Well, we continue our study in Second Chronicles and we come to a particular junction in the history of God's people. We've seen how from the beginning of the rule of King Hezekiah, how his every endeavor was for the glory of God and for the advancement of God's kingdom. And his desire was that the the worship in the temple should be reinstituted. And after a period of great decline where the temple doors were no longer in use and when the artifacts of the temple had been sitting to one side, idle. He restores a time of worship. And we've seen, as we have engaged in the study of 2 Chronicles, how graciously Hezekiah encourages all 12 tribes to attend upon the means of grace. And though some laughed him to scorn, others came and they had not seen a day like it in Israel since the time of Solomon. And the people rejoiced to see that day. Even as we would sing, we long to see thy churches full. How we do long for that, brethren. And as that work continued, The Passover was celebrated and they were having such a good time at Passover that they decided to extend it by a further seven days. Would that the Spirit of God would descend upon us that we would say we're having such a wonderful time in fellowship that we've decided to extend it. Now that may seem to be a fool's desire, or perhaps you might come to me after morning worship and say, I wish you'd preached for another hour. Well, that hasn't happened in my almost 40 years of ministry, but I'm not dead yet. There were times in the history of Christ Church and times of great revival when indeed men and women refused to go home. because the Spirit of God was so evidently present. And they wanted to hear more of what God had to say for the good of their souls. Well, we can't manufacture that, we can't force it. It has to be a pouring out of the Spirit of God. And while we wait upon the Lord and desire that blessing, than we are as those who would. Lord, send such a day that we might see it. I don't think the church has seen much of that in centuries, not in this land, and not in the land that gave me birth either. And yet, we do desire it. Well, let's think together about what the Word of God is saying upon these issues, and I don't want to start immediately with 2 Chronicles, but indeed to reflect just for a moment upon what we read from the Gospel of Christ by Matthew. It deals with what will be the situation at the last. It's something of a recognition, whether it's the end of our lives or the end of this world, of what we might hope. to hear as well as see. We're told in scripture that when we have done everything, that we should say, I am but an unprofitable servant. Now that's a statement of absolute truth. Because if you consider what has been paid in order to redeem you from death and sin, The cost of that, even the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no way that you, me, anyone else, or all of us put together would be worthy of that price. And yet such a price has been paid and so, We do recognize this is not any false modesty on your part or of mine to say I'm unprofitable. Considering the greatness of the investment, the return is pitifully small. So when you have done everything, you say I have only done what I ought to have done. If you have done everything, and I am still an unprofitable servant. Well there is something of a contrast with how we respond considering our own situation and what is told to us in this particular parable that Jesus gives. When he hands out the talents and goes away in the parable, the master goes away into far country and then returns to see what has happened. There's the two ends of the spectrum that are presented with somebody somewhere in the middle. One person receiving five talents and he is able to turn it into five talents more. And the response that is given by the master. Now I want you to pause at that particular moment and say, when your master, when my master, speaks at the very last, what words do you desire to hear from his lips? Is there anything you would rather hear from the lips of your master than these words? Well done, our good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. I cannot think for the life of me of anything that I would rather hear at last. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Well, these two ways of thinking about the last are held somewhat in tension. We would like to think of ourselves as being good and profitable, but the man who thinks of himself as good and profitable is probably neither. He is more the heir of the Pharisee congratulating himself in the temple than he does of the humble servant of the Lord. So I don't suppose that any of you here are going to rush to the front to tell me and declare, I'm a good and profitable servant. Is that just modesty on your part? Or you just know that you are neither good nor profitable? not in any truly meaningful way. It reminded me of what Churchill said about Clement Attlee, British Prime Minister, whom he described as being a sheep in sheep's clothing. About Attlee, he said, he's such a modest man, but he has so much to be modest about. Such a modest man. so much to be modest about. The need in every generation is surely this, to have saints that are good and profitable, good and faithful. The problem for the chronicler was that in his generation such men seemed to be absent. Written about the same time is the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem. If you're familiar with that particular book of the Old Testament, the history, people of God are returning from exile and Nehemiah and the providence of God returns. He doesn't return with an army of carpenters or of stone masons, he preaches the word. and men are brought under conviction and they begin the work of restoring the walls, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. And yet not always quite as perhaps he or we with him would have desired. As we turn just a few pages further on from 2 Chronicles and read from Nehemiah chapter 13, we'll see something of how Nehemiah reflects upon it. So you go from 2 Chronicles to Ezra, then to Nehemiah chapter 13 and at verse 10. I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them. so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each to his field. Well, what's going on there? Those that were appointed to minister in the house of God had not received the portions that should have been assigned to them. And because of that, what did they do? Well, magically eat, provide for his family, So each of them had gone back to his own fields to tend his own fields so that he could provide for himself. In other words, the work of the kingdom was being hindered because the people were not giving to the work of the kingdom. Also written about the same time from a minor prophet this time, we turn to Haggai. I knew I should have put my marker in. Here it is. Haggai comes immediately after Zephaniah and before Zechariah. Same period of time, Haggai is commenting upon the same situation that Nehemiah is roughly dealing with from verse four. Chapter 1 verse 4 of Haggai. Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? In other words, they had their own fine houses, but the house of God was not being looked after. So the problem was how to bring before the people of God the needs for support without sounding like the worst kind of tele-evangelists. And if you've ever had the misfortune to see any of them engaged in their disgraceful practices and worse, then you will perhaps understand why those who are in faithful churches, your own minister, elders and deacons, are somewhat reluctant to sound even for a moment slightly like them. Worse than a disgrace. It's what the unbelieving world points to when they want to bring the name of Christ into disrepute. They point to the tele-evangelists, with their demands for millions and millions of dollars. They're only after your money. And one has to say that one has a suspicion that the godless commentators are right. The enemy of our souls is sure to set before the world the worst excesses of those who call themselves Christians, and especially those who are Christian preachers, or at least have that in name. You'll get a flyover view of their huge mansions. You'll be treated to views of them standing on the steps of their private jets. They might even have their own runway so that they don't need to bother with lining up with everybody else. And when they are away from home, they spend their time in the most expensive hotels and the most expensive rooms in those hotels. They only want one thing from you, and that's your money. And they may be right. But there are other ways to shake the shackles free. Perhaps sometimes we show the pictures of hungry children and tug on the heart strings. That's the alternative to the promises of future reward. Plant your seed money now, give $1,000, you've got credit card debt, put another 1,000 on your credit card and miraculously it will disappear. what it is grace. So the Chronicler would set before us the needs for the upkeep of the temple and for those, as we have read from 2 Chronicles, to give the portion due to the priests and Levites that they might give themselves to the law of the Lord. But he's not setting before us pictures of the starving children of priests and of Levites. Here, take a look at these. And now, won't you give? Or, if I want to trust God for a $95 million private jet, you can't stop me. Oh, what a wonderful man of faith he must be. Well, the chronicler is writing in a period when the people of God had not been as generous as perhaps they needed to be. And so he's writing his chronicle not just to provide us with a history, but to provide us with lessons that as we make our way through it, we have seen and have always sought to make a direct and personal application. How does this speak not only to the days of Hezekiah, and not only to the days of the Chronicler, but how does this speak indeed to our day? Well, the chronicler would set before the people not only the basis, the need for the upkeep of the work of the kingdom, but he does so in a way which is not seeking to manipulate the emotions of his hearers. There's no emotional manipulation, no, um, seeking either to present a picture of destitute, ragged, clothed children, nor yet to boast of one's own faith that one is going to be made a multi-millionaire. And the way in which he does it is, first of all, to set before us something of a sequence And before we look at the sequence, I want to point you also to 1 John chapter four. That's the epistle, not the gospel. After Peter, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John chapter four, verse 19. 1 John chapter four, 19. I'll read down from that section. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment. that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandment abides in him and he in them and by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. And that is chapter three. I'm glad you all spotted that. Now, Now from chapter four, verse 19. And I'll just read the one verse. We love because he first loved us. There's a sequence. We love because he first loved us. And that's the order of events. You know, you can put the pictures of the starving children before people, and if they have any sensitivity of heart, they'll put their hands in their pockets. And they will give for as long as that picture has an imprint upon their memories. And it may be that you have some charismatic preacher who is able to whip up the enthusiasm of the crowd and tell you how he is trusting God for his $95 million private jet, and you think to yourself, well, if he can do it, so can I. It may be a bi-engine Cessna propeller, but you know, I'll trust God for that. But that's not what either the chronicler is doing, and it's certainly not my desire to set that before you at this morning hour. The people of God in the chronicle that is set before us have received already much from the hand of God. And as I just, in the brief introduction, as we reviewed the previous chapter, we'd seen God has raised up Hezekiah, and Hezekiah, as we have noted on previous Lord's Days, Nezekiah had this in his heart. His heart was to bring God glory. and reinstituting the temple, renovating it, cleaning it out, raising up the priests and the Levites, making sure that the sacrifices were available, done all those things. And when they came together for the Passover, as we saw last Lord's Day, they were so blessed by the Lord, they said, we don't want this to end. One week of celebration, of feasting for the Passover, not enough. Let's extend it for another week. That was a previous chapter. And the people of God now are encouraged. Hezekiah, of course, sets the example. Out of his own possessions, we're told, he sets these things out. and the people of God are responding to the goodness and the kindness of God. There's been something of a revival under the leadership. Of course it's a pouring out of the spirit of God, and yet that pouring out of the spirit of God uses human instrumentality. The people of God are brought together in a way which they had not seen since the days of Solomon. They celebrated the Passover. They extended it a second week. They knew God's blessing. They had received such tokens of his mercy that they were assured that their prayers were heard. How did the previous chapter conclude? previous chapter at verse 27, 2 Chronicles chapter 30 verse 27, then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people and their voice was heard and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven. How much more can we be assured, brethren, that our prayers come into his holy habitation. We who know the gospel message in a fullness in which our forefathers in faith did not know. And it's at this point truly, brethren, that I want to point you to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter two and verse four, Galatians. Ephesians, chapter two. Read from verse three. Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, Because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. I've always thought that those words of Paul were a bit clumsy. It doesn't read like high literature. And yet I would not have them any other way. Because of the great love with which he loved us. It's as though Paul is showing us by the very way in which he describes it that putting love into the sentence once was just not enough. The great love with which he loved us. I wonder sometimes if we use that expression which is very common in Christian service, God loves you, whether almost we are damning God with faint praise. If I'm understanding Paul all right at this point, he's saying it's more than that. I want you to know, brethren, that you are not only loved in heaven, but much loved in heaven. And so the people of God are joining together to celebrate God's grace and mercy to them. much loved in heaven. So we will sing, by God's grace, the love of Jesus, what it is, none but his loved ones know. Well, the time is getting away, and whether you've asked for a two-hour sermon or not, I want to stop before I get charged with outstanding my welcome. Consequence, secondly, and you'll be glad to know there's no third point today. It's just sequence and consequence. When a minister is called to a congregation, part of his call, according to the template, is, and that you might be free from all worldly care. Well, if we compare that with Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 10, where they fled each to his own field, we see that it wasn't honored so much in that particular occasion. But there's a contrast in 2 Chronicles to which the chronicler is pointing the men and women of his generation. Chapter 31, verses four and five. And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites that they might give themselves to the law of the Lord. No manipulation. A straightforward statement, that's what's needed. Because truly, we need men who know the word of God and desire to know it more, to know God better. Well, very briefly, I'm gonna direct your gaze now to Exodus chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33, the people of God had sinned greatly against the Lord with a golden calf. And then there is this wonderful interview for Moses before the Lord, which culminates in Moses almost blurting out, show me thy glory. And God causes his goodness to pass before him. But see the progression of the conversation. We'll read from verse 12, 33. See, you say to me, bring up this people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. Now, therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you. in order to find favor in your sight. There's a combination of both the sequence and the consequence. He says, I want to know you. Show me your ways that I know you better. And knowing you better, I might find favor in your sight. I'll live the sort of life you want me to live, that I may know you. He continues, and he said, my presence will, sorry, from verse 13 again. Now, therefore, I have, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people. He said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. He said, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here, for how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight? I and your people. Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct? I and your people. from every other people on the face of the earth. What separates us, brethren, from all the other nations of the earth? It is that God is with us. That God is with us. Well, here's the comment of the chief priest down in verse 10. What does it say? As arrived the chief priest who was the house of Zadok answered, since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have had plenty left. For the Lord has blessed his people. So that we have this large amount left. That's how the priest comments upon the offerings of God's people. Not coerced, not bullied into it, not manipulated into it, but just God loves me. I am much loved. He loved me first and now I would respond to that love. Doing God's work in God's way. So how does this chapter conclude? We'll read from verse 20. Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. Do you hear the echo? Good and faithful servant. He did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God in accordance with the law and the commandments seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered. Well, we are really out of time, but I would lay this one thing, this is not prospering in your business that is being spoken of. It's prospering before the Lord. Do you want to know God's blessing as Moses sets it before us? If you don't go with me, I'm not going. How am I to be known as your servant if you're not with me? How shall this people be known as your people if you're not with us? If you're not with us, we don't want to go. Hezekiah sets before the people that it is his love for the Lord, his heart that prompts him to do all these things. And he is described in scripture as a good and faithful servant. So what is it that you desire to hear more than anything else in the world? But at the last, that your master might say to you, well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Let's pray. Our gracious God and our heavenly Father, we would desire and long for the benediction of our God. We would desire and long to hear those words of commendation of which Jesus speaks. And yet, as we examine our hearts before thee, we do not boast of being good or faithful, but we would ask of thee, from whom all good gifts flow, that thou, O God, would enlarge our hearts to love thee more. For we would pray this in the name of our great Redeemer, even Jesus Christ our Lord. And all God's people said,