What Do You Do With a Second Chance? | 2 Chronicles 28

Your Bibles turn with me to the book of Second

Chronicles. Ah, Second Chronicles. Is this on?

Is this me? Is that you? Can you hear me? How

many can hear me? And how many glad you hear

me? Okay, that's a lot less of you right there.

So, all right, Second Chronicles chapter number

28, if you will. We're gonna look at King Ahaz.

And really the theme of the story here is what

do you do when God gives you a second chance?

Man, have you ever messed up royally? And oh

yeah, and I remember I became pastor here in

2009, and God's blessing, God's blessing. We

get into 2010, I remember we broke 100 for the

first time, and I was excited, we had scheduled

revivals, and then 2010, right around the Thanksgiving

time, we had a huge. Thanksgiving turkey giveaway,

and Brother Randy McMain, and he preached in

one over the fellowship hall, and I preached

over in the auditorium. We had cars everywhere.

There were 450 people here. We were running about

110 at that time. It was an amazing Sunday, but

also sort of a chaotic Sunday. That Monday, we

had ran out of turkeys. We delivered turkeys

all over Hampton Roads. And Thanksgiving time,

it was busy. I'd scheduled a revival with an

evangelist on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

in early December. And I remember me personally,

you know, I was a little wore out. And I thought,

well, you know, we're having a revival. And I

really, I didn't make much of an effort to tell

people about it. I didn't make an effort to print

any flyers for it. And you ever have that where

the Holy Spirit's nudging you, you need to do

this, you need to, and I'm early in the pastor,

and I basically, and I hate to say it, but I

said, no, it's been busy, and I said no to God.

And I remember that revival came, and the evangelist

was there, and he'd asked me for a few things,

and he got there, and he got upset with me. and

I remember it, I remember his upsetness with

me, and I remember thinking, you know, I deserve

this, this is terrible. Then we had a sessions

on that Thursday, I remember the sessions Thursday,

we had like 15 people come, and I remember I

thought, this is bad enough, evangelist, he's

upset with me, I don't blame him, and I know

God's not happy with me, and then I remember

that Friday, and Mrs. Nettis, I will never forget

that. My son Daniel was born So I had to go to

the hospital on Friday I think I left you brother

Mike there to handle everything to God be the

glory and At the end of it. It was the most miserable

revival services that we ever had at our church

I I thought God was gonna like take a elect,

you know, one of those lightning bolts and and

zapped me my my career as a pastor was done and

But here's the thing God gave me another chance.

God gave me another chance. I went to the Lord.

I confessed my sin. I confessed my weakness.

I don't know if I've ever really told you much

about this, but I remember just saying, God,

I'm sorry if you give me another chance. When

we have a revival, I'm gonna work. I'm gonna

try. I'm gonna lead. I'm gonna do everything

I can. I'm not gonna be lazy. But I think about

God gave me a second chance. God gave me a second

chance. How many of you would say God's given

you a second chance? Praise God for that second

chance. Now, the thing is, it's not the last

time I've ever failed him, but when God gives

you another chance, what are you gonna do with

that another chance? We're gonna look at King

Ahaz. He's gonna royally mess up, and then you're

gonna notice God gave, God who's merciful, God

gave him another chance. But we're gonna look

what Ahaz did in that second chance. Let's stand

for the reading of God's word. We're gonna read

2 Chronicles chapter 28. We're just gonna read

2 Chronicles 28 · chapter mention

one verse, verse number one. Let's read it all

together. 2 Chronicles 28, verse number one.

Are you ready? Ahaz was 20 years old when he

began to reign. And he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem,

but he did not that which was right in the sight

of the Lord like David his father. He did not

that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

Now, there's a lot in there. He was 20 years

old when he began to reign. His father was Jotham,

the chapter before. He began to reign when he

was 25 years, and his father reigned for 16 years.

Here, he's 20 years age, and the Bible says he

reigned for 16 years. Both reigned 16 years,

but Jotham did that which was right in the sight

of the Lord, but his son Ahaz Ah, he royally

messed up. He did that which is not right in

the sight of the Lord. And really the title is

What Do You Do When God Gives You A Second Chance?

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Father in

Heaven, we love you. And I pray that you help

us to remind ourselves about King Ahas. Help

us to see these truths. And I do believe even

right this moment, there is really the hand of

your mercy being given over to somebody even

tonight. and they've got another chance. And

I pray that you help them to learn from King

Ahaz and make some decisions even tonight. And

then, Lord, I have no doubt we're all gonna need

another chance. We're sinful, we sin against

you, and I pray that you help us when we get

to that point when you extend that hand of mercy,

help us to reach out and make the most of it.

We love you, Lord. We need you in Jesus' name,

amen. You may be seated. Oh, look back with me

at chapter number 27. King Jotham in chapter

number 27, verse six, it says, so Jotham became

mighty because what? He prepared his ways before

the Lord his God. Okay, we're just getting in

the message tonight, but King Ahaz, his dad was

Jotham and his dad was a mighty man. He was mighty

because he prepared his heart to live for God.

He was a mighty man, a mighty man. Imagine your

dad. a mighty man of God, living for God, serving

God. And wow, imagine you're Ahaz, you're a child

of the king. You're a child of the king. Imagine

all of a sudden, you're 20 years of age, and

next thing you know, your dad suddenly dies,

and next thing you know, next thing you know,

you have a chance to be the king of Judah right

there. But before we get to that, a child of

the king. Let me read this to you. Behold what

manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon

us. that we should be called the sons of God.

Do you realize in Revelation chapter 19, it talks

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

about Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings and

Lord of lords. How many of you have been saved

by the blood of the crucified one? Man, you're

a child of the King. You're a child of the King.

Man, live. Wow. When we realize you're a child

of God, Boy, when you believe on him, as many

as received him to them became become the sons

of God, even to them that believe on his name.

You became a child of God, a child of the King,

and let's rejoice in being a child of the King.

Ahaz is something good, but we had something

far better. We're a child of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and that is blessing. Now, a child of the King,

look at verse number one again with me, chapter

28, verse number one. Ahaz was 25 years old when

he began to reign. Look at verse two. For he

walked, he walked. in the ways of the kings of

Israel and made also, what's that word? Molten

images for Balaam. Now, in my imagination, I

was trying to think Molten. He had some people

in the kingdom begin to melt metal. and they

begin to form and fashion these idols, these

images, and they did that for the wicked god

Baal. Baal worshipers, remember the Baal worshipers

where they're cutting themselves, and Baal's

a false god, Baal's not real. And here, imagine

as you begin to travel around the southern kingdom

of Judah, right over there in Jerusalem, there's

the temple, there's the temple mount, there's

the Mount of Olives. The next thing you know,

you're walking around, you begin to see it's

sort of normal. There's molten images in the

city. There's molten images around the countryside.

You begin to look at these molten images. That's

wicked. And in my notes when I said, you're a

child of the king, Ahaz. You're a child of the

king. What are you thinking? Hey, Ahaz, no, don't

do that. Hey, Ahaz, knock it off. How are you

allowing this? It was his life. He began to make

decisions where he made molten images. For Balaam,

look at verse 23, it gets worse. Moreover, he

burnt incense in the valley of the son of what?

Hinnom. And, it's hard to even believe that this

is written. And burnt his children in the fire

after the abominations of the heathen whom the

Lord had cast out. before the children of Israel.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. It's hard to read that. Imagine

you're a son of Ahaz. Hey son, come with me.

And all of a sudden they go to the valley over

there and he begins to offer up his child, his

flesh and his blood and begins to put, now that

wasn't a pretty sight. The child died, and we

begin to look at that. Can I just say, hey, hey,

hey Ahaz, you're a child of the king. What are

you thinking? No, don't do that. Hey Ahaz, what

are you thinking? No, don't do that. By the way,

you ever thought about you and me? Sometimes

we do stupid stuff. We sin against the Almighty

God, and we can almost see God looking down and

say, hey, hey, you're a child. You're my child,

no. Don't do that. It wasn't just one child.

It says children. Look at this in verse number

four. He sacrificed also and burnt incense in

the high places and on the hills and under every

green tree. He began to offer. burnt incense

to these false gods, and it became the normal

way of Judah, sinning against God, sinning against

the creator, sinning against the God that he

should love. There's the temple, there's the

house of God, there's priests in the land, there's

prophets in the land, and he's going against

the way of his father, Jotham, and he begins

to sin in a great way. He transgresses against

the Almighty God. Now. Oh, prone to wonder, Lord,

I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. You

ever been there? You ever take a step away from

God? And then all of a sudden you realize what

you're doing. What have I done? What have I done?

What have I done? You ever been there? You ever

done that? We've all done that. And here he is,

he's going to extremes. I pray to God, none of

you have ever sanctified your children. Praise

God that you pray to God that you're not building

or making Bolton images to Balaam. And we think,

hey, hey Ahaz, no, don't do that. Now here's

the truth. When we get to that point, we take

steps away from God. Think about it, you take

a step away from God, another step away from

God, next to the step away from God, next to

the step away from God, there's something waiting

for you. That direction away from God leads to

God's judgment. Look with me at verse number

five. Wherefore, say that word, look at verse

five. Wherefore, the Lord. Wherefore, think about

it. Because of what you've done, because you've

transgressed against God, because you've made

those molten images, wherefore the Lord, his

God, delivered him into the hand of the king

of Syria. And as you begin to look at this, and

it says, and they smote him. and carried away

a great multitude of them captives and brought

them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into

the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him

with a great slaughter. And you begin to read

this. And look at verse number eight. And the

children of Israel, this is the northern kingdom

of Israel, carried away, captive to their brethren,

200 ,000 women, sons, and daughters. and took

also away much spoil from them and brought the

spoil to Samaria. Part of the message, we're

getting there, and it's not really a message

about this, but when you get away from the Lord,

you have a lot to lose. And the blessing of the

Lord, it's good, it is so good. When you're under

the blessedness of the man that walketh not in

the counsel of the Lord God, you're under the

blessing of God, the hand of God. God's saying,

hey, that's my boy, I'm gonna take care of the

protection of God, the guidance of God. The blessing

of the Lord that maketh rich. And when you step

away from that, you begin to take God's hand

of judgment and He puts it on you. He takes that

protection away from you. And the next thing

you know, you've got the Syrians. They're attacking.

You've got the northern kingdom of Israel. It's

a miserable life. The most miserable people in

the world, I believe, are people who have been

saved by the blood of the crucified one who walk

away from God. The chastisement of God. Hebrews

chapter number 12. The least happy people in

the world. Oh, I'm happy. No, actually you may

smile but on the inside you're hurting because

you no longer have the blessings of God and and

boy the blessing Hey, don't take for granted

children teenagers. Don't take for granted the

Christian home that you have Don't take for granted

that you have the privilege to come to church,

not only on Sunday morning, but you have the

privilege. It's not a right, it's a privilege

to come to church on a Sunday night. Hey, don't

take for granted the privilege you have to tell

people about Jesus. Don't take for granted the

privilege you have to sing in that choir, that

great choir, or play in the orchestra, or be

an usher, or even work with those vicious little

children in the nursery. And trust me, those

kids in the nursery, they're vicious. Vicious,

but thank the Lord for that. It's still a blessing.

It's a blessing to serve the Lord. It's a blessing

to serve the Lord. And I think of the dear people

in our church, the sacrifices you've made. and

just how hard you work to try to serve the Lord

in so many different ways. And God sees that,

it's work, sometimes you get tired, but there's

such fulfillment in giving your life and really

trying your best to live for God. Now, this is

a side note, and I wanna mention this, we as

a church, one of the reasons I believe we are

blessed as a church, this is just a side note,

but one of the reasons we're blessed as a church,

can I say a little side note, so it's not really

a sermon, but one of the reasons we're blessed

as a church, because as a church, Baptist wants

to fulfill the great commission and tell a lost

and dying world about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I praise God. Saturday, Brother Mike, think

six people got saved. To God be the glory. And

I hear about that on Thursday night. Every Thursday

night, people getting saved. The ladies, they

go soul winning. The ladies go soul winning.

Twice a month. And the ladies go out there and

almost every time somebody gets gloriously saved.

Heard a preacher recently said 50 years ago,

in a Bible -believing church, I think the statistic

he said was 64 % of the people in that Bible

-believing church were regularly giving out the

gospel. They would be, 64 % would regularly go

out there, they'd grab gospel tracts, and they

would notice people as they went and try their

best to tell them about Jesus. Now, in the preaching,

here's what he said, I don't know where he got

this, but he said it's different today. He says

in a Bible -believing church, a Bible -believing

church like Chesapeake Baptist Church, It's not

64 % anymore, it's 6%. Well, what does that mean?

Okay, I pray it convicted me because I want to

say, no, no, no, no, that's not the way it is

at Chesapeake Baptist Church. I hope not. But

just imagine this. What does that mean when you

go 64 % to 6 %? That means some people are stepping

over here and stepping over here. And when we

step away from God, what does that mean? Lead

to. It doesn't lead to the blessing of the Lord.

And one of the reasons we're very blessed at

our church is because we regularly get out the

gospel. We at least try. We at least try. We

at least try. Well, I was convicted. And I thought

about it. I try to carry gospel tracts. I try

to tell people about the Lord. I was in the store

yesterday, and boy, I'm at the crazy Mother's

Day store. There's people everywhere. There's

a long line. I talked to the guy behind me. He

wasn't really interested. There's a naval officer

who's right there, and the Lord began to prick

me to talk to him, and he was busy. He's rung,

scanning, scanning, scanning. I said, hey, thank

you for your service. He looked and he said,

ah, you're welcome, and turned away. He left,

and I didn't give him a gospel track. And the

Lord has beaten me up a little bit about it.

You should have talked to him. And on the way

out, I checked out real quick. I said, Lord,

help me see him in the parking lot. Help me see

him in the parking lot. I stepped out in the

parking lot. I'm looking for him. He was parked

right next to my car. So I ran up to him yesterday,

and all of a sudden, as I'm running out there,

he starts pulling up. I said, stop! Roll down

the window. He's like this. I said, roll down

the window. And at least I tried. I tried, I

gave him a gospel track, and I think that's what

God wants us to do. He wants us to try, try,

try. Some of you, now please forgive me, this

is not the message, but it's important. As a

church, you like the blessings that you get at

our church. You like the blessings, and I like

the blessings, but come step back in, take a

step back toward God, grab you some gospel tracks,

and look for people that you can tell about Jesus,

maybe your friends and your family. Show up for

soul winning. Show up for soul winning. We don't

ask much. I really wish you'd at least come once

a month for Super Saturday Soul Winning. We had

almost 100 people there. But show up. Make an

effort. Well, Pastor, I don't like that. Well,

I don't like people dying and going to hell.

I don't like it. And that's the reality. We're

called as a church. The Great Commission is not

a suggestion. It's a command from the Almighty

God. It's important for us to step close to the

Lord. The blessing of the Lord maketh rich. But

as we step away and we step away and we begin

to serve other idols, the message that Ahaz is

preaching to or being preached at today is being

preached to us today in so many different ways.

But here's what it is. God's merciful. Look at

verse number nine. God's merciful. But a prophet

of the Lord was there whose name was what? Odead.

I sort of like Odead. Now, I think we got like

several ladies in the church, like four or five

or six or seven or eight or I don't even know,

but are about to have babies. I think Odead's

a great name. I think great, great. We don't

have any Odeads, but I mean, Odead might work.

Okay, look at this, was Odead, and he went out.

before the host that came, remember the 200 ,000,

200 ,000 are coming out of, they're coming out

of Judah and they're going into Israel. But look,

it says, behold, here's what he says, behold,

because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth

with Judah, that's the southern kingdom, he hath

delivered them into your hand, he's preaching

to the children of Israel. and you have slain

them in a rage that, in a rage, this is a wild

sentence, the children of Israel, you have slain

them in a rage, in a rage that reacheth up in

unto what? Wow, what a statement. He's preaching

to the children of Israel, the northern kingdom.

They're bringing the, they want a victory. God

allowed that victory, God's judgment on the southern

kingdom. He's bringing them up the north, these

women and children, and all of a sudden, God

sent the prophet and said, it's a rage, what

you're doing. You're doing more than I wanted

in that judgment. You're taking more upon you,

and the rage is reaching up into heaven. And

that's what the prophet's saying. And there's

so much more to this story than that, but wow,

wow, wow. Look at verse number 10. and now ye

purpose to keep under the children of Judah and

Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you,

but are there not with you, even with you, sins

against the Lord your God? Now hear me therefore,

and deliver the captains again." There's so much

we're not gonna read the whole thing, but what

was the result? The preacher preached the word.

He preached the word to the northern kingdom

of Israel. Verse 12, then certain of the heads

of the children of Ephraim. Always remember that

Ephraim is another word for the northern kingdom

of Israel. The children of Ephraim. Now look

at this name. Azariah, the son of Johanan. Barakiah,

the son of Mesh -le -moth. And Jehazakiah, the

son of Shalom. And Amesa, the son of Hadaliah.

That's a lot of names right there. How did you

do when you pronounced those? For the hell of

gray, it didn't sound like you did too good.

I tried, I tried. It's embarrassing when I have

to try. Thank you very much for that mercy. But

look at this, stood up against them and came

from the war and said to them, ye shall not bring

the cat. What you're seeing here, you're noticing

that some people listen to the preaching. And

what they ended up doing is by the time you get

to verse number 15, look at this, and the men

which were expressed by name rose up and took

the captives. You gotta see verse 15, here's

what they did. And I want you to, as we read

this, this is God's mercy. God sent a preacher.

God had mercy on the southern kingdom of Judah

because God loved Ahaz. God loved the children

of Judah very much. And it says, and arrayed

them. and shod them, this is halfway through

verse 15, and gave them to eat and to drink,

why did they give them to God's mercy, and anoint

to them God's mercy, and carried all the feeble

of them on asses, that's God's mercy, and brought

them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, that's

God's mercy. The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to. and plenteous in mercy, it says in the

book of Psalms. Psalm chapter 86, for thou, Lord,

Psalms 86 · chapter mention

art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in

mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Psalm

136 verse one, oh, give thanks to the Lord, for

he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. God

is a merciful God. When you read that story,

whether you understand it or not, God was being

merciful to Ahaz. He's saying, hey, Ahaz, hey,

nation of Judah, hey, you messed up. But I love

you, I care for you. What he's saying is I'm

gonna give you a second chance. I'm gonna give

you a second chance. Man, that's a gift. A second

chance is a gift of God. It's a gift of God.

And God is merciful, God is merciful. He treats

us better than we deserve to be treated. And

praise God for a second chance. Praise God. What

do you do, by the way, what do you do when God

gives you a second chance? That's the sermon.

When God gives you a second chance, are you gonna

run back to Him? When God gives you a second

chance, are you gonna humble yourselves a has

hey when God gives you a second chance Are you

gonna use your life for him when God gives you

a second chance and he begins to speak to your

heart? Are you gonna listen to God this time?

When God brings you out of trouble, are you gonna

stay out of trouble? Hey, when God gives you

room to repent and change your mind, are you

gonna turn around? When God gives you another

chance, are you gonna look to Him and look to

Him as the author and finish your faith, ask

forgiveness and move to a life that lives for

Him? What do you do when God gives you a second

chance? And this is powerful. Maybe it's just

preaching to me, but thank God for a second chance.

Thank God for a second chance. Now, what did

Ahaz do? Look at verse 18. At that time, at that

time of God's mercy, and think about when you

look at that word, at that time, that's the time

of God's mercy. At that time, what are you doing

at that time? What are you doing at that time,

teenager? Well, here's King Ahaz. At that time

did King Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria,

to help him. For again, the Edomites had come

and smitten Judah and carried away captives,

and the Philistines also had invaded the cities

and the low country. Now, look at verse 19, just

look at this. For the Lord brought Judah low,

why? Because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he made

Judah naked and transgressed sore against the

Lord. Hey, in that time of second chance, he

went further into sin. Here, God, all of a sudden,

is reaching out his hand of mercy and saying,

hey, Ahaz, come back, come back, come back. And

God extended his hand of mercy in a great way

right there. And Ahaz turned his back on God.

He began to, you read it, there's so much more

here, but he began to go to the Assyrians for

help. Look at verse 20. And Tiglath -Palyser,

king of Assyria, came unto him and distressed

him. Verse 21, and Ahaz took away a portion out

of the house of the Lord. He began to rob the

house of the Lord and give it away. And look

at verse 22, you gotta see this. This is an important

verse. And in the time of his distress, in the

time of his distress, did he trespass yet more

against the Lord. This is, that King Ahaz, I

put that really bold, this is, What's the life

of King Ahaz? When God's merciful to him, he

steps over here and goes farther away from God,

turns his back on God. This is that King Ahaz.

This is that King Ahaz. And he sticks his thumb

and says, ah, puts his back against God. This

is that King Ahaz, a rebel. This is that King

of Ahaz despising the mercy of God. This is that

King Ahaz who sinned against God. This is, I

don't want to be like that. I don't wanna be

like that. A second chance wasted. A second chance

wasted. A second chance. Don't waste your second

chance. Look at this. This is the reality. Verse

number 27. And Ahaz slept with his fathers and

they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem,

but. They brought him not into the sepulchres

of the kings of Israel. You know, Ahas died.

At the end of it, after 16 years, God's mercy

was there. He ran from God and things got worse

and worse and worse and worse. And really, I

should have mentioned, this is important. When

he went away from God, it wasn't just him that

he affected. Do you realize he affected a lot

of people? He hurt the whole kingdom. Men, women,

boys and girls. They had to live in a land that

had molten images, live in a land that offered

incense to these false gods. And Ahaz, the reality

is after 16 years at 36 years of age, how many

of you here are 36 or younger? Raise your hand.

36 or younger? Wow. How many are older than 36?

Okay, if you're here, you're dead. He died. And

you think about this, what happened when Ahaz

died? Well. The reality is, he has never got

away with his sin. It's a fearful thing to fall

in the hands of the living God. So then every

one of us shall give an account of himself to

God. In Numbers chapter 32 verse 23, be sure

Numbers 32:23

your sin will find you out. Went to lunch with

the pastor this week. It was good, good food,

good fellowship. We're rejoicing in the Lord.

And I enjoyed the fellowship tremendously. And

about when we were about to go, the pastor looks

up to me and he said to me, he said, Pastor,

did you hear about so -and -so? I didn't bring

it up. So -and -so? Yeah, I did. It's very sad.

And you guys wouldn't know about it, but. He

knew about it and I didn't bring it up. I said,

it's very sad, but here's what I said to him.

God's a merciful God. God's a God of second chances.

The question is not if God wants him back, that

man who sinned greatly, it's what is he going

to do with the second chance? What's he gonna

do with the second chance? What's he gonna do

with the second chance? There was a man who grew

up in a Christian home and all of a sudden he

sort of, despised the preaching of God's word.

And on the sly, you might say, he started reading

books that he shouldn't read and looking at things

he shouldn't have looked. And slowly but surely,

his heart began to be hardened toward the things

of God. And next thing you know, he's out of

church, he's out of the will of God, he's just

like Ahaz stepping back and stepping back and

stepping back. And as he got farther away from

God, he began to be very antagonistic toward

Christians. He began to really go after anybody

and try to disarm people or take people away

from the faith of God. He lived a very wicked

life. As the years went by, the years went by,

God all of a sudden stuck his hand of mercy out.

He was near his home, his mom invited him to

a revival and he heard the preaching of God's

word and within three weeks, three weeks, This

man trusted Christ as a savior. He was given

a second chance. He's given a second chance.

And this man then all of a sudden realized, now

that I've got a second chance, what am I gonna

do with my life? Now, he could have been stuck

in the past. I messed up. He could have wallored

and wallored and wallored and wallored about

his sin. But he moved on to God's mercy. got

forgiveness from the Almighty God, began to go

away from anything that displeased God and got

into the Word of God and began reading it and

studying it and faithful, then he devoted his

life to giving the gospel out. God was merciful,

merciful, merciful to him. As he began to study

the word of God, God began to get a hold of his

heart. He became the pastor of the First Baptist

Church in Waco, Texas, back in the 1800s. And

he pastored that church for 30 years. And that

was back in the 1800s, early 1900s. That was

where Baylor University and he devoted his life

to giving the gospel and preaching and leading

people toward Jesus Christ. Why? Because he had

been perfect? No, because God is the God of second

chances. And really the answer is what are you

gonna do when you need a second chance? Are you

gonna run back to him? Are you gonna humble yourself?

Are you gonna say, God, give me another chance

and use me, use my life for you? Are you gonna

have a heart that listens to God? Or are you

gonna take another step away from God? And whatever

you choose is gonna make a big difference in

not only your life, but the life of many others.

Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, we love you.

God, really, why did you give us that story of

King Ahas? I do believe the real reason is you

wanted to show us that you're a God of second

chances, and really, the sin and the consequences

of not taking that mercy or accepting that mercy.

I do pray, I pray tonight for that individual,

maybe for a few that are right now needing mercy,

and God, they need to hear that you are merciful

and you are merciful. and I pray that they come

back, humble themselves, and they write that

relationship. Pray for all of us, maybe sometime

in the near future, we'll take a step away from

you. Help us when we need that second chance

to run back to you in a humble way. I pray that

you help us to realize the devastation of sin.

When we sin against you and we keep on going,

it ruins families, churches, and it ruins lives.

Help us to come back to you, a merciful God.

We love you. In Jesus' name, amen. Stand with

me if you will. Piano and the organ are gonna

play and I encourage you to pray, pray.