332 I have heard your prayer 333 He read in their hearing all the words

Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner

1. “I have heard your prayer.” Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 29 Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 20-22

2. 2 Kings 20:5 NIV "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD.

3. Hezekiah’s prayer did not cause God to alter His purpose. Rather, it was the very means by which God accomplished His purpose of grace for His elect. Wicked as he was, Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, was one of God’s elect.

4. 2 Chronicles 33:12 NIV In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

5. Manasseh would never have been born had Hezekiah not prayed and been spared fifteen years. And Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson, Hezekiah’s great grandson, was a direct ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6. Matthew 1:1 NIV This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:… 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

7. Never was there a king in Israel or in Judah more loyal, more godly, more thoroughly consecrated to God than Josiah. He destroyed the idols his father had built. He established the worship of God alone in Judah. More importantly, it was through Josiah’s descendants that the Lord Jesus Christ came as the Messiah and held rightful title to the throne of Israel.

8. God never makes a mistake. Providence never makes a wrong turn. God is always accomplishing His purpose of grace toward His elect. He gave Hezekiah the fifteen years he wanted (or thought he wanted), because it was His purpose to save Manasseh, Josiah, and you (child of God), and me through Hezekiah’s distant, distant Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

9. The favorites of heaven are exposed in common with all others to the humiliation of the grave. These bodies of flesh must die. These tabernacles of clay must return to the earth. But when believers drop their robe of flesh, all that lies before us is delightful! Hezekiah

10. Revelation 14:13 NIV Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." Psalms 116:15 NIV Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.

11. With the unbelieving, it is not so. Our dear Redeemer has turned our deathbeds into beds of peace, and hope, and anticipation. By His death, He overcame death. By His finished salvation, He delivered us who through fear of death were all our lifetime subject to bondage. He who is God our Savior, the great I AM, is the Resurrection and the Life; and believing in Him we shall never die!

12. When we exchange by the grave the outer courts of God’s house for the inner temple of his glory, we shall see our Savior as He is. We shall awake in His likeness and be with Him forever! Yes, we must and shall leave the inhabitants of the world when we drop off this earthly tabernacle.

13. But can it be a matter of regret to exchange this world for the upper, to exchange earth for heaven, to leave the company of evil men for the company of angels and the spirits of just people made perfect, to exchange mortality for immortality?

14. Will any blood-bought, heaven-born soul think of the everlasting bliss of perfect conformity to Christ, perfect communion with Christ, and perfect consecration to Christ with sorrow, regret, or hesitation? Let it not be so with me. Let it not be so with you.

15. Manasseh stands before us as a marvelous monument to mercy. Manasseh tells us there is forgiveness with God so He may be feared. Yet, when we look at Amon his son, hardened in rebellion and unbelief, we are reminded grace does not run in blood lines. Manasseh

16. Salvation does not come by family connections. Salvation is the gift of God’s free, sovereign, distinguishing grace in Christ. We have been born again. John 1:13 NIV children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

17. Romans 9:16 NIV It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. Psalms 65:4 NIV Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

18. 2 Chronicles 34:1 NIV Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. Josiah

19. 3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.

20. The young king walked with God. When he was just sixteen years old he began to seek the God of his father David . Four years later at 20 years old, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of idolatry. O God of all grace, give our nations such rulers again! Give your church and kingdom in this world such rulers, faithful Elders & Ministers!

21. Blessed Lord Jesus, make me such a man as this young man Josiah was! Make my heart tender before You; graciously compel me to humble myself before You and bow down my heart in the dust before You in the acknowledgement and confession of my sin. Grant that Your precious blood and perfect righteousness may be my constant and everlasting hiding place.

22. Psalms 71:1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me; turn your ear to me and save me. 3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

23. “He read in their hearing all the words.” Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 30 Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 23-24

24. 2 Kings 23:2 NIV He went up to the temple of the LORD with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD.

25. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD—to follow the LORD and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

26. Good king Josiah assembled all the people of Israel and, standing by a pillar in the house of God, “ he read in hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant ” of God that Hilkiah the priest found in the Temple.

27. With holy joy, he led the people in the celebration of the Passover and covenanted together with all the people to walk with God, consecrating themselves to him “ with all his heart and all his soul …Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.”

28. How thankful and joyful we ought to be in the assembly of God’s saints for the worship of God in this gospel day! What a great privilege it is to hear the gospel of the ever blessed God preached, to read His Word, to sing His praises, and to call upon His name in prayer in union with His saints in the house of God! Our Assemblies

29. As Josiah gathered all under his influence to the house of God, so we ought to exert all the energies at our disposal to bring all under our influence with us to the house of God, that they may come to know, trust, love, and worship God our Savior.

30. If the mere celebration of the typical Passover feast was so memorable, how our hearts ought to erupt with joy at the thought of keeping the feast of Christ our Passover in the Church of the living God! Truly, there never was celebrated such a Passover as this! Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us; and we feast upon Him by faith, eating His flesh and drinking His blood. And feasting on Him, we have eternal life abiding in us.

31. As we close the book of 2 nd Kings , we see Jerusalem ruined. Generation after generation, the children of Israel and Judah despised God’s ordinances, ignored His prophets, and went a whoring after the works of their own hands. Jerusalem Ruined

32. How brazenly the sons and daughters of Adam persevere in sin, shoving God out of their way, if I might be permitted to use such language, and running madly to hell! In the destruction of Jerusalem we see the sure and inevitable consequence of sin. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NIV

33. In the light of the things we read in 2 Kings 24 , I am compelled, my God, to beg Your grace that I may constantly flee to Christ for refuge. Ever fleeing to Christ, let me hear Your voice in my soul saying, "I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? … Hosea 13:14abcd NIV

34. O Lord God, be gracious to your land, your church. For Christ’s sake, be not angry with your people. Remember not our iniquities! But be jealous for your name and for your Zion. Turn us; and we shall be turned. Draw us; and we will run after you. Heal us; and we shall be healed.

35. HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS?

36. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

37. He was buried and rose on the third day.

38. When He did this He solved 2 problems we all have. He solved our sin problem because He nailed our sins to the cross; & He solved our grave problem when He rose from the dead because it proved we could also rise from the dead.

39. Jesus said, if we want to get in on of all this we must . . . BE BORN AGAIN. FOLLOW HIM; &

40. ISN’T THAT GREAT NEWS? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH TODAY?

41. Mark 16:15 NIV  He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Numbers 6:24 NIV '"The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.“’