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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.
2024 Missions Conference - Sunday PM
Series 2024 Missions Conference
| Sermon ID | 1030242026541734 |
| Duration | 36:45 |
| Date | |
| Category | Conference |
| Language | English |
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