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Good Hard Lessons (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
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September 17, 2024 6:00 am

Good Hard Lessons (Part A)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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September 17, 2024 6:00 am

Isaiah brings the word of the Lord to King Hezekiah about his sickness and miraculous recovery, followed by envoys from Babylon that come to visit him and wish Isaiah well.

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When you're terminally, when someone is facing a terminal illness, Satan loves to come along and say, well, it's because you're a sinner.

You've done this and you've done that. It's a lie. All, everything that is wrong in this life is because of original sin. And sickness is usually in the life of the believer, a product of sin, the curse upon humanity, not some individual act. The proof of that as a rule is this.

If it were any other way, we'd all be sick. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Isaiah. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Isaiah chapter 38 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Isaiah chapter 38, an exciting section.

Good, Hard Lessons is the title. And I just love the Word of God. After all these years, it hasn't lost anything.

It has gained so much. Even in my devotions, it's just such, it is what God says to us. King Hezekiah, he's a good king, but he had to learn some hard lessons. And hard lessons that people learn are transferable, not automatically. I mean, you can miss out.

They could mess up. But we learn from the experiences of those in the Scripture. It's supposed to show up in our own lives. It is one way the Bible yields its treasures to those who will dig for it. It's hard work learning the Word of God, and it is hard work to execute the things that we've learned.

We're always trying to do better because it is that important. Psalm 119, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Well, this is the Word of God. Now this section is a parallel section to 2 Kings in 2 Chronicles 32 also, but we have so much here, we're going to dig right into it. Verse 1, in those days Hezekiah was sick and near death and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Well, these events take place before the last two chapters, chapters 36 and 37, leading up to the Assyrian invasion. It's impending, they know it's coming, and here's Hezekiah the king, and now he gets terminal disease on top of dealing with the Assyrians and all the other things that come with being king.

This is the second time the Assyrians have come in force into Judah, but they're coming to take Jerusalem. And it's not surprising that the sequence is out of order, it's how they put together the scriptures, but it's not something that is hidden, you can find it. And so Hezekiah, the king, the good king, he's sick and he's dying. It says he's near death, he's on his deathbed.

This adds context and it also adds that human element starts drawing us in emotionally to what he's going through. So we read in verse 1, Thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Very blunt from the prophet, he doesn't mince words, he likes Hezekiah, well, all the indications that he is certainly, they are friends. And what he just tells, God said you're going to die. And that alone is going to be very interesting for us because God is going to reverse that. Because of the prayer of Hezekiah. And anyway, God is going to use this near death experience of the prophet to give prophecy and to give doctrine.

The lessons will fly off the page as we move forward. Verse 2, Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. Well, one of the court officers noticed this and it made its way into the history books. He's probably choking back tears. He doesn't want to die. And as a Christian, I've always been puzzled by this because I'm hoping when it's my turn, I'm eager. Not overly eager, I mean it's not my right, but you know, I'm hoping, it's like, whew, I'm getting out of here and I'm going to heaven. But the doctrine of the Jews concerning Sheol, the underworld, the afterlife, wasn't as developed in all of them as it is for us.

It was in some. For instance, David says, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord. He was able, David was able to see that there was a heaven waiting for him and it was going to be glorious.

But a lot of the Jews weren't so clear, which is one of the reasons when we'll see as he begins to, when he writes his psalm, we'll see why he is not as ready as you would think a righteous king should be. At least that's my take on it. And everybody is different. There's no shame in facing the uncertainty with reservations.

He's not laying a guilt on anyone. But you know, we all go through as we get older, we say, well, how, you know, how am I going to go out? If, and who knows, right? So many scenarios.

But ideally, if I'm writing the script, it's going to be something that is like Steven. I'll see the Lord and be excited. Anyway, he's devastated by the prophet's message. He's nowhere on earth to turn. So he turns to God, literally turning to the wall away from everybody else. He's going to begin to pray, immediately calling on the Lord. And at this point, you know, there's nothing scriptural to say to him. It would have been very hollow at this moment to try to encourage him.

You have to let it play out. And the prophet does that. Isaiah delivers the message, and he leaves. And God's going to talk to Isaiah, because he's such a great prophet.

I mean, this is how this works. Verse 3, the king is speaking, and this is what he said to the Lord. Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before you in truth with a loyal heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

So the historian is opening it up for us. He turns away. He doesn't want anybody to see.

He's about to break down. Paul said the same thing to the Sanhedrin under trial, and they smacked him in the mouth for saying, I've given God everything I've got. He's not saying I'm perfect.

Hezekiah is saying, Lord, I have tried to follow you according to the law. I've not been an idolater. And truth is paramount. It should be. It's not with a lot of Christians. Truth is secondary.

Preference is primary. How you feel. When I was a Christian, I'd go out to Costa Mesa, and I visited all the calvaries from southern California, all the bigger ones and other places. And all the other places, they really put a lot of emphasis on music. You get to Costa Mesa, there was no emphasis. It was like, yeah, well, you know, whatever. We're going to worship the Lord. We're going to get to the word. And I used to think that maybe they were missing, maybe Pastor Chuck's missing something here.

No, I found out the other way around. He majored in the majors, not the emotions. He felt that if you love the word of God, your feelings would be drawn in also. I get emotional reading God's word at times.

And I mean, I love to sing too, but I get emotional with that also. But how can I sing with any integrity if I don't understand what I'm singing? Doctrine is essential. Truth according to the scriptures.

Hopefully we're not losing our youth when we raise them up in the ways of Christ to understand with all of the emotional things they have, especially our teens, all the emotional things that's going on in their life, truth is primary. Well, at this point, notice Hezekiah will not be chastened for how he handles this. God will not rebuke him. As a matter of fact, God's going to reward him. And when you're terminally, when someone is facing a terminal illness, Satan loves to come along and say, well, it's because you're a sinner.

You've done this and you've done that. And it's a lie. All, everything that is wrong in this life is because of original sin. And sickness is usually in the life of the believer a product of sin to curse upon humanity, not some individual act.

The proof of that, as a rule, is this. If it were any other way, we'd all be sick. If God called us, you know, you did that wrong, now you're going to get sick.

We'd all be home in bed right now. So, anyway, that's how the devil is. And the disciples asked Jesus, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

See, there's that mindset. Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned. And then he takes it to another level and he says, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. But, so that you can see me heal him.

You've got to love that. The Lord says, you know, he's not cursed because he did something wrong. He's cursed because he's born into a world that is cursed. And, of course, the Lord gave him his sight. Well, Hezekiah, he walks before the Lord and he's going to be healed and he's going to be puffed up because of it. Has God ever blessed you? And the next thing you've noticed, you've got a little swagger, a little arrogance or something going on there? You say, no, no, I've never done that. Well, don't think that you won't be tested at some point.

Not necessarily, you might not be, but you might. 2 Chronicles 32 in the parallel passage. In those days, Hezekiah was sick near death and he prayed to Yahweh and he spoke to him and gave him a sign. Hezekiah spoke to Yahweh, God. God speaks back to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah, gives him a sign that he's going to survive. And then it says, but Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him for his heart was lifted up. Therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. Now God is going to punish. It doesn't say how he's going to, but he's healed and he does the wrong thing with it. He gets pride and now God's going to deal with him on that. Now this time it is a punishment. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart.

He and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. So there's so much teaching just swirling around this one event of a sick king who learned this hard lesson that life is hard, God is good. Don't abuse the things that God gives you because it can come with a chastening.

And a chastening can be more than a slap on the wrist. And that's what 2 Chronicles 32 is telling us, one of the lessons that we learn from Hezekiah's experiences. And it says here in verse 3 of Isaiah 38, it says, and have done, he's continuing to speak to the Lord, and have done what is good in your sight.

So again, he tried his best. He's instituting all sorts of reforms in Judah and tried in Jerusalem, getting rid of the pagan altars and bringing the people back to God. And then he gets this sickness, in addition to the Assyrian threat that stayed with them all the time. Well, because he did right before the Lord, did not guarantee that he would always do right. He did not insulate him from life and the troubles that we all face. It says, and Hezekiah wept bitterly. This godly man was overwhelmed by the news of his doom. He wept hard, he wept uncontrollably. He did not care for God's will at this time. Not enough to turn against God, though some do. Judas Iscariot didn't care for how the Messiah was handling things, if indeed in the head of Judas, if indeed Jesus is Messiah.

And look what happened. But Iscariot, he doesn't like this sentence at all. And yet again, he doesn't get rebuked by God. He faces it with prayer.

He goes to God with it. It is a heartbreaking moment for all those who were watching this because they were helpless. There was nothing they could do. At best they could intercede for him, but that would not guarantee. You know, when we pray to God, it's not an ultimatum or it's not a rabbit's foot or, you know, a magic wand. We're going to get what we want because we've been so sincere in prayer.

That is a very immature approach. Jesus taught us, nevertheless, not my will but your will, we're always subject to the desires of the king. And so he weeps because he knows death is, from this perspective, is merciless from this point of view. And seldom does it turn back from its reaping. He knows that.

He's probably 38, 39 years old at this time. We have some time stamps. I'm not going to get into any of that because we'll lose so many of the other applications time-wise. We won't get to them. And taking us from this life, it can be long and drawn out.

Unfair. Paul wrote this to the Corinthians. He says, the last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

That's our last enemy. And it will be destroyed for the righteous. Jesus said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And when he said that, he was showing us that death was nothing to fear for the believer. That step into the unknown.

Well, it's not into the unknown. We have faith. That faith is trusting what's been revealed. No more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain. And again, so we work to build our faith up to be ready for whatever God is going to do in our lives. So the Bible records that moment of death in the life of our Lord, and we are the servants.

And we are always looking to learn from what Christ has either put forth in his own life or through the lives of others whom he is the author and finisher of their faith. Now, again, he did not want to die, and he is very afraid. It's not just disappointment causing. His fear. And fear is not something you can always turn off. Sometimes you can. Sometimes you find the strength, you shut that down, you get attitude, like defiant attitude. I'm going to take it in this. And other times, you're scrambling. That's okay.

You scramble with the Lord. That's the point. And there's other stuff, too, you know.

We have this self-preservation characterizes all of us. It's a thought of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king succeeding. And you know, this is other things, too. Verse 4. And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying.

So let me just give you the background, because we know this from 2 Kings 20, another parallel part. Isaiah gives him the word. In verse 5, God will say to Isaiah, go. Which means he's not there now.

He has to go back. So the word comes to Isaiah again. When he first delivers the message, he says, thus says the Lord, you're going to die. That's God's word. He leaves.

He's in the courtyard. And God is going to turn him around with an amended word. Now we're going to get some doctrine. So just after he tells Hezekiah that he's not going to survive, he departs. 2 Kings 20. Isaiah leaves out these parts, but again, we can find them in other sections. And it happened before Isaiah had gone into the middle court that the word of Yahweh came to him saying.

And then picks up this story. Verse 5 now of Isaiah 38. Go, because he's not with Hezekiah, and tell Hezekiah, thus says Yahweh, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears.

Surely I will add to your days 15 years. Now Hezekiah was a big fan of King David. We know that from his writings and what he did.

He was again a remarkable king, especially when so many of them were scoundrels. This statement from God is of first-class importance to us in understanding prophecy. It removes entirely from prophecy the realm of fatalism. That you know, it's already been decided. You can't change it.

It's done. And that's not true. That's not what's happening here. This tells us that we have a say-so in our life with God to some degree. Now it doesn't mean that we can manipulate God, move him away from what he wants.

It does say we have free will. And it does say God listens to us. And while Isaiah walked, Hezekiah prayed. So Isaiah's, you know, walking in the courtyard. He's still up there praying. God is multitasking.

He couldn't be God if He was infinitely superior. Isaiah walked, Hezekiah prayed, God intervened. And God does not always do it this way.

It is not a cookie-cut formula. But the doctrine comes out. So there is the perfect will of God, which is never changing.

God, the sun will rise tomorrow. Nothing's going to stop that. God has ordained this. And people can affect that. Then there is the permitted will of God, where it's not ideal, but He's going to let it happen. What this is, is the adjusted will of God. In each case, there's a reason. It's not random. It's not, oh gee, you know, He just did it. Here are the biblical examples to back up what I'm saying. Of course, we know the Genesis story of creation and the universe is in its place.

That's perfect. The Jews, they were promised the land known as Israel, everything east of the Jordan. But two and a half tribes wanted to be west of the Jordan.

Well, that wasn't part of the plan. And God granted it. He permitted that. He adjusted His will and that became promised land also. Balaam. Balaam was a prophet of God, even though he was a Gentile prophet. The Bible says he was a prophet and he became an apostate prophet. And he insisted on flirting with the riches of Balak, the king, and the curses.

And of course, ultimately, God allowed him. Alright, fine. Go. I've made my statement to you. A dumb donkey has spoken to you.

If you can't figure that out, you're going to reap what you sow. And in this case, he did. Balaam was killed by the Jews because he had not only become an apostate, he had become an enemy of God's people. And the Jews killed him with the spear.

The Jews, at one point in their history, began whining about, we want a king like the Gentiles have kings. Samuel was devastated by that. He took it personally. And God said, don't take it personally.

He's against me. And God adjusted his will. He said, okay, let him have a king. God had sent Jonah to Nineveh.

Forty days, you're done. But Nineveh did not burn in forty days because God adjusted his will because the people repented. And now Hezekiah is asking for a reversal, a divine decision that will adjust.

And he gets it. God promised through Jeremiah the prophet to bless or to judge depending on the behavior of the people. In Jeremiah 18, 10, He says, if the people, if I have sentenced them to doom and they repent, I will restrain myself from judgment. So again, we have the perfect will of God, the permitted will of God, and the adjusted will of God. He is sovereign over all of it. We have our role to play and we've got to find what that role is. Christ was on the cross and he was within the perfect will of God.

Willfully so. Anyway, Hezekiah asked for a reversal of the divine decision and we find that prayer defeats fatalism. We don't come to our scriptures and say, it's already written. You can't change it. It's done. It's not a bureaucracy we're dealing with.

It's not VDOT. God is sometimes adamant and that's why it's so meaningful to have a relationship with God because in that relationship is the treasure of, okay, is that what you want? That's what we'll do. See, if Stephen didn't protest, you know, I don't want to get stoned to death. He accepted.

He went into it ready for that. Well, so it is the prerogative of God to adjust His response however He chooses. He never does it in violation of righteousness, unlike the kings of the Medes and the Persians. Remember when Daniel was sentenced to the lion's den?

He said, well, you can't reverse that, okay? Well, God says, well, yeah, I can because He's not going to let Himself get cornered anyway into something that's nefarious. Now, this is different from when Nathan went to David. Well, David went to Nathan. David says to the prophet Nathan, I want to build God a house.

The Ark of the Covenant is in a tent. He said, not right. I'm in a palace. Nathan said, that's a good idea. Go for it, David.

What could be wrong with that? And then Nathan goes home. He's humming, fixing himself a sandwich. No, I don't know what he was doing.

It would probably be hummus or falafel. Anyway, God says to Nathan, no, I don't want David to build a house. You have to go back, and you have to tell him. And he brings David so much more than just no. He explains it to David, and he uses Nathan to do it. Both men, God protects both their integrity.

And so it's a little different here. Isaiah, when he goes and says, you're going to die, that was God's word. And when he comes back and says, okay, God has given you 15 years, that is not a contradiction. That is an amendment. So it works out perfectly.

It's good for our doctrine. Now, Hezekiah lived an additional 15 years. The belief is that he had no son at this time.

And during those 15 years, he gives birth, his wife does, of course, to Manasseh. Yeah, we don't go that way. Our pronouns, you know what they are.

He and her, and they don't change. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference Radio is a ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of new editions of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Isaiah with Pastor Rick right here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-09-17 08:46:04 / 2024-09-17 08:55:41 / 10

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