2 chronicles 32:1-8 “Greater is He Who is With Us”

2 chronicles 32:1-8  “Greater is He Who is With Us”

INTRODUCTION: 

1. We face opposition

A. Hezekiah was facing the most powerful army in the world
B. We face opposition
            a. a disability, loss of our job, or something at work, finances, broken down car
            b. cancer or other health issues, a death in the family
            c. the attitudes of people around us
            d. Tom and his self defeating heart

 2. Build a proper defense

A. Hezekiah got ready for battle
            a. cut off all water and supplies
            b. repaired the wall, gates, towers and terraces
            c. stockpiled weapons
            d. assembled his army
            e. spoke words of encouragement
B. We must get ready for battle
            a. cut off the things the enemy is using to defeat us.  Proverbs 5:7, 1:15&16
            b. Matthew 18:7-9
            c. Psalm 119:11
            d. Eph 6:13-18

 3. trust in God’s power

A.  2 Chronicles 32:7-8
B.  1 John 4:4
C. Romans 8:31
D. Ecclesiastes 4:12

 Conclusion:  We face battles, from within and without.  Life is filled with struggles.  Only the naive think life will always be easy and bright.  Though we face battles and struggles we do not need to be defeated by them, discouraged by them, or let them dominate our life.  For we have the weapons of victory supplied by our Father in heaven.  We have the vast army of God to fight with us.  And greater is He who is within us, than he who is in the world.

2 Chronicles 30:21-27 “Celebrate”

2 Chronicles 30:21-27  “Celebrate”

The King led the Priest and Levites back to God.  The religious leaders had gone along with evil kings and the desires of the people afraid to stand up for what was right, or perhaps they also wanted to do evil.  Hezekiah calls them on their sin and calls the people back to God.  Some probably thought they would lose the support of the people.  I am sure many thought a revolt was coming.  It says the couriers were scorned and ridiculed.   

The American church has gone along with the sin of the people, lies and deceit in business, government and the church.  The church has excused divorce and any and every kind of sex outside of marriage.  It has gone along with the crowd, lost its power and made its self irrelevant.   All around us we see denominations dying. 

PROVERBS 14:12 “There is a way that seems right unto man but it ends in death”

Matthew 7:13 &14 “Wide is the path to destruction, but narrow is the way to eternal life.”

100 years ago the titanic sank and musicians played music as the boat sank and people drowned.  The priest and Levites of Israel were to be life boats but they ended up being the band, playing comforting music and giving comforting words while the people around them drowned.  The American church has also taken up the position of the band, providing entertainment, calming music, and comforting words while the people drown all around them.  But we were meant to be life boats.

A. CALLING PEOPLE BACK TO GOD

a.  A CALL TO REPENT

While Hezekiah called them to repent from their sin he focused on God’s acceptance of their repentance.

While Hezekiah had a heart for doing what was spiritually right before God, He was even more concerned on bring the people back to God.

The church needs to call people back to the Lord, not in a judging way but in an encouraging way.  We DON’T need to tell people how horrible their sin is, we need to tell them how good their life can be. 

b.  A PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS

            Hezekiah prayed for their forgiveness.

            Hezekiah took a risk going to God for them. 

Dawsman Trotman the founder of the Navigators died when he dove into a lake to try and save the life of someone else.  When Hezekiah prayed for the forgiveness of the people he dove in not knowing how God would respond.

c.  BELIEVED IN THE PEOPLE

            Believed the people could change

            Believed they wanted change

            The people returned to God

            The people rejoiced

Ken grew up with “Christian “ kids in his neighborhood.  He went to VBS and even Sunday school.  But in his Jr. High years he made friends who got him involved in things he knew was wrong.  One by one the Christians stopped spending time with him.  As he was shunned by the Christians he grew up with, he drew farther away from God.  One day a teacher who had known him for a long time sat down with him listened to him and invited him back to Jesus.  Ken with tears in his eyes told the man “I didn’t think anyone cared what happened to me.”

CONCLUSION

The transformation of our world of the lives we touch every day starts with our determination not to go along with the crowd away from God but to lead them back to God.

We cannot change all the churches and communities in America, but we can change ours.  Like Hezekiah we can call the people back to God, not focusing on how bad they are but how good they can be.  When we pray for their forgiveness and tell them of the transforming work God can do in their lives we may find a celebration happening all around us.

“All of heaven rejoices when one person repents”

Will you risk it, to see your friends and family come to Jesus?  Will you believe Jesus can save them, that God can change them and that they are worth the price you pay?  Perhaps they are waiting to see if you care.

2 Chronicles 10:6-11

2 Chronicles 10:6-11

INTRODUCTION: It is election time, and the smear campaigns
are on. You cannot trust even the news
cast. If you read a few history books
you find every president and every representative had lives filled with,
adultery, backroom deals, and deceit, motivated by power, lust, or greed. Even churches suffer these same things. Solomon’s life was filled with it too. In his quest to gain wisdom, knowledge,
wealth and power, he failed in his relationship to God and in parenting. Solomon had laid a heavy burden upon the
people. People needed a show of good
faith. But Solomon’s son Rehoboam who
inherits all of Solomon’s wealth wants even more. Solomon failed to teach his son to lead the
people. This one event starts the spiral
downward that will take Israel and split it then lead both the northern and
southern kingdoms into exile. Rehoboam embodies all of Solomon’s fears and has
learned nothing from his father.

A. Solomon shows some
of his fears in Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 1:17&18 The human condition. Wars, greed, deceit, man’s inhumanity to man.

Ecclesiastes 2:13&14 at the end of the game the king and the pawn
both go back in the same box

Ecclesiastes 2:17-21 Any good we have built will be left in the
hands of another

B. What he should
have taught Rehoboam

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 God has made everything beautiful in His time

He has put eternity in our hearts, the knowledge of
something greater

Yet while we can know about heaven we never grasp what God
has done or is doing

Be satisfied with the simple joy of today

Everything God does will last and we cannot change that

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Fear God,

Keep His commandments

Everything will be judged by God

C. What will the United States be like?

Not wealth, a secure dollar or the lack of debt

Power, military might, weapons and solders, or sanctions

Technology, scientific knowledge

How we live each day

What we teach our children

Most of all our relationship to Jesus passed on to the next generation.

Matthew 21:1-11 two roads

Matthew 21:1-11 two roads

Introduction: The Cheshire cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It
looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many
teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

"Cheshire puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did
not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a
little wider. "Come, it’s pleased so far," thought Alice, and she
went on. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from
here?"

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said
the cat.

"I don’t much care where---" said Alice.

"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the cat.

"--So long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an
explanation.

"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the cat, "if you
only walk long enough."

There are two roads Jesus walked

Matthew 21:1-11 tells of the road
of glory and praise, the road of a king

Matthew 27:31-36 tells of the road
of death, ridicule, humiliation and pain.

the same Jesus walked both roads.

1. TWO
ROADS

A. PALM SUNDAY

a. NOT PART OF A FESTIVAL TRADITION THAT JESUS
MANIPULATES

b. THE CROWD KNEW WHO THEY WERE PRAISING

c. THIS CROWD IS GENUINE IN THEIR PRAISE

B. GOOD FRIDAY

a. THE VIA DOLOROSA

b. A VERY DIFFERENT CROWD

C. THEY ARE THE SAME ROAD

2. JESUS
FOLLOWERS

A. ROADS OF PLEASURE, JOY, POWER AND PEACE

B. ROADS OF SORROW, SACRIFICE, AND DEATH

C. THEY ARE THE SAME ROAD, THE JESUS ROAD

3. WHAT
DIRECTION ARE WE HEADED IN

A. THE JESUS ROAD OR THE ROAD OF THE WORLDLY

B. MATTHEW 7:13-14

C. WHO WE WALK WITH

a. THE ONE WHO HAS WALKED THIS WAY BEFORE

b. THE SHEPHERD OF THE FIELD ALSO WALKS THE VALLEY

Conclusion: we are all sure to get
somewhere with all our walking. one road
leads to eternal death and destruction. The
Jesus will go through the valley of the shadow of death and bring you to Easter
morning. Where you want to go, and who
you walk with makes a difference. And
the difference is life.