“THERE WAS NO ONE LIKE HEZEKIAH”
2 Kings 18:1-8
FBCF – 4/7/24
Jon Daniels
INTRO – White board – What are some words you’d like for the preacher to say about you at your funeral? Adjectives to describe you?
FAITHFUL should be a word that is said of every Christ-follower.
New sermon series – “A Faithful Life – King Hezekiah”
EXPLANATION – 2 Kings 18:1-8
He had a ROUGH BEGINNING – v. 1 – “…Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah…” – There were 13 wicked kings in Judah – 7 good kings. His father, Ahaz, was one of the wicked ones. 2 Kings 16 & 2 Chronicles 28 record his destructive practices – idol worship (God HATES that!), profane activities in the temple, stealing silver & gold from the house of God, even sacrificing his own son as a pagan offering.
- 2 Kings 16:1-3 – “In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”
Many people let their difficult family b’ground keep them from serving the Lord. And if anybody could have used that excuse, it was Hezekiah. But let’s keep going.
He made RADICAL REFORMS – Hezekiah reigned for 29 years, righted many of the wrongs that his father had done, & instituted some radical reforms in obedience to God’s leadership.
- 2 Chronicles 29:3 – “In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.” – RIGHT OFF THE BAT! NOT WASTING TIME!
- 2 Chronicles 29:5-11
That’s why God puts faithful people in influential places of leadership. They may not be the most charismatic or the most connected w/ big-league friendships. In fact, they don’t have to be the most charismatic or connected. But what was that word we used at the beginning of the sermon? FAITHFUL! THOSE are the people who God uses to bring about needed changes & renewal among His people in the Church, in communities, & in nations. Faithful people who love God, trust Him, obey Him, & step out in faith, sometimes against overwhelming odds.
He was REWARDED GREATLY – 2 Kings 17:7a – “And the Lord was w/ him; wherever he went out, he prospered.” Hezekiah experienced God’s hand of blessing in his life over & over again. And the greatest blessing he experienced was the presence of God.
Jesus promised us that same blessing & reward when we follow Him in obedience – Great Commission
APPLICATION – Our lives should be characterized by faithfulness to the Lord.
3 ways we can be faithful to the Lord:
DEVOTE YOURSELF TO THE LORD – v. 3, 5-6
Let’s start w/ this simple question: Have you fully devoted your life to the Lord? Have you received Jesus as your Savior & Lord? If not, let’s stop & know that you need to, let’s stop right now & do that.
If you have devoted yourself to the Lord – or if you did that just now – it will show in the ways that it showed in Hezekiah’s life. It will show in:
Your actions – v. 3 – “He DID what was right in the eyes of the Lord…” – He DID it! He didn’t just talk about it. He didn’t just listen to the preacher preach about it. He didn’t sit back & watch other people do it. He DID what was right in the eyes of the Lord!
And the LORD’S EYES are the most important eyes of all!
- 2 Chronicles 16:9 – “For the eyes of the Lord move to & fro throughout the earth, that He might strongly support those whose hearts are completely His.”
- 1 Peter 3:12 – “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, & His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Your faith – v. 5 – Wouldn’t you love for your life & your faith to be described like that? There’s no reason that it can’t other than our own lack of belief & lack of desire.
Your perseverance – v. 6a – What’s the mental picture you get when you read the words “held fast”?
- Someone clinging to a life preserver to keep from drowning.
- A defensive football player holding fast to the opposing team’s running back to tackle him.
- A child who is afraid clinging to his/her father or mother, knowing they are safe there.
- The word can also mean “cleave”, a word we hear when God instituted the sacred relationship of marriage between a man & woman – Genesis 2:24 – “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother & shall cleave unto his wife; & they shall be one flesh.” – Speaks of the strength that is found in the intimacy of the marriage relationship.
All of these are true as we persevere in our devotion to the Lord:
- If we don’t hold fast to Him, we will drown in sin.
- If we don’t hold fast to Him, we will be defeated.
- If we don’t hold fast to Him, we will not be in a place of safety & security.
- If we don’t hold fast to Him, we will never know the depth of the intimacy of a devoted walk w/ Jesus.
Paul – Romans 12:9 – “Let love be genuine. Abhor what it evil; hold fast to what is good.”
Your obedience – v. 6b – Powerful definition of obedience!
DESTROY YOUR IDOLS – v. 4 – Mentioned before that reading through Bible, was struck w/ how many times the OT mentions God’s abject hatred for idols. Starting writing “God hates idolatry” in margin – Wrote it a bunch of times!
What is an idol? Anything or anyone who demands your mind’s attention & heart’s affection. That is worship & it is reserved for the Lord Jesus alone. “Whatever controls the worship of your heart controls your choices, words, emotions, & actions.” (Tripp)
Tony Evans asked this question: “How do you know when you’ve chosen an idol? An idol is an unauthorized person, place, thing, or thought which you look to to determine your decisions. Whomever, or whatever influences you to the degree of making the final decision in your life is an idol. If it is not the true living God & His Word, it is an idol.” (https://relevantmagazine.com/faith/tony-evans-how-to-tell-when-youre-serving-an-idol/)
Prayed through Psalm 115 Wed night in Refresh – Right in middle are 5 verses that speak strongly about the futility & the fatality of idols – v. 4-8
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
Whatever your idol is, it must be destroyed before it destroys you. Hezekiah has seen the sad evidence of the destruction that the worship of idols had wrought on the people of God. Moses told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 30:17-18 – “But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish…”
- It will never give you the life that you think it’s going to give you.
- …the joy…
- …the fulfillment…
- …the purpose & meaning in life…
Living a devoted life definitely means you will not be devoted to idols but will be devoted to Jesus alone!
DEFEAT YOUR ENEMIES – v. 7-8 – Hezekiah’s enemies were the Assyrians & the Philistines. As Christ-followers, we have one enemy – Satan, & our battle is against him, not against other people as Paul said in Ephesians 6:12 – “We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.” (CEV)
But here’s a life-changing truth: He is already a defeated enemy! Jesus accomplished that on the cross & the empty tomb. So our job now is to defeat Satan & his demons on a practical, everyday level through our ongoing devotion to & dependence on our Lord Jesus Christ.
- That’s why we have & need the power of the Word of God – Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness temptation by quoting the Word of God. Remember that the Bible tells us that “HE who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
- That’s why we have & need the power of prayer. James 4:7-8 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
- That’s why we have & need the power of the Church. This isn’t a country club for saints or a social club for the elites of the community or a political organization for activists. This is the CHURCH, the Body of Christ, the Army of God, the FAMILY of faith! We draw strength from each other – we help each other – we watch each other’s back – “I got your six!” – Military term that originated w/ WWI fighter pilots w/ 6:00 being the rear position behind a pilot.
CONCLUSION – Are YOU living a faithful life?
