All right, take your Bible, turn with me to 2
Chronicles chapter 30. Thank you, special music.
Thank you, Brother Menka. It's been a good night,
a joyful night, wonderful night. We get to the
Bible, 2 Chronicles chapter number 30. And to
try to get where we're at, we're at King Hezekiah.
And we understand that before King Hezekiah became
king, his dad, King Ahaz, had led the nation
into sin, destruction. He had turned the doors
or closed the doors of the temple. Worship had
stopped. Idols began to be put up all over the
land. And God's people had turned from righteousness
and the God of the Bible to sin. And sin became
prevalent. And imagine all of a sudden King Hezekiah
becomes king. And we learned this in chapter
number 29. He decides to one day to make a change.
We're gonna turn back to God. And imagine he
begins to be convicted. He begins to understand
that I, as God's man, as the king of Israel,
or the king of Judah, it's my job to lead this
nation back to God. And he begins to gather around
a few. Now, we need to open the temple. We need
to bring back the elements or the different things
inside the temple. We need to get ready for worship.
We need to get ready to have the people come
back to God. So they get the busy. They begin
to set up the temple. They begin to get things
ready. The Levites begin to get ready. And all
of a sudden, there's an inner circle getting
ready for, could you say, revival? Now here's
the thing, before I say revival, they're getting
ready for God to do something. They're getting
ready for an impact to be made on the land. They're
getting ready for a sinful people to come back
to God. Now, it's faith. In other words, God
didn't guarantee that people were going to come
back to God, but all of a sudden, Hezekiah believes
that God can. that if we begin to prepare, we
begin to plant, we begin to water, we begin to
sow the seeds of right, we begin to sow the seeds
of the spiritual, there's hope for the people,
not just in the southern kingdom of Judah, but
there's actually hope for the people of the northern
kingdom of Israel. And yet you understand, there
had been a war with the northern kingdom of Israel.
Hundreds of thousand people have died. and they
live in a life of sin. It's normal, but understand
he begins to prepare. Let's get the temple ready
for revival. Let's get the priests ready for
revival. Let's begin to prepare our nation for
revival. And they begin to work behind the scenes
preparing for that revival, okay? So let's do
this. Stand for the reading of God's word. And
we're gonna stand or stand to read verse number
one together. And because at this particular
time, the preparations have been made. The temple
is ready. Overall, it's ready. It's not perfect.
I'm not saying everything's perfect. As you read
this chapter, you're gonna know that everything's
not exactly perfect, but they're going to call
for revival. They're about to go out into the
community and say, now is the time. We need to
have revival today. We need to come to God today.
We need to turn back to God today. And we're
going to read verse one. If you're ready, read
with me. And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and
Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh
that they should come to the house of the Lord
at Jerusalem. to keep the Passover unto the Lord
God of Israel. Now, I'm gonna read it again,
because this is the time, as Ezekiah says, now,
we're gonna write letters. We're going to send
people out to Israel, the northern kingdom, and
Judah, and we're going to call them to come for
revival. We're gonna call them to come to the
house of the Lord. We're gonna call them to come
to have the Passover feast under the Lord God
of Israel. We're going to call them to revival.
Now, this is part of the sermon, and it's the
introduction. But imagine looking out. You've
got to imagine how sinful the kingdom was. Judah
was so far from God. Idolatry and wickedness
and sinfulness was all around them. And the northern
kingdom was even worse. And here, Hezekiah is
saying, We're having a call to revival. We're
going to send out people. We're going to write
letters. And we're going to call them to have
revival. Now, just that point, if we stop the
message right there, I'm thinking, wow, that's
a man of faith. That's a man who is just going
to go out. He's going to plant water. And he's
going to pray behind the scenes, God, please
give an increase. It's a call to revival. a call
for people to come back to God. I can't overemphasize
this as we get into this. This chapter won't
make any sense to you. This is a man of faith.
If I was there, I would maybe be right there
and say, King Hezekiah, don't mean to interrupt,
but if you looked at how bad the people are,
maybe King Hezekiah, we'll just talk to the people
in Southern Kingdom. But I don't think we should
expect anything from the Northern Kingdom of
Israel. I think that maybe that may be dangerous.
Maybe we ought to just focus in on a little bit
of smaller circle here. But has this guy said,
no, no, no, no. We're going to call Israel. And
we're going to call Judah. And we're going to
ask them to come to Jerusalem for the Passover.
It's a call for revival. OK, now you understand
that? Just say amen with me. Okay, let's read
verse number one again, ready? And Hezekiah sent
to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also
to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come
to the house of the Lord at Isom to keep the
Passover unto the Lord God of Israel. I believe
we should just read it one more time, ready?
And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and
wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh. that
they should come to the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem to keep the Passover under the Lord
God of Israel. Okay. We're gonna get into the
chapter, and as we do, we're gonna pray. I entitled
it The Call to Come. And there's two perspectives
I'd really like you to think about as we look
at this. Let's look at a perspective as a church
reaching out into a sinful world that we live
in with the hope that people will listen to that
call to revival. In other words, part of the
message is we have to have hope for the community
we live in. We have to have hope for the neighbors
around us. We have to have hope for the people
we work with. We have to have hope that God can
still work in the lives, and we have to have
faith, like Hezekiah, to go into the world and
call them to revival. We'd say amen to that.
There's going to be a second application, and
as we go through this chapter, the second application
is God God calls us to have a relationship with
us. God calls us to a revival. God calls us to
come to him. God would call us to go down to
Jerusalem to the Passover. And there's gonna
be certain steps. And through this, I want you
to think about now, how am I doing? How am I
doing with that call to come to him? How am I
doing with my relationship to God? And there's
some principles both ways. that when I looked
at this, I said, not, oh, you, I said, oh, Pastor
Matt Nettesheim, there's some things I need to
work on. Okay, we understand that? Before we
go any further, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Dear Father in heaven, a longer introduction.
And God, I know, as I get to preach tonight,
I need to decrease and you need to increase,
Lord. And I pray that you help me not to distract.
I pray that you help me with the words that I
say, and I pray that you help me, I pray the
congregation also, to have ears to hear. I pray
that you help us to be able to pay attention
enough where we're able to see both sides. And
I pray that you help us to be willing to make
some changes. Lord, we love you, we need you,
and we need your help in a great way, in Jesus'
name, amen. You may be seated. Look with me at
verse number one again, and Hezekiah sent, sent,
say that word with me, sent to all Israel and
Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh
that they should, that word come, come, a call
to come to the house of the Lord. I think that's
amazing. Hezekiah is like, hey, we can't have
this just for ourselves. I have a chance, a unique
chance in the history of my life. as king, as
a leader, as a person, to lead other peoples,
to the other people, to the great God that I
have. It's not just good for me to live for God,
it's good for everybody to live for God. So I
know it's not the norm in the land that I live
in, the land of Judah. I certainly know the Northern
Kingdom of Israel, it's not the norm. But me,
Hezekiah, the King of Israel, God's been good
to me, and other people desperately need the
great God that I have. And many others say there's
no hope, but with God, all things are possible,
and we're gonna make a call for them to come
to the great God we serve. Now, verse number
five, if you will. So they established a decree,
so they established a decree to make proclamation
throughout all Israel, throughout all what? from
Bereshiba even to Dan. Now stop right there.
This is a minor point, but it's not really that
minor. From Dan to Bereshiba is to the northern
part of the not divided kingdom, but the northern
part of all of Israel is Dan, to the southern
part, which is now Judah, Bereshiba. He's saying
simply, everybody, we're not gonna invite some,
we are going to invite all. Everybody needs revival.
Everybody needs revival. I wanna say it again.
Everybody needs revival. Now, if you go halfway
through verse five, that they should come, they
should come. It's a call to come, a call to come.
He's calling them to come to this revival, to
keep the Passover, to keep the Passover under
the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem. Now, at
the end of verse five, if you missed this, we're
gonna miss a lot of the sermon. For they, For
they had not done it for they had not done it
For they had not done it. What is it? the Passover
What they had not done it. What is it? Okay,
that's and I understand that as I go through
there I've read this chapter over and over and
over and over again that it is the Passover.
Okay, so they have not done it. What is it? the
Passover They had not done it of a long time
in such sort as it was written. As it was written.
All of a sudden Hezekiah had to get a hold of
this book. And all of a sudden he began to read
the book. And they begin to say, man, this is
what God said. This is God's word. And this is
what God desires. And this is what God wants.
And it is not a suggestion. It is written. And
if it is written, it is the way I'm supposed
to live. And I'm going to follow the book. I'm
going to follow the Bible. And I'm not going
to call them to come to a Passover. Well, I know
they haven't done it a long time. But it doesn't
matter if they haven't done it a long time. The
Passover is right. Worshipping God is right.
This revival is right. And it doesn't matter
what has happened in the past. It doesn't matter
what people think now. It doesn't matter what
the culture says now. It doesn't matter what
they say on CNN or Fox News. It matters what
God says. And God said it is written. We're going
to call people to revival. We're going to call
people to the Passover. We're going to call people
from the North in Dan all the way down to Beersheba
where it's a call to revival, a call to revival.
Hey, this book, if you follow it, you read it,
you're going to find very plainly it is written.
It is written. It is written. And what is written
in the Word of God is going to be very much against
what is happening in our culture, in our society,
in our schools, in our families, even in churches.
But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You
know what matters? It is written. And praise
God, one of the things you can look at here is
Hezekiah didn't look at the way things are, he
looked at the way things were written by the
Almighty God. And it's so important, if you wanna
make a difference in your life, you wanna see
God work in your life a great way, forget what
people are doing or saying, look what is written
in the word of God. Okay, we got that, we understand
that, we're still there, and we go a little bit
further and we get to verse number six. So the
posts, it's like postmen, that's like people,
mailmen, went with the letters from the king
and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah.
And according to the commandment of the king,
saying, ye children of Israel, turn again unto
the Lord God of Abraham. Isaac in Israel, and
he will return to the remnant of you. Okay, now
this is what you're going to say as you go. The
posts are gonna go, this is what's written, this
is what you're bringing to the people from Dan
to Bathsheba. You're gonna say, turn again under
the Lord God of Abraham. There's more to it,
verse seven. In the posts, the posts are bringing
these messages, and be not ye like your fathers.
Okay, say that with me if you can. And be not
ye like your fathers. And I don't know if I could,
there I could do it a little bit, there you go.
And be not ye like your fathers. Don't follow
your family that is transgressed against the
Almighty God. Be not like your fathers. You're
gonna follow what is written. What is written.
And this is vitally important, what is written.
And it says like this, and be not ye like your
fathers, and like your brethren, which transgressed.
You know, here's one of the excuses people make
is, well, my family. Okay, well, if your family
transgressed against the Almighty God, I'm gonna
choose God. And that's what he's saying. Or my
friends, my brethren. Well, listen, who are we
following? Our family? Our friends? Or are we
following God? And this is not a new story today.
It's not a new story thousands of years ago.
This happens over and over and over and over
again. And Hezekiah lays it down. He said, doesn't
matter the way it's been. It doesn't matter the
way it is right now. We're going to have a call
to worship right there. And the post we're going
to send out, turn back to God. Don't look to
your fathers. Don't look to the brethren. Look
at verse number eight. Here's what we have a
tendency. Now be ye not what? Have you ever had
a stiff neck? I've gotten one before where, all
of a sudden, my neck doesn't move. And it happened
for weeks. And I remember, hey, Mandy. And then
you're over here. Then I think my kids got on
each side of me. And they'd say, like, Dad, over
here. And you go, what? And then, all of a sudden,
one of the other ones was, but Dad, what? And
I got back exercises. And stiff neck, stiff neck.
Be not stiff necked as your father's word, but
yield, yield. Have a neck that's willing to turn
toward the Lord. Have a willingness to turn back
to God. Now, look at verse number nine. For if
you turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and
your children shall find compassion before them
that lead them captive so that they shall come
again into this land for the Lord your God is
gracious. The Lord your God is gracious and merciful
and will not turn away his face from you. Wow,
it's a call to come. And I put in my notes, wow,
wow. Come back to Lord. Come back to his house.
Come back to worship. Don't be stubborn like
your fathers. Yield yourself to God. Remember
the Lord is gracious and merciful. And as we
go, remember the two sides. First of all, we
have to have the willingness to go out and invite
people to come, okay? We have to not be so, well,
they'll never listen or they'll never answer
that door or they'll never take that gospel track.
Okay, how do you know that? How do you know that?
You know that? No, no, God says to go. God says
to invite. God says to try to make a difference.
God says, don't keep it for yourself. Make a
difference with your neighbor, with your family,
with the people around you. Yeah, there is a
chance that they don't listen. But you don't
know what's going to happen. Which gets to this?
This, verse number 10. And this is the response
of the people, verse number 10. So the post passed
from city to city through the country of Ephraim
and Manasseh, even unto Zebulon. Read the rest
of this verse with me, then to verse 10. But
they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. They
laughed them to scorn. So here the post comes
and imagine they got to Zebulon and Zebulon and
this place right here is your front row right
here, okay? And all of a sudden they said, we
have a message. We're having revival. We want
you to come. Don't hearken to the fathers that
led you away from God. Don't hearken from your
brethren. Come back to God. Come back to God.
Come back. Don't be stiff -necked. Have a tender
heart. Our God is merciful. Our God is gracious.
Okay. Can you just time out? Okay, let me do
this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Oh. You don't want to be a part of this, OK?
You don't want to be. You want to be part of
the good guys. OK, here the post scum. We have
a message. King Hezekiah has sent us up here,
Zebulon. He desires you to come back to God.
He desires you to not listen to your stiff -necked
fathers or your brethren. Come back to God. He
is gracious. He is merciful. Come back to God.
That's pitiful, pitiful. Do I have any, can I
have a couple helpers? Come on up here and help.
Gather around. This is the new group of scorners.
These are much better scornful men. Okay, gather
around. This is much better. We have a lot of,
we're leading people to rebellion this evening,
okay? Okay. The posts go out. They get to this
ambulance region right here. Travis, Travis,
Travis, you've got to get up here, please. Please,
gather around Isaac. He needs your help desperately
right there. And Travis, don't let me down. Don't
let me down. Don't let me down. Ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Okay, now here we go. Okay.
Hezekiah, send me up here. He's calling you to
revival. He's calling you back to God. He's calling
you to the Passover face. Be not rebellious.
Be not stiff -necked. Your God is gracious. Your
God is merciful. Come. That was a wicked bunch
of scorners. You guys did that way too good.
And so put these back up here real quick. OK,
here we go. You guys go get back there. I don't
like that. You're getting too good practiced
up at being ha ha ha ha ha ha. So the response
of the people. Some mocked. Some laughed and
scorned and mocked. We understand that. When
you go, well, there are gonna be times when people
laugh. There's gonna be times when people scorn.
There's gonna be some times when people mock.
I remember a few years ago going over to off
of Camp Estella, Eva Gardens, knocking a door,
and all of a sudden, a man wasn't home and I
placed an invitation to our church on his door
and nobody answered. And I went to the next one
and then I write at the next one, all of a sudden
the man comes out the door and all of a sudden
I say, hello. And he sort of turned away, took
the gospel track right there, walked out to the
front of the street where his trash can was.
He looked at me, he opened it up, he threw it
in the trash and he slammed it like this, didn't
say anything. and just looked at me like that,
walked back into the house. Okay, so I said,
well, you know, what is he doing? He's mocking,
right? Then a couple of minutes later, he came
out, got in his car and drove off. Now I shouldn't
have done it, but I went over to the trash can.
I took it out of the trash can and I went and
put it back on his door. I thought he might be
in a better mood when he gets back. I'm not saying
I suggest that, but, but. He mocked, he scorned.
That's the way some people respond. Now look
at verse number 11. Look at this first word.
Say it with me loud if you will. Nevertheless,
say it with me loud. Nevertheless, divers, that's
various, of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun
humbled themselves. Humbled themselves and came
to Jerusalem. In other words, some are gonna
laugh, some are gonna score, some are gonna mock,
but some will come. Some will come, some will
come, some will come. Now, long sermon, getting
shorter. If we fast forward, look it with me
at verse number 14. This is an important verse
that I don't wanna miss. And they arose. This
is where he came back to Jerusalem. There's a
multitude of people that came to Jerusalem. They
came from all over the place. They've come to
the revival. They're ready for revival. They've
come to revival. They've come to revival. And
they arose. And they arose. And they what? Arose.
And took away the altars that were in Jerusalem.
And all the altars, for incense, took they away
and cast them into the brook. Kidron, okay, what
do you mean there? When they came to Jerusalem,
before they held the Passover or had the revival
or the big church service, you might say, before
they did that, they made a decision. They dealt
with some things that did not belong, okay? What
I mean, we mean that, this is important. They
all of a sudden got back there and they began
to look around, these altars, this incense to
False gods. This doesn't work. Mixing God with
other religions doesn't work. Mixing God with
another way doesn't work. In other words, coming
back to God is not just adding worship to your
schedule. When you come back to God, it's not
just adding worship to your schedule or God to
your schedule. It's removing what has been stealing
your heart. In other way, they did not add God
to their idols, they took away the altars and
came back to God. Okay, I thought this would
be like a mountaintop, but this is really where
I think maybe we have a disconnect sometimes
as Christians. We come to church, but we add
God to the idols of our life and we think that
we're gonna have a revival in our heart and it
doesn't work. Before they worshiped, they removed
in their lives what dishonored God. coming back
to the Lord is not merely adding God to our lives.
It is yielding our lives to Him and removing
in our lives what does not belong and beginning
again to live for Him. This is exceptionally
important and this is a vital part where we can
look at people when they come to church and they
want to add church to their sinful life and think
that it's going to mix and it's going to work
and they're going to shortly find out it does
not work. Our God is a jealous God. Our God is
a holy God. Our God demands and desires us for
to be a holy people, holy and acceptable unto
Him, which is our reasonable service. And this
is very important. When we think about it, we
come to God. we want to do the God thing or the
Passover thing or the worship thing or the Revival
thing and we expect God to humble his way to
my way and we begin to mix right and wrong oil
and water it does not work It does not work search
your heart search your mind search your home
search your phone And say, well, I came to church
on Sunday morning. Great. That's great. God is
good. Passover is great. Revival's wonderful.
But what are you leaving out? What altar are
you keeping? What false god are you bowing down
to the other part of your day? This opens a can
of worms. This opens a big can of worms. In today's
Christianity, We often, man, God is good, and
we mix him with the world. And the world and
God don't mix. Now, I could give you illustration
after illustration of this, and I just don't
think I need to. I would pray and ask you guys,
men and women, boys and girls, teenagers, to
stop and say, is there anything in my heart,
in my mind, my life that is an altar that puts
something in front of God and Just say if I'm
doing that realize you are going to have problems
in your relationship with God And at least pray
say God Open my eyes help me to see clearly help
me to live a life that is holy and Acceptable
into God be not conformed to this world, but
be transformed But the only way you can be transformed
is not conforming and having an altar to a false
God Amen. And some of you, I think, wanted me
to go into some details. How many of you want
me to go into details? How many of you want a
longer sermon tonight? How many of you want a
shorter sermon? That's most of you. I don't blame
you. I don't blame the Eubanks did. That was
quick right there. Thanks, brother Jordan. I
appreciate that. Look with me, if you will, at
verse number 15. Then they killed the Passover.
Then they what? Now, this is interesting. Verse
17. for there were many in the congregation that
were not what? Okay, verse 18, for a multitude
of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh
and Issachar and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves,
yet did they eat the Passover, otherwise than
it was written. Okay, they're doing some things
not right. But, did you see that? It says that
in verse 18. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,
Lord, the good Lord, pardon everyone. Verse 19,
that prepareth his heart to seek God. And verse
20, and the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed
the people. Now, for a lot of you, I want you
to read this. I want you to study this. This
is absolutely amazing. What he's saying, God
doesn't expect perfection. but God wants us to
have a heart for God. There's sometimes people
come to church for the first time. They're not
dressed right, they don't talk right, they don't
think right, but they have a heart. They're seeking
after God, and God looks down and doesn't judge
them for what they're wearing or what they're
saying at that time. He's just thankful that
they're there in the house of God trying to learn.
Do you understand that? And sometimes you and
I, We go to God, and we're trying. Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And
we go to God, and we try to worship God, and
we try to serve God. Now, at the time, we don't
realize that some of the things in our life are
wrong, but then we begin to grow through the
word of God and begin to realize, whoa. Man,
I was far from God. I made bad, but God is a
gracious and merciful God. But the main thing
is let's have a heart for God, a love for God.
Don't expect perfection, it's direction. And
God can take your imperfection with a heart for
God, and you're growing in the right direction.
In other words, somebody comes to our church,
it's a hospital. They come in wounded, they come
in bleeding, they come in away from God. We're
to love them and care for them. They're to have
a tender heart. And then they begin to patch
their life up and begin to make changes. and
it doesn't happen in one Sunday. It doesn't even
happen in 10 years. It's a lifetime of transformation.
It's glorious and wonderful. Oh, that's a good
truth right there. It's good for me. I look back
when I first got saved, wow. Wow. Praise God
for his mercy. But I've grown. I've grown. You've
grown. Think about the people that come into
our church. Let's not be so hard on them. Boy,
let's understand they're coming out and they're
going to learn, they're growing. Let us look
and hope that they have a heart for the Almighty
God, not perfection, but a heart for God. We're
almost there. Look at verse 21. It's hard to
not regroup. They came for revival. Boy, they
had a heart for God. And verse 21, the children
of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept
the feast of unleavened bread seven days with
what? Great gladness. And the Levites and the
priests praised the Lord day by day, singing
with loud instruments unto the Lord. And there
was a Dan Manka there at that time. There had
to have been. There had to have been your great,
great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
great, great, great grandfather that was there
playing that hoolidoc instrument. What is it
called? Hurdy -gurdy instrument right there.
Verse 23, and the whole assembly took counsel
to keep other seven days. They kept the seven
days with gladness. The last word in verse 23,
two words, with gladness. And then you look at
verse 25, the last word of verse 25, rejoiced.
Verse 26, so there was great joy in Jerusalem.
Hey, when you go to revival, you get your heart
right with God, you get rid of the altars right
there, you come, woo! Next thing you know, there
is joy unspeakable and full of glory. Praise
God for the people come through our doors. Praise
God for them have a heart for God. Praise God
for the revival of life. You bring them from
a life of destruction. When we lead people to
Christ, when you go out on a super Saturday of
soul winning, you knock on a door, you get scoffed
and you get a ha ha ha, go ahead. Ha ha ha ha
man and you ignore that you go to somebody else
and all of a sudden they come and they get a
heart for God They get gloriously say you turn
them from a life of destruction to a life of
blessed by God with great joy That's what we
live for That's what we live for By the way,
that's where I'm I'm living That's where I'm
living That's where I'm living That's where you're
living. Because we're gonna get to the last point.
Because it doesn't just stop here, this chapter,
and we can continue on, but go to chapter, next
chapter, chapter 31. This is where it ends. Now,
when all this was, we're gonna stop right there.
When all what was finished? Well, we called them
to revival. Some listened, some didn't. A lot
came. We cleaned up in some areas, altars. All
of a sudden we had the Passover, we had revival.
Gladness, joy, rejoicing, glorious, wonderful.
So when all that was over, when the meeting was
over, when the meeting was over, when the revival
service was over, when the Passover was over,
when the emotional, you ever been in an emotional
revival where people are like, woo, emotional
revival, nothing wrong with emotion, nothing
wrong with emotion. You ever been to a revival
where, man, that was good. Man, God worked on
there's joy. There's fulfillment. It's glorious.
It's wonderful Nothing wrong with an emotional
church tonight to me. This is emotional This
is joyous to have a group of people that love
the Word of God, brother Minka You rejoice my
heart singing amazing grace how sweet the sound
this to me is the cream of the crop I love Sunday
night church. I love to be among the people of
God. There is emotion I'm gonna leave here and
I'm gonna say praise God Almighty but I'm gonna
wake up tomorrow. I'm gonna wake up tomorrow
and look at the verse again. Now, when all this
was finished, all Israel that were present went
out to the cities of Judah and what? And break
the images in pieces and cut down the groves
and threw down the high places. and the altars
out of all Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim also
in Manasseh until they had utterly destroyed
them all. Then all the children of Israel returned,
every man to his possession, into their own cities.
Now, you can elongate on this the simple thing.
Revival was not just for a day, for a week, or
for a month. The revival became a way of life.
A way of life. That coming to God with a joyful
heart, it's not meant to be just for a meeting.
Do you realize some people, they come to church
on Sunday and they actually enjoy church on Sunday.
They do. But then they go back to their normal
way on Monday. And then all of a sudden, after
a little while, they sometimes get to the point,
well, this maybe a quote that I've heard, this
pastor, this ain't. working for me. And they
tried it. They had an emotional experience and
filled with good things. There's nothing wrong
with an emotional experience. Singing with loud
instruments and singing to the Lord, it is emotional.
But we have to learn to live our daily lives,
not by the emotion, but by what's right. We need
to go live Monday with a heart for God, a zeal
for God, a testimony for God. And we need to
make a way of life, a way of life. Revival, a
relationship with God is not for a day. It's
not for a week. It's not for a month. It's just
the way we live. It's just the way we live. It's
just the normal thing for a teenager to do. It's
just the normal thing for a young couple to do.
It's just a normal thing. I'm not going to point
at anybody right now. for a senior saint to do.
You understand that? It's just the way we live.
Boy, that joy, it's good. I wanna share it with
the world, don't you? I just wanna share it with
the world. By the way, you can make a difference
this Saturday. You can make a difference. Well,
that's not for me. What, you mean your God's
not just for you? Your God's just for you? I'm
not trying to be mean, but I'm just saying. when
you don't tell others about Jesus, and you hold
it in for yourself, and you're saying, it's good
for me, but you miss out on helping a lost and
dying world. Well, they won't listen. How do
you know that? Well, it won't work for me. How
do you know that? Can you try? Can you try? This
Saturday, we gotta have more people come out.
At least try. to give the gospel. We're meeting
at 9 .30 for breakfast, 10 o 'clock for going
out. We're gonna fill those buses and try, try,
try and then live. Second Chronicles chapter
30. Dear Father in heaven, we love you. Maybe,
maybe we went a little bit too far. I don't know
Lord. But I pray that you help us to examine
our hearts. I pray that you help us to have hope
for the people around us. Help us to at least
try. Then I pray that you help us examine ourselves.
Will we come? And when we come, how are we coming?
Are we willing to get rid of some of those alters?
How are we with our heart? Do we have a heart
for God? God, I pray that you help us to examine
ourselves. It's not just an emotional meeting.
but it becomes that way of life. I pray that
your decisions right now, young and old, they're
being made, and help us to remember them. Help
us to seal them in a prayer and commitment to
you. In Jesus' name.