Encouragement in the Lord

Well, please turn back with me to 2 Chronicles chapter 32.! And particularly this evening, our text is from verse 6 down to verse 8.

! Towards the beginning of that little section we read of King Hezekiah,! that he gathered the people together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, Be strong and courageous.

You know, one of the greatest needs of the church today is encouragement. Encouragement from the Lord, encouragement from the Word of God, encouragement that's, you know, rooted in the Word of God itself, encouragement that we see in every part, every section of God's Word.

We need to drink that in and be nourished by the very encouragement that the Word gives the church to give the church courage, to give the church that strength to, well, yes, to face the enemies of our soul, to face all that is there that seeks to undermine and destroy our confidence in the Lord.

The church needs encouragement. You need encouragement. Encouragement as a congregation. You need encouragement as individuals. I need encouragement. We all need encouragement from the very Word of God.

And whether it's in this congregation or elsewhere, the church as a whole needs to be absorbed in the encouragement that the Word of God gives. And, of course, we need that encouragement for our daily walk with the Lord, for the strength that God's Word gives us to fight that good fight of faith, to fight even the sins within our own hearts.

We need encouragement to be strong, to be courageous, to trust in the Lord, to have faith in all that God has promised to give to His people. So we need encouragement because there is that war, that spiritual warfare against the world, against the flesh, against the devil.

And, you know, these times when we lose encouragement from the Word of God, when we maybe even seek courage in ourselves, when we fail to see the Word that God gives us by His infallible Word, we lose heart.

We lose that strength. And we're so prone to discouragement. We can even discourage one another when we turn away from the Word of God that enlightens us, that directs our hearts.

And we can easily lose that zeal for the Lord when we're not absorbed in the Word of God constantly. We lose that courage to face the enemies of our souls.

You know, we're to be foot soldiers in the Lord's army. But so often when we fail to be encouraged by the Word of God, we can actually be deserters.

We can shy away from the conflict that the Lord gives to us as soldiers, soldiers in the Lord Jesus. We can be deserters when we should be in the front line.

So seek encouragement from the Word of God. Even seek encouragement this evening as we turn to this particular passage. Because we all need, as we said, we all need encouragement. You know, even when you look through Scripture, you see time and time again the Lord's people needing that encouragement from the Lord, needing to be strengthened.

When their hearts were low, when they had so much doubt, even within their own selves, the Lord's people needing to come before God and God addressing them with that promise that He's with them always.

We'll come back to that promise in a moment. But you know, even when you think of the Lord Jesus, think of Jesus in His earthly ministry. He needed encouragement. The Son of God, the sinless Son of God, needed encouragement.

He needed the encouragement of His Father. He needed the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. And yes, even on those moments before going to the cross, even there in Gethsemane, He needed the encouragement of His closest disciples.

If that's the case with the Lord Jesus, how much more ourselves when we need the encouragement of God's Word. And you know, there are many, many, as I said, many examples in Scripture of the Lord's people needing encouragement, the Word of God entering their hearts.

But I want to turn to this particular section that perhaps maybe immediately doesn't resonate with this theme of encouragement for the Lord's people.

But the more we look at it, I actually will see that this passage actually speaks volumes to help you, to help each one of us to be strengthened in the Lord.

It's a great passage. It's a passage that helps you in whatever circumstances you might find yourselves in. And it's a clear message that, you know, in so many circumstances of life that the Word of God comes to us and gives that courage.

It may be that your faith is struggling. It may be that your faith is even the size of a tiny grain of mustard seed. But you need that encouragement from the Lord to deal with that issue of faith.

It might be the besetting sins of your heart. You need that courage to come before the Lord and seek His mercy and seek His forgiveness. It may be the, well, we might say, the aggravation of the world that seeks so often to disrupt and destroy the witness of the church.

We need that encouragement to stand strong, to be courageous in that battle, in that spiritual warfare. And yes, this is the Old Testament. This is a passage from the Old Testament.

But let's be reminded that Old Testament examples are New Testament instructions. Because what we find even here in this Old Testament passage, well, it's fulfillment's found in the New Testament.

You see it in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. And again, we'll come back to that in a moment. But for this evening, we seek to look at this passage for our own encouragement.

We're going to see three things that the Lord's people there in Judea, there in the capital, Jerusalem, three things that we find. We see in verse 6, the speech, the speech of encouragement.

And then verse 7 to the first part of verse 8, the strength of encouragement. And then verse 8, the second part of verse 8, the significance of encouragement, the speech, the strength, the significance of encouragement.

Let's look at verse 6 again. And he said, this is King Hezekiah said, Come back, commanders, over the people and gather them together, tomb in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them.

Now, let's get the context. Let's get the background to this. Jerusalem, the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judea, Jerusalem's facing a mighty warrior.

It's facing this king of Assyria, this man, Sennacherib. And this king's a fierce king. He's a fierce king of a worrying nation, a nation that likes to express its power by war.

And the king of Assyria, he's in an expansion. He intends to conquer the whole of Judah. He intends to capture Judah's capital. He intends to capture Jerusalem.

He intends to extend his power. He's one of these kings that we find in the Old Testament and find even leaders up to this present day. Kings who have no love for the Lord, no obedience to the one true God.

And against him is King Hezekiah. In fact, you know, of all the kings of Judah, he's one of the more faithful kings, kings of that southern kingdom. Anyway, what do we find?

We find King Hezekiah exercising wisdom. He knows that the king of Assyria is out to take his capital. So what do we find? We see that he reorganizes the defenses of Jerusalem.

We see that at the beginning of chapter 32, as we read there. He cuts off the water supply that doesn't want the king of Assyria and his army to be, you know, refreshed by the water outside the city.

And he strengthens the defenses of the city, ensures that more weapons are going to be made in the event of warfare, battle. And this is, of course, wisdom.

This is sound human responsibility. There's a real enemy out there. There's got to be that preparation for battle. But together with all these practical aspects of the preparation, what does he do?

He uses words. He knows that all these practical preparations, the strengthening of the Milo, the strengthening of the city defenses, all the weapons that are going to be made.

He knows that that's not going to be enough. Because he's got to strengthen the hearts of the people. There's a real enemy out there. The people are afraid. And the people need to be strengthened in their hearts.

And that's what we see in verse 6. He does something that has such a profound effect, a strengthening effect on the people of Jerusalem. As we read there, he speaks words of encouragement.

And he speaks directly to the people. I mean, this is leadership. This is leadership that, you know, is showing so much wisdom, so much power.

This is wisdom in a leader of a people. I mean, the people themselves, they would have known about this king, King Assyria, this King Assyria of Assyria, this King Sennacherib.

He's already shown his power. He's already shown his power in the kingdom of Judah. He's already captured a number of cities. In fact, we're told elsewhere that he'd taken 46 of Judah's fortified cities.

He's already captured 200,000 inhabitants. But Hezekiah is not going to let the people, you know, suffer in fear. He's going to encourage them.

But, you know, before we see exactly what the king, what King Hezekiah says to the people, let's just pause. Let's just pause here and just assess what's happening.

You see, the Hebrew word for encourage, it's a word that speaks of the mind. It speaks of you're engaging your mind. Because in the mind, there's strength.

Strength and courage. All the weapons in Jerusalem, all the fortified structures in that great city, well, wouldn't win the battle unless the people themselves, unless their minds were strong in the Lord, unless their hearts were so strong in trusting in the one true God.

That's what we see, we're going to see. We're going to see that their minds strengthened in the knowledge that the Lord was with them. And, you know, we can say this surely, say this certainly for our own encouragement.

There's that spiritual warfare that exists every single day of your life. If you're a Christian, you're engaged in spiritual warfare. I mean, King Hezekiah, He spoke words of encouragement.

He encouraged them. He spoke words to them. He did so to strengthen their minds so that they had that resolve and commitment to trust, trust in the one true God.

So there's the king speaking to the people directly. And of course, we have another king. We have another king who speaks words directly to us, words of encouragement, words that strengthen your mind in every situation of life.

When you hear the words of Jesus say to you, come unto me, all you who labor, come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. You know, the words of Jesus are such words of encouragement because it's the voice of grace, it's the voice of love, it's the voice of mercy, it's the voice of power, it's the voice we trust.

It's no artificial intelligence. This is the supreme intelligence of the one true God, the one true Savior speaking, and speaking through the power of the Holy Spirit that heals a broken heart by the word of God.

It's the word that soothes a troubled mind when your minds are troubled by this and by that. It's that word of encouragement that strengthens you for the battles ahead. It's that word, as we say, that's spoken to you in love by a loving Savior.

Well, listen to these words. I'm going to read some of the words that Jesus uttered, words of encouragement, and I pray that as these words are spoken, that you'll engage your minds to absorb them, not just absorb them, but apply them in your own situation.

Because, think of the words of encouragement that Jesus spoke to his disciples. You know, if you're suffering, maybe you're suffering for being a Christian, maybe you're getting assaults for following the Lord Jesus.

Will you listen to the voice of Jesus speak to you, encouraging you for your stand for the truth? Listen to the words that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Maybe you're anxious about something in the future. Maybe you're anxious about will God provide for you. Will you listen to the voice of Jesus encouraging you? Matthew 6, again, Sermon on the Mount.

If God so clothes the grass of the field at which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

when you come before God in prayer, when you make your petitions before him, you hear the voice of Jesus speak encouragingly to you.

Again, Sermon on the Mount, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you for everyone who asks, receives.

And the one who seeks, finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be opened. You see, when we absorb the truth of Jesus' words and apply that truth, the word of God, the word of the Savior, it does calm fears.

It allays doubts. It speaks to heart and mind that receives the word with gladness, that receives the word by faith and puts that word into practice so that you are encouraged that you are strengthened.

So you're given that courage to face what the Lord and his providence has given you. And you know that he's with you. With you to strengthen you.

With you to give you that courage. And it's that strength that, you know, really we want to look at in relation to King Hezekiah and the people that we turn to. These great words, these great words of strength, the strength of encouragement that we see in verse 7 to the first part of verse 8.

Again, let's read these words. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him. For there are more with us than with him.

With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. I've read these words already.

I've read these words twice. Because these are words of power. Because these words, if we listen to them, if we apply them, you'll know that these words speak to your very heart.

They speak to your heart. They speak to your mind. Now, of course, these aren't the first time, this isn't the first time that these particular words are read in Scripture, heard in Scripture.

You know the time when Joshua was about to succeed Moses to take the people, the people of Israel into the promised land. Remember, Moses was dying. He knew that he himself wouldn't enter the promised land, but his successor, Joshua, would.

Joshua, being a relatively young man, afraid of leading that large number of Israelites. And what does Moses say to Joshua? He says to Joshua, as we read in the Deuteronomy, beginning of Joshua, Joshua, be strong and courageous.

Be strong and courageous. But it wasn't simply that command to be strong and courageous. It wasn't just be strong and courageous full stop. It was be strong in the Lord.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Because any time we're called to be strong and courageous, it's always, always in connection with the one true God.

Always before the one who promises to be with you always. And you know, when Hezekiah gives that command to the people, to the, well certainly in the first instance to the leaders, he tells them to be strong and courageous.

And again, as we said, it's always an association with the one true God. Because we're told of, well, the king of, king Hezekiah, with him, with Sennacherib is an arm of flesh.

But with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. Now you might say, why do the people need to hear these words, these particular words?

What did Hezekiah say that actually calmed the people? And what can we learn for ourselves when we have so many fears, so many issues in our own lives?

What do these words speak to us? Or how do these words speak to us this evening? Well, let's look at the people first of all. These people, they had real fears. I mean, as we said, the king of Assyria, the Assyrian nation, they were known, they had a reputation.

They had a reputation for just sheer destruction, throwing no mercy to their enemies. And, you know, they'd already exercised that ruthlessness in so many previous battles.

They'd already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. That happened some 20 years before. 20 years, not a long time. The people of Judah, they'd still know of what happened to their northern neighbors.

The people of Israel were carried off to the land of Assyria. As we know now, it's the northern Iraq, southern Turkey, I suppose, we could say. Well, that army was fierce.

King Hezekiah had a knowledge of that people. The people themselves of Judah had that knowledge of this ruthless army. in fact, go to the start of Isaiah chapter 36.

And we read there of what we mentioned earlier, the king of Assyria. He'd taken so many fortified cities of Judah and now he's at the walls of Jerusalem. The people there, they're in Jerusalem.

They can look over the walls. They can see that mighty army in front of them. They could see it's a mighty force. Tens of thousands of highly equipped soldiers and they're just about to attack.

And there was obviously real fear in the city. The city that's been besieged. Real fear. Are they going to suffer the same way that their fellow Judeans suffered? Are they going to be taken to Assyria like their northern neighbors in Israel?

Are they ever going to see their beloved Jerusalem again if they're taken away as captors? The enemy's real. The danger's real. And their fears, they were real.

And we know of course ourselves, the enemy of our souls, that enemy's real. Satan's real. The demons are real. The danger of satanic attack every day of our lives, that's real.

The danger of leading, being led to places of we might say satanic reality, that's real. you face a real foe, you face a real enemy.

And therefore, we need to hear the words of encouragement that God gives us in his word to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. We need to be given the word of God into our hearts so that we are strong in the Lord, so that we are courageous.

Remember the words that Paul spoke to the Philippians, Philippians chapter four. The people in that church, they were anxious.

But Paul wrote to the church there when he said, the Lord is at hand. And I pray that you'll know that this evening, even for yourselves individually or as a family or as couples or as a congregation.

The Lord is at hand. The Lord is near. You know, the people all these many years ago, they had real fears. But they also had a real God.

The real God is we have a real God, the one true God whose power is real. Whose power is greater than all our enemies. And that's what Hezekiah knows.

That's what he assures the people with. For there are more with us than with him. You know, the people there, as I said, they're looking out to this vast army outside Jerusalem. It's certainly greater than size and the population in that city itself.

Certainly greater than the armed men of Jerusalem. But Hezekiah knows his God. The more who are with us. The more who are with the people of Jerusalem.

And when Hezekiah tells that the more who are with us, he's telling of Almighty God. He's telling of the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies. He's telling of the God whose greatness is greater than any human might, any human power.

And of course, we know that ourselves. I hope we know that ourselves. Old Testament examples, as we said, New Testament instructions. Remember what John wrote to his readers, John the Apostle, when those in the church were facing the enemy of their souls.

1 John 4, verse 4, more. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. You're not alone. You're not alone.

There are more with us than with Him. More. More in terms of power. More in terms of might. More in terms of greatness.

More in terms of the one who's already won that victory over sin, over Satan, over death itself. And if you know the Lord, you're God.

You have that assurance. You have that promise that the Lord gives you when He says, I am with you. Because you have with you the Lord of glory.

Jesus. Jesus has conquered sin. He's conquered Satan. He did that on the cross of Calvary. He's conquered death itself when He rose from the grave. And so you have that assurance that you're not alone in that good fight of faith.

As has been said before, one plus God is a majority. You feel alone when you feel as if maybe there's no one else to help. You remember, one plus God is a majority.

You've got that victory in your heart. You've got that assurance of, well, of victory in the Lord Jesus. He's already faced the enemy of your soul. He's won that victory. So listen to the words of encouragement that the Lord Jesus gives you.

There are more with us than with him. More with us than with the enemy of our souls. Well, you act upon these words. You act upon the words that Hezekiah gave to the people to encourage them.

Because these words, of course, were ultimately given to Hezekiah by the word of truth, by the very Lord our Savior. Because whatever language you read these words in, if you read them in English, Gaelic, Hebrew, all the same, they tell of the greatness of God in contrast to the weakness of the enemy of our souls.

With Him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. You see the contrast? On the one hand, there's the king of Assyria.

There's the vast horde of army that he's got before him. They look powerful, but they're of minimal power, minimal force. As Hezekiah calls them, he calls them a single arm of flesh.

Just a single arm, a weak human individual's arm. But opposed to that human weakness is Almighty God. Almighty God, the Lord God of Israel, the Lord God of His people, the Lord God of His church.

You know, think of an arm of flesh. It tells of weakness. I mean, no power, the most powerful human being in the world still has that arm of flesh.

That arm of flesh in relation to the God of all power. I mean, the contrast couldn't be greater. Assyria there, yes, it's a great nation, it's a powerful nation, but it's been compared to that arm of flesh.

And the people of Jerusalem, they have the Lord, their God. Don't ever forget that. Don't ever forget that truth. The Lord God is with you.

It's that little preposition, that little word with. It's a little word in any language. You can, if you've got Gaelic Bibles, a little word there, English Bibles, whatever. But notice it's mentioned twice, even twice in verse 8.

It's that little word with, it's actually a bit like a stick of dynamite. It's a little thing that's got so much power. Well, that's what this word with is in relation to God and ourselves.

The promise that God gives to be with his people. The promise that our faithful God gives. You know, in so many examples, this morning in the High Free, Hugh Ferrier, the minister was preaching on the encounter that Moses had with God and God assuring Moses when Moses was about to lead the children of Israel towards the promised land, God saying to a very reluctant Moses, God saying to him, I am with you.

And you know, the more we see this expression, I am with you, or the Lord with us, we see the greatness of that little preposition that connects God with us. Even before Jesus was born, we read in Matthew's Gospel that they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

And it's that abiding presence of our Lord and Saviour when Jesus was with his disciples, when Jesus, you know, declared to them, behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

God's love. And it's that promise of God's abiding presence with you, the promise of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit within the heart of every believer in the Lord Jesus.

Remember what Jesus said to his disciples as he says to us, John 14, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The Lord with you. I mean, that's the greatest of intimacy. That's the greatest closeness that we can ever have in our lives experience.

The Lord with you. And when you take that to heart, when you absorb that in your mind, you're given that strength for the battle, you're given that encouragement of faith to trust in God in every single aspect of your lives.

You'll be able to stand strong in the face of all that opposition that seeks to distance you from your Lord and Saviour. And that knowledge that the Lord is with you enables you to have that strength, to face the present, to face the future knowing that he'll never leave you because he's with you always.

Yes, we're weak in ourselves. We need that strengthening. I'm weak. We're all weak. But know that you're given that strength. His word, his strength is made perfect in our weakness.

The strength of his word, the strength of his encouragement. And that gives you that confidence. That confidence to know that you're not on your own. And that's the confidence that the people were given.

They were given to know that they weren't on their own, that the Lord was with them. And that's what we see finally in the significance of encouragement that we read there in the second part of verse 8.

And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

You know, this expression took confidence. The word in the original language just sort of speaks of support. The people were supported in their hearts, they were supported in their minds, they were strengthened.

So the words that Hezekiah gave to the people, that was sufficient. That transformed the real fear that the people had to real faith, that they could trust in the Lord despite the outward evidence of the greater power of opposition.

That was the outer evidence. but the reality was so different. And, well, what did we read there? The knock-on effect of these words of Hezekiah.

The people didn't lose heart. Their confidence wasn't placed even in the weapons that had been formed, but the very word of God. You know, in Hezekiah's case, only a man of faith could have pronounced these words.

Only a man of true faith could have that confidence that what the Lord had said to him was true would be applied. And in the confidence of the Lord, what do we find?

The people, they've got confidence in the Lord. They're not going to be overcome when the enemy's at the gate. And you read on, if you were to have read on in the passage in chapter 32, we see there the confidence of the people is rewarded.

King Hezekiah didn't prevail even though he sought to overcome Jerusalem. Yes, he was terrifying the people at one stage, but the people would not be overcome.

The king had taunted the people. King Sinacharab said to the people, you know, your God's just another one of the many gods. But God had the last word, the one true God had the last word and not King Sinacharab.

God had the victory over the arm of flesh. And you know, as you dwell in that truth, dwell in the confidence that the people had at that time, the people that had in the one true God.

Let's be clear about that word confidence, that word support. It wasn't self-confidence. I mean, the king of Assyria, he had self-confidence. And it wasn't even confidence in their own abilities and their own equipment.

It wasn't that that enabled them to stand against the enemy. It was confidence in God the Lord. It was their absolute assurance that these words that Hezekiah had spoken were true.

The confidence that God would not abandon his people. He was with them to deliver them from that powerful enemy. And I hope and I trust and I pray that that's an encouragement for you this evening.

That you can and must depend on God in all your ways in every aspect of your life. To have that trust, that full trust that He'll never leave you, never desert you.

Even in the most hostile and difficult of situations that we all face in our lives, whether individually as I said or even as congregations, God is with you always.

You might have at times in your life the dark night of your soul. The psalmist of Psalm 88 had that experience. And yet we know even from that psalm that he had not lost all hope.

God was still his Lord. And maybe you have trials for a season but they're only for a season. The Lord's with you. Even when you have to face particular decisions even this week, important decisions, know that the Lord is with you to lead you and guide you to give you that wisdom from above.

And yes, even as we had even for so many in the latter years of our lives, have that confidence to know that the Lord is with you. He's with you that his rod and staff comfort you.

So be encouraged then in the word that the Lord has given us this evening. Be encouraged even as you leave this building, as you go back to your homes, knowing that as you have met with the Lord and his word, you've been given that encouragement to fight that good fight of faith.

There's all that contrast in the world between the believer who trusts in the Lord and even the believer who at times lacks faith. But of course the greatest contrast of all is the one who has even that faith the size of a mustard seed to the one who has no faith at all.

If there's anyone here this evening and you don't have that faith in the one true God will remember this. Are you trusting in the arm of flesh? Are you trusting in the one who will never leave you, never forsake you?

The one who promises to be with you always, even to the very end of the age? Will you trust in the God who supports or the gods who disappoint?

May you have your faith not in the arm of flesh, the God, the one true God who knows you, who sees you, and who loves you.

May God bless to us his word. Let's join together now in prayer. Let us pray. Our Lord, our God, our Heavenly Father, you who are the God of power and might, and you who have already shown your power and might in the defeat of Satan and the cross, in the triumph of Jesus over death, faith.

And may we all know that triumph in our own lives. May we go forward in faith, beholding our God, not trusting in the arm of flesh that so often we lean on, but trusting in the one true Lord and Savior who gives us that support, who will never disown us, never leave those who are his.

So hear us, Lord, as we commit to you, even the rest of the service. Help us to sing words of praise and thanksgiving, as we seek to honour you, even towards the end of this service.

Hear us, Lord, as we commit these things to you now, as we pray your blessing upon us, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, let's close in Psalm 31.

Sing Psalms, page 37. Psalm 31, singing from verse 19 down to verse 24.

Five stanzas. Page 37, verse 19, Your goodness, Lord, is very great, prepared for those who fear your name.

You show your goodness openly to all who your protection claim. 19 to 24, to God's praise. Amen. Amen. Your goodness, Lord, is very great, prepared for those who fear your name.

you show your goodness openly to all who your protection claim.

Your presence hides and shelters them from those who plot to take their life.

And in your tent you keep them safe from evil tongues that stir up strife.

The Lord be praised because he showed the wonder of his love to me when in a city I was trapped surrounded by the enemy in my alarm I rashly said that I was hidden from your eyes but when

I to you for help grace you listen to my cries O love the Lord all his saints the faithful will be kept by God!

But he will give the proud their due be strong take heart open the Lord and now may grace mercy and from Father Son Spirit Father and Holy Spirit rest upon and forever Amen Amen