he actually starts restoring worship. Hey, we're going to use this place again. We are going to declare the word of God here. We're going to keep the feasts, and one of the big feasts was Passover. Nobody had kept the Passover for the longest time. They forgot all the stuff that Moses did. They forgot how God led them out. They forgot the mighty miracle. They were not celebrating Passover.
Speaker 1:And you know what? Hezekiah even took the broken kingdom, the brother of the. You know you got Judah and you got Israel, the divided kingdom, and he said hey, people of Israel over there, you don't have to worship your idol in Samaria. I invite you back to Jerusalem. It doesn't have to be this way. We can be, we can be one country again. Come and worship the Lord, like God planned. Come and worship the one true and living God who led you out of Egypt. And he invited and there were three tribes that actually came. They actually took him up on it. So he was a uniter. He restored the feasts. He said I'll provide all the animals I will. If you're going to kill a sacrifice you're worried about, hey, from the King's herd, I'm going to provide that.
Speaker 1:And in second Chronicles, 31, 21, it says in that in every work that he began to do in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment to seek his God, that Hezekiah did it with all his heart and so he prospered. Everybody say he prospered. So I believe there's some things we can do right now. We can tear down some idols in our culture and in our lives and in our homes with our kids. You know our kids. They are looking to this culture and there are a lot of idols. It's easy for them to have one. It's easy for us to have one. It's easy for us to have one. It's easy for us to idolize our Netflix and chill time. It's easy. But you know what he? He tore down all the idols, that's what. So, Hezekiah, he was doing pretty good, wasn't he? And he was prospering.
Speaker 1:But then, when you, finally, you get to second Chronicles 32, something bad happens, something. Are y'all reading ahead? You're allowed to Something bad happens. It says, after all these great things that Hezekiah did, after these deeds of faithfulness, sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came and entered Judah. Remember the snowball of destruction, this guy, he and he actually. So he comes and he encamps against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself. And uh, and we see, actually, this is where we have to look at, pick up the story in a different place. You don't have to flip there yet, but if you want to flip back and forth, you can.
Speaker 1:That um in in Isaiah 36, it says that he came against the fortified cities to take them. And he came and he stood by the aqueduct, from the upper pool on the highway to the fuller's field. So what he did was the devil came in a time of success, in a time of peace. But the devil came and he brought a big old army and he camped right out in front of their supply, right by the stream, right by the pool, where they would need to be every day, and right by the fuller's field, where all where everybody had to do their laundry, that the fuller was the launderer. Okay, so in their daily functioning, their life is a mess because there's a big old army of the devil parked there in their supply, in their fountain, in their way. And not only that, that, but okay. So Hezekiah sends out. So his three best guys, his three best guys are there.
Speaker 1:And when the king, you know, if the king doesn't come himself, notice that this is not the king himself, the king is not here yet, it's actually his rabshakel, it is his chief of staff that comes. And so the devil doesn't always just, you know the devil with his bifurcated tail and hay fork. He does not show up, you know, in your bedroom and beat you down, whatever it is his. But there are many messengers of Satan.
Speaker 1:The apostle Paul talked about the messenger of Satan sent to buffet me. It was a thorn. It called it a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan. And every time Paul talks about the thorn of the flesh, he's actually talking about his Jewish brothers that were inflamed against him, that would lie and accuse him and that would stir up controversy so that he couldn't. Everywhere he went to try to preach the gospel, there was opposition and there was torment, and there was, he was beaten and with rods and he was left for dead. And all of the things that happened to Paul was because he had this thorn in the flesh, he had a messenger of Satan, and this I would call this a messenger of Satan.
Speaker 1:And so, um, so, actually, king Hezekiah, there's, there's, there's some point to this. So at first he realizes his brethren, israel, over in the other kingdom, they have already been taken away captive by this man or by this man's predecessor. His name was something else, let me see Shalmaneser. Okay, okay, take notes, all right, so that other guy he had already. So Assyria has this big war machine. And so at first, hezekiah, even though he is so good and pure and he's trying to do the right thing good and pure, and he's trying to do the right thing he appeased the devil. He appeased the devil In 2 Kings, which you don't have to turn there, but you can take my word for it, write it down and study it later.
Speaker 1:There's an account in 2 Kings 18 that said at first that this king of Assyria, sennacherib, comes in town and says you got to pay me. You got to pay me now. And so he did. He said I'm going to give you all the gold in the house of the Lord and in all of his own treasuries. And he stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the pillars and he gave all the gold he could possibly find to the king of Assyria. He could possibly find to the king of Assyria. But it did not work. Everybody say it did not work. Have you ever been tempted to appease the devil? Oh, I'll just ignore it this one time. I'll let it go this one time. But it doesn't work.
Speaker 1:Because when we, my dad has this analogy of a dog. When he was a little kid, a little toddler, he ran there was a mean dog that faced him down and he cried and ran away and his dad, my grandpa I love that man my dad, my uh, just ripped his little arm in the air and John, and just started to go in on him. Don't you ever run from a dog, because what my grandpa knew is that if you run from a dog, it'll know it's in charge and it will come back for you and the devil. You don't need to run from the devil. You just need to know who you are in Christ. You need to stand like a man or a woman of God and you need to face that thing and you need to declare some things and uh, in in the Lord, you have a strategy from the Holy one. The Holy ghost will give you a strategy, amen.
Speaker 1:But uh, hezekiah did not first do this, he first. Uh, he tried the appeasement method. Uh, that did not work for uh, for England in world war II with Hitler. It did not work for Neville Chamberlain. He tried that and guess what? Hitler just got mowed over him, didn't he? And so appeasement never works. It doesn't work in politics. That's why we're going to stand our ground. It doesn't work with a dog, it doesn't work with a toddler, dear Lord. It does not work with a toddler, it does not work. And so appeasement is not the thing We've got to stand up for. What is right? Everybody say stand up, all right. So of course we're going to go back.
Speaker 1:So now Sennacherib is here and he has, he has some, and his men actually are yelling out threats to the people of God, to the people in Jerusalem. And normally, if a king has a beef with another king. You know there is a special diplomatic protocol that he might approach the king and they might talk privately, and even back then this was the case. But no, no, no, no. This, this bulldog of a, of a war maker, comes in and he sends all of his messenger of Satan to she yell in the language of the Hebrews, in the hearing of every citizen, and starts trying to pick them off. And so, if we turn to Isaiah 36, we can actually see what he said. And let me see.
Speaker 1:So, in verse 6, isaiah 36, six, uh four, what confidence is this in which you trust? I say to you of having plans and war, uh, you speak of having plans of war and power, but they're just words. You don't have any real power. Who do you trust that you would rebel against me? Me, I am a, and look, you are trusting in the and. So then now, okay, so he's, this is a.
Speaker 1:This is a textbook thing that the devil does when he intimidates, he questions your trust in God, and then he brings up your past, the sore subject, the place that you made a mistake, the thing you should never have done, and Hezekiah's predecessors had made a deal with Egypt. You know, egypt in the Old Testament is a type and shadow of the old life of sin that we leave behind when we come to Jesus. It is not the promised land, it is the place of slavery. And we left the place of slavery. We crossed over the Jordan. We came into our promised land of salvation. That is the symbol.
Speaker 1:So whenever Israel or Judah go back to Egypt and beg for help, help, help from all your chariots and horsemen. It is a bad thing, it is a bad picture, and so you know, the devil knows how to bring that up. When did remember that mistake you made? Remember when you tried to go back? You sorry dog, you, you, you know, I mean he is, he's trash talking now and he said you tried to go to Egypt. They're not going to help you, they're like a pointy staff that's going to pierce your hand when you lean on it. And if you say to me we trust in the Lord, our God, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away? And so now this is another thing he does. He mocked him for trusting in the Lord. Now he's slandering Hezekiah's good deeds.
Speaker 1:Hezekiah actually did take down altars, but were they altars to the Lord. No, they were idol altars that he tore down. He tore down every idol across the land. He said no, we're only going to worship in this temple I've just cleaned out. We are going to restore the feasts. We're going to do the things that the law said and Moses said we're going to do it God's way, not our way. And he took down all of those. And so now he's being slandered.
Speaker 1:Everybody says slandered. The devil is known as the accuser of the brethren, and revelation tells us that he will be cast down and Jesus has already defeated him, but he is an outlaw and he will still come after you. He will still yap his jaws in your ear and he will have some words for you and they will accuse you. Remember when you did this? Remember when you did that that good thing you did? It was actually bad. That bad thing you did was actually good. He's a deceiver, he's always twisting and he's slandered, so okay. So remember now.
Speaker 1:Not only are these words being spoken just to Hezekiah, but they're all. The Hebrews on the wall, all the watchmen, all all the people nearby can all hear it. So the citizens are being put to this test. It's, it's, he's sowing unrest, notice. And then there's there's fake religion, he said. Now you said have I not come? So he said do not, okay.
Speaker 1:So this is him talking to all the people. He stood out with a loud voice in Hebrew and he said here are the words of the great king of Assyria. That says the king do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying the Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria make peace with me by a present and come out to me, every one of you, and eat from his own vine and everyone from his own fig tree, and and and then I'm going to cut and I'm going to take you to my land, and it's just like your land. You'll be treated well. Hey, come with me. So he actually tries to recruit the citizens of Judah to come with him If you come now.
Speaker 1:And so that's another tactic of the enemy to deceive and to tempt you, to lure you with false promises, and those promises usually are notice that, hey, you can still eat of the stuff you're growing right now and later, later, I'll take you to my land, but right now you don't have to do the Hezekiah's war thing. It's war besiegement You're going to. You know, if you're, if you stay here, you're just going to end up drinking all your own waste and eating your own. That's all there's going to be to eat and drink, you know, is your own excrement. And so you know, don't? You don't have to go this way here. You just stay here and just be, make a deal with me. Right now you can have the stuff, and then, and then later and then any consequences from your decision, we're gonna defer that, and that is a tactic of the devil. That is a tactic of the devil to make things, to make God's way, seem so, so intolerable.
Speaker 1:You know, fighting is inconvenient sometimes. Fighting freedom okay, freedom is not free. Have you heard that Freedom is not free? And so there is a time that we have to fight and we have to, we have to sacrifice, and this was God's plan. And but we can't, we can't be Lord, we can't, because does the devil ever tell the truth? No, and so my prayer for you always is that's the thing and this is where it gets us.
Speaker 1:Is that God talking to us or is it the devil? Whose voice am I hearing? Whose voice am I hearing? Well, you have an unction from the Holy One. First John says you have an unction, pastor preached on that recently. You have an unction from the Holy One. First John says you have an unction, pastor preached on that recently. You have an unction from the Holy One and you know, jesus said my sheep know my voice and in others they will not follow. You know the voice of God and you know the voice of the devil and you'll stand up and fight with everything in you against the voice of the devil and you will only listen to the voice of God, amen. And then, actually, in somewhere and I didn't write it down nor highlight it, but in this passage right here, it says uh, that actually, um, this Rabshakeh, this, this, this messenger of Satan. He actually says the Lord sent me. In fact, this God that you're trusting in, it was him that sent me to destroy your city. He actually sent me. So that, right there, that is turning everything on its head right, and that is what we call. And this happens a lot in this culture today.
Speaker 1:Can you think of an example where people act on behalf of the devil, out of selfishness or out of their own flesh or out of an evil intent, and but they say that they're doing it for God. That is actually a breaking of one of the 10 commandments, which is do not take the name of the Lord in vain. Taking the name of the Lord in vain is not just saying his name as a cuss word that's bad, but but it's way deeper than that. It's actually doing something evil. And saying God is, you're doing it for God, you're doing on the Lord's behalf. That is the worst kind of evil. It erodes the foundations of of of love in our society, where we can live together in peace, and when somebody does that, they have broken something, and that's exactly what the devil will do. So I want you to recognize it when you see it. That is the voice of the devil. Do not listen to it.
Speaker 1:And then my favorite one is look, I've just rolled through all of these seven other cities, I've come through them, and how is it that you're going to escape me? I mean, I've already taken down your sister Israel over there, and none of their gods help. Or seven or eight. He just goes on and on these cities. That city fell, and that city fell and that city fell. And the statistics say you will never win. You can't fight me. You may as well just make a deal. May as well compromise now, because I'm going to win. Does the devil ever tell you that?
Speaker 1:And the statistics say that a woman of a certain age cannot get a new job. Did you lose your job? You can't get a new job. You won't get a job with benefits. You're too old. Well, I remember when Gwen Bullock after she, she just dug down into the promises of God and prayed. And Tara knows if Gwen Gwen is usually here. I don't know where she is, but I'm, I'm gonna brag on her. Gwen is usually here. I don't know where she is, but I'm going to brag on her. She did everything she possibly could. She clerked at a gift shop, she hostess at a breakfast place. She did. I mean, she is trained as an oil and gas technician or a clerk type position, and she was not able. And you know what? God opened a door for her and she has a fabulous job with benefits. She is awesome. She's been in that job now I don't know how many years, but she's doing great.
Speaker 1:The statistics said uh, where's Calvin Sterling? He's probably working somewhere, but he's in the lobby working. I told him I was going to share this. He told me I could. Um, but Calvin just now turned. He just now turned the age where you are not allowed in the United States to be an air traffic controller anymore. You know, calvin's a young guy. I don't think I think they should move that up, because we need air traffic controllers that are experienced and good at what they do. Amen, have y'all noticed that we need air traffic controllers, but anyway. So Calvin is not supposed to be able to work in that industry anymore in the United States.
Speaker 1:But you know what? There's this little island off the coast of Venezuela called Curacao. Am I saying it right, toby Twice? I am Curacao. All right, probably not Close enough and it's run by the Dutch government. I guess it's a colony of the Dutch, but they don't have such a rule. And somehow Calvin has recently secured a job in Curacao. It's a one-year contract. I know it's crazy, and not only that, but they were not supposed to allow him, because it's been seven and a half years since he's worked in the industry and they only allow a five year gap. If you have a five year or less gap, then we'll put you to work. But you know what. They needed him, they wanted him and the statistics said you can't have the job. But God said you can have the job and he has a job Now.
Speaker 1:Whether or not we have to lose the whole family for a year over it, we will cry and pray, spread that before the Lord. But I'm just excited that God has made and they got a home. I mean, god's just doing all kinds of things for them. They just got a home. Things are falling together for them. And I could go on and on Kim Cook.
Speaker 1:Statistics say you can't live three times a cancer survivor. That doesn't exist. No, once it comes back, one time you're dead. After that, uh-uh. She just got a good report this week. This is her third time fighting and she is free, free, free of cancer, free of cancer.
Speaker 1:Rick Chavez died, had an out, an out of body experience on the table, and that was about a year ago or so. We need to have him up here to tell his story. It will raise the hairs on your back of your neck, um, uh, cause it was not a good out of body experience, but God, uh he. He came out on the other side and he's a new man. I can tell you that. But but the statistics say he should have died.
Speaker 1:I want to say another. Really, this isn't really totally on the topic, but there's a statistic I heard last week that has stuck with me and once you hear it, you can't unhear it. But I sat in a charity presentation around a boardroom table. I don't know why God had me in the room with these people that were such. There were very important people at that room and I didn't feel like I belonged there. But I'm going to tell you the things that I heard. There's a foster care charity that just started and they were represented in our event on Friday night. And here's a statistic for you If you are 18 and you're in foster care, that on your 18th birthday there's no more money allocated to you by the state on your 18th birthday.
Speaker 1:So happy birthday. You are now out on the street. If you have not bonded with a parent by the time you're 10, if you're not adopted, it's unlikely that you will be adopted. You will, on average, go to home after home every two years. You'll be in a different home every two years. So you have not bonded with anyone and you're 18. Bye-bye, bye-bye. And you probably don't have a lot of social skills because your trust issues are really low, because everybody who's ever cared for you was paid to do so. And now? So maybe you're a little bit of a fighter, maybe you've got a little chip on your shoulder and you can't get along with people. So the foster parents are like bye-bye, no more money. And so now I believe it is 50% of them by the time they're 24, they are dead, homeless or in jail.
Speaker 1:And so we learned of a charity that is actually born out of a very successful Hispanic-owned business in our area. Had no idea there was such a large, thriving business in our area that does this, but the owner is a believer. He said, wow, you know, I've got a multinational corporation now I've got 400 and some odd oil and vehicle fluid additives and stuff on the market that I produce right here and develop and produce and test and send out to all over 62 countries of the world or something like that, and I want to give back. And he always thought, oh, I'll open an orphanage. And somebody was like an orphanage in Brazil is not going to help the people here. Here's what is going on right here in your community. So he, he, he hired a very professional charitable director to help him and they've now reached 73 young men that they had trained in a seven-week program to get them and an auto tech certificate so that they can now go to work in an auto industry, at a dealership or an auto care shop, and and then they have a job.
Speaker 1:And they have. They partner with auto, the auto industry, to hire these young men. And and and so and because and it's a win-win because the auto care industry can't find any technicians there's about 150,000. There's a shortage of 150,000 mechanics in our so anybody wants to go into the mechanic industry. In seven weeks you can get trained, you can get a job. Seven weeks you get your certification. So that's what they do there. They give them a certification, they give it all to them. They have two men that go out in the morning and drive around all over Harris County and pick up these kids from wherever they might be living and take them and give them a shot, and by the time they're done, they have a little graduation day and a little signing day. Hey, which company are you signing with? I'm signing with them. I'm signing with them and they get a job. And 59 of them, of the 72 that have gone through the program, are still sticking with it and have a job a year later. So it's great. It's great. Everybody can clap.
Speaker 1:And one, one of our donors, the person who, the big, heavy hitter, who bought our Geneva Bible, who bid $15,000 for that Bible and then, when it wasn't, and then when they went to go pay for it, they paid an extra 5,000 just because they wanted to for it. They paid an extra five thousand just because they wanted to. Yes, and so that donor heard James mention the foster care charity one time. James mentioned it three seconds and that guy walked over there. He said I own generator super center. I need technicians for my generators.
Speaker 1:Are those kids? Shut up, devil, you are a liar. They do not have to be a statistic. You do not have to be a statistic. Nobody, nobody. I don't care what the devil said to you. You are different than them. You know what. People don't rise from the dead either, but Jesus did, and if you believe that, then you can believe anything is possible. We sing it tonight. Do you believe it? Everybody say I believe it. So do not listen to the devil. So what do you do? What are some do-dos? The do-dos, first of all, if you go back and now I'm in like one of the stories here, and I think it is in Isaiah 36.
Speaker 1:At first, the Rabshakeh comes and he says all of this trash talking, and he says it really loud. This chief of staff, this messenger of Satan, and he's talking really loud. And Hezekiah said to his staff don't answer him, Do not say anything. You know, in the faith people say you know, there's a time to answer the problem. There is a time to speak your faith. There is a time, but this was not the time for that. This was the time to Hezekiah was like I'm going to find out what God wants to do and I'm not going to answer in the heat of passion.
Speaker 1:You know there's a proverb that says don't answer a fool according to his folly. You're going to be like him, and so this was one of those times. You should answer the devil, but people who are messengers of Satan. Because people can be messengers of Satan, they can be people that you love, but because they are connected to the spirit of this age, satan can use them to manipulate you. They can be messengers of Satan. Even Christians who have yielded to their flesh for a long time and have not yielded to the spirit of God can be accidentally messengers of Satan to discourage you, to put you down, to hold you down. Do not listen to the devil and do not become a messenger of Satan. I would say that. But anyway, so, but. But he said don't answer them. And then, and so they didn't. But he did consult his leaders, he consulted. He had this ugly, ugly threat hanging over him and and they're, they're holding it in. But he consulted his leaders. And this is in 2 Chronicles 32, 2,.
Speaker 1:Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem. He consulted with his leaders and commanders. And so what? Who are you consulting with? Do you have good, godly people around you to consult with? Call us, text us, reach out to us Facebook messages, come to us after church. We can help you. We will talk. We like to talk. That's what we like to do is share the Word of God in your situation. We do like to. We are not licensed counselors, but we will pray with you.
Speaker 1:And so, but he had, he consulted with his, with his leaders, with the people around him, and they decided to stop the water springs that were outside the city. And in other words, so if you're, if the army, if the invading army is going to come to our springs, we're going to make sure that they are dry for them. We are not going to have a hospitable, happy place for the enemy to come camp out in our lives. No, we are not going to give no place to the devil. Give no, make no provision for the flesh. Do not let the enemy find any water in your life. And so he stopped up the. He stopped up the the well, he um, okay. And he strengthened himself verse five and built up the wall that was broken and raised it up to the towers and built another wall outside. And he repaired the millow in the city of David and made weapons and shields in abundance. Everybody say weapons and shields. We pray Psalm 91 for protection.
Speaker 1:But it is not wrong to go get yourself a license to carry. You don't need one. In the state of Texas you can actually just constitutionally carry a weapon, but it's legally better if you have a license to do so. Weapons are good. It is so good to have some kind of self-defense preparation. You know, we do our part and God does his part. Do our part and God does his part. I'll say that again we do our part and God does his part. There are, there is faith and there's works. Faith and works, and they two of them work together. If you have either one without the other, you are halfway and it won't work. The word works when you work it way, and it won't work the word works when you work it, but you got to work it, all right. So anyway. So then he, and then and this is important he prayed. He prayed.
Speaker 1:At one point the king of Assyria sent a letter with all more of that trash talking, all the same spirit, the same accusation, all that it was in a letter. And so he have you ever gotten a bad letter? You got a bad report. You got a bad, something bad. He took that letter and he brought it to the temple of God and he laid it out before the Lord. And we do that sometimes here in church. I've seen people bring documents, bring folders, bring whatever. They'll be waving it and they will just lay it before the Lord.
Speaker 1:But you don't have to come do it, you are the temple, you can do it in your house. You can say, lord, I'm laying this before you, your house. You can say, lord, I'm laying this before you, this does not line up with this, I'm going to lay it. I really believe that's what it means. You don't have to physically lay it. We can do that as a prophetic act. But I lay that report, those words that have been spoken. I lay it next to this and I say what does the word say about this? Because what the word says about me is true and what the devil said about me is false. It's a lie and it's sent to manipulate and fear monger on my life and I'm not going to have it. And so he prayed. And when he prayed, he, he acknowledged he prayed to the Lord of hosts, the creator, the Lord of hosts. Hosts, that means army. So what he's saying is I got this ugly army outside of my gates, but, lord, you got an army, you have an army, and it's bigger and better than that army. And then, oh, now I lost my place. I am actually going to turn here because it's worth it.
Speaker 1:Second Chronicles let's go back there and if you can see it's easier, all right. Second Chronicles 32, seven he encourages his people with the things that he prays. Then he encourages his people be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid nor dismayed before the King of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him. You know, he's got a lot. It's a multitude, but there are. There are more with us than with him. Everybody say that there are more with us than with him. Everybody say that there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord, our God, to help us and to fight our battles.
Speaker 1:And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. So he prayed, he laid it out before the Lord, he acknowledged in that prayer it's beautiful, you should go back and read it sometime but, um, but then he encouraged. He encouraged all of his people. And then, and then God did his part. Hezekiah did all those things. He. He did all those things. He prayed, he encouraged his people. He didn't answer according to the folly, he sought a strategy. He did some stuff in the natural that would make sense. And then God spoke. And God will speak to you. He will speak, and that's worth flipping back to Isaiah 37. And I'll just read some of it. Uh, you know, god can talk trash too. And God now turns all of the trash that. The enemy talked and he turned it back and he said you know, yeah, king, you did.
Speaker 1:You mowed down some cities, but do you know, it was me that empowered you to do that? Because those cities were worshiping idols. And you know what else? Those cities were easy. They were so easy. You thought it was your own strength that mowed down those cities, but it was really mine all along. And you know what? Jerusalem ain't going to be that easy. That's the apple of my eye. And not only that. I know your dwelling place, verse 28,. You're going out and you're coming in, and I've seen your rage against me. This is God talking, because your rage against me and your tumult have come up to my ears. Therefore, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips and I will turn you back the way you came.
Speaker 1:Then, if you flip down to 33, the Lord says he will not come into the city. The king of Assyria will not come into the city. He will not shoot one arrow, he will not come before it with a shield, nor build a siege mount against it. By the way that he came by, the same shall he return? Let's say that together. By the way that he came, the same way he will return. And he shall not come into this city, says the Lord. We got to draw a line. He is not coming into my house, he is not coming into my mind, he is not coming into my family, he is not coming into my church or my city, not coming into my family. He is not coming into my church or my city. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.
Speaker 1:That's what God said, and when God speaks, we can depend on that. And the people did. And do you know what happened? Do you know what happened? Exactly what happened? So, so, uh, the king of Assyria gets word that there's another attack on his land and he has to leave. And so he did. The Lord literally put a hook in his jaw and brought him home, and he went the same path. Okay, I got to go home now.
Speaker 1:And as soon as he got home, there was a. I guess he was home for some period of time. He was in his temple worshiping his false, fake idols, his fake gods and his own two sons killed him with the sword and he died and that threat eliminated. Oh, but wait before that, hold on, it's even better. Y'all just think it was just a supernatural thing, but actually his army is still sitting there, right, his army is still encamped outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:And the angel of the Lord remember the angel of the Lord on the night of the Passover, when he came, and the firstborn of Egypt all perished that night. It was a sober thing. It's a somber thing to think that the angel of the Lord could take a life, but he knows what's in a seed and you know what he had to protect Israel. He had to protect Judah, because Hezekiah was literally David's offspring and Hezekiah was in the line of Jesus and that culture and that family had to be preserved or we would not have our Messiah and we would not be. We wouldn't, he would not be able. His plan of salvation for the whole world would not be able to be enacted. And so God had to do some drastic things. And so those people were a threat, that army was a threat, and every one of them, every one of them 2 Chronicles 32, 20, the angel of the Lord passed through the camp of the king of Assyria and cut down every mighty man of valor, every leader and captain, and he returned, shame faced, to his own land and one day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his idol, his own sons killed him with the sword.
Speaker 1:Shame faced, everybody say. Shame faced and every kingpin of the enemy that looks so big, and there's not just one. Many of you are fighting a battle on multiple fronts and it's a lot of things. It's a lot of things in our society, it's things with your kids, it's things with your mortgage payment, it's whatever. All the things are coming against you all at one time and it looks like it's insurmountable, but in one night, in one night, the angel of the Lord eliminated every threat and they had to run and return shame-faced, and guess who got all the glory?
Speaker 1:God did, and then everybody, really across the whole world. Now, the same way people in the world talked about Israel when God delivered them in the Red Sea, the same spirit. Now they're renowned. Ooh, I think I should give an offering to their temple. Ooh, and it really did happen. And they brought gifts to Hezekiah and they worshiped the Lord and tithing was restored in the land Giving was restored and it was a huge, awesome victory. Hezekiah didn't do everything right after that. I wish he did. You can read about it for yourself. But what did I do? But it was amazing, the victory that God had. He promised and he made it good. Everybody say God promises he will make it good. So I want you to just be encouraged tonight to trust in the Lord.