WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.839 So tonight we're finishing our series on Isaiah and we've been following on with God as he 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:13.759 has proved himself to be a merciful God and as he has shown mercy to Judah. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:21.719 And at the same time we've been following with Judah as they have more and more expressed 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.679 the whole that pride has taken in their hearts. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:31.359 And God would make great promises to them, the people of Judah have been very quick, 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:38.480 continually, to give themselves over more and more and to show in some way that they 00:00:38.480 --> 00:00:40.200 want to be the boss. 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:45.480 God has very clearly set the standard and called this nation to uphold it. 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:52.359 But the man of Judah we need is pleased to call good evil and to call evil good. 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:56.280 He is pleased to build up his own name and do as he wishes and he takes pride in it. 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:01.679 Judah takes pride in their name and what they have made for themselves. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:07.879 And so we come to the end of this book one and we come back to meet Hezekiah. 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:12.480 And when we meet this man from chapter 36 onward from what we read about him last week 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:20.560 till now we've got to ask what is this man going to do with Judah's pride? 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:27.000 As far back as Isaiah 1 we're told that the Babylonian spirit is the sin that is taking 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:28.320 over their hearts. 00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:33.400 Pride is taking over their hearts and further and further down the generations this is going 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:38.800 on but Hezekiah the king arrives and we ask is he going to fix it? 00:01:38.800 --> 00:01:44.040 Is he going to make better the nation that is destroying itself? 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:45.240 Will he bring the nation back? 00:01:45.240 --> 00:01:46.840 Will he turn them around? 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:54.600 If he is faithful will the nation follow after him and be faithful to the test for this king 00:01:54.600 --> 00:02:01.120 as with every king that we read about in this book is the test of faithfulness. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.640 So just to split this into a couple of points tonight just two simple points. 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:12.879 Firstly we see Hezekiah's faithfulness in suffering. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.840 His faithfulness in suffering. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:24.400 Verse 38 and 39 in historical order come before what we heard last week about the Assyrians. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:31.879 So where the Assyrians try to attempt Hezekiah to open the gates and to let them in and they 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:39.640 offer him the world that doesn't happen until after Hezekiah has been terminally ill and 00:02:39.640 --> 00:02:43.240 until the Babylonians have approached. 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:49.200 So the king is sick to the point of death and the first sign of faithfulness that we 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:57.400 read of in Hezekiah's life is the sign of faithfulness in his suffering. 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:00.960 For him physical and isolated suffering. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:06.960 Isaiah comes to him in verse 1 and tells him he's going to die. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:13.200 He tells Hezekiah he's going to die and Hezekiah's response is to turn to the wall. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:14.439 I shot the world out. 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:20.159 This isn't national suffering and uncertainty like we've read about but this is personal 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.639 suffering for Hezekiah. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:29.399 This is pain and trouble that comes to him alone and if in his pain and in his suffering 00:03:29.399 --> 00:03:35.439 he is if he is destroyed in that then where does that leave the nation? 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:39.280 Where does that leave Judah? 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:44.400 Look where he turns, you see clearly where he turns in his psalm. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:48.159 He turns and he directs his thoughts to God. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:53.439 This man whose second chronicles tells us already that he has proven to be faithful 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:59.280 in some way and the greatest sense of suffering he remains faithful. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:05.000 He cries, he despairs, he tells us that he's been brought down by this one who's like a 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.960 lion he says, breaking his bones all the day long but he's still faithful. 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:16.560 He cries out to him and God sends Isaiah back to tell him his prayers have been heard and 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:18.560 his tears have been seen. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:24.040 God sees the faithfulness of this king. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:28.120 So a couple of things that we can say about Hezekiah's faithfulness and suffering and 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:31.639 what builds our faithfulness in suffering. 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:41.800 One thing from this psalm is understanding that our suffering is for our benefit. 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:43.439 It's for our benefit. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:51.000 That's made clear in verse 17 probably the key verse of this passage verse 17. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:58.240 Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness although he is sick to death and 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:05.400 although he groans all day because of it, he says it's because of his welfare. 00:05:05.400 --> 00:05:07.199 It's for his benefit. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:13.079 And we today are told, we know we're told, Paul tells us many times that our suffering 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:20.759 is for our benefit as well and yet when you look at what worries us, when you think about 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:27.920 what brings you pain, when you think about what troubles you, do we go along with Hezekiah 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:33.199 and do we say that this is for our welfare? 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:34.800 We know what Paul says. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.879 We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:45.080 We know he says that but it's not easy to say that and to make it personal. 00:05:45.080 --> 00:05:53.000 This word welfare, it literally translates to fulfillment and wholeness. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:56.840 And when we're going through trouble, do we say it makes us whole? 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:00.199 Do we say it makes us more fulfilled when we are struggling? 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:05.639 Do we agree with Hezekiah, a man who looks back on his sickness and says, this is for 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:10.560 my fulfillment? 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:15.279 If you struggle to say that, if you struggle to say that, it's for your welfare which I 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:16.279 think we all do. 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:19.719 I think at some stage we all struggle to say that. 00:06:19.719 --> 00:06:22.559 Here's just the start of what he says in verse 19 and 20. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:28.240 The living He thanks you as I do this day, the Lord will save me and we will play music 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:33.920 on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the house of the Lord. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:40.160 Our welfare is us being brought close to God. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:47.639 If we know Him, if we have believed then we are reminded of our need often. 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:49.800 The spirit of Babylon is gone. 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:54.400 The prideful heart is pushed out because we know deep down in our suffering and deep down 00:06:54.400 --> 00:06:59.439 in our trouble, we know that we need someone to come and save us. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:06.280 We need someone as Hezekiah says to come and lift us from the pit. 00:07:06.280 --> 00:07:09.840 How can suffering and bitterness be for our welfare? 00:07:09.840 --> 00:07:12.120 How can it bring fulfillment? 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:17.639 Trouble tells us, uncertainty tells us that we need someone to save us. 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:22.159 And it urges us to go after the Lord who deals with us in love. 00:07:22.159 --> 00:07:28.120 Spurgeon when he's preaching on Romans 8 he says this just in relation to what we've 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:29.120 been saying. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:34.360 He who said all things work together will soon prove to you that there is a harmony in the 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:36.879 most discordant parts of your life. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:42.279 I know that it is for my good that I should hold fellowship with Christ, that I should 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:46.479 have communion with Him. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.000 Hezekiah is faithful in his suffering. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.000 And how is he faithful? 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:53.240 How are we meant to be faithful? 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:58.439 We need to know that it's for our welfare. 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.879 And we are more fulfilled in our suffering. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:03.360 And in what troubles us? 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:09.480 And only when the Babylonian spirit, that prideful spirit is pushed out and we say with Hezekiah 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:16.600 we need someone to lift us from the pit. 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:22.800 One more quick way in which our faithfulness in suffering is encouraged. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:29.240 God commands everything that happens in this world and outside of it for our sake. 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:33.000 For his glory first and for our sake as well. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:37.120 At the end of chapter 38 Hezekiah asks for a sign that he will be healed. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:44.600 He asks for that while he is sick and look at what God promises to do in verse 8. 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:49.560 Behold I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of it has turned 00:08:49.560 --> 00:08:51.679 back ten steps. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:09:01.799 So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:04.639 What this is is a supernatural event. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:05.639 It's a raid event. 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:12.199 It's not happened since Hezekiah is wondering if he will really be healed and while he is 00:09:12.199 --> 00:09:19.120 still sick God gives him a sign that he will be healed and it's a supernatural movement. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:24.039 The writers mostly agree that this dial that we're talking about is a staircase. 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:30.000 And so as the day goes on and as the sun goes down the shadow grows and grows and grows 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.919 and on the staircase the shadow is climbing up it. 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:37.439 But God says he's going to make the shadow come back down the staircase. 00:09:37.439 --> 00:09:41.759 It'll be as if time is going backwards and that's going to be the supernatural sign 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:46.959 to Hezekiah that he will be healed. 00:09:46.959 --> 00:09:49.199 And this is a single event or situation. 00:09:49.199 --> 00:09:54.039 We don't pray and expect to have 15 years added to our lives. 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:57.319 We don't pray and look for a sign like this. 00:09:57.319 --> 00:10:02.319 But a good thing has happened and it's come about from a good God who's commanding the 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:08.720 world for the sake of His people, for the sake of His servant Hezekiah. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:14.080 And today whatever happens around us, whether we make sense of it or not, whether we see 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.520 it all or not, it happens for God's people. 00:10:18.520 --> 00:10:20.040 It happens for the church. 00:10:20.040 --> 00:10:25.320 And when you struggle, when trouble comes to you and you can't make sense of it, God 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:27.800 is commanding the world for your sake. 00:10:27.800 --> 00:10:29.360 He's commanding it for our sake. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:35.919 The psalmist, he confirms this, he tells us this in Psalm 107 when he's talking about 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.360 the storms and he's talking about the waves that come over the people. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:44.279 And then he says in verse 30, he talks about God and he says, and he brought them to their 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:46.720 desired haven. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:54.759 The end is good and God promises that He will command the world even for His people's sake. 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.600 What encourages us to be faithful and suffering? 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:04.440 God commands the world and what happens in it for His glory and for our sake as well. 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:10.159 Hezekiah is faithful and suffering and the spirit of Babylon is far away. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.720 In his pain, he does not look to himself. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:20.399 But he calls to God and he knows that it's for his welfare, it's for his fulfillment. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:26.440 And he knows that God is commanding the world for his sake. 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:28.680 How do we remain faithful in our trouble? 00:11:28.680 --> 00:11:32.040 What encourages us to be faithful and suffering? 00:11:32.040 --> 00:11:37.240 Know that it's for our fulfillment, it's for our welfare that we would be brought closer 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:41.960 to Him and know that God is commanding the world right now and everything that happens 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:45.400 in it for us. 00:11:45.400 --> 00:11:49.800 And the end of that is perfect. 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:57.120 Secondly, we see a different kind of faithfulness, there is this faithfulness and suffering 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.959 and then there's this faithfulness when life is good. 00:12:01.959 --> 00:12:08.879 Life isn't perfect here, there's not complete peace, but life is good in chapter 39. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.719 Things are looking good, things are prosperous. 00:12:11.719 --> 00:12:17.319 And what we begin to very quickly see is the extent of the king's faithfulness when he's 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:20.080 not in need. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:24.879 Isaiah returns to the scene after the Babylonians have come on behalf of the king with letters 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:27.080 and a gift. 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:34.200 And what we read of when these men come to Hezekiah says, he welcomed them gladly. 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:38.560 Babylon comes and he welcomes them gladly. 00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:45.000 This chapter has been called one of the saddest texts in the Old Testament and there's good 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:46.560 reason for that. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:53.239 And Hezekiah has shown how focused on God he can be. 00:12:53.239 --> 00:12:59.239 In this chapter he becomes completely unfocused on God where he shows how wise he can be, 00:12:59.239 --> 00:13:02.359 we see very quickly how unwise he can be. 00:13:02.359 --> 00:13:08.119 Where we have seen his faithfulness, he is no longer faithful. 00:13:08.119 --> 00:13:11.199 And what brings about this unfaithfulness? 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:17.520 Babylon comes knocking at the door and he lets them in. 00:13:17.520 --> 00:13:23.200 In the past couple of chapters we were thinking about this Syrian who comes and tempts us 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:27.600 and says, here is the world and you can have it. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:33.320 Babylon comes, the Babylonian comes and says, take pride in who you are. 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:38.000 And that's the problem, that's where Hezekiah's faithfulness starts to quickly disappear. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:46.000 And he thinks about who he is and what he has and the renown of his own name. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.919 That's when his trust in God starts to fail. 00:13:48.919 --> 00:13:56.120 When life is good, that's when pride comes in and his faithfulness very quickly disappears. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:03.039 Whatever the true reason was for this meeting, whether it was to really celebrate his recovery 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:10.000 or whether it was to secretly form some sort of alliance, it's most likely the second. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:19.959 Whatever the reason, we know Babylon comes in, pride comes in and faithfulness is gone. 00:14:19.959 --> 00:14:24.199 Just one thing about Hezekiah's lack of faithfulness. 00:14:24.199 --> 00:14:30.599 He doesn't consult God and he doesn't consider what God would say. 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:35.639 I think what Isaiah asks in verse 3, what did these men say to you? 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:39.040 And from where did they come to you? 00:14:39.040 --> 00:14:40.480 Isaiah was not consulted. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:46.080 The king knows that Isaiah speaks on behalf of God, but Isaiah wasn't consulted and so 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.720 God wasn't consulted. 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:54.399 When Isaiah comes on the scene and he doesn't even know what's happened, it's very obvious 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:00.399 that the last thing that was on Hezekiah's mind was whether this was really the right 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:03.759 thing to do. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:11.199 The fact that Isaiah even has to ask that shows that Hezekiah is his own man, he's his 00:15:11.199 --> 00:15:16.919 own man, and by the extent that he goes to welcoming these people in and showing them 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:23.679 everything that he has, we see how far he is from the faithful king he was when he is 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.039 suffering. 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:33.079 When we think about our faithfulness and the good days of our lives and the better days, 00:15:33.079 --> 00:15:40.000 when things are going well, we see our faithfulness starts to fail. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:45.439 When we forget how much we really need God to guide us, it fails when we don't consider 00:15:45.439 --> 00:15:48.959 what God would say and when we don't consult Him. 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:52.479 And we're not talking about small things. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:57.639 This isn't whether you should go and buy coffee tomorrow morning or not, but when we're talking 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:02.440 about what we are going to do with our lives and where we want to go and who we want to 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:08.960 be, we fall to the same problem that Hezekiah fell to when we say it's our decision and 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:13.480 we're going to do as we please because we know who we are. 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:15.240 That's not what faithfulness looks like. 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:25.320 Real faithfulness is knowing that it's the Lord who's in charge and that even when life 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:30.519 is good and there is no reason to fear for tomorrow, knowing even then that our lives 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:36.519 aren't worked out by ourselves, but they are worked out by us going to God and considering 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:42.799 what he would say and knowing his will, what we promise ourselves and what we tell ourselves 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:44.519 is absolutely no certainty. 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:50.000 Only what God comes and tells us and what God promises has certainty. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.919 That's what goes wrong in the peaceful days of Hezekiah. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:58.079 Babylon comes to the city and he lets them in. 00:16:58.079 --> 00:17:02.960 Pride comes in and it takes over. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:08.039 And he thinks he's the boss, but he doesn't understand what he's done because he hasn't 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:10.680 considered what God would say. 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:15.720 This is where his faithfulness fails and this is where ours will fail. 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:24.720 If we don't pray what the psalmist prays, that we would know the way we should go. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:31.400 In a few verses we see how a person's faithfulness can be completely ruined. 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:38.840 And Hezekiah's suffering, he remains faithful because he learns and he trusts that it's 00:17:38.840 --> 00:17:39.840 for his welfare. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:47.199 And he knows that God commands the world for his sake, but in peace and good living he 00:17:47.199 --> 00:17:51.439 turns and he decides that he's the boss. 00:17:51.439 --> 00:17:53.879 He takes pride in who he is and what he has. 00:17:53.879 --> 00:17:58.639 You can almost hear him when Isaiah comes and asks him who these people were. 00:17:58.639 --> 00:18:00.839 He says they're people from a far off country. 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:04.240 He's so happy that these people have come to see him and then he asks, well, have they 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:05.240 seen? 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:06.240 They've seen everything. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.359 They've seen all that I have. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:15.439 When peace comes, his faithfulness very quickly fails. 00:18:15.439 --> 00:18:22.000 And it's on our minds, I think, to pray more and to come nearer to God when things aren't 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.559 going well. 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:27.799 When we're suffering and when we don't know what the future looks like and we're in trouble, 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:32.079 it's more on our minds to pray and it's more on our minds to ask God to guide us and help 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:33.079 us. 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:37.759 But then when life is good, it's not always the case. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:46.359 For Christians, the temptation is to be resentful when we're suffering. 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:48.720 The temptation is to be angry when we're suffering. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:55.039 And then when good times come, the temptation is to be complacent, it's to be idle. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:58.079 And life's not easy either way. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:05.079 So we need to be faithful to God who promises to hold us in all of these days. 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:12.359 When you look at Hezekiah, you see his faithfulness is tested and so is ours. 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:17.960 So whether you're suffering or life is good, be faithful. 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.399 Trust in him and be faithful. 00:19:21.399 --> 00:19:25.439 Consider him however life would look. 00:19:25.439 --> 00:19:31.119 We asked at the start about what this man would do with Judah's great sin. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:36.199 What is he going to do with pride as it takes over this nation and it pulls them further 00:19:36.199 --> 00:19:37.199 and further from God. 00:19:37.199 --> 00:19:42.879 And this chapter shows that though he is supposed to defeat it, though he is supposed to conquer 00:19:42.879 --> 00:19:43.879 it, he doesn't. 00:19:43.879 --> 00:19:45.959 And he falls to it himself. 00:19:45.959 --> 00:19:50.279 This king who should remain faithful, he doesn't and he falls. 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:55.279 And I think the saddest thing about this is how we are set up for the rest of the book 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.919 of Isaiah. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.480 Because though he deals well with the Assyrians who are soon going to appear, we heard that 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.720 last week he deals well with the Assyrians. 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:06.600 And we read in other accounts how he is faithful. 00:20:06.600 --> 00:20:11.160 But it's too late because the Babylonians have already come and he's already let pride 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:14.279 in. 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:19.720 And his faithfulness is gone and it's too late. 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:26.039 His failure is so great that by the end of the chapter when judgment is promised, when 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:30.440 Isaiah comes to him and tells him that he secured the fate of Judah, he's out of his 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:31.440 mind almost. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.359 He's just pleased that he's not going to see it. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.480 That's how far his pride has taken him. 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:37.119 He doesn't care about his own sons. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:38.440 He's just happy. 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:43.319 He's supposed to be the faithful king, but no matter how well he does for the last 15 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:52.839 years of his life, he has failed the people and he will not save them. 00:20:52.839 --> 00:21:02.279 If you haven't believed in what we share here, if you can't make sense of what the 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:07.639 sin of Judah has to do with you and Hezekiah's lack of faithfulness has to do with you, the 00:21:07.639 --> 00:21:15.599 Bible says very clearly that our pride, our thinking that we are in charge, our sin has 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:19.720 set us up for judgment, which means that someday we are going to be apart from God's 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:23.480 goodness forever. 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:28.120 But the difference for us today and the difference for you if you haven't believed this is you're 00:21:28.120 --> 00:21:33.519 not relying, you're not meant to rely on an unfaithful king, but there is a faithful 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:40.680 king who came and Jesus, this faithful king who John tells us in Revelation is the ruler 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:44.160 of kings on earth. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:49.920 This faithful king is alive now in heaven and he did deal with your sin. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:57.279 He dealt with Babylon and he dealt with it by dying so that this Babylonian spirit would 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:02.320 not ruin us, so that we would not face judgment. 00:22:02.320 --> 00:22:05.200 Jesus remained faithful in suffering. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:10.200 He remained faithful in suffering, even dying for us and he remains faithful in life, in 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:17.080 resurrected life, promising to hold us and not lose any who believe. 00:22:17.080 --> 00:22:24.799 If you haven't believed in Him, if you haven't called out to Him, He is the faithful king 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:28.920 who you need to deal with Babylon, who you need to deal with sin and the promise is that 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:30.600 He will do it. 00:22:30.600 --> 00:22:35.319 He will do it if you confess your need and call out to Him. 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:41.639 If you do know Him, if you believe tonight, remain faithful, whether you're suffering, 00:22:41.639 --> 00:22:48.519 whether life is good, remain faithful to Him until you're at last with Him. 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:49.519 Let's pray. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:56.639 Our Lord, we thank You for these two chapters. 00:22:56.639 --> 00:23:00.039 We thank You for what we learned from Hezekiah's life. 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:04.879 We thank You for His faithfulness and suffering and we pray that You would teach us from that. 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:11.080 We are sad when we read about His unfaithfulness when life is good and when life is well and 00:23:11.080 --> 00:23:15.480 we pray that that would teach us to be faithful to You and to call it to You and to consider 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:19.400 Your ways even when our days are good. 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:22.760 And for those here who maybe don't know You who haven't believed in You or we pray that 00:23:22.760 --> 00:23:27.480 they would understand that we don't rely on an unfaithful king but we rely on a faithful 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:34.519 king who is now enthroned in heaven, who prays for us and who welcomes all who would believe 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:35.519 in Him. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.480 So help us with these things and guide us. 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:38.480 We pray for Jesus' sake. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:57.480 Amen.