WEBVTT 00:00:00.599 --> 00:00:02.980 Welcome to the official podcast of the Church 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:05.519 of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.000 tuned in for today's message. Whether you're 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.220 on your morning commute or if you're relaxing 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:12.199 at home, we're here to share the strength and 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:15.199 truth of God's Word with our community. If you're 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:16.820 in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:20.460 person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:23.440 Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:26.500 every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:29.320 afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.899 at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together 00:00:32.899 --> 00:00:37.020 and dive into today's sermon. This afternoon 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:39.060 for a little while I want us to study the title 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:41.939 we have on the board a tale of two kings We're 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.140 gonna go back to the Old Testament I like reading 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:46.200 about the kings in the Old Testament because 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:48.320 there's a lot of good lessons that we can learn 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.920 Learn from the history of Israel and Judah and 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:52.859 learn from the kings of that day and we might 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:55.200 look at ourselves and think Well, what do we 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.740 have in common with kings? Well, what we have 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:00.280 in common with kings is that we're all human 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:04.159 and whether you are great and mighty and authority 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.180 or you live out in the West Texas community of 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:11.060 Wheeler or in the Arkansas community of Greenwood 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:15.340 we are all human and we all have tendencies whether 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:18.040 those you know regardless of whatever position 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:21.219 we are in in life we're all susceptible to the 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:25.900 same types of faults and weaknesses and deceptions 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.480 and so this evening we're going to talk about 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:32.530 two kings that the Bible speaks to us about and 00:01:32.530 --> 00:01:34.689 we want to contrast these two kings. We're going 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:36.890 to look at an evil king and we're going to look 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:40.209 at a good king and try to arrive at some lessons 00:01:40.209 --> 00:01:43.510 from looking at these two kings in order to gain 00:01:43.510 --> 00:01:46.390 some insight for our life and how we are to live 00:01:46.390 --> 00:01:49.709 today. The first king that we want to look at 00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:53.890 is in 2 Kings chapter 21 verses 1 through 18 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:56.989 I'm going to take time to read that entire text 00:01:56.989 --> 00:01:59.810 but what I've done is bulleted some points up 00:01:59.810 --> 00:02:03.469 here about this evil king and whenever we look 00:02:03.469 --> 00:02:05.670 at the history and we look at the rule of this 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:07.769 evil king one of the things we want to know is 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:10.930 stored the high places for idol worship that 00:02:10.930 --> 00:02:13.389 his father had destroyed. His father before him 00:02:13.389 --> 00:02:16.530 was a good king and led reform among the people 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:19.150 of Judah, but then this king comes in right behind 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.509 him and all of the good things that the father 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:24.870 had built up, he starts to tear down. He built 00:02:24.870 --> 00:02:28.069 altars to the Canaanite god Baal and made a sacred 00:02:28.069 --> 00:02:30.389 Asherah pole. Those have reference to do with 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:33.210 Baal worship, following after the gods of the 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:36.349 land of that day and not after the Lord God Jehovah. 00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:39.340 He worshiped all the hosts of heaven, planets, 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:43.479 stars, built altars for them inside the temple 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.960 courtyard. The temple, which was the place only 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.000 for the worship of the Lord God Jehovah, this 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.020 king brings into the courtyard of the temple 00:02:53.020 --> 00:02:57.479 idols that worship the host of heaven. He placed 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:01.599 a carved idol directly inside the Holy Temple, 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.539 the one place dedicated exclusively to the Lord. 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:09.620 Can you imagine? the Gaul of such a man, to bring 00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:14.259 into the Holy Temple of God idols that the pagan 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:17.580 nations, that Judah and Israel were supposed 00:03:17.580 --> 00:03:21.740 to be different than, bringing those in to the 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:26.280 Temple of God. He burned his own sons alive as 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.539 offerings to the pagan god Molech. Burned his 00:03:30.539 --> 00:03:34.139 sons, literally burnt his sons. The pagan god 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:37.759 Molech, which they would offer child sacrifices 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:41.060 and maybe you've seen pictures of what the idol 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:43.879 looked like. It was this great big image that 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:45.939 held out its hands and people would bring their 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:49.099 children and lay upon that altar and their children 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:52.539 would be burned as a sacrifice to this god in 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:56.409 order to bring satisfaction to this god. And 00:03:56.409 --> 00:03:58.689 while this was all taking place, that there would 00:03:58.689 --> 00:04:00.710 be drummers who would be drumming and beating 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:03.610 on drums just as loud as they could in order 00:04:03.610 --> 00:04:06.969 to drown out the crying and the shrieking of 00:04:06.969 --> 00:04:11.930 these burning children. He engaged in black magic, 00:04:12.129 --> 00:04:14.490 witchcraft, divination, and fortune telling. 00:04:14.650 --> 00:04:17.930 He officially appointed and consulted spiritists, 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:20.750 mediums, and those who conjured the dead. So 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:24.180 here is a king over a group of people whose God 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:27.180 was the Lord God of heaven and rather than looking 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:29.980 to the Lord God of heaven for all truth and for 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:32.860 all understanding he would consult spiritists 00:04:32.860 --> 00:04:35.779 and mediums and those who conjured the dead and 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:38.519 then lastly he slaughtered innocent citizens, 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:42.019 prophets and political rivals until Jerusalem 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:45.459 was filled from one end to the other with the 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:49.779 blood of these people. Can you think of anyone 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.040 any worse than that? I can't think of anyone 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:57.220 any worse. Whenever we look at the Good King, 00:04:57.339 --> 00:05:00.160 we want to go to 2 Chronicles chapter 33 verses 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:05.100 1 to 20 and read about a Good King. And whenever 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:07.540 we look at the good king, again, bulleting the 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:10.060 points of this good king, we find that he threw 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:13.420 out the foreign idols and carved image placed 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:16.379 inside the temple of the Lord. So the evil king 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:18.720 put these carved images in the temple and then 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.439 this good king comes along and throws all of 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:24.360 those out, begins to purge the idolatry that 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:26.759 was in the temple area and the temple court. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.120 He tore down all the occult altars built on the 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:32.740 temple hill and throughout Jerusalem, casting 00:05:32.740 --> 00:05:37.009 them out side of the city. He rebuilt and repaired 00:05:37.009 --> 00:05:39.730 the broken altar of the Lord inside the temple 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:42.290 court. He sacrificed peace offerings and thank 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:45.589 offerings to the Lord God on the restored altar. 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.410 Because of neglect and because of abuse, the 00:05:48.410 --> 00:05:52.670 altar of the Lord had become and disrepair. And 00:05:52.670 --> 00:05:55.589 so this good king comes and repairs it and then 00:05:55.589 --> 00:05:58.829 begins to offer the sacrifices that were good 00:05:58.829 --> 00:06:02.230 and thank worthy to the Lord. He used his royal 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:04.889 authority to order the people of Judah to serve 00:06:04.889 --> 00:06:07.870 the Lord, the God of Israel, exclusively. He 00:06:07.870 --> 00:06:11.370 was so convinced in the might and in the power 00:06:11.370 --> 00:06:14.430 of the Lord God Jehovah that he begins to speak 00:06:14.430 --> 00:06:17.310 with his royal authority to all the people of 00:06:17.310 --> 00:06:22.040 Judah, you need to serve. the Lord. He built 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:25.339 a massive outer wall for the city of David extending 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:28.420 it west into the Gihon spring and around the 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:32.300 fish gate. Usually kings, the rotten kings will 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.019 say rotten for a moment. In order to protect 00:06:35.149 --> 00:06:37.370 Jerusalem and the surrounding area they would 00:06:37.370 --> 00:06:40.310 make alliances with pagan nations with Babylon 00:06:40.310 --> 00:06:43.889 with Assyria with Egypt but this one realized 00:06:43.889 --> 00:06:47.069 God is our God and we're only going to trust 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:49.589 in him and we're not going to rely on these pagan 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:52.610 countries for our safety so he goes and he begins 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:55.209 to build all of these walls around the city of 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:58.189 David to fortify the city of David because it 00:06:58.189 --> 00:07:00.810 was the place where God's name dwelt and then 00:07:00.810 --> 00:07:03.550 he made the city walls exceptionally high to 00:07:03.550 --> 00:07:06.490 protect Jerusalem from foreign invasions and 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:09.329 he placed experienced army officers in all the 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:12.410 fortified breakout cities throughout Judah. So 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:16.110 all throughout Judah, he fortifies the cities 00:07:16.110 --> 00:07:22.029 against the enemies of God. So we've got an evil 00:07:22.029 --> 00:07:24.189 king and a good king. Well, who are these kings? 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:30.930 Well, whenever we look at... 2 Kings 21 verse 00:07:30.930 --> 00:07:33.990 number 9 taking this verse here which gives us 00:07:33.990 --> 00:07:37.769 a little synopsis of this king, this king that 00:07:37.769 --> 00:07:41.009 seduced them, Judah, to do more evil than the 00:07:41.009 --> 00:07:43.569 nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the 00:07:43.569 --> 00:07:48.350 children of Israel. This was evil King Manasseh. 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:54.800 who ruled Judah from 687 to 642 BC. And notice 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.079 what it says about him in verse number 9, that 00:07:57.079 --> 00:08:00.620 he seduced them to do more evil than the nations 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:03.160 whom the Lord had destroyed before the children 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:06.079 of Israel. In the land of Canaan, all of those 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.399 nations that were dwelling in the land of Canaan 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:13.300 before the children of Israel entered in, God 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:16.660 had given them space to repent. In fact, you 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:20.459 find in Genesis where it talks about the iniquity 00:08:20.459 --> 00:08:25.300 of the Amorites being fulfilled. And so all of 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:28.300 those nations had reached a point of iniquity 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:32.419 where God said, no more. And then He begins to 00:08:32.419 --> 00:08:34.679 destroy them and drive them out and then bring 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:37.419 in His people into the land. Well, this verse 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:40.960 tells us here that this King Manasseh seduced 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:44.899 Judah in doing just as bad. But we're going to 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:47.840 notice here in just a moment, but even worse 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.980 than the ones that were before him. So whenever 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:55.259 we look at King Manasseh, whenever we think of, 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.740 okay, man, he's the worst. We'll really know 00:08:57.740 --> 00:09:04.000 he was worse than the worst. Well, what about 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.950 this good king? In 2 Chronicles 33 verses 12 00:09:07.950 --> 00:09:11.809 to 13, this king humbled himself greatly before 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:14.990 the Lord God of his fathers and prayed to him 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:22.110 and he knew that the Lord was God. Who was this 00:09:22.110 --> 00:09:30.450 king? This king was repentant, King Manasseh. 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:33.909 You see in both instances we're talking about 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:39.460 the same guy. But two different kings in the 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:44.720 sense that at one time he ruled evil So evil 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:48.059 that his name is attached to the sin that brought 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:51.340 about the Babylonian captivity of the children 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:55.379 of Judah But then on the other hand we see a 00:09:55.379 --> 00:10:00.879 king Who was good who humbled himself before 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:04.490 the Lord? and knew that the Lord was God. You 00:10:04.490 --> 00:10:07.610 mean this guy that brought that idolatry into 00:10:07.610 --> 00:10:10.909 the temple court and into the temple? This guy 00:10:10.909 --> 00:10:13.870 that offered up children of sacrifices? This 00:10:13.870 --> 00:10:17.289 guy that shed the innocent blood of people? This 00:10:17.289 --> 00:10:20.649 guy that rather than consulting God consulted 00:10:20.649 --> 00:10:23.470 spiritualists and and all of these other people 00:10:23.470 --> 00:10:28.029 who would divinate and to speak um you know of 00:10:28.029 --> 00:10:31.460 things that have pagan origin? This guy is the 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:36.259 same guy that knew that the Lord was God. This 00:10:36.259 --> 00:10:40.919 is an amazing story, an amazing account, and 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:46.000 I want us to look at Manasseh and see where he 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.159 was and where he went to and what are the lessons 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:51.679 for us to learn. First thing we want to notice 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:57.179 is that Manasseh was the son of King Hezekiah. 00:10:57.610 --> 00:11:00.289 If you were to ask anyone that studies Judah's 00:11:00.289 --> 00:11:02.309 history, who was the worst king, they're probably 00:11:02.309 --> 00:11:05.809 going to tell you it was Manasseh. And he was. 00:11:06.789 --> 00:11:08.490 And then if you were to ask them, well who was 00:11:08.490 --> 00:11:11.090 the best king, you're probably going to be told, 00:11:11.289 --> 00:11:15.570 well Hezekiah and Josiah. And so what we have 00:11:15.570 --> 00:11:20.889 here is Hezekiah, King Hezekiah, who was the 00:11:20.889 --> 00:11:25.669 best king, his son is considered the worst king. 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:28.490 And we look at that and think, wow, that just 00:11:28.490 --> 00:11:31.850 kind of blows the mind. But the Bible tells us 00:11:31.850 --> 00:11:34.389 concerning Hezekiah, he did what was right in 00:11:34.389 --> 00:11:37.149 the sight of the Lord according to all that his 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:39.909 father David had done. Now if you were a king 00:11:39.909 --> 00:11:42.429 in Judah, the highest commendation that you could 00:11:42.429 --> 00:11:45.730 be given was to have it said about you, you did 00:11:45.730 --> 00:11:50.690 all according to your father David. And I think 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:53.009 there's only two kings in Judah that that's said 00:11:53.009 --> 00:11:59.049 about. Hezekiah Josiah. So here you have a king 00:11:59.049 --> 00:12:02.490 that is given the highest commendation that a 00:12:02.490 --> 00:12:06.259 king in Judah could have. He goes on to say that 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:08.740 he removed the high places, he broke the sacred 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:11.100 pillars, he cut down the wooden images, he broke 00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:14.080 in pieces the bronze servant that Moses had made 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.740 for until those days the children of Israel burned 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:21.360 incense to it and called it Nehoshetan. He trusted 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.320 in the Lord God of Israel so that after him was 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.379 none like him among all the kings of Judah nor 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:30.960 who were before him for he held fast to the Lord. 00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:33.799 He did not depart from following the Lord but 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:36.039 kept his commandments which the Lord commanded 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:38.940 Moses and the Lord was with him and prospered 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:42.399 wherever he went. In 2nd Chronicles 31 20 to 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:45.799 21 it says concerning Hezekiah he did what was 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.519 good and right before the Lord his God and in 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:50.759 every work that he began in the service of the 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:53.179 house of God in the law and in the commandments 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:57.600 to seek his God he did it with all his heart. 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:01.279 This was a king that was all about excellence. 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:07.899 He did it with all his heart. And we look at 00:13:07.899 --> 00:13:13.879 this and say, that's the dad of this guy? Well 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:17.539 he had a son and his son's name was Manasseh. 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:20.860 Now let's notice some things about Manasseh. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.120 I'm going to say that Manasseh had a very rough 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:28.440 childhood. Notice that he became king whenever 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:32.629 he was 12 years old. He can't rule a nation. 00:13:34.009 --> 00:13:37.950 He can't rule a nation. Hezekiah before this 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:40.549 was ill and he prayed to the Lord that his life 00:13:40.549 --> 00:13:44.210 might be extended and the Lord gave him 15 more 00:13:44.210 --> 00:13:48.490 years. And notice here that Hezekiah takes the 00:13:48.490 --> 00:13:52.899 throne at 12 years old. So that tells us that 00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:55.480 Manasseh, or Manasseh took the throne at 12 years 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.080 old, so that tells us that Manasseh was born 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:03.360 towards the latter end of Hezekiah's life. And 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:07.279 quite possibly Hezekiah, and again this is my 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.279 speculation, maybe did not give Manasseh the 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.539 attention that he needed. As good as Manasseh 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:17.750 was. And that happens. That happens. You know 00:14:17.750 --> 00:14:20.450 if you're the king over a country you got a lot 00:14:20.450 --> 00:14:22.929 of stuff to take care of and sometimes it's easier 00:14:22.929 --> 00:14:25.509 just to take your child and push them over here 00:14:25.509 --> 00:14:27.750 to some tutors and guardians and let them take 00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:30.690 care of him while you tend to the kingly business. 00:14:32.330 --> 00:14:34.730 Well after Hezekiah's gone and Manasseh takes 00:14:34.730 --> 00:14:37.490 the throne he's 12 years old. Do you really think 00:14:37.490 --> 00:14:39.889 a 12 year old was ruling Judah at that time? 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:44.929 No. The people that were ruling Judah were all 00:14:44.929 --> 00:14:48.889 of the people that Hezekiah left behind. And 00:14:48.889 --> 00:14:51.470 as is generally the case, whenever you have a 00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:53.950 king that is working for one thing, generally 00:14:53.950 --> 00:14:56.610 in his circle, there are people that are working 00:14:56.610 --> 00:14:59.830 against him, especially in this time. And we 00:14:59.830 --> 00:15:02.210 have it today. I think you've heard of the deep 00:15:02.210 --> 00:15:05.789 state. Deep state's not a new thing. Judah had 00:15:05.789 --> 00:15:08.830 a deep state. That while Hezekiah was trying 00:15:08.830 --> 00:15:12.070 to lead the children of Judah in a good way, 00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:15.289 there were people in his circle that didn't like 00:15:15.289 --> 00:15:19.029 those reforms. And so then whenever Hezekiah 00:15:19.029 --> 00:15:22.350 is gone, here's this 12 year old boy and now 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:24.389 there are all of these people over here that 00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:26.690 had their personal secret agendas and they're 00:15:26.690 --> 00:15:28.830 wringing their hands thinking, alright, we're 00:15:28.830 --> 00:15:32.639 in control now. And so whenever we look at Manasseh, 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:35.399 Manasseh he was young and he probably fell under 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:39.480 some very bad influences to begin with. He was 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:43.779 12 years old and he did evil in the sight of 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:48.039 the Lord. And whenever we think about Manasseh, 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:51.379 a lot of the evil that he perpetrated, there 00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:55.409 were political considerations in that. A lot 00:15:55.409 --> 00:15:58.590 of times whenever these pagan gods were brought 00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:01.110 into a country they were brought into a country 00:16:01.110 --> 00:16:04.490 in order to form alliances with other countries 00:16:04.490 --> 00:16:07.590 that were surrounding them. Whenever you look 00:16:07.590 --> 00:16:11.490 at idolatry, idolatry we think of it as a religious 00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:14.690 issue and it is a religious issue but in this 00:16:14.690 --> 00:16:18.529 day there were political and economic consequences 00:16:18.529 --> 00:16:24.720 also. And that in idolatry there was, from what 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.779 I understand, you know, they had kind of their 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:29.580 own banking system in that and they had their 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:33.779 own subculture that if I'm in this country serving 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:36.080 this God and then there's another country over 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:38.159 there that's serving that God where we can go 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.460 back and forth serving our gods and we can do 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:44.919 business with each other. You know people didn't 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:47.659 just worship stars because they wanted to worship. 00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:50.519 People worship what they can get the most from. 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.039 And if you can gain power politically and you 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.320 can do well economically whatever will bring 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:59.720 that about people will worship. And that's what 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.340 was happening in the days of Manasseh. So there 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:06.640 was an economic advantage and he catered to the 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:12.019 people because we see that Manasseh, he had led 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:16.460 them in evil for so long and then there was and 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:18.680 so then there was that time towards the end of 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:25.079 his life that the people found evil convenient 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.579 rather than going all the way to Jerusalem to 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:30.559 the temple to worship. I can just go out here 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.799 on this high hill underneath the tree and I can 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:35.740 offer a sacrifice to an idol. That's a lot more 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:38.079 convenient than having to go all the way to Jerusalem. 00:17:38.930 --> 00:17:43.670 to worship and so he catered to the people. You 00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:45.670 know and these are just some ideas for whatever 00:17:45.670 --> 00:17:49.250 reason but what I want us to notice is that Manasseh 00:17:49.250 --> 00:17:52.509 as a young boy had some challenges. You know 00:17:52.509 --> 00:17:54.450 we might even could look at Manasseh and you 00:17:54.450 --> 00:17:57.990 say well you know I can see why Manasseh would 00:17:57.990 --> 00:18:01.190 do evil with all of that going on around him. 00:18:02.369 --> 00:18:05.569 But we need to understand that just because that 00:18:05.569 --> 00:18:08.809 may be a reason for why it happened that doesn't 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:13.609 excuse that it happened. Because we see this 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:18.170 man as evil and as wicked as he was, he turned 00:18:18.170 --> 00:18:21.809 to the Lord. And we see people today living in 00:18:21.809 --> 00:18:23.970 situations that are difficult, they're trying, 00:18:24.170 --> 00:18:28.369 they're tragic. and we just look at them and 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:30.569 maybe they even look at themselves and think 00:18:30.569 --> 00:18:32.789 well you know my circumstances are so bad you 00:18:32.789 --> 00:18:35.930 know there's no hope for me or you know the Lord 00:18:35.930 --> 00:18:39.210 will understand no we're accountable regardless 00:18:39.210 --> 00:18:44.529 of what our circumstances are to the Lord and 00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:46.730 so because of the evil during Manasseh's day 00:18:46.730 --> 00:18:49.730 God determined judgment on Judah he says because 00:18:49.730 --> 00:18:52.309 King Manasseh or Manasseh King of Judah has done 00:18:52.309 --> 00:18:56.859 these abominations He has acted more wickedly 00:18:56.859 --> 00:18:59.579 than all the Amorites, which were before him, 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.640 and he also made Judah sin with idols." So imagine 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:06.000 that. In the land of Canaan, there was an evil, 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:08.720 wicked group of people. God drives them out, 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:12.160 brings His people in, and then His people do 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:17.400 worse than the people that He drove out. You 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:23.279 see, they were worse than the worst. And so he 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.299 determined, I'm going to bring a calamity on 00:19:25.299 --> 00:19:28.480 Jerusalem and Judah, and whoever hears it, their 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:31.000 ears will tingle. I'll stretch forth over Jerusalem. 00:19:31.210 --> 00:19:34.049 measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of 00:19:34.049 --> 00:19:36.569 the house of Ahab. That's having reference to 00:19:36.569 --> 00:19:39.170 the northern kingdom Israel who had already been 00:19:39.170 --> 00:19:42.349 carried off into Assyrian captivity because of 00:19:42.349 --> 00:19:45.069 their idolatry and he's saying okay the same 00:19:45.069 --> 00:19:47.450 measure that I used against them I'm going to 00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:49.490 bring it to Judah and I'm going to use it against 00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:53.869 them also that they're going to go into captivity. 00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:58.869 So he says in verse number 15, because they've 00:19:58.869 --> 00:20:01.630 done evil in my sight and have provoked me to 00:20:01.630 --> 00:20:03.930 anger since the day their fathers came out of 00:20:03.930 --> 00:20:06.869 Egypt, even so to this day. But not only did 00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:09.329 God determine judgment on Judah, he determined 00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:14.029 judgment on Manasseh. In 2 Chronicles 33 verses 00:20:14.029 --> 00:20:17.109 10 and 11 the Bible says that the Lord spoke 00:20:17.109 --> 00:20:19.430 to Manasseh and his people but they would not 00:20:19.430 --> 00:20:22.269 listen therefore the Lord brought upon them the 00:20:22.269 --> 00:20:25.009 captains of the army of the king of Assyria who 00:20:25.009 --> 00:20:27.789 took Manasseh with hooks bound him with bronze 00:20:27.789 --> 00:20:33.289 fetters and carried him off to Babylon. The Assyrians 00:20:33.289 --> 00:20:38.569 were very brutal people. And whenever it says 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:42.109 that they took Manasseh with hooks, that's what 00:20:42.109 --> 00:20:46.250 they literally did. They took him with hooks. 00:20:46.930 --> 00:20:49.009 One of the things that the Assyrians would do 00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:51.230 when they were going to lead someone away as 00:20:51.230 --> 00:20:54.069 a prisoner, they would run a hook through their 00:20:54.069 --> 00:20:58.490 nose and then walk them and lead them with a 00:20:58.490 --> 00:21:02.049 chain. Are you going to try to make a run for 00:21:02.049 --> 00:21:04.930 it if you got a hook in your nose? You're not. 00:21:05.579 --> 00:21:08.359 So he's got a hook in his nose being led about 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.980 with a chain and he's in bronze fetters and he's 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:14.819 being carried off to Babylon. Now we might say, 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:16.920 well if Assyria is doing it why are they taking 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:19.319 him to Babylon? Well that's because Babylon at 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:23.180 this time was under, was subordinate to Assyria. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.099 And so they were taking him off and they led 00:21:27.099 --> 00:21:32.799 him away in humiliation, in defeat, before all 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.420 of his country. because of his evil that he had 00:21:36.420 --> 00:21:42.119 done. But in 2 Chronicles 33 verses 12 to 13 00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:45.700 It says Manasseh's affliction and repentance 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:48.440 in verse 12, now when he was in affliction he 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:50.839 implored the Lord his God and humbled himself 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.480 greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed 00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:55.839 to him and he received his entreaty heard his 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.579 supplication brought him back to Jerusalem into 00:21:58.579 --> 00:22:02.000 his kingdom then Manasseh knew that the Lord 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:06.059 was God. So here's this king who was the worst 00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:09.859 than the worst that we would all look at and 00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:14.480 say there's just no hope for him. And then the 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.819 Bible narrative tells us that he came to a point 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:22.160 in his life where he knew that the Lord was God. 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:27.640 What happened? You know what? Whenever you're 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:31.359 sitting in a lonely dungeon with a hook in your 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.759 nose and chains dangling from you attached to 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:37.519 the wall, that's gonna make you think a little 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.839 bit. That's gonna make you think a little bit. 00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:43.230 You know, we always hear, you know, some people 00:22:43.230 --> 00:22:46.049 have to hit rock bottom. This was Manasseh's 00:22:46.049 --> 00:22:49.869 rock bottom. That for all of the evil that he 00:22:49.869 --> 00:22:53.690 had perpetrated all of those years, he finally 00:22:53.690 --> 00:22:56.349 arrived at a point to where he had to do some 00:22:56.349 --> 00:22:59.710 soul searching. And he humbled himself before 00:22:59.710 --> 00:23:03.690 the Lord. He prayed to the Lord and noticed that 00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:07.190 the Lord received his entreaty and heard his 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:13.339 supplication and brought him back. You know, 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:17.140 I would think if, you know, if I got Manasseh 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:19.440 away from the throne of Judah, I would not want 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:23.299 to let him anywhere near that anymore. But you 00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:28.000 know what God did? God brought him back. God 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.960 brought him back. Now, if you'll notice, we get 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.440 all of our good news from 2 Chronicles and all 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.039 the bad news we're getting from 2 Kings. Why 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:42.420 is that? Well, there's a reason why. Second Kings 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:47.059 was written to explain why Judah was exiled into 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:50.720 Babylon. Second Kings goes through all of the 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.299 evil that these kings did leading up to their 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:59.480 captivity in Babylon because whenever Judah went 00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:02.559 into Babylon, God wanted them to know why that 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:08.339 was so. Second Kings was written at about 687 00:24:08.339 --> 00:24:16.500 BC. And so they went into Babylon, or rather 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:19.779 Manasseh's talked about at about 687 BC. And 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:23.319 they went into Babylon at about 605 BC was the 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:25.900 first deportation and there were three deportations. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:28.599 And the book of 2 Kings was written for them 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:30.480 to understand this is why this is happening. 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:33.200 And if you look at 2 Kings, it closes out with 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:35.400 them going into Babylon. Well, why do we get 00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:37.859 all the good news from Chronicles? Chronicles 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:41.119 was written after the return from Babylon. Its 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:43.599 focus is on hope, mercy, and the restoration 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:46.880 of the temple. The chronicler highlights Manasseh's 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:49.319 humbling and repentance to demonstrate that God's 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:52.539 grace is available to any sinner who truly humbles 00:24:52.539 --> 00:24:56.240 themselves. Chronicles was written at about 450 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:00.049 BC, after the deportation. And it's written in 00:25:00.049 --> 00:25:02.690 order to show the mercy of God to the worst of 00:25:02.690 --> 00:25:06.230 sinners. And that's what we see in Manasseh. 00:25:06.230 --> 00:25:09.470 In Manasseh we see the power and the influence 00:25:09.470 --> 00:25:14.349 of Manasseh, his personal evil in bringing about 00:25:14.349 --> 00:25:18.809 God's judgment. And then in Chronicles afterwards, 00:25:18.869 --> 00:25:21.390 after they had gone back to Judah, they had rebuilt 00:25:21.390 --> 00:25:23.890 the city, they had rebuilt the temple, and the 00:25:23.890 --> 00:25:27.190 Lord wanted them to understand his mercies towards 00:25:27.190 --> 00:25:30.269 them. and one of the stories that he uses to 00:25:30.269 --> 00:25:33.009 help them to understand his mercies towards them 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:36.609 is King Manasseh. Okay, so we've gone through 00:25:36.609 --> 00:25:38.490 a lot. What are some lessons that we can learn 00:25:38.490 --> 00:25:41.890 from this? Well, obviously, lesson number one. 00:25:43.730 --> 00:25:46.490 There's hope in a seemingly hopeless and impossible 00:25:46.490 --> 00:25:49.910 situation. You ever looked at a person and thought, 00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:54.309 there ain't no way. You ever thought that about 00:25:54.309 --> 00:25:57.509 another person? Maybe you look at yourself. And 00:25:57.509 --> 00:26:00.890 you think, there ain't no way. There's no way 00:26:00.890 --> 00:26:05.289 God would take me. You know, I've talked to people 00:26:05.289 --> 00:26:07.170 and I'm sure you've talked to people and if you've 00:26:07.170 --> 00:26:09.690 talked to people very much, you're going to run 00:26:09.690 --> 00:26:12.450 into people that say, I'm just too bad. That 00:26:12.450 --> 00:26:15.250 people live under so much shame and guilt for 00:26:15.250 --> 00:26:19.829 their past, they just cannot fathom God ever 00:26:19.829 --> 00:26:26.160 accepting them. Well, the Apostle Paul is the 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:29.359 New Testament lesson about that, and in the Old 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:33.259 Testament, Manasseh is the lesson about that. 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:39.440 That a person who was worse than the worst, when 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:42.859 he fell broken and contrite before the Lord with 00:26:42.859 --> 00:26:46.640 a hole in his nose, crying out to God, God heard 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:52.539 him, and God restored him. Again, he acted more 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:55.779 wickedly. But yet we find in his repentance, 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.900 God restored him. So if you're sitting here today 00:26:58.900 --> 00:27:01.200 and you think, well there's no way, well you 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.700 don't know the things that I've done. Well, I 00:27:04.700 --> 00:27:08.319 know the things that Manasseh's done, and I know 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:11.559 you're not that bad. Have you ever laid a baby 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:16.440 on an altar to be burned up to a pagan god? Have 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.700 you ever killed people because you thought that 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:21.059 they were a threat to your power and your economy? 00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:24.079 No, you haven't done that because you wouldn't 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:25.980 be sitting here if you did. You'd be in jail. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:33.380 But God heard this man and restored him. God 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:39.200 can restore you. He can restore me wherever we 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:44.460 are in life. Don't ever discount the mercy of 00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:52.180 God. Here we see the utility of affliction. In 00:27:52.180 --> 00:27:55.460 affliction he implored, in affliction he humbled, 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:59.440 in affliction he prayed, in affliction God received 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:03.039 his entreaty, in affliction God heard his supplication 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:06.039 and brought him back to Jerusalem in his kingdom. 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:11.119 Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Sometimes 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:15.339 it takes affliction to bring us to where we need 00:28:15.339 --> 00:28:20.180 to be to seek the Lord. And that's what happened 00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:24.000 with Manasseh. You see, the psalmist talks about 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.059 this in Psalm 119, 1067. Before I was afflicted, 00:28:28.059 --> 00:28:32.000 I went astray. But now I keep your word. It's 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:34.240 good for me that I've been afflicted, that I 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:36.980 may learn your statutes. I know, O Lord, that 00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:40.220 your judgments are right and that in faithfulness 00:28:40.220 --> 00:28:45.779 you have afflicted me. We need to understand 00:28:45.779 --> 00:28:52.029 the importance and the power of affliction. I 00:28:52.029 --> 00:28:55.470 want to notice this statement right here. In 00:28:55.470 --> 00:29:02.329 faithfulness, God afflicted Manasseh. That Manasseh's 00:29:02.329 --> 00:29:06.309 affliction was a work of faithfulness of God 00:29:06.309 --> 00:29:10.529 towards him. You know, a lot of times whenever 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:14.279 we see loved ones in sin, We want to minimize 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:17.019 their consequences and we want to rescue them 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:21.779 from all of the actions of their bad decisions. 00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:25.720 And I'm not saying that in some instances we 00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:27.880 shouldn't do that, but I think we need to have 00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:30.480 wisdom and discretion in knowing that there comes 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.400 a time when you're being unfaithful when you 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:39.299 do that. And that sometimes we have to turn loose 00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:44.599 of our loved ones and let them suffer. and let 00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:48.759 them suffer. And sometimes our loved ones have 00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:54.480 to turn loose of us and let us suffer in order 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:57.900 that affliction might teach us the things that 00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:03.660 they couldn't teach us. It's hard. It's hard. 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:06.160 It's hard when you've got a child and you've 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:11.740 got to make a decision. You go. We don't do that. 00:30:12.589 --> 00:30:15.670 And if that's the path that you're going to choose, 00:30:16.390 --> 00:30:19.230 you're not going to live here and you're not 00:30:19.230 --> 00:30:23.750 going to do it here. And that child walks out 00:30:23.750 --> 00:30:25.589 the door and you don't know if they're coming 00:30:25.589 --> 00:30:30.789 back or not. But sometimes that's necessary. 00:30:30.829 --> 00:30:33.970 Just think about that prodigal son who sat there 00:30:33.970 --> 00:30:38.569 on the porch and let his son go until he was 00:30:38.569 --> 00:30:42.789 afflicted. That was a faithful father. And so 00:30:42.789 --> 00:30:45.750 I say that to emphasize because again I see so 00:30:45.750 --> 00:30:48.490 many times that you know well you know well I 00:30:48.490 --> 00:30:50.430 want to be there for them and you know and I 00:30:50.430 --> 00:30:54.170 want to love them and that's true but sometimes 00:30:54.170 --> 00:30:56.529 our love and our faithfulness to them means that 00:30:56.529 --> 00:30:58.690 we have to let them suffer their consequences. 00:30:59.470 --> 00:31:02.150 As I used to say whenever I was teaching school, 00:31:02.509 --> 00:31:05.569 if nice works I'll do nice but if nice doesn't 00:31:05.569 --> 00:31:09.019 work we've got to do something else. And it's 00:31:09.019 --> 00:31:11.460 the same way with God. God will entreat you with 00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:14.039 His mercy and grace, but if we're not going to 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:16.640 hear Him because of His mercy and grace, He'll 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:19.279 turn us over to live out the consequences of 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:22.059 our sin until one day we've got a hook in our 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:29.839 nose crying out to God. And so Manasseh, again, 00:31:31.880 --> 00:31:34.579 that hook that he had in his nose, He could look 00:31:34.579 --> 00:31:37.500 at that hook and that hole in his nose. He could 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:40.720 look at that scar and be reminded of all of the 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:43.839 evil that he had committed. Or he could look 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:46.700 at the hole in that nose and be reminded of the 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:51.880 mercies of God, the day God heard me. And if 00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:55.019 you're sitting here with scars today, we want 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:57.519 you to be able to look at those scars and be 00:31:57.519 --> 00:32:02.210 reminded of the day God heard you. instead of 00:32:02.210 --> 00:32:04.890 all of the turmoil and all of the evil that maybe 00:32:04.890 --> 00:32:08.009 you've experienced in the past. See the beauty 00:32:08.009 --> 00:32:10.789 of repentance. He did evil in the sight of the 00:32:10.789 --> 00:32:14.430 Lord. He seduced Judah. Manasseh then came to 00:32:14.430 --> 00:32:16.670 the Lord and he knew that he was Lord and he 00:32:16.670 --> 00:32:19.309 commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 00:32:19.390 --> 00:32:22.390 We all love a good repentance story, don't we? 00:32:23.349 --> 00:32:26.670 I know whenever I obeyed the gospel there wasn't 00:32:26.670 --> 00:32:30.130 a whole lot of hoopla about it because, you know, 00:32:30.700 --> 00:32:33.900 That was what was expected. But whenever you 00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:36.099 take somebody that's been in prison you take 00:32:36.099 --> 00:32:38.980 somebody that's lived a life of drugs and alcohol 00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:41.940 and promiscuity and has totally wrecked their 00:32:41.940 --> 00:32:44.759 life and then come to God and the Lord restores 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:50.500 them. That's a picture of beauty. Now I'm not 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:52.940 saying that a person who's raised in the church 00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:55.700 that their conversion and restoration to God 00:32:55.700 --> 00:32:58.759 through Jesus Christ is any less glorious or 00:32:58.759 --> 00:33:03.720 any less important But you know, we like a good 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:06.940 repentance story, don't we? And that's what Manasseh 00:33:06.940 --> 00:33:11.079 is. He shows the beauty of repentance. He showed 00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:16.539 how far a man can fall and how far God can bring 00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:20.859 a man. Let's notice the intensity of repentance. 00:33:21.900 --> 00:33:24.019 This is an important lesson that I want us to 00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:26.519 learn about repentance. You know, repentance 00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:30.640 is not just saying, well, I'm sorry. and then 00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:34.500 we expect everything to go back to normal. Whenever 00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:37.359 we sin, whenever we're living away from the Lord, 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:40.019 we're doing damage not only to ourselves, but 00:33:40.019 --> 00:33:42.539 we're doing damage to the people that we love 00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:47.900 and love us. And that was the case with Manasseh. 00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:52.079 You know a lot of times as parents maybe that 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:56.269 are not following the Lord, and then we raise 00:33:56.269 --> 00:33:58.450 our children that way and we raise our family 00:33:58.450 --> 00:34:00.750 that way and then later on in life we come to 00:34:00.750 --> 00:34:03.309 this awareness, okay I need to serve the Lord 00:34:03.309 --> 00:34:06.470 and then I repent expecting well whenever I repent 00:34:06.470 --> 00:34:10.630 my entire family is going to come with me. That 00:34:10.630 --> 00:34:16.269 doesn't happen. That doesn't happen. Because 00:34:16.269 --> 00:34:20.269 when Manasseh repented the entire country did 00:34:20.269 --> 00:34:26.190 not come with him. But notice that whenever he 00:34:26.190 --> 00:34:30.130 repented He repented with an intensity. He knew 00:34:30.130 --> 00:34:33.929 damage had been done and repair has to take place. 00:34:34.329 --> 00:34:37.409 He began to build a wall. He began to raise a 00:34:37.409 --> 00:34:40.429 wall to a great height. He put military captains 00:34:40.429 --> 00:34:43.010 in. He took away the foreign gods. He cast them 00:34:43.010 --> 00:34:45.510 out. He repaired. He sacrificed. He commanded. 00:34:45.730 --> 00:34:49.250 He knew the evil or the influence of his evil. 00:34:49.349 --> 00:34:52.150 And in his repentance, it wasn't just enough 00:34:52.150 --> 00:34:55.730 to say, I'm sorry. He knew he had to go back 00:34:55.730 --> 00:35:00.289 and to do a lot. of repair work. And we need 00:35:00.289 --> 00:35:03.369 to understand that whenever we repent of sin, 00:35:03.789 --> 00:35:06.510 sin maybe that is grievous and sin that has hurt 00:35:06.510 --> 00:35:09.429 a lot of people and had bad influences on the 00:35:09.429 --> 00:35:12.030 people that we love, don't expect everything 00:35:12.030 --> 00:35:14.949 to be okay by just simply saying okay I'm sorry. 00:35:17.989 --> 00:35:20.889 Your repentance, my repentance will restore us 00:35:20.889 --> 00:35:25.119 to the Lord. But it doesn't take away years and 00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:29.119 years of evil influence You see this a lot in 00:35:29.119 --> 00:35:32.280 marriages whenever you know Husbands go awry 00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:34.719 sometimes and then we come back and we tell our 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:36.940 wives We're sorry and then we expect everything 00:35:36.940 --> 00:35:41.900 just to be okay. No, it's not okay You can be 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:46.519 restored in the relationship But trust has been 00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:51.719 damaged Emotional scars have been left by betrayal 00:35:52.409 --> 00:35:55.070 And don't think that coming back and just saying 00:35:55.070 --> 00:35:58.309 two words, I'm sorry, is going to make things 00:35:58.309 --> 00:36:04.369 better. You put in the work of repentance. When 00:36:04.369 --> 00:36:07.829 you make a choice to repent, you make a choice 00:36:07.829 --> 00:36:11.489 to go to work. And that's what Manasseh did. 00:36:11.650 --> 00:36:15.860 He repented and he went to work. 2 Corinthians 00:36:15.860 --> 00:36:18.679 7 talks about the repentance of the Corinthians, 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:21.920 what diligence it produced. We saw that diligent 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:25.139 word this morning and here it is again. In all 00:36:25.139 --> 00:36:27.119 things you've approved yourselves to be clear 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:30.000 in this matter. You know a lot of times when 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:31.800 people will repent you'll hear other people say 00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:34.699 well I wonder if they really repented. When a 00:36:34.699 --> 00:36:36.860 person truly repents you don't have to wonder. 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:41.440 You don't have to wonder. It becomes very clear. 00:36:41.960 --> 00:36:45.849 They begin to go to work. They begin to go to 00:36:45.849 --> 00:36:48.590 work to bring about repair and bring about healing 00:36:48.590 --> 00:36:55.650 in their lives. And again, as we said, years 00:36:55.650 --> 00:36:59.610 of influence of evil cannot be overcome with 00:36:59.610 --> 00:37:03.889 a season of repentance. Notice verse 17 or verse 00:37:03.889 --> 00:37:06.469 16. He prepared the altar of the Lord, sacrificed 00:37:06.469 --> 00:37:08.949 peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and 00:37:08.949 --> 00:37:11.449 commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 00:37:12.460 --> 00:37:14.840 Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on 00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:18.320 the high places only to the Lord their God. Now 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:20.039 we may look at that and think, well they went 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:23.159 out to the high places where they used to sacrifice 00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:25.860 to idols, so at least now they're sacrificing 00:37:25.860 --> 00:37:28.019 to the Lord their God. That's a good thing, isn't 00:37:28.019 --> 00:37:32.739 it? No, it's not. And the Bible doesn't present 00:37:32.739 --> 00:37:39.880 it as a good thing. Nevertheless, Nevertheless 00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:43.980 means, okay, this is happening, but nevertheless. 00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:49.119 They weren't complete in their following of the 00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:54.059 Lord. And so for all of Manasseh's intensity, 00:37:54.460 --> 00:37:57.940 for all of his fervor, for all of his work in 00:37:57.940 --> 00:38:02.199 repairing and restoring the damage that he did, 00:38:02.420 --> 00:38:09.730 not everyone fully came back. God is not honored 00:38:09.730 --> 00:38:14.050 by going to pagan altars and offering sacrifices 00:38:14.050 --> 00:38:17.610 to His name. You know, sometimes we think today 00:38:17.610 --> 00:38:19.590 we can take things that are bad and just slap 00:38:19.590 --> 00:38:21.769 Jesus's name on it and all of a sudden it becomes 00:38:21.769 --> 00:38:27.730 good. No, Jesus is offended by that. Jesus is 00:38:27.730 --> 00:38:31.909 offended by that. Jesus doesn't want you to adapt 00:38:31.909 --> 00:38:34.389 Him to some evil to the world to make it more 00:38:34.389 --> 00:38:37.880 consumable to you or me. He wants us to worship 00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:40.739 him in the purity and the simplicity of the truth 00:38:40.739 --> 00:38:51.920 and spirit that he's given to us. So we're sitting 00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:54.480 here today and maybe you relate to Manasseh. 00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:57.760 Maybe you're in a situation where you have repented 00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:00.679 of sins in the past. Maybe you haven't lived 00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:04.360 faithful and you know and your influence has 00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:08.429 hindered those around you that you love. You 00:39:08.429 --> 00:39:11.489 know, again, you talk with people and I talk 00:39:11.489 --> 00:39:15.610 with parents that throughout the course of their 00:39:15.610 --> 00:39:17.489 life while their children were growing up, they 00:39:17.489 --> 00:39:22.889 made bad decisions. They left the Lord. But then 00:39:22.889 --> 00:39:25.170 later on in life, they repented and they came 00:39:25.170 --> 00:39:29.070 back to the Lord. But you know what? Their children 00:39:29.070 --> 00:39:33.130 haven't followed them. Their children are still 00:39:33.639 --> 00:39:36.739 where their children were when they repented 00:39:36.739 --> 00:39:40.980 and it grieves them tremendously. And you may 00:39:40.980 --> 00:39:43.340 be, some of you, I don't know, you may be in 00:39:43.340 --> 00:39:49.960 a situation like that and a lot of crying, a 00:39:49.960 --> 00:39:55.800 lot of tears, a lot of prayer. What can you do? 00:39:56.820 --> 00:39:59.119 That's why it's so important that where you are 00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:02.099 right now today, if you're at a point of decision 00:40:02.099 --> 00:40:06.659 about overcoming sin about coming to the Lord, 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:09.159 you need to understand that the longer you put 00:40:09.159 --> 00:40:11.780 off that decision to do what you know you're 00:40:11.780 --> 00:40:15.599 supposed to do, you're leaving an evil influence 00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:19.900 for those that you love, and an influence that's 00:40:19.900 --> 00:40:22.000 going to affect them as they move on and grow 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:28.619 up. And so it's important that, first of all, 00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:36.000 you get right today. today. You cannot rewrite 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:38.840 the past, but you can be a living testimony of 00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:41.840 God's grace in the present. And again, I know 00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:45.360 people that are going through this and these 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:48.039 adults are faithful members of the congregation. 00:40:48.179 --> 00:40:50.320 They've engaged themselves in the work of the 00:40:50.320 --> 00:40:53.300 Lord. They're involved and they're seeking to 00:40:53.300 --> 00:40:56.659 carry on the work of the Lord all the while with 00:40:56.659 --> 00:41:00.380 a broken heart because of their children who 00:41:00.380 --> 00:41:09.769 will not Don't let that be you. Your changed 00:41:09.769 --> 00:41:12.710 life may become one of the strongest tools God 00:41:12.710 --> 00:41:15.750 uses to draw loved ones from under the influence 00:41:15.750 --> 00:41:17.969 of your sins. What can I do? You know, again, 00:41:17.989 --> 00:41:20.670 we get desperate and we want everybody to talk 00:41:20.670 --> 00:41:22.869 to our children or our loved ones and we want 00:41:22.869 --> 00:41:25.269 everybody to do all of these special things and 00:41:25.269 --> 00:41:27.929 sometimes it can reach a heart, sometimes it 00:41:27.929 --> 00:41:32.869 can't. But what you can do is to live a changed 00:41:32.869 --> 00:41:36.820 life. that those that love you will see it and 00:41:36.820 --> 00:41:41.840 choose to come with you and be faithful to allow 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:45.980 for affliction when necessary. Take that stand 00:41:45.980 --> 00:41:50.539 and say, this is where I am. I know I've made 00:41:50.539 --> 00:41:52.960 mistakes in the past and I've disappointed you 00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:55.559 and I've let you down and I haven't set the example, 00:41:55.599 --> 00:41:58.380 the godly example that I should be, but this 00:41:58.380 --> 00:42:03.969 is where I am today. Watch what God is doing 00:42:03.969 --> 00:42:08.650 in me and allow him to do that in you. Please. 00:42:09.969 --> 00:42:13.570 So I hope as we look at these two kings, evil 00:42:13.570 --> 00:42:16.289 Manasseh and repentant Manasseh, that we can 00:42:16.289 --> 00:42:20.610 learn some lessons that will help us in our walk 00:42:20.610 --> 00:42:23.449 with the Lord. If you're here this evening and 00:42:23.449 --> 00:42:26.650 maybe you're at a point of decision, again maybe 00:42:26.650 --> 00:42:30.010 you're At a place where you're struggling with 00:42:30.010 --> 00:42:33.050 sin, can't overcome sin, and sin is leading you 00:42:33.050 --> 00:42:35.769 away and leaving an evil influence for your family, 00:42:36.070 --> 00:42:39.130 maybe you know you should be baptized and obey 00:42:39.130 --> 00:42:42.030 the gospel, but you just keep putting it off. 00:42:42.550 --> 00:42:44.929 Here's the thing, while you do that, all of those 00:42:44.929 --> 00:42:47.409 that you love and care for, they're watching 00:42:47.409 --> 00:42:54.630 you every day put that off. What does that say 00:42:54.630 --> 00:42:57.849 about the importance of that decision? Don't 00:42:57.849 --> 00:42:59.949 we want our loved ones and the ones that we care 00:42:59.949 --> 00:43:04.010 for to make the best decisions? Why don't you 00:43:04.010 --> 00:43:07.130 make the best decision? Why don't I make the 00:43:07.130 --> 00:43:10.929 best decision today? Thank you for listening 00:43:10.929 --> 00:43:13.210 to today's sermon from the Church of Christ Wheeler 00:43:13.210 --> 00:43:16.170 area. We hope this message encouraged you and 00:43:16.170 --> 00:43:18.449 strengthened you in your faith this week. Don't 00:43:18.449 --> 00:43:21.710 forget the doors always open at 1500 South Allen 00:43:21.710 --> 00:43:25.179 L. Bean Boulevard. at 10 30 a .m on sundays 2 00:43:25.179 --> 00:43:28.280 30 p .m on sunday afternoons and recharge with 00:43:28.280 --> 00:43:32.659 us midweek on wednesdays at 7 p .m for more information 00:43:32.659 --> 00:43:35.900 or to hear past messages follow us on your favorite 00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:39.559 podcast platform look us up on facebook and instagram 00:43:39.559 --> 00:43:42.000 we hope you have a blessed week and we'll see 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:42.800 you next time