WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.280 2 Chronicles 32. We are going to read the whole chapter. It's narrative, so it's a bit longer than some passages, but bear with me. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:37.259 3 Chronicles 32. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:01:07.260 3 Chronicles 32. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:09.280 4 Chronicles 32. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.280 5 Chronicles 33. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.280 6 Chronicles 33. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.280 7 Chronicles 33. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.280 7 Chronicles 33. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:21.280 8 Chronicles 33. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.280 8 Chronicles 33. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:25.280 8 Chronicles 33. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:27.280 8 Chronicles 33. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:29.280 9 Chronicles 33. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.280 9 Chronicles 34. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.280 9 Chronicles 34. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:35.280 10 Chronicles 34. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.280 10 Chronicles 34. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.280 10 Chronicles 34. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:41.280 11 Chronicles 34. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:43.280 12 Chronicles 34. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:43.280 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:43.280 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.280 12 Chronicles 34. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:50.299 thirst when he tells you the Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:56.240 has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and 00:01:56.240 --> 00:02:02.700 Jerusalem before one altar you shall worship and on it you shall burn your sacrifices do you not 00:02:02.700 --> 00:02:08.139 know that what I and my father have done to all the peoples of other lands were the gods of the 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:12.819 nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand who among all the 00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:17.659 gods of those nations that my father devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:24.359 my hand that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand now therefore do not let Hezekiah 00:02:24.359 --> 00:02:30.780 deceive you or mislead you in this fashion and do not believe him for no God of any nation or kingdom 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:35.939 has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers how much less will 00:02:35.939 --> 00:02:42.139 your God deliver you out of my hand and his servant said still more against the Lord God and against 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:47.699 his servant Hezekiah and he wrote letters to cast contempt on the Lord the God of Israel and to 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:52.319 speak against him saying like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:57.379 people from my hand so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand and they shouted 00:02:57.379 --> 00:03:02.239 and they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who 00:03:02.239 --> 00:03:07.339 were on the wall to frighten and terrify them in order that they might take the city and they spoke of 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:12.300 the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth which are the work of men's 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:20.080 hands then Hezekiah the king of the king and Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz prayed because of this and 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:25.099 cried to heaven and the Lord sent an angel who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers 00:03:25.099 --> 00:03:31.740 in the camp of the king of Assyria so he returned with shame of face to his own land and when he came into 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:37.379 the house of his God some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword so the Lord saved 00:03:37.379 --> 00:03:41.939 Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:47.980 hand of all his enemies and he provided for them on every side and many brought gifts to the Lord of it 00:03:47.980 --> 00:03:53.660 of to the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah so that he was exalted in 00:03:53.660 --> 00:03:58.780 the sight of all nations from that time onward in those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:03.680 point of death and he prayed to the Lord and he answered him and gave him a sign that Hezekiah did not make 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:09.740 return according to the benefit done to him for his heart was proud therefore wrath came upon him in Judah 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:14.840 and Jerusalem but Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:20.480 Jerusalem so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah and Hezekiah 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:24.800 had very great riches and honor and he made for himself treasuries for silver for gold for precious 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.279 stones for spices for shields and for all kinds of costly vessels 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:33.579 storehouses also for the yield of grain wine and oil and stalls for all kinds of cattle and 00:04:33.579 --> 00:04:38.539 sheepfolds he likewise provided cities for himself and flocks and herds in abundance for God had given 00:04:38.539 --> 00:04:44.000 him very great possessions the same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:49.239 them down to the west side of the city of David and Hezekiah prospered in all his works so in the 00:04:49.239 --> 00:04:54.539 matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon he would have been sent to him to inquire about the 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:59.939 signs that he had done in the land God left him to himself in order to test how he could test him 00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:06.060 and to know what was in his heart now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and the good deeds behold they 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:12.160 are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:17.900 Israel and Hezekiah slept with his fathers and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:23.959 David and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death and Manasseh his son 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:31.379 reigned in his place this is God's word please pray with me father we thank you for your word we thank 00:05:31.379 --> 00:05:36.459 you that we can come before it this afternoon that we can learn of it we pray in this time you would 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:41.859 open our hearts by your Holy Spirit to receive the word that you have given us today bless us we pray 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:43.900 in Christ's name amen 00:05:43.900 --> 00:05:47.300 the kingdom in which we were yes 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:55.840 yes we're going to talk about that in a moment actually 00:05:55.840 --> 00:06:07.960 the kingdom in which we reside matters doesn't it we know this intuitively even in our modern day 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:14.419 if the dwelling in the united kingdom is very different from dwelling in the kingdom of Saudi 00:06:14.419 --> 00:06:20.419 Arabia or the kingdom of North Korea if that's a kingdom I don't know I didn't study geography 00:06:20.419 --> 00:06:28.079 but what really matters is which kingdom you reside in this is actually the the point of our passage and 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:33.719 it's really the point of of the whole bible it's a it's a recurring theme throughout scriptures what 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:41.240 kingdom do you reside in where do you live the people of Judah and Assyria would have naturally 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:46.900 understood this in ancient times that your kingdom and where you lived dictate what kind of life you 00:06:46.900 --> 00:06:54.180 would live if you lived in Assyria then you lived pretty confidently you're you're living in the superpower 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:58.460 of the day you're living in the greatest superpower at that time that the world had ever seen 00:06:58.460 --> 00:07:03.680 nothing could touch you you enjoyed peace you enjoyed prosperity if you lived anywhere else 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:09.879 in the world at the time you probably lived in fear you lived in deep insecurity because you were 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:17.480 you were faced you were a target for the Assyrians this is the world that Hezekiah lived in this is the 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:23.780 world of Judah to understand this passage we have to place ourselves not in the place of Hezekiah 00:07:23.780 --> 00:07:30.259 but as a normal person living in Judah sitting up on the wall fearing for our lives 00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:40.480 where do we look for hope we look to the king don't we the kingdom you reside in matters because the 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:48.879 king who rules it matters who is who is your king last week we saw the juxtaposition of of two kings 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:56.620 we saw Hezekiah and his father Ahaz if you were with us you remember Ahaz represented every kind of 00:07:56.620 --> 00:08:07.360 of worldly weakness he he lived in fear he ruled out of political convenience he set up idols for his 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:12.340 people to worship hoping that they could save him from from the rising tide of the Assyrian military 00:08:12.340 --> 00:08:19.899 force Hezekiah on the other hand displayed faith in God the God of the Bible the God of his forefathers 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:28.959 David this week we meet another king Sennacherib who is the epitome of worldly power so we've seen 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:36.659 worldly weakness today we see worldly power he's rich he's got military might and he oozes confidence 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:44.000 doesn't he he can talk a good game we see him do that here Sennacherib's military machines been rolling 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:50.799 through the the surrounding countries uh systematically taking control of more territory eating up the 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.919 nations taking control taking people into slavery uh and destroying everything in its path and now 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:04.340 they come to Judah with their superior power and their superior might and they're on the doorstep of the 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:11.740 capital Jerusalem imagine if you were there imagine if you're one of the people of the city 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:19.019 sitting up on the wall that you've just finished building preparations for a siege have been made uh the 00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:24.259 people have gathered uh have have closed up the water supply people have gathered in to the walls 00:09:24.259 --> 00:09:32.139 gates have been secure and your king is in command but you're still looking out and bearing down on you 00:09:32.139 --> 00:09:39.080 is the greatest military force in the world how confident are you how sure are you 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:46.500 and then on top of all that the chatter begins doesn't it hezekiah tells his people first be strong 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:52.160 and courageous he gathers them together and says be strong and courageous do not be afraid or dismayed 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:58.139 before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him for there are more with us than with him 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:04.180 with him is an arm of flesh but with us is the lord our god to help us to fight our battles 00:10:04.179 --> 00:10:11.519 and the people took confidence from these words of hezekiah the king but then we hear the message of 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:18.299 of the king of Assyria sennacherib don't we can you really trust your king can you really trust your 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:25.799 king are you sure he isn't deceiving you he has you worshiping only only one god and look at all the 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:31.439 gods that the other nations have worshiped and we've taken all of them over and he makes actually an 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:38.980 interesting point doesn't he hezekiah has spent years bringing spiritual reform to judah he's brought 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:43.920 about a great reformation in that land he's repaired the temple and restored worship he tore down the 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:52.120 altars to idols and he made sacrifice to one god the god of israel he he celebrated the passover feast 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:58.560 he gathered people from from lands even outside of judah to come and worship the god of creation 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:06.219 see the assyrians actually in their propaganda speak truth don't they they have the facts right 00:11:06.219 --> 00:11:12.459 but they draw the wrong conclusions from those facts look at at verse 19 and they spoke of the god of 00:11:12.459 --> 00:11:19.339 jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth which are the work of men's hands 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:28.879 which kingdom do you trust in verse 19 uh draws a distinction between the nations the assyrians 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:35.600 look at every god as exactly the same that there that every god there's no there's no difference 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:41.940 between the gods every god is the same every god is weak and every god is something that we can easily 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:48.080 overcome the bible makes a very different claim though doesn't it all the various gods of the nation are the 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:55.800 same in that they're they're rubbish made by the hands of men but the god of jerusalem is different 00:11:55.800 --> 00:12:02.800 there's a direct claim that the god of jerusalem the god of hezekiah and his people is the one true god 00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:08.820 and as a result there are only really two kingdoms the the kingdom of the one true god 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:16.060 and then the kingdom of of everyone else see the fatal mistakes the assyrians make is the same mistake 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:21.599 that we make in our own culture today our world today isn't all that different from 2500 years ago 00:12:21.599 --> 00:12:26.699 we might think it's different we might be technologically more advanced but we still want 00:12:26.699 --> 00:12:32.959 to believe that all the gods are created equal and that the person who wins the cultural battle for 00:12:32.959 --> 00:12:41.339 relevance must be right that all religious belief is just the creation of the imagination of ancient 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:48.740 traditions and it's only useful to you if you find it useful but the god of the bible makes a very different 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:58.560 claim he claims that it it is him and then everyone else this hasn't changed in 2500 years since the days of 00:12:58.560 --> 00:13:05.920 hezekiah there are only two kingdoms the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of god in which do you reside 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:12.860 see the mistake made by the assyrians is every bit as fatal today as it was then we see that in the the 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:20.319 next paragraph how how does hezekiah respond to sennacherib he doesn't confidently respond what back 00:13:20.319 --> 00:13:28.959 bring it on we're ready good luck finding some water and he doesn't just turn around and surrender either 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:39.220 does he but he turns to the very god that sennacherib has just finished mocking hezekiah prays in verse 20 00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:48.340 and then a funny thing happens his prayers answered isn't it verse 21 and the lord sent an angel who cut 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:54.120 off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of assyria so he returned with 00:13:54.120 --> 00:14:01.700 shame of face to his own land and when he came into the house of his god some of his own sons struck him 00:14:01.700 --> 00:14:08.720 down there with the sword the book of second kings and of isaiah say that the angel of the lord struck 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:17.919 down 185 000 in the assyrian camp this is an incredibly dramatic deliverance for judah and the natural 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:23.879 question on our minds is do we believe this do we believe this actually happened the way of the 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:29.299 bible says it happened let's step away for a moment from our story and let's talk about that question 00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:34.100 for a minute do we believe this actually happened i think there's there's two compelling reasons i'll 00:14:34.100 --> 00:14:39.899 give you today why i believe this and i think you should too the first of all and the best reason is 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:48.700 it's the god's word if it's god's word uh spoken to his people then we should believe it i believe it is 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:53.720 god's word it's consistent between the accounts and the message is consistent with the character of 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:59.720 god as he's presented himself previously it's a message that is different from that of any other 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:06.200 god isn't it he is a god who saves and delivers his people from his enemies and their enemies he's a 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:13.660 god who's living and active in his creation that's what he does throughout scripture that's what he does 00:15:13.660 --> 00:15:18.899 here in this passage that's exactly what what we should expect him to do and want him to do 00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:25.159 see the quality of the overall message is different and it speaks a truth that is unique 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:30.639 but the second reason some of you will still say maybe that's great but i still find that hard to 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.720 believe and that's fine let's look at at the external evidence that's already been mentioned 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:41.000 if you go up the road to the british museum you'll find an extensive collection on the assyrian empire 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.860 and in amongst this collection you're going to find a pair of of they call them prisms they just 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:51.159 look like little little stone towers and on these prisms is is writing one of them is called the 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:59.300 taylor prism you can look it up and on this is is an account of sennacherib's military uh exploits 00:15:59.300 --> 00:16:05.980 and how he all the places he went and took over all the the the treasure and things that he brought back 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:12.879 and he mentions in passing jerusalem and he mentioned the tribute that was paid to him by hezekiah 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:18.539 earlier in hezekiah's reign it's not mentioned in this passage but it is in others but oddly enough 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:25.460 there's no mention of conquering jerusalem and there's no reason given for him stopping there 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:31.799 and going home he just basically says you know what we we got to jerusalem and we turned around and 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:38.379 went home if you actually uh look at at the map next to this exhibit you see the little line of of 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:45.139 the kingdom of assyria and it stopped just short of jerusalem so let me ask you this 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:54.220 why would the greatest military power of the day a power that had been unstoppable a power that up to 00:16:54.220 --> 00:17:01.399 that point had been eating up smaller kingdoms like candy suddenly stop at one of the weakest nations 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:09.819 in the world why would they stop and not take it something happened and what i'm suggesting to you 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:16.619 is that the historical data in our museum is exactly what you would expect to see if the biblical account 00:17:16.619 --> 00:17:23.879 is true it's a basic law of human nature we magnify our triumphs and we minimize our defeats don't we 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:31.560 everyone does this for example just to give you a couple modern examples first of all george washington 00:17:31.560 --> 00:17:38.640 george washington is the real life harry potter of america my my home country he's the boy who lived 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:45.100 every child growing up in that nation knows his name and what he did a few weeks ago i received a 00:17:45.100 --> 00:17:50.360 meme if you don't know what a meme is it's a picture from the internet with funny words written on it 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:54.859 usually an observation about life and on this it was a picture of george washington and it said 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:58.199 i was for brexit before it was mainstream 00:17:58.199 --> 00:18:07.859 i found that funny like you did and so i sent it off to uh we'll just say an english friend of mine 00:18:07.859 --> 00:18:12.879 he's a member of our our congregation and his response he texted back to me immediately with 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:22.620 who's that who's that who's that i was shocked you know this is a guy everybody knows uh everyone 00:18:22.620 --> 00:18:27.140 knows his name what he did but it makes sense when you think about it the american revolution 00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:34.440 is probably taught very differently here than it is in the states because we we magnify our victories 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:41.460 we've minimize our defeats it's natural to humanity i do this myself in my home we like to play board games 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:46.640 and there's a game that i'm particularly good at it's called candy land you don't want to play me 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:53.500 in candy land what happens when i win at candy land i jump up i dance around and i start singing songs 00:18:53.500 --> 00:18:58.019 about how i'm the greatest daddy who ever was and there's never been a daddy like me because i can 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:04.640 beat a four-year-old at candy land what happens when i lose at candy land i don't know i don't recall 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:11.440 that ever happening you see how this works sennacherib is the daddy who's been defeated by 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:17.880 a four-year-old the thing that that never should happen happened and he's no and he has no reasonable 00:19:17.880 --> 00:19:25.480 explanation for it so he just ignores it but on the other hand the bible actually gives us a very clear 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:33.480 and very reasonable explanation for it doesn't it the god of the universe is present and active in his 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:41.200 world and he intervenes to save his people he does the very thing that we would want our king to do 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:47.640 verse 22 the lord saved hezekiah and the inhabitants of jerusalem from the hand of 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:54.120 sennacherib king of assyria and from the hand of all his enemies and he provided for them on every side 00:19:54.120 --> 00:20:03.000 which kingdom are you living in which kingdom do you want to live in do you want the kingdom of the 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:08.019 strong but arrogant or do you want the kingdom that rests on the god who saves 00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:15.059 see what we ultimately see here is that the kingdom where you reside matters because the king that you 00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:22.799 serve matters the reason this story speaks to us is because it it speaks to the deep truths about how 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:30.059 our world works and how our world has always worked in life you will serve a king and that king will in 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:37.339 turn serve you what do you hope your king will do we hope that our king will conquer don't we we hope 00:20:37.339 --> 00:20:43.359 that our king will rule and that he'll reign that he'll destroy all of his enemies that he'll offer us 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:51.139 safety and security and meet all of our needs that's what humanity has longed for since adam that's what 00:20:51.139 --> 00:20:58.740 we still long for today when you're when you look at our world and you're you're disgusted by white 00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:04.579 supremacist marching in america you're really longing for a better kingdom aren't you when you 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:10.339 look at brexit and you're angry no matter which side of the issue you fall on you're really longing 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:19.079 for a better kingdom when you're grieving the loss of a spouse or a child you're longing for a better 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:25.220 kingdom when you're pursuing power popularity money relationships or anything else in this world 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:32.100 you're really longing for a better kingdom we spend our lives trying to to make our world what we 00:21:32.100 --> 00:21:40.600 think it should be we have good intentions but it never seems to work out does it but the good news 00:21:40.600 --> 00:21:46.660 for you today is that the god of the bible offers us a better kingdom and it begins with a better king 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:53.340 we see at the the very end of of this passage in the closing verses that hezekiah did a lot of other 00:21:53.340 --> 00:22:01.360 good things but he also struggled with his own pride he was by all human standards a good king but by the 00:22:01.360 --> 00:22:08.000 standards of god he still fell short and if the residents of judah were trusting in hezekiah then they 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:15.279 had missed the point of his kingship hezekiah was a signpost that was pointing forward to a greater king 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:23.099 a king he trusted in and prayed to in his darkest hour hundreds of years after hezekiah god would send 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:28.240 the ultimate king and his son jesus christ to deliver his people from their our greatest enemy 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:35.779 the enemy that dwells in each and every one of us our sin and with our salvation christ promises us 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:41.220 that new and better kingdom the kingdom that we've longed for if you've tried if you're tired of 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:48.180 longing for a better kingdom then christ invites you today to enter into his kingdom and he makes a 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:53.140 great promise about this kingdom and at the very end of the bible in the book of revelation chapter 21 00:22:53.140 --> 00:23:00.259 he says this uh this is the the vision of of john the apostle i heard a loud voice from the throne saying 00:23:00.259 --> 00:23:06.600 behold the dwelling place of god is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people 00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:12.779 and god himself will be with will be with them as their god he will wipe away every tear from their 00:23:12.779 --> 00:23:19.619 eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:25.619 things have passed away and he who was seated on the throne said behold i am making all things new 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:33.639 and he said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true what kingdom are you living in 00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:42.100 what kingdom do you desire the promise of the gospel is the promise of a new and greater kingdom a 00:23:42.100 --> 00:23:49.480 kingdom that that fills uh and heals and meets the deepest longings of our hearts if you're here this 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:57.660 this afternoon and and you want to enter this kingdom then trust in christ jesus the king he offers you 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:06.680 hope he offers you uh the the the promise of forgiveness of sins the cleansing of sin and to meet your deepest 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.960 longings please pray