May we have a word of prayer.
Our Heavenly Father, we do want to worship
Thee.
We praise and thank Thee because Thou art
the one who sent Thy Beloved Son into
this world.
And Thou art the one who has received
Him in glory, and has crowned Him with
honor and glory.
And our Father, as we continue in Thy
presence, we do pray that by Thy Holy
Spirit that Thou will open Thy word to
us, and touch our hearts, and draw us
unto Thyself, and to Thy Beloved Son.
We ask in Thy precious name.
Amen.
This morning we will be in 2 Chronicles.
There are so many verses or chapters I
would like to read, so I don't read
anything now.
And I hope that you will read the
whole 2nd book of the Chronicles yourself.
As we mentioned before, the 1st and 2nd
Chronicles were originally one book.
They are different from 1st and 2nd Kings.
In 1st and 2nd Kings, we have the
general history of the nation of Israel.
And of their kings.
But in 1st and 2nd Chronicles, we have
only an outline of history.
Serving as a background for a specific purpose.
And that is to show us the religious
life of the nation.
Or put it in another way, 1st and
2nd Chronicles concentrates on the house of God,
the temple, worship, Levitical service, anything that has
to do with the religious side of life.
Now why is it that we need to
study Kings and Chronicles?
In other words, we would think that these
histories were histories of the past and of
some other people.
And why should we study these books?
Now we must remember what the Bible tells
us in the New Testament.
In 1st Corinthians chapter 10 it is said,
All these things happened to them as types
for our admonition.
Upon whom the ends of the ages are
come.
So in other words, you find that all
these things happened as types.
They are for our admonition.
We who live at the end of the
age.
So we find that these books are relevant
to us.
Because we find in the word of God
that we who are the redeemed of the
Lord, we are a holy nation, a kingly
priesthood.
Therefore we find that we can learn much
from Kings and Chronicles.
We can learn the spiritual principles that governs
us as a holy nation and that governs
us as a kingly priesthood.
So this is the reason why we need
to study these books.
2nd Chronicles begins with the reign of Solomon.
And it ends with Babylonian captivity.
But with a positive note.
The decree of King Cyrus.
So you find that 2nd Chronicles begins with
the building of the house of God.
And it ends up with its destruction.
But thank God, there is a hope of
restoration.
In 2nd Chronicles, the first nine chapters are
devoted to Solomon.
And from chapter 10 through chapter 36, we
have the history of the Jewish kings, the
kings of the nation of Judah.
But you find that all are concentrated on
this matter of the house of God.
You will find a difference.
In the history of Solomon, that is recorded
in Kings and in Chronicles.
If you want to know the general history
of Solomon, from the beginning to the end,
you have to go to 1st Kings.
Because you do not find them in 2nd
Chronicles.
In 2nd Chronicles, you find the history of
Solomon is gathered up in one thing.
And that is in building the temple.
In 1st Kings, you will find Solomon's sins.
And the prophecy about him.
But you do not find these in 2nd
Chronicles.
Why?
Because 2nd Chronicles, as we have said, the
1st and 2nd Chronicles are centered upon one
thing.
That is the temple, the house of God.
It seems as if Solomon, throughout his 40
years of reign, if you read 2nd Chronicles,
that he did nothing else but building the
temple.
Actually, we know he did many other things.
Both good and bad.
But these were not recorded in 2nd Chronicles.
In 2nd Chronicles, you find it is all
focused upon one work.
And that is the building of the house
of God.
I think there is a lesson for us.
And the lesson is, we may live a
life upon this earth.
And we may be engaged in many things.
There may be successes.
There may be failures.
But you know one thing that God is
really interested in.
In our lives.
And that is our relation to the house
of God.
Anything that is not related to the house
of God, doesn't seem to be worth recording.
Now Solomon, after he became king, he loved
God.
And he showed his love for God in
going to Gibeon, where the brazen altar and
the tent of Moses were.
And there he offered a thousand sacrifices to
God.
But we must remember that Solomon, his love
for God is traditional.
In other words, God hadn't spoken to Solomon
yet.
He didn't have a personal relationship with God.
He hadn't heard from God.
And all what he knew about God came
from his father, David.
So his faith was traditional.
But even though his faith was traditional, yet
his love for God was real.
He loved God, but he loved God in
a traditional way.
In other words, he didn't have revelation.
And that's the reason why you find he
went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices.
Now you must remember in 1 Chronicles, David
had already moved the ark to Zion, to
the tent of David.
But Solomon, instead of going before the ark
to offer sacrifices, he went to Gibeon.
Because at that time, the tabernacle was moved
to Gibeon.
So instead of going right there, in Zion,
to the tent of David, to worship God,
you find he went to Gibeon, to the
tabernacle, and to offer upon the brazen altar
there.
Now do you see what it means?
We know the ark in the scripture represents
the presence of God.
The person of God.
But the tabernacle and all the things in
the tabernacle represents the things of God.
Or the works of God.
What is more important?
The ark or the tabernacle?
The brazen altar or the mercy seat?
So here you find the tabernacle was built
in the first place for the ark.
All the things in the tabernacle are for
reaching the ark.
The ark is the meaning, gives the meaning
to the tabernacle.
And the ark and the tabernacle should never
be separated.
But unfortunately, because of the sins of the
people.
We find that the ark and the tabernacle
were separated.
Not only separated, but we find in 1
Chronicles that David had to find the ark.
Because it was hidden.
In the fields of the wood.
But David loved God and he brought the
ark back into Zion and built a tent
for it.
So in other words, here you'll find David
really loved God as a person.
He loved God himself.
But Solomon didn't have that revelation.
He knew God only traditionally.
And because of this, you'll find he did
not go to the ark.
He did not treasure God himself as much
as he treasured the things of God or
the works of God.
So he went to Gibeon.
And there he expressed his love to God.
But even so, God condensated himself to his
level.
And you'll find after he offered sacrifices in
Gibeon, God appeared to him.
And God said, ask what I should give
to you.
And Solomon, he didn't ask for long life.
He didn't ask for wealth.
He didn't ask for honor.
He didn't ask for the life of his
enemies.
But Solomon asked for one thing.
He asked God for wisdom and knowledge.
That he may rule the people according to
God.
In other words, Solomon didn't ask anything for
himself.
He asked it for God.
And if you read 1 Kings 3, you
will find the wisdom or understanding that he
asked for actually was an understanding heart.
In other words, it is a heart that
hears.
Solomon asked for wisdom.
Now brothers and sisters, what is wisdom?
You know, we often times connect wisdom with
the mind.
Well, knowledge is connected with the mind.
But wisdom is connected with the heart.
And what is true wisdom?
True wisdom is a heart that hears God.
Solomon asked for a heart that can hear
God's voice.
And in hearing Him, he may know Him.
And he may know His ways.
He may know His judgment.
And that is what Solomon desired of God.
And God was greatly pleased by what he
asked.
So God promised to give him wisdom and
added to it wealth, honor and other things.
With this wisdom, a hearing heart, with this
appearing of God to him.
You know what Solomon did?
If you read 1 Kings 3, you will
find after God appeared to him, he returned
to Jerusalem.
And there he went to the ark and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Now brothers and sisters, it really takes revelation
for you to really love God Himself.
If you do not have revelation, if your
faith is traditional, you may love the things
of God.
You may love the works of God.
For instance, the brazen altar.
It represents the atoning death of our Lord
Jesus.
Because of the death of our Lord Jesus,
our sins are forgiven.
Surely we love that.
Because our sins are forgiven.
Or we love the brazen laver.
Why?
Because there is where we are sanctified.
We are washed.
We are purified.
Or we even love the golden candlestick.
Why?
Because it gives us light.
That we may know the will of God.
Or the golden table of shul bread.
Why?
It represents Christ as the bread of life.
That we may be satisfied.
Or even the golden altar of incense.
Why?
There we can pray and our prayer will
be answered.
In other words, we do love the things
of God.
We do love all that works that Christ
has done for us.
Because it is for us.
It is for us.
You know, if we do not have revelation,
we will love the things of God and
the works of God.
But for us to love God Himself is
beyond us.
Because we are always self-centered.
We are never God-centered.
If God is for us, fine.
But what is it that we are for
Him?
But Solomon, after he received revelation, after he
was given wisdom, he went back to Jerusalem.
And the first thing he did was to
worship at the Ark.
In other words, he loved God Himself.
Now, brothers and sisters, that is wisdom.
Have you had a hearing heart?
Can you hear God?
Has God appeared to you?
Do you receive revelation?
And if you do, you will love God
more than the things.
God gave Solomon wisdom.
And after Solomon received wisdom, then he built
the house of God.
In Proverbs we are told, Wisdom built her
house.
You cannot build the house of God if
you do not have wisdom.
And that is the reason why you will
find the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians chapter 1,
he prayed for the efficient believers, that God,
the God of our Lord Jesus, the Father
of Glory, will grant to them wisdom and
revelation in the full knowledge of God.
In other words, Paul prayed that the people
there may receive wisdom.
And with wisdom, they will be able to
build the house of God.
Why do you need wisdom to build the
house of God?
Why?
Because if you do not have wisdom, how
can you understand the pattern?
You know, God gave the pattern of the
temple to David.
And David passed it on to Solomon.
But it took wisdom to interpret and to
convert the pattern into the temple.
You know, I often laugh at myself, because
I came from a family of builders.
My grandfather was a builder, my uncles were
builders, my brother was a builder, but I
knew nothing about building.
And I remember when I went to my
brother's office, and saw on his long table,
you know, all the schools, and see all
these blueprints, you know, I look at them
and they didn't mean anything to me, just
lines and odd shapes.
But to my brother, when he looked at
these things, he saw the building.
He was able to convert, to translate and
convert these lines and points into a real
building.
But I didn't have that kind of knowledge.
Now brothers and sisters, it takes wisdom to
receive the pattern.
In other words today, the house of God
is what God is really want.
But who knows the pattern?
Where is the pattern?
Now we know God has given us the
pattern of his house.
His pattern is here.
It is in the word of God.
God has revealed his purpose, revealed his will,
revealed his mind, revealed his heart desire, revealed
what he wants.
It's all in this book.
We will find the pattern of the God's
house in this book.
But without wisdom, as you read this book,
it is just words on paper.
These are letters.
You do not understand.
And you are not able to convert them
into a living house of God.
Now many people today are thinking of building
New Testament church.
They realize that the churches today are not
New Testament enough.
Or in other words, lots of churches today
are Old Testament churches probably.
Like synagogues.
Instead of New Testament churches.
So people began to realize that we need
to build New Testament churches.
Now how are we going to build it?
Read the Bible, yes.
There you find, say, in the book of
Acts, how Paul and Barnabas, they appointed elders.
And how you find in 1 Timothy, the
elders and the deacons.
Well, you get the pattern.
You see the lines.
You see the points.
So people said, let's organize a New Testament
church.
Let's have 5 elders, 7 deacons.
Now we have the New Testament church.
Now do you have the New Testament church?
You do not know.
You do not understand the pattern.
You hear the word, but these are letters.
These are dead.
You need wisdom.
You need a hearing heart to really see
the pattern.
To really see that actually that pattern is
nothing but Christ Jesus Himself.
He is the pattern.
But how do you convert that pattern into
a beauty?
That takes wisdom.
And Solomon had the wisdom to do it.
He knew how to read a pattern.
He knew how to convert that pattern into
a glorious, beautiful temple.
And it took wisdom to mobilize thousands and
ten thousands of people to work.
It took wisdom to put everyone in his
right place.
It took wisdom to coordinate the whole work.
And it took wisdom to finish the work.
You know, some people may begin, but never
finish.
And yet Solomon here, you'll find, it took
him seven years to finish that work.
And after that work was finished, the glory
of God came down and filled the house.
In other words, Solomon had the wisdom not
to change anything, but did everything according to
God's revelation.
So God came in and took possession of
that house.
And fire came down from heaven and burned
the sacrifice.
In other words, God had accepted that house.
And afterwards, you'll find God appeared to Solomon
again.
And God said, I have heard your prayers.
My ears will be attentive.
My eyes will be there.
And I will hear the prayers that are
prayed in the house or towards the house.
And I will do everything as I have
promised David.
But, I warn you, if you should depart,
and if you and your seed should depart
from me, and begin to worship idols, then,
God said, I will chasten, I will discipline.
And there will come a time when the
whole house will be destroyed and people will
be astonished.
Brothers and sisters, unfortunately, this finally happened after
hundreds of years later.
Now, this is the story of Solomon told
in 2 Chronicles.
Of course, today we know.
We know one greater than Solomon.
And it is our Lord Jesus.
And what is the work of our Lord
Jesus?
On earth?
We may think that the work of our
Lord Jesus on earth is to save sinners.
Yes.
He came to seek and to save the
lost.
But is that all?
What is actually the work of our Lord
Jesus while He was on earth?
Or I can even go further.
What is the Lord doing today in heaven?
Or we may even enlarge it even more.
What has God been doing throughout the centuries?
Or we can even go back to eternity.
What did God have in mind in eternity?
You remember our Lord Jesus said, My father
worketh, hitherto and I work.
And what is God's work?
What is the work of our Lord Jesus?
It is singular in number.
In other words, God does not have many
works.
God has only one work.
All the many works are within that one
work.
Our Lord Jesus does only one work.
Just like Solomon.
It is as if Solomon hadn't done anything
else.
But throughout his 40 years of reign, he
did only one work.
That is building the temple, the house of
God.
And spiritually that is true.
What is the work of our Lord Jesus?
The work of our Lord Jesus is to
build for God a home.
God has been desiring a home.
He created the heavens and the earth.
But in Isaiah we find God said, Heaven
is my throne.
Earth is my footstool.
In other words, heavens and earth are God's
office.
But where is my home?
God wants to dwell among his people.
He wants to make his people his home.
And that is the house of God.
And that is the heart of God.
And that is what God has been doing
throughout the centuries.
And that is why Christ came into this
world.
And that is what Christ is doing by
the right hand of the Father, interceding for
us.
This is the one work he is doing.
He said, I will build my church upon
this rock.
And the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it.
And even Abraham, he looked forward to a
city with foundation which God is building.
In other words, you find that the work
of God is the building of his house.
A home for God and man.
That God may dwell with man, and man
may dwell with God.
There is love.
There is harmony.
There is worship.
There is service.
There is glory.
And this is what God desires.
We have one greater than Solomon.
And he is building the real house.
That temple that Solomon built was just a
type.
It is not the real thing.
It is the shadow.
It can never be compared with the reality.
And the reality is the church of the
living God that Christ is building with living
stones.
And he is still building that.
And brothers and sisters, he is calling us
to work together with him in this work.
What is the work of the church today?
What is our work today?
We may be engaged in different aspects of
the work, but remember there is only one
work.
We are all called to work with Christ
in the building of God.
That God may have a dwelling place among
us.
We are on the one hand the materials
on the other hand the workmen.
Be careful as how we work.
We need wisdom.
We need wisdom to know the pattern.
We need wisdom to convert that pattern into
the building.
We need wisdom to work together.
We need wisdom to know which part we
are to play.
Everyone is called to do a part of
it.
And we need wisdom to know our place
in the house of God.
Brothers and sisters, we need wisdom.
Do we have that wisdom?
James said, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him
ask.
And doubt not.
And God will give it to him.
Brothers and sisters, have we ever asked God
for wisdom?
Or do we think we already have it?
We know what God wants.
We know what we will do.
Do we?
Or do we really need to humble ourselves
before God and say, O Lord, I do
not have wisdom.
I need it.
That my life upon this earth may be
engaged in the building of your house.
That my life will not be wasted or
ill-spent.
But my life will be counted in eternity.
That my life on earth and my work
here will contribute to the building of God's
house.
Not to the tearing down.
We need the spirit of Solomon.
We need a spirit of wisdom to do
that.
Well, from chapter 10 through chapter 36, we
have the remaining history of the nation of
Judah.
It's about altogether 370 years.
But you find that during that history, again,
in 2 Chronicles, it does not give you
the detailed history of the nation of Judah.
It does not give you the description of
all that the kings have done.
Whatever is written there, you find, again, the
emphasis is on one thing.
And that is the house of God.
These kings, in their relationship to the house
of God, God judged them accordingly.
Whether that king is a good one, is
accepted by God, or whether that king is
a bad one, is rejected by God, is
all hinged upon this one thing.
And that is their attitude, their relationship to
the house.
In that history, you find after Solomon died,
as a matter of fact, before Solomon died,
in his later years, you find he was
enticed by foreign women.
And he began to worship all kinds of
idols.
And, of course, you find the nation began
to drift away from God.
There was declension.
But then God, in His mercy, and in
His promise to David, God gave them revivals,
revivals after revivals.
And you find in their history there were
reforms, after reforms, after reforms.
You do not have that in the history
of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
You only have that in the Southern Kingdom
of Judah.
Why?
Because God remembered His promise to David.
So you see that throughout the long history,
you find the failure of man, and the
faithfulness of God.
Altogether we may find five revivals, or five
reforms.
And you find that during those times of
revival, it seems as if the people began
to come back to God.
They began to renew the house of God.
They began to rebuild the house.
They began to keep the Passover, and to
keep the laws and the ordinances of Moses.
But unfortunately, unfortunately, you find these revivals never
lasted very long.
Some even during the time of the revivalist,
the revivalist himself got cold.
Revival after revival.
But finally, but thank God, there was the
promise of restoring.
Brothers and sisters, does this sound familiar to
us today?
Is Christianity a history of revivals and declensions?
Here we find God in the early church,
on the day of Pentecost.
You find when the Holy Spirit came, and
filled the house, and 120 were baptized into
one body, and there you find the glorious
beginning of the house of God.
That's the real house of God.
You find that God came and dwelt among
the 120.
The fire came.
The glory came.
Three thousand got saved.
Many came to the Lord.
And the gospel began to spread.
And within 30 some years, you find at
the end of the book of Acts, actually
the book of Acts cover about 33 years,
just like the life of our Lord Jesus
on earth was 33 years.
And within that 30 some years, you find
the gospel has preached to the end of
the world.
That is Rome.
The center of the world.
But then you find even before the apostles
of the early days died away, even towards
the latter part of the lives of Peter
and Paul and John, you find there was
declension.
The first love was gone.
Ritualism came in.
All kinds of false teachings, corrupt manners, worldly
methods began to crowd in, and you find
the church had fallen away.
But thank God, because of His love for
His church, you find He sent revivals after
revivals.
You find the history of Christianity is a
history of revivals, if you look from the
positive viewpoint.
If you look from the negative viewpoint, it
is a history of declensions.
But here you find God does send revival
after revival.
A return to God.
A return to His word.
A rebuilding of His house.
But brothers and sisters, sadly you find revivals
never last very long.
Maybe a generation.
Maybe a little more.
And then you find declension came in again,
and God in His mercy, in His promise,
again you find He sent another revivals.
But brothers and sisters, sadly, sadly, you do
find that finally the church, Christianity I would
say, entering to Babylonian, it was captured by
the world.
Has the church come out of the world
yet?
Well, I use the word church in a
general sense.
I should say Christianity.
Has Christianity come out of the world yet?
Is Christianity still in the grip of the
world?
Thank God.
Since reformation in the 16th century, you find
recovery.
Well, that is history that we have to
study later on.
But anyway you find that this is what
you have, the picture that you have.
Now in this long history of about 370
years, there were all together 5 revivals or
5 reforms, under 5 kings.
We would like to go over them very
quickly.
I have only 15 minutes for the 5
kings.
Well, the first one is Asa.
That is in 2 Chronicles 14-16.
You find Asa was the great grandson of
Solomon.
And when he came to the throne, he
did what was right and good in the
sight of Jehovah his God.
He took away the altars of the strange
gods, and high places, and broke the columns,
and cut down the ashes, and commanded Judah
to seek Jehovah the God of their father,
and to practice the law and the commandments.
In other words, here you will find a
revival.
And because he sought the Lord, the Lord
blessed him.
And when the Ethiopians came, they came with
a great army, but you will find because
he trusted in the Lord.
And he cried unto the Lord and said,
Jehovah, it makes no difference to thee to
help, whether there be much or no power.
Help us, O Jehovah our God, for we
rely on thee, and in thy name have
we come against the multitude.
Jehovah, thou art our God.
Let not man prevail against thee.
And he trusted in the Lord, so you
find God destroyed the army of the Ethiopians.
And he was encouraged after the victory by
the prophet.
So here you will find he renewed the
altar of God, of the house of God.
And God was really with him.
But unfortunately, in his later years, he was
king for about 30 some years, serving God,
and then in his later years, you find
his love for God began to grow cold.
And because his love for God grew cold,
therefore his trust in God was gone.
So when Israel, the nation, the northern kingdom
of Israel, attacked him, instead of trusting in
God, he tried to make an ally with
Syria.
And God sent a prophet to reprove him.
Hananiah came and reproved him, and said, why
didn't you trust God?
Ethiopia had a larger army, and you trust
God and God destroys them, and why do
you do that?
And instead of repenting, he got angry and
put Hananiah into prison.
And he began to oppress some people.
And when he had a disease of the
feet, instead of seeking after God, he sought
the physicians only.
Brothers and sisters, what is the lesson, the
word that God wants to teach us?
It is in 2 Chronicles 16.9. That
is a famous, that is a famous verse.
I think many remember that verse.
For the eyes of Jehovah run to and
through throughout the whole earth to show himself
strong in the behalf of those whose heart
is perfect towards him.
You know, God is looking for a perfect
heart.
If he could find a perfect heart, he
will show himself strong in his behalf.
What is a perfect heart?
A perfect heart is a single heart.
Undivided heart.
A pure heart.
A heart that loves God with all his
heart.
A perfect heart doesn't mean sinless perfection.
David had a perfect heart towards God.
But he was not sinless perfect.
In other words, you'll find what God is
looking for.
His eyes go to and through throughout the
whole earth.
Think of that.
God is watching, looking, observing, seeing.
He is trying to find one whose heart
is pure.
Is not double-hearted.
A heart that loves God.
Pure.
For himself.
Without any selfish motive.
Arterial motive.
But a perfect heart towards God.
Undivided heart towards God.
And if God could find such a man,
his arm will show forth towards that man.
Now that is the lesson we need to
learn.
The second king is Jehoshaphat.
Chapter 17 through Chapter 20.
Now Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa.
And in Chapter 17 verse 3 said, And
Jehovah was with Jehoshaphat, for he walked in
the first ways of his father David, and
sought not unto the bells, but he sought
the God of his father, and walked in
his commandment, and not after the doings of
Israel.
He sent out priests to teach the people
of the law of God.
Then you'll find Moab and Ammon came.
With a great multitude to attack him.
And Jehoshaphat prayed to God.
And here is what God said.
In Chapter 20 verse 15.
Fear not, nor be dismayed by reason of
this great multitude, for the battle is not
yours, but God's.
Tomorrow go down against them.
Behold, they come up by the ascent of
this, and you will find them at the
end of the valley, before the wilderness of
Jericho.
Ye shall not have to fight on this
occasion.
Set yourself, stand and see the salvation of
Jehovah, who is with you.
And what did Jehoshaphat did?
They rose early in the morning, and Jehovah
in verse 20 he said, Believe in Jehovah
your God, and ye shall be established.
Believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper.
And he consulted with his people, and he
set up singers.
So they set the singers before the army,
and as they were praising the Lord, the
Lord sent his liars in wait, and killed
the whole people.
Now brothers and sisters, here you'll find Jehoshaphat.
Under Jehoshaphat there was a great revival.
A great revival.
But unfortunately, there was one dark spot in
Jehoshaphat.
He allied himself with Ahab, the king of
Israel.
A wicked king.
His son married Ahab's daughter, that is Jezebel's
daughter.
And because of his unholy allies, he nearly
lost his life.
And of course he lost his business.
You know, he tried to have boats going
out to gather gold and things like that,
but the boat broke.
You know, that was the one spot.
Brothers and sisters, what do we learn from
here?
We learn that we need to believe in
the Lord.
We need to trust in the Lord.
And we need to be careful not to
be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
If we do, we'll suffer.
Well, the third king is in chapter 24.
And his name is Jehoshaphat.
You know, you know, I do not have
the time to go into history.
You know, the nation of Judah, after Solomon,
there were altogether 19 kings.
Like the nation of Israel, 19 kings.
And the 19 kings do not include Athaliah.
Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel, because he usurped
the throne for 7 years.
He was not, she was not of the
line of David, therefore she was not counted.
So altogether there were 19 kings in the
nation of Judah.
Now, Judas was a little baby, hidden, rescued
by the high priest Jehoiada, and hidden in
the temple for 7 years.
And when he was 7 years old, then
Jehoiada, you know, got him out, and he
began to reign.
Now, when he began to reign, then there
was a revival.
Why?
Because he renewed the house of God.
The house of God was in disarray.
It had to be repaired.
And here you find he had the desire
to repair the house of God, that the
worship may be, might be resumed.
So there was a revival during that time.
And all the days that Jehoiada, the high
priest was living, Judas served God.
But after Jehoiada died, the princess of Judah
came, and he listened to their evil advice,
and he began to worship God.
And because of that, God's chastisement came upon
him, but he didn't repent.
And finally he was murdered.
So the lesson we learn here is, brothers
and sisters, to a weak person, Judas is
a weak person, to a weak person his
association is most important.
Whom are you associated with?
As long as he was under the advice
of Jehoiada, he was good.
But the moment Jehoiada died, the princess of
Judah came, and they led him astray.
Brothers and sisters, do not think that you
are strong.
Take care of the people whom you are
with.
If you are with godly people, they will
help you to fear God.
But if you are with evil people, you
will not change them, they could change you.
Well, the fifth one, 20th verse, chapter 29
to 32, Hezekiah.
Now Hezekiah, of course, in the first year
of his reign, in the first month, opened
the doors of the house of Jehovah, and
repaired them.
And he brought in the priests and the
Levites, and gathered them in the open place
eastward, and so on and so forth.
So here you'll find, before Hezekiah came to
the throne, even the door of the temple
was closed.
So he opened the door, and he called
the Levites and the priests, that they might
be sanctified, and they might come and worship
the Lord.
And it was during that time, his time,
that the Passover was kept.
But they were not able to keep it
in God's time.
That should be in the first month, on
the 14th day of the first month.
But, because they were not impurified, so they
had to keep it in the second month,
but God forgave them, answered Hezekiah's prayer, and
after they kept the Passover for seven days,
they loved the Lord so much, they wanted
to keep it again seven days.
Now, that was the only thing done, during
the whole history.
They kept this Passover twice over, to show
their love for God.
And because of this, you'll find, Sennacherib, the
king of Assyria came, and how God answered
prayer, and destroyed the army of Sennacherib.
But, unfortunately, you'll find, oh, and then, you'll
find that Hezekiah was sick.
And God sent the prophet to him, and
said, set your house in order.
Your time is up.
But he wept, and said, Lord, I've done
so much for you, give me more time,
you know.
And, you know, God is so, and God
was persuaded by him, and gave him 15
more years.
And you remember, gave him a sign, that's
a big sign, because the sundial went back
15 degrees.
He was healed.
But instead of being so thankful to God,
he began to be proud.
And because of that, you'll find, the wrath
of God came.
But he humbled himself.
So, he didn't come in his time.
But anyway, you'll find, that during these 15
years, he committed, one is, he got a
son, called Manasseh.
And that was the son, that destroyed the
nation.
And secondly, when the embassy of Babylon came,
to congratulate him of his healing from sickness,
he showed them all his riches, out of
his pride.
And because of that, the nation was destined
to be captured.
So never try to force God.
God can be forced, do you know that?
Let you be forced.
But never forced.
Pride is the one thing, that we need
to watch.
If one is blessed by the Lord, this
is one and one thing, that you really
need to watch very carefully.
God gave grace to the humble.
And he resisted.
And finally, chapter 34, 35, we find the
fifth one, and is Josiah.
Now, in Josiah you'll find, when he was
eight years old, he came to the throne.
And he did what was right, in the
sight of Jehovah.
And walked in the ways of David his
father, and turned not aside to the right
hand, or to the left hand.
Think of that.
Eight years old.
And he did what was right, in the
sight of the Lord.
You know, eight years is not too young.
It's not too young to know the Lord.
It's not too young to walk in the
way of the Lord.
And when he was sixteen years old, he
began to seek after the God of David
his father, earnestly.
And when he was twenty years old, he
purged Judah and Jerusalem of all the idols.
And when he was twenty-four years old,
he purged the land, and cleaned the house.
He cleansed the house of God.
And you remember, they discovered, think of that,
they discovered the book.
And how he was tender-hearted before God,
how he repented before God, and God heard
his prayer.
Even though the destiny of the nation could
not be redeemed.
But God said, it will not happen in
your time.
So finally you find when the king of
Egypt came, he, actually the king of Egypt
came did not fight for him, fight with
him.
But somehow you find he went out, maybe
some pride there, and he was killed.
But anyway, the lesson we learn here is,
serve the Lord in the days of your
youth.
Brothers and sisters, when we are young, we
still have the time.
You know, if people do not serve him
when they are young, when they are old,
they may have the desire to serve, but
where is the strength?
So may the Lord use these to encourage
us.
Brothers and sisters, even though you find there
are revivals and reforms, and you find these
things do not seem to last long, but
we find the lessons we learn are everlasting.
We may really learn these lessons, and if
we learn these lessons, it will help us
when we are engaged in the work of
recovery.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
Thee, because Thou has revealed Thy heart to
us, that Thou does want to dwell among
Thy people.
And Lord, how it hurts Thee, when Thy
people forsake Thy house, and forsake Thee.
Lord, how we praise and thank Thee, that
in Thy mercy, Thou is always sending prophets,
Thou is always sending revivals, in order to
draw Thy people back to Thee.
But Lord, Thou knowest our weaknesses.
Lord, we are thankful for Thy faithfulness, and
we know that because Thou is faithful, Lord,
eventually Thou will have Thy house.
So Lord, we do pray that by Thy
grace, we may learn all the lessons that
we need to learn, that we may be
able to persevere until the very end, that
we may be the house of God.
To Thee be the glory, in the name
of our Lord Jesus.