Amen. Well, it’s good to be here these days. It’s good to be anywhere. Amen. If you got your Bibles, turn over to Second Chronicles, chapter number 16. And I thank God for those students tonight, or testimony. It encouraged me. Keep up the good work. It won’t get easier. Just stay by the stuff. I’m into this mentoring, I’m into this helping the next generation. I’m all in on that. We’ve got two interns working for us now. I think one of my blues going to college in January and we’re just investing them. We have probably 25 guys out preaching out right now, and I love to have them all here in my church, I’ll be honest with you. I mean, they’ll shout nobody else out. They might shout a little bit and I love them. I thank God for the investment and what they’re doing. And Erica, I appreciate you. Thank you for the invitation. And it’s a blessing, always a blessing. I’ve got a little something on my mind. This is the first time I’ve freezed in the evening for about three weeks. So let’s pray it works out okay. I’ve had some problems. I’m not complaining, I’m fine. And I’ll give you all I got. Second chronicle. Chapter 16. If you’re there, say amen. I’m going to jump down in the store, though. I’ll back up and probably give you some things that has happened prior in a moment in the story. But I’ll just start in verse number seven and we’ll read down about verse number twelve. And then I’ll back up a little bit here in a moment and try to bring a thought to you tonight. It’s on my heart heavy and I think that’s what we need. We need to preach what’s on a hard heavy amen. The Bible says, and at that time Hannah the Seer came to Ace, king of Judah, and said unto him, because thou hast relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Siri escaped all of thine hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the aluminum a huge host with very many chariots and hoarsely? Yet cause thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. Verse nine is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Listen to this. I like this. To show himself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly, therefore from his warfouw shalt have wars. Now this is typical. Then ACA was swathed with the seer. That’s how it always is. We don’t like the message. We’re going after the preacher Amen the messengers, and put him in a prison house where he was enraged with him because of this thing. And ACA oppressed some of the people, some of the people the same time. And behold the acts of ace of first and last lo. They are written in the book of the kings of the Judah and Israel. And his 39th year of his reign was diseased in his feet until his disease was exceedingly great. Yet in his disease he sought not the Lord, but physicians. I’m interested in this story. Let me just kind of give you background. I love the history of Israel. By the way, what happened to them was an example for us. Amen. And in this setting, you know how God selected Israel? He selected Israel because he wanted Israel to shine. God so his power to them. God showed his provision to them. God showed his protection to them. He preserved them. He had a plan for him. And the plan was that this people would shine for him. By the way, that plan has not changed for the church. God has the same plan. He didn’t call us just to go to heaven or we’d be there. He called us to shine. He called us to be alive. He called us to be salt. He called us to be an influence on this world. And I’m afraid tonight we’ve lost a lot of our influence. We’ve got a lot of people like ASA. Amen. Now, you know the story how God chose. The people wanted a king. And God said they didn’t need a king, they needed to trust God. But they got a king in Solomon. You know the story. Then they chose David. And then after the reign of Solomon, the kingdom was divided. And in the north, they had ten tribes. And to be honest with you, they didn’t have one king up. There was goblin, there was all ungodly, that’s all ricked. And then they had the southern kingdom, and they did have some kingdom kings that did right. And by the way, ACA, when he started, he started right. The Bible said he did that which is good and right in the sight of God. I love what old Dr. Bob Jones said. Do right until the stars fall. Do right until the last call. And there’s every time we as preachers, we as church people need to do right. We need to do right tonight. Amen. I’ll tell you how right he was. I’ll give you about five things of introduction. I don’t know how long I’m going to preach. I’m going to preach it so I ain’t got no more air. Okay, it may not be long. I’ll tell you what he did about four or five things he did. And you study in chapter 14, 1516 or 1415. First of all, in chapter 15 eight, he ruined the people of idolater’s practices. He tore down the groves, he tore down the idols. That’s a good thing. I see what we need in America. We need some of our idols torn down. It’s even creeped in our church. We’re so much involved in entertainment and pleasure in the church, it makes me about half sick of my stomach. Good preaching. Anyway, river. Not only did he rid of them, but I don’t see he relied on God’s power. Just look, let me show you. In verse 1411. This is good. An ace of cried unto Lord this is when he had a confrontation with the Ethiopians. And the ace of cried on the Lord his God said, lord, it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power. Help us, O Lord God, for we rest on thee and in thy name we go against the multitude. O Lord God, thou hast thou Thou our god. Let not my man prevail against him. What he did, he relied on God. When the enemy was coming against him, he relied on God. By the way, we got an enemy. It’s not one another. He says he hates you, he hates me. But we need to rely on God. By the way, in chapter 15, verse one he relied on priest or he responded to preaching. I’ll tell you what we need. We need a generation of people and somebody said to something about loving your Bible. Again. We need a generation of people falling in love with the word of God and fall in love with the preacher and wanting to hear the word of God. And ACA responded to preaching. And I’ll tell you what else he did. In chapter 15 and verse 60 man, I tell you what. This took some nerve. He removed his own mother from the palace.
Hello. I mean, I touched. I took some guts and grit. Take your old mama kicker out. Throw his own mama under the bus. In other words, he was more concerned about God’s power and God’s love and God’s plan that he was his mama and her adults, his practices. Good for you. Then he rested. The Bible said the lamb rested. Ten days he rested in God’s promise. Man, he started out great. Somebody helped me. He started out great. Let me say this. He hit the ground running, by the way. I got saved and you got saved. We started out right. We started out getting right with God and getting saved and got right with God. But I know some folks today that said they’ve been saved, but they’re not running right now. They used to run right, but they’re running right now. Amen. See what happens to him? He takes the wrong turn and now he’s meeting with a man of God, the second man of God. This time, this man of God wouldn’t build him up. He was rebuking him. And every once in a while, we needed a little rebuke. Somebody helped me portray that, by the way. Amen. By the way, the church is not a massage, Father. It ain’t a place where you come and get petted. It’s a place you come to get preached to. It’s a place to where we come and repent of our sins and see our need of God and where we want to get closer to God. Somebody helped me preach.
Amen. I’m starting to feel like preaching. You know what the man of God said? AESA? He was worthy back then. How about now? Did, your membership is fly. Here’s the message. Why not trust him now?
Amen. You trusted him back then. I remember. Hey, listen, I’m in my 50th year of ministry, 45th year at my same church. It hasn’t always been easy. There’s been battles along the way. But I trusted him then. Hey, we need to trust him now. Oh, mercy. My wife’s on the front row and she’ll probably throw a gunner at me here if I don’t slow down. I’m not going to slow down, honey. I’m just going to reach Long. Okay. Amen. He was faithful then, he’s still faithful now. He was good back then, he’s still good now. This narrative is getting too common in our day. We’ve got some folks who’ve chosen to leave the right stuff, leave what they used to have. And I say to them tonight, I say to you tonight, why don’t we trust him now? We trusted him in he was worthy in. He was good then. He was able then, but we need to trust him now. I tell you, this has been the toughest year and a half of my life. And I know it has been for you, Dale and others. I want to tell you, ain’t no where to turn around, ain’t no where to quit with that thought in my mind. Let me give you in the store and I’ll give you four things that I’m quitting. Amen. Why not trust him now? First of all, number one, and we’ll go over the store now, resist the temptation to problemsolve. Somebody help me pray. See, we always have a temptation. When trouble comes, we want to problem solve. Now here’s the background.
Baysia. The King in the north built a bork in Reyna. And the purpose of that bulwark was one purpose and one purpose only to keep his people from coming down to the southern people and fellowship and doing business with them, and also setting up a place where he could eventually attack the children of Israel. By the way, we always going to have calamity. You think you’re going to live the Christian life? You kids think you’re going to go through school and not have no calamity? You’re going to have some calamity. It’s inevitable. Somebody help me. It’s inevitable. And he had calamity. That was an intense battle, by the way. We’re in an intense battle. Yes, sir. Then verse two. There’s an inexcusable compromise. Why don’t you go fast, ACA. Why don’t you pray, ACA? Won’t you get back on your knees, ACA? No. What he says, I’m going to buy me an army and I’m going to take God’s money. I’m going to take a treasury. You look at verse two. It’s right there. I’m going to take the treasury, and I’m going to buy me an army from a king of Syria. Ben Hay. Dad. A wicked, ungodly, filthy heathen. It bothers me today. I see a lot of people you serve God yoking up with wicked people. Yes, sir. Inexcusable compromise. I tell you what we need to do. Lift our eyes up unto the hills from with cometh our help for our help coming from the Lord. I tell you what we need to do. What time. I was afraid I will trust God amen. Be compromised by the way, an inevitable calamity will lead to an inexcusable compromise and will lead to inappropriate companionship.
Amen. Hey, we don’t need to be full with some of these heating. Hey, man, those people in my community are still mad at me for years ago when they had some kind of economical big thing down there at the high school, and they asked me to join. And another independent Baptist went down there, and I told him, make a big mistake. You know what I told him? But it wasn’t a big long sermon. No. I just said, no, I ain’t going down there. I ain’t going down there when you’ve got Catholic auto workers. I’m not going down there and rub my shoulders with all that wickedness y’all got down there. I thought, you ain’t going to preach Jesus, you ain’t going to preach the Bible. I won’t even recognize the Bible if you do preach it. See, our problem is was like Asia, by the way. I tell you who you run with is who your life like. See, I still run with same guys, but I still have same guys. I do. I’m going to and when I’m done and they bury me and put me in the grave, hey, I stayed true. Somebody helped me prove now you all still with me. I’m going somewhere. I really am. It just takes me a while to get there anymore. Verse three and four. I see an illusional collusion a conclusion. I mean, what happened is he believed the end justified the means. Because they did run off base and they did get to victory. He felt like that justified. It does not justify the means. We do not need to compromise our standards, our ways, our Bible, our truth for anything tonight, not for convenience, not out of expediency. We need to sleep out of stuff.
Amen. Amen, Lord God. Amen. I’ll tell you what we’ve done. Can I slow down, please? Ain’t got no water up here. Yeah, you do. How about to crucify you, boy?
We created a brand of Christianity today which is performance driven. 5432 01:00 a.m. I preaching that’s the brand. That’s the American brand of Christianity. And by the way, thank God for an old timey church like this. I’m glad you’re staying by the sun. I’m proud of you. I’m behind you. I’ll be behind you. I appreciate you. Yes amen. But this performance driven. You know, we got some guys today that’s so slick. I call Mr. Mrs. Slick. They can work the Internet. They could work. They can get you jumping up and down like a kangaroo. Am I preaching? We don’t need it. AC, you don’t need to go that way. See, by the way, you don’t want to always base your success on the conclusion. Is that good preaching? Number two, let me hasten. I’m enjoying this. If I felt better, I might run amen. Look at verse seven eight again in verse eight two. You got to risk a temptation to problem solve. Then we all got problems, and I say we do. I want you to know something. No matter what the problem is, no matter what you’re facing, your need tonight is to trust God. Your need is to trust Him. Now, secondly, the see or the preacher reminds him or has him to remember God’s track record of performance. Amen. Ayes. Do you remember when the Lubens and the Ethiopians were coming after you and the man of God said to trust God? And you said, I’m going to trust God, and I’m going to rely on God. And you did. And God gave you the victory. Why you have to live in there?
Amen. You had an unwavering dependence. You trusted God. You relied on the Lord, and he delivered them in your hand. You had an unbelievable dependence. You know what some of us need to do? We need to go down memory lane.
I want to so bad. We need to go down memory lane. Remember how God supplied us and saved us and supplied us? I look about my life if you ain’t going to get me my trust in God. Because he’s brought me through so many things. He brought me through when people hated me. He said, you’re so sweet. How they ever hate you? Trust me. I fought some battles at my church over the years. I just unwaveringly said, I’m staying true. I’ve done memory lane. I remember when he saved us and he supplied my need and he sustained me and he walked through the valley of the shadow of death with me. Through all these health problems and through all the other problems, my God’s been faithful. I tell you what we need to do. We need to take a look where God has brought us from and where he’s brought us to. We ought to shout it out tonight. Am I doing all right? I’m hurrying.
I feel like preaching now. I want you to listen, especially young preachers number three. Look at verse number nine. I like this. Whoo glory. We need to recognize truth about your potential. Now, I wrote this down and put a little starbuck ASA. You go to things of how they looked down here instead of viewing the things on how they looked up there. How many times have we had trouble and we somehow got our eyes off of God and a few things, how they are down here. Sometimes they’re bleak, sometimes they’re bad. But I’m glad that he still sits on the throne and bo he’s slavey. Yet. Will I trust him? Let’s look at this first. Let’s study it out real good. I want you to notice, first of all, the divine perception. The Bible says, I love this. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Lord of God.
Whoa. His eyes run to and fro. He said, you was on the phone with Ben. Hey, dad. And God was on the line all the time. He was watching you. He knew what was going on. How many y’all glad tonight? God knows. Your life knows what’s going on. He’s faithful. If he could take you to Arbitrage through four years of school, he has to be faith, especially you. I’m having fun not only if I’m perspective, but his deceit pursuit. I like istail. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Listen this here’s the pursuit to show Himself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect for Him. You know what God wants to do? He wants to take our calamity, our mess and bring a miracle. My God wants to show Himself strong for us. Sometimes I feel weak. I feel weak physically. I feel weak spiritually. But you know what, God, I want to keep my heart pure. Because if you keep your heart pure and perfect before God or complete before God, god’s looking down at he’s looking down at this preacher and he said, hey, preaching God in your last years, you’re getting older. I am going to show myself strong on your behalf. That’s what he’s going to do for you, Rachel. Am I doing all my praise, god, whoo you know you know what God’s wanting to do? He’s wanting to flex. You see some of these guys coming out, jim wearing a shirt about three sizes too small. I got a couple of them goes to my church. They wear them real tight shirts and they’ll walk up front. I’ll watch them strutting. I thought lord God. Son, quit flexing. You ain’t got it anyhow. But you want god wants to do. He wants a flex for you. He wants to show Himself strong for you and, well, glory. That’s good preaching, even if I am doing it. But it takes a devoted person. Heingo show Himself strong unless your heart’s right. Yes. I tell you, there’s a lot of people, they said, well, God’s not doing anything for me. And I looked at a guy the other day, right in the face, and I said, your problem is he ain’t doing nothing for you because you’re living like a death, though. You think I didn’t
in your life? Where’s that yoyo with that? Okay. You look good tonight, pretty boy. You are. Proud of you. You may make it to the second semester. I’ve got hope. Amen. See, he just wants somebody to be pure. He wants somebody to have the heart right. Do you want to know God’s going to bless you? Because put your heart right, son. Yes, sir. I watch you. I appreciate you. I like the way you’re raising your children. I love the way you and your wife operate. Yes, sir. Thank God for you. God’s going to bless his place. He’s going to add, you just be patient. You just preach. You take care of it. You stay pure. You keep your standards, you keep right. Am I preaching? I’m not going to preach that, young guy. I’m preaching all of us tonight. I’m trying to find a place to jump off here. Now, I want to give you a last thing. They told me not to go negative at the end, but I can’t help it if you don’t stay strong. You better realize the trouble you have in your prospect. Somebody help me. See, he had peace for ten years. Once said to him in the end of verse nine he ain’t going to have peace no more. You’re having come in adversity, you’re going to have nothing but trouble, no worse. Why? Because he didn’t rely on God. He was asking for trouble. He was asking for unrest. Then a continuous attitude. Look at verse ten. Then he got mad at the preacher. You know what Paul said? He said, Have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Amen. I tell you what he didn’t like. He didn’t like hearing the truth. He failed to trust God. Then he had a continuous reproach. He got diseased in his feet. And by the way, look at those verses then they’re closing reality. Look at verse number twelve. And ace in his 39th year of his reign, his disease in his feet until his disease was exceeding great. Yet in his disease he said not the Lord. God help us. I want to tell you what. When you get sick, it’s good to have doctors. Amen. But I’m going to tell you the first place I’m going to is prayer. And I may go to somebody left him anoint me and pray for me. Amen. I ain’t asked for no prayer, lies. But I tell you what I still believe the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man available much. I guess I want to leave this with you. You can still trust him. Now, I don’t know if there’s anybody here in this room that’s got some problems bigger than you are. And you got the temptation to try to figure it out yourself. It’s time for you trust God. Let’s buy our heads and somebody come leave singing for me, please. I wonder how many here tonight. You just got some issues in your life and you really need to trust God. You just raise your hand, say, Pray for me, why don’t you do this. Let’s stand and y’all sing and play over there. Why don’t you just come around the altar? Call God. Get on your face.
Yes, yes. Just come. Yes, yes, yes.
They’re going to sing another verse of people praying around the altar and around the auditorium. And what a sweet, special service this has been. I am so glad that God fixed and ordained this particular service. Exactly what I needed. And that’s what you did. I want Brother Mark to sing another verse because what a true song is only trusting. Now, that’s easy to sing. It’s easy to sing, but it’s right. We got to live that way. Brother Mark, sing another verse of this song even. What a wonderful, wonderful place.