Remain Faithful to God — Erlo Stegen

Hezekiah’s Faithfulness to God

We'll read from 2 Kings chapter 20 verse 14. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? And from where have they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a far country, from Babylon.

And He said to them, What have they seen in your house? So Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them. Stop reading there.

When you are at home and you have a chance, then you can read the whole chapter. I'd like us to just have a look at King Hezekiah's story, the King of Judah. He was an amazing king. For in chapter 18 verse 5 and 6 we read, He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that after Him there was none like Him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before Him.

Clinging to the Lord and Following His Commandments

For He clung to the Lord. He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. And in verse 7 we also read, Hezekiah was an amazing king. It said that before Him and after Him there was no one who clung to the Lord as He did.

But at the end of his life there was something which was a tragedy and which made the prophet of God sad. And God Himself said, Which of course serves as a warning to us that we should be faithful to the Lord right to the end and that we should be watchful at all times.

Before speaking about the mistake he made, Which we of course need to also learn from, that we don't go and make the same mistakes that they have made. That's why it's been written that we can learn from it.

And back to where he was faithful to the Lord. He clung to the Lord and trusted Him like no other king before or after him, following the law and the commandments God had given through Moses and following in his father David's footsteps, even though he was not his direct child, but a descendant.

He was a person who had clung to the Lord, stayed in close fellowship with Him, and everyone knew it. He was known for it that he was one who lived close to the Lord. His life had been amazing. We people always tend to be influenced by things that have happened in the past.

And often we also take after our parents. And we tend to keep also their traditions or what they've taught us, be they good or bad. But Hezekiah was not such a person. Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father had already instructed that the temple be closed, that no one was allowed to go and worship or pray.

Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father Hezekiah's father.

Not like Ahab who turned his back on God. No, he just turned his face to the wall that he would not be distracted by anyone else in the room but that he could be alone with God. And Hezekiah cried to the Lord.

His heart broke. His heart broke. And the king cried and he said, Oh Lord, remember me. Even how in my youth I served you and walked in truth before you with a whole heart. Isaiah had started leaving the palace, but before he left, Isaiah had got out of the palace itself.

He hadn't even got out yet. He was still halfway through. When the Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer and spoke to his Isaiah and said, Go back, return to Hezekiah and tell him that I've heard his cry. Tell him that I will add another 15 years to his life.

He had already reigned 14 years, so with the 15 years added, it made it 29. And so God heard Hezekiah's prayer. His prayer was not just one that just got as far as the ceiling, but his prayer touched God's heart.

It moved God himself. So God had said to Hezekiah, set your house in order. Make sure everything is put right. Many theologians say that that was not something which pertained to him personally, which for his life had been put right.

But God said to Hezekiah, set your house in order. Make sure everything is put right. God said to Hezekiah, set your house in order. Make sure everything is put right. God said to Hezekiah, set your house in order.

Make sure everything is put right. You can't just give anyone a royal robe and say, OK, now you will be king. It's like if someone would come to me and say, OK, we're going to make you king now. We'll give you a robe and you'll be king.

That doesn't make me a king. So the Lord was preparing him, giving him an opportunity to set things right. So Hezekiah thought that what he had implemented and started, that there would be continuation.

That it wouldn't just come to an end what he had done, but that it would continue. He had been a reformer. He had turned people back to God to worship Him, to pray to Him. But God said, well, you've done all that, but now it needs to continue even after you die.

Preparing the Next Generation

That was his weakness. So that had been his weakness, that he had just lived for the day and for the present. He hadn't planned ahead for the future, that that what he had started would continue. And so God said, set your house in order.

Get things organized and set for the future. For it would have been sad that he would die and then all that he had implemented, that that would die with him and then someone like his father would again take the throne and go back to the old things again.

So he cried to God. He cried to God. He could pray. He prayed a prayer that touched God, that moved God. It went all the way to God's heart. Can you pray in such a way, you young people, you older people?

Can you pray in such a way that God hears it? Or when you pray, you're just shouting, Amen, Hallelujah, while you're praying, your neighbor hears it, but does God hear it? Amen. Can you, can you parents pray?

Have you noticed where your children are? How they have been swallowed by the world from head to toe, that they are totally in the world and even if they can't get to the disco, they'll bring the disco into the church.

Tell me parents, have you prayed? Can you pray that God will save your children? And so Hezekiah prayed. And the Lord answered and said, he would be healed. And within three days he was healed. He was perfectly healthy and could go up to the temple to pray and worship.

God Answers Hezekiah’s Prayer

And Isaiah the prophet said, O King, God will give you a sign as proof that He has spoken this. And he said, King, you can choose what sign you would like God to give you. And the prophet said, what should the Lord do as a sign?

Should the shadow move forward or backwards 10 steps or 10 degrees? And the king said, well, it's maybe easy or easier for the sun to move forward by 10 degrees, but to make the sun move backwards 10 degrees, that's far more difficult.

And the Lord said, well, it's maybe easy or easier for the sun to move backwards 10 degrees, but to make the sun move backwards 10 degrees, that's far more difficult. And so it happened that Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord and it happened that the sun moved back by 10 degrees.

They could see it on their sun clock, how the shadow changed as they watched. And the king realized then that surely God would heal him. And then he lived another 15 years. But here is the heartbreaking part.

After three years, a son was born to him. His name was Manasseh. He took over the throne after his father passed away. For he was 12 years when he became king. So he must have been born three years after the king had been healed.

And so it was, after the king had been healed and things were going well with him, everything was back to normal. And so it was, after the king had been healed and things were going well with him, everything was back to normal.

And so it was, after the king had been healed and things were going well with him, everything was back to normal. So Hezekiah invited them in, gave them to eat. And thereafter he took them on a tour of his palace.

Hezekiah’s Pride and Babylonian Friendship

He showed them everything. His silver, his gold, and even all his military equipment. Everything he had, he showed them the lot. There is nothing in his kingdom which he did not show them. He did it in a haughty way to show off what he had.

And then the delegation left. And then God spoke to Isaiah the prophet. And He said, Isaiah, go to King Hezekiah. Ask them where that delegation had come from. And what they wanted. And what you did for them.

You did it in a haughty way. Now one could say, but what was wrong with what he did? What is wrong with showing them around? And God said, no, you go and ask them. What have you shown them? Who were they?

What have you done? And that was this king's downfall. God said, I did not show them around. I only showed them what I had. I only showed them what I had. I only showed them the land. I only showed them the land of the prophet.

Remember how in the beginning, he had always clung to the Lord, live closely to Him, consulted the Lord in everything, and also consulted the Prophet, and sharing things with him. But here suddenly we see how he started doing things on his own.

No consultation, no asking the Lord what he said, and then what do we see? These people come, he shows off all his riches, and what he's got. We don't hear him once sharing his testimony, saying, you know what the Lord has done for me?

This is what the Lord has done. No, none of it. It seems as if that spiritual life which he had had, had gone lost. It's better to start off in a bad way, but end off on a good note, rather than starting off with a good life and ending off badly.

So you can get to the point where you say, well, I'm experienced now, I'm old enough, I'm grown up, I don't need to share this thing with my minister, I can do things on my own, I can know now what is right and what is wrong, and what I need to do or not.

When you first got converted, the fire of God was burning in your heart. You always shared with other believers, and shared what the Lord had done for you, and what you could do for him. But now, there's none of that left.

Fellowship with Believers Versus Fellowship with the World

Now you go your own way. You go to Durban, you meet up with people, and even with other people who are enemies of the gospel, but you go ahead, you do your own thing, and you tell no one about it. Why?

Because you're dead. The Bible speaks of the fellowship of the believers, and of the saints. But some Christians, in spite of having fellowship with the saints, they have fellowship with blacksliders, backsliders, sinners.

You don't know the fellowship of the saints anymore. Yes, you have fellowship with all the others, but not with the saints. Not those who used to be such a blessing to you, and through whom you were blessed, with whom you shared everything.

You can't even go to the prophet like Hezekiah, who couldn't go to the prophet anymore, and say, oh prophet, I was so blessed through your life, and what you did for me, and this is what God is doing for me, and has done for me.

No, none of that anymore. But now you have fellowship with those from Babylon. And so God sent Isaiah the prophet, said, go to the king, and ask him, say, those people who stayed in your house, who slept over, those who were with you, who are they?

For God didn't know what they were doing there. He wasn't consulted, neither was the prophet told about it. They didn't know about it. But tell me, who was that in your house, and who came to see you?

And so Hezekiah went, and he said, tell me, oh king, who are these people? Where do they come from? What did they come for? For I know nothing, and God wants to know who they are. And the king said, oh no, no, prophet, they were just people from a faraway country, from Babylon.

The Judgment Announced Through Isaiah

Now when they were in your house, what did you talk about? What did they want? Who had sent them? Do you hear what God is asking? Don't be surprised if one day God asks you such questions. And Isaiah said, Isaiah said, well, oh king, what did you show them?

He said, well, I showed them everything. Showed them my treasures, my armor, there's nothing I didn't show them. He showed them the treasures, his clothes, and his riches, and all that the Lord had given him, he showed them, but he showed them nothing of the Lord himself.

Even that serpent which he had destroyed, he had destroyed, but now he himself had become like a serpent. That time they spent together brought those people nothing closer to God. But listen to what God said through the prophet.

And then the prophet said, this is what God says, oh king, as you've shown them all your riches, everything you've got, this is what God says, those riches, everything you've got will be taken away from you and carried off by those people who came to see you.

They will take everything along. And even your sons and daughters, they will be taken, your sons will be made eunuchs and they will be officials in the courts of Babylon. So your descendants will be cut off.

And so the Babylonians were exposed to all the secrets of Judah and the king of Judah. They knew exactly where everything was and all the weaknesses, for they had been told of everything. So they could plan exactly, they knew exactly where they were weak and where they could strike first.

Do Not Befriend the Enemy

And God said, because you've done all this, you will no longer have a future. You won't be fruitful. You will become eunuchs. You'll be officials and slaves in the courts of the Babylonians. Now you boys and you girls, you make friends with the enemy, with the devil, with the world.

Give the devil your little finger. He'll take your whole hand. And what will the result be? You will be handing yourself over and there will be no future for you. Hezekiah, you started off wonderfully, but what a sad end you had, you men of God.

How things went wrong. How you betrayed the house of faith and formed a friendship with Babylon. This is not a time to sleep. You need to wake up from your sleep. You need to wake up from your sleep. You need to wake up from your sleep.

You need to wake up from your sleep. The Bible says he who overcomes, who is faithful to the end, will inherit the kingdom of heaven. But you child of God, how can you forsake life and embrace death? And the king said, when he heard all this, what the prophet said, he said, oh well, oh prophet, but well, it's good because at least you, what you've said, there will be peace in my days.

Selfishness and the Failure to Consider Future Generations

At least as long as I live, it will still be all right. But you heard what the premier said, um, that love does not seek its own. It's not selfish. Um, but here, this king was just concerned about his own wellbeing.

He thought nothing of his children. No compassion, no compassion or feeling for his offspring, even if they were killed. No compassion or feeling for those, for the others, only concerned about his own wellbeing.

Um, feeling nothing about his children, even though they would lose everything, even that royal position, which they had held, nothing would be left of it. Why? Because of them. Now, in closing a question.

Repentance and Returning to Faithfulness

Oh, you King Hezekiah, who had been as sharp as a razor before. Why are you now so blunt? You could pray a prayer that touched God's heart, but now you can't pray anymore. What's happened to your prayer life?

Are you now weak? And have you lost everything because of those people that you let into your house? Those friends that visited you? You were deceived like Eve was deceived by the serpent. Your life that had been such an example to everyone, even to other Kings.

But now things have gone totally wrong. Now, my question to you all is Hezekiah's story going to become your story? Will your descendants end up where his ended up? Cry to God and plead to him for mercy.

That you won't be blunt, but sharp. That you won't be lukewarm, but on fire for God. And you school children, you know of people who are writing letters. They've got a boyfriend, a girlfriend. They get up to things.

You know about it, but you keep quiet. And that's why your spiritual state is as it is. And you others? And you others who live in the city, what do you see during the week? What do you let into your life during the week?

Yes, you're here on a Sunday, but what about those things you've let into your life? Won't you also end up like Hezekiah? Only one thing will save and help you, and that is that you repent. That you cry to God.

Pray to him a prayer that will reach him. Lest your life be wiped out. Redeem the time. Get your house in order. And make right your life before the sun sets. You've sinned against your parents. Go to them.

Father, I'm sorry. I've sinned. I've wronged you. And to your mother, too. And say, Mother, I've hidden things. I've done things behind your back. Speak to your counselor. And you go and confess that you've actually just been messing around.

You've been just doing things in a half-hearted manner. Not with all your heart. Some of the things you say, other things you just keep to yourself. Let us pray. Lord, I pray that your word will not be in vain to anyone here, old or young, male or female.

May we be helped because of what we've heard about Hezekiah. And may we not go and experience what he has experienced. Now, Lord, may your grace abound with us all. May the love of God be with us and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

May we know that fellowship and that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all the truth. Amen.