Revival: Set in Order by the Word of God

And so we're going to look here tonight as we look here in 2 Kings chapter 18.

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

Let's look down at verse 5 here tonight.

And we see here with Hezekiah, it says this,

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah,

nor any that were before him.

For he claimed to the Lord and departed not from following him,

but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.

And the Lord was with him, and he prospered with us, whoever he went.

And he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

And he smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza and the borders thereof,

from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced cities.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Fathers, we come before you tonight.

Lord, we're just thankful for your word.

We're thankful that these things are given to us for our learning and for understanding.

Lord, help us to learn and to draw closer to you and to understand,

even as we look at Hezekiah's revival here tonight.

Lord, I pray that you just would stir our hearts to realize the importance

of what is revival, what is those things that you would desire of us.

And Lord, we pray that you would work mightily

and just encourage hearts here tonight.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You know, we see here that here's Hezekiah.

We know that he trusted in the Lord and sought to follow him with his whole heart

so that the Lord was with him, the Bible tells us.

You know, you think about it.

That's quite a testimony when Scripture tells you that God is with you

because of you serving him.

And we see that, you know, Jeremiah 17 tells us this.

It says,

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is.

You know, to be blessed of God is to put your trust in him,

to trust him on the things, the small things, but the big things.

Also, especially as we walk through life.

But Hezekiah's desire, we know, as we looked last week, was to please the Lord.

It was a drastic transition from his father who was against God,

wanted everything but God.

And then we have Hezekiah, his son, take over,

and everything is 180 degrees the other direction.

I mean, there is an absolute turning in the nation of Israel.

And the first thing he does, he opens the door of the house of the Lord.

You know, he opens back up the temple.

That's his first action as king.

It tells us as he opens the door of the temple,

gets the priests and the Levites together,

tells them to prepare themselves and to clean out the house of God

and to get it ready to worship the Lord.

You know, that was his primary focus right at the very beginning.

And we spoke about that a little last week,

and we saw there the challenge was not just to prepare the house of the Lord.

I want you to understand, he didn't just say, get a building ready.

He said, prepare the people to worship the Lord.

Because ultimately that is the reality.

We ought to be a prepared people to worship the Lord.

You know, as we see, Hezekiah comes out with this challenge right off the get-go.

You know, and so I think it's important to consider

because sometimes when you see such a drastic contrast

because you have his father Ahaz, who's totally against God,

and now we have Hezekiah show up on the scene,

and he is like giving instruction to the priests about how things ought to be done.

You know, it's kind of like this total 180-degree turn,

and we might say and ask ourselves, which I think is a good question,

where did Hezekiah learn this?

You know, where did Hezekiah know all this information?

Well, you know, when he led such an abrupt change,

we need to know that he knew it before it began.

Before he became king, he already had some things in place,

and his relationship with God had already been established.

But we know that one of the things that a king was supposed to do,

if you remember, turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 17,

Deuteronomy 17 · chapter mention

because it's one thing we always can realize when it comes to the Word of God,

God already has things under control.

You know, we find here in Deuteronomy, before they even had a king,

before the discussion even came up,

you find in Deuteronomy chapter 17, look down in verse 18,

Deuteronomy 17 · chapter mention

it says this,

And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,

that he shall write him a copy of this law in the book,

out of which is before the priests and the Levites.

So what's the new king supposed to do?

He's supposed to do what?

He's supposed to make his own personal copy

of the law of Moses.

He's supposed to make his own copy of the Psalms.

He's supposed to make his own copy of the prophets

that they had up to that point.

You know, he's supposed to hand write that out, you know.

There's something about that today,

and it's been proven that when you write something

or you copy something, you know what?

It sticks with you a little better.

You know, when you write something down,

and I think that's one thing sometimes we miss in our digital age,

because there's something different about doing this

than actually writing.

To make a connection, it's like there's a connection

between your fingers and your brain.

You know, to actually write things down makes a difference.

And notice verse 19 in Deuteronomy.

It says,

And it shall be with him,

and he shall read therein all the days of his life

that he may learn to fear the Lord his God,

to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them,

that his heart be not lifted above his brethren,

that he turn not aside from the commandment

to the right hand or to the left or to the end,

that he may prolong his days in his kingdom,

he and his children in the midst of Israel.

And so I think that how he knew,

he'd already written his copy,

because he knew he was one day going to be king.

I think he'd already taken time.

He was 25 years old.

He had already taken time to learn

and to understand what was his responsibility.

He had already sought through,

because when we look here tonight,

I want you to see he's not just asking the priests

of what they should do and the Levites.

He's instructing them to,

Guys, you should already know this.

In other words, he's speaking from a place of authority,

not of himself, but from the Word of God,

because if anybody should have known what to do,

the priests and the Levites should have known what to do.

They were the ones supposed to be teaching the people what to do.

And so we see that he was encouraging them with that.

And so we see here,

as the house of the Lord was once again sanctified,

it was a day that rivaled even the dedication of the temple by Solomon,

as we'll read a little later.

This was something that hadn't happened in Israel for hundreds of years,

is what took place here with Hezekiah.

Because what took place was a true revival.

There's something that happened.

Take a look.

Turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 29.

2 Chronicles 29 · chapter mention

2 Chronicles chapter 29.

2 Chronicles 29 · chapter mention

And we see here, this is Hezekiah,

and this is the same, this is a parallel passage.

They give you different information about what went on.

And Chronicles mainly gives us information about this revival

that took place in the first few months of Hezekiah's reign.

Right off the get-go, there's something that took place.

Look at verse 19 with us tonight.

It says,

Moreover, all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression,

have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.

Now notice, what's that report that he got?

Hezekiah gets the report from the priests and the Levites,

Hey, we've cleaned out God's house, all the junk that was in there,

and we've restored all the vessels, all the things that your father Ahaz had destroyed.

He said,

We got everything in the house of God back in place.

He said,

These things are all ready to go.

And now look at verse 20.

Notice what happens here.

Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the rulers of the city

and went up to the house of the Lord.

And they brought seven bullocks and seven rams and seven lambs and seven he goats

for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah.

And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron,

to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

So they killed the bullocks,

and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar.

Likewise, when they had killed the ram,

they sprinkled the blood upon the altar,

and they killed also the lambs,

and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king

and the congregation.

They laid their hands on them,

and the priests killed them

and made them reconciliation with their blood upon the altar

to make atonement for all Israel.

For the king commanded that the burnt offering

and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

Now I want you to see something here.

Here's Hezekiah.

He comes and says,

Hey, if everything's ready,

we're going to sanctify God's house.

We're going to set God's house apart.

And if you want to make a side note while you're writing things,

you can go back and read the first seven chapters of Leviticus,

because that describes what he's telling.

This is where Hezekiah gets all this information

of what they're supposed to be doing,

how they're supposed to be doing it,

and why they're supposed to be doing it.

He's saying,

Hey, guys, Leviticus chapters 1 through 7

Leviticus 1 · chapter mention

tells us what we ought to be doing.

So I want you to see here

that the king is not just making things up.

He says,

Hey, this is what God has told us to do.

You know, one of the things about true revival,

it's based on what God has said.

True revival is always built upon,

Thus saith the Lord.

It's not built upon emotion.

It's not built upon just feelings.

It's not built on just actions.

It's built on, Thus saith the Lord.

And that's important to understand,

because we see here that the heart of Hezekiah

was that for the burnt offerings and the sin offerings.

They were to be made.

Now notice this,

because if you read through this,

sometimes you miss what's going on here.

He's the king of Judah,

but who's he offering these sacrifices for?

All Israel.

In other words, he says,

Even our brethren that have departed from the Lord,

up in Samaria, he says,

they need to return to the Lord too.

And we're going to see that play out

in Hezekiah's revival

and the change that took place

because he wasn't just worried about

what was happening in Judah.

He was worried about what was happening

with the others in Israel.

He was worried about it.

He says,

I want to make a sin offering

before the Lord

on behalf of all these.

And we see this happen.

Now notice verse 25,

And he set the Levites

in the house

of the Lord

with cymbals and psaltery

and with harps

according to the commandment of David

and of Gad the king Seer

and Nathan the prophet.

And so was the commandment

of the Lord

by his prophets.

Now notice here

something important.

He didn't just say,

Hey, there's a music I want.

He set the music in the church

according to what God said.

In other words,

he said we're going to do it

how God had instructed

from the prophets

to accomplish that

because how we do music

is important.

You know,

I want you to understand

it's a critical thing

and we're not going to get

sidetracked and rabbit trailed

into that tonight

because we're talking about Hezekiah.

We'll save that lesson

for another day.

All right.

But I want you to understand

he made this decision.

What did he base it on?

The word of God.

He didn't base it on public opinion

or what was popular.

He said let's go to the word of God

and see what God says about it

to base it upon the things of God.

And so we see here

as he was there

it was not for personal enjoyment

of the people.

You know,

one of the things today with music

sometimes people think

well I come to church

I want to hear what I want to hear.

I want to grab a hold of

what I want to grab a hold of.

But you know,

when we have music in church

it's not for our benefit.

The music in the Lord's house

ought to be to glorify the Lord

and to move people

and to focus their attention

upon the things of God.

It's not a concert

but a focus

upon the Lord.

And we see this

as we look on down through

look at verse 28

and it says

all the congregation did what?

Worshiped.

And the singers sang

and the trumpets sounded

and all they continued

until the burnt offering

was finished.

We see this

that they were there

worshiping the Lord.

Now I want you to understand

I'll just make this statement

you can sing

and not worship the Lord.

You can sing about God

and not worship the Lord.

Worship

if you notice

happened first

because worship

is a position

of our heart

towards God

before the music

came about.

The music

was an expression

of what was already present.

And we need to understand

because as we look down through

look at verse 35

here in this passage

and it says

and also the burnt offerings

were in abundance

and the fat of the peace offering

and the drink offerings

were for every burnt offering.

Now notice this

so the service

of the house of the Lord

was what?

Set in order.

You know

before Hezekiah

went and got everybody

he says

who's here

and the temple

needed to be sanctified

and prepared

for what was to come.

He said

the sanctification

of the temple

nothing else

could happen

until that was set

in order.

Just as they had

under Moses.

Remember

they had to build

the tabernacle

and everything

before those things

could be set

in order

and prepared

for the things

for them to come

and to offer

their offerings

before the Lord.

They were sanctified

they were set apart

and it was set

in order.

In other words

the Lord's house

was ready

because what

was Hezekiah's plan?

Because we're going

to see now

the preparation

of the people.

We've seen

the preparation

of the house of God

and then we're going

to see the preparation

of the people.

So King Hezekiah

would stir

a revival

among the people

of Judah

along with those

from the northern kingdom.

Look here

chapter 30.

Notice what it says

and Hezekiah

sent all Israel

and Judah

and wrote letters

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.

For the king

had taken counsel

and his princes

and for all

the congregation

of Jerusalem

to keep the Passover

in the second month.

All right

so now we see

something here

because

the Passover

had not been

celebrated

according to

the word of God

in many years.

It doesn't tell us

how long here

but it says now

that they're going

to celebrate it

in the second month.

Now here's your

Bible trivia.

What stands out

in that statement?

The second month

because what month

were they supposed

to celebrate the Passover?

First month.

That gets a good question

doesn't it?

You know what?

The Bible answers it for us.

How did the king

change that?

And we'll look at that

here in just a little bit

but I want you to see here

that this hadn't been

celebrated

in a long time.

Notice verse 5

of chapter 30.

Notice what it says here

and it says

and so they established

a decree

to make a proclamation

throughout all Israel

and from Beersheba

even to Dan

that they should come

to keep the Passover

unto the Lord God

of Israel

of Jerusalem

for they had not

done it of a long time

in such sort

as it was written.

You know that's

important to realize

it wasn't that people

didn't desire to

but you know

to keep the Passover

properly required

the temple

to be operating

because in the Passover

one of the things

they did

if you remember

even as you think

about when Jesus

went to Jerusalem

as our Passover lamb

what was taking place

each family

would take a lamb

to the priest

the priest

would lay hands on it

they would kill the lamb

and that blood

would be a covering

for sin

and it took place

in the temple

or the tabernacle

so if the tabernacle

the house of the Lord

wasn't operating

it would be very difficult

to do it according

to all that God

had instructed

even if an individual

wanted to

and had a desire

for God

there were still

limitations

you know

I want you to

to understand

what's happening here

and we see

it wasn't according

given by Moses

but as the house

of the Lord

was there

it was a place

and people

that were required

to be used

the priests

and the people

had to be

together

you know

notice verse 3

of chapter 30

it says

for they could not

keep it at that time

because the priests

had what

not sanctified themselves

sufficiently

because neither

had the people

gathered themselves

together

to Jerusalem

in other words

there had to be

some preparation

for it to take place

there's some individuals

that needed some preparation

but you know

as we have talked

about a little earlier

about why did they

choose the second month

throw over to

Numbers chapter 9

Numbers 9 · chapter mention

for a moment

you know

as I want you to understand

Hezekiah didn't just

make this up

if he's trying

to follow the Lord

he's saying

do we have to wait

till next year

you know

what's going on

Numbers chapter 9

Numbers 9 · chapter mention

look at verse 10

who's got that one

we'll get some people

involved tonight

got that

Ethan

or

can you read that

for me

verses 10 and 11

okay so

the Lord had already

made provision

he says

if you can't be

sanctified

to do it

he said

we're going to have

a secondary option

for you

if that's necessary

so we see here

that where did

Hezekiah get this

he got his instruction

from the word

of the Lord

in other words

he didn't just

change God's plan

he said

what did God

have for this

because you got to

remember

it's also very practical

because notice

what's the first

exception that was

made there

in Numbers chapter 9

Numbers 9 · chapter mention

if they were

they touched what

a dead body

now I want you

to understand

in ancient times

death wasn't as

clean as it is

today

you know

where somebody

dies and the

caretaker comes

and he

you know

and takes them

over to the

funeral home

and deals with

everything

and you show up

and you make sure

everything's doing

the way it's

supposed to be

done

I want you

to understand

in those days

if you had a

family member

die

it was your

responsibility

to go take

care of it

if they touched

a dead body

they had to be

unclean for

seven days

so if that

happened at the

wrong time

what happens

you couldn't

do anything

to be sanctified

in order to

perform it

so what did

God do

he says

I'm going to

make a

exception clause

that if it's

impossible for you

because of

distance or

or something

that violates

that you can't

control

I mean you

can't control

when somebody

dies

so I want

you to see

here where did

Hezekiah get

this

the people

hadn't prepared

themselves

and they weren't

in Jerusalem

yet and he

says hey

we're going to

move it to the

second month

because God

already made

provision to do

that if the

people aren't

ready

because it's

important to

understand God

wants a prepared

people if you're

going to come

before the Lord

God wants your

heart prepared to

come before him

we need to

understand that

what does

Hezekiah do

here this is

as we see

Hezekiah as he

gets all this

preparation he

gets all these

things happening

now he sends

letters in those

first six so the

post went with the

letters from the

king and his

princess throughout

all Israel and

Judah and according

to the commandment

of the king saying

you children of

Israel turn again

unto the Lord God

of Abraham Isaac

and Israel and he

will return to the

remnant of you that

are escaped out of

the hand of the

king of Assyria

and be not like your

fathers or like your

brethren which

trespassed against the

Lord God of their

fathers who therefore

gave them up to

desolation as ye see

you know here's

Hezekiah he's sending

a letter he says

guys you caused

your own problem

you know there's a

lot of times in life

we cause our own

problem you know

sometimes we like to

complain about but the

first thing you need to

ask what did I have a

part in causing it

because sometimes in a

lot of times in life we

have a part from our

decision that get us

where we are and we

see here that Hezekiah

tells them they were

separated and dispersed

because they refused to

worship the Lord they

refused those things

notice here he tells

them he sent the

letter from Beersheba to

Dan now to us that

doesn't make much sense

to us I mean we just

hear two cities until

you understand Beersheba

was the farthest south

point in Israel and Dan

is the farthest northern

point in other words

it's a picture that the

whole land received the

letter from the farthest

away both ends they

received the notification

from Hezekiah that what

was going to happen and

they encouraged them to

come by choice you know

he didn't tell them but

he said he tells them what's

going to happen and who

they are and how they're

doing and encourages them

to turn to the Lord now

notice he tells them to do

this of themselves look at

verse 9 it says for if you

turn again to the Lord your

brother and your children

shall find compassion before

them that led them captive

so that they shall come

again into this land for the

Lord your God is gracious and

merciful and will not turn

away his face from you if you

return unto him you know we

see here something important

that takes place because

Hezekiah here sends out this

letter and he tells them he

says hey you guys need to

make a choice to do it

Hezekiah didn't command them

as king to come worship the

Lord he said if you turn he's

telling them what they ought to

do but he's not telling them

that they have to do it because

you know what you cannot force

somebody to worship the Lord you

cannot make somebody obey the

word of God because you can

obey on the outside and be

rebellious on the inside the

right spirit happens within and

and then notice what he calls

them here as they're there I mean

he mentions about them and what

he tells them there with this

because notice the response look

at verse 10 it says so the post

passed from city to city through

the country of Ephraim and

Manasseh even into Zebulun and

notice what that next part says but

they did what how did they receive

it they laughed them to scorn and

mock them and that's the way some

people receive the truth about what

God says they just laugh it off or

mock it but I want you to see the

next one look on down here in verse

11 nevertheless divers of Asher and

Manasseh and of Zebulun did what

humbled themselves and came to

Jerusalem you know what when you

share the truth of God with

somebody they're going to react one

of two ways they're either going to

reject it or accept it it's the same

back here in the Old Testament as it

is today people are going to either

going to accept truth or reject

truth there's no middle ground

because well we try to like but I

want you to understand the middle

ground is a no you either accept or

reject the truth of God's word there's

no to hee-haw around about it is the

same as saying no because you're saying

I don't believe it believing the word

of God is important and we see here

that he talks here about them being

stiff-necked you know look up in verse

a but be not stiff-necked as your

fathers were but yield yourself unto

the Lord you know people when it

talks about stiff-necked it means

resolved against okay turn back to

second Kings chapter 17 for a minute

2 Kings 17 · chapter mention

because we see here in second Kings

2 Kings 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17 in verse 14 the word of

God tells us this and we see this

connection here with this it says

notwithstanding they would not hear but

hardened their necks like to the neck of

their fathers that did what not believe

in the Lord their God you know the hard

part is we either submit to the things

of God surrender to the things of God or

we rebel against the things of God that's

reason as a New Testament believers in

Jesus Christ things are a little different

but the application still the same take a

look over what Paul says over in Romans

Romans 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 Romans chapter 6 in verse 13 the

Romans 6 · chapter mention

apostle Paul here is describing working

through what happens at salvation and how

that comes about and what takes place and he

comes to this issue of dealing with whether

you're going to obey the Lord or not dealing

with sin notice what he says in verse 13 he

says neither yield you your members as

instruments of unrighteousness unto sin what's

he saying he's saying you need you're

going to yield to something what are you

going to yield to what are you going to

submit to are you going to be stiff-necked

against the things of God because notice

but yield yourselves unto God as those that

are alive from the dead and your members as

instruments of righteousness unto God what's

he talking about here he's not talking

about making a commitment to God he's

talking about making a surrender to God

yielding means not just committing to

something but surrendering to something

in other words it's taking where you may

have a right and saying I'm going to hold

back or I'm going to stop here I'm going to

use this as a restraint because it's what's

supposed to be and so we see here that

they are very stiff you're going to be

stiff-necked or yielded I mean when it

comes to the things of God that's the two

choices people have because there's

oftentimes people even today get very

stiff-necked about things because they

have ideas of what they think or how

they think it ought to be or what somebody

else has said instead of going back and

say where does it measure out in the

word of God because ultimately we can

all get stiff-necked about things that we

get that we think are so important but we

ought to measure those things not through

how we feel about it but through what

God's word says because when we measure

it through God's word what are we yielding

to yielding to God and not to somebody

else or to our own emotions or thoughts

because it's amazing how many people make

spiritual decisions on how they feel

spiritual decisions based on how you feel

about God's truth is stiff-necked because

it's built upon how you feel and not what

God says but notice here he calls them to

serve the Lord to turn again unto the Lord

and notice something good that he tells

us about God you know the good thing here

is he also he doesn't just call them out

he says hey guys I want you to understand

if you turn back to God God is gracious

God's merciful God desires for you to turn

to him God wants for you to come to him

matter of fact he tells him he will not

turn you away you know that's the same

principle in the New Testament and if you

come to Christ and call upon him he will

not turn you away you know what the great

thing is the God in the Old Testament is

the same God in the New Testament he's

merciful and gracious if you come to him

and we see here this message is received

just like today you know we talked about

some mocked and some laughed why others

did what humbled themselves there was what

they do some were stiff-necked some yielded

to the things of God but see we see then

we see here that the Passover was

celebrated he sends out the letters to

everybody and some start making their way

to Jerusalem and so notice here in verse

15 of chapter 30 and it says this and then

they killed the Passover on the 14th day of

the second month and the priests and the

Levites were ashamed and sanctified

themselves and brought in the burnt

offerings into the house of the Lord and

they stood in their place after their

manner according to the law Moses the man

of God and the priests sprinkled the blood

which they received at the hand of the

Levites for there were many in the

congregation that were not sanctified

therefore the Levites had the charge of

killing the Passover for everyone that

was not clean to sanctify them unto the

Lord for the multitude of the people even

many of Ephraim and Manasseh and Issachar

and Zebulun had not cleansed themselves

yet did they not eat the Passover

otherwise than it was written but

Hezekiah prayed for them saying Lord

God pardon everyone now I want you to get

the picture here because you got a lot of

people coming to Jerusalem remember he

sends out letters to the far reaches of

even Israel and understand that when these

people came they had not cleansed

themselves according to the law of Moses

now I want you to understand as you read

through this some of this might have been

strictly ignorance they got a call to

return to the Lord but I remember Israel

how long it had been since they had been

observing the Passover up in Samaria

some of the men and women and kids that

come had never even seen it it might have

been something that said just heard in the

distant past that grandma and grandpa might

have done in other words they knew they

wanted to turn to the Lord but they had no

idea what was going on they had not

prepared and sanctify themselves and and

they had not seen or participated in a

Passover since it had been generations

it's important to note that God pardoned them

because notice what happens here when

Hezekiah prays for them it says in the

Lord verse 20 and the Lord hearkened to

Hezekiah and healed the people it's

important to note that God pardoned them

because Hezekiah prayed that God might

pardon them if they prepare their heart to

seek the Lord in other words they came not

knowing only one thing they knew they came

knowing that they wanted to seek the Lord

they knew that this is what they were

supposed to do and they came in ignorance

now turn to Leviticus chapter 5 for a

Leviticus 5 · chapter mention

moment Leviticus chapter 5 in verse 18 now

Leviticus 5 · chapter mention

notice what the Word of God says here in

verse 18 and he shall bring a ram without

blemish out of the flock with thy

estimation for a trespass offering unto

the priest and the priest shall make an

atonement for him concerning what his

what ignorance wherein he erred and

whist it not and it shall be forgiven him you

know I want you to understand Hezekiah was

justified in praying for those that came

from Israel that were ignorant because

you got to understand what's ignorance

ignorance is lack of information you know

what you can't if you're not know to do

something you can't do it I mean that's

just simple fact isn't it you know you

can't if you don't know to do it it's

impossible for you to do it so God even

made a way for their ignorance to be

covered because of why because they needed

they came with a heart seeking the Lord

and the Lord said hey if you're seeking

me I'm making a way to prepare you for

what you need to do to seek the Lord is

important it wasn't their action it was

their heart towards God that made the

difference because they were yielded they

were humbled before the Lord but now let's

take a look here because as they come and

all this is taking place notice in them

verse 19 that prepareth his heart to seek

God the Lord God of his father so he be

not cleansed according to the purification

of the sanctuary and says the Lord hearkened

unto Hezekiah and healed the people so we see

here Israel the children of Israel of all the

tribes are gathering in and this results in

quite a revival you know revive Hezekiah's

revival changed people's lives there's a

transformation because I want you to see

here this was not a revival of emotion but

of change you know today we hear a lot

about revival you know you've seen in this

last year you know you'll see clips on the

internet you know little reels of mass

people getting baptized and you know there's

such a great revival here you know they've

been packed in a field house for 48 hours

listening to somebody beat on a drum and

and make some loud noise and they call it

revival you know what I want you to

understand that people calling something

worship or somebody going through an action

doesn't make revival those things somebody

that gets baptized means there's been a

change already in their life I want you

understand when they worship the Lord is

not the music it's the heart that makes

the difference you have a lot of people

that might have songs talk about God but

that's not worship

I want you to understand you can sing some

of the old hymns are good good songs but

if you don't sing them with a heart towards

God you know what it's not worship because

your heart is what makes it worship not

the song itself just like people getting

dunked you know I think we have we

shouldn't even call it baptism it's mass

dunkings because baptism actually has a

definition in scripture you can get wet

all the time you want doesn't make a

difference you know we see people get wet

all the time and it doesn't mean anything

you know people do all sorts of things to

try to appease God or they use music to

move people but both these are caught up in

emotion instead of truth because I want you

to understand revival is not measured in

the moment that's one of the other things

I think we miss when it comes to revival

revival is not measured in the moment

revival is measured by what happens

afterwards because when true revival

happens and people turn towards God

there's going to be emotion involved

there's going to be some emotion and

there ought to be if your life's been

changed by Christ there ought to be some

emotion attached to it but what happens

later makes a difference this is a two

week revival they had such a good time

the first week and so many things

happened they said let's do it again

next week when you read through the text

it was two weeks of them worshiping the

Lord and getting right with God it talks

about them confessing it talks about them

getting their life straight with God and

revival takes place and you say preacher

how do you know revival took place look at

the next chapter look at chapter 31 because

revival always has results there's

something that happens look at verse

chapter 31 verse 1 it says now when all

this was what finished all Israel that

were present went out of the cities of

Judah and notice what they did they break

the images in pieces and cut down the

groves excuse me threw down the high

places and altars out of Judah and

Benjamin and Ephraim and also Manasseh

until they were utterly destroyed them all

that all the children of Israel returned

every man to his possession under their

own city you know what the proof of the

revival was is what they did when they

went home because what they did they

turned from their idols unto God on

Sunday morning we're talking from first

Thessalonians about how Paul makes

mention of the Thessalonians doing what

turning from their idols unto God you know

these people had a genuine change because

they turned from their idols they took the

things that they were worshiping and got

rid of them and I want you to understand

that they didn't just quit worshiping

because now they're going to worship the

Lord it was a turning from the false

worship of these false gods and I want

you to understand it wasn't just an

intellectual decision but one that caused

them to remove all the idols from before

them I think on their way back home they

started thinking I got this hidden over

here this idol and that idol and they

said we need to get rid of it they need

to deal with it they needed to properly

take care of it to destroy it to put it

away all those who had not prepared

themselves prior to coming to Jerusalem I

think there's a lot but back to Israel

because they'd been up there where they'd

been worshiping all these false gods and

they said on the way home we're going to

take care of this when we get there we're

we're going to get rid of them we're

going to take it out we're going to

destroy them to utterly destroy them

they took their faith in God personally

not just outwardly but it transformed

their heart it changed them as a person

you know Proverbs chapter 10 verse 16 the

Proverbs 10:16

word of God tells us this the labor of

the righteous tended to life and the

fruit of the wicked to sin you know I

want you to understand that when God

changes you there ought to be a change in

fruit you know think about what Jesus

said over in Luke chapter 6 Luke chapter

Luke 6 · chapter mention Luke 6 · chapter mention

6 in verse 43 the word of God tells us

this it says for a good tree bringeth for

bringeth not forth corrupt fruit neither

does a corrupt tree bringeth forth good

fruit for every tree is known by his own

fruit Jesus is simply saying you're going

to produce what you are verse 45 in Luke

he says this a good man out of the good

treasure of his heart bringeth forth that

which is good and an evil man out of the

evil treasure of his heart bring forth

that which is evil for the abundance of

the heart his mouth speaketh you know what

where your heart is is tied to what you do

the decisions you make because we see secondly

here we see a change of thinking concerning the

things of God they didn't just return back to

their old life but to a new one they had a new

desire to follow the Lord directed by his word their

thinking was changed you know when you come to

Christ your thinking ought to change

go over to Galatians for a moment Galatians chapter 5

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

Galatians chapter 5 and look down at verse 24

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

who's got that one for me tonight

everybody's kind of lagging here

got somebody read that one for me read that April

verse 25 also please

so what do we need to do we need to do what walk in

the spirit it is a change that takes place we've

crucified the flesh with the affections and

lust if we live in the spirit let us do what walk in

the spirit this parallels over look at Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 in verse 2 got that

Romans 12 · chapter mention

one Daryl if you would

yep

okay I want you to understand here there was a

difference that was made their lives changed

completely things were different their thinking

changed and the things we're going to see that

play out here in this chapter because

Hezekiah we're going to see here also

appointed look at verse 2 of chapter 31 it says

Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and

Levites after their courses every man according to his

service the priests and Levites for burnt offering for

peace offering to minister and to give thanks and

to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord and he

appointed also the king's portion of his substance for

the burnt offering to wit for the morning and evening

burnt offering for the burnt offering for the

Sabbath and for the new moons and for the set feast it is written in the law of the Lord

moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem give a portion of the

priests and the Levites that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord I want

to see here the Hezekiah sets up and says priest you need to get sanctified and do what you want to do but the people did something accordingly also and we're going to see here as we look through chapter 31 you're going to see God's people began to give

they began to give to the things God had instructed them to give they began to give if you read through we don't have time tonight but you can go home and read through the rest of 31 it talks about the heaps were so big they had to figure out what they were going to do with the offerings because not just in Jerusalem even from Israel they were sending things back and you say preacher what how does that play out I want you to understand your heart and your pocketbook are connected think about what Jesus says look over to Matthew chapter 6

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

6 Matthew chapter 6 look down at verse 21 you got that one Josiah Matthew 6 21

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

okay when Jesus said that what's he telling us there's what a connection between what you possess and your heart there's a connection there a little later in verse 24 could you read that one for me there Josiah verse 24 same chapter since you're already there chapter 6

okay Jesus continues with that same thought isn't it because you're gonna have to choose who you serve and the results were seen in what they did look down in verse 9 of this chapter

it says then Hezekiah

and the chief priest comes out and says hey people are bringing so much stuff we don't have a place to put it you know what I want you to understand what it tells us is is there was a true revival because the people's attitudes changed

they said we're gonna give what God has instructed them to give

you need to keep in mind Israel was instructed in the law of exactly what they were supposed to give and when they were to give it matter of fact we talk about tithing if you add up all they were to give in the Old Testament it's about 30%

between to do a quality quality quality quality quality

because what you invest your resources in is where your heart's attached.

If you invest, it's because your heart has an outcome that you're expecting.

I want you to see here there was something very different happening in Judah and throughout Israel.

A new course in word and deed was happening in their lives.

Hezekiah was also willing to follow the Lord and do what he ought to do.

Look down at verse 20 here, and it says,

And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.

And in every work that he began in service of the house of God and in the law and in the commandments to seek his God,

he did it with all his heart and prospered.

Now I want you to see here, you've got to keep in mind this all happened in a few months.

This is the beginning of Hezekiah's reign.

Next week we're going to look at something because, you know what, when we begin to serve the Lord, you know what?

There's going to be a test.

Do you really serve the Lord for the right reason?

James tells us this.

It says, James 1.12 says,

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is attried, he shall receive the crown of life,

which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Next week we're going to take a look because Israel is going to face a test.

Hezekiah is going to face a test.

Do I trust God or not?

You know what, sometimes the same question comes up in our life and decisions that we have to make.

Am I willing to trust God in the difficult things to make the right decision?

We'll look at that next week with Hezekiah.

Let's pray.