Critical Decisions

CRITICAL DECISIONS

By Pastor Jim May

Scriptures used:

2 Kings 18:1-3; 1 Peter 4:17-18; Exodus 20:2-6; 2 Kings 18:13 & 19; 2 Kings 19:6-7; 2 Kings 19:10-13; 2 Kings 19:14-15; 2 Kings 19:32-37; 2 Kings 20:1-3; 12-15; Matthew 7:6; 2 Kings 20:16-20

2 Kings 18:1-3, "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did."

Hezekiah was the 14th king of Judah. He came upon the scene, inheriting the throne from his father, Ahaz, at a time when the 12 tribes of Israel, divided into the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel were facing some really tough times.

Ten of the tribes of Israel had separated themselves from the two tribes that made up the kingdom of Judah and formed a distinct, separate nation with their own king. The Northern kingdom of Israel had become absolutely corrupt and idolatrous over a 200 year period of time. God’s patience had finally run out and Israel collapsed under its own weight of sin as the Assyrian army invaded and conquered them, captured their king and exiled many of the Jews.

Hezekiah’s kingdom of Judah shared a common border with Israel. The ten tribes of Israel were not only blood relatives to Judah, but next door neighbors.

To make matters worse Judah, as a nation under King Ahaz, had begun to fall into the same spiritually and morally corrupt condition as Israel and had became increasingly involved in idolatry. It seemed that, unless God intervened, Judah would soon suffer the same fate as Israel.

But God had mercy on Judah and intervened, sending them King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah faced some very critical decisions during his reign as King of Judah. Let’s look at four of them and see what we can learn from Hezekiah.

1) The first major decision that Hezekiah faced was the absolutely most critical decision of all – What would he do about serving God? Would he follow the example of his father and continue to lead Judah into idolatry, or would he renounce the ways of Ahaz and turn back to God?

I am convinced that every man, born into this world, must face that all-important and most critical of decisions – What will you do with Christ?

Every other decision we make, whether its financial, ethical, moral, economical or whatever, will be influenced by this first, most important decision.

Most of the world today has chosen to follow the ways of Ahaz and to live as idolaters. They place anything and everything above God in their worship. The whole world worships the gods of brick, stone, gold, silver and stubble. Mankind will serve a job, a lifestyle, power, fame, fortune, education and the satisfying of self, but he will not bend his knee to serve the true God of Heaven.

Thank God for the remnant who serves God. It is that remnant that is the only force on earth that keeps powers of hell back. If it weren’t for the true Body of Christ, the true church, how bad could this world be? Just read what happens in Revelation if you want to know. Once the Bride of Christ, the church, is taken out of this world to be with Jesus in the air, all hell will be released upon the earth and there will be a time of trouble, death and destruction worse than we can imagine. The world will finally experience the power of the devil to kill, steal and destroy man who is created in the image of God.

I’m so glad to be a part of the Body of Christ. I’m so glad that you are too. But I am very disturbed, greatly burdened, and truly concerned for those who don’t know Jesus.

1 Peter 4:17-18, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

But to be a part of the Body of Christ that will rule and reign with Jesus, we must all face that first, ultimate decision – What will we do with Jesus? My friend, there is no other decision that you will ever face that can carry such a tremendous impact on your life, on your family and upon where you will spend eternity!