[0:00] If you don't have your Bible with you, grab a pew Bible here, page 358 on your pew Bible, the black pew Bible, 358, 2 Chronicles.
[0:16] Let me just set my timer up. Anybody who knows me knows I will talk until I'm stopped, so I'm going to try and stop myself here. An hour and a half sound good?
[0:34] All right. All right. Second Chronicles, chapter 20.
[0:49] Before we read, let's just pray. Heavenly Father, just thank you for your goodness to us and your watch care over us. Thank you most of all for the love, Lord, that you had for us.
[1:05] Love that caused you to create this world and create us. A love that caused you to send your son to die on the cross for us.
[1:15] Lord, if nothing else is heard today, Lord, let us hear Christ and the precious sacrifice of him on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
[1:32] In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. If any of you have ever had the privilege to try and say anything from the Bible, I will tell you there is a constant challenge to...
[1:55] You're constantly fighting yourself to say what you want to say and what you think people need to hear. Especially when you know your audience a little bit.
[2:07] You start to have things in your mind. Oh, so-and-so would love to hear this and so-and-so needs to hear that. And I've been wanting to tell so-and-so this for a long time, so this is my opportunity.
[2:20] And so there is a constant battle with the flesh, as it were, with yourself, as it were, to try and allow God to use you simply as a vessel.
[2:33] And so one of the advantages that I've found in the reading plans, and if you don't have a Bible reading plan, grab them.
[2:44] They're still at the back on top of the sort of mailboxes there. The great thing about that is you don't choose what you read.
[2:55] You just read through the scripture. And so the Lord, as I was reading through the scripture, really made this stick out to me.
[3:06] And it was kind of funny because my wife says, oh, you're probably going to preach on the New Testament because you never preach on the Old Testament. And I said, well, just wait and see. So here we are in 2 Chronicles, and I'm going to read through 2 Chronicles.
[3:19] Most of you, I'm not sure what you're all reading. I'm reading out of the King James. Don't hold it against me because my Bible is heavier than yours. And we've got more words in here.
[3:29] So I'm going to read out of the King James, and it should be easy enough to follow through here. But whatever you have, just read out of it. And the Bible says that God's word will never return to him void.
[3:43] So starting verse 1, 2 Chronicles chapter 20. And it came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
[3:58] And there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria. And behold, they be in Hazon Tamar, which is En Gedi.
[4:13] And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord.
[4:25] Even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah in Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court.
[4:37] And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven that rulest over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thy hand is there not power and might so that none are able to withstand thee?
[4:52] Art not thou our God who did strive the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel and gave it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein and they built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If when evil come upon us as the sword and judgment and pestilence or famine, we stand before this house and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction, then wilt thou hear and help.
[5:28] And now behold the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade when thou camest out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not.
[5:42] Behold, I say, how they reward us to come and cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us.
[5:56] Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. And Judah stood before the Lord and all their little ones, their wives and their children.
[6:08] Then upon Jehazel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of July, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation.
[6:23] And he said, Hearken all Judah, hearken ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid, nor be dismayed, by reason of this great multitude.
[6:37] For the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they will come up to the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeru.
[6:51] You shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. Judah and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed.
[7:03] Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head and his face to the ground. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
[7:19] And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites, and the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning and went forth to the wilderness of Tekoa.
[7:32] And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established.
[7:44] Believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army and to say, Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever.
[8:03] And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord sent ambushments against the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, which were become against Judah.
[8:15] And they were smitten, for the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to slay and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Mount Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.
[8:29] And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and behold, there were dead bodies fallen on the earth, and none escaped.
[8:40] And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and with the dead bodies precious jewels, which they stripped off them for themselves, more than they could carry away.
[8:58] And they were three days in carrying away the spoil. It was so much. And on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the valley of Baracha, and they blessed the Lord.
[9:09] Therefore, the name of the place was called the valley of Baracha unto this day. Then they returned every man of Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go again to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
[9:30] And they came again to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets into the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
[9:46] So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for God had given him rest round about. A couple of chapters back in chapter 17, just a quick, you don't have to turn there.
[10:01] There's an introduction to Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat becomes king of Judah. And there's a time here in the history of the nation of Israel where the nation of Israel is divided into Judah and Israel.
[10:22] And it says that Jehoshaphat, his sons, we're talking about the previous king, reigned in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah in the cities of Ephraim.
[10:39] So even the nation of Israel was fighting against themselves. But this is the important part of the takeaway part I want you to understand here. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his father David and sought not unto Balaam, which is false gods here.
[10:55] That's a little bit of context into who Jehoshaphat is here. And as I read this passage here, I thought to myself, there is so much in here in regards to application to us for the believers.
[11:09] And I want to focus for us here today the bottom part of verse 12 where it says, but our eyes are upon thee. And I thought to myself, there is so much for us to look at in this world.
[11:28] So much for us to turn to and look to for advice and for guidance and for comfort.
[11:41] But the reality is none of that really works that well. In fact, a lot of it is distraction and causes us to not look upon God. So there's some things that I wanted to point out today.
[11:57] In verse 9, there's a very interesting phrase. Beginning of verse 9, it says, if when, if when, if when, if when evil come upon us as the sword and judgment or pestilence or famine, we stand before this house in thy presence for thy name for thy name is in thy house and cry unto thee in our affliction.
[12:31] First thing I want you to understand is that when you become a Christian you are not immune to the troubles of this sinful world. In fact, I would almost wager to say if I was, wager is probably not the best word, but if I was to say when you become a Christian you are probably more prone to dealing with struggles in this world.
[13:00] And so it says, if when these things happen, so that means when these things happen, if we do this thing, so when evil comes upon us as the sword and judgment and pestilence and famine, if we stand before this house, if we cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear us.
[13:31] And I wonder, are you dealing with some things today? Are you? Are you having problems with your kids that aren't turning out?
[13:49] But our eyes will be on thee. What about if the bank account isn't quite balancing out? Are you saying your eyes will be on him?
[14:07] If your relationships aren't going well, but our eyes will be on thee. My body's falling apart, but my eyes will be on thee.
[14:28] The things of this world are starting to weigh down on me. I find it very interesting. In verse 6 it talks about the fact that God is over all the kingdoms of the heathen.
[14:46] Maybe you're scared today about the enemies out there. China and Russia. Maybe you're scared about nuclear war. You're worried about that. But my eyes will be upon thee because I know that God is over all the kingdoms of the heathen.
[15:06] I know that all things that happen in this world, my eyes can be upon thee, upon God, because he is God in heaven. I know that all things that happen in this world, my eyes can be upon thee, upon God, I'm having problems with people at work, but my eyes will be upon thee.
[15:32] My life is not turning out the way I wanted it to, but my eyes will be upon thee. my eyes will be upon thee, because in thine hand, verse 6 says, there is power, and there is might, so much that none is able to withstand thee.
[16:03] and so my eyes will be upon thee. Verse 12, you see Jehoshaphat crying out to the Lord, and he says, we have no might against this great company that comes against us.
[16:29] I wonder, do you feel like you don't have strength today to deal with the great problem that faces you, the great struggle in your life?
[16:43] Are you crying out like the nation of Judah here that we have no might against this great company? I don't have the resources, I don't have the strength, I don't have the knowledge, I don't have the great might against this company that comes against us, but my eyes are upon thee.
[17:14] Maybe you're saying neither know we what to do. I don't know how to solve this problem. This is beyond, beyond my understanding.
[17:29] beyond my problem-solving ability, but my eyes are upon me. I want to see, dear believer, that when you have an attitude of putting your eyes upon the Lord, God, he is going to remind you of a few things.
[18:00] And so the Spirit of the Lord, while they were all collected, crying out to the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, who spoke out loud.
[18:15] He said, all Judah and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and even you, King, this is what the Lord says unto you today.
[18:28] Be not afraid, nor be dismayed, by reason of this great multitude, this great problem that is ahead in front of you, this problem that is threatening your very lives, for the battle is not yours, but it's God's.
[18:49] And I'll tell you something, that if I was to go into battle, and I was to rely on my own strength and my own abilities, I would start having some doubts about my success rate here.
[19:08] But when my eyes are upon God, and I understand that he has power and might, so that none are able to withstand him, I'm so glad that the battle is his and not mine.
[19:31] Moreover, he continues and says, the battle is so much the Lord's that you don't even have to fight. fight. Verse 17, you shall not need to fight in this battle.
[19:49] Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Now, sometimes the Lord asks us to put our faith into action and trust that he will orchestrate his means and his desired outcome in the end.
[20:19] But sometimes also, like he did for the nation of Judah here, he said, you don't have to fight. This is beyond you.
[20:33] The multitude of enemy that came towards him, the nation of Judah was so great that there was not enough people in the nation of Judah that could fight against this multitude.
[20:49] So great that God said, it's clear that I need to intervene. It's clear that I need to take care of this battle for you.
[21:00] And so sometimes I think that we struggle with the fact that we might turn our eyes upon the Lord, but then we decide to try and do what we can to fix the problem.
[21:13] We get involved and we start doing things. Well, I believe sometimes the Lord calls you not to act, but just to wait in faith and believe.
[21:25] And this is one of those situations, this historical account of Jehoshaphat, where he says, you shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
[21:38] Lord. And as we read in the story, we came through to the following day, and as the nation of Judah walked towards the valley where they were told that this battle was supposed to happen, we see that they did not prepare for war, they did not bring their swords and their spears, they did not bring their valiant men, their mighty men of battle, but they went singing to the valley.
[22:29] I will tell you by way of experience, there have been many times in my life when I have faced adversity and by the grace of God I've been able to turn my eyes upon him.
[22:47] And even in the valley of struggle, even in the valley of battle, of combat, with whatever situation it is, there's been a song in my heart.
[23:01] And I might even say to you today, maybe this is a good gauge of what you're looking at. If you're facing a trial and a challenge today, and you don't have a song in your heart, I wonder, where are your eyes?
[23:16] What are you looking at? Are you able to say, praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever? are you able to sing as they did in verse 21, just praising the beauty of God's holiness?
[23:33] holiness? I want to say one thing else to you believers by way of witness for the cause of Christ.
[23:49] In verse 29 and 30, we see the result of what happens when we turn our eyes upon thee.
[24:04] You see, every Christian, when you are faced with a struggle here on earth, the world is watching. Your friends are watching, your family members are watching.
[24:21] They don't necessarily want you to fail, they don't necessarily want bad things to happen to you, but I will tell you, if you've been talking a big game about your God, and how much your God takes care of you, and how much your God loves you, and then all of a sudden, you crumble and fall apart when you're faced with a great multitude, as it were.
[24:49] What does that say about your faith? What does that say about where your eyes are looking? What does that say about where your eyes are looking?
[24:59] but our eyes are upon thee, and the result of having your eyes upon God in the midst of a struggle, in the midst of a challenge, when there doesn't seem to be enough food in the fridge, where your health is failing, when it seems as though the enemies in this world are pressing down on us, maybe when you're persecuted even for your faith in Christ, when you have your eyes upon him, there can be a great result for the cause of Christ.
[25:52] Verse 29 and 30 said, And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
[26:03] So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and for his God gave him rest around the boat. By way of a quick testimony, I want to speak to you about something today.
[26:19] When I'm a police officer and I'm in uniform, I can often go places that people can't go. Now, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm allowed to be in certain places, but I just walk in pretending like I'm supposed to be there, and they let me in because I have a uniform, and sometimes I have a nice smile.
[26:39] But the reality is this. Some of you know that I got injured almost a year ago, and I thank the Lord that he allowed me to remember to have my eyes upon him.
[27:03] And I found myself in a place that I could never be by simply being in uniform or simply walking in off the street. And I found myself flat on my back in a hospital bed.
[27:23] And as God continued to bless me to help me have my eyes upon him, there were times when I was able to share the gospel with the people that came in to help me, or so they thought they were helping me.
[27:43] There have been opportunities that I've been able to share the love of Christ with my coworkers, people that I have known for years, and I provided an open door.
[28:08] If we think of the apostle Paul and the amount of times that he dealt with physical and physical restraints being put in jail, being put in house arrest, and constantly he fought against the flesh and the Lord helped him to keep his eyes upon the Lord.
[28:35] And I think that God puts us in places and helps us even in the struggles, because as Paul says, for us to live is Christ.
[28:48] Christ. And so every situation we find ourselves in, is it not for the cause of Christ? I've heard some people say, oh, God will never give you more than you can handle.
[29:05] And you know what? That's absolutely wrong. If God would only give you stuff that you could handle, then why would you need God?
[29:15] God, he's going to give you more than you can handle. He is going to give you a great multitude that comes against you and so that you have no might against this great multitude and neither are you going to know what to do.
[29:35] I wonder, but will you say like Jehoshaphat when the world is crumbling down before you and around you and your life is falling apart?
[29:53] But God, with your help, my eyes will be upon you. Amen. I see also another point of application here.
[30:12] Maybe there's people here today that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Or maybe you are a Christian that's gone away and you've come to play church as you do every week.
[30:27] You see, there's this great gap, this great divide between the beauty of holiness that the nation of Judah was praising, God who is a righteous and holy God and all of mankind who is born into sin.
[30:57] and I will tell you that I thank the Lord for his love because it's because God loved us, he created the universe.
[31:11] Because God loved us, he created this earth. Because God loved us, he created mankind. His love was so much even though he knew we would not all love him back.
[31:29] He did all of that. He made us. Have you ever done something with so much love, knowing that the person would not appreciate it or love you back?
[31:42] Or would even despise you? You? The Bible very simply says, for God so loved the world that he made, that he gave his only son to die on the cross for us, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
[32:11] Amen. the only way that you can please the Lord is by being righteous and holy.
[32:25] Now, if you can show me someone that can be righteous and holy, then I would follow that person. but the Bible says that there is none righteous, no, not one.
[32:48] Not any one of us could ever be holy and righteous enough to be in fellowship with God.
[33:01] God. So he created us knowing that we would never ever be able to be in fellowship with him.
[33:14] But his love was so much that he said, even before he made us, I will make a way, I will make a way whereby the creation that I love can have fellowship with me.
[33:39] And the way was by his son, Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus, his son, being fully God, came down to earth and took on the form of a man to die on the cross.
[34:00] And when he died on the cross, he paid the penalty for our sin by his shed blood. But I will tell you that the story does not end there.
[34:18] Not only did he pay the penalty for our sin, that all who believe on him will not perish but have everlasting life, three days later, the Bible says that he rose from the dead.
[34:35] And he overcame death because he has the power over life and death. And so not only do I know that my sins are forgiven when I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, I also know that when I die and leave this earth, death, that's not the end, but only the beginning.
[35:03] I know that his power over death, as it were, has given me life and life eternal. And because I put my faith and trust in Jesus, I know that I can have a home in heaven where God is, because I can now have fellowship with God because of Jesus.
[35:32] What greater love is that? What greater love is that? I would ask you today, if you are not saved, would today be the day that you turn your eyes upon him?
[35:51] God may be you are a believer here today, and yeah, you come to church, yeah, you sing the songs, but there's been something that's been pulling you away, and you know that there's been something between you and the Lord, and your eyes have not been upon him, your eyes have been elsewhere to the things of this world.
[36:25] I would ask you to turn your eyes towards the Lord today. Dear believer who has been following along with the Lord, and maybe you're dealing with some struggles and challenges here, turn your eyes upon the Lord, for he has great purpose, and he has great salvation, and he has great power and might that none can stand before him.
[37:04] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[37:14] Amen. Amen. Amen. You know, I really struggled today with I had a couple different things that I wanted to talk about today, and I'm just running out of time here.
[37:36] And I actually struggled this week with what it is I should talk about here, because as I spoke before, you know, I feel like there's things that I want to say to people and things that I think, you know, I'm a fixer, right?
[37:55] So I want to fix things. And I will tell you that my life has been full of trouble and full of struggles and full of challenges, and many, many, many times I can clearly see that I should have died and left this earth.
[38:29] many, many, many times I can see that I should have had the worst when I had the best.
[38:51] And I wonder if in your heart of hearts today that you can say that you have ever turned your eyes upon God for salvation.
[39:11] Because many, many times in those hardships and in those challenges I can say as they did in the bottom of verse 17 for the Lord was with me.
[39:31] I'm here today as a man with any kind of earthly respect or honor because the Lord is with me.
[39:50] Any kind of blessing, any kind of physical health, any kind of success in my life is because God, for some unknown reason, loved me.
[40:16] An unlovable sinner who deserve nothing more than an eternity in hell. And I wish nothing more than all of you to be able to say with your dying breath that I put my faith and trust in Jesus and the Lord was with me because there was a time and place where you can say, I turned my eyes upon me.
[41:02] Let's pray. Amen. Heavenly Father, I'm overwhelmed, Lord, with your goodness.
[41:28] You know, as Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah did, Lord, so glad that you gave me that opportunity, Lord, to turn my eyes upon you as a young child.
[41:47] And I'm sorry, Lord, for the times that I have failed you and sinned against you and turned my eyes away from you. Thank you for your mercy and your grace as you continue with your long suffering, Lord, and your love towards me to keep teaching me, Lord, how to turn my eyes upon you.
[42:16] I pray, Lord, for the precious souls in this room, Lord. You know what's in every man and every woman and every young child's heart.
[42:28] heart. And you know what things need to be made right, what people need to turn their eyes back to you. And you know who and how many may never truly have trusted you and put their faith in you for salvation.
[42:49] salvation. Lord, I pray that you would work in their hearts and work in their minds before it's forever and too late, Lord.
[43:02] pray now that they know they would trust you and turn their eyes upon you, Lord.
[43:18] Thank you for your word that is a living word. Thank you that we are in this wonderful country, Lord, that we can carry this freely out in public and read it freely.
[43:29] help us to never forget that privilege. Bless us as we go from here today, Lord, we ask and be with our pastor and his family.
[43:40] Pray you return them to us in strength and health and pray, Lord, that you would protect him from the challenges of the devil that would like to disrupt his abilities to minister and disrupt his family as he seeks to serve you.
[43:59] help us to all return in safety. We ask for your glory and for the cause of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.