[0:00] It's good to see some of the younger ones out this evening. When I was younger, my mum and dad had a collection of videos, and probably you don't even get videos anymore, but they had a collection of videos that we would watch on a Sunday.
[0:16] They were what we called our Sunday videos. And they were very much kind of Christian films that mum and dad wanted us to watch on Sundays. And one of these was called The Cross and The Switchblade.
[0:29] And this film, The Cross and The Switchblade, was all about a leader in a gang in New York in the 1950s or 60s. He was called Nicky Cruz.
[0:40] And he was a really violent man. He was a man who had stolen, a man who had probably even killed people. He just wasn't a nice man at all.
[0:52] And he lived just such a wild life. And when people looked at Nicky Cruz, they thought, well, there's one thing about Nicky Cruz, and that is he'll never become a Christian. And The Cross and The Switchblade is about an ordinary American preacher called David Wilkerson who went to New York and was preaching to the gangsta.
[1:11] And he met this man, Nicky Cruz. And as he was speaking to him over a number of weeks, and then as he preached in a service that he was taking, Nicky Cruz went along to that service, and he was converted.
[1:24] He became a Christian. So there was that man who everybody thought was the wildest man in New York, and yet he became a Christian. He became a follower of Jesus.
[1:35] God wonderfully saved him. He wasn't too bad to be saved. And tonight we're going to be looking at a very similar man to Nicky Cruz, a man who lived thousands of years before Nicky Cruz, and this man was called Manasseh.
[1:50] And Manasseh was what we might say the worst man who ever lived in the world. He was a really wicked man, far worse than Nicky Cruz. And yet what we're going to see this evening is that God saved this man, that this man came to faith in God.
[2:07] He came to faith in Jesus. His life was completely changed. And what I want to encourage you younger ones to think about this evening, as I'll be encouraging the whole congregation to think about, is to remember that Jesus can save anyone.
[2:22] Nobody is too bad to be saved by Jesus. Nobody is too good to be saved by Jesus. He can save anyone who comes to him, anyone who calls on him.
[2:35] So I want to ask the younger ones who are here tonight, will you go to him? Will you go to Jesus? You are not too young to do so, and you'll not be too old to do so either.
[2:49] You're not too good to do so, and you're not too bad to do so. You just need to go to him and call on him. And that's the encouragement we're going to be given as we read from God's Word now in 2 Chronicles chapter 33.
[3:04] So please turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 33, and we're going to read verses 1 down to 20. 2 Chronicles 33 from verse 1.
[3:29] This is the Word of God. Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 50 and 5 years in Jerusalem. But that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
[3:45] For he built again the high places which Hezekiah, his father, had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served them.
[3:56] Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the house of heaven, and the two courts of the house of the Lord.
[4:08] And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards.
[4:19] He wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever.
[4:38] And neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land, which I have appointed for your fathers, so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law, and the statutes, and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
[4:54] So Manasseh made Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people, but they would not hearken.
[5:07] Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the hosts of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him.
[5:25] And he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem, into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was his God. Now after this, he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.
[5:51] And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed their own peace offerings, and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
[6:11] Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
[6:28] His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves, and graven images, before he was humbled.
[6:39] Behold, they are written among the saints of the seers. So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house, and Ammon his son reigned in his stead.
[6:53] Amen. This is the word of God to us this evening. Let's again sing to his praise, this time the words of Psalm 103. Psalm 103, and we'll sing verses 8 down to 12.
[7:04] Psalm 103, wonderful psalm that celebrates the Lord and his deliverance, his grace, his salvation. Grace, a deliverance, a salvation that we know is supremely revealed to us in the gospel.
[7:18] The Lord our God is merciful, and he is gracious, long-suffering, and slow to wrath, and mercy plenteous. He will not shy continually, nor keep his anger still. With us he dealt not as we sinned, nor did requite our ill.
[7:32] And down to verse 12. Psalm 103, singing verses 8, down to 12, to the Lord's praise and glory. S каких- vidare�?
[7:47] comuns forsomethings, and keep your prayer still.
[8:02] The very man so clear up in mercy, thank you, God.
[8:16] The will of God, all in my ear, nor give thanks on your soul.
[8:34] Where thou see the blood of sweet sin, not in prayer, but in prayer.
[8:49] O God, all in my ear, in my sight, the earth shall not fall.
[9:09] O God, all in my ear, in my ear, in my ear, in my ear, in my ear, in my ear.
[9:27] The will of God, all in my ear, in my ear, in my ear, in my ear, in my ear.
[9:57] O God, all in my ear, in my ear, in my ear. As we prepare our minds and hearts to feed on the word of God together, let's seek his blessing in prayer.
[10:13] Let's pray. O Lord, our God, as we bow now in your presence, we thank you and we bless you that you are the God of revelation. That you are the God who makes himself known.
[10:25] And you make yourself known in your created world. All the beauty and all the majesty that we see around us. But you are also the God who makes himself known not only in his created world, but also in his written word.
[10:42] We thank you that you have given us this written word this evening. You have given us this Bible. You have given us this word in our own language.
[10:53] And you have given us this word in order that we might hear you speaking to us about yourself. And about what you have done for your people and are doing for your people and will do for your people.
[11:07] But also what you require from your people. And we acknowledge that it is a very solemn thing that we are doing as we focus on this word. For we will be held accountable for every sermon that we ever heard.
[11:24] And for some that will result in eternal blessing. And for others it may result in eternal regret. But we pray that this evening you might give each and every one of us receptive hearts as we engage with your word.
[11:42] That you would speak to our minds. But that you would do more than speak to our minds. That by your spirit you would also speak to our hearts and to our souls. That we would hear you addressing us in the situations and contexts in which we might find ourselves.
[11:58] And that we might find ourselves drawn evermore to the everlasting arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. So bless us as we focus on this portion of your word together.
[12:13] May it be a word in the season for each and every one of us. Please put aside all distraction, all discomfort, all disinterest. And give us hearts that will be ablaze for your glory.
[12:27] As we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well friends would you turn with me to the words that we read then in 2 Chronicles 33. 2 Chronicles 33.
[12:42] I'm reading verses 18 and 19. We read now the rest of the Acts of Manasseh and his prayer unto his God and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel.
[12:55] Behold they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. His prayer also on how God was entreated of him and all his sin and his trespass and the places wherein he built high places and set up groves and graven images.
[13:08] Before he was humbled, behold they are written among the saints of the seers. Henry Gereke was a Lutheran pastor who was facing an almost impossible assignment.
[13:27] He had been appointed as chaplain to the Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trials of 1945 and 1946.
[13:39] And in the course of this unique ministry, he witnessed the conversions of notorious and infamous men such as Joachim von Ribbentrop and Wilhelm Keitel.
[13:52] It was a reminder that the Lord is a God who saves. Or as one of our elders in High Free loves to say, he is the God who saves from the uttermost to the guttermost.
[14:10] This evening we're looking at the conversion of a man whom everyone thought was beyond redemption. A man whom everyone thought was the guttermost. This man called Manasseh.
[14:20] And we're going to look at this under two headings. The perversion of Manasseh and then the prayer of Manasseh. The perversion of Manasseh and then the prayer of Manasseh.
[14:32] First the perversion of Manasseh. Look at verses 1 through to 9 where the chronicle focuses on the sin of Manasseh. In verses 1 and 2 we're introduced to Manasseh.
[14:43] We're told that he was 12 years old when he began to reign. Beginning of verse 1. His father, Hezekiah, had brought about various religious reforms. He had cleansed the temple and restored its worship.
[14:55] He had organized the priests and had reinstituted the Passover. Hezekiah was a man who did what was right in the sight and the eyes of the Lord. We see that in 2 Chronicles chapter 29.
[15:08] This was the home that Manasseh grew up in. He had a godly father. He had a father who prayed for him. He had a father who took him to church. He had a father who read the Bible with him.
[15:21] And then his father died leaving Manasseh to reign at the young age of 12. Before he even hit his teenage years. We're also told that Manasseh reigned for 55 years.
[15:32] You see that again in verse 1. He enjoys the longest reign of any of the kings of Judah. A reign longer than that of Hezekiah. Longer than that of Solomon. Longer than that of David.
[15:42] But the length of his reign isn't as important as what he did with the years that the Lord had given to him. Finally we're told that Manasseh was a wicked king.
[15:53] Look at verse 2. The Chronicleer writes that he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Chronicleer adds that he committed the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast or drove out before the people of Israel.
[16:05] The Old Testament makes it very clear that the Canaanites were driven out of the land, thrown out of the land because of their wickedness. They deserved this.
[16:15] And here is Manasseh engaging in the same sins as the Canaanites before him had engaged in. And as such Manasseh deserves the same judgment. He too deserves to be thrown out of the land.
[16:28] The sinful practices of Manasseh are then spelled out in verses 3 to 8. The Chronicleer gives us a report of his sinful activities. Verses 3 to 6.
[16:38] He rebuilt the high places that his father had broken down. He set up altars to the Asherah and the Baals and the whole host of heaven. He built altars to the host of heaven in the courts of the Lord God.
[16:51] He burned his sons as an offering to his false gods in the valley of Hinnom. And he made use of fortune tellers, omens, sorcery, mediums, necromancers.
[17:04] The Chronicleer goes on to give the Lord's assessment on Manasseh in verse 6. One writer has said, If Manasseh had searched the scriptures for practices that would most anger the Lord and then commit them, he couldn't have achieved that result any more effectively than he did.
[17:21] And the Chronicleer spells that out as he writes that Manasseh did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and provoked him to anger. That is the Lord's assessment on Manasseh.
[17:34] The Chronicleer goes further to describe one particular act of defiance committed by Manasseh in verses 7 and 8. We read that he made a carved image of an idol.
[17:45] That image would have celebrated eroticism and violence. It was an abhorrent image. It was a pornographic image. And Manasseh takes that image and he sets it up in the temple in the house of God in the place where the Lord had chosen to put his name.
[18:03] This is Manasseh's ultimate act of defiance and rebellion against the God of his father. It is an act which shows his indifference to the mercy that the Lord had shown.
[18:14] The Lord had given this temple for sacrifice, for atonement, for worship. And Manasseh just says, I'm going to desecrate this temple with this abhorrent image.
[18:25] It is an act which shows his distaste, his contempt for the Lord's exclusive claim on the lives of his people. One writer puts it like this.
[18:37] This was no quiet rebellion. It was an insult that was hurled in the face of the Most High. I'll say that again. This was no quiet rebellion.
[18:48] It was an insult that was hurled in the face of the Most High. Verse 9 gives us a summary of Manasseh's reign up to this point. The chronicle tells us that Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray.
[19:03] Beginning of verse 9. He did all that he could to win the hearts and minds of the people. And not only to win their hearts and minds, but to wean them away from the Lord.
[19:15] He made them. He seduced them. He led them astray. And you know, friends, that is so important for us to remember. It is far more serious to lead someone into sin than to sin on your own.
[19:30] On the Day of Judgment, you and I will have to give an account of how we lived our lives to the Lord. But we will also have to give an account of how we influenced others.
[19:42] Every preacher, every politician, every professor, every person who has ever lived will have to give an account of the example that they set. Think of that just for a moment.
[19:54] Every one of us will have to give an account of the example that we set to others. And the chronicler tells us that Manasseh led Judah and Jerusalem astray to the worse than the heathens, the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before Israel.
[20:11] Verse 9. Manasseh doesn't simply lead the people astray. He causes them to sink to new depths that they had never sunk to before. It is no exaggeration then to say that Manasseh was the wickedest man.
[20:25] He was the most perverted man on the face of the earth. Now, friends, as we consider these verses, we've been shown just how far a person can wander from the Lord.
[20:37] Just how far a person can wander from the Lord. That's what we see in this passage. Here's Manasseh, a child of many prayers. Here's Manasseh, a man brought up going to church.
[20:52] Here's Manasseh, a man whose family had enjoyed the Lord's blessing and benediction. And this same man, this same Manasseh, wanders further and further from the Lord.
[21:02] He is a man who deliberately and defiantly disregards and disobeys the Lord. And he is a man who leads others in deliberately and defiantly disregarding and disobeying the Lord.
[21:14] Like the prodigal in Jesus' parable, Manasseh is a man who finds himself in a far country. He is far from his earthly father and he is far from his heavenly father.
[21:27] He is a man who is full of perversion, who is full of wickedness. And perhaps that applies to someone who's here tonight. You might be here tonight and you're not a Christian.
[21:39] You grew up in a Christian home. You had praying parents. You had godly grandparents. But as you grew older, you wandered further and further from the Lord.
[21:52] And yes, you're in North Tolstoy Free Church tonight. But your heart is a million miles away. Or maybe you're here and you've backslidden.
[22:04] You were once close to the Lord. You once knew his blessing. You knew his benediction. You were once able to speak of the Lord's presence in your life.
[22:14] Able to speak of his provision in your life. Able to speak about the workings of his providence in your life. But then you began to allow things into your life that were contrary to his word.
[22:25] And perhaps there was a time when you trembled over those sins. You felt dreadful when you first fell into them. But no more. You've become hardened. You've become calloused.
[22:37] You've been spending your days wandering further and further from the Lord with less and less remorse. And again, you're sitting in North Tolstoy Free Church on Sunday the 9th of January 2022.
[22:49] But you're a million miles away from the Lord, spiritually speaking. You feel almost like an outsider looking in. Or you might be here and you have a manasseh in your family.
[23:03] You brought them up to go to church. You prayed for them with many tears. And there may have been days when they showed an interest in the Lord. There were days when they asked you for a Bible.
[23:15] There were days when they wanted to go to the youth fellowship. They loved to go to Sunday school. They were asking, could they go to the free church camps? But then they began to wander. And they've wandered ever since.
[23:27] And now like Manasseh, they are in that far country. They had so many gospel privileges. But they have no interest in those privileges.
[23:39] Tonight, these verses are giving us a very vivid picture of just how far a person can wander from the Lord, despite all their gospel privileges.
[23:52] So maybe you're here tonight and you're like Manasseh. Or maybe you're here tonight and you have a manasseh in your life. But wherever you're at, this passage is speaking to you.
[24:09] But we move from the perversion of Manasseh to the prayer of Manasseh. Look at verses 10 to 20, where the chronicler now focuses on the repentance of Manasseh and its aftermath.
[24:23] In verses 10 to 13, we see Manasseh's repentance. The chronicler tells us about Manasseh's refusal to listen to the Lord in verse 10. We read that the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people.
[24:35] And in 2 Kings 21, we hear the message that the Lord gave to Manasseh through the prophets. We read, Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has made Judah an also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.
[25:03] And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
[25:15] And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage, give them into the hand of their enemies, They shall become a prey and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.
[25:31] What a message! Imagine that, hearing this word coming from the lips of the Lord's prophets. Your ears are going to tingle. Judgment is coming.
[25:42] Foreign armies are going to run riot and run rout around your kingdom. It's a shocking message. But we read Manasseh paid no attention. Or as the authorised version has it there, he refused to hearken.
[25:58] He was an expert at chewing out when confronted with the word of God. No matter how passionate the preacher, no matter how solemn or sombre the sermon, Manasseh knew exactly how to deaden his conscience.
[26:11] Maybe you're the same. Maybe there's someone here tonight, and you're sitting and your eyes are wide open, but you're completely shut off. You have deadened yourself time and time again. 20 years of Roddy John, you have become an expert at just switching off when the word is preached, when you're confronted with what God is saying to you in his word.
[26:30] And so the Lord takes drastic action. Look at verse 11. He brings the commanders of the army of the king of Syria, and they capture Manasseh, and they place a hook in his nose, and they bind him with bronze chains, and they bring him to Babylon as their prisoner.
[26:45] Manasseh is finally driven out from the land of promise. And it's at this point that Manasseh finally prays. Look at verses 12 to 13. He's in distress, and in his distress he humbly prays to the Lord.
[27:00] He comes before the Lord, not as a king, but as a beggar. And here is this mind and this mouth, which had been given over to so much evil, now forming a prayer to the Lord.
[27:11] We might dare to imagine the scene in heaven. A prayer comes before the throne of God, and there is a deathly hush, and one of the angels whispers to another, and he says, I know that voice.
[27:25] That is a voice I heard laughing in all the pubs in Jerusalem. That is a voice I heard shouting and swearing in all the nightclubs of Nazareth. That is a voice that was the foulest voice on the face of Judah.
[27:38] I know that voice. That is Manasseh's voice. And listen, Manasseh is praying. And the Lord, we see in verse 13, responds to Manasseh's prayer.
[27:50] The God who is described as being a rock is entreated or moved by the prayer of Manasseh. The God who cannot tolerate sin now hears the prayer of a sinner.
[28:02] I wonder, friends, if that amazed the angels even more. How amazing that Manasseh should be found praying to the Lord. But how much more amazing it is that the Lord would hear and respond to the prayer of the wickedest man, the most perverted man, the man who seemed to have spurned all his chances, the man who refused to hearken to the voice of the Lord, how amazing that the Lord would hear his prayer.
[28:31] And then we come to Manasseh's restoration program in verses 14 to 17. Upon returning to his kingdom, Manasseh begins to restore the walls of Jerusalem.
[28:42] Look at the beginning of verse 14. He builds an outer wall and raises it to a very great height. He sees the need to protect his capital from any future invasion.
[28:53] He had been attacked by the Assyrians and the Lord had restored him to his land after he'd been taken away and now he sees the need to rebuild and to fortify things. He then restores the fenced or fortified cities of Judah.
[29:07] Verse 14 again, he puts captains of war in all these cities. These fortified cities were outposts that were designed to be a first line of defense from any invading force and Manasseh sees the need to ensure that they are ready and they are equipped from any future invasion.
[29:24] But most importantly, Manasseh restores Israel's worship. Look at verses 15 to 17. He removes the foreign gods, removes the idols that he had set up in the temple and he removes the altars and he throws them outside the city.
[29:39] He then restores the altar of the Lord, offers peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings to the Lord and he commands the people of Judah to serve the Lord. Manasseh is a changed man.
[29:51] He has a new perspective. He has a new passion. He has a new priority and that is the Lord and the Lord alone. But there is one problem. Did you see the problem? It was easy for Manasseh to lead the people into sin.
[30:06] It was far harder for him to lead them out of sin. And so the Chronicle notes that yes, the people offered sacrifices to the Lord their God but they offered these sacrifices on the high places.
[30:23] It was a compromised worship. It was a worship that wasn't fully regulated or controlled by the word of God. And the account of Manasseh's life concludes with him resting with his fathers in verses 18 to 20.
[30:40] The Chronicle tells us about where additional information about Manasseh can be found. Look at verses 18 and 19. He knows that Manasseh's acts and his prayers and the words of the seers who spoke to him are recorded in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
[30:54] He then knows that Manasseh's prayer and how God was made by his prayer and all his sins and all his acts of faithlessness are recorded in the Chronicles of the Seers.
[31:06] And having given this information the Chronicle tells us that Manasseh died and was buried. Verse 20. This is the man who had sinned so greatly in the eyes of the Lord.
[31:18] No one would have been surprised. No one would have been outraged to read that Manasseh died in a Babylonian dungeon. They would have said, well, he got his just results. He deserved to be thrown in that dungeon.
[31:31] He deserved to be outside the Promised Land. But we read here that Manasseh died and he was buried in the palace in Judah and he is buried there as a testimony to the grace of God.
[31:44] That this is the God who saves sinners. Well, friends, as we consider these verses we have been shown just how gracious the Lord is to those who have wandered from him.
[31:54] This is how gracious the Lord is to those who have wandered from him. And that's what we see in this passage. Here's Manasseh, a man who'd spawned so many gospel privileges.
[32:07] Here's Manasseh, a man who had wandered further and further from the Lord. Here's Manasseh, a man who was brought in disgrace to Babylon with a hook in his nose, bronze chains shackled on his legs and wrists.
[32:21] Here's Manasseh, a man who cried out in desperation and despair and distress to the Lord from that dungeon in Babylon. And here is the Lord being moved by his entreaty.
[32:34] Here is the Lord hearing his prayer. Here is the Lord bringing him back to the land of his fathers, back to Judah and back to his kingdom. It is a beautiful picture of grace.
[32:46] It is a beautiful picture of the Lord's one way love to the undeserving. Here is the wickedest man. Here is the most perverted man on the face of the earth.
[32:57] But he is not too wicked. He is not too perverted to be saved by the grace of God. And you know, friends, that is such an encouragement to us this evening, isn't it?
[33:08] No one is too wicked or wayward, too dirty or disgraceful, too messy or miserable, too unworthy or undeserving, too sinful or secular to be saved.
[33:24] If the Lord could save Manasseh, then he can save anyone. I recently came across a story about an old Scottish preacher, Hector MacPhail, and it illustrates this point beautifully.
[33:39] This man, Hector MacPhail, had a long and powerful ministry, a ministry that was blessed by God, but he began to grow old and he began to grow weak and he began to grow sick.
[33:51] And in that season, Satan started to accuse him and tempted him to think that he was too sinful to be forgiven by God. And his wife despaired and she called on the elders to try and counsel him, but it was to no avail.
[34:07] He believed that he was utterly lost. And then one night he had a dream and he was at the gates of heaven. It seemed to him that he was looking at a very long road stretching out a great distance.
[34:19] And as he looked down the road, he saw approaching him a large crowd of white road people with palms in their hands. He heard music and singing. A voice whispered in his ear and said, Hector, do you know who these are?
[34:32] No, I don't, he said. The voice replied, these are the patriarchs, Abram, Isaac and Jacob and the godly of that time. As they marched up to the gates, the gates swung open and they went marching in.
[34:44] And then the voice said, Hector, will you not go in with them? Who me? replied Hector. No, I couldn't go in with Abram and all these great and godly people.
[34:55] And then came another crowd, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the prophets. And the voice asked, will you go in with these men, Hector? Will you go in with the prophets?
[35:07] And Hector replied, no, I couldn't go in with Isaiah or Jeremiah. I was never like one of them. And then came the apostles, Peter and James and John and Paul, then the martyrs of the early church, then the martyrs of the Scottish church, and then people whom Hector had known in his lifetime.
[35:26] Godly elders, godly men, godly women, men and women whom he'd witnessed to, men and women whom he'd buried, men and women whom he'd sat at the Lord's table with and still Hector felt unable to go in with them.
[35:40] And then the gates closed and it seemed as if heaven was locked forever. And then way in the distance, Hector saw a lonely figure, no music, no singing, just one bent figure, walking with two canes, all twisted and bent out of shape.
[35:56] Slowly this man hobbled on. And as Hector looked, he saw that there were deep marks in this man's face, particularly his nose, and his wrists and his ankles were rubbed raw from some metallic chains.
[36:11] And he approached the gates of heaven, and the gates opened for him, and limping and halting, the lonely man began to enter. Hector. And as Hector watched, the voice spoke to him once more and said, Hector, do you know who that is?
[36:24] No, I don't know, he replied. And the voice said, that is Manasseh. Will you go in with Manasseh? Oh yes, he exclaimed, if Manasseh can enter into the glory of God, then so can Hector MacPhail.
[36:40] And when he woke up, he called his wife to get the elders to the church, and he told them, Hector MacPhail is a saved man, saved by the same grace of the same God who saved Manasseh.
[36:53] Manasseh could go in, and therefore old Hector MacPhail can go in. I thank my God that Hector can go in. My friend, if you are here tonight, and you are not a Christian, there is a message for you.
[37:08] If the Lord could save Manasseh, then he can save you. You may have done many things that you never told anyone else about. Things that left you struggling under the great weight of sin, guilt, shame.
[37:24] You feel dreadful being in this building. And I am telling you tonight, friend, that you can go to this Jesus with all of your sin, all of your guilt, all of your shame.
[37:36] He is willing, and he is able to save you and bring you into his kingdom. If the Lord could save Manasseh, then he can save you.
[37:48] Or perhaps you are here tonight, and you are backslidden. And again, there is a message for you. If the Lord could save Manasseh, then he can save you. This year is a very special year for me.
[38:02] It's going to be my tenth year in the ministry of the free church. And over these nearly ten years, I've seen that one of the devil's great strategies is to say to backslidden Christians, your sin is too evil.
[38:21] Your sin is too great. Your sin is too unforgivable. I've spoken with backslidden friends, backslidden church members, and I've told them that the Lord can forgive them.
[38:33] And they've replied, but my sin isn't like anyone else's. And they've wandered further and further. Further from the prayer meeting, further from the evening service, further from the morning service, until they know where to be seen.
[38:49] My friend, if you're here tonight, and you've backslidden, and you're wondering if there is any way back, then hear these words. If the Lord could save Manasseh, then he can save you.
[39:01] Or perhaps you're here tonight, and you have a Manasseh in your family. And again, there's a message for you. If the Lord could save Hezekiah's Manasseh, then he can also save your Manasseh.
[39:17] You might have prayed and prayed for your prodigal son, your prodigal daughter, pleaded with the Lord to bring them out of that far country, but they remain so hardened to the gospel, so resistant to the Savior who is offered in the gospel.
[39:29] And it's more than possible that the devil has been telling you that your prayers and petitions are pointless, telling you that your son, your daughter, your husband, your wife will never change, told you that they are lost and lost for eternity.
[39:46] But this passage is encouraging you to remember that if the Lord could save Hezekiah's Manasseh, then he can also save your Manasseh.
[39:57] Friends, whatever the devil or the world may be whispering in our ears this evening, or maybe even shouting in our faces, I want to encourage you, friends, not to lose sight of this glorious gospel of amazing grace.
[40:17] Let's not lose sight of this good news of a God who is able and willing to save sinners. Instead, friends, if we have fallen, let's run into His arms.
[40:37] And if we know a friend, a family, a loved one who has fallen, who is so far away, let's keep crying out to the Lord that the day would come when they would run and He would receive them into His everlasting arms.
[41:00] If the Lord could save Manasseh, then He can save anyone. Let's close by singing to His praise the words of Psalm 130.
[41:11] Psalm 130, and singing the whole psalm. Lord, from the depths to Thee I cried, my voice, Lord, do Thou hear, unto Thy supplications' voice, give an attentive ear.
[41:22] Lord, who shall stand if Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, but yet with Thee forgivenesses that feared Thou mayst be? I wait for God, my soul doth wait, my hope is in His word, more than lay that for morning watch, my soul waits for the Lord.
[41:37] Let's conclude this service then by singing these well-known verses, Psalm 130, the whole psalm, to the Lord's praise. O come, the left to Thee I cried, my voice, Lord, do Thou hear, unto Thy supplications' voice, give an attentive ear.
[42:27] Lord, who shall stand and follow the Lord, to the heart of iniquity, who shall stand and follow the Lord, and follow the Lord, will Thou mayst be?
[43:05] Your name is the harm, My soul does wait, my hope is in His name.
[43:27] O land without anointed heart, my soul is still alive.
[43:48] I say more than they want to watch the morning light to see.
[44:10] Let Israel open the door, for with the mercy is me.
[44:31] And let in fear of redemption, His love has died within, But no one is in me with peace, He is the rest of the kingdom.
[45:13] Let's pray. Lord our God, you are the one in whom there is plenteous redemption. You are the one who is able to save the likes of Manasseh.
[45:26] And if you could save the likes of Manasseh, then there is no one who can say that they are beyond your redemption. We pray that if there are any here tonight who feel that they are like Manasseh, that they have never embraced Christ by faith, have always felt too full of shame, too full of guilt, that something said this evening might be used to woo them and win them to Christ.
[45:54] That if there are any here tonight who have felt that they have backslidden, have felt that they have wandered and wavered away from you, that something that was said might be used to draw them back to yourself, with the reminder that you receive those who have fallen.
[46:13] And we pray that if there are any here tonight who are despairing over children or grandchildren or parents or grandparents or husbands or wives who as yet are still outside of Christ, that you might encourage them to keep on praying, knowing that you are the God who can save, as we have said, from the uttermost to the guttermost.
[46:43] We thank you that you are the God who delights in salvation and you take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And we praise you for that amazing grace.
[46:57] Bless us now as we go our separate ways and as we go into this coming week. And may we know what it is to be under your smile as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.