Fear, Faith, and the God Who Answers

[0:00] Take our Bibles here this evening and turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 31.! And so we'll find 2 Chronicles chapter 31 tonight.! Because we know the days of Hezekiah were filled with blessings.

[0:34] But you know, like anybody's days, they're also filled with challenges. You know, oftentimes I think we forget that God can give us seasons of blessings, but also there's going to be seasons that come with challenges.

[0:49] There's going to be things that come into our life that are sometimes put to test to our faith. And we're going to look at a test of faith here tonight in the life of Hezekiah and for the children of Israel.

[1:03] Because those are the moments that make the difference in your life, is when, not when things are going good, but when things are not going well. When things are struggling, when things that don't make sense sometimes, you know, sometimes when you don't have that answer of why something is happening, is some of the greatest challenges.

[1:23] And that's when we have things of doubt and we have things of fear that creep in. And how we respond to that is important in our life. And we're going to look here tonight at Hezekiah.

[1:35] And we're going to see some things about his life here tonight that might help us. Because if you remember the first part of Hezekiah's reign, he right out of the gate, he organized the house of God.

[1:49] He got everything back in order. Got the priests lined up. The people had a revival after the Passover celebration. You know, lives were changed.

[1:59] And they put away the gods that they'd been worshiping and sought the Lord himself. And we see all these things taking place. And the Passover was restored in the land that hadn't been accomplished for a long time.

[2:13] And we know the Bible tells us that Hezekiah saw blessings both, you might say, politically or socially, but also spiritually. And there was a great blessing upon the land.

[2:26] And here in 2 Kings chapter 18, let's take a look down here in verse 18 here tonight. As we see in verse 7, as we get here tonight, it tells us this.

[2:40] It says, You know, we see that Hezekiah enjoyed political gain.

[3:02] But we see also, if you turn over to chapter 31 of 2 Chronicles here, we find also down in verse 20, the Word of God tells us this. And it says, You know, we see something here from Hezekiah that his faith in God was strong by the choices and the actions that he did.

[3:39] And so, let's pray here as we start our lesson here tonight. Heavenly Fathers, we just come before you tonight, Lord, as we see the test of faith. And Lord, even the test of our faith in our life, Lord, there's things that are going to challenge our trust in you and our faith in you.

[3:57] Lord, we pray Jesus would work upon each heart, each life might be encouraged and strengthened, Lord, even in those moments to say, Lord, we keep our eyes upon you. And Lord, we pray Jesus would work in a mighty way, might be encouraged and strengthened as we meet together here this evening.

[4:13] Lord, we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, we see here that the Hezekiah, in his time, he had seen why he was having blessing, and God was working in the lives of people and in his life, the decisions he made.

[4:29] We know the northern tribes during that time because the king of Assyria had come in at the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign.

[4:40] And in the seventh year, he conquered Samaria and took all the northern tribes captive. You know, he took them out and away, and we see they were exiled. And it was really a vivid testimony of God's accountability and judgment upon those that had rejected him.

[4:58] Because flip back in 2 Kings chapter 18 here tonight, and we'll look down at verse 11 here in chapter 18 as we set the stage here for this tonight.

[5:11] Because we see here in verse 11, the king of Assyria did carry away Israel into Assyria and put them in Halah, in the harbor, in the river of Gozan, in the city of the Medes, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant and all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, and would not hear them nor do them.

[5:33] And so we see here that the children of Israel, that had separated out from Judah, they made a choice to turn their back on the things of God. To say, we're not going to trust God.

[5:45] Now, I want you to understand, as we've talked about, because sometimes trusting God is kind of this, people put it on a scale, where really God doesn't put our trust on a scale as far as, okay, I'm going to trust him this much.

[5:59] You know what God says? He wants you all in. But oftentimes we try to separate or segregate it out, and we see that even in lives of people today, where they say, well, I'll trust God in this area of my life, but not this one.

[6:14] And the children of Israel, one of the things that they suffered from the northern kingdom, it's not that they didn't understand there was a God that brought them out, it's they wanted to do things their own way, incorporate their own things, and serve God the way they wanted to, instead of the way God prescribed it to come about.

[6:31] And we see this as a very important, as we see here tonight, this dynamic, they refused the covenant, and this was in the middle of Hezekiah's reign in the beginning of it, and then we find in the middle Hezekiah faced the test.

[6:49] The Bible tells us in his 14th year of his reign. Now, we know Hezekiah reigned for 29 years. That's what the Bible tells us. So, the 14th year would be right about smack dab in the middle of that time frame.

[7:04] And so, things have been going very good for him. Remember, he had thrown off the yoke of the Assyrians. He wasn't paying them tribute. He had been able to subdue the Philistines and others.

[7:16] He was thriving. The nation of Judah was thriving. Things were going well. Everybody was comfortable, you might say, in the blessings that God had given. But now, we come to this 14th year and the Assyrians return.

[7:32] The Assyrians returned to the land, desiring to finish what they'd started seven years before. Because remember, seven years before, they had taken Samaria and all that region and put them into exile.

[7:45] Now, we know that now they come with the intent of capturing Jerusalem and Judah and doing the same thing. And we see this happening here.

[7:57] And Sennacherib was now the king of Assyria. He arrives with a mighty army that had conquered the people and cities. And as we're going to look here tonight, Sennacherib had a pride issue in the fact he said, I'm greater than the gods of the land.

[8:15] And we're going to see he treats the God of Israel, he treats the God that created heaven and earth in the same manner. He's lifted up with pride, thinking I can accomplish all these things on my own means.

[8:27] And we're going to see how God works through these things, even in the life of Hezekiah and in the life of the people of Israel. And so when he comes and begins to lay siege to the land, it becomes a test.

[8:43] A test of faith of Hezekiah and the people. Do you really trust me? You know, the one thing, if you don't have to be saved very long to realize, it's easy to trust God when things are going easy. A true trust in God happens when it's tested.

[8:59] There's a test that comes, and we need to understand this dynamic of a test of faith, because your faith is easy to say you trust God when things are going well.

[9:13] You know, think about Job. Turn back to Job for a moment. Job chapter 1. And we see here in the life of Job, because this is one of the accusations that the devil threw at God about Job.

[9:26] You know? Think about what he says here in Job chapter 1 and verse 9. The Bible says this. It says, And Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou made a hedge about him and about his house, and all that he hath on every side?

[9:42] Hast thou blessed the work of his hand, and his substance is increased in the land? You know? If you read that chapter 1 of Job, you'll find out the devil's accusing Job of saying, Job serves you just because you do all these good things for him.

[9:59] Because you've blessed him, does he serve you? And the accusation is, if you take it all away, he'll curse you. You know what that is? That's a test of faith that Job was being put through. You know, I don't think anybody here, if you've read the book of Job, wants to be tested of your faith like Job was tested.

[10:13] You know? I wouldn't wish what Job went through on somebody I didn't like. But Job went through that challenge. God put him through a test of faith, and we know that Job's faith was greater than what God's blessings were.

[10:33] He didn't trust God because he blessed him. He trusted God because of who God is. That's the difference that we see, and we even need to look at in our own lives.

[10:44] Because such as Hezekiah, God had blessed him greatly, and now we see a test that God allowed, was that of Assyria. Hezekiah is said to let his fear of man direct his course of actions.

[11:00] We're going to see this tonight, that when initially come, he's distracted by the things, or the fear overcomes him. You know, sometimes when something comes suddenly, fear comes with it.

[11:16] When the unknown happens or hits you, when you don't realize what's going on in life, or life situations turn life upside down. I mean, when the Assyrians came into the land, it had been rumored for a long time as they had conquered people.

[11:32] In other words, it wasn't like, oh, the Assyrians are here. No, it's like, no, the Assyrians are here. And everybody knew why. And everybody knew what was going to take place. And it was, as you read through this passage, you'll find out that basically they besieged cities until people were willing to do horrible and horrific things just to survive.

[11:52] And we see this dynamic taking place. But we find here in 2 Kings chapter 18. Take a look with me tonight, because we see, look down at verse 13.

[12:04] It says, Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, come up against all the cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, I have offended.

[12:21] Return from me. That which thou puttest on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria pointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver, and three hundred talents of gold.

[12:31] And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king's house. And at the time did Hezekiah cut up the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

[12:48] Now think about this for a moment. What happened? Here's Hezekiah. His faith in God had transformed the nation. The Assyrians had come and captured all the cities outside of Jerusalem.

[13:03] What's Hezekiah's first response? He responds in fear. What's he do? He sends a messenger. I'm sorry. I'll pay you whatever you want.

[13:15] And we see a man who opened the house of God, take from the offerings people had given to God, because of his fear. The fear of man is a devastating thing.

[13:29] When we allow others to take things that happen, and we see this coming about, as Hezekiah sends messengers to Sennacherib, desiring terms, basically, to fall back under their oppression, just as his father had been under.

[13:44] Remember, at the beginning of his reign, he threw that off. He hadn't been paying tribute to him. He said, I serve God, and we're not going to be subject unto you. He'd done that for 14 years.

[13:55] Now Assyria returns, and he has a knee-jerk reaction. You know what fear does? Sometimes it gives us knee-jerk reactions. We respond, because we'll notice something here.

[14:07] When fear took over, instead of going to the Lord, what'd he do? He did, what's my solution? How do I solve the problem? How do I buy my way out of this?

[14:19] You know, that's not much different than people today. When something tragic happens in life, you know what? Most Americans do, the first thing they do is check their checkbook. How can I cover this?

[14:29] Where do we get the resources from? You know, do I have enough money to handle the problem? We look to the wrong thing, don't we? Because there's nothing wrong with God blessing you with resources.

[14:40] The problem comes when those resources become our solution instead of God becoming our solution, God maintaining, being the solution. We see here that as the Assyrians come, you say, well, why did he capitulate so quickly?

[14:57] You know, he remembered what happened to Samaria. And only seven years earlier, Samaria wasn't that far away. Trust me, he knew exactly what happened to the city, and what took place.

[15:09] And I think he let fear cause a reaction. You know, when we're scared, sometimes we do things we wouldn't do otherwise. But you know what? When we trust God, we have to slow down and understand exactly what's taking place.

[15:24] Because in this moment of where fear distracted him, he goes and tells the king, oh, I'm sorry, I'm offended. I've offended you. What can I do? And that puts a large tribute upon him.

[15:39] And so he goes back and starts stripping the gold off the walls of the house of God. Takes the silver out of the offerings that people had given. And he gives it unto them.

[15:52] Because notice here what's happening. Look down in the verse, the next verse here, as we look down in verse 14, or back up in 14.

[16:02] Notice what appointed Hezekiah, the king of Judah, 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Now let me tell you, that's a lot. That's tons of both.

[16:14] Hezekiah is going to try to pay it. But I want you to understand that fear, we have to be careful because fear can be a motivator for good or fear can be a motivator for bad.

[16:27] How we deal with our fear in those moments is. Now let me rephrase because you might look at fear in other ways, insecurity. When we feel insecure it's because we're scared. Because something in life has knocked us off.

[16:40] Hezekiah didn't, life had turned upside down suddenly when Assyria came in, took the cities. You know, you think about it, here's a king, he's been blessed and all of a sudden God allows him to take all these cities around him.

[16:52] Look over to Proverbs chapter 29 for a moment. Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 25. Notice what the word of God tells us here tonight because this is important because look what Proverbs, very simple Proverbs of Solomon.

[17:07] It says, the fear of man bringeth what? A snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. This verse applies to Hezekiah as we're going to look at it tonight.

[17:22] Because Hezekiah is the epitome of both of them. You know what? Sometimes we can be the epitome of both of them. When we allow circumstances of life to dictate, but the good thing is, the question is, do you come to your senses about what you really need to trust and who you can trust?

[17:39] We're going to find that Hezekiah didn't remain fearful but he did respond with fear. You know, people can respond with fear, you know. Think about some other examples in Scripture. Who are some others you can think of that responded in fear?

[17:52] Within a few chapters of Genesis, you have a couple people. One's Abraham. Oh no, she's my sister. Why did he respond that way? That was based out of what?

[18:03] Fear. A few decades later, his own son shows back up and Isaac with Rebekah and what happens? She's my sister. Why did they do that?

[18:13] It was out of what? Fear. You know, I want you to understand that sometimes we fear and security, why were they scared? Because they didn't feel secure.

[18:25] They said, God can't really handle the situation is what they thought. Even in our own lives oftentimes, we can be caught very quickly when something happens instead of stopping and saying, in whom do I place my trust here?

[18:38] Is it in myself? Because fear oftentimes as we see Hezekiah, we see Abraham, we see Isaac. What was the fear? It's how do I survive myself? How do I use what I have to accomplish it instead of what has God done?

[18:53] You know, we see here that when fear comes, we need to keep our guard because in the moment of fear, we can lose sight of the Lord and respond in fear and not faith.

[19:05] You know, because I want you to understand, I'm not looking down on Hezekiah because you know what? Every one of us is guilty of the same thing Hezekiah did. Where we can seem overwhelmed and let fear dictate instead of faith.

[19:18] Because look what the Scripture tells us for us today. Look over to Romans chapter 8. You know, Romans chapter 8, look here in verse 15. Because if you're a child of God today, God has given you something.

[19:31] God has given us His Spirit. Notice what Romans 8, 15 says, For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to what? Fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father.

[19:45] You know what it is? It's like, hey, when I'm scared I can go to Dad. That's the picture. You know what little kids do? What do little kids do when they're scared?

[19:56] They go to Dad. Or they go to a parent. They go to that one that they have what? Trust. That they trust in Him. Look a little later. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 1.

[20:08] 2 Timothy chapter 1. Look at verse 7. You know, these are things that we need to keep in our mind because I want you to understand it's easy to respond in fear sometimes. Fear of what other people think.

[20:21] Fear of how other people are going to respond. Or fear because of how somebody responded. Those things all drive us. Notice what here in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7.

[20:32] For God has not given us the spirit of what? Fear, but of power and a love of a sound mind. Because I want you to see here's Hezekiah paying out to the king of Assyria in fear.

[20:47] But now look at verse 17 because there's a change happens between 16 and 17. And we'll look and see. But look at verse 17. It says this, And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabish from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem.

[21:06] And they went and came up to Jerusalem and when they were come up they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool which is in the highway of the fuller's field. And when they had called to the king there came out one Elkema the son of Hezekiah which was over the household and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of As the recorder.

[21:26] And Rosheth said unto them speak ye now to Hezekiah thus saith the great king the king of Assyria what confidence is there therein thou trustest? I want you to understand there's something changed here because Hezekiah had been sending him the tribute in verse 16 and in verse 17 Shennacherib sends his servants to say why hasn't it showed up?

[21:53] Why hasn't it all been delivered? He says who are you trusting in? Why would he ask that question? Well I think as we're going to look at what happens here tonight something changed.

[22:03] Things in the life of Hezekiah changed because Hezekiah went from operating in fear of the moment back to focusing upon God.

[22:14] There was a change in his life we find there's a change that had taken place and an Assyrian king now sends messengers to Jerusalem a declaration not to trust in the Lord God of Hezekiah.

[22:29] We're going to look here because there's something that changed in this situation as you find a little later I think because Hezekiah had another life changing situation. Look a little later look over there to chapter 20 in 2 Kings.

[22:44] I want you to understand 2 Kings here is not all in chronological order on some of these because you said at that time where you'll find these other phrases here as we look in chapter 20 notice what it says here in chapter 20 in verse 1 it says in those days in other words while this other was happening over here this took place.

[23:08] Doesn't that sound like life? You've got problems over here and you've got problems over here. Wouldn't it be nice if you only had one problem at a time? The reality is life is filled with what? Lots of problems.

[23:22] Hezekiah had a problem. Notice what happens here. It says in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos came to him and said unto him thus saith the Lord now think about this conversation the prophet brings him you know this is always good news this is not hospital etiquette let me tell you.

[23:44] You know you don't show up at the hospital visit and say set your house in order you're going to die but notice what he says there he does exactly that set your house in order for thou shalt die and not live you know in those days Hezekiah became sick Isaiah comes to him and tells him get things arranged because you're not making it.

[24:02] I want you to understand we know this was in the same year that Assyria came because Assyria came what? In the 14th year now I'm telling you the rest of the story this is kind of like that Paul Harvey moment you know where you tell the rest of the story some of the older ones know who Paul Harvey is maybe some of the younger ones don't he always had to show that that was just saying now for the rest of the story the end of the story with Hezekiah in regard to this is God gives him another 15 years of life now it doesn't take a major math person to figure out if you're in the 14th year and you're getting 15 years you got a 29 year reign what year did this take place?

[24:44] in the 14th year the same year that the Assyrians came so we need to ask what changed well what changed as Hezekiah got sick? we don't know what the sickness was but we know that God sent the prophet to him and said hey you're not going to make it and we see Hezekiah change a direction to get back on track look at verse 2 of chapter 20 it says then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord saying did you notice something in the first part where he was operating in fear what didn't happen?

[25:21] he never prayed once he didn't ask God is this what should I do? he just tried to solve his fear problem by what he possessed how can I buy myself out of the problem?

[25:35] I want you to understand the things that people do in today's culture is no different than people used to do how can I buy things out? you know think about the problems we have today I mean you hear that all the time government will solve it if you just give them what?

[25:47] more money you know there's a lot of things in life you don't solve with money because it doesn't matter whether you're rich or poor it's not going to be a solution you know what when the doctor shows up and says you're not going to live very long it doesn't matter how much money you have you're in trouble you can't buy yourself out of it and we see here Hezekiah's response was praying to the Lord look here at verse 3 it says he said this I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight and Hezekiah wept sore now I want you to understand when you see how this plays out and you understand other principles from scripture I think Hezekiah realized what he'd done when it says he wept sore he realized that yeah I had been walking with God but now I wasn't I had been but now I'm not you know what sometimes one decision in life changes course Hezekiah had a course correction because we're going to see from this point Hezekiah changed from fear back to faith it took faith to do what he did at the beginning but you know what sometimes we can get coasting along and forget that faith is still important of trusting God so we see here notice what takes place

[27:07] Isaiah had come and notice how quick God responds in this situation look at verse 4 it came to pass afore Isaiah was gone out in the middle of the court that the word of the Lord came to him saying turn again and tell Hezekiah the captive of my people thus saith the Lord the Lord God of David thy father I have heard thy prayer and have seen thy tears behold I will heal thee on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord and I will add unto thee fifteen years and I will deliver thee in this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake and think about God's promise to Hezekiah He says number one you're going to get better number two He says in three days you're going to be well enough to go stand and go to the temple to worship me He says and then don't worry because I'm going to defend Jerusalem that's some big promises isn't it I mean God came to him and made him some big promises remember what was his health condition he was what going to die in three days he's going to be up and walking being able to walk into the house of God and worship the Lord again and God says don't worry Hezekiah

[28:23] I've got this He said Hezekiah don't operate in fear but operate in faith because we're going to see why did Snackarib send people to Jerusalem because there was a change Hezekiah said yeah I messed up but there's going to be a course correction I'm not going to be operating in fear I'm going to operate in faith I'm going to operate I'm going to trust the Lord in these things and you know the answer that Hezekiah received was great it was a wonderful response it's great to know that God can handle any crisis in your life no matter the situation yet it's important to note that when we find ourselves in these situations we have a responsibility to pray to turn our face towards Him to cry out to Him if we genuinely want to turn our life over to God you know what God responds to genuine repentance and humility before Him the Bible tells us if you come humbly before God He will no way reject you a humble spirit says I realize who I am and I realize who you are and when we understand who God is and His authority you know if we turn our life over to Him you know

[29:37] I want you to understand this case He miraculously healed but I want you to understand sometimes God gives you strength to walk through the situation you know there was a lot of strength needed not just physically but Hezekiah had to trust God for what was to come and God told him He was going to defend the city and Hezekiah is going I have no idea how this is going to happen I have no concept of how you're going to do this He just had a promise from God that God would defend the city and as we read through this you're going to find out God did something miraculous that put fear even in the nations around him and Hezekiah trusted God God didn't give Hezekiah a great military victory in the sense of Hezekiah didn't go out and face him in battle as you're going to find a little later as you read through this passage God got involved and the Assyrians decided it was time to go home because the mighty army that had crushed all the other gods found out that the God could take care of himself you know sometimes we forget that the Lord God of heaven doesn't need us to defend him he is more than capable sometimes I think we need to keep that in mind as we work through but you know look over to

[30:51] Psalm 91 for a moment Psalm 91 look at verse 1 the Bible tells us this he says he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress my God in Him will I trust you know a prayer that God heard and answered clearly for him even giving him a sign you know God says hey three days you're going to get up and go into the temple and Hezekiah goes well I want a sign so God moves the sun in the sky back you know we don't have time to get into all that tonight but I want you to understand that God gave him a sign I mean you think about that looking for a sundial if you ever watch a sundial you see the shadow going imagine that day the sundial's going and all of a sudden it goes and everybody's going okay it was distinct there was no question something took place God gave him a sign and it's clear that something happened here even in the heart of the king between 2nd Kings 18 and verse 17 so now let's look over to 2nd Chronicles chapter 32 because here in 2nd Chronicles notice what says after these things at the establishment thereof

[32:08] Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah and encamped against the fenced cities and thought to win them for himself and when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come he had purpose to fight against Jerusalem he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters and the fountains which were without the city and they did help him so they would gather much people together who stopped all the fountains and the brook that ran through the midst of the land saying why should the king of Assyria come and find much water you know I want you to see here here's the land's changed now I want you to see here there's something distinct because remember originally Sennacherib was at Lachish which is about 30 miles south this passage says he actually came up towards Jerusalem or at least sent his army up to actually attack the city so in other words we see this time frame taking place as he sends his men and the others but I want you to understand he now takes counsel with his princes and mighty men and he takes action because he stops the wells out around because he's basically saying why should we give the enemy water you know that's pretty good logic you know you know what we need every day water you know how hard it is to keep a large army in the ancient world with water that was a task to itself he says we're not going to just let them come in now look down at verse 7 of chapter 32 and he says this as he sets over them and he says verse 7 be strong and courageous be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of

[33:47] Assyria nor for all the multitude that was with him for there be more with us than with him and with him is an arm of flesh but with us is the lord our god to help us and to fight our battles and the people rested themselves upon the word of Hezekiah king of Judah now I want you to understand there's a lot contained right there because Hezekiah makes a declaration he says I don't know how God's going to do it but he says I know God has more with him than the Assyrians have let's ask your Bible trivia where did you get that idea he got over in 2nd Kings chapter 6 remember the prophet Elisha when they came out after Elisha and Elisha servants trembling in his boots going hey do you see all these people around Elisha goes they're outnumbered you know 2nd Kings 6 16 Elisha answered his servant and said this fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them it says

[34:49] Elisha prayed and opened his eyes the servant eyes and they saw the hills filled with the angels of the Lord now when you study that out that ought to scare you because you understand God wiped out entire armies by sending one angel you imagine what the hills filled full of them would look like I mean you're well protected you know what the king said he said guys were well protected!

[35:16] because God with God there's more with us than there is with them we find that the people rested upon the words of the king you know that's a powerful statement right there you know what that let me put it out to you it says the people trusted God and they trusted what Hezekiah had said about God trust makes a difference doesn't it look over to the book of Isaiah Isaiah 41 look down in verse 10 that's a good verse to remember it when you're afraid one of the things you got to keep in mind is who do I trust to get our focus on the right thing and not just the circumstance but upon who are you trusting in this one thing you can count on is if you declare your trust in the Lord God is going to come through look at Isaiah 50 verse 7 it says for the Lord God will help me therefore shall

[36:16] I not be confounded wherefore have I set my face like a flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed he is near that justifies me he who will contend with me let us stand together who is my adversary let him come near to me you know what when you're!

[36:33] with God there's more with you than against you and we're going to see this because we're going to see faith is going to be challenged because yeah he had a restored faith but that doesn't mean it's still not going to come without a challenge it wasn't long before the king of Assyria sends his three jokers with the message to say hey don't trust in Hezekiah don't trust in the God of Hezekiah you know take a look at what it says here look down back in 2 Chronicles 32 look down in verse 9 after this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem but he himself laid siege against Lachish and all the power with him and they and to Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah and they were at Jerusalem saying thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria wherein do you trust that ye abide in the siege of Jerusalem doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die in famine and by thirst by saying the Lord your God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria you know think about what is happening there what what's the

[37:36] Assyrian guys showing up doing their questioning their faith your faith is foolishness is what they're saying that sound familiar from today what do people often say well you know to trust God is foolishness you have a lot of people who deny who God is and say you know we don't need to trust God and you are going to see a lot of parallels here because you know if you want to read through you know you look at verse 19 here of chapter 32 and it says they spake against the God of Jerusalem and against the gods of the people of the earth which were the work of hands of man for this cause Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son prayed and cried unto heaven oh excuse me we're going to go back to 2nd Kings that's what I'm wanting 2nd Kings chapter 18 verse 19 grab shaken said unto them speak ye now to Hezekiah thus saith the great king the king of

[38:36] Assyria what confidence is there and thou trustest thou say but are but vain words I have counsel and strength for war now on whom dost thou trust and that thou rebellest against me you know think about what the king of Assyria is saying here he says why are you trusting Hezekiah why are you trusting the God that Hezekiah told you about why are you doing this important question because really what they're saying do you really trust God they were in a circumstance going to face a dire situation you know when cities were besieged in the ancient world it got ugly I mean you read through some of that in the scripture you know would you pay a day's wages for a bird dung I mean that's pretty desperate most of us would say I would never do that you know what that tells you how far and how desperate people became in a siege that's what they knew they were going to be facing that's what the

[39:40] Assyrian king do you really trust God to get you through this do you know what you're going to go through do you know the that's chronicles yep get back to verse 21 over here notice verse 21 of second kings chapter 18 he says now behold thou trust upon the staff of this bruised reed even upon Egypt of which a man leaned I will go into his hand and pierce it and so is the king of pharaoh of Egypt and all that trust in him now often times if you might read this you say where does that fit if you go to Isaiah we won't go there tonight but Isaiah 36 gives you some explanation because there were some people that said hey let's send instead of sending money to Assyria let's send it down to Egypt and see Egypt will come up and save us there were some within Jerusalem that had that attitude and

[40:40] Hezekiah said no but you know the Assyrian king probably intercepted the people or the exchange in between because he seems to have quite an insight of what's happening within the city it wouldn't be unheard of that they had spies within the city finding out what people's thoughts and processes were and then they used that against them you know what do they fear and we see this now look at verse 22 but if you say unto me we trust in the Lord our God notice what he says here is not that he whose altars Hezekiah had taken away and has said to Judah in Jerusalem he shall worship before the altar in Jerusalem now and we're out of time I want you to understand what he's saying their accusation is this why are you trusting in a God that Hezekiah is narrowing you in to say that there's only one way because you know what most people think

[41:45] I got to practice many things why were they worshipping on the hills why were they worshipping in the high places and Hezekiah says no God says you need to go where for them they had to go where they had to go to Jerusalem to the house of God and you say well why is that important you know what everything that took place there in the sacrifices pointed to one person all the sacrifices pointed!

[42:10] to Christ you know what today there's not multiple ways there's one way it's a picture but you know what makes it clear that Jesus says I'm the way the truth and the life and no man cometh unto the father but by me God's way is a narrow way it's not a broad way but a narrow way and so we'll have to pick up here next time so you guys can read ahead and see what happens all right let's pray