WEBVTT 00:00:03.830 --> 00:00:07.150 Good good All right, take your bibles turn with 00:00:07.150 --> 00:00:10.390 me to the book of second Chronicles chapter 29 00:00:10.390 --> 00:00:13.689 Wow, it's good to be in the house of the Lord 00:00:13.689 --> 00:00:16.829 and it truly is I don't believe church grows 00:00:16.829 --> 00:00:20.179 old I love the fellowship the singing And I am 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:22.019 just thankful that we have a church that sees 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:24.079 the importance of gathering together in the name 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:27.160 of the Lord and rejoicing that I need that. I 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:29.500 believe we need that. And I believe it honors 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:32.320 the Lord in a great way. This message tonight, 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:35.100 I've been preparing for a while. It's a message 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:38.960 about Hezekiah. And you're gonna see in a moment 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.640 as we delve into this that the nation of Judah. 00:00:42.969 --> 00:00:46.090 had a new beginning, you might say, a new chance. 00:00:46.210 --> 00:00:48.929 There's a new king coming to the throne named 00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:52.689 Hezekiah, and you know, a new beginning, a new 00:00:52.689 --> 00:00:55.829 beginning. And you think about it, a start of 00:00:55.829 --> 00:00:58.590 something, and it's an opportunity, it's a chance. 00:00:58.869 --> 00:01:00.450 And I'm gonna give a quick illustration before 00:01:00.450 --> 00:01:03.490 we get started. And I'm gonna give not a spiritual 00:01:03.490 --> 00:01:05.549 illustration, but an illustration of my life. 00:01:06.170 --> 00:01:09.709 I was, you know, younger, I was 2000, probably 00:01:09.709 --> 00:01:14.469 six or seven. And I was driving through Portsmouth 00:01:14.469 --> 00:01:17.609 and Victory Crossing. There used to be a thrift 00:01:17.609 --> 00:01:20.549 store there called Village Thrift. And close 00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:23.530 to Village Thrift, there was a laundromat. And 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:26.269 I owned a couple of laundromats already. And 00:01:26.269 --> 00:01:28.489 I looked over that laundromat, and that laundromat 00:01:28.489 --> 00:01:31.810 was closed down. And I'd looked in the windows 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:35.930 and there were three Wasco mat washers right 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:38.709 there, practically brand new. And for me, for 00:01:38.709 --> 00:01:40.530 you, it wouldn't mean anything but Wasco mat 00:01:40.530 --> 00:01:42.810 washers right there. They're the cream of the 00:01:42.810 --> 00:01:45.549 crop. And I said, wow, what in the world? This 00:01:45.549 --> 00:01:48.969 thing has died. This laundromat's gone. It's 00:01:48.969 --> 00:01:52.709 like no longer in existence. I wonder who owns 00:01:52.709 --> 00:01:55.829 this. I wonder if I could buy it. And I did some 00:01:55.829 --> 00:01:58.290 research. I found a phone number, found the lady 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:00.959 who owned it. And she just couldn't make the 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:02.920 business work. And I said, well, will you sell 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.560 this? And we came to an agreement. I bought that 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:09.919 laundromat for $20 ,000. And man, I was excited. 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:12.280 Now, you may not have been excited, but I was 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.460 so excited. I went in there. I opened up all 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:17.560 the quarter little things open there. I found 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:21.120 like 50 cents. That was exciting for me. I began 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:24.259 to go in there and I painted the whole place. 00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:27.780 I put a logo on the front there of the thing, 00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:30.979 the coin wash right there. And I got things going. 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:33.860 And I remember the first day, it's open for the 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:36.560 first day. I remember walking through there and 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:41.139 I think I got $7 .50 for the day. Now, for you, 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.000 not exciting. But me, it was a new beginning. 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:48.580 I saw potential. I saw hope. And I remember I 00:02:48.580 --> 00:02:50.879 put out signs, the coin wash. I put them out 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.400 on the streets. I began to beg people to come 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:55.599 to this laundromat. I began to ask people to 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.120 come to this laundromat. And they started slowly 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:00.680 coming in. Now, my wife and I, we went over there 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:05.259 one time, and there was a terrible, terrible 00:03:05.259 --> 00:03:08.219 stench throughout the laundromat. I mean, it 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:11.400 smelled extremely bad. And I went in there. And 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:13.860 I said, there's gotta be something that died 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.479 in here. I'd put out some poison, rat poison 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.979 a little bit. So you start looking around, and 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:21.259 behind the laundromats, there's these little 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:23.819 things, and there's a group of Spanish -speaking 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:26.479 people. Where's brother Stephen Stapleton of 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:28.379 Spanish -speaking people? Miss Dennis, you remember 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:31.580 this? You're with me. And I'm picking up the 00:03:31.580 --> 00:03:33.979 back of these. I crawl on the top of these laundromats. 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.020 I pick them up. and there's nothing, and I kept 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:39.240 going, and I remember right beside the Wasco 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:41.580 mats, behind the washing machines, I all of a 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:45.120 sudden peeked in there, and I about had a heart 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:48.099 attack. There was a rat this big, and he was 00:03:48.099 --> 00:03:51.139 smiling at me, and I jumped and fell off of there. 00:03:51.890 --> 00:03:54.189 And Brother Steve, those Spanish people, they 00:03:54.189 --> 00:03:57.610 began to laugh at me. And then one of the guys 00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:00.509 comes over. He says, you know, in Spanish, what 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:02.969 he meant is, can I help you? And my wife then 00:04:02.969 --> 00:04:04.930 gave me a look like, you're not going to take 00:04:04.930 --> 00:04:06.129 care of this. And I said, no, I'm going to let 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:08.530 this guy take care of it. He pulled out this 00:04:08.530 --> 00:04:11.770 dead rat right there. And we got rid of the stench. 00:04:11.770 --> 00:04:15.729 And that laundromat became useful, successful. 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:19.990 It became a vibrant laundromat. And it was a 00:04:19.990 --> 00:04:24.560 joy. to see something go from desolate, really 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.819 destroyed, and all of a sudden see it come to 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:30.600 life and become a profitable business. For me, 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.399 it was exciting. What's even more exciting... 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:36.300 is spiritually seeing something that is dead 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:39.699 come back to life. God takes something that has 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.800 really gone by the wayside, maybe with sin, and 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:45.259 we're gonna see a story of sin tonight, but you 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:47.800 have a new beginning, a new chance. And really, 00:04:47.980 --> 00:04:50.160 as we go through this, what are you gonna do 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:51.939 with your new beginning? What are you gonna do 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:55.240 with your chance to make something of this? And 00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:57.920 a lot of times people quit, but listen, we have 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:01.569 a great God. that is cheering us on. We're running 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:05.709 a race and God desires families, homes, individuals, 00:05:06.149 --> 00:05:09.129 churches to do something with their lives. So 00:05:09.129 --> 00:05:11.689 let's stand for the reading of God's word. We're 00:05:11.689 --> 00:05:13.470 gonna start in verse number one. We're gonna 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:17.449 just start by reading verses one and two of chapter 00:05:17.449 --> 00:05:19.709 29. Second Chronicles chapter 29, verse number 00:05:19.709 --> 00:05:23.810 one, ready? Hezekiah began to reign when he was 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:27.920 five and 20 years old. and he reigned nine and 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.060 20 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:34.540 was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:37.180 did that which was right in the sight of the 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:40.120 Lord according to all that David, his father, 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:43.120 had said. Wow, and he did that. You gotta see 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.180 that. Read that with me. And he did that which 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:48.500 was right in the sight of the Lord. Just read 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:51.240 that statement again. And he did that which was 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:53.439 right in the sight of the Lord. Now that's the 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.699 story. He had a chance and we're gonna look a 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:58.860 little bit more into it. Ahaz, Wicked King, second 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:01.160 chance he was given went farther into sin. But 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.600 all of a sudden Hezekiah, his son, in a difficult 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:07.279 situation when sin abounded, he was given an 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:11.319 opportunity, he did right. And he had that new 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:14.259 beginning and he used it for the glory of God. 00:06:14.579 --> 00:06:16.540 Before we go any further, let's pray. Dear Father 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:21.459 in heaven, it's exciting. It's exciting for me 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:24.759 personally. because I've been given many chances, 00:06:24.939 --> 00:06:28.579 new beginnings in my life. And Lord, I can look 00:06:28.579 --> 00:06:31.839 back at times that I failed you, but I can look 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:35.720 back at times when I did right. And I pray that 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:37.860 you help us all to look at the beginnings, the 00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:39.540 new beginnings that we have, the opportunities 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:43.779 we have before us. And do right, do right. And 00:06:43.779 --> 00:06:46.079 I pray that you help us to maybe even realize 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.779 sometimes when we go into difficult situations, 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.660 Lord, unfair situations, Lord, that we still 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:54.180 have a chance. And really with you on our side, 00:06:54.339 --> 00:06:56.899 God, we're in the majority. We love you, we need 00:06:56.899 --> 00:06:58.819 you, and we pray that you bless in a great way. 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:03.579 In Jesus' name, amen. Oh, if you go back to chapter 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:07.360 number 28, this. New beginning sermon actually 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:10.399 starts in chapter number 28 with a difficult, 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.899 difficult situation. And look with me at verse 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:16.060 number 22. We're gonna learn about King Ahaz. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:19.819 Who, King who? Ahaz, King Ahaz. In verse 22, 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:23.939 and in the time of his distress, King Ahaz, he 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:29.279 did trespass yet more against the Lord. And look 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:31.639 at that, look at that phrase. This is that King 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.839 Ahaz, say that with me. This is that King Ahaz. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:37.680 Now really, the story here is realizing that 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.959 there are people in life who waste their life. 00:07:40.220 --> 00:07:42.160 There are people who spend their lives going 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.620 against the great God that we have. There are 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:47.560 Christians who waste their salvation and live 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:50.180 a life of sin and wickedness. They shouldn't 00:07:50.180 --> 00:07:52.839 do that, but it happens. There's King Ahazes 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:55.540 who waste their opportunity. This is that King 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.759 Ahaz. Look at verse number 23. For he sacrificed 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:01.319 under the gods of Damascus. What is that? That's 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:04.199 sin. What is that? That's wickedness. We would 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:07.199 agree with that, say amen. And verse 24, and 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.779 Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:12.379 of God, took something that's sacred, something 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:14.860 that is meant to be used for the honor and glory 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:17.720 of God, and says, and cut in pieces the vessels 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.000 of the house of God. What do you do? And shut 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.639 up the doors of the house of the Lord. Well, 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:28.399 you look at that, if this was 2024 or 2026 and 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:30.759 King Ahaz was alive right now, he would try to 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:34.419 close the doors of the churches. And that's not 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:37.500 right, amen. What he did is he closed the doors 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:39.460 of the house of the Lord, and he did something 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:41.620 that was wicked and vile. Look at verse 25, the 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:44.779 way it's worded. It says, in every several city 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:47.559 of Judah, he made high places to burn incense 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:52.080 unto other gods and provoked to anger the Lord 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.820 God. of his fathers. Now I wanna park there for 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:59.019 a moment. King Ahaz in his life, he provoked, 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:01.159 he provoked. What does the word provoke mean? 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.679 It means to stir up anger by repeated disobedience. 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:07.759 It means that you're stubborn. It means that 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:09.919 you're rebellious. It means that you're just, 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.139 you're poking the bear, poking the bear. You 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:16.740 know provoking, right? I remember my son Joseph 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:19.840 is somewhere around here. And Joseph, he's probably 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:21.299 hiding out in the hallway. No, there you are, 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.539 Joseph. You were hiding out early in the service 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:25.679 this morning. I started calling you out, and 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.399 you started coming in. I was thankful for that. 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:32.840 But my son Joseph, we were going through a, it 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:36.059 was a place that had fish tanks, and I can't 00:09:36.059 --> 00:09:39.159 exactly remember where it was, but it had these 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:42.200 big fish. I mean, these big fish, and these tanks 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:44.720 were about this high off the ground. and you 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:46.899 could stick your finger in there if you wanted 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:50.159 to. And I said, Joseph, why don't you just stick 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:52.019 your finger in there and pretend it's a little, 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:54.700 you know, wormy right there. You know, and sort 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:57.360 of stick your finger in there, provoke that fish 00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.360 a little bit, see what happens. And he's like, 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:04.000 he's a good son, he obeyed his daddy. But he 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.299 stuck his little finger in there and that fish 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:08.840 with jaws like this came up and these gnarly 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:11.830 teeth right there went rump on his finger. and 00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:14.370 he yanked out his finger and the fish came half 00:10:14.370 --> 00:10:17.409 the way out, and he's bleeding all over the place. 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:20.289 You shouldn't have done that. You're provoking 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:25.690 that fish. Okay? Don't provoke a fish. But in 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:29.470 serious, now don't provoke God. Don't poke at 00:10:29.470 --> 00:10:34.019 God. You know, my son Joshua and Daniel, you're 00:10:34.019 --> 00:10:36.080 in Yellowstone National Park this last year. 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:38.940 There's Joshua right there, and Daniel, and we 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:41.559 went into the northern part of Yellowstone, and 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:43.799 there's signs, don't mess with a buffalo. How 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:45.299 many of you'd agree, don't mess with a buffalo? 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:47.519 I mean, it's not wise to mess with a buffalo. 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:49.779 And you may mess with a buffalo and get away 00:10:49.779 --> 00:10:51.440 with it, but you provoke them enough, you're 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.980 gonna be in big trouble. So we're there and we 00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:56.480 went to this place where there was a petrified 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.960 tree. Mandy and me are up there and Joshua Daniel 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:00.919 says, can we go look at that buffalo down there? 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:03.059 We said, sure, go look at the buffalo. But we 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:05.899 got up to the petrified tree. Mandy and I are 00:11:05.899 --> 00:11:08.539 looking out over the hill and they get closer 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:12.159 and they get closer and they get closer. And 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:16.759 I'm like, no, no. Now, you got away with it maybe. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:18.740 Maybe you got away with it. You did get away 00:11:18.740 --> 00:11:20.980 with it. He didn't attack you. You guys ran up 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:22.919 on that hill, but it was close. It was close. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.700 You almost died right there. But listen, to provoke, 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:31.000 to poke at God, to be filled with rebellion and 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:34.539 being stubborn against God and repeatedly disobeying 00:11:34.539 --> 00:11:37.080 God, closing the house of God, the doors of the 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:39.620 house of God, and you all of a sudden, this is 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:42.639 that King Nehaz. It was terrible for the nation. 00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:46.470 The nation plunged into sin. Sin became the basic 00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:49.370 law of the land. The house of God is closed down. 00:11:49.870 --> 00:11:53.070 Righteousness was pushed down and sin was exalted 00:11:53.070 --> 00:11:57.850 and King Ahaz died in his rebellion. He died 00:11:57.850 --> 00:12:00.649 in his wickedness. He died leading that nation 00:12:00.649 --> 00:12:03.509 to a slippery slope into sin. So that's when 00:12:03.509 --> 00:12:06.210 we get to the new beginning. In chapter number 00:12:06.210 --> 00:12:09.710 29, we get there to chapter number 29, we get 00:12:09.710 --> 00:12:13.120 to a new beginning. and praise God for a new 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.840 beginning. He's 25 years old when he began to 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:17.259 reign, verse number one. He began to reign when 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:19.759 he was five and 20 years old. He was 25 years 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:21.820 old when he began to reign. Now I want to park 00:12:21.820 --> 00:12:25.139 here for a moment. Just imagine your dad being 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:30.039 King A .S. Imagine being born into a sinful family. 00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:33.549 Imagine being born in a family that didn't go 00:12:33.549 --> 00:12:36.830 to church on Sundays or didn't respect God. In 00:12:36.830 --> 00:12:39.009 your living room, you watched filthy things and 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:41.389 you had spent your life polluting your heart, 00:12:41.529 --> 00:12:44.389 your mind with sin, with the gods of Damascus, 00:12:44.789 --> 00:12:47.029 with idols in high places. That's your life. 00:12:47.110 --> 00:12:50.840 That's what you grew up with. And that's a terrible 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:52.940 situation. By the way, part of the message, and 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:55.440 this isn't for everybody, but somebody who grew 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.600 up in sin and grew up in wickedness and grew 00:12:57.600 --> 00:12:59.899 up with a vile family that didn't go to church, 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.720 there's hope for you. There's hope for you. Boy, 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:08.320 you're not shackled with the sin of your father's 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.720 past or your family's past right there. You have 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.200 a great God that loves you, that cares for you, 00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:15.779 that offers you hope in the precious blood of 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:18.360 Jesus Christ and gives you a reason to live. 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:20.899 And it's important for you to not make excuses 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:22.720 and say, well, that's just the way my family's 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.779 been and that's just the way I'm gonna be. No, 00:13:24.820 --> 00:13:27.659 that's a lie of the devil. Boy, you have a new 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:30.559 beginning. There's hope for you. And for old 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.919 Hezekiah right there, he's five and 25 years 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:35.039 old, and he began to reign. And the Bible says 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.059 he did that, which was right in the sight of 00:13:38.059 --> 00:13:39.620 the Lord. Now, I'm not going to say everything 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:43.320 was easy. It's not. Brother John Reynolds was 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.980 telling me about a church, a church in Indiana. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:51.659 And the pastor previous there had messed up. 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:53.720 And it was a very large church, a church that 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:56.000 was running over 500 people. This is last year. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.899 So he went up there to be the interim pastor. 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:02.100 And the interim pastor, he got there to a church 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:06.000 that was angry, a church that was upset, a church 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.620 that was hurt, and it was a church that was divided 00:14:08.620 --> 00:14:11.580 into different factions, you might say. And I 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:13.500 said, well, what did you do, Pastor Reynolds? 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.259 He said, well, I told them. I said, we need to 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:19.399 stop as a church fighting and we need to as a 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.600 church look to the great God that we have. In 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:26.080 a long story short, the Lord used Pastor Reynolds 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.279 to gear this or lead the church back to the great 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.730 God they had. They had a new beginning. and they 00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:34.629 got a new pastor, and just a month ago they had 00:14:34.629 --> 00:14:36.529 record attendance at their church with people 00:14:36.529 --> 00:14:39.429 saved and people baptized, and I said, praise 00:14:39.429 --> 00:14:42.269 God, they did not need to stay in the past of 00:14:42.269 --> 00:14:44.490 what happened. Boy, they can move on to the future 00:14:44.490 --> 00:14:46.409 with a new beginning, which leads to this. Look 00:14:46.409 --> 00:14:48.429 at verse number three. Look at verse number three. 00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:54.350 He, in the 30th year of his reign, you gotta 00:14:54.350 --> 00:14:57.690 see this, not in the 30th, in the first year 00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:01.419 of his reign, in the, The first month, the first 00:15:01.419 --> 00:15:04.600 year, the first month. Now, this is important 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.899 for you to understand. He didn't wait. He didn't 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:11.120 wait. Boy, you got busy in the first year, in 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.679 the first month. Well, I'm gonna sow my wild 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:15.360 oats and when I get to be 30, I'm gonna serve 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.659 the Lord. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. In the 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:21.279 first year, in the first month, get busy now 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.809 for the Lord. Says he this he said he opened 00:15:24.809 --> 00:15:27.429 the doors of the house the Lord. He opened the 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:29.289 doors Remember in the last chapter the doors 00:15:29.289 --> 00:15:33.389 are closed He became king and he says no No, 00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:36.730 this is not right. It's not right In the first 00:15:36.730 --> 00:15:38.909 year, the first month, we're gonna make a change 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:42.409 here. We're gonna get on the revival road. We're 00:15:42.409 --> 00:15:45.289 gonna serve the Lord. We're gonna open the doors 00:15:45.289 --> 00:15:47.490 to the church. I don't care what people think. 00:15:47.690 --> 00:15:49.629 I don't care what we've done in the past. We're 00:15:49.629 --> 00:15:52.090 gonna get right with the Lord, not later, but 00:15:52.090 --> 00:15:55.679 right now. It's important. This is a very important 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:58.279 truth because often you and I were sensitive 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:00.179 to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit begins 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:02.320 to work in our heart. We go to church, we read 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.700 the Bible, we hear a message and God begins to 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:06.860 prick your heart. He begins to tell you, now 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:08.500 is what I want you to do. Here's what I want 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:09.860 you to do. And all of a sudden, you know what? 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:12.019 It's not a mystery. It's not hidden. It's right 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:14.179 there. God is telling you to do something, make 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:16.840 a decision for Him. And all of a sudden, if you're 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:18.659 not careful, you'll say, well, I'll do that later. 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:23.679 I'll do that later. No, now. Get busy now. Be 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:26.320 sensitive to the Holy Spirit now. Get busy serving 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.620 the Lord now. Young and old, it doesn't matter 00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:31.980 where you're at in life. Boy, we're privileged, 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.500 we're blessed to have the Holy Spirit of God 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:36.740 dwelling inside of, we're sealed with that Holy 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:38.740 Spirit problem. We ought to be sensitive to that 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:41.259 Holy Spirit. Be not drunk with wine, wear in 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:44.799 his excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:47.879 it's important, the first month, the first year, 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:50.740 now, not later. Now look at verse number four. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.110 Look at verse number four. Because as we go through 00:16:54.110 --> 00:16:57.429 the closed doors, bad situation, he has a new 00:16:57.429 --> 00:17:00.769 beginning, he begins to, well, look at the way 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:06.710 this is worded. And he brought in, you see verse 00:17:06.710 --> 00:17:13.750 four? He brought in the priests and the who? 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:19.990 And gathered them together into the East Street. 00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:24.809 Okay. is significant because all of a sudden, 00:17:24.910 --> 00:17:28.190 first month, the first year right there, gotta 00:17:28.190 --> 00:17:30.250 do a new beginning. I've got a chance, Lord. 00:17:30.289 --> 00:17:32.650 I've got a chance. It doesn't matter my past. 00:17:32.750 --> 00:17:35.230 It doesn't matter the way things are right here. 00:17:35.349 --> 00:17:37.690 I've got a chance to make a decision. And he 00:17:37.690 --> 00:17:42.109 begins to bring in the leadership. The priests 00:17:42.109 --> 00:17:47.029 and the Levites are the leaders. They're the 00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:49.269 leaders of the land spiritually speaking. Do 00:17:49.269 --> 00:17:52.490 you understand? And he begins to lay down these 00:17:52.490 --> 00:17:54.829 Levites and these priests, they are living in 00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:57.829 a land of sin. They're almost in the land of 00:17:57.829 --> 00:18:02.029 Ahaz. The doors of the temple are closed. They're 00:18:02.029 --> 00:18:05.829 hiding. They're really pressed down. They are 00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:08.309 discouraged. They're like having a church where 00:18:08.309 --> 00:18:10.250 you have the doors open, but you got three people 00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:12.430 there. Now, praise God for three people, but 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:14.410 I'm just saying, it's not a very encouraging 00:18:14.410 --> 00:18:17.640 thing. And so all of a sudden he gets the leadership 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:19.359 together, the priests and the Levites, verse 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:23.880 five, and said unto them, hear me, ye Levites, 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:31.000 sanctify now. Who? Okay, now that's important. 00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:36.460 Sanctify now, not later, but now sanctify now 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:40.839 yourselves. You priests, you Levites, we're not 00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:43.500 gonna make a change in the nation that we're 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:46.119 living in. We're not gonna help people spiritually 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:49.559 unless we're helped ourselves. We gotta look 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:52.460 inwardly, we gotta check out ourselves. Are we 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:58.819 right with God? And Hezekiah, it's not a joke, 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:02.500 he approached him, I am demanding you, I'm not 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:05.400 suggesting, but in our nation, in our land right 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:07.819 here, in this beginning, I am demanding that 00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:11.170 you, as a priest, as a Levi that you make sure 00:19:11.170 --> 00:19:13.569 that you set apart yourself. You make sure that 00:19:13.569 --> 00:19:16.710 you're holy, acceptable unto God. You're living 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:19.130 in such a way that honors the Lord. You have 00:19:19.130 --> 00:19:21.390 a life that pleases the Lord. You're not gonna 00:19:21.390 --> 00:19:24.289 be helped. The average, ordinary children of 00:19:24.289 --> 00:19:26.690 Israel, the person living here in Judah, unless 00:19:26.690 --> 00:19:34.410 you are right yourself. There's a lot here, a 00:19:34.410 --> 00:19:39.609 lot. But listen, listen all. Wow, and there's 00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:41.569 so much, there's so much. I'll give you a quick 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:44.910 story. I'm looking for my good buddy, old pal, 00:19:45.390 --> 00:19:48.410 Matt Contrell. He's hiding in the sound booth. 00:19:48.470 --> 00:19:50.170 He's gotten backslidden since he started coming 00:19:50.170 --> 00:19:54.910 to church here. Trouble back there. Your dad 00:19:54.910 --> 00:19:59.450 visited our church last week. And on Saturday, 00:19:59.609 --> 00:20:02.710 I got to spend some time with your dad. He talked 00:20:02.710 --> 00:20:06.369 about a difficult period of time in his life 00:20:06.369 --> 00:20:10.380 spiritually. and he had spiritually gotten away 00:20:10.380 --> 00:20:13.900 from the Lord in a great way. The Lord led him 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:18.940 to live close to Jacksonville. He's got a girlfriend, 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:21.140 and all of a sudden the Lord begins to prick 00:20:21.140 --> 00:20:23.480 his heart. You haven't been in church in a while, 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:27.299 Brother Control, he's a Christian. So he goes 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:30.420 to church, and at the church, it's a Wednesday 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:33.039 night meeting, and there's just about six people 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:35.200 there, and they say, well, we're not really gonna 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:38.309 have a service tonight. We're just going to break 00:20:38.309 --> 00:20:40.690 up in groups, the men with men and the ladies 00:20:40.690 --> 00:20:44.130 with lady, and we're just going to pray. He said, 00:20:44.190 --> 00:20:47.210 OK. So he took his girlfriend, and he went and 00:20:47.210 --> 00:20:49.309 he began to pray. And all of a sudden, he began 00:20:49.309 --> 00:20:52.750 to pour out his heart to God. He began to weep. 00:20:53.009 --> 00:20:56.049 He began to cry. He began to say, God, I'm sorry. 00:20:56.170 --> 00:20:58.650 And he told me. He said he began to confess his 00:20:58.650 --> 00:21:01.769 sins. He began to think about how good God has 00:21:01.769 --> 00:21:04.569 been to him and how much he's displeased God. 00:21:04.609 --> 00:21:09.339 And he said, God, Give me another chance. By 00:21:09.339 --> 00:21:12.599 the way, the two got married. And it's very interesting, 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.359 Brother Matt, but he said he went to church. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.380 Now, he said, you know, God, I displease God. 00:21:19.619 --> 00:21:22.019 I'd really put God on the shelf. But all of a 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:24.500 sudden, I'm going to church now. God will probably 00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:30.640 never use me again. But I'm going to be faithful 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:32.460 to church. Then all of a sudden, the pastor came 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:34.160 up to him one day. And your dad told me this. 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:37.799 He said, hey, Brother Cantrell, could you do 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.319 me a favor? Think about this. He said, yeah. 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:42.640 He said, you know, we have that church sign in 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.200 the front of the church right there. He said, 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:47.619 would you mind, would you mind, please, maybe 00:21:47.619 --> 00:21:50.740 once a month thinking about putting a message 00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:54.460 on that front sign and changing it out? Would 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:56.599 you be willing to pray about that and do that? 00:21:57.400 --> 00:21:59.599 And when he's telling me this, he almost has 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:01.819 tears in his eyes. And he says, all of a sudden 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:04.549 at that point, God said, that he could use me 00:22:04.549 --> 00:22:09.089 again. God would allow me, me, the opportunity 00:22:09.089 --> 00:22:13.650 to put a sermon once a week on a sign to tell 00:22:13.650 --> 00:22:17.809 the world about Jesus and the humility that your 00:22:17.809 --> 00:22:20.430 dad had. Your dad just said, God would allow 00:22:20.430 --> 00:22:25.309 me, me, me, and he took time and prayed and studied 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:28.210 and worked and was faithful, putting that little 00:22:28.210 --> 00:22:31.569 message on that sign. And after he became faithful 00:22:31.569 --> 00:22:34.009 to that, all of a sudden he's faithful and he's 00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:37.230 taking it seriously. He's humble, humility. All 00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:39.269 of a sudden there was one class in there that 00:22:39.269 --> 00:22:42.349 had some problems where the class went down to 00:22:42.349 --> 00:22:44.009 about six people in his adult class. And the 00:22:44.009 --> 00:22:46.089 pastor came up to him and said, hey, would you 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:49.210 consider maybe going and teaching this class? 00:22:50.029 --> 00:22:53.230 He said, you would let me and my wife take over 00:22:53.230 --> 00:22:56.349 this class and teach this class? There's only 00:22:56.349 --> 00:22:58.730 six people. Well, no, no, no, no, no. They're 00:22:58.730 --> 00:23:00.789 not six people. You're gonna allow me, and he 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:03.490 told me the story, you're gonna allow me to teach 00:23:03.490 --> 00:23:05.869 this Sunday school class? Your dad said that. 00:23:06.430 --> 00:23:08.650 And all of a sudden he said, he began to work. 00:23:08.849 --> 00:23:11.299 He began to visit. He began to care for these 00:23:11.299 --> 00:23:13.779 people, call on these people. He began to devote 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:16.900 his life, not just a Sunday, but he began to 00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:19.819 devote his life to reaching out to people, inviting 00:23:19.819 --> 00:23:22.240 people, caring for people, telling people about 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.279 Jesus. And that class all of a sudden went from 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:27.319 six people, to 10 people, to 20 people, to 30 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:30.920 people. And he said, we organized little getaways, 00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:33.519 we did this, and we invited people, and we did 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:35.880 luncheons, and we did this, and it went to 50 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:39.079 people, and then 70 people, and then 80 people. 00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:46.650 Did the class average 92 people? Wow. That's 00:23:46.650 --> 00:23:50.190 amazing. But what's the point right there? He 00:23:50.190 --> 00:23:52.730 said right here, it starts with me making sure 00:23:52.730 --> 00:23:56.680 I'm right with God. And listen, for us, if we 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.099 want God to work in our lives, as a Sunday school 00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:01.839 teacher, in the choir, in the special music, 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.440 in the nursing, whatever ministry that we're 00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:07.140 involved in, the Spanish ministry, we gotta sanctify 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:11.799 ourselves, look inwardly, am I right with God? 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:15.420 Well, you look like it, but I don't know, I'm 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:19.089 not God, how do I know? But God knows. How are 00:24:19.089 --> 00:24:21.250 you gonna help those people in your class, that 00:24:21.250 --> 00:24:23.329 children's class, if you don't have a heart for 00:24:23.329 --> 00:24:25.150 God and you're not right with God, you're not 00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:29.910 sanctified with God? Well, believe in the leadership 00:24:29.910 --> 00:24:32.450 requirements. It's not about leadership requirements. 00:24:32.690 --> 00:24:34.769 It's about a relationship with the King of Kings 00:24:34.769 --> 00:24:38.549 and Lord of Lords. Thou shalt love the Lord thy 00:24:38.549 --> 00:24:42.450 God with all thine heart and an attitude is not 00:24:42.450 --> 00:24:45.470 gonna help you. An attitude is what A has had. 00:24:45.789 --> 00:24:48.869 The idea is we have to have humility, a heart 00:24:48.869 --> 00:24:51.349 for God, leadership requirements, all of that. 00:24:51.890 --> 00:24:55.630 That's so minute and so small, none of that matters. 00:24:55.809 --> 00:24:58.670 It matters. But it shouldn't matter because you 00:24:58.670 --> 00:25:00.450 have an opportunity to serve the King of Kings 00:25:00.450 --> 00:25:03.349 and Lord of Lords. Well, I have a problem with 00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:06.109 that. Well, have a problem with that and don't 00:25:06.109 --> 00:25:10.210 be a Sunday school teacher then. I'm just saying 00:25:10.210 --> 00:25:13.619 you're looking at it wrong. It's a privilege 00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:15.359 to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:19.299 It's not a right. I'm just saying it's not a 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:22.259 right. And when we have an attitude, God all 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:24.279 of a sudden says, okay, go ahead, have an attitude, 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:26.099 but you're not gonna help anybody spiritually 00:25:26.099 --> 00:25:30.000 with an attitude. And that's the idea. Hezekiah 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.019 confronts it and says, Levites, sanctify now 00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:36.799 yourselves. And then he says, and sanctify the 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:41.329 house of the Lord. your fathers and carry forth 00:25:41.329 --> 00:25:45.670 the filthiness out of the holy place. That can 00:25:45.670 --> 00:25:47.750 preach right there if you're not careful. That's 00:25:47.750 --> 00:25:49.750 amazing. Get rid of the filthiness in your life. 00:25:50.990 --> 00:25:52.970 And perhaps not the sermon, but it could be the 00:25:52.970 --> 00:25:55.809 sermon. A lot of times we as God's people allow 00:25:55.809 --> 00:25:58.130 not only filthiness in our own lives, but we 00:25:58.130 --> 00:26:01.369 allow filthiness inside the house of the Lord, 00:26:01.369 --> 00:26:03.809 the church. And oh boy, look at verse number 00:26:03.809 --> 00:26:07.619 10. Now it is in mine heart. to make a covenant 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:12.759 with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:18.799 may turn away from us. And look at this plead. 00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:21.599 He's talking to those Levites and the priests. 00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:29.720 My sons, verse 11, my sons, be not now negligent. 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:33.839 Okay, what is he saying? Don't be careless about 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:39.019 your responsibilities. Don't be failing to do 00:26:39.019 --> 00:26:41.740 what should be done for the Lord. Let's just 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:46.059 do right. Let's just do right. We have to face 00:26:46.059 --> 00:26:48.519 the problem, we have to face the leadership, 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:51.039 we don't hide from the problems, and all of a 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:52.980 sudden we make a decision to do right by the 00:26:52.980 --> 00:26:59.740 Lord. That is Christianity 101. Not rocket science. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:04.440 Right? Amen? Okay, good, good, good, good, good, 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.920 good. We go to verse number 12. Okay, verse number 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:12.279 12. This really is interesting. This is so interesting. 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:15.099 Remember where we're at. Closed doors, Ahaz, 00:27:15.180 --> 00:27:17.519 wickedness, a new beginning for Hezekiah. He 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.400 faced the problem, the leadership. He faced the 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.200 Levites right there. He didn't hide from the 00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.220 problem. Now the Levites had to respond. Verse 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:29.279 12, then the Levites arose and the next few verses 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:31.240 are filled with names. Okay, I'm gonna just start 00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:35.180 with a couple. Mayhath, the son of Amasai. and 00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:38.579 Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites, 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:40.900 and God wanted us to know these names. These 00:27:40.900 --> 00:27:43.259 names meant something to the Lord. Your name, 00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:45.440 my name, they mean something to the Lord. The 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.559 Lord God Almighty knows your name, cares about 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:53.069 you as an individual. And that's so important. 00:27:53.309 --> 00:27:56.150 Sometimes we get lost in the masses and we forget 00:27:56.150 --> 00:27:59.509 that God cares about you, the individual, whether 00:27:59.509 --> 00:28:02.710 you're a young child, eight, nine years of age, 00:28:02.750 --> 00:28:05.670 whether you're a teenage lady or a teenage young 00:28:05.670 --> 00:28:08.750 man, whether you're a single person and nobody 00:28:08.750 --> 00:28:11.349 knows, well, God knows you, God cares about you. 00:28:11.450 --> 00:28:13.650 And when you make a decision to do right by the 00:28:13.650 --> 00:28:16.829 Lord, hey, God cares, God sees, and God writes 00:28:16.829 --> 00:28:18.950 down your name knowing that. Look at verse number, 00:28:18.950 --> 00:28:21.960 if you will, 15. And they gathered their brethren 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:24.980 and sanctified themselves. What did they do? 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:27.940 They sanctified themselves and came according 00:28:27.940 --> 00:28:30.940 to the commandment of the king by the words of 00:28:30.940 --> 00:28:33.960 the Lord to cleanse the house of the Lord. The 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:39.240 leaders responded rightly. Oh, you know, sometimes 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:44.359 a parent, you'll approach your child with correction. 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:48.480 By the way, a parent for whom the Lord loveth, 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:51.950 he correcteth, amen. even as a father, his son, 00:28:52.130 --> 00:28:54.609 in whom he delighted. and you'll go to your son 00:28:54.609 --> 00:28:57.730 or your daughter, and in a way, you're begging 00:28:57.730 --> 00:28:59.529 and you're pleading because you know they're 00:28:59.529 --> 00:29:01.170 right there, that you have an answer, you're 00:29:01.170 --> 00:29:03.369 trying to help them, and there's an answer right 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:05.210 there. You're gonna show them the right path 00:29:05.210 --> 00:29:07.750 to go on, but you can't force them to make that 00:29:07.750 --> 00:29:10.670 decision. And you're almost, in a way, you feel 00:29:10.670 --> 00:29:13.069 responsible for it, and you're responsible to 00:29:13.069 --> 00:29:15.710 tell them the truth, to lead them to right right 00:29:15.710 --> 00:29:18.029 there, just like Hezekiah was leading the priests 00:29:18.029 --> 00:29:21.349 and the Levites to truth right there, but the 00:29:21.349 --> 00:29:23.950 response was up to the individual. And parents, 00:29:24.230 --> 00:29:27.029 listen, you cannot, you cannot control the response 00:29:27.029 --> 00:29:29.970 of your teenager. You're gonna beg and plead, 00:29:30.009 --> 00:29:32.190 but you're gonna demand it. You're gonna show 00:29:32.190 --> 00:29:35.049 them what they're to do. And in the end, if they 00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:37.470 respond wrong, they have to answer to the Almighty 00:29:37.470 --> 00:29:40.009 God. But praise God, the Levites and the priests, 00:29:40.190 --> 00:29:42.289 they gathered and sanctified themselves. Look 00:29:42.289 --> 00:29:48.170 at verse 20. Then Hezekiah, the king rose early. 00:29:48.230 --> 00:29:52.450 You see verse 20? He rose what? Okay, remember, 00:29:52.730 --> 00:29:55.369 first year, first month, he ain't playing around. 00:29:56.210 --> 00:29:58.869 He rose early and gathered the rulers of the 00:29:58.869 --> 00:30:02.109 city and went up to the house of the Lord and 00:30:02.109 --> 00:30:05.210 they brought seven bullocks and seven rams and 00:30:05.210 --> 00:30:08.630 seven lambs and seven hegoats for sin offering 00:30:08.630 --> 00:30:11.190 for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for 00:30:11.190 --> 00:30:13.869 Judah and he commanded the priests and the sons 00:30:13.869 --> 00:30:16.609 of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 00:30:16.829 --> 00:30:19.789 What is he doing? He's restoring biblical worship. 00:30:19.930 --> 00:30:23.900 Look at verse number 28. And all the congregation, 00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:26.599 all the congregation. Look at those three words 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:30.059 with me. All the congregation. Okay, get this. 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:34.000 Not even right now. All the congregation. Not 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.180 some of you. In here it's an example of this. 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:39.779 All the congregation. Not half of us here tonight, 00:30:40.180 --> 00:30:42.720 but all the congregation. Say it with me. All 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:46.299 the congregation. All the, say it loud. All the 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:49.259 congregation, not some, but all. That's a problem. 00:30:49.500 --> 00:30:51.759 Some people think they're too good to be a part 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:54.700 of the congregation of the house of God. Well, 00:30:54.700 --> 00:30:57.319 that's good for you. But I don't have to do that. 00:30:57.619 --> 00:31:01.460 OK, go ahead, have your attitude. Go ahead. That's 00:31:01.460 --> 00:31:03.980 really helping the cause. Why have my rights? 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:06.500 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you're still not helping. 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:08.319 You have your rights. You can do whatever you 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:11.240 cotton picking please want to do. I may not be 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:13.099 saying that nice, but I'm thinking your attitude 00:31:13.099 --> 00:31:16.430 is really helping the cause of Christ. And that's 00:31:16.430 --> 00:31:19.170 the point right there. Hezekiah is demanding 00:31:19.170 --> 00:31:23.650 all the congregation, all of, to do what? What 00:31:23.650 --> 00:31:26.970 did they do? And all the congregation worshiped, 00:31:27.250 --> 00:31:31.990 and the singers sang, and the trumpeteers sounded, 00:31:32.630 --> 00:31:35.490 and all this continued. until the burnt offering 00:31:35.490 --> 00:31:38.329 was finished. They all got busy in biblical worship. 00:31:38.670 --> 00:31:40.789 Hey, you know what? One of the things we read 00:31:40.789 --> 00:31:42.569 about, especially in the book of 1 Corinthians, 00:31:42.869 --> 00:31:45.789 is a church divided, a church that has chaos, 00:31:45.809 --> 00:31:48.269 you might say. And all of a sudden, Paul, inspired 00:31:48.269 --> 00:31:51.000 by God, brings them together and says basically, 00:31:51.019 --> 00:31:53.200 you read chapter one, two, three, it talks about 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:55.779 them. Was Christ divided? Was Paul crucified 00:31:55.779 --> 00:31:58.640 for you? And he talks about a church in unity, 00:31:58.859 --> 00:32:01.359 a unity around getting the gospel to a lost and 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:04.019 dying world, unity around all of a sudden a church 00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:06.799 preaching the word of God. It's an amazing, amazing 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:10.569 truth right there. a united church, this revival 00:32:10.569 --> 00:32:13.109 that we long for, this revival that we want, 00:32:13.369 --> 00:32:15.490 this new beginning where we want God's blessing, 00:32:15.730 --> 00:32:18.569 it is available, but there certainly is a path 00:32:18.569 --> 00:32:22.910 to revival. And inside of a church, boy, it's 00:32:22.910 --> 00:32:26.289 all of us working together in worship, in singing, 00:32:26.549 --> 00:32:29.069 in trumpeteering, and continuing with the burn 00:32:29.069 --> 00:32:30.650 -off as we're about to finish. Now, here's the 00:32:30.650 --> 00:32:33.569 very end of the sermon because, wow, verse 36. 00:32:38.570 --> 00:32:46.470 Hezekiah, what? And, what? Hezekiah rejoiced 00:32:46.470 --> 00:32:50.450 and all the people. You know, we like the results 00:32:50.450 --> 00:32:53.809 of a revival. I do, and you get done with the 00:32:53.809 --> 00:32:56.950 like revival, souls being saved, a church together, 00:32:57.230 --> 00:32:59.569 and they're in unity, and there's happiness, 00:32:59.670 --> 00:33:05.029 there's joy. Woo! Woo! And it's good, like, I 00:33:05.029 --> 00:33:07.839 wanna say it's good. It doesn't get any better 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:10.839 than being in the blessing of the Lord. It just 00:33:10.839 --> 00:33:13.279 doesn't. But remember where it started. It started 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.319 with King Ahaz and the sin. It started there. 00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:18.819 But it then started with a new beginning. Hezekiah 00:33:18.819 --> 00:33:21.089 is saying, listen. I've got a chance. I'm the 00:33:21.089 --> 00:33:23.369 king, and I don't want our nation to live this 00:33:23.369 --> 00:33:25.809 way. I'm gonna take a stand. If nobody stands 00:33:25.809 --> 00:33:27.849 with me, I'm gonna take a stand. We're gonna 00:33:27.849 --> 00:33:30.269 open those doors. We're gonna have sanctified, 00:33:30.470 --> 00:33:33.369 set -apart leadership. We're gonna open the house 00:33:33.369 --> 00:33:35.250 of the Lord. We're gonna open doors right there, 00:33:35.369 --> 00:33:38.190 and we're gonna beg God in humility to work together 00:33:38.190 --> 00:33:40.509 to have the blessing of God. And it says this, 00:33:40.849 --> 00:33:43.470 and Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people that 00:33:43.470 --> 00:33:46.750 God had prepared the people for the thing that 00:33:46.750 --> 00:33:53.180 was done. Suddenly. You look back at it, and 00:33:53.180 --> 00:33:54.819 you can see in that first year, in the first 00:33:54.819 --> 00:33:58.079 month, shortly afterwards, Hezekiah got done. 00:33:58.440 --> 00:34:01.779 And next thing you know, the nation, the nation 00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:05.259 that was oppressed by the devil, you might say, 00:34:05.700 --> 00:34:08.219 and really smitten by God at that time, that 00:34:08.219 --> 00:34:09.760 you read it, that's what it's talking about right 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:12.760 there, all of a sudden came alive in revival, 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:16.650 and it happened suddenly. God turned a bad situation 00:34:16.650 --> 00:34:18.989 over that turned the leaf over right there and 00:34:18.989 --> 00:34:22.170 turned it into a Roaring success. You might say 00:34:22.170 --> 00:34:25.269 a filled with rejoice and it happened like that 00:34:25.269 --> 00:34:28.909 Revival in your life can happen quickly Revival 00:34:28.909 --> 00:34:31.110 in your family's life can happen quickly. I mean 00:34:31.110 --> 00:34:33.469 it can happen suddenly quickly Yeah, you can 00:34:33.469 --> 00:34:37.920 happen but but boys sanctified leadership Taking 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.119 that new beginning and being serious about the 00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:43.059 things of God. Boy, restoring biblical worship 00:34:43.059 --> 00:34:46.820 in your home, in your heart, in your mind, absolutely. 00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:50.280 And right there, boy, bringing the congregation 00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:54.099 together in unity right there. Oh, revival begins 00:34:54.099 --> 00:34:57.860 when God's people quit neglecting God and start 00:34:57.860 --> 00:35:01.460 seeking him again. It's a challenge to you. It's 00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:04.780 a challenge to me to reopen those spiritual doors 00:35:04.780 --> 00:35:07.650 of neglect that have been closed. And it's a 00:35:07.650 --> 00:35:10.289 call for you and it's a call for me to examine 00:35:10.289 --> 00:35:13.269 our hearts and examine our minds. Am I living 00:35:13.269 --> 00:35:16.070 with rejoicing in the revival God has brought 00:35:16.070 --> 00:35:19.309 to my heart or am I living weighed down by the 00:35:19.309 --> 00:35:22.150 sin and misery? That's a terrible place to be. 00:35:22.710 --> 00:35:26.829 Have a new beginning tonight. Go to God tonight. 00:35:27.250 --> 00:35:31.909 Be humble tonight. Ask God for a new chance tonight. 00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:35.119 and then begin to make changes tonight, and you'll 00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:37.860 look back suddenly, you'll see God working in 00:35:37.860 --> 00:35:42.019 a great way. Dear Father in heaven, we love you. 00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:51.719 It's a truth I needed. Believe it's a truth our 00:35:51.719 --> 00:35:56.679 church needs. Certainly families need. And at 00:35:56.679 --> 00:35:59.980 revival, it's possible. Even in the bleakest, 00:36:00.260 --> 00:36:07.219 most difficult, And Lord, if it's just for one 00:36:07.219 --> 00:36:11.300 person tonight, it's worth it. One family, it's 00:36:11.300 --> 00:36:14.179 worth it. But I pray that you help all of us, 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:16.920 every one of us as a congregation, examine our 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:21.500 hearts and our minds, help us to kick out the 00:36:21.500 --> 00:36:25.800 pride, come humbly before you, and work in a 00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:29.199 great way tonight. We need you, Lord, and ask 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:32.110 you to bless in a great way. the invitation in 00:36:32.110 --> 00:36:35.449 Jesus' name, amen. Stand with me if you will. 00:36:35.869 --> 00:36:38.469 Piano and organ are gonna play. Pray that you 00:36:38.469 --> 00:36:39.289 do business with God.