In your Bibles now, 2 Chronicles chapter 20. 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Jake, that was an excellent presentation and a couple things that impressed me is number one, we remember seeing Dan Tessit and we remember hearing his report but to have one of our own come back and relate the mission field to us, don't you kind of feel like you were there too? And and you could understand more what our missionary in the field, because you sent Jake. And number two, remember how Brother Jeremy said, when you when you surrender to the Lord, this is for all of us. He'll take care of you. And he provided for Jake and he'll provide for you when you surrender to him. So just fantastic, Jake. Thank you for that. Thank you for the time you put into that. Second Chronicles, Chapter 20. Stand with me, if you would. For the reading of God's Word, 2 Chronicles 20. I'm going to read verses 1-7. 2 Chronicles 20 verses 1-7. The Bible says, It came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them other besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria. And behold, they be in Hazazon Tamar, which is in Gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord. and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand Is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father, we come before you this afternoon, and God, we just are rejoicing in the things that you have shown us, the things we've heard preached. Lord, just being able to be with our missionaries and hear from them, be challenged by what you gave to them to give to us. God, we thank you for this conference, what you did in it, and Lord, I pray that if you're working in someone's heart, Lord, about full-time Christian service or being a missionary or giving or witnessing to their neighbor, whatever it is, I pray, Lord, that they would follow through. I pray that you would continue that work in all of us, Lord. I pray that you would. Lord, now as we approach your word for the preaching of your word again, I pray, Lord, that you would help each and every one of us to listen intently for what you have for us. Lord, you've laid something on pastor's heart to give to us, and I pray, Lord, that we would approach this with attentiveness, and God, I ask that you would give him the words you want him to speak now. I pray that you would be glorified in it all. In your name I pray, Amen. You may be seated. In the minutes that we have together I want to draw your attention to this passage, a couple other passages, as we deal with a spiritual response to a national crisis. About six weeks ago I was praying through our country And I realized the crisis we're in, in America, in 50 years of life, or nearly 50 years of life. I can't say I've ever seen our country where it's at right now. We're divided, for sure. We're very, very sinful and vile. Our airwaves if you pay attention to anything that's mainstream, has no truth attached to it. We're deceived. We are idolatrous. We are man-centered, for sure. We're in trouble. America's in trouble. And as I was praying about that day, I was churning in my spirit to look at the Scriptures and what did godly people do? What did God's people do in times of national crisis? And my attention was drawn to the scriptures to see what is a spiritual response to a national crisis. John Wesley was no stranger to global crisis and revival. He was not shy in sharing some of the wisdom that he learned either. He wrote, some have exalted religious fasting beyond all scripture and reason, but he pointed out equally that others have utterly disregarded it. He argued that the devil doesn't mind either extreme just so long as we fail to grasp why God calls his people to fast before him. And that the enemy, the devil, has a real fear of fasting in prayer. Andrew Murray wrote, and he likened fasting to firing our very selves at the enemy in prayer. Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything to sacrifice ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. Fasting was done by King Ahab in the Old Testament, if you remember that. He was a rebellious king. Wicked, wicked, wicked man. In fact, his kingdom, a lot of kings were compared to the sins of Ahab. He was the example on the wrong side to the ultimate. We could say it that way. And yet God responded to his fasting. You read about his fasting in the scriptures and God preserved some of the judgment in Ahab's life because he fasted before God. And really was a turning point in his life. If we were to describe fasting, we could say it this way. Fasting is letting go of the physical arena in order to focus on the spiritual arena. It is an outward expression of an inward commitment to pursue God. And in the scriptures, many times when we look at fasting, we see prayer and fasting connected together, or they are brought together in the scriptures. It is fasting is for the purpose of seeking deliverance. It's for the purpose of repentance. Fasting is for the purpose of humbling ourselves before God. It is a tool that God uses to dispel fear and dismay in our lives. I'll show you these things this afternoon. I thought of what Brother Gearmy said earlier this week about God turning up the heat. on different countries and different peoples and how God uses that to break up fallow ground and prepare them for the seed of the gospel. And brethren, I believe that the hearts around us are more open here and around Brogue, but I believe the hearts of Americans are going to go through some heavy duty affliction and that God's going to bring more heat. And that is not a time for believers to run and hide. That is a time for us to be fasting and praying so that we are ready to give the seed to the hearts that are open. And so I want to draw your attention to three times in the scripture that a fast was proclaimed in time of national crisis. One is here in 2 Chronicles chapter number 20. And in the time of Jehoshaphat, there was a desperate situation where the armies of Judah were vastly outnumbered. by the Ammonites, the Moabites, and Mount Seir, or known as the Edomites, which would be over in that Persian-related area that we're familiar with, that we've been introduced this week to, by Brother Girme. And so, Jehoshaphat sees this lay of the land and says, boy, let's add this up. We are greatly outnumbered. There's a great multitude, multiple armies here that are coming against the nation of Judah. And so he calls a fast. Look at verse number three, 2 Chronicles chapter 20. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. What is praying and fasting? It is people seeking God. That's what it is. He called a fast and these people rallied to seek God, to seek God's help in their situation. What is a fast? It is a people that becomes God-focused. He proclaimed the fast so that the people would get their minds and their eyes on the Lord. There are believers that got their eyes and minds on a lot of things beside the Lord right now. Believers that are watching the polls almost by the hour and have their hope in someone beside the Lord. That's what Jehoshaphat was addressing. He was saying, boy, there is potential for the people here in Judah to become fearful, dismayed, focus off, and that's gonna bring more trouble. So we better bring them back to a God focus. He did that and he led that way. Look at verse number 12, 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse number 12, O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us. He admitted his helplessness. We have no way, Lord. There's no way we can deliver ourselves from this battle, this enemy. Look at the last phrase of verse 12, But our eyes are upon thee. Our eyes are upon thee. Jehoshaphat was leading a people to make sure that their eyes were upon the Lord. Now, the only way your eyes can be upon the Lord is to be talking to the Lord, to be seeking the Lord, to have your mind stayed upon the Lord. That's what he was leading the people to because there was great potential for their eyes to be in many other places. Right now in America, there's great potential for Christians to have their eyes in all the wrong places. And so there was a focus on the Lord. Look at also there was a responsiveness of God. Not only did Jehoshaphat lead in a proclaimed fast to bring his people to a focus upon the Lord, but there was a response by God in this passage. Look down at verse number 13. In other words, basically, we could put it this way. If God doesn't show up, my family members aren't gonna make it. If God doesn't take care of this battle, my children, my wife, we're not likely to be together when we come out of this. In verse number 14, Then upon Jehazel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jael, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the congregation of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. When did the Spirit of the Lord come? After they started to pray. after they started to seek God, after the fast was proclaimed, then the Spirit of the Lord came. And look what he said in verse number 15. It says, and he said, They got God focused. They got very serious about seeking God. And when they got very serious about seeking God, God got very serious about responding to them. Right in the midst of his prayer, this person comes under the filling of the Holy Spirit and he speaks these words directly from the Lord. And so what does that lead them to? It led them to worship. Look at verse number 18. 2 Chronicles 20, And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah So this fast, what did it produce in the lives of God's people? I think that's a valid question. In other words, fasting is to draw me closer to the Lord, but what does it produce in my life? What would it produce in your life? First of all, they were saying when they worshiped God here in verse number 18, they were saying, we believe you, God. We believe you. You know this just from daily spending time with God, but when you daily spend time with God and you bring things that look impossible to God and you bring burdens to God, you get up off your knees and you come out believing more because you've taken it to the one you know can do anything about it. And so they believed God. They could rest in God. Their confidence in God was strong when they came out of this fast. In verse number 18, they believed Him and they worshiped Him. They fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. By the way, when your mind is stayed on Him, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely, what? Dim. You know what you don't have them talking about? The great multitude. You know what you don't have them complaining about? How awful this battle is going to be. Could I say it this way? You don't have them saying, Oh, I just dread this election. You have them worshiping the Lord. That is a much better focus And that's what we find as a result. They were a worshiping people. There was reverence in their worship. There was belief in the promise of their worship. There was thankfulness that God was stepping to intervene. Brethren, when we pray and when we seek God, God will do the same thing in our hearts. There will be belief in the promises of God. There will be reverence. There will be a thankfulness that overflows when our mind is stayed upon him. Jehoshaphat, the leader, brought his people to the point of getting their focus on God. There was a response. There was a response of the people. Here's my question. By Jehoshaphat leading the people in this, do you think the people grew spiritually stagnant from this fast? Or do you think the people grew closer, more confident? and more thankful to God. And I would argue the latter of the two. And so we have the example of Jehoshaphat. I'll give you one more example today. It's the life of Ezra. Turn over in your Bibles to Ezra 8. Ezra is a little different situation. Ezra is bringing a people of about 1,500 Jews back from captivity. But as they're going to make this trip back from captivity to Jerusalem, there is much danger in enemies along their travels that could destroy them before they ever get back to Jerusalem. And that's where we pick up this story in Ezra chapter number eight. His request was for protection and safety so that God's faithfulness and God's name could be faithfully displayed. Look at Ezra chapter eight and look at verse number 21. Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all of our substance. I want you to understand in these two situations where a spiritual leader proclaimed a fast, I want you to understand that one of the parallels of these passages is the little ones were with them. In other words, the leaders weren't just making decisions for the adults in that day, but they were making and leading people spiritually for the little ones that were threatened. in that day. And so we see He proclaimed this fast, verse number 23, so we fasted and besought our God for this and He was entreated of us. These people are about to take a dangerous journey. There are no state troopers on the highways between Persia and Jerusalem, but plenty of bandits, plenty of pirates, plenty of people that sought to do God's people harm. And so not only were they bringing people, but they were bringing funds. They were bringing silver and gold on this journey to come back to Jerusalem, to relocate in Jerusalem. And so look at verse number 22, there is an option in their anxiety. Friends, may I remind you today that we don't look to a human king What Ezra is saying here is this. We had told the human king that the good hand of the Lord was upon all them that seek Him. So why would we go to the human king and ask for protection? That's the meaning of the text. And if Ezra was going to do that and had done that, you know what he says in this passage in verse number 22? He says, the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. If they would have gone to the king, if they would have depended upon the king, they would have forsaken God. And may I say some of you are very hyped up about our election. And I understand there's things at stake, but our trust is never in a man. And when we put our trust in a man, we forsake our God. That's what Ezra was saying. We better proclaim a fast. We better understand our total protection comes from the hand of the Lord that is upon us. And so he proclaimed this fast for God's protection. And God was entreated of Him. Throughout the book of Ezra, you will see a common phrase throughout the book of Ezra, the good hand of the Lord was upon them, or was upon Him. Brethren, I want to remind you, there's a lot of things up in the air. We are in a nation in crisis. I'm a realist. I'm not a pessimist. I'm not a I'm not somebody that's all positive. I understand realities. You have to understand realities. We are in a place of God's judgment. America is. We deserve it. We deserve the full throttle of it. But yet, His hand can be upon His own and those that seek Him. That's what Ezra had confidence in. He said, I know, I know, I know this to be true about God. That His hand can be upon those that seek Him. Esther is another one. I don't have time to develop it out of Esther chapter 4 but she proclaimed a fast for her own protection. She was going to the king and she deserved to be killed. By the law she was going to be killed. And again God intervened. That being said, I'm not instituting or proclaiming a national fast but I want to urge this group of God's people right here for the next seven days, somewhere, to take some time to pray and fast before the Lord. What does that look like, preacher? Well, we should afflict ourselves. That is, we should humble ourselves. We should understand, Lord, that whatever you're doing in our nation Lord we deserve judgment for our sins. Daniel prayed and confessed the sins of the nation in his prayers to the Lord. We should humble ourselves. We should afflict ourselves. We should pray. We should understand our helplessness and our hopelessness without God. Without God. We are helpless. Listen, the multitudes that are opposed to the truths of the Scripture in America are great multitudes, my friend. You understand that today. Like this is not a minority anymore in America. Our schools, what's being taught, the humanism, and the evolution, and the transgenderism, and the homosexuality, and the drinking, and the drunkenness, and the gambling, and the child trafficking, and name it, name it, name it, name it. It's our country. It describes our country today. And without God, we are hopeless and helpless. And it's not our constitution that's going to save us. And they understood these things. These men, Jehoshaphat, Ezra, Esther, they understood these things. That's why I said we better seek God. And I'm encouraging you to have a spiritual response to the crisis. of seeking God, particularly in these days leading up to the election. If you choose to do that, fasting is done in conjunction with prayer. I would encourage you to read Ezra 8. I would encourage you to read 2 Chronicles 20. I would encourage you to read Esther 4 and learn from these passages and get your eyes on the Lord. You may not be able to fast for a whole day. You may not be able to go 24 hours. I know some people's health cannot do that. Maybe you want to fast for a half day. Or you want to fast from the evening until the afternoon of the next day. There are partial fasts. There are regular fasts. Maybe you need to fast from something besides food, such as sweets, or television, or the web, or sports, or shopping, or whatever would be a sacrifice to you. To say, God, I'm going to shut off something physical. in order to seek you more spiritually. God, I'm concerned about my country. God, we need the hand of the Lord upon us. God, I'm concerned about my own eyes, where my own eyes are running. Lord, they're not running to you. God, I'm concerned about what I'm talking about. Less of you and more of what I see God, I'm willing. I'm willing to do what I see in the Scriptures. When there's a national crisis, I'm willing to pray and to fast. Your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed as we finish up the service today. A few questions before the invitation today. Number one, do you see the pattern in the Scriptures? Say, Preacher, from what I saw in the Scriptures, I saw God's people, when they were in a national response, I saw a spiritual... when they were in a national crisis, I saw a spiritual response. Preacher, I see that truth in the Bible today. Would you raise your hand if you see that truth? Say, Preacher, I see it. I see it in Jehoshaphat. I see it in Ezra. I see it in Esther. I see it. I understand that is a spiritual response. Number two, can you see the battle that even the Christian's mind battles in when we are in crisis, when we are in unknowns, when we have big things coming down the pike in our nation to get our eyes off? How many of you would say, Preacher, I understand that battle. Staying God-focused versus seeing things around me and being consumed with that. How many of you would raise your hands? Preacher, I understand that battle. I see that battle. I understand it. I can see it even in my own life. So you see truth. You see battle. Can you see that we're in a hopeless situation? Can you see we're a godless nation? Can you see we're helpless? In other words, can you see that we need to entreat God for what we're living in? How many of you would say, Preacher, I see we are in a helpless and a hopeless situation in our country? Would you raise your hand? Preacher, I can see the parallels here. I can see the parallels of what we're dealing with. And the last question is this, it's not what you see and understand, it's would God tug on your heart to have the same spiritual response that God's people had in the Scriptures? Would you be willing to step out and say, God, in this next week, from Tuesday to Tuesday, in some way You're leading me to starve some physical things in order to give myself to seeking You. To zeroing in on You, God. To seeing my faith get stronger in You. Lord, to reverencing You in personal time with You. Lord, to be thankful to you. God, my eyes need to be on you. I wonder if you're here and you say, Preacher, I'm willing. God, show me the principle. I'm willing. I'm willing to pray. And I'm willing even to fast, Preacher. I don't know how to look in my life. I'm not asking you to do it every day. I'm not asking you to go seven days without food and water. I am saying from Tuesday to Tuesday, would you be willing to get before God in some way and pray and fast for you and for our nation. Your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed. Let's stand together. I'm going to pray. Father, the scriptures are, Lord, quite powerful. And God, you awakened me to this truth a number of weeks ago. What I think for such a time is this. Lord, I pray that, Lord, we won't just see, we won't just understand the lay of the land, so to speak, and the battles within us, Lord, with our own eyes and our own focus. But God, I pray that you'll move us. I pray, Lord, we'll be sober minded. Lord, this week, up to the election, to pray and to fast before you. God, stir our hearts toward that. Lord, Bible days, your people's hearts were stirred, Lord, with their wives and with their children. Lord, they saw, they saw, Lord, where that was going. They saw the imminent threats and the dangers of destruction that were very, very near to And God, we don't see everything but, Lord, we understand the spiritual danger that is here in our country. I pray, Lord, that you would stir your people, you would stir me about this, about this principle. In Jesus' name, amen. Your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed. We always want to open up the altar. You need to make your way to an altar this morning or this afternoon. I want to invite you to come. But I wonder if you individually, by the Spirit of God and the truth of God's Word would be able to talk to God right now and say, God, I see it. I see the crisis. I see the struggle with my own eyes. I see our helplessness. I see our hopelessness, God. God, that all turns me, motivates me, moves me, Lord, to seek after you. Lord, your word says that you are entreated of them. Lord, your word shows that you are responsive to them. God, I believe that. God, I believe that enough by my will to practice what I see in Scripture as it relates to my country, as it relates to my family, as it relates to my heart, my focus. Would you be moved in your spirit today by the Spirit of God in that way? so so Take your songbooks if you would. Turn to hymn 546 as we close our service today. Sing the third verse of hymn number 546. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. His word shall not fail you, He promised. ♪ Then go to a world that is high ♪ ♪ There's perfect salvation to find ♪ ♪ Turn your eyes upon Jesus ♪ ♪ The goal in his wonderful face ♪ If you're committing to fasting in some way this week, I would encourage you to keep it private. We don't need to announce it. There's good Bible instruction about that. But you may add other things into your fasting. There may be other burdens that you're bearing family-wise. other burdens that you really, really are asking God. They're heavy on your heart. Take it to God in prayer and fasting. Get a journal out. Write out what God's teaching you through the Word. Communicate with the Lord. Praise Him. Be reverent to Him. Believe Him. Review these passages. Let God draw you close to a greater focus on Him this week, alright? God bless you. See you Wednesday night. All right. Don't forget the things we have going on this week. So deacons, we meet at six thirty in the pastor's office on Wednesday. Heart is on Thursday and light on purpose. We go on purpose. And that's nine thirty down in the annex. I would encourage all of you to be out for that. And then, of course, this Saturday, don't forget, we change our clocks. I'm not going to attempt to back forward. I don't know. But they change Saturday night. OK. And then don't forget Gina Fry's box if you wanna drop her a card in there and the Henderson's email address. I'll be praying for them as well. And the note is also posted on the back bulletin board. Bible assembly tomorrow night, regular time, regular place. Any other last minute announcements before we are dismissed? All right, Jacob McCleary, it was good to have you home. You can dismiss us in prayer. Thank you for joining us by way of the internet today. We're so glad that you were able to be with us and we pray that the service was a blessing to your heart. Even though the sermon is over, our service is not over. At the end of our service, we give an opportunity for people to respond and come to an altar and pray over what God dealt with them about. Sometimes people come to call upon Christ and to be saved. Others come to make a decision for Christ regarding their Christian lives. Others come to call out to the Lord about special needs and situations in their lives. Maybe God has dealt with you today about some specific area of your life. I invite you to make an altar right there in your home, a quiet time before the Lord where you pray to Him and respond to Him about what He has spoken to you about. If you made a decision for the Lord today, we would be glad to hear about that decision and or answer any questions you have today about the message that was preached. You can contact us by way of email at info at mountziononline.org or by way of phone at 717-927-9227. Again, we thank you for joining us today and we look forward to you joining us again for our live stream weekly on Sundays at 1045 AM and on Sunday evenings at 645 PM. If we can meet a need in your life, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you, and God bless you.