Why Bible-Based Living Matters (2 Chronicles 17)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:08.589 Let's try our attention this evening to second chronicles, chapter seventeen. Second chronicles, 2 00:00:08.669 --> 00:00:17.309 chapter seventeen, Jehoshah Fat, his son, reigned in his place and 3 00:00:17.429 --> 00:00:23.059 strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah 4 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:28.140 and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that 5 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:33.859 Asa, his father, had captured. The Lord was with Jehosaphat because he 6 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:38.649 walked in the earlier ways of his father, David. He did not seek 7 00:00:38.770 --> 00:00:44.289 the bales, but sought the god of his father and walked in his commandments 8 00:00:45.049 --> 00:00:50.479 and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the 9 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.920 kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshah Fhat, and 10 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.880 he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the ways of 11 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:07.870 the Lord and furthermore, he took the high places and the Ashureine out of 12 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:14.109 Judah. In the third year of his reign, he sent officials Ben Hale 13 00:01:14.870 --> 00:01:22.540 Obadiah, Zachariah, the FANEL and macaiah to teach in the cities of Judah, 14 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:30.819 and with them the Levites Shamaiah of Thethanaiah Zebadiah, Asahel, shamiramoth, 15 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:42.569 Jehonahthan Adonaisia, Tobijah and Tobana Jaya, and with these levites the priests Elishama 16 00:01:44.170 --> 00:01:48.920 and Jehoram, and they taught in Judah, having the book of the Law 17 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:52.959 of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah 18 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:59.319 and taught among the people, and the fear of the Lord fell upon all 19 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.269 the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war 20 00:02:02.469 --> 00:02:08.349 against Jehosaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshah fat presence and Silver for tribute, 21 00:02:08.590 --> 00:02:14.669 and the Arabians also brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand 22 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:21.139 seven hundred goats, and Jehoshah fat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah 23 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:25.699 fortresses and store cities and he had a large supplot and had large supplies in 24 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:30.889 the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of Valor, in 25 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:36.770 Jerusalem. This was the muster of them by the father's houses of Judah, 26 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:40.650 the commanders of thousands Oddna, the commander with three hundred thousand mighty men of 27 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:46.479 Valor, and next to him Jehoah Hoanon, the commander, with twenty two 28 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:51.159 hundred and eighty thousand, and next to him amy say Yah, the son 29 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:54.039 of Zick agree, a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with two 30 00:02:54.039 --> 00:03:00.110 hundred thousand mighty men of Valor, of Benjamin Eliada, a mighty man of 31 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:04.469 valor, with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield, and next 32 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:08.270 to him Jehosah Jehosah bad, with a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war. 33 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:15.219 These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king 34 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:21.979 had placed in the forty five cities throughout all Judah. May God indeed bless 35 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:34.729 his word to us. Well. Now in the chronicles we come to King 36 00:03:34.810 --> 00:03:40.009 Jehoshah fat. This king is the son of Aza Asa, the son of 37 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:46.039 Abijah, the son of Solomon, the son of David. He is the 38 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:51.719 third king now in what's called the divided kingdom. I'm you might, if 39 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.870 you forget a little bit or aren't familiar with the history, a wonder how 40 00:03:55.949 --> 00:04:00.909 it's a good thing that he set himself against Israel. I'm usually that's not 41 00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:04.949 a good thing in the Bible, and this is coming from verse one, 42 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:11.900 that he strengthened himself against Israel. But you remember that after Solomon, the 43 00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:15.019 Kingdom of Israel, God's great kingdom in the land of Canaan, that had 44 00:04:15.019 --> 00:04:24.329 been united under day AAVID and united under Solomon, divided into the Israel aposticized 45 00:04:25.250 --> 00:04:30.129 from the Lord, the King. They're kicked out, the priests and Levites, 46 00:04:30.209 --> 00:04:36.970 a set up false gods and and other terrible practices. Meanwhile the Kingdom 47 00:04:38.009 --> 00:04:44.120 of God continued on in the southern kingdom, in in Judah, where King 48 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:47.800 Jehoshah fat is ruling. And so when he sets himself against Israel, on 49 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:54.310 the one hand he is setting himself for strengthening himself against his brothers, and 50 00:04:54.430 --> 00:04:58.990 until the kingdom is united again, that will always remain a sore point and 51 00:04:59.110 --> 00:05:04.149 a sad a tragedy. But he's also uniting himself and in some ways against 52 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:11.699 the enemies of the Lord. A difficult situation, no doubt. But here 53 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:16.139 the chronicler begins to teach us about Jehoshah fat's reign in Judah. It's going 54 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:21.170 to cover the next four chapters and we see that Jehosha fat, like those 55 00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:26.009 who had come before him, was something of a mixed bag, to use 56 00:05:26.050 --> 00:05:30.970 a cliche. He was good in many ways. We see him ruling so 57 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:34.720 well in this chapter, but then in other places we will see where he 58 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:41.480 failed, where he falls, and in that I think that Jehoshah fat is 59 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:46.519 very relatable, because he's a lot like you and me. We have our 60 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:49.670 strengths, we have our moments of success, times where we think that we 61 00:05:49.829 --> 00:05:55.709 are doing very well, and perhaps we are. We're encouraged, were courageous, 62 00:05:56.350 --> 00:06:00.110 we're following after the things of the Lord, walking according to his paths 63 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:03.980 and his commandments, and then other times in our lives, perhaps even on 64 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:13.300 the same day, we find ourselves falling so terribly into sin and evils that 65 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:19.689 perhaps just that morning would have been unspeakable to us. And so Jehoshah fhat 66 00:06:20.089 --> 00:06:28.290 is imperfect, but as the king of the Lord and as one who is 67 00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:32.759 ruling in Judah, he does teach us about king Jesus. He prepares the 68 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:39.920 way by chronicling these kings, and Jehoshah fat in particulars we think about him 69 00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:44.319 this evening, the chronicler is telling us about our king and our Lord, 70 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:47.670 the final king who would come to see it set on the throne that had 71 00:06:47.709 --> 00:06:53.230 been promised to David. And as we go and continue to go through chronicles, 72 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:57.990 we always have to remind ourselves that this is ultimately the point, not 73 00:06:58.189 --> 00:07:03.060 just to learn the great history of God's amazing acts, but they point forward 74 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:11.220 to future history, history which tells us about Jesus, the ways where Jehoshaphat 75 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:16.050 is successful. We see how Jesus is successful, where Jehoshah fat fails. 76 00:07:16.170 --> 00:07:25.449 We see the ways in which Jesus is successful. Tonight, in particular, 77 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:30.560 we are reminded of what it means to be king and to ruled by the 78 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.920 word of God, what it means to rule by the word of God, 79 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:42.480 as King under God. I want you to notice three ways in which Jehoshah 80 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:47.750 fat is very obedient in this particular way which he really succeeds, ways in 81 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:55.910 which he's a model and you should be inspired by his example. First, 82 00:07:56.750 --> 00:08:00.139 he rules by the word of God. In being obedient to the word of 83 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:05.220 God, you see this in verse three. The Lord was with Jehoshah fat 84 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:09.459 because he walked in the earlier ways of his father, David. He did 85 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:15.170 not seek the seek the bales, but sought the god of his father and 86 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:22.009 walked in his commandments and not according to the practices of Israel. Excuse me. 87 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:26.839 So the first thing we're told is that he walked. He walked in 88 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.159 the earlier ways of his father David. This is a reminder that some of 89 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:37.080 David's later times were not as wonderful as his earlier times, a little bit 90 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:41.470 of foreshadowing, even of Jehosha fat. Nevertheless, I Joshah fad is is 91 00:08:41.590 --> 00:08:46.549 praised here, and a reason for God's giving him success is that he was 92 00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:52.029 doing this. He was walking in the good and positive, biblical, Godly 93 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:58.500 ways of his father David. This metaphor of walking is a common one to 94 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:05.019 describe obedience to the Lord. When you think about your own obedience. That's 95 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:09.340 good one to call to mind. Walking, for a couple reasons. Is 96 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:15.450 Important this as a metaphor one. It's a kind of continuing action. Obedience 97 00:09:15.529 --> 00:09:20.690 to the Lord isn't a sort of series of discreet events or points on a 98 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:24.840 on a graph or something like that. Okay, here and here and here. 99 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.080 Obedience to the Lord is described here as a pathway. There's this continual 100 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:37.080 staying on it, whether you're stopping or going or resting, your moving along 101 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.909 this, this way and here he's described as doing that in accordance with the 102 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:48.230 commandments of God. The opposite is the ways of Israel, the ways of 103 00:09:48.669 --> 00:09:56.419 the Baal's. Now, bail was the name of one of the great cannonite 104 00:09:56.659 --> 00:10:01.940 deities. You remember that when Israel came into the the land of Canaan, 105 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:07.450 there were people, they're already and they were worshiping God's, bail being one 106 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:13.370 of them, the Asteroth and Ashra being another. So when we read in 107 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:16.289 verse seven that he took out the high places of the Ashuream, and this 108 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:20.049 is another God, a related God to bail, that is being referred to, 109 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:28.600 bail is sometimes distinguishable from other bails and sometimes not. The history of 110 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:33.360 it's a little bit confusing. We don't have a lot of information, but 111 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:39.070 what we do know is that bail was nothing like Yahwey. Bail was nothing 112 00:10:39.269 --> 00:10:45.590 like the God who ruled over the heavens and the Earth, who made the 113 00:10:45.750 --> 00:10:52.779 seas and the dry land, who created these things and rescued Israel. He 114 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:58.500 was nothing like that. He was called the son of Dagon. You remember 115 00:10:58.580 --> 00:11:03.570 that Dagon was this great idol that fell before the altar of the Lord, 116 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:11.090 fell before the Ark of the Lord, rather when it was placed by the 117 00:11:11.210 --> 00:11:16.610 Philistines before him. They wake up what morning and the idol is down on 118 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:24.360 the ground, decapitated and and and worse. The Lord God is supreme and 119 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:31.840 neither Dagon nor his son bail and do anything to Yahweh. You remember Elijah 120 00:11:31.990 --> 00:11:37.830 on Mount Carmel and the Prophets of bail, I'm screaming and yelling and whipping 121 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:43.470 themselves all to get bail to do something to light this this meet, the 122 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:50.179 sacrifice on fire. Couldn't do it all day long, weeping, wailing, 123 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:54.139 whipping and all the rest. The profit of the Lord. Praise and fire 124 00:11:54.419 --> 00:12:01.850 reigns down on heaven and consumes the whole thing. This is the great distinction 125 00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:05.610 between the Canaanite Gods, the false gods, the pretend gods, and the 126 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:11.570 real God, the true God of Israel. And yet, despite these obvious 127 00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:18.240 distinctions, true and false, living and not living or fake, the people 128 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:24.879 were constantly tempted to go after the bail's, to go after the false gods. 129 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:31.190 These gods in the stories were promised to be those who are victorious over 130 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:35.710 death, over chaos. Bail was a champion, a master, a husband, 131 00:12:35.990 --> 00:12:41.629 a leader one who is in charge of fertility and production in the land. 132 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:46.259 But over and over again, what do we see? Who is really 133 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:50.940 in charge of these things? Where does success happen? Where does failure happen? 134 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:54.980 Over and over again, it's not bail, but it's y'all way. 135 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:01.850 And JEHOSHA FAT got this. He understood this and, unlike the northern kingdom 136 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:07.330 and unlike people in his own kingdom, he did not pursue and seek after 137 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:11.850 the ways of the Baial's but after the God of Israel. He walked in 138 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.399 his ways, he followed after his commandments, not the commandments of a false 139 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:26.240 god. The second thing we see about Jehosha fat. First, he followed 140 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:30.309 the way of the Lord and being obedient. Second, he was obedient really 141 00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:37.070 in his heart. Sometimes there are people who are very moral, even very 142 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:41.139 religious, do all kinds of good things, but it's something of a show, 143 00:13:43.700 --> 00:13:48.940 for of going through the motions. This is true and something that we 144 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:54.940 see. Perhaps you've even felt it in your own lives, where from day 145 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:58.769 to day you're kind of doing the things you ought to do, but it's 146 00:13:58.850 --> 00:14:05.610 not from the heart. Jehosha fat, we read, was convicted in his 147 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:11.000 heart. Am about these things. He wasn't merely going through the motions, 148 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:15.600 but in verse six we read that his heart was courageous in the ways of 149 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:20.600 the Lord, and that's really where true obedience comes from. When you the 150 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:28.230 surrounding culture or the pressures of politics or whatever else is is pushing in on 151 00:14:28.389 --> 00:14:33.029 you to say follow after something else, how do you stay strong? You 152 00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:37.309 have to be courageous from the heart. It's really the only way. It 153 00:14:37.429 --> 00:14:41.100 has to start deep down inside, and that's what Jehosha Fett did. He 154 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:46.779 was courageous in the ways of the Lord, in his heart, in his 155 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:52.500 inmost being. So he was obedient first, but he was it was heartfelt 156 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:56.610 obedience. Number two and the third way we see and we see this great 157 00:14:56.690 --> 00:15:03.049 king ruling and being a king according to the word of the Lord, and 158 00:15:03.850 --> 00:15:07.440 that he did not do this just for himself, but he sought this same 159 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:13.559 kind of life for all his people. How do we see this? Well, 160 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:20.000 his diligence and commitment to the word of the Lord, the commandments of 161 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:22.710 the Lord, the ways of the Lord. We see that in verses one 162 00:15:22.789 --> 00:15:28.190 through six, but then in verses seven through nine we see him sending out 163 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:37.220 officials, leavites, and priests and he gives them the book of the law, 164 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:43.299 which is Deuteronomy. Make sure everyone's got a copy of Deuteronomy in their 165 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:48.740 hands. and He sends them out. He sends them out into Israel to 166 00:15:50.009 --> 00:15:58.730 teach. Jehosha fat as king wanted these things not just for himself. Wanted 167 00:15:58.809 --> 00:16:02.169 the ways of the Lord and the blessings of the Lord not just for him, 168 00:16:02.529 --> 00:16:07.159 but he had a responsibility as a leader over this great household out of 169 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.879 this great kingdom of God. He had a responsibility to see that they were 170 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:15.759 following in those ways as well. That's why he takes down the high places 171 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:19.909 and Ashreem, it's why he sends out these officials and priests and Levites and 172 00:16:19.990 --> 00:16:26.389 says teach, teach the book of the law. And that's exactly what they 173 00:16:26.429 --> 00:16:30.350 did. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the 174 00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:37.340 people. So here is a good king with his authority and with his might 175 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:41.299 and strength. Instead of abusing his power and saying I'm going to do what 176 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:45.379 I want, when I want, in the ways that I want, he 177 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:52.529 follows the ways of the Lord. Additionally, instead of using that power just 178 00:16:52.850 --> 00:17:00.169 for himself, he accepts the responsibilities of watching over his people, of guarding 179 00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:07.279 them and protecting them, and so he sends out officials and priests and Levites 180 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:11.640 to go through all the cities of Judah and to teach the word of the 181 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:19.589 Lord. So this is King Jehosha fat ruling according to God's word. What 182 00:17:19.670 --> 00:17:25.430 does this teach us about the final king, even our king, now, 183 00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:30.380 King Jesus. Well, Jesus of course like this, but even more so. 184 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:36.579 First, he is, of course obedient. He is obedient to God's 185 00:17:36.619 --> 00:17:40.740 word. He never blinks an eye, he never strays from the path of 186 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.730 the Lord, not once, not even slightly. A lot of us, 187 00:17:44.730 --> 00:17:47.529 when it comes to the path of the paths of the Lord, sometimes like 188 00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:51.569 the kind of creep along the edge a little bit, sort of see how 189 00:17:52.049 --> 00:17:55.849 close to the edge of the path that we can get without quite stepping over. 190 00:17:55.890 --> 00:18:02.880 Jesus was always true because it came from the heart. Jesus wasn't going 191 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.400 through the motions, he was being truly obedient as God's one and only and 192 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:15.950 eternal son. We see this in his actions. Peter Testifies to this in 193 00:18:15.109 --> 00:18:19.950 First Peter to First Peter two, verse twenty two, he says of Jesus. 194 00:18:22.190 --> 00:18:26.900 He has left us an example. He committed no sin, neither was 195 00:18:27.059 --> 00:18:32.420 deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile 196 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:37.539 and return. When he suffered, he did not threatened threatened, but continued 197 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:42.930 in, trusting himself to him who judges justly. This was Jesus's life. 198 00:18:45.170 --> 00:18:52.970 Even people that we know casually, it's not too difficult to find some area 199 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:57.200 and way in which they not acted at least as best as they could, 200 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:03.279 if not to find out right sins. We can certainly say that of ourselves 201 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:08.480 and the people that we know closely. We have four gospels about Jesus. 202 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:14.670 We have all kinds of prophetic testimony before them, all kinds of teaching is 203 00:19:14.670 --> 00:19:18.589 about him after them, and in all that material, all that we learn 204 00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:22.750 about him, there's not a single place where we can point to and say 205 00:19:22.309 --> 00:19:27.660 that wasn't so good. All of it is full of righteousness and honor. 206 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:33.019 At every single moment, our Lord followed in the paths of the Lord, 207 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:40.170 knowing them, never confused, always wise. He was obedient, and it 208 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:45.369 was heartfelt too, wasn't it? Jesus did the right thing, even it 209 00:19:45.529 --> 00:19:52.329 was when it was unpopular. Jesus did the right thing even when he was 210 00:19:52.450 --> 00:19:59.200 under great temptation by Satan himself. Jesus did the right thing even under the 211 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:07.039 threat of persecution and death. He did the right thing even when everyone else 212 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:11.430 would have thought are he wouldn't. Everyone else thought that doing something else would 213 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:17.390 be the right thing. Make Yourself, King Jesus. Don't go to the 214 00:20:17.509 --> 00:20:23.500 cross, Jesus. But Jesus always knew his mission. Jesus always knew the 215 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:29.859 ways of the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, and he followed them 216 00:20:30.579 --> 00:20:36.930 perfectly and from his heart. And what about this last one? As King 217 00:20:36.970 --> 00:20:41.130 Jehosha fat are ruled not only for himself, but made sure that those who 218 00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:45.609 were under his authority knew about the word of God and were following in its 219 00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:49.839 ways, as much as he had power to do. Does King Jesus do 220 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:59.680 this? Absolutely he brings out obedience in our lives. He takes us and 221 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:04.470 not only preaches to US and sends to US officials and ministers and apostles and 222 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:08.190 prophets and all the rest, sending them out through all the cities of the 223 00:21:08.309 --> 00:21:15.309 world, but then he actually affects that change, something Jehosha fat could have 224 00:21:15.349 --> 00:21:19.299 never done. Jehosha fat could have preached all day long till he was blue 225 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:22.900 in the face. It would have been a good thing, a holy thing. 226 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:27.619 But JEHOSHA fat can't change a heart. Jesus, however, can do 227 00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:33.089 both. He can send people out and he can change our hearts. He's 228 00:21:33.130 --> 00:21:38.049 if and, as he has done with us, he's taken us, who 229 00:21:38.130 --> 00:21:44.930 were disobedient to the word of God, worshiping Baal's and money and all kinds 230 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:52.279 of other idols, and has made us desirous to follow his commandments, to 231 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:59.359 call them a delight, to call them as sweet as drippings from the honeycomb. 232 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.069 Who could do that except for King Jesus? And he has done that. 233 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:08.430 King Jesus is much like Jehosha Fat, but in greater ways. He 234 00:22:10.390 --> 00:22:15.900 sends this sanctifying word by the power of his spirit all throughout the world and 235 00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:22.059 affects change in people's lives in such a way the King Jesus is establishing a 236 00:22:22.619 --> 00:22:32.490 Kingdom of holiness, of righteousness, and one that won't last for a season 237 00:22:32.569 --> 00:22:37.289 then getting get overtaken again by another season of bales and Canaanite worship and whatever 238 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:45.200 else, but a kingdom that will last forever. This is why Jesus is 239 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:51.240 the final king. This is why we're not hoping for someone else. This 240 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:56.680 is why we don't just obeyed use us, but we worship him as the 241 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:04.309 God who can accomplish not only creation but new creation, who can establish not 242 00:23:04.430 --> 00:23:11.230 just a temporal kingdom but an eternal one. And this, of course, 243 00:23:11.470 --> 00:23:17.059 has lots of applications for us. One of them is that we have to 244 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:22.980 choose who we are going to obey. Are we going to trust and obey 245 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:29.650 the things of this world, the popularity contests of this world, the pressures 246 00:23:29.769 --> 00:23:33.210 and fears of this world? Are we going to find our final hope and 247 00:23:33.369 --> 00:23:41.289 kings and presidents and rulers and bosses and parents and other authority figures, or 248 00:23:41.369 --> 00:23:51.680 are we going to place our ultimate hope in Jesus and his kingdom? You 249 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:56.029 know what I think you should do, and I think that because that's what 250 00:23:56.230 --> 00:24:03.430 God says. When God delivers his word to us, he's sending he's sending 251 00:24:03.509 --> 00:24:08.069 this word to us, even as these people in Judah heard it. He's 252 00:24:08.309 --> 00:24:15.779 calling us to a particular kingdom and he wants us to heed his word. 253 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:22.380 How do we become a part of that kingdom, he tells us, it's 254 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:26.650 by trusting in Jesus, by relying on him, by calling him our Savior 255 00:24:27.329 --> 00:24:33.210 and our Lord. And when we do so, that means doing it not 256 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:38.519 merely with our mouths, just saying things, but but believing it in our 257 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:48.200 hearts and following through with actions. To belong to him means being courageous in 258 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:52.309 our hearts. That begins with faith. It means saying that the things of 259 00:24:52.430 --> 00:24:59.509 this world are ultimately not going to persuade you more than the things that Jesus 260 00:24:59.589 --> 00:25:03.869 brings in the Kingdom of Heaven. And it also means following after him, 261 00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:11.420 learning his ways, learning his paths and following the word of the Lord that 262 00:25:11.579 --> 00:25:17.779 he has taught us. King Jehosha fat is a good example of how we 263 00:25:17.859 --> 00:25:22.809 ought to live our lives, but King Jesus is the power by which we 264 00:25:22.009 --> 00:25:27.490 can live those kinds of lives. He's our ultimate safety, in our security, 265 00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:36.079 he is our king and he is so forever. Let us pray to 266 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:40.759 him then and as that he would accept us and bring us into his kingdom 267 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.599 by His grace and that he would keep us there forever.