We turn in the word of God to 2nd Chronicles 31. 2nd Chronicles chapter 31. The Lord's Supper has passed. What now? Or to put it in the context of this chapter, the Passover has ended. What now? that opening section, that opening clause in verse 1, not when all this was finished. So everything in this chapter follows immediately directly from the Passover that had been observed in the previous chapter. So everything flows from the Passover that had been observed. It's fitting in Providence that this comes after our own Lord's Supper. It's just wonderful how in Providence things all fit together. I'm preaching through this book, I don't design anything, I don't plan anything, practically, and all I do is study the chapters in front of me, but in Providence it occurs now. What now? Our subject from this chapter is continuing the blessing. Continuing the blessing. First of all, verse one, pursuing reformation. All who were present at the Passover engaged in this further work of reformation. Effectively, and clearly, they said to themselves, what have I now to do anymore with idols? They had kept the Passover, they saw the immediate implication, and they set about a work of reformation. I'm not sure that perhaps occurred to you when we were having the Lord's Supper, or perhaps in the aftermath of it, you reckoned, what now in light of the Lord's Supper? Which is why you have the word to encourage you, to assist and to help and to direct. And you will notice the geography of Reformation. Judah, yes, of course. Benjamin, yes, indeed. But also Ephraim and Manasseh. the geography of Reformation. Remember, they came from Ephraim and Manasseh to the Passover. So they're taking the blessing of the Passover home with them to engage in Reformation. So the impact of the Passover is now more fully realized and practiced. Whatever else may or may not have happened, we don't know what else happened. But here God tells you, this is the first thing that happens after the Passover. Oh, there had been a work of reformation before the Passover. But consequent to the Passover is a more thorough reformation. This is the key thing. You know, whenever you go to a conference and meet a lot of people and hear some good preaching and you get all fired up and excited, you know what happens? Within 24 hours, all of that enthusiasm has almost disappeared. The next day, yes, you may have some sentiments regarding that conference and the time had, but you know, over a period of time, it just all filters out. Well, here they didn't attend a conference. They attended the Passover. And they concluded as a consequence, we have to do something about this. We have to follow through on our communion with the Lord. Remember, that's what the Passover was. It was communion with the Lord. And surely we have to do something with our lives as a result of having communion with the Lord. We sat, as it were, at His table. What did the Lord require of us? What are we anymore to do with idols? To continue a work of reformation. And that's what's missing in our day, isn't it? That's what's needed in our day. The blessing received is now being worked out in their lives. It wasn't a case of they turned up at the Passover, had a jolly good time, and said, see you next time. They made their way to the Passover with all its importance, with all its solemnity, with all that it signified, and they took the blessing with them. They worked it out in their lives. And reformation is the result. It's the first thing that happens. It really is quite striking, isn't it? Pursuing reformation. But then secondly, in this very long section, from verse two to verse 19, which is really the bulk of the chapter, ministry maintained. At first reading it perhaps may seem all rather formal and strange. You may have listened to the reading or followed the reading and thought well you know I get the first verse but what do these next rack of verses have to do with me now? Well as we go through this there are five things we will see and I hope that you will immediately see the New Testament parallel to these points. I might give you one or two New Testament references, but I do expect you to follow up the rest yourself. So what do these verses tell us about the ministry maintained? Well, first of all, you will note the function of the ministry in verse two. Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his services, the priests and Levites for purge offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord. The ministry exists to oversee and engage in spiritual things. So from the very outset, before we go any further, God says you must understand the role, purpose, function of the minister. To give thanks and to praise, to minister and to conduct worship. In other words, they were to be wholly given over to the exercise of spiritual things. The parallel is Acts 6.4. We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. That's the function of ministry. It does not exist for itself. It exists in order to engage in this precise, particular function. Ministry, worship, to offer to God, to oversee the worship of God. And there, of course, at that time in Israel. So the function of ministry. That's an important point. And there's a wonderful little book that came out a couple of years ago, Graham McGraw, what non-preachers should know about preaching or something like that. And it's setting out for those who are not preachers, well actually this is what you need to know about the minister. Because of its function in the lives of the Lord's people. peace in the cause of God. Secondly, the warrant for ministry, in verse three, as it is written in the law of the Lord. In other words, everything pertaining to that ministry has its warrant in God's command. It is no other warrant or ground than that. There was a practice, Sure, maybe it's still carried on in some places, but you know, in some of these grand families, the eldest son inherited the estate. So he became the lord of the manor after his father died. And the second tended to go into the law. And if they had a third, they said, well, you can go into the ministry. It's an appalling approach to the ministries. And there are some who think, well, I'm no good at anything else, I must be fitted for the ministry. That's equally appalling in our age. The world lies in the command of God. And so in the New Testament, God commands that the word be preached. What does the Lord require? He requires ministry. He has commanded it. And because he has commanded it, in a time where there is an absence of ministers, the Savior taught us we must pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest. A moment ago, that's exactly what was prayed, that the Lord would seize and arrest young men so that they would give serious consideration to the work of ministry and that they would be persuaded often to go into the ministry. And in her own denomination, that of course is a great need. in some other places they have a glut, because well, the benefits and the perks are so grand, but we have neither benefits nor perks, and we take it as it is, because there's a warrant for the ministry, so that's it. And we leave the rest with the Lord. So there's a warrant for ministry. But then thirdly, in verse four, the adherence to ministry. Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. That word encouraged is elsewhere translated strong, prevail, whole. In other words, adhering to, to stick fast to be bound to, to be devoted to, quite simply, to attend upon the ministry without distraction. So the maintenance of the ministry is designed to ensure they are encouraged to stick at it. It's quite remarkable that we have an abundance of people, of men, who have left the ministry. They've gone, as they say, back into secular employment, whatever that is. There's a kind of a papist distinction being made there in their thinking. You may not be in the ministry, but you're in full-time work for the Lord. So let's have a good, reformed, Protestant, biblical view of callings. What they have said effectively is, that calling, I'm quitting. I want to take up a different calling. Seems very strange. But the Lord has called one into the ministry. He then somehow uncalls them to go do something else. And perhaps, some serious work needs to be done in terms of examining what exactly is going on. Fourthly, verses five to 10, and here there's a shift, as it were, from the actual ministry itself. So our fourth point is the maintenance of ministry. Verses five to 10. You will notice that As soon as the commandment came, the last line tells you that they brought in abundantly. They gave to the Lord. In fact, the word elsewhere is by heaps. And you will notice an important principle here being worked out. It was not to the individuals directly. They gave to the Lord. Now that's a very important point and I'll come back to it by way of application. But for now it is enough to note they gave to the Lord directly. They did not give to individuals. In other words, their giving was directed to the Lord from which the ministry was maintained. You should also notice that the people responded to the commandment, and that the response was on the one hand generous, they give abundantly, verse five, and we might say profuse, because in verse 12, they give tithes and offerings. The offerings were in addition to the tithes. So the tithe was the set amount, and then the offering was everything. in addition to that, the maintenance of the ministry. And then fifthly, from verse 11 to 19, the distribution of maintenance. We notice according to verse 12, it was done faithfully. Verse 12, brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things So it was faithfully done, not haphazard or when they felt like it. And we also notice in this whole section, which again seems very strange to you, it was comprehensively done. What do I mean by that? Well, no one was left out. Neither young nor old, like three years old and up, verse 16, 20 years old and up, verse 17. Neither families, verse 18, nor individuals, verse 19. Neither great nor small, according to verse 15. As well to the greatest to the small. Neither near nor far, verse 19. In other words, the cities on the country. So it was comprehensively maintained. throughout the whole country. So we have pursuing reformation, ministry maintained, and then thirdly, the last two verses, 20 and 21, personal sincerity, personal sincerity. As Hezekiah, so did everyone else. And thus did Hezekiah through it all judge, and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth before the Lord his God, and in every work that he began, in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered. So as Hezekiah, so everyone else. There are four things actually you have here. First of all, three qualities. What are the three qualities? It's in three words, good, right, and truth. So here were three qualities that mark all that he did and all Judah did before the Lord. Good, right, and truth. Secondly, two spheres. The two spheres were in the service of the house of God and in the law and commandments. And thirdly, one passion with all his heart. With all his heart. And fourthly, God's verdict upon it. and prosper. Now, this is not a health, wealth, happiness message, because the word prosper, it is translated elsewhere in our Bibles as advance, make progress. So he made progress. He advanced before the Lord. The Lord blessed him and he advanced. He made progress. Now this path to prosperity, to progress, involved Hezekiah in the following things. It involved and included disappointment. Chapter 30, verse 10. He sends the messengers out, but they lack them to scorn and mock them. The path to advance includes disappointment. It also includes crisis, chapter 32, verses one to 23. A crisis in his life. And it also involved dealing with the reality of sin, chapter 32 from verse 24. So when it tells us here in this summary fashion that the Lord prospered him, blessed him, you cannot limit it to just this one chapter because it's a summary of everything that's going on You have to look at everything around the passage and realize Hezekiah's advance not only includes obedience to God, but all of the problems and the trials that the Lord gave to him. You know, these rascals who have this false gospel, you know, this idea that you come to Jesus and life is just going to be full of miracles. You know, you're going to have wads of cash and you're going to have, you know, beautiful wives and husbands and beautiful children and everything's just going to be so fantastic and you'll have your own jet perhaps and maybe an island or whatever, I don't know. But they promise all these worldly things. God says about Hezekiah, the advance. and he advanced by way of obedience, and he advanced by way of disappointment and trials, and having to deal with the reality of sin. And so God's verdict on this is simple. They'll not honor me, I will honor them. Well, let's come to some points of application. And applications are always equally as pointed as the passage before us. First of all, avoid disparaging the ministry, even in jest. You know, if adults disparage the ministry, and young people hear it, They think, well, why would I want to go into a ministry when the adults, those mature believers, disparage a ministry? And I'll give you one simple example for the benefit of younger ones. You know, there's a common phrase that we hear. It's said in jest, I know, but it's still said. We like to keep our minister humble, so we don't pay a lot. As if somehow or other, this is a grand gesture. of ensuring humility in the ministry. Now, there does need to be humility in the ministry, but disparaging the ministry in that way does not guarantee it. Remember, children's shoes cost as much for the minister's children as they do for everybody else's children. It's a simple enough point, isn't it? Avoid disparaging the ministry, even in jest. Secondly, a good biblical, and dare I say it, Presbyterian rule. The modern phrase is equal stipend. In other words, those in the cities and those in the country all receive their portions. Now why does this point matter? Why does God go to all the trouble of giving this long list from verse 14 to verse 19? And to tell you about cities and towns and suburbs and all about these portions. Minister stipends must never become a point of contention. How do they become a point of contention? Again, I'll give you an example. The stipend should never become grounds for receiving or accepting a call or rejecting a call. That is why historically, the principle has been an equal stipend so that set sufficiently low, so that one does not say, well, I hope I get a call to that congregation because their stipend is four times whatever this little stipend is. Biblical and Presbyterian principle is equal stipend. Thirdly, motivation to give to the Lord's cause must arise from communion with God. If chapter 31 wasn't in the Bible, you would not be hearing in this subject. It's as simple as that. It's in the Bible, so you hear about the subject, so one must preach it. Otherwise, you in no doubt would come to me and say, would you skip the chapter? Why? And you would not accept an answer that says, well, it's quite embarrassing because it's about maintaining the ministry. The key element in this chapter is not the consequences of maintaining the ministry. but rather has followed communion with the Lord. Now in some groups of professing believers, tends to be a more cultic type section. You know, you join and the next thing is the treasurer comes along or someone comes along and says, now, this is the amount that you're supposed to be given under the plate. And I'm astonished that professing people are like this. You know, it's, oh, all right, that's OK. And preaching sermons berating people that they ought to be giving more. does not strike me as being a biblical subtitle. It arises spiritually, biblically, experimentally, in relation to our fellowship with the Lord. In other words, we should have complete confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit and the lives of God's people. that through the word and their fellowship with the Redeemer, they know what their duty is. So you don't need me. You won't ever see me come to your door saying, you know, have you put your offering in? It just ain't gonna happen. Why? Because one must have complete confidence. in the Lord, in the Word, in the Spirit of God, stirring the hearts of the Lord's people. You know what you must do in your life. Here are these things. Pursuing reformation. Maintaining ministry. It finishes on this grand experimental note. And that's what it's all about, isn't it? It's all about the ministry directing you to God, not putting you on a guilt trip, but lifting your gaze to glory, to see the wonder of what the Lord has done, the beauty of holy things. They have just had this Passover. You know, there was no sermon at the Passover that said not, this is what you have to do with your tithes and offerings. You see how it flows from the pastor. And God records it for you and says, this is what they did. And then you have all of these things enacted. And you can see how Hezekiah has got the point, the function of the ministry. This is what it's all about. And so the other things follow on. Motivation must come. from fellowship with the Lord. So the real question this evening is this. About your walk with the Lord, your fellowship, your communion with the Lord, that's all that matters. We have had the Lord's Supper. And we were hungry. for that supper and we sat at that table and it was a wonderful moment and all the feelings have probably passed but the things we heard do not pass and what we did does not pass but what can pass too quickly the resolutions perhaps we made as we sat there, dedicating ourselves afresh and anew to following the Lord and serving Him. Like Hezekiah, what was good and right and true, we cannot let that slip and pass away. We must follow on, mustn't we? We must follow it up. so that we do indeed work that which is good and right and true with passion of all the heart. That's what we must do every time. May the Lord bless these words to your hearts.