Introduction
Titanic In 1912 the "unsinkable" Titanic was launched in Liverpool, England. So haughty was the hoopla surrounding the Titanic’s safety and structural integrity that it caused dismay among some of the God fearing public. Such pride it was felt was tempting God to show man his folly. And while it’s certainly not our place 90 years later to say that what happened when ship met iceberg was God’s answer to the pride of the ship’s builders and promoters, we do know for certain that their pride was misplaced and the "unsinkable ship" took 1500 lives with it to the bottom of the ocean.
The Titanic was one famous case of Pride coming before a fall, Less known to us today--but probably of greater spiritual benefit is the case of Hezekiah at the end of His life. For the last two weeks you have been hearing about the revival of Hezekiah--of how his life and reign pleased the Lord and how the Lord responded by pouring out his blessings, how the Lord visited his people in revival power because of the king’s faithful leadership.
Proposition: Here at the end of Hezekiah’s life are several lessons we would do well to learn if we hope to see the Lord move in revival power among us.
Transition: Two of the lessons are encouragements and two are cautions. The first is a word of encouragement as we see God continue to pour out his blessings upon Hezekiah, this lesson has to do with...
The Power of Prayer
v. 24 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.
Hezekiah recieves the word of the Lord from the prophet Isaiah that he is going to die, but Hezekiah calls out to the Lord for mercy and the Lord answers his prayer not only with healing but with a miraculous sign, literally making the sun go backwards in the sky.
The lesson is clear for us even today, we serve a God who answers prayer, and answers miraculously. You say those are just Bible stories, things like that don’t happen anymore. Try to explain that to Dr. Helen Roseveare.
ILLUSTRATION: The longtime missionary to Zaire is still living today and loves to tell this story. "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded, ’Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won’t feel so lonely.’ That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, ’If God sent that, I’m sure He also sent a doll!’ And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child’s sincere requests, and 5 months earlier He had led a ladies’ group to include both of those specific articles." (TruthorFiction.com)
God answers prayer today like He did in Hezekiah’s time. If you have a need bring it to the Lord in Prayer, he wants to hear your needs and he wants you to trust Him for the answer, there is Power in Prayer.
Well that’s an encouragement so how about a caution? The second lesson is about
The Problem of Pride
v. 25 But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD’S wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
After Hezekiah’s miraculous healing, which came after His miraculous victory over the ancient World’s only superpower, Hezekiah develops a problem, the problem of pride. When the king of Babylon sends "messengers" with a get well gift he invites them in and shows them not only all of his wealth but all of his weaponry, as if to say to them, "this is how we defeated the king of Assyria."
The moral of this story? Not only are those who have been blessed by God not immune from the trap of pride, they are probably more succeptible to it.
ILLUSTRATION:The great British preacher Charles Spurgeon was keenly aware of the dangers of pride. After his sermon one Sunday, Spurgeon was met by a woman who exclaimed, "Oh, Mr. Spurgeon, that was wonderful." "Yes, madam," Spurgeon replied, "so the devil whispered in my ear as I came down the steps of the pulpit."(Today in the Word, February 27, 1997, p. 34)
Spurgeon understood that God’s blessings wrongly construed as our own accomplishments is dangerous territory. One reason the enemy uses this trick so often is that it is so successful.
When you have been blessed by God, Beware the Problem of Pride. Be quick to give glory to God for his blessings, Be not anxious to draw attention to self, because pride indeed does come before a fall.
The third lesson is another encouragement.
The Promise to the Prodigal
v. 26a Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the LORD’S wrath did not come upon them...
Once again the Prophet Isaiah plays a key role in the story. He confronts Hezekiah with His pride and Hezekiah, along with the nation repents and true to His word as we read just a few weeks ago in Deuteronomy 30, When His people repent, God is anxious to receive them back.
Never let the enemy deceive You that you are outside the reach of God’s grace. If you are here this morning, and you have drifted far from the Lord, because of pride or even because of willful sin or just plain negligence, The Lord is calling you home to fellowship with Him. Like the Father of the prodigal son, he longs to restore you, but first you must return in faith and repentance to Him. And as the text this morning indicates this is both an individual and a corporate need. Perhaps the most eloquent call for corporate repentance I’ve seen outside the Scripture was the one offered by President Abraham Lincoln in his Proclamation of a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, 1863
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
Yes we as a nation we as a church have a need to confess our collective pride and like the prodigal return home humbled before our father, who longs to give us a share in His blessings.
The final lesson is again a caution.
The Price of Pride
v. 26b ...therefore the LORD’S wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.
They say that the chickens always come home to roost, and I don’t know exactly what that means because my chicken experience is somewhat limited but I do know this: Sin has consequences and pride is one of the most basic forms of sin. There is a price to be paid for pride. Thjough the Lord relented during the time of Hezekiah, his sin of pride in sharing his secrets with the Babalonians is the first step toward the eventual defeat and exile of Judah and the humiliation of the line of David.
Is this God’s punishment? Perhaps, but part of it can be chalked up to natural consequences of sin. You show the enemy what you’ve got and the enemy gets you. It’s OPSEC 101.
Our sin and our pride reaps a crop too, sometimes immediate and sometimes down the road. Like Mad cow disease, you may have ate that burger yesterday and feel fine today, but the consequences are brewing and 6-30 years down the road the payment comes due.
Sometimes we see this with physical consequences in our bodies--the drunkard will pay a price. Sometimes like Hezekiah it is visited upon future generations, how’s that you say? One way is that our dedication or lack thereof is affecting the formation of our children. The emphasis you place on serving the Lord will be seen in them, if you are lax in your commitment, don’t be surprised when your children are doubly lax.
CONCLUSION I mentioned as we began that before the Titanic sailed on it’s ill-fated maiden voyage, that many Christians were distressed at the haughtiness of the advertising of the ship’s invulnerability. This was particularly true of one God-fearing woman, whose family was unexpectedly transferred onto the gigantic liner for its maiden voyage. After reading the shipbuilders’ claims, Mrs. Hart believed—and so stated—"This is flying in the face of God!" The woman’s daughter, Eva Hart, 7 at the time of the voyage, recalls that her family was saved from tragedy because of Mrs. Hart’s spiritual convictions. Throughout the voyage, Mrs. Hart stayed awake at night waiting for disaster to strike, and thus was able to move her family to an upper deck almost immediately after the ship collided with an unseen iceberg. Because of her vigilance, the family did not join the 1,500 others who died that night. (Today in the Word, July, 1989, p. 8)
How vigilent are you? Having experienced the blessings of a gracious God, are you in danger of experiencing the shipwreck of pride?
