If you have your Bibles, we ask you to turn to 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 20. And as you're turning over there, we'll remind you, we will have business meeting after church today. And the biggest thing I know of, and I'm prone to forget, so I'm sure there's other things, is if we're going to do a missions conference this year. So you pray about that, and we trust we'll know the Lord. All right, 2 Kings 20, in the very first verse. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death, and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, came to him and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, Remember now how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good at thy sight, and Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, thus saith the Lord. The God of David, thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will heal thee on the third day thou shalt go up into the house of the Lord. Dear Lord, we thank you and we praise you for another day to be in your house to meet with your people, God. We pray tonight, this morning, that you fill the house with your presence, Lord, that you cause us to be glad to be in the house of the Lord, and that we rejoice in your word. Remember us always, and we pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Tonight, this morning, we'll be preaching on setting your house in order, and also, to some extent, accepting what God's plan is for your life. And one of the most dangerous things that we can anticipate. or that we can be made to believe by the devil is that our way is better than God's way. You know why things are chaotic today? It's because men for generations have believed that their way is better than God's way. And that is never, ever the case. The way that this book teaches is always the very best. That's what we need to go with and what ought to order our lives. Back in the first verse, the Bible says, in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. Now, I want you to see that despite what may sound as cruelty, God's plan for Hezekiah was that he would die. You know what? God's plan for me at some point is that I will die. that unless the Lord returns and intervenes in some bad way, that's God's plan for my life. And you know why? It's the penalty of sin. And we're going to face it. It's going to be part of our lives. But you know what? I've never known a more fault-proof than that, because we don't want to die. We almost see it as a punishment. We see it as part of the devil's plan, not God's plan. But you know what? It is God's plan that we die. So Hezekiah kind of got off kilter here. and made some mistakes that would go with Israel for generations. And so when God's plan comes your way, it is our plan, it ought to be our desire to accept it. In those days, Hezekiah was sick unto death, and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, came to him and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live." Now, most people missed, I think, the emphasis of this message. He said, set thine house in order. Now, for the prophet to say that, what had to be the situation? that Hezekiah's house wasn't in order. That's the only conclusion you could come to, right? If the direction on death was set your house in order, we have to come to the conclusion that somehow, some way, that Hezekiah's house wasn't in order. And what I personally believe, and like many kings of Israel, he had a real issue with making his children do. He had a real issue of raising his children up. He had a real issue of making his children mind and do, and raise them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. And if you don't believe that, you look how Jeroboam turned out, and then you will believe it. And so we find whatever the error was, that what needed to happen was that Hezekiah's house needed to be in order. Man, you know what he wants for us? He wants our house to be in order. He wants it to be as the Bible teaches a home ought to be. Set thine house in order. Now, I wanna go back very quickly with you and look at Genesis and hold your place there in Isaiah, I mean, in 2 Kings, because we'll come back. Genesis 22. Genesis 22. Genesis 22 in verse 9. The Bible says this. And they, meaning Abraham and Isaac, and they came to the place where God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. So there was a way to do this, there was a way to worship God, and there was a way not to worship Him, and the way to worship Him was in order. Now, I don't know if all the sticks had to be lined up vertical, or if they had to be lined up horizontal, or there was a different way to do it like this, but there was an order to God's worship, and there always has been. You know, if you think about it, you think about all these Pentecostal churches and the worldly ones that are exploding like mushrooms, you know what? There's no order in that place. All it is is people screaming and hollering and plopping on the floor. Where's the order in that? It's just not there. And so, we certainly, as the Lord's people, we can get things out of order very quickly. You know, another thing you can think about is how orderly the Earth is around us. Very recently, we had the beginning of fall, or the autumnal equinox. And you know what? Look at the trees outside the window this morning. Remember the last several nights, how cool they've been. We're transitioning into the fall of the year. And you know what? I'm 51 years old and every year I've ever lived, this time of the year it turns cooler. Why? Because we serve a God of order. We serve a God that puts everything in place. always goes according to his will. And so certainly, if we serve a God of order, our lives should reflect that on a routine basis. It is an orderly thing. Now, if you will go back to our text, 2 Kings 20, verse two, then he, meaning Hezekiah, turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, Remember, now I want you to notice two things. The fact that he prayed wasn't necessarily a bad thing. You know what, if somebody said, Larry, you gonna die in three or four days, you know what, I thought I'd do some praying too. But I want you to see the nature of Hezekiah's prayer was to change the will of God. You know what, that's not orderly. That's not what it ought to be. In fact, he says to God, the very first word of his prayer had nothing to do with praise and lifting up the name of the Almighty God of heaven. He says, remember. Now you know what? It's an impossibility for God to forget. So why would you tell him remember? Right? The only conclusion I can draw is maybe Hezekiah didn't know his character like he thought he did. Maybe his relationship with the Almighty wasn't as intimate as it ought to be if he did not even know the very base things concerning the nature of God. Remember, oh God, and again, that's an impossibility he can't forget. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart. Now, I want you to see another thing. He makes a little bit of a lie here. I walked before you perfect. You know what? There's one man that's done that, and that is the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't perfect. You know what? Mr. Connell was no more perfect than I am. And so he makes these bold claims that are not even true. Have you ever thought maybe that's why the prophet Elijah came by and said, set your house in order, because you're gonna die. Because you know what? If we really get our house in order, we know we're like some of the earth right down here. And apparently Heshonah didn't believe that. He didn't think he was okay. Man, I've served the Lord. No, that is not the nature of man. And so there was no humility in the life of Hezekiah as he's trying to barter with the Almighty. Verse three, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Now, again, I don't think that weeping was necessarily a bad thing. You know what? One day, when it comes down to the end of our life, we're gonna be doing some weeping, too. But you know what? I have to believe this. Number one, if you're truly born again, you're gonna have peace about death. And number two, if you served him like you should, there's gonna be a peace to come out of that. Not that you're a big I, and not like, I'll serve you like nobody else has ever served you. No, no. That you've been a servant, that you've been a minister, that you've tended to the things of God the very best you know how. You know what? I think with that comes a great deal of peace. And apparently Hezekiah just didn't have it. He didn't have the nearness that he ought to, so he's weeping before God. Now, notice what happens then. And it came to pass, verse four, and it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Turn again, tell Hezekiah the captains of my people, thus saith the Lord. The God of David, thy father hath heard thy prayer. I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will heal thee. On the third day thou shalt go up into the house of the Lord. Now, I want you to notice another thing here. Some people say that his prayer changed God's heart. No, no. You know what happened in Hezekiah's life right at this point. That's why I want you to see this. Be careful what you pray for. He went from the will of God to the permissive will of God. In other words, God said, okay, if that's what you want, take it. And you know why I believe that? Three years later, he bore Jeroboam, and that was the worst man to ever approach the throne of Israel. See, if he just went ahead and accepted it, and took the will of God, as difficult as it may be, and died, Jeroboam would never have existed. And so Hezekiah's life was not in order. Apparently he was a lot higher on the totem pole than he thought he was. And he thought he deserved something from God. You know what you deserve from God to be cast out in the middle of the fiery pits of hell? That's what we deserve. on the merit of Christ were saved, on your merit. And you know, that's why I can't understand these works for salvation folks, because you know what? They put God even with them, and collectively they're trying to save you. How foolish can you be? Hezekiah's house was in horror, and it was proven by two things. go against the plan of God, and secondly, the man that he bore, Jeroboam, and proved that his home was not in order. You know whose fault that was, men? It was Hezekiah's fault. It wasn't the fault of God. It wasn't the fault of even Jeroboam in that sense. He didn't have his house in order. You know another one that did not? David. David let his children run the show. You know what, if we ever do that as people, if you do that as a home unit and let your children be in control, you've got a big issue as things go down the road a little bit. And so we see as the Lord's people, we need to understand and know there is an order that it also be in a godly home every day. Now, I want you to look in Genesis chapter four, I mean, excuse me, Genesis chapter one, and see the nature of our God. And I know all of you know this, but I think it's good to be reminded of it sometimes. Genesis chapter one, verses four and five, Genesis chapter one, verses four and five, and God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from darkness, and God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day. Now, if you know the story, the truth of creation, every day had an assignment. And every day God did that assignment that he accomplished the work. You know, that's like these yay news that says it just boom and out of chaos came order. That's foolish. You know, it's just like I said, we're going through the fall of the year right now. We just began that. You know what? That's not chaos. That's order. Every year it happens just this way. And how could the wonderful motherless universe that we're in, learn to rotate and move about out of chaos. It don't even make sense. He is a God of order, and we should reflect that. You know why women like to run around in breeches? Because it gets things out of order. They look like men. And everybody gets, you know, you're so tore up when you see a man in a dress. Well, my question for you is what's the difference? What's the difference? You know what began to happen at the end of the Great Depression in the war, the Second World War, when Rosie the Ripper went down and wore her breeches to the factory in the war effort, it never changed again. You know what that is? It's putting it out of order. It's out of God's order, is it not? And we crave the presence of the Almighty, and our lives are out of order just as Hezekiah's was in that day. We serve a God of order. Drop down to verse 8. And God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. So up above us even today, to me, there are three heavens according to the Bible, because the Bible says that Paul was called up into the third heaven, which is the abode of God. Right now, the sky is pretty out there. It was kind of cloudy this morning. It's kind of burning off a little bit out there, and we see some clouds and some blue sky. We see the sun coming down. That's the first heaven. After that is the atmospheric heaven, the wonderful stars that we see on the clear, pretty night. And above that is the abode of God. You know what that is? Layer by layer, that's order. It is just as orderly as it can be. Neat, precise, everything in its place. We need to understand what our place is and get in it. We need to understand what God's purpose for our life is and get into that place and do it the very best you can. And why? Because it's ordered. It's exactly what God designed from the beginning. It needs to be very, very, orderly according to the word of God. Verse nine, and God said, let the waters under the heaven together into one place, and the dry land appear, and it was so, and God called the dry land earth, and the gather together waters called he seas, and God saw that it was good. Now what did he say about the dividing out, the creation of land? He said it was good. You know what an orderly home is, where daddy's doing his job, and mama's doing her job, and the kids are in their places? It's good. It's very, very good. And when you have anything less, you have, you know what, I specifically attribute it to this. Most people don't realize this. in the 20 years following the Second World War. And you know why? Things were out of order. Mama could work and make just as much as Daddy. Why does she need Daddy? Right? Things were out of order. And you know what? Here in the day that we live today, what we have is utter chaos. because nothing is in order. You know why men are marrying men? Because there's nothing in order. You know why the economy collapsed around us? There's nothing in order. You know why this virus, and listen, I understand that it's real, but listen, don't you believe CNN news that it's as bad as they say it. You know what that created? In our country, chaos. It broke the order. And we're still recovering from that. And we as the Lord's people, it ought to be the nature of the saved man to crave this order that God has ordained. Genesis 2.2, and we'll leave this. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He And so we find that, now let me say this, this was just teaching us order. You know what? God didn't need the rest. He spoke this place into man, just like I'm preaching a message. And he wasn't wore out and tired. That about killed me. He was teaching us order. Just teaching us order. And that's what we're doing today. And you know, I was reading this article, and I don't know whether it's true or not, but I assume it was. I think the Japanese, no, it was the Chinese, was wanting to go to a 10-day calendar to be on the medical system, as opposed to a seven-day calendar. And they tried her for a while, and they literally had people jumping out of windows, falling dead on the vine. And the reason why? Things were out of order. They were giving their lives instead of just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know what that happened? It's out of God's order. You know what I said when I read it? It's one or more of them didn't kill themselves than they did. Because it's out of God's order. And any time we get anything out of God's order, we are drastic and we all know what the Bible says. The soul that sinneth, what? It shall die. And they certainly did, did they not? Could you imagine being in such a state of misery that you would prefer death over life? Well, you get further enough from the order of God and you'll find out what it's about. It will sound like a pretty good idea for you. Now, 1 Corinthians, chapter three. I mean, excuse me, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I just want to read three verses here. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, the very first verse. The Bible says this, be followers of me, even as I am also of Christ." Now, the first thing we find here, it is a piece of the order. Unless your pastor's doing something out of this, outside this book, you know what you need to do? You need to follow him. You need to listen to his advice. You need to do, as a unit, as a church ought to be, to follow what he would have us to do. Be followers of me even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. But I will have you to know that the head of every man is Christ." Now let me intercept here, who's he writing to? And that was the Church of Carthage, right? And so we believe he was writing to save people because you know what? Christ is not the head of the lost. Remember what he said? He said, depart from me, you worker of iniquity I never knew. And so when you compare yourself to others, be sure you're comparing yourself to godly men. You know what? The world's going to look good. They're going to have more fun. They're going to have more money. So when you begin to look for comparisons, don't look out there. justly so, otherwise you'll be making mistakes. And so remember that he's addressing saved people. But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. So God, Christ, Man, woman. Now you talk about getting some people stirred up in most places, and in this church I would say it's generally the exception of the rule. But you know what? It comes down to this, that the man is the head of the home, and if there is a disagreement, what the man says goes. Not real popular preaching in 2020, is it? it's still the truth. Now, man, if we're not careful, that phone, it's gonna go my way or the highway, right? Just remember you're responsible. With that authority comes responsibility. And it is definitely the man's responsibility, but man, just be sure that with that authority, you're not abusing it. And just know this, that this is the most humbling thing, because sometimes I can be a little white, and especially looking at Bella sometimes, you know, I'm soon to be 52 years old, and having a child like this again, it's a big challenge. And punishing them, and guiding them the way that I did my older children, it is very, very difficult. But you know what? It's not an excuse. I will stand accountable. She's mine. And I don't care if I'm 152. You need to be the parent you ought to be. Ever thought about the children that Abraham had out of the will of God? We all know the oldest one and how he opposed Esau the way that he did. I mean, Esau opposed the other son the way that he did. But do you ever think about the other six? All the four sons, I mean, the six sons of Keturah. I believe he was in his 150s when those kids were born. Every one of them a rebellious nation against Israel, their whole existence. And you know what? Number one, he was out of God's plan. But, you know, number two is this, he wasn't a good father to those children. He wasn't saying, okay, and I can't even remember any of their names, Benidad, you're gonna toe the line because I said so. Edom, get your act together, I'm gonna bust you good. You know why, probably, number one, he wasn't able, he was old. And number two, he didn't take the time to do it. Now, when Jacob and Esau were young, he had Esau, and I believe he raised him, right, the best he knew, and then here comes Jacob 13 years later, and he's working with him, and then all this time later, he has six more. You know what? He was responsible for all eight of them. He was responsible for every one of them. So man, just remember, with that authority comes responsibility. And then the last thing I'll say on this, and we'll move on, just because you don't do it, don't mean you're not responsible. You know, you think about the judgment of the Almighty, and a few examples that we have there in the scriptures, and one of them said, did I not prophesy in thy name? And he said, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I have never been you. And so, they were accountable. You see what I'm saying? We're accountable for our children. and how they're raised, what their response is. And you know what? Then we're done. And we ought to praise God that he's given those gifts to us and not be upset about it. Now, I want to go very quickly back to 2 Samuel, this time in chapter 11. Probably one of the most famous stories of the life of David, sadly enough. 2 Samuel chapter 11, in the very first verse. The Bible says, and it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabah, but David tarried still at Jerusalem. Now, you know the story of Uriah and Bathsheba and David. But I want you to see the very first thing that got him into trouble, man, was excusing himself from duty. You know what your duty is, man? To bring those kids to the house of God, to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord all the days of their life. I've seen some preachers raise their children this way at 18, they kind of unhook the boat. Where do you find that in Scripture? I don't think it's there, do you? My boys still come and ask me for advice today, and they're 28 and 30. And you know, the best way I understand the Scripture, I'm still responsible for that. You know, you look at a 30-year-old son and have to say, I don't think that's the best idea. Everybody thinks it gets easier. Listen, I'll tell you this, it gets harder. Because you know what, they have their own set of mentality there. But as the old saying goes, don't ask if you don't want to know. But I am the responsible person for them, even today. I have to give them sound advice. And I've seen some preacher men raise their kids at 18, and whoever came up with that, I don't know, but just cut them off. You know what an 18-year-old's gonna do? They're gonna live like a dog, because unless they're saved, that's their nature. That's the worst time in a man's life. You can cut him off for his own self. And so we find then that we are to be in our place, man. Verse two, it came to pass in the evening time that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon, and David sent and inquired of the woman, and one said, is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent a messenger and took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her, for she was purified from the uncleanliness, and she returned into her house. And the woman conceived and told David and said, I am with John. Now, I want you to see how quickly progressive sin is. Now, we think that maybe we could wait out a little way and brush back. But I want you to see that David went from looking to doing it. to acting on the sin in three verses. You know what? You will be involved in that sin that quick. Do not trust this flesh. Do not trust its capabilities. It has no spiritual value at all. And so we find then that he runs on this, he commits this sin, and very natural result, child came out of it. Now he's in double trouble, and he begins to think like a lost man. Verse 15, the Bible says, and when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered themselves. Oh, I'm sorry, wrong verse. Verse 11, and Uriah said unto David, the Ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of the Lord are camped in open fields. Shall I then go into mine house and eat and to drink and lie with my wife, so as thou livest and as my soul liveth, I will do not such a thing." So I want you to see that Uriah's Morality was greater than David's. Verse 15, and he wrote in the letter saying, send you Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire you from him that he may be smitten and die. Now, for you to get the full message of this, The very one carrying the letter from the death sentence was the man that was going to be killed. You know what? That's a pretty messed up man that would do that. And that's where sin will get you. You know what? You know what? Now David's home is out of order, and his life is out of order, too. Man, you know what? Your life's going to get out of order if you're not careful, and then your home's going to be in a real mess. And it's a difficult thing in the modern day, because you know what we always do, instead of comparing ourselves to this book, we compare ourselves to the world, do we not? You know what, I can assure you of this easily, the world's gonna have a better home than you do, it's gonna have better cars than you do, and it's gonna have, and they're gonna have nicer things than you. And you know why? This is their land. You are a pilgrim and a stranger. And lost people... You know what? When you're moving on, you don't need a whole lot of stuff. And if you have it, you know what? It's going to slow you down. And so, don't compare yourself to the Joneses, because you know what? The Joneses is always gonna come out on top, and you're gonna look like you don't have too much, but so let it be, because God knows. Now, we're brought down to verse 26. 2 Thessalonians 11 verse 26. And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife and bearing a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. Now, I want you to notice two things. First of all, and I think this is sincere, it says of Bathsheba that she mourned Uriah. You know what, maybe it's wrong, it's too last feet, but I don't think I am. I don't believe Bathsheba was involved with this event. You know what, if we understood kingship and monarchies, and he says you're gonna do this, she didn't have much of a choice. So don't blame Bathsheba. And you know what? When her husband died, I believe her mourning was sincere. That she was very sorry that her husband was being killed. And if I understand that scripture correctly, she didn't even know what they had done. She thought it was killed in battle. She thought that it was just another event in the battle for the Lord. And so they tried to cover their sin, but I want you to see, the Bible says this, but the thing displeased the Lord. Have you ever thought about why David seemed so blessed when there was so much sin in his life? It wasn't because David was good. He made a promise to the nation of Israel. It wasn't because David was such a great man. The Bible says he was a man after God's own heart. But this thing, when God makes a promise, He'll keep it. But that doesn't mean you're doing everything you need to do. That doesn't mean you're as near to God as you ought to be. Because you know what? He's gonna keep His promises. He ain't done because anything less would be outside of His nature. And so then, I want you to go with me to chapter 12, verse 7. 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 7, the Bible says this. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. Now remember, he gives this parable. David doesn't get it because he's cold and indifferent to the things of God. So Nathan has to lay it on the line and says, you know what? You're the one with the problem. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have delivered thee out of the hand. "'Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, "'I anointed thee king over Israel, "'I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul, "'I have gave thee thy master's house "'and thy master's wives unto thy bosom, "'and I gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah, "'and if that was too little, "'I would have moreover have given unto you "'these such and such things, wherefore thou hast the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight. Why did you do that? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. Thou hast taken his wife to be thy wife and has Now therefore, the sword will never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife." Now, I want you to see something interesting. He didn't say the opposing enemy did. He said you did. You know what? Even if we just suggest something that's evil and people follow it, you're still responsible. Not them. You're the one responsible. So I ask you, men, ladies, where are you at? Are you aware you need to be at the spot where God would have you be? Have you ever pondered why do we struggle so much? Well, first of all, is your home in order? And secondly, if your home is in order, are you serving it? See, we need to reflect the order of God, do we not? Our church needs to reflect the order of God. Now, I don't think it's necessarily A wrong thing, but you know what the Bible gives is offices of the church. It gives you a pastor. It gives you deacons. It gives you elders. And it gives you teachers, that's it. You know, when we were at Bunker Smails, we always had, I don't know, that job where people go out and read prayer requests. Sunday school superintendent, as I always called them. You find that in Scripture? And we won't go too deep in there, but you saw what happened with that, don't you? You know how that happened? It was out of God's will. It wasn't His plan. We didn't need a man to come in and preach two sermons, did we? And again, you saw how that ended up. But there's an order to God's things, and we need to be in our place. and know that it's not, and we can or we can't, but that don't excuse you from accountability. We need to be doing about the father's work.