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2 Chronicles 32:10
It's good to be with all of you this evening. Christ Church, I believe, is more encouraged to come down here with y 'all and be with y 'all, I think, than y 'all may be of us to come down here. We were greatly encouraged just to know that we have brothers and sisters in Christ that are less than an hour away, pretty close to less than an hour.
It's about that much. But we are so blessed to be able to come and worship with some of you that I know and have become familiar with as of late. Brother Quatro shared the story of how we met. Brother Gunner and I got to have some pretty good fellowship for about 12 to 14 hours, one day up in Northwest Arkansas.
Our folks from Christ Church, if you haven't met Gunner, don't know Gunner, get to meet Gunner before it's all said and done, you'll have a blast. It is a blessing, truly a blessing to be here with you this evening.
Guys, I just want to, in this message this evening, I just want to encourage you. I want to point you to the scripture and point you to Christ, the Christ of the scripture. And I hope that when we leave here this evening, I know that just behind the veil, there's lots of food.
But I hope that we're spiritually full when we leave here, not just from the preaching, but also the singing that we've had this evening also was such a blessing. I'll give you a Samuel Rutherford quote that was in our bulletin this morning.
He said, oh, these are glorious times when the child of God gets a great feast of Christ. And if he fill us here while we are far from home, reminds me of that last song we sang, and are such narrow hearted vessels that God must enlarge us.
How full shall we be when God be of God when we shall see him as he is. I long for that and I pray that that's our longing this evening is just to see him in the scripture, in the word of God and long for that day when we will see him face to face.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you God for a time and a place that your people can gather where we can open your word. And I pray that it would be more to us than just going through our routine or a ritual.
I pray dear God that your spirit would work in every heart here this evening. And I pray that your word would fall like a hammer to our soul, but it also would be like that balm of Gilead for the wounded soul.
God, that there would be help and healing there. God, I pray that you would bind my mouth from anything contrary to your will. But I also pray God that you'd loose it with power for your glory and that we'd all see you this evening, see you in glory and power.
We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Second Chronicles chapter 32 is where you'll find the text this evening, Second Chronicles chapter 32. And a little different from my usual as far as how that I preach necessarily, so you'll just have to bear with me.
I wish that you would pray this evening for me and pray for our hearts that we would glean from the word of God what I believe that he'd have for us this evening. So Second Chronicles chapter 32. I'm gonna start reading in verse number nine.
If you would, listen closely as we read this. And I failed to even think of exactly if y 'all use a particular translation. Y 'all are, here we go. He's a KJV only. I'm reading out of the King James text.
My title is dependent on that this evening. But if you've got another one, just kind of help yourself along here when I get to the text. So after this, in verse number nine, did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, send his servants to Jerusalem, but he himself laid siege against Lachish and all his power with him.
And Hezekiah, king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, thus saith Sennacherib, king of Assyria, whereon do you trust that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, the Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, you shall worship before one altar and burn incense upon it? Know you not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands, were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of my hand?
Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my father's utterly destroyed? I want you to notice how the king is speaking to the people under Hezekiah's reign. That could deliver his people out of my hand, verse 14, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand.
Now therefore, let not Hezekiah deceive you nor persuade you on this manner. Neither yet believe him. For no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand and out of the hand of my fathers.
Now much less should your God deliver you out of my hand. And his servants spake yet more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel and to speak against him, saying, as the gods of this nations and other lands have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand?
And he was, in some sense, right there. It was not Hezekiah that would deliver. It was Hezekiah's God. Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech and to the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall to frighten them and to trouble them that they might take the city.
And they spake against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man. And for this cause Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos prayed and cried to heaven.
And the Lord sent an angel. Notice what happens once they pray. Which cut off all the mighty men of valor and the leaders and the captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land.
And when he was coming to the house of his God, they that came forth of his own bow slew him there with a sword. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all other and guided them on every side.
And many brought gifts into the Lord of Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah so that he was magnified in the sight of all the nations from thenceforth. That's the story. I know that it was lengthy reading, but I wanted to, there's a lot more that really we ought to be able to read to get the background of this portion of the history of God's people and the workings of God.
But there was a phrase here that had grabbed my heart and stuck out to me and I wanted to try to focus on this evening and you'll find it there in verse number 10. He says, where on do you trust that you abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
This king comes in, this wicked king, this king of Assyria, Sennacherib, comes in to a place that had just experienced reformation and revival. He comes into a place where people had gone back to the book.
He comes into a place where the people were serving God with fervor and with all of their heart, with all their strength and with all their mind. They didn't have everything together perfectly, by the way.
They were trying their best. They were trying to serve God and then here comes the enemy along the way. They were working towards truly honoring God with true hearts and getting the temple work right and getting prayer right.
They were interested in doing things right according to the word of God. And then here comes the enemy. Does that sound familiar to anybody in here? Whether in church life or in your personal life, about the time whenever you seem to be getting close to God, when your church seems to be seeing a touch of fervor, when God seems to be moving and the work of God moving in the community, along comes the enemy.
And he doesn't just come in a soft way. He comes in a subtle way. Yet he comes to the city gates. He comes to the outside of the city and he sends messengers there to send a message to God's people. And it was mocking and ridicule.
And that's what I read to you this evening. That was all of King Sennacherib's message for the most part to the people of God. And he starts it out with this in verse number 10. He says, where on do you trust that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
Where on do you trust? What are you trusting in? Why are you trusting in anything? Can you not see that we're surrounding you? Can you not see that the enemy is on every side? What are you trusting in?
What good is this doing? Why do you abide? Why are you staying in the siege in Jerusalem? He's talking to the people. Now, get this in your mind or try to. Hezekiah comes in as a young ruler and reforms worship.
They tear down idols. They get the people back to God and they begin to worship God again. And he's leading them in the right direction. And then along comes this guy, this other ruler of the Assyrians, and he comes out and he says, we're fixing to bust this place up.
Get ready or get on our side. So why are you staying in this place? Can you not see that the enemy is greater than you? And this was the cry of the enemies of God. And I want to try to relate that to our souls this evening.
First, we need to recognize as a Christian that there is a real enemy to your soul. There is a real enemy to the church. There is a real enemy that desires to sift you as Jesus said to Peter, as wheat.
He desires to take a hold of you. Martin Luther put it like this in that famous song that we sing so often. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
And what I want for us to see this evening is the resolve that God's people had here behind the city gates when the enemy comes to threaten. Peter put it like this as far as your enemy's concerned. In 1 Peter chapter five, he tells us to be sober, to be vigilant, because your adversary, he didn't say necessarily just the apostle's adversary.
He didn't say the adversary of the church at Jerusalem. He said your adversary, the devil, he says a roaring lion, he walks about seeking whom he may devour. He said whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
You know what he was saying? You are not alone in being attacked from the enemy. This was not, and I'll get to this in just a minute, but I want you to notice this wasn't the first time that God's people had ever been attacked.
Peter didn't say this is the first time. He said when Satan comes against you, notice something, this is accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. And when I hear stories of people both near and far, brothers and sisters in Christ, that face temptation or they face trouble or they face persecution, know this one thing, it's not the first time.
It's not the first time. Jesus himself was tempted and taunted from Satan. You remember in Matthew four, the Bible says that Satan led him up of the spirit in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
See, even Christ subjected himself when he subjected himself to the flesh, therein was temptation from the enemy. The devil was identified by Jesus as sowing tares among the wheat. In Matthew 13, it says the enemy that sowed them was the devil, Jesus said.
The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. Jesus himself said that Satan's out to sow bad seed. You have an enemy of your soul. And the thing that I want to try to pull out right here and now for us to see is that it does you no good as a Christian to lean back on your heels and say, well, I've been saved.
I've got my four and no more. Everything's perfectly fine and it'll be a greasy ride all the way to the end. It does you no good to put blinders on and think that there is no enemy to the soul of God's people.
If you wake up in the morning and you realize that you have an enemy of your soul, then you're ready for war. But if you think that there's nothing going to come against you, it's just like putting on clothes.
When I, I don't wear shorts very seldom, but when I do, the only time I wear shorts is when I know I'm not gonna get in a briar thicket. But when I know that I'm fixing to get in the woods in a briar thicket, guess what?
I'm putting the thickest pants I got on because I know that I have an enemy to my legs. So I'm gonna go prepared for that. And dear saint of God, know that there is an enemy to your soul and prepare yourself for that.
The second thing I want you to notice before we get into any of this text here is that you and I need to be careful in thinking that we are the first to ever face battles don't think that you're the first to ever face the enemy.
Don't think that we're the first church to ever suffer any kind of ridicule or persecution or anything like that. I've heard this oftentimes here recently and I think many of you probably have heard this before also you'll hear old timers say things like this.
Well, you know, this is the worst it's ever been. And back in my day, we wouldn't have put up with, well, that may be true. But we also have to remember that all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life has been embedded like deep seeds throughout the ages.
We gotta realize that we fight the enemy with the same weapons that we've always fought him with. We fight him with the word of God with the gospel of truth. When he comes against your soul, remind him of the precious blood of Christ shed for your sins and in your place and in your place.
It's the same warfare. It doesn't matter if it's the internet and yes, that's a big beast that needs slain. But don't think we have to church, don't think we have to go to everything under the sun to slay that beast.
You go to the gospel. Saturate the internet with the gospel. And I like what y 'all are doing with recording. I can get on there and listen to some of y 'all's sermons. And I enjoy the gospel coming through a place that is saturated with wickedness.
We have battles to fight, dear Christian. Don't lay down your sword just because you think it's worse than any other generation. It's not, it's not. Pick up your sword and fight. We have gone before us, I want to remind you, a great cloud of witnesses.
A great cloud of witnesses that has already gone before us, that has already fought battles. They have already faced the enemy and they have stood the test of time because the word of God was their resolve.
I think about that text in Hebrews where he said, by faith they subdued kingdoms. They wrought righteousness, obtained promises, they stopped the mouths of lions, they quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword.
That's all those things that we think, yeah, that's what I want to be. I want to be that guy that's doing all of those things, that's subduing kingdoms and working righteousness and stopping the mouths of lions and all of those things and receiving their dead raised to life again.
But don't forget what it says a little further in Hebrews. He said, and others had trial of cruel mockings. Others stood on the city gate while an enemy king came to them and said, why don't you give up your position?
Other of them had scourgings, moreover, bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were tempted and slain with the sword. They were wandered in sheepskins and goatskins. They were destitute, afflicted and tormented.
I love what it says though, of whom the world was not worthy. Of whom the world was not worthy. Listen, dear saints, when the enemy comes against your soul, first look to Christ, look to His Word and realize that all around you is a great cloud of witnesses giving testimony that God's Word does not fail.
God's power does not fail. This Word in verse number 10, where it says in this King James Version, where on or what is it basically do you trust in? What do you trust in? That you abide or stay in the siege in Jerusalem.
Now, if you're like me, the first several times that I read across this verse, when I think of siege, I think that that gives the idea of buckling down and holding on and just waiting for the storm to pass.
Is that something that I'm trying to get a read? You hear that when you hear siege it's like, okay, we're being sieged against, now buckle down and hold on. And so I was reading it with that in mind over and over and I was a little bit troubled when I was coming across some of the definitions of this word here.
And I was looking in the lexicon and it says that that siege means a stronghold. It means a bulwark. It means a defense or a fenced in fortress. A strong tower. And when I was thinking about this and get this picture in your mind, the enemy coming to the city gates and mocking all of you and saying, why are you trusting still in Christ?
Why are you coming to church on a Sunday night at six o 'clock? Why are you still going to prayer meeting? Why are you still coming on the Lord's day and taking the Lord's supper? What good is all of this?
Why are you abiding in this siege? And I want to see and remind you this evening that that siege that they were abiding in was a defense. It was a bulwark. It was a stronghold. So imagine this king is standing outside the city and mocking them, but realize something.
They're up there in the strong place and he's there in an unfortified place. And whenever the text here says, why are you trusting? Why are you abiding? Why are you staying in that stronghold in Jerusalem?
Why don't you come out? And I think this is often a temptation for Christians. Why don't you come out? Standards are a little too stiff, guys. Why don't you just ease off? A little bit. Why do y 'all have to take such a hard stand that it's scripture alone is authority?
Why can't we have, I'm playing the other side here. Why can't we say that the age has changed? We live in a different age. Why can't we go with that? Because you, dear friend, have found a stronghold.
You're in Christ. There's not a place to move that's safe. You're in Christ. This is what's happened throughout the history. The church and God's people have been tempted to back away, to soften their stance on the authority of scripture, on Christ, and by the way, these battles have been fought.
I'm knocking books out everywhere back here. These battles have been fought since Christ came. So I want you to take a look this evening at some of the mockings of the enemy. He says in verse 11, he says, did not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves, to die by famine and by thirst?
This is what the enemy king is saying to God's people. He said, well, didn't Hezekiah, didn't your leader tell you just to give over yourselves to famine and thirst? Well, in one sense, Hezekiah did go stop some whales, but they were all outside the city gates so that the enemy couldn't drink of them.
And you say, well, but was he telling some truth? And this is how Satan will tempt you away. Oftentimes, he will tell subtle things that have a little touch of truth, and you think, well, maybe that's true enough that I can believe it.
And I want to remind you that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. Resist the devil and he'll flee from you. In verse 12, he says, has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem saying you shall worship before one altar and burn incense upon it?
Now, there's something I want to say about this text. Now, at this place, when Satan comes against you and he accuses you of tearing down altars, this is where you can stand up straight and smile and say, amen.
Yeah, we did. We tore down a bunch of altars. We tore down a bunch of graven images. We ground them into powder and now we got one. And we're gonna worship like that every week. And so whenever the church is mocked and scorned for a principle of worship where you just, you come in and you sing songs unto God, you read the scripture, you preach the word, you don't have a bunch of lights and flashy things for emotions, and they mock you for that, just go ahead and say, amen.
We're gonna carry on. We're gonna carry on. And we're glad because of it. They were accused. A thousand ways they were accused of things. And some of them, out of the mouth of the enemy, are convincing.
But they stayed. They stayed and they abided in the siege at Jerusalem. Church, this is what I want to encourage you with, is there is a blessing in abiding in the word and in the truth of God. When I think about Christ's command to the early church, when I think about what he said to them before he ascended, he said, Terry, stick around.
Stay here in Jerusalem until you be endued with power. It's gonna take some time. Some of you may be ready to kind of give up. Some of you may get weary. Some of you may begin to doubt that Christ really rose from the dead.
But stay. It's worth it. And I want to, and it's just as simple as I know how to say this evening, Christian, it's good to stay. It's good to stay in a place that even sometimes you feel uncomfortable.
It's good to stay when the enemy's mocking you. It's a good indication, by the way. If there's an attack from the enemy, it's a good indication you may be in the right place. Stay. When you pray, stay.
I had a whole different message lined out that I had prepared last week and last night as I was praying and seeking the Lord, these things was coming to my soul. And I was challenged with memories of how many times we'd have prayer meetings back in the day and you'd just, we'd just get around the altar and pray, just pray, and there was an altar that now we have some stairs or chairs or whatever.
We'd just stay around somewhere and pray and pray. Might stop and get a drink, but we'd go back and pray because we knew that we could not depend on our own flesh. We knew that God needed to move. And so we'd stay and we'd pray, and sure enough, God would meet with us.
And I want to challenge you that about the time you get ready to give up, stay. When they was there in the upper room, I imagine the hardest part of their faith is that last 30 minutes, when you're like, okay, this maybe is a bust.
120 in the upper room, it's hot up here. I don't know when he's gonna come. I'm about ready to leave. But they could remember the words of Christ, Christ, Terry, and Jerusalem until you be endued with power.
And God came and done a marvelous work. So number one, I want to say this, these points will go fast. I know that we got food close. Stay in the siege to worship rightly. Stay in the siege to worship rightly.
First of all, when I think about the reformation and the revival that took place with Hezekiah, it took a lot of work to get where they were. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and sacrifice to get to a place where they were once again worshiping God.
It was not an easy thing that they'd done. So I could imagine even these common people standing over the walls, and this enemy saying, give up, give up, give up. And their mind would go back to, no, we had found the book, and the book told us to worship a certain way.
It told us to have our Levites and the priests. It told us to make our sacrifices. It told us to get the house of God cleansed. They did in chapter 29. They threw down the altars in chapter 31. They kept the Passover in chapter 30.
They were getting back to right worship, and God was blessing their socks off. Don't give up. Stay in the siege to worship rightly. So that siege being Christ. By the way, dear Christian, oftentimes when idols are crushed in your life or in the church's life, criticism follows closely.
So go ahead, crush those idols. Tear down the things that's in your heart that is keeping you from Christ, and don't leave the siege. Don't leave the siege. Stay in the siege, number two, because the devil said you can't.
It's a real simple point. Stay in the siege, stay in the saddle, because the devil said you ought not to. Now, Brother Cuatro mentioned that I met the qualifications of having a beard to preach, and I know he was just joshing and carrying on, but when we came here, my son said something the first time, this has been several months ago.
He said, that's the awfulest bunch of redheaded people I've ever seen in one place. And praise God, we got a few of them now that we're trying, we're recruiting as many redheads as possible. We're a minority group and being attacked on every side.
But some of you that have those rudish tendencies, know what I mean when I say sometimes you want to look for a fight and you'll drop the hat yourself. Here's the deal, I want to be fiercely committed and loyal and obedient to God, and we ought to be.
But when the devil says you can't do something, go ahead and do it. It's a good, that's a good place to say, yeah, I don't think so. One of the terms that we need, I think, in our church and Christianity again is no.
No, I'm not going to. Be an HR nightmare if you must. There comes a time, dear Christian, when the enemy's gonna come against you, and Brother Johnny, we've seen this in our job. HR sends emails promoting celebration of LBGTQ plus, all of that, and say join with us.
Say no, don't think so. They're saying come down from your siege. Why are you staying there? That's not the way the world's going. Come down and say no. It is good to say no to Satan. The media 24 -7 declares that Jesus needs to stay out.
HR declares that he needs to stay out. Remind them that God has given him a name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord, and then say his name again.
It's funny, the name of Jesus does a lot to stir up the wasp nests. Number three, and there's only four, so rejoice. Stay in the siege because God has given his word. Stay in the siege because God has given his word.
Now, in this case, he gave it through Hezekiah in verse seven and eight. When Hezekiah, he seen that the enemy was coming, and as a leader should, he stood up and he said, all right, guys, come together, I'm gonna talk to you.
Hezekiah, he says, be strong and courageous, be not afraid or dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him. With him, talking about this enemy, he said, with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.
And the people rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. And I want you to realize that this was a king standing and speaking to a people, but even though this was a king, I believe that this was encouraging words of God to these people that stand up, it is okay.
Christ is on our side. Just this year, Brother Gunner, when we was up in Northwest Arkansas, I don't know if you were standing there with us, and I know Brother John and Corey was there, but one of the girls said, as she was screaming at us as we was trying to preach, and she screamed these words, she said, do y 'all not live in 2023?
She said, look around you. Look how many people are here in support of this. And look how many of you there are. And I was reminded of this text. And I was reminded that, honey, you don't see. You don't see what's going on here.
We're not leaving the siege. We're not leaving Christ. We're not leaving our bulwark because there is more with us. There's a multitude more with us than there is with the enemy. They stayed because they had the word.
They had a word from their king. They had a word from their God. And I want to remind you, dear Christian, you have a word from your God. Don't leave the bulwark. Don't leave the siege. Don't leave the power of Christ.
And lastly this evening, and I'll wrap up, stay in the siege. Stay in the fight for the glory of God. In verse 23 of chapter 32, it says, after this, after the angel came, after Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed, and God sent an angel, he delivered them out of their distresses.
And in verse 23, it says, and many brought gifts unto the Lord of Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah, king of Judah, so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from henceforth. Now that he, quite possibly Hezekiah, but I believe he's also referring to the Lord here, that the Lord God was the one that was being magnified in the sight of all the nations.
You've been given a great gift, church. You've been given a bulwark. His name is Jesus Christ. You've been given a safe place in Him. You've been given a high place that you can fight against the enemy.
Now stay in Him. Don't leave the siege. Don't leave that place. This evening, if you say, well, I hear you. I'm not quitting. I'm not gonna quit being a Christian, but I'm just tired of doing the work of a Christian.
At what point does your weary body, your weary mind, your weary soul, just throw in the towel over to the enemy and say, okay, enough's enough. I'm done. I want to encourage you, dear Christian, and you say, well, this ain't for me.
I'm walking strong in my faith. And some of you may not be. If you're like me, you get discouraged sometimes. And I want to encourage you that that siege, that strong place, the only place you will be supplied for is in Christ Jesus.
The only hope that you have is in Christ Jesus. Bury up there. Know that your God will deliver. He's given you His word. He said, don't let your heart be troubled. He said, you believe in God? I believe also in me and my Father's house.
Many mansions, if it wasn't so, I'd have told you. He has deliverance for you. And I want to say to you tonight, if you're not a Christian, if you don't have assurance of God's grace and salvation, you're not standing somewhere in between the two walls.
You are not standing on the side of Israel or on the side of the Christians and kind of giving us a thumbs up. You're standing squarely with the enemies of God, mocking His name. So if that's you and you say, well, I have no assurance of salvation.
I don't know that I'm redeemed. I want you to turn face and say, I'm done with the enemies of God. Christ is calling to you. Come get on the right side of this siege. There's one that wins. Come to Christ.
Believe in Him. Turn from your sins. You say, well, that's all too simple. That's all that it is. That's all that it is. Redemption in Christ Jesus. Stay in the siege. Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy.
Thank you, God, for supplying this time for us this evening that we could worship you. I pray, God, that Christ would be seen and that we would be saved.